The June 2026 State of Play showcase gave us a better have a look at the upcoming Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, which serves as a (second) remake of the unique 1996 Tomb Raider. As I watched Lara Croft flip, grapple, and swing her means by means of the launch date trailer, one thought saved resurfacing in my thoughts: “Lara seems nice.” However additional investigation is beginning to make me surprise if I am the one one who thinks so.
The State of Play livestream wasn’t the primary time gamers have laid eyes on the brand new Lara–that occurred again in December, when Crystal Dynamics debuted the recreation’s first trailer at The Sport Awards. The response to Lara’s look was prompt, with gamers and recreation critics alike calling out her new look as “anti-woke” and “yassified.” One Redditor even described her outfit as “giving intercourse doll [vibes].” I chalked most of that as much as totally different strokes for various people, and figured individuals would regulate to Lara’s new look–which is way tamer than her authentic 1996 look, however considerably just like her look within the 2013 reboot trilogy–over time.
However the response to the brand new trailer proved me improper. Gamers are nonetheless referring to Lara’s new look as “yassified” and complaining that her arms aren’t muscular sufficient. Usually talking, the primary complaints appear to be that she wears eyeliner and has a curvy physique. (Although after all, there are these on the opposite facet of the spectrum arguing that her breasts are too small.) Even fictional girls cannot win within the courtroom of public opinion, it appears. However all of the hubbub during the last six months relating to Lara’s appearance–especially claims that she’s too skinny, too thick, or sporting an excessive amount of makeup–genuinely have me questioning if we’re trying on the identical character mannequin right here.
What these complaints actually appear to boil right down to is that Lara is simply too female. She’s sporting eyeliner within the jungle! She has a curvy body! The horror!
Absolutely I am not the one Tomb Raider fan who’s conscious that Lara is just not solely canonically feminine, but in addition canonically a femme fatale. Her attract is an important a part of her character. The artists behind her Legacy of Atlantis design truthfully might have gone somewhat tougher when it comes to making her “look horny” and nonetheless gotten away with it. They did not, and I am glad, as a result of Lara’s intercourse enchantment has all the time been part of each her look and her persona. However the level stays: Bodily attractiveness has all the time been a weapon in Lara’s arsenal, and making an attempt to strip that out of a remake of the unique recreation is each weird and, frankly, offensive.
After I first stepped into Lara Croft’s boots within the Nineteen Nineties, she was rocking eyeliner and darkish lipstick (the latter being a remnant of ’90s vogue that has since fallen out of favor, therefore her pure lip shade in current installments). Her hip-to-waist ratio was the type you’ll by no means discover in nature, and she or he was sporting big, horrifying polygon-boobs. Each advert for the sport made it clear that Lara’s design was meant to titillate males in the beginning.
And you understand what? I liked her anyway. At that time, I used to be simply excited to have a recreation the place enjoying as a feminine character was even an possibility. I’ve raised my requirements within the a long time since then, and can be eye-rolling with the remainder of you if Legacy-Lara had comically enormous breasts and an impossibly tiny waist. However she would not. She has a historically engaging face and body–not an unnatural, unattainable one. Her shorts are not any shorter than they had been again in ’96, her tank prime is a lot modest, her footwear is sensible, and no jiggle physics are at play. If Lara’s “too horny” on this trailer, then I am “too horny” on my common tenting journey.
This model of Lara is truly sporting much less blush and eyeliner than she was in 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and I do not bear in mind listening to practically as many complaints about her being overly engaging again then. The truth is, the primary criticism on the time was that she was too muscular and “manly.” Legacy-Lara has thick eyelashes, however thick eyelashes are “in” proper now, and identical to her darkish lipstick within the ’90s, this appears to be a nod to present magnificence tendencies reasonably than an try to up her intercourse enchantment. Truthfully, the back-and-forth battle over Lara Croft’s physique has been raging because the minute she debuted.
Outdoors of the video games, the Tomb Raider franchise has sometimes toyed with giving Lara a extra masculine look. Essentially the most hanging instance is the Netflix animated sequence Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, which depicted Lara with thick, outlined biceps, a far much less curvy waist, and a broader, flatter chest. I did not benefit from the present a lot, largely as a result of the truth that Lara appeared and acted nothing like herself. A whole aspect of her personality–her expertise for weaponizing her allure–was merely erased in an effort to make her appear bodily and emotionally “robust,” as if she wasn’t each of these issues already. I am extraordinarily pleased to see that Crystal Dynamics did not go in that path for Legacy of Atlantis, identical to I am pleased to see that they did not over-sexualize her.
Do not get me wrong–gender-non-conforming characters (particularly feminine ones) deserve their place in fiction. The extraordinarily optimistic participant response to characters like Karlach in Baldur’s Gate 3 show that there is loads of like to go round for masculine feminine characters. Sure, the gaming trade ought to make room for these characters of their video games’ narratives, however it should not come at the price of turning a beloved female character from a long-running franchise into somebody no person acknowledges, and it is beginning to really feel like that is in the end what some gamers need from Legacy of Atlantis. That is fairly ironic. I battle to think about something much less feminist than the implication {that a} feminine character wants her female traits sanded away to be seen as succesful or plausible.
The very fact is, girly women exist, and that is completely okay. Lara has all the time been each a girly woman and a complete badass no matter whether or not she’s showing in a gritty reboot or a extra lighthearted remake, and her willingness to embrace her femininity is a big a part of why I really like her. If I had been the one swinging from grappling hooks and exploring secret ruins, you’ll be able to wager your ass I would be doing it in eyeliner, too. It is simply who I’m, and it is who Lara has all the time been. Generally eyeliner is eyeliner, however generally it is struggle paint.
In fact, as I write this, the standard suspects are taking to social media to complain that Lara’s new look is truly not female sufficient. Her breasts are too small! She seems an excessive amount of like a human lady! The horror!
Like I stated, even fictional girls cannot win. However Lara’s look in Legacy of Atlantis is not hurting anybody, and whereas she is kind of fairly, nothing about her magnificence feels unrealistic, hypersexualized, or over-the-top to me.
Truthfully, the one side of Legacy-Lara’s look that is actually price being mad about is the truth that it was probably generated by AI.
