Jin Uzuki's Anniversary Article

November 1996. This particular place in time marked the birth of a brunette, Caucasian, British woman who would become an icon, a beloved heroine, and an immensely prominent figure of the late 1990’s and the turn of the 21st century. She is not a political figure; a president’s wife who has eclipsed her husband’s fame. Neither is she a pop diva who would become notorious because of sexually wild feats. She is not of royal descent who would meet an appalling car accident that would cause days of world-wide mourning. She is digital. She is virtual. Yet she encompasses industries beyond the bounds usually associated with her origin. Her name is Lara Croft. She is a video-game character who has grown to be an iconic figure and the definitive luminary of today’s gaming industry.

Lara Croft made history in 1996 by being the first-ever successful lead female character in the industry of gaming. Having been the star of the revolutionary video-game Tomb Raider, Lara instantly became popular with gaming fans. It did not take long, however, before Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider fame would become Tomb Raider of the Lara Croft fame. Quoting Tim Soete of gaming website Gamespot.com, “Lara Croft, the protagonist in Tomb Raider, has become a sort of unwitting spokesperson for Eidos' new computer adventure. As the cover girl for just about every hard copy gaming magazine this year, this globe-trotting, gun-happy lass had become the matron saint of a new revolution in 3D gaming before the title even hit the shelves." Lara’s enormous popularity, according to Gamefaqs.com, has by far spawned eighteen video-game titles (in only ten years, as of 2006) as well as several cameo appearances in other games. And that is only within the gaming industry.

I was ten years old when the big-budget Hollywood film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider starring Angelina Jolie hit theatres worldwide. Paramount Pictures then came up with a sequel entitled Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life. The films have made Lara even more popular, even with non-video-gamers. She has since claimed mammoth fan-bases, further escalating her status as an idol.

Keying in ‘Lara Croft’ or ‘Tomb Raider’ in the search dialogue box of Amazon.com would stage hundreds of products other than the games themselves. Lara Croft has also been the subject of over twenty published books, some chronicling all-new tomb-raiding adventures, some based on the official Tomb Raider games and movies, and some even wholly devoting hundreds of pages to Lara Croft’s life story (character biography) and massive success as a virtual celebrity such as Lara’s Book by Douglas Coupland. Additionally, Lara has also graced hundreds of magazine covers (both gaming and non-gaming) including Time, Rolling Stone, The Economist, The Face, Newsweek, and even Playboy, making her claim titles such as the first true supermodel of the cyber age, the ultimate virtual idol, and Britain’s ambassadress of scientific excellence, among others. Top Cow Productions (a comic book-publishing company) took this cue and dedicated series upon series of comic books to Lara Croft and her exploits.

The world of fashion has also apparently fallen for Lara at some point. Lara has modeled signature brands such as Gucci and Prada in her magazine appearances, sporting actual brands of weaponry like Uzi. Moreover, Lara has her set of real-life supermodels (lovely ladies taking the role of Lara Croft), representing her in engagements that entail her personal presence; one of which would be her acceptance of numerous prestigious awards including the Guiness World Record of Most Successful Human Video-Game Heroine just recently for “transcending the boundaries of video-games and becoming a recognizable figure in mainstream society.” Lara Croft was also a nominee for TIME’s Top 20 Most Influential Figures of the 20th Century, and received recognition from BAFTA for her success in the entertainment industry.

It does not stop there. Lara has also been the star of numerous product advertisements, paving way for some television appearances, which is rather unusual for a computer-generated character. The long list includes Lucozade—an energy drink that has become even more popular in Britain (thanks to Lara). The product even changed its name at one point. It was called Larazade for quite a long period of time. SEAT Cars (a Spanish car company) has also had the privilege of having the world-famous tomb-raider as its endorser. Lara has battled a colossal monster inside her manor for a commercial for Visa Asia. The men behind G4, a male-oriented television network in the United Kingdom, has found Lara as a subject of their infatuation, and so paid a considerable sum to have her star in their promotional footages. True to the tradition of having hugely popular celebrities endorsing its product, Pepsi Cola has had Lara star in one of its commercials. And then there is Domino Pizza, Sony Erricson, Nike, Timex, Bud, and many more. The list goes on…until now.

While such feats may already be considered highly impressive, Lara still hasn’t bared all. Under her name are several lines of merchandise manufactured by different companies. Hot Wheels (a manufacturer of toy cars) has based a series of products on Lara Croft as a tomb-raider. There have also been a perfume, a clothing line, an energy drink, published books (as mentioned earlier), and countless toy figures.

Other remarkable feats brought forth by Lara’s stardom include her big screen guest appearance in one of the major concerts of the famous band U2. Britain’s Gordonstoun School for Girls somehow took hold of a boost in its prominence when Lara represented the institute in its publicity campaigns. Lara, in her former official biography, attended the said school as a young girl, and this led to the aforementioned breakthrough for a video-game character.

Helen Kennedy of Game Studies, in her dissertation, contends that:

The feminist reception of Lara Croft as a game character has been ambivalent to say the least. The question itself presupposes an either/or answer, thereby neatly expressing the polarities around which most popular media and academic discussions of Lara Croft tend to revolve. It is a question that is often reduced to trying to decide whether she is a positive role model for young girls or just that perfect combination of eye and thumb candy for the boys.

Lara Croft as a renowned figure of our time has been identified both as a feminist icon and a…cyberbimbo—a classy sex symbol, somewhat. On one hand, she has represented female empowerment for almost a decade, never having been romantically associated with any male characters. A total independent woman. A breath of fresh air amidst an abundance of stereotypical damsels in distress. She was once referred to as the worthy rival to the massive sway and manly prowess of Indiana Jones. On the other hand, Lara has also been somehow established as a refined sexy star, posing in revealing yet stylish bikinis for publicity, conforming to the mindset that sex does sell. A fan-made expansion pack to the PC version of one Tomb Raider game was wildly circulated in early 2000. The said expansion pack contained a program called Nude Raider that makes Lara raid tombs topless, and this eventually became such a big controversy. Other testimonies that further give emphasis on Lara’s sex appeal are her various appearances in male-oriented publicities such as G4, the television network, and Playboy magazine. Indeed, she is a total embodiment of the well-known maxim: women want to be her; men want to be with her.

But it actually depends on how one looks at her. Either way, she is Lara Croft, the illustrious, unparalleled, emblematic leading lady of today’s gaming industry.