Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
1999
(Image credit: Square Enix)
Which Lara is this? The one where she dies at the end.
The ending of the Original Era offers a little bit more than 3, injecting Lara with more personality and expecting her to carry a more substantial narrative than she had so far in the series. While it’s hard to say that comes at the cost of anything—Last Revelation Lara is a great Lara—it does slightly limit her freedom to show off her range of quips.
Lara loses some of her easygoing nature in becoming a more focused adventurer. It’s the first step away from Lara’s established persona, but ultimately sacrifices characterisation for a greater focus on gameplay. This change makes the game stronger but limits Lara’s potential in the all-time Lara stakes. It’s not short of great moments, like the Jeep leaping onto the raft, but ultimately this is one of the few (arguably the only) games where Lara is overshadowed by another character, in this case Werner Von Croy. Because of that, it just misses out on the top five.
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
2018
(Image credit: Square Enix)
Which Lara is this? The most recent one, mostly set in a Peruvian village. Lara wears green a lot.
I don’t hate the most recent Tomb Raider era, but I don’t see all that much Lara in it. She’s kind in Shadow, but that’s all that’s recognisably Lara. Away from that, the lead of Shadow is a likeable if inoffensive videogame protagonist, but with her clumsiness, lack of connection to a wider narrative, and distinctly uncool vibe, she sure ain’t Lara Croft. Even by the reboot’s standard, Shadow seems to actively play against typical Lara tropes, but with no evolution or new ideas to replace them.
Lara Croft and the Guardian Of Light
2010
(Image credit: Square Enix)
Which Lara is this? The co-op spin off.
Like The Temple Of Osiris, Guardian Of Light features little narrative and therefore might consider itself lucky to be here. It gets points ahead of Osiris for being first, though, and taking the risk. It also fulfils a part of Lara’s character some versions forget far too often: She raids tombs.
Many criticisms of the weaker games can be boiled down to a lack of tomb raiding in Tomb Raider. This version of Lara, who deliberately ditches the ‘Tomb Raider’ label, ironically does more raiding than most. She doesn’t have much else about her though, Lara-wise.
Tomb Raider
2018
Which Lara is this? The Alicia Vikander movie version.
Controversial to have it this high? Maybe. The movie itself is nothing special, but Vikander’s Lara is actually an incredible cocktail of Lara-ness. The movie follows the basic beats (with some poetic license) of the first outing of Reboot Lara. However, the character herself has the quip-heavy attitude of Original Lara, with the charming personality and the reliance on her team which comes from Second Era Lara. Whichever Lara is your one true Lara, Vikander’s version gets pretty close.
Yes, the movie spends a bit too long establishing Lara’s character in London, the ending with the twin pistols is way too cheesy, and I’m sure there are a dozen other flaws you can instantly pick out about this film, but I bet very few of them revolve around Vikander not being a good Lara. She’s a great Lara, and easily the best bit about this movie.
She’s arguably too much of a reluctant hero (a bad habit of the Reboot Era), but once she’s committed, the film is full of vintage Lara set pieces. Her scramble along the rusted plane is like a QTE come to life, and this isn’t just easily the best movie Lara, but one of the best Laras full stop.
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
2001
Which Lara is this? The first Angelina Jolie one.
You could probably tell from the Cradle Of Life entry that I think Angelina Jolie was actually a good Lara. At the time, there was a bit of controversy over her casting because of her accent, her kooky personal life, and most unbelievably, because she wasn’t deemed good-looking enough. Now that the dust has settled, it’s a choice that only looks better with age, especially as she edged out Denise Richards, with the pair clearly on opposing career trajectories. It’s an early ‘00s popcorn action flick; I’m not going to argue it’s a good film, but Jolie does well in the role, and it’s fun to see her play upper class British opposite Daniel Craig as a wildcard American.
This Lara is wry, intelligent, actually raids tombs, looks killer in sunglasses, and while she definitely has sex appeal, she’s not defined by it as Cradle Of Life’s version is.
Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
2003
(Image credit: Paramount Pictures)
Which Lara is this? The second Angelina Jolie one.
The title is stupid and the movie is stupid. That this finishes above Chronicles and Shadow says a lot more about those than it does about Jolie’s second try at being Lara. The most frustrating thing is she wasn’t half bad at the character the first time around, but she’s all bad here. I mean, that bit where she shoots paper targets in trees while on horseback wasn’t part of the movie, right? Jolie obviously filmed that for a completely different film, then the two directors bumped into each other in a hallway like high schoolers in a rom-com meet cute, and the reels got mixed up. That’s the only explanation I have.
Her accent is somehow worse, and after getting some decent nuance in her performance the first time around, it’s like she’s been told her only motivation is sex appeal. ‘00s movies have a history of doing that to their female leads, be they Jessica Alba in Fantastic Four or Megan Fox in Transformers, and Jolie’s sequel Lara is another pushed into that trap.
Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness
2003
(Image credit: Square Enix)
Which Lara is this? Goth Lara.
I have to be honest, it was very tempting to put Goth Angel Lara top. While the game isn’t great, this is one of my favourite versions of Lara. However, she isn’t very Lara. Had Angel been built on in a sequel, this could have established a new direction for the character, and with more consistency I can imagine Angel establishing what it meant to be a modern Lara. But the series changed tack shortly after, leaving Goth Angel Lara the odd one out.
I’d say Chronicles and Angel are part of the same Tomb Raider era (The Meh Era), and both see Lara trying to offer something different but not getting it right. Leather looks good on Lara, but she never seems that comfortable wearing it.
Tomb Raider: Underworld
2008
(Image credit: Square Enix)
Which Lara is this? Grappling Hook Lara.
Like Anniversary, Underworld is part of the Second Era, but it’s an original game rather than a remake, and it brings more new ideas on Lara to the table. The Second Era raised the stakes on the tombs, and with better graphics, was able to better showcase Lara’s athleticism. Underworld feels more like a direct riff on Tomb Raider Legend than anything that original, though, so it can’t quite crack the top five. You might think this Lara is the Lara if it was the first one you played, but otherwise she looks like an impressive sum total of other peoples’ previous Lara ideas.
