Lara Croft



Lara Croft is a famous female British archaeologist appearing in the Tomb Raider comics who is known for hunting ancient artifacts, not for money but for glory. She first appeared in the famous video game series before having her first comic book debut in a Witchblade crossover and her own subsequent comic series.

Origins
Lara Croft was born on February 14, 1968 and is the only child (as far as it is known) to Lord Henshingly and Lady Elizabeth Croft, in Wimbledon, London. Lara was brought up in the 'high society' of British aristocrats. She had lived the life every proper aristocrat English girl should, even attending finishing school to refine her social manners. Lara was home schooled to the age of eleven. She would then attend Wimbledon Private School. She excelled in both academics and physical activities in school. By the age of 16, her parents decided to enroll her in Gordonstown, one of the best boarding schools in Europe. Lara developed a hobby for rock climbing during her time at Gordonstown. During one of her lectures, an archaeologist named Wener Von Croy came and talked about his archaeology experiences and sparking interest in archaeology for Lara. One day, while Lara was at home she sees an issue of National Geographic on the table with Werner Von Croy’s picture on it. Lara went through the magazine and read the article on Von Croy, learning that he was going on an archaeological tour in Asia. Lara burst into her parent’s room and demanded to be allowed to accompany Von Croy on his expedition. Her father agreed that it would be a good educational experience for Lara and decided to write a letter to Von Croy. Von Croy replied and assured him that the expedition would be a safe journey. Lord Croft would write a large amount of money in cheque, and Lara would head off on the expedition. Von Croy preached about disrespect leading to carelessness to Lara. The expedition would end badly when Von Croy carelessly triggered a trap inside the tomb. Lara was forced to leave Von Croy behind in order to save herself, causing a grudge between her and Von Croy.

After Lara turned 18, her parents would send her to finishing school in Switzerland. Lara would be arranged to wed Earl of Farrington to help her fit into England’s high society. At the age of 21, Lara's graduating class spent their final days together on a snow skiing trip in the Himalayas. Little did she know how this trip would change her life. During the flight back, their plane crashed deep into the heart of the Himalayan Mountains. Lara, having a more natural athletic physique and sharper wits than the others, managed to get out of the plane and was the only survivor in the crash. She was suddenly all alone in one of the most hostile environments in the world, a far cry from the surroundings she was used to. Determined to survive, Lara salvaged what she could from the wrecked plane, and struck out to find civilization. Her adventures in the wild are unknown, but when she walked into the small mountain village of Tokakeriby two weeks later, Lara had changed. She had found a new life, a free life, one unrestrained by the rules and standards of upper-class British society.

Over the next eight years, Lara traveled the globe in search of ancient archaeological sites, learning the history and culture of the most mysterious and once mythical civilizations on our planet. Her family, unhappy with the adventurous lifestyle their daughter had chosen, gave up on persuading her back to the life she now hated, and disowned her, severing her family ties and financial support. Lara, unwilling to give up her independence, financed her travels with books and detailed journals of her adventures. This, combined with the artifacts she discovered that were once thought to be only legend, put her name on the covers of countless magazines and newspapers. Lara became one of the most recognized and respected archaeologists of our time.

Medusa mask
Lara is in Iran, where Iranian soldiers are looking for a Caucasian woman who stole an ancient necklace. A soldier would unmask one of the woman, who turns out to be Lara Croft wearing the 2,000 year old necklace. A gun battle breaks out and Lara eventually escapes by stealing a vehicle. Cornered at the edge of a cliff, Lara was forced to drive the vehicle off the cliff. Luckily for her, Compton arrived with the helicopter just in time and allowed her to grab on safely. Later, Lara is relaxing on her Yacht and waiting for a meeting to take place there. She tells Compton that Paris D’Arsene is offering her a job. Compton is wary of D’Arsene because he is an evil person. When D’Arsene arrived, he asks Lara to retrieve the Medusa’s Mask. Lara then whispers to D’Arsene about what she wanted, and he agreed. Once Lara received the location of the Sunken Galleon, she dived right in and swam around searching for it. Hours later, Lara discovers the Sunken Galleon miles from the location they received. When she discovers something, she is attacked by a group of men under water. Lara was able to defeat the men and realized that her Yacht was bombed. Compton was on the Yacht and it saddened her that he could be dead. She begins to reminisce about the times when Compton saved her. Eventually she swims up and finds Compton in the helicopter alive. They check into a nearby hotel and Lara shows the item she discovered at the Sunken Galleon. It was a calling card of her ex-boyfriend, Chase Carver. Lara uses his access code to find out what he has been doing. She finds out that he is in Nepal, and that is where she is headed. They rent a car and started looking around the area for a man named Taj. However, the two of them were ambushed inside the car, and in desperation Lara steps on the pedal and rams the car into a wall. Lara and Compton were unharmed, and they begin interrogating the two assassins. Taj appears behind them and revealed it was he who sent the assassins. He blamed Lara for bringing trouble to him the last time they saw each other. Lara demands to know about the Medusa’s Mask, but before Taj could say anything, he was struck and killed by an arrow. Compton was then hit by an arrow, and Lara was dragged into the shadow by a mysterious man.

Lara breaks free from the man and rushes to Compton, but flying arrows stopped Lara in her tracks. The man pulls her back and she recognizes his voice, it was Chase Carver. They battle through assassins and was eventually able to escape. They stayed at a hotel to rest up and find out what is going on. Chase tries to hit on Lara, but she was still mad at him for what he did to her years ago. They finally get down to business and talk about the Medusa’s Mask. Chase reveals a letter that says the Mask did not sink with the ship, but was stolen by one of the crew mate. Chase says they need a key to get to the area, and he knows where it is. Up high on the mountain, the key is revealed to be a marking on the floor that was covered by snow, then a recent avalanche washed the snow away. Lara discovers a rock with markings and begins pushing on it. They fall into a dark hole and eventually hit water. They get on dry land and begin exploring the area, eventually making it to the Medusa’s Mask. Lara climbs up to grab it, when Compton reveals that he was not dead. He struck Chase and knocked him out, claiming that he was the one who sent the assassins. Lara grabs the mask and heads back down to Compton, where he demands the mask. Compton then hits Lara across the face and takes the mask from her. He reveals that all his life, he has been bitter and angry at her father for not giving him other job opportunity. Compton then reveals that he caused the plane to explode in an attempt to kill the entire family and inherit the family fortune for himself. He puts on the mask and is now possessed by evil. Lara shots at the mask and knocks it off, leaving Compton’s dead body behind. Lara and Chase jump into the fire pit, and luckily for them the bottom was water. Later that night, Lara meets with D’Arsene to give him the mask. D’Arsene gives Lara a music box with a sculpture of her mother in it. Lara reveals that D’Arsene admired her mother from afar and never got close to her. As his plane flew away, it blew up.

The Merlin Stone
Lara would get a call from Vanessa Fenyway, her old college roommate and currently a successful archaeologist. While she and Chase were driving to the meeting spot, they were attacked by a Pteranodon. They eventually meet up with Vanessa and they take the helicopter to the dig site. There, Vanessa shows Lara a fresh fossil of a Triceratops. She then shows her a passageway and is the reason she called Lara. All three of them head down the ladder and discover markings on the wall that could prove man and dinosaur co-existed. They head deeper in the cave and would be overwhelmed by thick fog. Once things cleared up, Lara discovers herself in a whole new world. Then they were attacked by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Lara tries to shoot at it, but it was no use due to its thick hide. The T-Rex would notice a helpless Vanessa and head for her instead. Lara then shoots at the eyes of the T-Rex, and it falls down and dies. The two of them begin wandering around the jungle looking for Chase. Lara discovers a burned shirt that belongs to Chase. They are then attacked by a possessed Chase wielding Merlin’s stone. The mastermind behind this would reveal to be Morgan Le Fey. A battle ensues and Lara is forced to shoot and destroy the Merlin’s Stone. A time portal opens up and the three of them were able to escape successfully, leaving Morgan Le Fey there by herself.

The Eye of Shaharettin
Lara and Chase were practicing their shooting at the Police Shooting Range thanks to her police friend, Connie. Chase tries to talk to her about his feelings for her, but he gets angered when she continues to insult him. Lara kisses him on the cheek and they head out for dinner. Later that night, Lara tells him that she isn’t ready to get back with him yet. Lara then returns to her Yacht for some sleep, and later that morning she is visited by Madeline Hovan, who was offered a job by Lara. She enters Lara’s room and discovers a dead man next to Lara’s bed. She discovers that the man is a Midnight Squire, and a green orb left on her bed. A group of men burst in her room and reveals that the orb is the Eye of Shaharrettin. Lara shoots at the men before they can shoot at her, the she and Madeline escapes via secret Jet Ski. However, they are still being chased, but Lara could not do anything because she was driving. Madeline then shows that she is a pretty good shot herself, and they were able to escape safely. They then hijacked a plane from drug smugglers and headed to Washington. There Lara would meet her old professor and current Bureaucrat, Mr. Rivers. Lara shows him the Eye of Shaharrettin, but then she was able to see men coming after her. She reveals to them that they all need to get out because guys with guns are going to come any second. They jump out of the window only to land in more trouble. They were surrounded by Midnight Squire Henchmen. Just as they were forced to get in the truck, Chase arrives and rescues all three of them. They jumped in the truck and were able to escape successfully. They regroup at a hotel and Chase reveals to Lara that he was following a man that was following Lara, he believes that the dead man in her room was trying to get something to her, but died before he could talk to her. Chase tells Lara that there is one man in the world that could possibly stop the Midnight Squires from coming after them, his name is Quill. They head into a swampy area where Quill lived, while they were walking through the water, they were attacked by crocodiles. They were able to fend the crocodiles away, but were then sucked in by a whirlpool. Rivers was holding the eye, but the whirlpool rips it out of his hands, Lara tries to go after it, but then a man picks it up and Lara passes out. Lara would then wake up confused, naked and in a bed. She runs out of the room and is greeted by a woman, and directs her to Quill. Rivers and Chase would meet up with Lara, and she learns that the place is a Harem. They are then interrupted by an air attack by the Midnight Squires. They head for an underground train and Lara takes back the eye. The Midnight Squires break in and a battle ensues between them. They were able to defeat them, but Quill takes the eye and escapes on the train, leaving Lara and her friends behind. They escape before the place explodes and are then picked up by a helicopter.

Kingdom of Shangri-La
Lara and Chase would go on another adventure searching for the Immortal City called Shangri-La. They headed to the Himalayas where they believe the city is at. Lara did not want to climb the entire mountain, so she decided that the two of them would steal a military helicopter. They knocked out the pilots and stole their clothing. While getting on the plane, they are eventually caught and revealed, forcing them to fight their way out. Chase flew the plane while Lara shot at the enemy. However, they would be chased by another helicopter and were forced to hide in thick fog. Lara jumps out of the helicopter and skis down the mountain. She eventually finds the door on the side of the mountain and was able to open it easily. As she skied inside, she discovers that there are traps set up for intruders. She was able to avoid most of them except for a trap door, causing her to fall down into a river with strong currents. When Lara was finally able to emerge from the water, she would finally discover the Immortal City, Shangri-La. However, she was attacked by a monster and thrown off the cliff. Luckily for Lara, there was a river at the bottom. However, at the height she fell from, she was knocked unconscious when she hit the water. When she wakes up, she discovers herself inside the city. Lara is then greeted by Mu’Tin, who tells her about the history of Shangri-La. She tells Lara that those who discover the city, whether it be on purpose or by accident, are welcomed to stay. However, they are not allowed to leave, because if they do, it would reveal their secrecy to the world. Lara stays for a couple of days, but she remembers the real reason why she was there. Lara would try to escape, but Mu’Tin and her monster guardian, Fen Tai, stops Lara before she could leave. Fortunately for Lara, Chase shows up and Lara reveals that her nanny, Mrs. Baker, who she cares for deeply, was hit by a truck a couple of months ago, and only the city could heal her. Mu’Tin agrees to let Lara leave and allows her nanny to stay.

Death of Chase
Her next adventure did not involve temples or ruins, but rather it was a job in the city. Lara wanted to break into the Yakuza building and steal back a Jade statue that the Yakuza had killed to obtain. Lara was successful in getting the statue, but was caught by a Yakuza member. She escapes via the same way she entered and met up at the rendezvous point with Madeline. The next morning, she heads over to Chase’s apartment to offer him a big job. They were going to search for Columbus’ lost treasure. They head off to Central America and during the travel, Lara is conflicted with her feelings for Chase. She still hasn’t forgiven him for using her and stealing her money to gamble. While the two were arguing, they would be ambushed by a man in armor. During the battle, his flesh begins to melt. Lara is forced to shoot and kill him, to which she does successfully. They continue onward for the treasure, and Lara continues to reminisce about the time when Chase used her and stole the treasure that they were both working together for. Eventually they find the temple where the treasure was held. It was at the bottom of the pool and Chase goes in and gets it. However, grabbing the treasure released a toxic gas, and when he surfaced, he discovers the skeletons alive and attack Lara. He helps free Lara, and the two run for the exit. However, Chase was not able to make it out safely, and he was killed right when they got to the exit. Lara was crushed because she had begun to grow feelings for him again.

Lara and Madeline head to Boston to find out what Chase had left for Lara after his death. She was also looking to stop the archaeologist from digging up Lucifer’s Text. However, the cab driver reveals to her that they are digging it up right now. Lara tells him to head for Copps Hill, where the archaeological dig was at. Lara tries to stop them from digging it up, but they ignored her. Upon getting their hands on the Text, the dead begins to raise from the ground. Lara grabs the book and uses a spell to put the dead back. Lara then tells the archaeologist to put the Text back, to which he agrees too. However, soon after Lara left, the Text was stolen by someone. After Lara and Madeline arrive at the bank, she discovers that Chase left a letter and his mother’s engagement ring inside. He asks her to find his sister, who was separated after their parents died, and give the ring to her. Lara agrees and eventually tracks her down. She discovers that his sister, Kerri, recently flew to Central America. Lara was able to deduct that Kerri stole the Lucifer’s Text and is attempting to revive her brother. Lara was able to catch up with her before she used the spell. Kerri then asks Lara to tell her more about her brother.

Further adventures
While Lara was in America, New Mexico, Madeline stayed at her estate. An old lady shows up and tells Madeline that she knew Lara since she was a child, then Madeline offers her to stay for some tea. Meanwhile, Lara was doing the usual dangerous activities, this time racing dirt bikes. After the race, her friend Sammy arrives in a helicopter. He introduces her to Alissia Lee and Styles, two T.V. producers. They explain to Lara about their situation and their lost crew in Africa. Sammy then shows Lara something he found at the location of the crew’s disappearance, it was a piece of fabric that hardened into metal. Meanwhile, the old lady in Lara’s mansion is revealed to be a shape shifting enemy of Lara. After Lara, Sammy, Alissia, and Styles arrived at the location, Lara tells them they are spending the night. While everyone was sleeping, Lara hears a sound outside. She investigates outside, but is then caught and dragged down underneath the ground by a tentacle. The next morning, Lara was replaced by the shape shifter, thus the reason no one noticed Lara was gone. Quill went to look for Lara at her home, but then finds out that she was in Africa. Meanwhile, Lara was trapped inside a giant web, but was not killed yet. Lara would eventually be able to free herself by stabbing the tentacles with the fabric metal. After she was freed, she was confronted by Quill who was ready to kill Lara for shooting him. However, Lara proves that she could not shoot him because she was trapped here the whole time. Lara tells Quill about the ship she found, and while Quill went off rambling about the discovery, Lara was ambushed and knocked out by her double. Her double then knocks out Quill and activates the ship, however Lara wakes up just in time to jump in the ship just as it was about to leave. The shape shifter reveals her name to Lara, it was Caronne, and the ship is now headed for her home. Lara and Caronne get into a fight inside the ship and knocks it off its course. After getting out of the ship, Lara is surrounded by armed guards on a flying vehicle. Lara and Caronne are held prisoners. Caronne reveals that they are in the future, and that if they found out Lara was from the past, they would put her in a museum. Caronne shape shifts into a guard and pretends to question Lara. It is successful when the guards opened the cell for them, and allowing them to escape. The two of them would be rescued by Quill, who reveals that he had attained the ability to live long. After they arrived back at Quill’s place, he tells Lara that thanks to the eye, he was able to see what time she had landed in. Lara also learned that Caronne went back in time to destroy the Avatar (the beast thing that was killed the crew) who was also from the future. Eventually, Quill would successfully help Lara return to her own time.

A man named Lord Vymes would approach Lara and offer her a job, however his job was for Lara to steal artifacts from a British Museum. Lara quickly declines the offer because she is an adventurer and not a thief. A few days later, Vymes sends his employees to Lara’s mansion to interrogate her. The men would enter the wrong door and be trapped with a tiger. Lara then interrogates them and they reveal that she stole artifacts from Vymes days after she declined his offer. Lara insists that she did not do it and offers to find his stolen items. While doing research on the items that were stolen, a thief broke in and stole an artifact called the Four Mandalas, then she flew away. Lara decides to look for the other Mandalas to lure the thief in. While searching for the Mandalas, she encounters many guards from the temples and is forced to fight. However, she was able to shoot without consequence since they were not a living being. Lara falls into a trap and lands in a field of skeletons. Lara then finds the initials “LB” carved on the floor, and immediately she knew it was Lydia Blake, an adventuress that Lara read about when she was young. Then a man named Tsang Do Khyi showed up, he poisons Lara and then she finds herself in astral form with Tsang. As they run through the maze heading for liberation, he tells her about Samsara and how he trapped evil sentient beings in there. He then tells her about the bad terton and how they want to unleash evil in the world. Lara realizes that the bad terton is Vymes. After they finish, the two of them exit the temple and encounter Lydia. Lydia has become a terton herself and Lara decided that it was better for Lydia to keep the Mandalas and not Vymes.

Lara and Tsang relax on her yacht, then Lara decides to show Tsang something but they have to go dive in and swim first. The phone rings and Lara picks up, it was Lord Vymes calling and asking why she has not checked in for a while. Lara tells him that she wants no business with a demon and hangs up. Lara shows Tsang an area that she loves to swim around and tells him about the legend behind it. A helicopter flies by and launches a missile at Lara’s yacht, destroying it. Vymes arrives shortly after and releases his demons underwater to attack Lara. Tsang was forced to make the rocks collapse on it and on himself in order for Lara to survive.