History Franchise / TombRaider

* {{Fanservice}}:
** Sexual: Lara, of course, is the main source of this in the franchise. ''Legend'' gives most of its male cast huge also, muscular frames and half-unbuttoned shirts. The 2013 reboot averts this, toning down the boobage and slathering a thick layer of dirt, grime, and blood over everything else.
** Non-sexual: ''Anniversary'' is filled with references to the other games in the series, ''Underworld'' features a few {{Continuity Nod}}s and some ContinuityCreep.

* SequelDifficultySpike: ''Tomb Raider II'' is significantly harder compared to the first game by adding more death traps and more gunmen. ''Tomb Raider III'' cranks up the difficulty further by introducing enemies that can poison you, throwing even more death traps at you, [[CameraScrew awkward camera angles for the sake of an "interesting" view]], darker environments so it is difficult to see, and having the game's NoGearLevel take away ''all'' of your items (except for save crystals and a small health kit) whereas the previous two games lets you keep all your med kits and bullets.

* IconicOutfit: Lara's getup on the original game (one of the three seen in the picture above), consisting of green tank top, brown shorts, boots and backpack.

** Any leftover modesty leaves in Underworld, where Lara dons a [[LeotardOfPower swimsuit-leotard]] for significant portions of the game.

* MisplacedWildlife: Are those [[PiranhaProblem piranhas]] in India? And lions in Egypt and China? They're extinct in both those places. There's also a bonus level in "The Golden Mask" (an expansion pack for Tomb Raider II) sees you fight a ''T-Rex'' and a large bird monster... in a Las Vegas hotel. Justified in that it's supposed to be Lara's nightmare.

* MultiPlatform

* ShesGotLegs: At the end of ''Tomb Raider II'', Lara is wearing a very short bathrobe.
** Lara's costume fully reveals her legs in ''Legend'', ''Anniversary'' and ''Underworld'' (thanks to incredibly short shorts).

* KillerGorilla: In Greece, of all places. Handwaved by having them imported to [[GladiatorGames fight in the Colosseum,]] though it [[FridgeLogic makes one wonder]] how they're still there after all these years.
** And why the hell they were brought there in the first place since GladiatorGames were [[AncientGrome Roman,]] [[CriticalResearchFailure not Greek]].

In 2009, Creator/SquareEnix acquired Eidos as a subsidiary, which also got them Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise. In 2022, Square-Enix announced plans to sell most of their Western studios and franchises to Embracer Group, making them the new owners of both Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise.

'''Core Design era (Original Timeline)'''
* ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' (1996)

'''1st Crystal Dynamics era (Legend Timeline)'''

'''2nd Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix era (Survivor Timeline)'''

* UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents: In the original ''VideoGame/TombRaider'', Natla has a Texan accent, Larson has a hillbilly accent, and The Kid's accent makes him sound like he is from New Jersey. In the ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary Anniversary]]'' remake, Natla loses her accent and becomes more refined and almost mysterious. Larson's accent changes to Texan. For both of these characters, the changes are either due to a different vision from the developers or hiring new voice actors.

** Subverted in the [[VideoGame/TombRaider first game]] and [[VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary Anniversary]], where bears are one of the weakest enemies and exist only in first two opening levels. They easily pale in comparison with not only raptors, but also other animals from further levels.

* CanonWelding: Due to being a soft reboot, ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderLegend Legend's]]'' (and thus entire L[[VideoGame/TombRaiderAnniversary A]][[VideoGame/TombRaiderUnderworld U]] trilogy) continuity is best described as three parts Core-era Tomb Raiders, two parts ''Film/LaraCroftTombRaider'' and a generous squeeze of [[Creator/TopCowProductions TopCow's]] comics, garnished with a peel from one of the official novels. Various bits from all over the franchise were mixed and matched together to create a new continuity. Most notable is the drastic change in Lara's relationship with her parents (or the fact they are both dead) and the general redesign of the Croft manor (which is the family estate, rather than private property of Lara). For comparison, the [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 2013 game]] went for hard reboot and decided to reinvent Lara from a scratch. ''Both'' of those takes on canon and Lara were controversial among players upon premiere.

** The first game didn't have a short tune play for completing a level like the sequels did. Likewise, the health bar in the first game was a solid beige color while the sequels used red (PC) or green to red (Playstation).

* EasilyForgiven: VideoGame/TombRaider2013 is Crystal Dynamics' second chance at the series (not to mention yet ''another'' ContinuityReboot), whereas Core Design only had one chance and were sacked after ''[=AoD=]''.

* InformingTheFourthWall: In the ''Franchise/TombRaider'' series, when requested to use an item or medipack that she can't use in the current situation, Lara flatly responds "No."

** in the original ''VideoGame/TombRaider'', as well as ''Anniversary'', Lara encounters a {{doppelganger}} of herself, which mimics her in every way, to the point at which if you shoot at it you will take harm. [[spoiler: You kill it by luring it into a BottomlessPit.]]

** ''[[VideoGame/TombRaider TR1]]'': Natla's henchmen disarm Lara before taking the Scion, and she has to go through Natla's mines to regain them one-by-one.

* PuzzleBoss: The original ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' had an alien boss which copied Lara's movements. Shooting at it caused Lara's health to go down as well, resulting in a simultaneous death. The only way to defeat it was to position Lara so that the alien, on their side of the room, walked into a pit. The recent "Anniversary" remake once again features the same boss, with the added complications of having to "cooperate" with the Doppelgänger in order to seal its fate.

* SuddenSequelDeathSyndrome: [[spoiler:Von Croy]] returns in ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderTheAngelOfDarkness Angel of Darkness]]'', only to be brutally killed off in the game's intro.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Lara in ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderTheAngelOfDarkness Angel of Darkness]]'', [[JustifiedTrope justified]] [[CharacterDevelopment given what she had to go through]] at the end of ''[[VideoGame/TombRaiderTheLastRevelation The Last Revelation]]''.

* {{Unreboot}}: Several ''VideoGame/TombRaider'' spinoffs - ''Lara Croft And The Temple Of Osiris'', ''Lara Croft Relic Run'' and ''Lara Croft Go'' - use the character design and voice actress from the first Crystal Dynamics era despite being released after the 2013 reboot.

*** Speaking of her ponytail, [[VideoGame/TombRaider2013 the reboot]] uses a new graphical effect called [[http://blogs.amd.com/play/tressfx/ TressFX]] to render Lara's hair, [[UpToEleven all several thousand strands of it]].

In 2009, Creator/SquareEnix acquired Eidos as a subsidiary, which also got them Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise. In 2022, Square-Enix announced plans to sell most of their Western studios and franchises to Creator/EmbracerGroup, making them the new owners of both Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise.

In 2009, Creator/SquareEnix acquired Eidos as a subsidiary, which also got them Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise. In 2022, Square-Enix announced plans to sell most of their Western studios and franchises to Embracer Group, making them the new owners of both Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise.

* NoGearLevel: [[OncePerEpisode Almost every game]] does this where Lara gets captured and loses her guns. This allows those particular sections to focus completely on exploration, instead of combat, as Lara is completely defenseless. Young Lara, as seen in the 4th and 5th games, is always unarmed. By ''The Angel of Darkness'', she gained the ability to punch and kick.

* NoobBridge: Sometimes happens. In the second major area in ''Tomb Raider: The Prophecy'' for UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance, there's one place where you just have to use the run button; if you never learned of it you'd be stuck with a door that just closes too soon. In ''Tomb Raider II'', there's an area where Lara must make a long jump into a pool of water far below. There is only a small square of space in the pool that isn't so shallow that it would lead to a lethal fall. However, even a perfectly executed running jump cannot reach it. This is the only point in the game where she absolutely must perform a dive while jumping in order to reach the small square of deep water.
** In the games made by Core, holding action button while jumping causes Lara to grab onto the edge of a block if she can't quite make it across. This is incredibly useful, so it's common for new players to get into the habit of always doing so. What isn't immediately obvious (and not mentioned in manual or tutorial) is that this also reduces the jump range slightly. In at least one place (in III), a jump is set up so that you will end up bouncing off the cliff face if you hold action, and land safely on the target if you don't.

* NoGearLevel: Almost every game does this where Lara gets captured and loses her guns. This allows those particular sections to focus completely on exploration, instead of combat, as Lara is completely defenseless. Young Lara, as seen in the 4th and 5th games, is always unarmed. By ''The Angel of Darkness'', she gained the ability to punch and kick.

* WeaponOfChoice: While Lara uses a variety of guns or other weapons, she's always seen DualWielding pistols, and can also be seen with a shotgun hung on her back as a secondary weapon. From the 2013 reboot and on, the bow takes center stage.

* WeaponOfChoice: While Lara uses a variety of guns or other weapons, she's always seen DualWielding pistols. Lara can also be seen with a shotgun hung on her back as a secondary weapon.

* RapunzelHair: Almost knee-length in ''IV'', but gets shorter in later games, as they usually portray her at a younger age.

In 2009, Creator/SquareEnix acquired Eidos as a subsidiary, which also got them Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise. In 2022, Square-Enix announced plans to sell most of their Western studios and franchises to Creator/EmbracerGroup, making them the new owners of the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise and Creator/CrystalDynamics.

* ''[[VideoGame/ShadowOfTheTombRaider Shadow of the Tomb Raider]]'' (2018)

In 2009, Creator/SquareEnix acquired Eidos as a subsidiary, which also got them Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise. In 2022, Square-Enix announced plans to sell most of their Western studios and franchises to Creator/EmbracerGroup. Once the deal goes through, it would make them the new owners of the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise and Creator/CrystalDynamics.

In 2009, Creator/SquareEnix acquired Eidos as a subsidiary, which also got them Crystal Dynamics and the ''Tomb Raider'' franchise.

** [[/index]]''Film/LaraCroftTombRaiderTheCradleOfLife'' [[index]](2003)

* Untitled ''Tomb Raider'' sequel (2021)

** Back when Core was still running the series, a FanNickname for positioning Lara in the corner was "boob angle", since the camera spinned for a while, after which it centered on Lara's bossom.

* AdventurerOutfit: Lara wears one of the most iconic in all media: hiking boots with cotton socks, khaki shorts, two gun holsters, a cyan tanktop, a small leather backpack and a pair of FingerlessGloves. Core's Lara was also very fond of ruby teashades.

* FingerlessGloves: Lara often wears these.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Subverted to hell in the first game and ''Anniversary''. Played straight and then subverted in ''Tomb Raider III'' (the first monkeys Lara comes across are harmless, although they will try to steal pickups, but later ones are hostile).

* BigBraToFill: Creator/AngelinaJolie didn't quite live up to some fans expectations. It wasn't her acting that was the problem though... Reportedly, Jolie was annoyed by this since she's already fairly big as it is and unlike in video games, she had to move/act/do stunts with them. Creator/AliciaVikander was also the target of discussion, and given she grew up a fan of the games, was quick to joke how her breasts "[[UsefulNotes/PolygonalGraphics weren't as pointy]] as the first Lara Croft".

%%* TheDragon: [[spoiler:Eckhardt.]]
* DualWielding: Lara is always carrying a pair of pistols, though she also uses dual magnums, automatic pistols, and uzis.

** The options menu in the first also had some designs that were changed in later games. The icon for the sound options was represented by a walkman, which was already dated by 1996 when the game launched. Later games would use a CD player for the sound options. The passport in the first game had a black cover and each page had an illustration. Future games would change the cover to red and made all the pages blank.
** Lara's signature ponytail was absent in the first game except in CG cutscenes. This was due to the game engine not being able to handle it without massive slowdown. Later games would give Lara her ponytail once the developers improved the game engine.

** Croft Manor was quite bare bones compared to its overhauls in the sequels. The very first iteration of Lara's mansion had no kitchen, no outside area, and no basement. The music room has a huge mat for Lara to practice her jumps and tumbling, which wasn't brought back in the sequels. The bedroom was also not present, but could be implied to be in mansion behind a non usable door where it would have been in later games.

* MoreDakka: As Lara's signature weapons are her dual pistols the dual uzis essentially function as this for her character (and were used almost as much as the pistols in earlier art for the series). Also, while other weapons had higher overall damage output the mix and agility and damage the Uzi's offered made them the overall best weapon of the first couple of games, although they were overshadowed by other weapons from ''Tomb Raider III'' onwards. Due to being a remake, ''Anniversary'' did give them some extra limelight again.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: In the first game, it is possible, upon completion of the game, to replay the game with every weapon unlocked - so it is possible to gleefully kill bats with uzis.

** You can also lock Lara's butler Winston in a freezer to keep him from following you in ''II''. And on the assault course, Lara actually uses him for target practise.

* EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks: Great Whites, Hammerheads, Blue Sharks, Greenland Sharks, Tigers, Lara can't swim in the ocean ever witrhoput her life being on the line.

* UnwinnableByMistake: ''Tomb Raider II'' has one for the Floating Islands level. When you pick up the gold dragon statue, you can jump off the area you're on and land in the previous areas of the level, which you would probably only do if you missed the stone dragon statue. However, if you do this and try to go back through the normal methods, the zipline used to enter the temple is stuck at the bottom instead of being reset. The only way out is to use a level skip cheat.

* ActionGirl: Lara Croft, an absolute badass.