Later this year will see the premiere of Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, a game that will retell the story from the first game in the series. It's often described as a reimagining rather than a remake, but still features the classic Lara in the lead role, a character we all know exactly what she looks like.
However, it could have been different, at least in Japan. When the first game was about to be released, the local publisher Victor wanted to make Lara Croft more Japanese to better suit the Japanese audience. This is now revealed by Tomb Raider co-creator Paul Douglas via Bluesky, where he also writes that they refused. As a kind of compromise, however, Victor was allowed to make a Japanese Lara for the instruction manual:
"Victor wanted us to change in-game Lara to appeal more to a Japanese audience. Huge eyes/head etc. They faxed through examples really late in dev. Toby Gard really didn't want to alter Lara. As a compromise all that was changed was the manuals & guide."
So what did this Japanese Lara Croft look like? Well, a little more manga-like with bigger eyes and overall rounder shapes. You can check out the result in the Bluesky post below.
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