Created by a team at British developer Core Design that included Toby Gard, the character first appeared in the video game Tomb Raider in 1996.

The character's influence in the industry has been a point of contention among critics; viewpoints range from a positive agent of change in video games to a negative role model for young girls.

At the age of twenty-one, she survived a plane crash, which left her stranded in the Himalayas for two weeks; the experience spurred her to shun her former life and seek other adventures around the world.

It is on this expedition that Lara is stranded on a remote island full of natural, human and supernatural dangers, which enables her to develop from an untested young woman to a survivor.

[20] Core Design, a subsidiary of Eidos,[e] created Lara Croft as the lead protagonist of its video game Tomb Raider, which began development in 1994.

[19][27] Inspired by pop artist Neneh Cherry and comic book character Tank Girl,[28] Gard experimented with different designs, including "sociopathic blonds, muscle women, flat topped hip-hopsters and a Nazi-like militant in a baseball cap".

[19] Gavin Rummery, programmer on the first two Tomb Raider games, explained: "It had been dropped from the original because it just didn't work properly with all the acrobatic moves—it was more like she had an electric eel attached to her head that had a life of its own.

[19] Gard left Core Design after completing Tomb Raider, citing a lack of creative freedom and control over marketing decisions related to the ideas he developed (especially Lara Croft).

Feeling the series lacked innovation, Core Design decided to kill the character and depicted Croft trapped by a cave-in during the final scenes of the game.

[19][43] The Angel of Darkness was received poorly, prompting Eidos—fearing financial troubles[f] from another unsuccessful game—to give development duties for future titles to Crystal Dynamics, another Eidos subsidiary.

[19][52] The designers aimed to portray Croft with more emotional depth, and focused on the character's desire to achieve the end goal of the game, culminating in killing one of the antagonists.

[10][54][55] To achieve a more natural appearance, the developers added spherical harmonics to provide indirect lighting to in-game objects like Lara Croft.

[55] Crystal Dynamics made the character model more complex and detailed than previous instalments, featuring more texture layers that determine the appearance of shadows and reflective light on it, and using skeletal animation to portray believable movement.

[56] The developers enhanced Croft's facial model by increasing the number of polygons, bones used in the animation skeleton, and graphical shaders in the face to add more detail and expressive capabilities.

In redesigning the character's appearance, the designers began with simple concepts and added features that it felt made Lara Croft iconic: a ponytail, "M-shaped" lips, and the spatial relationship between her eyes, mouth, and nose.

[62] Lara Croft primarily appears in the Tomb Raider video game series published by Square Enix Europe (previously Eidos Interactive).

[76] Eidos rebooted the series with Tomb Raider: Legend (2006), which focuses on Lara Croft's search for Excalibur and her mother, altering the character's backstory as part of the redesign.

Acknowledging the character's "huge fan base" and recognisable appearance, director Simon West sought an actress with acting ability as well as physical attributes similar to Croft.

[112][114] The creative staff was given considerable freedom to re-interpret the character; they did not consult the video game designers, but were given a guide listing acceptable and unacceptable practices.

[10][19][89][30][38] Retro Gamer staff attributes Croft's "iconic" status in part to the Lucozade commercials, calling them one of the most memorable advertisements to use video game elements.

Pieces included oil and airbrushed paintings, photo comics, and Klinnert's model; SZM Studios provided the computer-generated footage it had created for Die Ärzte's music video and the Brigitte magazine television commercial.

[140] Core Design was granted an injunction against the magazine to protect the character's image; Playboy was ordered to place stickers on the cover of the issue to conceal the reference to Tomb Raider.

[10][52][152] IGN editor Colin Moriarty stated that while she began as an intelligent and strong female character, her games grew bland and Lara Croft became more like a "virtual blow-up doll".

[160] Enthusiasts collected merchandise and paraphernalia, submitted fan art to video game magazines, participated in Croft cosplay, and obtained tattoos depicting the character.

[161][162][163][164] One admirer rode a bike over 500 miles (800 km) from Amsterdam to Derby wearing Lara Croft-brand clothing to meet the developers, who welcomed him after learning of the trip.

[45] Male players have performed in-game actions to make Lara Croft repeatedly say phrases and view closer camera angles of her bust, while pornography featuring the character has been distributed via the internet.

The journal Leonardo noted some feminists' negative reaction to her design; though males were identifying with their feminine side through Croft, she reinforced unrealistic ideals about the female body.

[124] The magazine's editors also criticised Core Design's hypocritical attempts to downplay the character's sex appeal in public statements while releasing advertisements that prominently featured Lara Croft's sexuality.

German psychologist Oscar Holzberg described the protective behaviour as the result of the opportunity to act as a hero in virtual worlds and a fear of powerful, emancipated women.

[30][227] It became the second highest-grossing video game movie in 2010, after the release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time,[228] with Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life as the fourth.