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Look to the Croft
Lara Croft was once the first lady of video games. While other mascots represented a single game or company, Lara epitomized '90s-era gaming as a whole. Her dual pistols, skimpy outfit, and cocksure attitude were the holy trifecta of escapist entertainment, promising Indiana Jones-style action with all the sex appeal that technology could squeeze out of 1996 hardware.
Re\Visioned: Tomb Raider Animated Series
This 10-part compilation of animated shorts did for Tomb Raider what The Animatrix did for The Matrix. Each episode was produced by a different artist/writer combo who bring their own distinct style to the world of Tomb Raider. Re\Visioned was released in 2007 via GameTap - an online gaming service that appears to be defunct now in all but name - but if you poke around YouTube you'll find a few intrepid users have excavated this series from the digital ruins.
She's a Guinness World Records holder
At one point it seems Lara Croft and the Tomb Raider series held as many as six Guinness World Records, though today, Guinness' official website only recognizes two of them: "Best-selling videogame heroine" and "Most official real-life stand-ins for a videogame character." There's also an entry for "Largest collection of Tomb Raider memorabilia" held by Spanish collector Rodrigo Santos and his 2,383 pieces of Lara-related swag.
Angelina Jolie plays Lara in two movies
In a testament to Lara Croft's international popularity, two big-budget Hollywood movies were produced based on the Tomb Raider franchise. Angelina Jolie was cast in the leading role, and while popular opinion praised her portrayal of Ms. Croft, her acting prowess wasn't enough to rescue these movies from becoming a nonsensical mess. Both Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life received poor reviews, but they're still some of the best video game movies released yet (which really says something).
She's also an accomplished musician
At some point in the mid-'90s, Dave Stewart - who's half of the French pop duo Eurythmics - met up with Rhona Mitra - a model and actress portraying Lara Croft in various ads at the time - to co-produce two concept albums about the famous archaeologist. Mitra recorded the lyrics for Lara Croft: Come Alive and Lara Croft: Female Icon in-character and - as the story goes - the recording studio itself was a boat sailing down the Amazon river. We'd expect nothing less from this globetrotting adventurer.
Lara Croft had a spot on the Walk of Game
Created in 2005, the Walk of Game was the video game equivalent of Hollywood's Walk of Fame, honoring notable games, characters, and creators. Each entrant received his or her own custom floor tile featuring a little guy who looks suspicious like Commander Video from Bit.Trip Runner. However, in 2012, the area where the tiles were located was bought up by Target, who subsequently removed all those tacky stars. Who knows where they ended up.
There's a road in Lara's hometown named after her
Tomb Raider was originally developed by British developer Core Design, located in the city of Derby, England. In 2010, the citizens of Derby voted to name one of their new roads 'Lara Croft Way' in honor of their virtual hometown heroine. According to the BBC, Lara took home almost 90-percent of the vote, beating out an astronomer, a football star, and an engineer (all of whom are actual people).
