“A famous explorer once said, that the extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are. I’d finally set out to make my mark; to find adventure. But instead adventure found me. In our darkest moments, when life flashes before us, we find something; Something that keeps us going. Something that pushes us. “
This is our list of the top 25 female characters of all-time.We’re counting down one by one until we reach the best of the best on Sept. 30.
14) Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) – 7 votes/162 points
Shaun: Lara Croft almost didn’t make my list at all, and as it was, she barely did at that. Because here’s the thing — I don’t know if there are many females that have been more damaging to the perception of females within the gaming industry as a whole than Lara Croft. Because yes, she’s iconic, but for all the wrong reasons. Specifically, two reasons.
Everyone knew who she was, but it wasn’t about the strength of her character, her strong dialogue, or her complex portrayal. It was boob city, and Lara was the president. I remember a bunch of people questioned Angelina Jolie having the lead role for the (terrible) Tomb Raider movie, but not because she would fail to capture the essence of the character, or that she wouldn’t have the physical prowess to handle the stunts — no, it was the fear that Angelina wasn’t endowed enough. It’s an unfortunate truth, but this was the conversation elicited when Lara Croft was the topic.
Then the Tomb Raider reboot happened, and for the first time, the developers decided to actually give miss Croft some character. Here we have a woman who is put in a primal situation, with the only goal to survive. She struggles with the morality of her first kill. She questions her ability to do what she has to do, but then does it anyways. She wrestles with the consequences of her ambition. All this is believable and compelling, and between this and the dialed back sexuality (not gone, unfortunately, but certainly dialed back), Croft became a great character.
Sure, most of this conflict about “survival realism” is thrown out the window when, maybe a day after committing her first kill, she’s murdering legions of armed guards and undead samurai, but it’s still a great foundation for Lara, and I hope to see more of this direction in Rise of the Tomb Raider.
Chris: The others have gone into great detail on Lara, so I’ll avoid saying a ton here. Why? Because here’s the dirty little secret: I’ve never played a Tomb Raider game. Not a single minute of a single entry. That’s not a great reflection on the series as a whole, regardless of my own fault in this. Hell, there were a couple of co-op entries in there, and that stuff is like crack to me. Still, nothing.
As an avid gamer, I’m still quite aware of who Lara Croft is. She was the buxom icon of the ‘90s, after all. I remember several different video game magazines that were all too eager to feature her on the front cover, because sex sells, right? And back then, there really weren’t many female characters to choose from, let alone one that would make you want to hide those magazines under your mattress because your parents wouldn’t understand. It was a complicated time, one that looks especially archaic by today’s standards.
It seems like in the Square Enix reboot, Lara manages to develop her character quite a bit. I’ve been close to taking the plunge and playing it, especially since I like archery in games. It’ll probably happen at some point, and it helps that Lara looks like a human being now and not a caricature of a 13-year-old’s fantasy. Progress in the video game industry is glacially slow at times, but Lara is proof that change can eventually break through.
One final note: 7 out of 11 votes is a huge showing for someone who didn’t make the top 10. She finished here because several of those votes were in the 21-25 range. Better luck next time, Lara.
Joseph: I like Lara Croft for something other than what she does. I like her for how she looks. Or rather, how her appearance has changed over the years. Look her up online and you will readily find an image
of her character model progression over time. She was once a buxom brunette in shorts. But as gamers wanted more realism to come with the better gaming systems, so too did they want a change in Lara.
And gaming companies responded. Where Lady Croft was once the epitome of unrealistic proportions, she has undergone a slow but necessary evolution to the woman we see today. And what’s more, fans have been enthusiastic about the change.
Lara deserves to be on this list because she has been the avatar of the kinds of positive changes that can take place when the gaming community decides to abandon ridiculous standards.
Jason: Lara Croft was my number one pick for best female character, but I totally get why she isn’t at the top. Lara has been a touchy subject over the years, what with her multiple games of vastly different qualities and her on-again off-again status as a sex symbol. In many ways she’s been both the strongest showing for a female character, as well as the weakest.
Regardless of your stance on Lara’s past, however, you cannot deny that she has a legacy. Lara Croft is a name that will forever be associated with both woman and video games. There is a reason that, when asked for his name, Wreck-It Ralph sarcastically replies with “Lara Croft.” Because that’s a name even a casual audience member will recognize and chuckle at. The Tomb Raider franchise is almost 20 years old now, and Lara has managed to survive more than a decade of games, comics, even movies! She transitions into almost any genre or medium, all without losing who she is as a character. She’s strong, sexy, intelligent and dangerous; she’s the modern day answer to Indiana Jones.
In many ways the things that make Lara such a strong an endearing character can best be summed up in the actress that portrayed her in the movies, Angelina Jolie. There is a reason that Ms. Jolie is one of the highest paid actress in Hollywood. She’s able to be both kick ass and sexy without losing any ground on either front. You don’t come out of watching Mr. & Ms. Smith saying “Brad kicked so much ass, it’s too bad Angelina was just eye candy.” No. You walk out of that movie amazed at how much ass those two equally beautiful people just kicked. Angelina, like Lara, can hold her ground with the big boys without hiding the fact that she’s a woman. Indeed, she embraces her sexuality and uses it to define her character just as much as any real person would.
Lara Croft’s history as a character may not be perfect, so I can understand why she didn’t get everyone’s vote. But despite what you think of her past, there is no denying that Lara’s legacy and character will be with us for years to come. There may be more interesting or unique characters on this list, but none deserve the top spot as the female video game character more than Lara Croft.
Cary: I still haven’t played the new Tomb Raider game, but I played Uncharted. Is that close enough?
Yeah, me and Croft don’t have much of history together; however, when the original Tomb Raider first came out, I remember reading criticism on how Croft was rendered, yet none of that mattered to anyone I knew who had played the game, boy or girl. They simply enjoyed the gameplay. Though I’m sure Croft’s character played a role in that somewhere.
Christine: I’ll admit, I’ve never played a Tomb Raider game in my entire life because I wasn’t much of a gamer as a kid. But seeing the gameplay and knowing who Lara Croft is in my non-gamer days, it’s impossible not to see why Lara Croft is such a well-known and iconic video game character. She’s also one of the few female video game characters we had in the early years of gaming who wasn’t simply there to be rescued or take a backseat to the main male character. Lara Croft is an adventurer and a badass with a gun. She doesn’t need anyone to save her when she can easily save herself.
TOP 25 FEMALE CHARACTERS
Introduction/Honorable Mention
Gray Areas 