Characters / Tomb Raider (2013)

This page lists characters that exist within the universe first established in the 2013 Continuity Reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise. For characters from previous continuities, please go to this page. For characters introduced in Rise of the Tomb Raider, see here. For characters introduced in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, see here.

Main Protagonist

Lara

Lara Croft

Voiced by: Camilla Luddington (English), Yuko Kaida (Japanese), Polina Shcherbakova (Russian)

"I don't think I'm that kind of Croft..."

Lara Croft is a young, British archaeologist that is searching for meaning and direction in her life after the disappearance of her parents. It was through her own suggestion and research (and her close relationship with the captain) that the Endurance and its crew sailed into the Dragon's Triangle in search of the lost kingdom of Yamatai... though it hardly turns out to be what they expected. After stranding on the island, Lara must adapt to its hostile environment quickly, in the process discovering a part of herself she never even knew was there.

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See her page.

Endurance Crew

Sam

Samantha "Sam" Nishimura

Voiced by: Arden Cho and Chieko Hidaka (English), Asami Imai (Japanese), Natalia Fischuk (Russian)

"I won't leave without you."

A young, adventurous woman of Japanese-Portuguese origins, Sam is in charge of filming the entire expedition and is also partly responsible for its funding, via her uncle. As a descendant of Himiko, Sam is very knowledgeable about the myths that surround the sun queen — and can be somewhat over-eager in sharing them. It is her ancestral relationship to Himiko that rouses Lara's archaeological instincts and compels her to track down the location of Yamatai.

• Agent Mulder: Downplayed but for the first game Sam is The Mulder to Lara's Scully as Sam seems more willing to believe the idea that Himiko possessed some form of magical powers.
• All of the Other Reindeer: A minor example. She states in one of her journal entries that some saw her as just a ditsy American troublemaker with a camera. This is one of the reasons she and Lara became friends, as they both felt out of place, outcasts, of a sort.
• And I Must Scream: When Lara meets a friendly spirit, it states that Sam is suffering this trope as Himiko is "Strangling and Poisoning" her soul. Thankfully she gets better and Himiko ends up suffering this fate when she is trapped in the Wei Mirror.
• Anger Born of Worry: One of the reasons that Lara going off on her own causes such a strain on their friendship is because Sam doesn't know if Lara will make it back. This is also why she is willing to go with Lara into danger as it is the only way she'll know if Lara is safe.
• Arch-Enemy: To Himiko in the comics. Himiko taking over Sam's body caused Sam nothing but grief and Sam is the one person who kept Himiko from fully returning as she did everything she could from letting the Sun Queen take full control of her and reclaiming her power.
• Ascended Extra: While she was a major character in the first game she is given a much bigger role in the tie-in comics, becoming effectively the Deuteragonist of the series.
• Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: A rather serious example but it's strongly implied that one of the reasons Sam attempted to perform a Heroic Sacrifice was to make sure that Himiko could never hurt Lara.
• Badass Boast: Sam has quite a few of these believe it or not.

"Because, you well-dressed idiot... My friend will come for me."
"The Solarii, right. I remember them. Unlike you they actually were scary. Until Lara killed them all, I mean."
"I'm not tied up now, you bastard!"
"Yeah, you'd better run. I have more cupcakes, you know!"
"No. You cannot take me Himiko."

• Badass Bookworm: When she has down time Sam is seen, more often than, reading a book and uses this knowledge to help Lara. The best example is her reading up on the legend of the Chupacabra and organizing a fictitious film crew making a documentary to get into Mexico without drawing attention.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: She's often seen the latest fashion whereas Lara wears much more practical attire. We still see her wearing such cloths while possessed by Himiko in the Choice and Sacrifice arc which is one of the earliest signs that Himiko doesn't have full control over her. She also takes a Level in Badassery in the comics and by the end of the fifth arc she takes down Himiko in a battle of wills and before that, took on a Bull Shark and helped kill one of the big bads of the comics.
• Badass Normal: Like Lara, Sam often finds herself going up against cults, wild animals and ancient Demigods, and more often than not, it's Sam who comes out on top.
• Bad Powers, Good People: Sam is a good person who cares deeply for those she loves but because a piece of Himiko's soul resides in her, Sam gains some of her powers which includes some amount of control over the weather and some level of enhanced strength. However, she likely lost these powers when Himiko's soul was removed from her.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Wanted to find the home of her ancestors and learn more about the mythical Queen Himiko. They find it, but it turns out to be nothing like her grandmother described, but does allow her to learn everything there is to know about Himiko and becomes the Sun Queen's greatest nemesis.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: She is every bit as beautiful as Lara and is also one of the heroes of the series.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Unlike Lara, Sam's appearance remains jarringly unsullied, with her designer clothes entirely undamaged. Subverted in the fifth arc of the comics where Himiko's possession of her changes her appearance to appear more monstrous and she also stabs herself in the stomach which likely leaves a scar there.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Generally, a nice person who cares deeply for those she loves. But when push comes to shove she can be just as dangerous as Lara, which is something that Himiko found out the hard way.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Is rather easy going, loves to party and geeks out whenever talking about filming. She is also strong willed, intelligent and very resourceful.
• Beneath the Mask: Deconstructed as while Sam is a nice person who cares deeply for her friends and loved ones, the events on Yamatai left their mark on her. She often makes jokes and laughs in the face of danger but some of this is a coping mechanism she developed to deal with what happened to her.
• Big Damn Heroes: Saves Lara's life at least twice, the first of which happens when she kills the leader of the Solarii Worshipers at the end of the Season of the Witch arc and the second time from a Bull Shark during the second issue in the Queen of Serpents arc.
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths: In the Queen of Serpents arc, Sam acts almost full of herself as she, Lara, Jonah and Kaz make their way to Mexico. The others even make note of this but brush it aside given that they are following her plan. However, as the arc goes on it's implied that the reason Sam is acting this way is that after all the times Lara had to save her and the others she has developed something of an inferiority complex and is trying to prove to herself, and Lara, that she is useful and not someone Lara always needs to protect. It's likely that Himiko used these insecurities to further weaken Sam's will as it shortly after this event this that the Sun Queen begins to gain more control over Sam.
• Birds of a Feather: She and Lara have far more in common than one might think. Both have a love for undiscovered the past, traveling the world and share a bit of a sweet tooth. They are also both strong willed and determined, and when push comes to shove they are not people anyone would want as an enemy.
• Black Eyes of Evil: Her eyes turn completely jet black when possessed by Himiko in the Dark Horse comics.
• But Not Too Foreign: Born in America to a Portuguese mother and Japanese father.
• Bound and Gagged: During the Ritual of Flames.
• Boyish Short Hair: Her hair is notably shorter than Lara's.
• Brainy Brunette: She's actually quite smart as she's the one who comes up with the plan to save Grim's brother from a group of terrorists and the only thing that causes it to fall apart is Lara going off on her own instead of working with Sam to solve the problem.
• Break the Cutie: Before the start of the first game Sam was a fun-loving party girl obsessed with film-making. But after everything that happened to her throughout the series she has become much colder and it has a clear effect on her relationship with Lara.
• Breakout Character: Sam was originally supposed to die in the first game but due to her likable personality and her relationship with Lara she was spared. Her popularity increased thanks to the comics and she became arguably the Deuteragonist of the series as she had the most overall development of the cast outside of Lara herself. Appeared in more issues than any other character, (23 issues in total), again with only Lara surpassing her. She is also the only character to have an entire arc focused on her, which was the one where she was finally freed of Himiko and was the one who ultimately freed herself from Himiko's grasp.
• Broken Bird: Hoo boy, where do we ever start. She gets shipwrecked on an island, is kidnapped by crazy cultists who try to burn her alive to see if she is the chosen one. Sees several of her friends die which she likely blames herself for since she helped financed the voyage to Yamatai which would never have happened had she never told Lara about her heritage which likely adds to her survivor's guilt. Sees her best friend turn into a killing machine just to protect her and the rest of the crew of the Endurance. Is captured yet again and is nearly possessed by an evil demigod. Has nightmares about said possession for several months and soon learns that said demigod succeeded in getting a piece of her soul inside her, causing her to have violent outbursts which results in her getting sent to jail for assaulting a random bystander, which then leads to her getting sent to a mental hospital as Himiko's possession of her makes it seems like she has suffered a mental breakdown. Said mental hospital is then taken over by Trinity in an attempt to strengthen Himiko's connection to the Divine Source which results in Himiko gaining full control over Sam. Lara is able to find an ancient mirror that could free Sam of Himiko by removing her soul and is able to capture the two and takes Sam to it. However, as Himiko tries to escape with the intent of killing Lara Sam is able to briefly regain enough control to stab herself in order to protect Lara. Thankfully the mirror removes Himiko's soul from Sam, and Sam is then treated for her stab wound. Thankfully Sam has a good chance of being cleared of all charges thanks to Trinity's interference and her and Lara's relationship seems to have been somewhat mended. But Sam is still suffering a great deal of trauma and her relationship with Lara has yet to be fully mended.
• Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: While she was able to over power and free herself from Himiko's control the effort almost killed her as she had stabbed herself in order to weaken Himiko's grip.
• Character Development: Thanks to the comics Sam has grown from a terrified young woman to an Action Girl with only Lara surpassing her. The best example of this is her relationship with Himiko. In the first game Sam was clearly (and justifiably) terrified of Himiko and needed to be saved by Lara. At the end of the fifth comic arc Sam remained defiant and in the end, it was Himiko who was screaming in terror of losing her soul while Sam remained calm and in control. Another good example of Sam's growth is how she composes herself when she is held captive. In the first game she was, again justifiably, terrified. But when she finds herself in similar situations she instead mocks her captors, even laughing in their faces as she knows Lara is coming for her and that their days are numbered. In fact, the only time she shows any signs of fear is when it looks as though Lara might be killed, at which point she voluntarily offers herself to be sacrificed to Himiko, in hopes that her act will allow Lara to be spared.
• The Chosen One: A very twisted version of the trope. Sam is the first woman in several hundred years to be chosen by the Sun Queen to rule over Yamatai, which sounds really good... until you learn that what this really means is that Himiko has chosen to possess Sam and use her body as a vessel to leave Yamatai and destroy the world.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Suffers this when Trinity attempts to strength Himiko's connection to the Divine Source.
• The Confidant: She is the only person Lara divulges her deepest fears to, whether it's her uncertainty in her findings or just being scared to perform on stage for a play. Even Jonah, Roth and Lara's old butler Winston didn't see Lara's more vulnerable side, Sam seems to be the only one to which Lara is willing to express her fears.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Or side kick but the social butterfly and very feminine Sam is this for the rather anti-social, manly man Zip.
• The Cutie: Not exactly sweet per-say, but she's one of the nicest characters in the series and provides most of the comedy in the comics.
• Damsel in Distress: Sam tends to spend the majority of the story in the captivity of the Solarii. The interquel comics and novel also retread this role for her.
• Damsel out of Distress:
  • It's not overt, but she steals the radio of a guard at one point to communicate with Lara. Not only that, but soon after she's freed by Lara, she gets separated from her and manages to make her way through the Solarii fortress by herself. At one point, she encounters a group of scavengers and cleverly takes advantage of the fact that they don't want to kill her by scaring them away with a gun (even shooting one), using the ensuing confusion to make her escape.
  • The comics continue this trend as while Sam does get captured a few times in the tie-in comics she proves to be very useful and competent and is able to get herself out of trouble a few times without Lara's help. She even saves Lara at least twice in the comics which demonstrates how far she's come.
• David Versus Goliath: A spiritual version of the Tropes as when Sam and Himiko have their final confrontation at the end of the Choice and Sacrifice arc we see how Himiko appears in Sam's mind, she makes herself seem large in an attempt to scare her. It doesn't work.
• A Day in the Limelight: Gets an entire arc dedicated to her struggle to free herself from Himiko. While Lara is the character we focus on for most of the story Sam is the real hero of the arc. And while Lara provides with the means to defeat Himiko it is Sam who has to finish the job and force Himiko out of her body and soul. And she is victorious in the end.
• Deadpan Snarker: Of the good nature variety but she will take jabs at her friends and especially Lara.
• Death Glare: Gives one to Himiko during their final confrontation in the comics. It actually unsettles Himiko enough for her to start demanding that Sam obey her — it doesn't work.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Of the Damsel in Distress. Sam has been captured four times over the course of the series and Lara had to save her each time. This has a profound effect on Sam as she seems to have developed an Inferiority complex as a result and likely feels that Lara doesn't see her as an equal anymore. Not helping matters is Lara always trying to protect Sam which causes quite a strain on their relationship, one that nearly destroys it for good.
• Defiant to the End: Spend at least a year fighting against Himiko's control and makes it clear in their final confrontation that she not only has no intention of giving up but will make sure Himiko is stopped no matter what.
• Delinquent Hair: When Lara and Sam first met in college Sam had this haircut.
• Demonic Possession: The comics reveal that she still has a big piece of Himiko's soul in her.
• Designated Victim: Gets captured a few times throughout the series and is the one who ultimately defeats Himiko through sheer force of will and has even saved Lara a few times.
• Determinator: Despite Himiko being effectively a Demigod Sam is able to fight her control for well over a year. Trinity unwittingly helped Himiko strengthen her hold over Sam and even then, Sam was still able to resist and was even able to force the Demigod to look upon the Wei Mirror.
• Deuteragonist: In the comics out of all of the supporting characters Sam has the most overall character development, has the most interaction with Trinity and takes out the series' first villains when she defeats Himiko in a battle of wills.
• Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Defeats Himiko in a Battle of Wills by first regaining enough control to stab herself and then forces Himiko to look upon the Wei Mirror which results in the Sun Queen's soul being removed from Sam and trapped in the artifact. It's worth noting that during their final confrontation Sam remains calm and in control while Himiko is clearly terrified of the fact that Sam is fighting back.
• Doom Magnet: Got kidnapped by a crazy cult, was almost possessed by a crazed Demigod, got kidnapped a second time by the same damned cult, discovered that Himiko had gotten a piece of her soul into her after all, was eventually fully possessed and tried to sacrifice herself to protect her friend. Thankfully she was finally freed of Himiko's control and thanks to Trinity's interference she was likely cleared of most charges.
• The Dreaded: For Himiko, she actually ends up fearing Sam more than she ever does with Lara. If anything, the latter seemed to be more of an annoyance than anything but when Sam began fighting back Himiko was visibly afraid of her.
• Establishing Character Moment: In the comics, when Sam is being held captive by the villain of the first arc she remains calm and just listens to his plan to use her as bait. Once he has finished Sam proceeds to laugh and taunt him, telling him that Lara will come for her and that his days are numbered. When he slaps her and tells her to keep her place Sam continues to insult him and point out that the Solarii were scary — until Lara killed them all.
• Evil Makes You Ugly: The effects of Himiko's possession of Sam are, not pretty, to say the least. Her eyes turn black and she gets what are either veins that are as black as her eyes or her skin cracking. Thankfully these do not seem to be permanent so Sam is not horribly scarred — on top of everything else the poor girl has gone through.
• Expy: A (somewhat) snarky, dark haired, eager filmmaker/reporter who can't stay out of trouble. Sam is the Tomb Raider's version of Lois Lane. She does admittedly grow into her own character as the series goes on though.
• Family Honor: At first, she deeply admires and respects Himiko, with Lara remarking that she absolutely loves to tell people about her. By the end of the game, after all she's been through, Sam explicitly says that she hopes she never hears Himiko's name again.
• Fan of the Past: Her favorite book is Pride and Prejudice and shares Lara's love of ancient history.
• Forgotten Fallen Friend: Averted. Like Lara, Sam remembers all those who died on Yamatai and does everything she can to help Lara protect Alex's and Grim's respective family members, whether it is forging a fake identity for Alex's sister Kaz or making a plan to help Lara to save Grim's twin brother when he is captured.
• Foil: To Lara. Sam is a gregarious Yank who draws attention to herself everywhere she goes while Lara is a London girl who tries not to get noticed. Sam is creative while Lara is studious. Sam is bold while Lara is shy. Finally, while Lara thinks mostly of the past, Sam lives in the now. Naturally they are best friends.
• Gamer Chick: Implied in the comics as we see a PlayStation in her and Lara's flat and we never see Lara playing any games at any point during the series so it's most likely Sam's.
• Good Is Not Soft: After Yamatai Sam became much more dangerous and is more than willing to fight and even kill her enemies if she is forced to.
• The Heart: Shares this role with Jonah. to quote Phillip Sevy, the artist for the Spore & Choice and Sacrifice arcs, "far as Lara goes into the world of adventuring, cults, spirits, ancient evil, artifacts, etc. – Sam is the person who grounds Lara and returns her to normalcy. This is perhaps best shown in the first game of the reboot and issue 17 of the comics when Sam gives Lara an impassioned speech about what Lara sees in her quest to dig up the past." It's very telling that after Sam was force to leave due to Himiko possessing her that Lara and Jonah's relationship started to fall apart.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: Thanks to Himiko's possession Sam is arrested for assault and later sent to a mental hospital as she is believed to have multiple personality disorder.
• Heroic Rematch: In the first game Lara had to save Sam from being possessed by Himiko and Sam was powerless to stop her. In Choice and Sacrifice Sam is able to overpower Himiko through strength of will alone and while Lara does provide Sam with the way to get rid of Himiko it is down to Sam to finish the job and force Himiko to look upon the Wei Mirror, resulting in Himiko's soul getting trapped in it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Thankfully Averted but Sam does attempt to Sacrifice herself to save Lara and the world from Himiko. Thankfully Lara found a way to remove Himiko's soul from Sam and Sam proved to be strong willed enough to exorcise the Demigodess. See Heroic Willpower below.
• Heroic Willpower: In the Fifth arc of the comics, Choice and Sacrifice, Sam has a Battle of Wills with Himiko for control of her body. And Sam WINS! What's more, it turns out that Sam had been fighting against Himiko's control for months after the Queen of Serpents arc and it was only when Trinity tried to strengthen Himiko's unknown connection to the Divine Source that Himiko was able to gain full control over Sam.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Lara and Sam became an inseparable team soon after their initial encounter at University College London, moving in together, partying together, travelling the world together, etc — Lara muses that their friendship should never have worked yet at the same cannot imagine her life without Sam.
• Hidden Depths: She is very well read with her favorite book being Pride and Prejudice and is also very familiar with Robinson Crusoe as shown in the first game. She is also good with people, a skilled planner and has some skills in hand to hand combat – though obviously not as good as Lara. She is also remarkably strong willed, something Himiko found out the hard way.
• Horrible Judge of Character: It turns out that trusting a random stranger on a mysterious island just because they bandaged your foot is not a good idea.
• Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Both she and Lara are dwarfed when compared to Jonah who towers over both of them, (and everyone else for that matter).
• I Can't Dance: Extroverted, Sam LOVES to dance and even asks Lara to go dancing with her when they first meet. There's even a picture of Sam dancing while Lara is working with the text of the picture saying, "I will teach you to Dance Lara Croft!"
• Idle Rich: Unlike Lara, who doesn't want anything to do with her inheritance, Sam lives quite happily on the money of her parents, spending it on expensive clothes and trips to exotic locales. She doesn't understand why Lara doesn't take advantage of her own money and sometimes ribs her about it.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: During her battle of wills with Himiko Sam stabs herself in the stomach in an attempt to destroy Himiko once and for all. Thankfully, after Himiko is removed, Sam is taken to a local hospital and is treated for her injury.
• Improv Fu: When Sam realizes she is being followed by a she decides that she is not going to get captured again and uses the only weapon she has on hand, cupcakes. This actually ends up working as she manages to blind henchman with the confection and beats him to the ground until he is able to get off a lucky shot and makes a run for it.
• Indy Ploy: Subverted, as the comics show Sam is actually a gifted planner as she comes up with a rather clever plan to get to Mexico and rescue "Grim" without anyone finding out. It's actually Lara's Indy Ploy that causes them to get caught in the end.
• Jumped at the Call: First in the Secrets and Lies arc when Lara learns that Alex's sister Kaz is in trouble Sam offers to go with Lara to help her and does so again in the Queen of Serpents arc when she and Lara go to save Grim's brother.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: This is one of her defining characteristics, as she is always seen wearing the latest fashion even when she's kicking ass.
• Kill the God: Well, not so much kills as, removed from her Soul and Imprisons in an ancient mirror, and the God is more of a Demigod, but same general trope.
• The Kirk: To Lara's Spock and Jonah's McCoy. Sam will often suggest a decision that isn't too "standstill" or too irrational.
• The Lancer: To Lara in the comics, she is pretty much the second lead and even comes up with the plan to save Grim's brother in the Queen of Serpents arc.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: While Sam may seem like less of a threat than Lara she can be a very dangerous enemy to have and can be quite threatening when she wants to be. Just ask Himiko how scary Sam can be.
• Living Emotional Crutch: Of all the people in her life Sam is the one person Lara fears losing the most. This is likely the main reason why she has insisted on keeping Sam out of her conflict with Trinity and seemed to be on the verge of the Despair Event Horizon when Sam almost died during their final confrontation with Himiko. However, this has caused a great deal of stress on the two women's relationship as while Sam is always willing to be there for Lara she feels that Lara has become overprotective of her which has caused them a few arguments that has really hurt their friendship. However, as shown in a hidden bit of dialogue in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, despite everything that has happened Sam is still willing to be there for Lara as she called her to see if she was okay.
• The Load: Averted in the tie-in comics by Dark Horse as every arc she has had a major role in she has proven to be just as clever, as brave and as strong as Lara. See Took a Level in Badass and Heroic Willpower for more details.
• Lonely Rich Kid: From everything we can gather Sam didn't have many friends when growing up as her parents kept sending her to schools around the world to get her the best education possible.
• Long Hair Is Feminine: Appears to have had hair as long as Lara's at one point as seen in one flashback.
• MacGuffin Girl: Her connection to Himiko makes her a suitable host for Himiko's soul and thus a compatible sacrifice, though the cultists don't seem to know this until the ritual begins, with the possible exception of their leader.
• Morality Pet: Shares this role with Jonah as she is the one who often tells Lara what a good friend and person Lara is. It's very telling that during Lara's hallucination in the Inferno arc Sam appeared as the only person who didn't try to guilt trip harm Lara in anyway and was instead the only "person" there who was actively trying to protect Lara.
• Ms. Fanservice: In the comics, especially when we contrast her to Lara, who is always rather modestly dressed. For example, in Tomb Raider: The Beginning, she spends most of her time trotting around in a skimpy red bikini.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Her reaction after Himiko takes control of her in the second to last issue of the Queen of Serpents arc and uses her to kill one of the Henchmen.
• Nice Girl: She's quick to reassure Lara whenever she's on edge and even soothes Whitman when he has a temper tantrum.
• Not Afraid to Die: As mentioned in Heroic Sacrifice above, during her final confrontation with Himiko Sam realizes that if Lara's plan fails and if Himiko escapes she (Himiko) will not stop until she has killed Lara for ruining her plans. This leads to Sam stabbing herself to make sure that no matter what happens Himiko will not leave the room alive, and she does so without any hesitation or regret. Thankfully Lara's plan does work and Himiko's soul is removed from Sam freeing her from the Sun Queen once and for all but still, that took guts on Sam's part.
• The Not-Love Interest: With Lara. Probably.
• Not Quite Dead: At the end of Choice and Sacrifice, Sam comes close to dying after stabbing herself in order to make sure that Himiko was finished off once and for all.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Anytime Sam yells at Lara is a sign that something is wrong and needs to be address.
  • Also, in the Queen of Serpents arc Sam begins to act almost full of herself when she, Lara, Jonah and Kaz head down to Mexico. The others actually make note of Sam's odd behavior but brush it off as they are following her plan. It's implied that Sam has developed an inferiority complex and is trying to prove to Lara that she is useful and doesn't always need to be saved.
• Older Than They Look: You'd be forgiven in thinking that she was a few years younger than Lara, but the truth of the matter is she is actually a year older.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Her full name is Samantha but the only people to use her full name are her parents and her enemies while all her closest friends call her Sam. Lara even gets annoyed at Dr. Taffy for calling Sam by her full name during the Choice and Sacrifice arc.

"It's SAM, you tosser!"

— Lara, Tomb Raider: Choice and Sacrifice

• Opposites Attract: A not romantic version of this trope as the party girl, social butterfly yank Sam finds herself drawn to the socially awkward, bookworm Lara, a feeling that is very much returned by Lara.
• Outof Focus: In Rise of the Tomb Raider and the Spore arc. Heavily Averted in the Choice and Sacrifice arc where she is the main focus and is the one who ultimately defeats Himiko.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Says this pretty much word for word to Lara at the end of the Choice and Sacrifice arc.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Jonah. While Sam doesn't seem to be as close with Jonah as she is with Lara it's clear that they consider one another good friends. It's quite telling that Jonah only began to lose his temper with Lara after she left Sam in the Choice and Sacrifice arc.
• Plucky Girl: Was this before the start of the series and still shows shades of it throughout the comics, though she does become more cynical as the series goes on but does seem to hold on to who she was before Yamatai.
• Properly Paranoid: Of a sort. She mentions in her journals that she started recording vlogs aboard the Endurance, specifically of Lara's research and her persuading the crew to search in the Dragon's Triangle, to prevent Whitman from taking all the credit for Yamatai's discovery away from Lara. A later journal from Whitman shows that he fully intended to do just that.
• Put on a Bus to Hell: By the time of Rise she's in a mental institution, at least partially possessed by Himiko.
  • The Bus Came Back: Sam gets an entire arc dedicated to her overcoming Himiko's control over her. While Sam seems to go right back on the bus there is more of a chance for her returning in either the games or later comics down the line.
• Rebellious Spirit: Seen as a bit of a troublemaker in college and after Yamatai she often mocks her captors and proves to have an iron will when she battles for control of her body in the firth arc of the comics.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The passionate fiery Red to Lara's calm and cool Blue. While both have shown they are capable of being both Red and Blue, Sam tends to let her feelings be a bit more known and can be a lot harsher in her words than Lara sometimes is.
• Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: The comics take Lara and Sam's relationship up to eleven. Lara states that she loves Sam more than anyone else in her life, Sam using even more pet names for Lara, the two are almost always gravitating towards one another and often hold hands or touching one another in an affectionate matter. They also do little things like buy cupcakes for one another, go to clubs and travel together. Sam also tends to enter Lara's thoughts when she is left with no distractions and Sam is the last person Lara thinks of when she is on death's doorstep. It was also revealed that, despite the two parting on poor terms, Sam still spoke very highly of Lara, despite the fact that she was still fighting against Himiko for control of her mind and body. And as mentioned in the Heroic Sacrifice above Sam was willing to kill herself if it meant protecting Lara from Himiko. Lara was also willing to put her quest to avenge her father on hold when she learned that Sam was in danger and is stated in Survivor's Crusade that she is now hunting down Trinity for what they did to Sam.
• Rousing Speech: Gives one to Lara to help give her the confidence to perform on stage for a play of Pride and Prejudice.
  Sam: You know what I love about you roomie? What I truly admire? It's that, when you see an artifact, something that could have just... turned to dust, but survived, somehow. You don't see a cost, you don't see a monetary value. And you don't see your name on a museum wall.
  Lara: I don't?
  Sam: You know you don't. Now wipe your mouth, Brando. And shut up. I'm saying brilliant stuff. You see the person who made the thing. You see their hands mastering their art, and the family they do it for, and the community where they live. And this play, Lara Croft, this story. It's my favorite. Have I ever told you that? The Book's two hundred years old. People today, who know nothing about the period, they just read it out of obligation, Lara. They love it. There's no other word to describe it. It lets us, it lets everyone, see the time the way you would. It's about class, love, and obligation. About knowing yourself, being who you are. And those things should never turn to dust.
• Sad Clown: After Yamatai, much like Lara, Sam began having nightmares about what happened and tried avoiding it by acting like she used to before the island by using her sense of humor as a defense mechanism.
• Sanity Slippage: In the pre-Rise comics, it's revealed that a portion of Himiko's soul did indeed enter Sam's body, resulting in blackouts and violent outbursts, eventually resulting in her winding up in the mental hospital. She gets better.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Something else she and Lara have in common as while both are willing to go through proper channels to ask for help they can and will break the law if a life is at stake which is best shown in the Queen of Serpent arc where Sam smuggled herself, Lara, Jonah and Kaz to Mexico in order to save Grim's brother.
• Stepford Smiler: Her notes seen in the game show that she's not all smiles on the inside, and the trek has her nervous even before the shipwreck. Targeted Human Sacrifice: Sam's ancestral relationship to Himiko makes her the first woman stranded on the island that is suitable for the fire ritual.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Has become a habit of hers after the first game with the most notable example being Himiko herself as she tells Himiko that she will no longer allow the Sun Queen to use her body to hurt Lara or anyone else. And when Himiko attempts to put Sam in her place Sam stabs herself in an attempt to stop Himiko once and for all when Lara's plan to free her of Himiko doesn't work.
• The Social Expert: Manages to deal with Whitman despite him being a Man Child who whines when anything goes even slightly wrong, was able to convince Lara to go up on stage and preform for Jonah's play of Pride and Prejudice, and managed to sweet talk herself, Lara, Jonah and Kaz to Mexico without using that much money.
• Spanner in the Works: Is able to defeat Himiko through sheer force of will just to protect her best friend.
• Status Quo Is God: Subverted as Sam, much like Lara, was greatly affected by what happened on Yamatai and while she attempts to act like her old self she is clearly not the same person before the events of the first game. This is taken a step further after her confrontation with Himiko in the comics as while she wins she suffered psychological and physical trauma and it has clearly had a impact on her.
• The Strategist: Sam has proven herself to be quite the skilled planner. She manages to find a way to get herself, Lara, Jonah and Kaz to Mexico without being discovered while posing as a film crew making a Documentary about Chupacabra. Even Leticia Cortez, the villain for the Queen of Serpents arc, admitted how clever this plan was.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: A Same-Sex version but Sam is the Wise Girl to Lara's Straight Woman as Sam is more willing to make jokes and enjoy herself while Lara is almost always serious. Downplayed as Sam can be serious and it's clear that she is still suffering from trauma after what happened on Yamatai and her more joking nature is her method of coping with what happened.
• Super-Strength: While possessed by Himiko Sam was shown to be ridiculously strong as she was able to throw a fully-grown man across a room with little to no effort. It's unlikely she kept this or any of Himiko's powers once Himiko's soul was removed from her.
• Survivor Guilt: Like Lara Sam shows signs of suffering this throughout the comics.
• Sweet Tooth: Much like Lara Sam loves Jaffa Cakes and is seen keeping some on her person when she offers Lara some when the latter is about to preform for a play.
• Taking You with Me: How her final confrontation with Himiko almost goes as Himiko has made it clear that she intends to kill Lara and Sam refuses to let that happen. When she is finally able to push against Himiko's control she regains enough control of her own body and stabs herself in the stomach in an attempt to kill Himiko and protect Lara and the world. Thankfully, with Lara's help in finding the Wei Mirror, Sam is able rid herself of Himiko who is now trapped in the very mirror she used to remove the souls of her former hosts.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl to Lara's tomboy. Sam loves to go out clubbing, and apparently obsesses over designer clothes, while Lara is something of a Nerd who prefers her books and exploring ancient ruins.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Sam loves wearing spiffy outfits. Her favorite book is Pride and Prejudice. She loves to go dancing and loves cupcakes. She's also enjoys hiking, traveling and loves adventure. She's also not afraid to get her hands dirty and is willing to fight if the need arises.
• Took a Level in Badass: In the tie-in comics Sam goes from Damsel in Distress to Badass Action Girl not unlike Lara as she mocks her captors, beats up a thug while armed only with a cupcake, stabbed a Bull Shark in the eye with her necklace and, with Lara's help, managed to force Himiko's soul out of her body!
• Tranquil Fury: During her final confrontation with Himiko Sam remains calm and in control while speaking with the Sun Queen. She never yells or curses Himiko, she just calmly states that she will not let Himiko control her anymore. This greatly unnerves Himiko as she begins demanding that Sam obey her and that she is a Queen and Immortal, only for Sam to stab herself, much to Himiko's horror.
• Trauma Conga Line: Got stranded on uncharted island, was kidnapped by a group of crazy cultists who tried to burn her at the stake. Saw or heard of a number of her friends die, was forced to kill some of the cultist to escape, was nearly possessed by an evil Demigod. Later learned that Himiko managed to transfer a piece of her soul into her and that she was losing control of herself. Got arrested while still suffering from Himiko's possession, was tortured by Trinity in an attempt to strengthen Himiko so they could reclaim the Divine Source. Was fully possessed by Himiko who used her to escape and kill a nurse, her soul was apparently being harmed by Himiko in an attempt to keep her out of the way. When she was finally able to regain control of herself she stabbed herself to make sure that in case Lara's plan that she, Lara, and the world would be safe from Himiko and had to be rushed to the hospital for her self-inflicted stab wound. Sam is the only character in the series who has suffered as much as Lara and it's a toss-up as to who has suffered the greater trauma.
• Underestimating Badassery: Himiko doesn't consider Sam a real threat to her return, seemingly forgetting that Sam had managed to fight against Himiko's control of over a year and that she, Himiko, needed Trinity to strengthen her powers just to subdue Sam. And by continually underestimating Sam it ends up biting Himiko in the ass because when Sam is finally able to regain control of her body from the Sun Queen it results in Himiko's final defeat.
• Undying Loyalty: Even though the two have had their problems Sam has never stopped being loyal to Lara. It actually took Himiko fueling Sam's insecurities to drive a wedge between the two women and even than Sam remained loyal to Lara and was even willing to kill herself if it meant protecting Lara from Himiko.
• Unknown Rival: To Himiko in the comics - Himiko treats Sam as a non-person who is only there to be used and discarded when of no further use, like all her other hosts. But because Sam's soul wasn't removed before Himiko possessed her Sam was able to fight against Himiko's control and when Sam was finally able to regain control of herself Himiko was shown to be more scared of Sam than she ever was of Lara. In the end Sam, with a little help from Lara, was able to force Himiko out of her body and into the very mirror that Himiko used to remove the souls of her former hosts.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: She is seen almost always wearing a different set of cloths in every issue of the comics, and it's stated in her character profile that she tends loves buying fashionable clothse. It's this, along with her later wearing her outfit from the 2013 game during the Choice and Sacrifice arc that hints that Himiko is not as in control of Sam as she like to believe.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Whether the two have romantic feelings for each other is ambiguous, both Sam and Lara state several times that they do love each other and it goes without saying that Sam, being a party girl who loves fashion and making jokes, is a bit of a wild child while Lara is usually rather composed even on subjects she is usually very passionate about.
• Warts and All: For all of Lara's social awkwardness and a number of poor choices she's made over the course of the series, it's clear that Sam cares for Lara a great deal and accepts Lara as the person she is, flaws and all. She wouldn't be trying to call Lara to see if she was okay after everything that's happened (as shown in Shadow) if she didn't care about her.
• Weak-Willed: Subverted to Hell and Back as Sam is shown to be remarkably Strong-Willed. Sure, Himiko did eventually take over Sam's body but it took her at least a year just to get to that point and it took Trinity strengthening Himiko's unknown connection to the Divine Source and even than Sam was still fighting back. See Heroic Willpower for more.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Is the first to call Lara out on her obsession with going off alone and never letting anyone help her. The first time is when Lara insists that she has to save "Grim" alone, forgetting that the only reason she is even this close to him is due to Sam's plan which got them to Mexico undetected and had it not been for Lara's insistence for going off alone she might not have been caught and they could have gotten Grim out without any real issue.
• What You Are in the Dark: When Sam regains some control over her body she decides to sacrifice herself as she has to do what she can to protect Lara and the world from Himiko's wrath as she knows better than anyone just how dangerous the Sun Queen is.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: For all the talk about Sam being a party girl, she shows a remarkable insight with people. She is able to get Lara to see the value of her own research when Lara was doubtful of it herself and was able to give her the confidence to perform on stage when even Jonah couldn't help her out with that. She is often finds herself giving advice to Lara on how to deal with people and is able to get through to her on why she needs help.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Often finds herself saying this to Lara a few times throughout the series, whether she is encouraging Lara that she knows what she's doing while looking for Yamatai, that she's doing her best when Lara is trying to get everyone off the island or giving her the courage to perform on stage. Sam shows that she has a real understanding of Lara and her passion for uncovering the past and this often gives Lara the confidence she needs to move forward with her ideas.

Roth

Conrad Roth

Voiced by: Robin Atkin Downes (English), Alexander Novikov (Russian)

"Sacrifice is a choice you make. Loss is a choice made for you."

A British ex-military, Roth is the captain of the Endurance. He cares a great deal about his crew, having picked them purely on instinct, and goes to great lengths to keep morale high. Back in his treasure-hunting days, he was known and well-liked by wealthy private collectors for his competence and willingness to bend certain, inconvenient laws. At one point he was hired by Lara's parents, whom he accompanied on many expeditions and consequently grew close to. After their disappearance, Lara became something of a surrogate daughter for him.

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• Adventurer Archaeologist: His primary occupation, before becoming captain of the Endurance.
• Bad Liar: After his leg gets shredded by the wolves early on, he insists to Lara that it "looks worse than it is." Of course, he ends up passing out from the injury mere moments later.
• Call-Back: Tells Lara early on that she can survive the island because "[she's] a Croft." Lara dismisses the notion, but the line is repeated again as his final words with an appropriately different reaction from Lara.
• Dramatic Irony: His last words to Lara are "I loved you like the daughter I never had". In a tragic example, he fathered Reyes' daughter and died without ever knowing it.
• Drowning My Sorrows: Roth attempts to do this when he has pretty much given up on ever finding Lara's parents. When the bartender refuses to serve him anymore alcohol, Roth starts to kick up a bit of a fuss. Reyes, who was also in the bar, manages to calm him down... by knocking him out with a punch to the face.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: Dies taking an axe to the back while protecting Lara from the Solarii, still managing to kill some of them as he falls.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: Roth served in the British military, specifically in the Royal Marines. The Royal Marines are one of the most elite military outfits in the world.
• Family Eye Resemblance: Reyes mentions in a document of hers that Alisha's eyes look just like Roth's.
• Friendly Sniper: When Lara meets up with Roth again after her failed rescue attempt of the pilot, he mentions finding a loaded sniper rifle in the ruins. As some unlucky mooks will found out later, he is a deadly shot with the weapon, saving Lara from being executed and covering her as she traverses the bridge - loaded with scavengers - that leads to the Solarii fortress.
• Guns Akimbo: Used once to hold off wolves near the beginning.
• Handicapped Badass: His leg gets mauled by wolves early on, but that doesn't stop him.
• Heroic Sacrifice: During an ambush by Matthias and some of his followers, Roth is forced to take them all out by himself, Lara being far too frazzled from the recent helicopter crash. Due to one of his arms being occupied with keeping Lara on her feet, he only has one gun to fire with, which runs out of ammunition just as he means to fire at Matthias. Matthias, brandishing a hatchet, throws it at Lara, but is foiled when Roth uses his body to shield her. He is struck in the back and uses his final moments to take out the rest of the scavengers with his other gun, before succumbing to the wound.
• In Harm's Way: It's suggested he has at least some shades of this, seeing as the jobs he took on with Grim usually placed them in quite sticky situations.
• Last-Name Basis: Everyone just calls him Roth.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: A mentor to Lara, and thus dies once she's grown into her own hero.
• Oop North: Even lampshaded at one point by Lara, who, fearing that he might be dead, calls him a "Northern bastard".
• Parental Abandonment: A letter written by Reyes reveals that he's actually the father of her daughter, Alisha, something she had kept hidden from him for fourteen years. Tragically, he dies before he ever finds out.
• Parental Substitute: For Lara. Besides encouraging and pushing her throughout the game, documents and dialog show that Roth became a father figure to Lara following her own parents' deaths, and that he taught her most of her survival skills. Of all the deaths in the game, Roth's hits Lara the hardest and drives her into a brief Heroic BSoD.
• Perma-Stubble
• Posthumous Character: He's mentioned quite a few times in the Blood Ties DLC for Rise of the Tomb Raider, due to his past with Richard Croft.
• Retired Badass: He's ex-military.
• Silver Fox: He's a grey-haired older man who was nonetheless able to have a daughter with Reyes.
• Smoking Is Cool: He's shown smoking a cigarette in "The Beginning" comic.
• So Proud of You: Near the cliffs of Summit Forest, you can find a document by him which has this sentiment written all over it.
  Roth: Whatever happens, I want you to know that I loved you like the daughter I never had. I'm proud of you.
• Taking the Bullet: Takes an ax for Lara after the helicopter crash.
• The Three Faces of Adam: It's implied that in their Freudian Trio, Roth was the Lord to Grim's Hunter and Richard Croft's Prophet.

Grim

Angus "Grim" Grimaldi

Voiced by: James Walsh (English), Nikita Prozorovsky (Russian)

"Ship, Dr. Whitman. It's a ship."

A nice, if somewhat gruff Scotsman, Grim functions as the helmsman of the Endurance and is one of its officers. Having felt a kinship with water ever since he was young, there's very little he doesn't know about sailing. Roth and him met while working for the Merchant Navy and stuck together after their service, taking on jobs (not all of them entirely legal) that took them across the world. He was acquainted with Lara's father, whom he jokingly called "Dicky" Croft.

The comics that follow reveal that he has a twin brother named Cuddy, and a sister named Morag.

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• Affectionate Nickname: He loves to call Lara's late father "Dicky."
• Brave Scot: As shown in his Dying Moment of Awesome.
• Dying Moment of Awesome: His response to being taken hostage is more or less "Sod this for a laugh", so he headbutts one captor, machete's another and spear-tackles another off the platform they were standing on.
• Father Neptune
  Grim: If it's wet, I can sail on it.
• Heroic Sacrifice: In the middle of being caught and used as leverage to make Lara surrender, he headbutts his holder and throws him off a building, stabs another guy with his own machete and then tackles the third guy off the platform they were standing on. Sadly, the guy manages to catch a hold of Grim as he falls and pulls him down with him, to his death.
• I Have Your Wife: The Solarii attempt to use him to force Lara to surrender. It almost works, but Grim breaks free. As evidenced by her call to Roth after his death, Lara seems to believe he sacrificed himself to ensure he couldn't be used as leverage against the others.
• In Harm's Way: It's suggested he has at least some shades of this, seeing as the jobs he took on with Roth usually placed them in quite sticky situations. This seems to have lessened a little by the time he gets stranded on the island though; a document from him reveals he's thinking of retiring.
• Real Men Wear Pink: He's a sucker for kittens, apparently.
• Serious Business: Irn-Bru, which is his favourite drink.
• Slashed Throat: One of the Solarii threatens to do this to him to force Lara to surrender, and when they begin to do so, Grim fights back and taunts them, declaring that it doesn't scare him because he grew up in Glasgow.
• True Companions: With Roth.
• Use Your Head: Seems to be quite fond of using the "Glasgow Kiss". As shown in the camcorder footage, he even claims to have taken down the Loch Ness Monster with this. This is Foreshadowing to his Heroic Sacrifice, where he impulsively headbutts the goon holding him, in an attempt to prevent Lara from surrendering, and then engages the two others; unfortunately, this costs him his life.
• Violent Glaswegian: He's actually rather nice, if a bit gruff. Don't threaten him or his friends though.

Reyes

Joslin Reyes

Voiced by: Tanya Alexander (English), Natalia Gracheva (Russian)

"Because it's all about Lara, isn't it?"

Joslin Reyes is the no-nonsense mechanic of the Endurance and also functions as one of its officers. Originally a cop, Reyes was forced to resign from the NYPD after avenging her partner's death by murdering a local gang leader in cold blood. Thanks to her natural affinity with engines, she found work again as a mechanic, though she occasionally misses the force. She was offered a position aboard the Endurance after meeting Roth, the captain, in a bar. Although he pays her much more than her regular job, Reyes is always looking to get home as soon as possible, since she does not like leaving her daughter by herself for too long.

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• Agent Scully: She's usually the most resistant to Lara's theories, though by the end...
• Blunt "Yes": She boasts that her daughter Alisha is smarter than Alex will ever be, who subsequently comments that she must get that from her father. Reyes immediately agrees with him, saying "And...yeah.". Clever bit of foreshadowing to the reveal that Alisha's father is Roth.
• Commander Contrarian: She mostly is on a disagreement with Lara Croft.
• Fallen Hero: A rare non-villainous-Face–Heel Turn-related example. Used to be a cop before becoming an anti-social Jerkass mechanic.
• Faux Action Girl: Was a Cowboy Cop who bend the rules to hunt down the drug dealers who murdered her partner, was seen handy with a pistol and any weapons such as taking down supernatural samurais with the boat's turrets and can hold out on her own, other then that, she is usually present to be the voice of criticism against Lara.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: At one point, Roth decided to try Drowning My Sorrows after pretty much giving up on ever finding Lara's parents. When the bartender refuses to serve him anymore alcohol, Roth starts to kick up a bit of a fuss. Reyes, who was also in the bar, manages to calm him down... by knocking him out with a punch to the face.
• Good is Not Nice: She's pretty rude to Lara, but this is revealed to be for a reason.
• Green-Eyed Monster: It's subtly implied that part of her resentment towards Lara might be due to Roth treating her like "the daughter he never had", when in reality, Roth actually does have a daughter with Reyes, although she kept him unaware of his paternity.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: The document "Reyes: About Lara" explains that she's being so harsh with Lara because they're sailing an expensive ship and its people into dangerous waters on a whim, and she wants to ensure that, if anything goes wrong, Lara will accept responsibility for her actions. Of course, after Roth's death, the facade starts to become the real thing.
• Irrational Hatred: Of Lara Croft.
• Jerkass: While much of this can be attributed to stress and grief from losing Roth, she is often needlessly harsh, especially with Lara. At one point she blames Lara for getting them into this despite the fact that the entire point of the expedition was to find Yamatai, which Lara most certainly did — it was hardly Lara's fault that Yamatai turned out to be a hellish island full of lunatics and an insane storm-summoning spirit. It's implied that Reyes resents Lara's status as surrogate daughter to Roth, which may also explain her attitude towards Lara.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Despite Reyes being so harsh on Lara, Lara felt it was justifiable for Reyes to blame her for the trouble they're in and even agreed with her (although it was mostly out of Lara's Survivor's Guilt and her It's All My Fault mentality) as Lara, due to being a New Meat college graduate, was mostly The Load amateur amongst the crew of the Endurance and was only the liability to indirectly cause any misfortunes such as being shipwrecked as well as having no experience in survival, handling dangerous situations or to go on expeditions, unlike Retired Badass experts Roth, who is Former Regime Personnel, and Reyes, who was a Cowboy Cop that bent the rules to bring in justice.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Later on, thanks to Character Development.
• Last-Name Basis: Everyone calls her Reyes.
• Morality Chain: A non-villainous example. Roth was this for her to not let her Irrational Hatred of Lara to get the better of her, but after his death, there's nothing holding Reyes back to act so downright vindictive towards Lara.
• My God, What Have I Done? / Jerkass Realization: She dismisses Lara's concerns about Whitman's loyalty, stating she doesn't know, or really care for that matter, what Lara's beef with him is. When Whitman proves her right by helping Mathias recapture Sam, Reyes is instantly regretful and openly acknowledges she should have listened to Lara when she had the chance.
• Never My Fault: Blames Lara for Alex's death, even though she was the one who let him go off alone in the first place.
  • There are also strong shades of this in her reasoning for her attitude towards Lara what with her resenting Lara and Roths' almost father/daughter relationship, due to him having an actual daughter with Reyes, despite the fact that she had never told him her daughter is his, making her come across as abrasive and needlessly cruel rather than sympathetic.
• No One Gets Left Behind: Subverted and then played straight, with a dash of Meaningful Echo thrown in for good measure. When Lara first goes off to investigate a tomb that Lara believes will get them one step closer to safely leaving the island, Reyes explicitly says that if Lara isn't back by the time the boat is ready, they're leaving without her. Later, when Whitman double-crosses the group and hands Sam back over to Mathias, Lara, while going off to get Sam back, attempts to tell Jonah and Reyes to simply leave if she doesn't make it back, but Reyes completely goes back on her earlier words and reassures Lara that they aren't leaving her behind.
• Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: With Jonah. While Lara is off to save Sam from Mathias' clutches, she and Jonah remain behind on the boat, guarding the escape route. Lara hears them over the walkie-talkie, massacring scavengers and supernatural undead samurai alike with the boat's turret guns.
• Older Than They Look: Would you believe she's already 42?
• Police Are Useless: Or more like Ex-Police Are Useless as Reyes was an ex-cop, but acts as a Jerkass towards Lara when Lara tells her about what secrets the island holds, yet Reyes refuses to investigate out of spite towards Lara, despite investigating being one of the abilities of a cop.
• Rabid Cop: Was a NYPD police woman who bend the rules to kill the drug dealers who murdered her partner and a Jerkass towards Lara.
• Retired Badass: Used to be a cop that hunt and kill the drug dealers responsible for her partner's death.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: In the prelude comic from Dark Horse, Reyes talks about her past with the police to a documentary crew. In a flashback, it's indicated that after her partner's death, she left the force so she could hunt and kill the drug dealers who shot him without being hindered by legal means.
• Sassy Black Woman: She seems this way at first, but it's later subverted because Character Development reveals that she's only acting that way because of her guilt for not telling Roth he's the father of her daughter. And her desperation to get back home to her daughter once the danger on the Island happens.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps
• Sour Supporter: She makes her dislike of Lara's attempts at leadership plainly clear, blaming her for much of what happens on the island.
• Spell My Name With An S: The prequel comic spells her first name as Joslyn; the interquel comic spells it Joslin.
• Token Minority: She's the only black person in the crew, in addition to being Latina.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Is increasingly hostile to Lara after Roth's death. Also see Becoming the Mask above.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Near the end of the game starts to show more faith in Lara and refuses to abandon her when she goes off to save Sam.
• Ungrateful Bitch: Comes off this way after Lara rescues her, Jonah, and Alex from the Solarii. While she does thank Lara, when Lara tentatively says that Reyes would do the same for her, Reyes pauses, then says flatly, "Yeah. Sure." This is due to Reyes' bitterness and pain over Roth's death; once Character Development kicks in, her attitude changes.
• Wrench Wench: She became this after resigning from the force.

Jonah

Jonah Maiava

Voiced by: Earl Baylon (English), Peter Ivaschenko (Russian)

"If I'm going to die in this place, I'm not going do it hungry."

Jonah Maiava, originally from New Zealand, but raised in Hawaii by his maternal grandmother, is the cook and general dogsbody of the Endurance. He once served in the army, being a reasonably popular member of his unit, thanks to his strength, cooking skills and near-preternatural ability to detect danger. After sustaining injuries in the line of duty, he was honourably discharged and went to work as a chef at his sister's cafe, before being offered a spot aboard the Endurance by Conrad Roth, who was impressed by his physical strength.

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• Abusive Parents: Lara finds a document by him that has him remembering the times when he and his brother would hide from their father's fits of rage, suggesting he was beaten as a child. He tells of the story of Pania and how he would join her in the waves, as his brother had done so before him, if he happens to be the last remaining survivor.
• Affectionate Nickname: He's quite fond of calling Lara "Little Bird".
• Agent Mulder: He trusts his instincts enough that while everyone else is struggling with the supernatural, he suspected there was something wrong about Yamatai from the beginning.
• Ascended Extra: Is the only one of the surviving Endurance crew to return in the second and third games and has a more expanded role as Lara's sidekick.
• Bear Hug: After Roth's death, Lara remains behind to mourn while the rest of the survivors decide to already head to the beach. When Lara meets up with them later, she's promptly pulled into a hug by Sam, with Jonah joining in right after. Alex is also on the receiving end of one in the prelude comic.
• The Big Guy: He is obviously the most physically strong of the group, being a bit of a general "problem-solver", as shown in The Beginning" comic, where he rescues Whitman from some overly aggressive buyers that weren't in the mood for paying for the relics Whitman was (illegally) selling them.
• Chef of Iron: See his Off Screen Moment Of Awesome below.
• Delinquent Hair: Subverted; he's probably the gentlest person in the entire cast.
• Disney Death: In the second game, Konstantin fatally wounds him with a knife after he hesitates to shoot him. Jonah nearly does die, but Jacob manages to save him with his healing powers.
• Gentle Giant: While he might be physically intimidating, he's shown to care a great deal about his crewmates and will endeavour to keep the mood positive.
• Gut Feeling: He notes that the island feels cursed and the storms feel alive. It's implied that everyone has the same feelings, but Jonah is the first to pay attention to them.
• The Lancer: He's become this for Lara throughout the 2013 series.
• The Millstone: Over the course of the 2013 series, he regretfully degenerates into this, as a consequence of The Main Characters Do Everything. From being wounded by Konstantin after falling for a fairly obvious trap in Rise to losing a key artifact in Shadow, it seems his main purpose in the plot aside from being emotional support for Lara is to create problems for her to be required to solve (or exacerbating ones she already caused in the first place). It's telling that in "The Nightmare" Downloadable Content for Shadow, his only appearance in a Nightmare Sequence is being captured offscreen, and nobody else has a living appearance beyond Lara herself. That said, he can help Lara overpower Mooks in "Shadow".
• Nice Guy: By far the nicest member of the Endurance crew. He keeps this trait in Rise.
• Off Screen Moment Of Awesome: With Reyes. While Lara is off to save Sam from Mathias' clutches, he and Reyes remain behind on the boat, guarding the escape route. Lara hears them over the walkie-talkie, massacring scavengers and supernatural undead samurai alike with the boat's turret guns.
• Only a Flesh Wound: As shown in the prelude comic, he gets shot in the shoulder while rescuing Whitman, but dismisses it as "just a graze".
• Platonic Life-Partners: He's this to Lara Croft. He, along with Sam, is one of Lara's closest friend and is the guy whom Lara takes with to her adventures with the most. Despite their closeness, they are never shown to have any romantic feelings for each other.
• Sleeves Are for Wimps
• Supreme Chef: Apparently, he was hired not only for his strength but his ability to cook.
• Team Chef: He's the cook of the ship.
• Undying Loyalty: Along with Sam, he is the most loyal of Lara's companions.
• Wild Samoan: Averted, he's a Gentle Giant Polynesian. That said, he can fight when it comes to it.
• You Don't Look Like You: In Rise he inexplicably looks more like a black man with curly hair and a beard than the Polynesian with a short ponytail and an undercut he appears as in the first and third games.
• You Keep Telling Yourself That: In Rise he angry calls Lara on her obsession with immortality myths. When she claims that it's all she has, he rebuffs her with an Armor-Piercing Response before storming off, leaving behind a very conflicted Lara.
  Jonah: No it isn't! And if you could just stand still for five minutes, you'd realize that!

Alex

Alex Weiss

Voiced by: Andy Hoff (English), Dmitry Polyanovsky (Russian)

"I'll be the first to admit that I usually go in for the weird stuff, but this place is off the charts."

With an impressive technological and scientific background, Alex Weiss is the chief technician, handyman and all-around "radio-shack genius" of the Endurance. He's an avid and skilled hacker that has made a living primarily through legally dodgy means, such as rigging gambling sites. He also has a bit of a fascination with conspiracy theories and urban legends of all sorts.

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• Affectionate Nickname: He occasionally calls Lara "L.C".
• Amazon Chaser: Downplayed Trope, since he likes Lara even before she becomes an Action Girl, but doesn't actively pursue her. His one attempt at actually being proactive to impress her was... ill-advised.
• Bad Liar: While Lara's en route to save Captain Jessop, she's contacted by Alex who tells her that his group has tracked Sam to an ancient Japanese palace. Lara is understandably worried and Alex makes an attempt at reassuring her by saying Sam must be "sight-seeing". Lara obviously doesn't buy into it, but appreciates the sentiment.
• Brilliant, but Lazy: He's apparently a bit of a genius, but refuses to seriously apply himself.
• Can't Catch Up: One of the journal entries shows that he feels this way about himself toward Lara, though there's admiration behind it rather than resentment.
• Conspiracy Theorist: A textbook example. It's shown in the prelude comic that, before the Endurance started its voyage, he believed Yamatai to be some kind of Japanese government cover-up, and jokingly asks in one of his documents if there are cameras in the trees.
  Alex: If we find Yamatai, and it's full of killer robots and genetic mutations, I called it.
• Cool Bike: He's briefly shown driving one in "The Beginning".
• Geek Reference Pool: Has a tattoo on his neck of a caffeine molecule.
• Go Out with a Smile: A pained smile, but a smile nonetheless.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Buys time for Lara so she can escape with the tools needed to fix the boat, and then shoots a cloud of extremely flammable gas in a room full of explosive barrels. The resulting explosion kills him and all of the Solarii who were shooting at them, ensuring that Lara's escape is unhindered.
• I Just Want to Be Badass: To be specific, to impress Lara. The whole reason why he went back to the Endurance alone.
• Last Kiss: Lara — who now knows about his feelings for her — gives him a brief one on the cheek. Considering the Solarii were shooting at them, there wasn't exactly time for much else.
• Love Makes You Stupid: It's revealed in a document written by him that he has a crush on Lara. However, after he witnesses her turn into an Action Girl, he believes she'll never notice him. Him deciding to go alone and look for the tools for the boat, just so he could impress Lara, is an example of this.
• Nerd Glasses
• Non-Action Guy: Well, he is the ship's technician, which isn't a job that requires a lot of heavy lifting. Which makes Reyes agreeing to his bid to go running off to the shipwrecked Endurance all by himself all the more confusing, especially to Lara. He appears to be a decent enough shot, though.
• Perma-Stubble
• Taking You with Me: What he does to the Scavengers inside the Endurance in the end, having resigned himself to his death.
• Too Dumb to Live: So you thought to go inside the shipwrecked Endurance all by yourself in an island inhabited by crazy cultists? Surely, they wouldn't find you!

Whitman

Dr. James Whitman

Voiced by: Cooper Thornton (English), Dmitry Tarnover (Russian)

"Let's get some awards, James."

Dr. Whitman figures as the lead archaeologist of the Endurance's expedition, being an expert on Archaeology and Anthropology. However, in recent years, he has primarily focused on making documentaries and writing tie-in books, which turned him into quite the celebrity. But with his show, called Whitman's World, now drastically decreasing in popularity, Whitman is quite desperate to find some new and exciting angle. Having gotten used to glitzy showbiz parties, fine dining and expensive travel, Whitman hopes the discovery of Yamatai will cause his popularity to skyrocket once more.

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• Ambition Is Evil: Lampshaded by Lara in one of his documents.
• Adventurer Archaeologist: He wants to be one. He certainly has the taste for the thrill of discovery, but his top priority is fame and recognition, and he's terrible at getting his hands dirty (one flashback shows him being a prima donna about gutting a fish).
• Asshole Victim: He's slaughtered by members of the Stormguard, and after his selfish, cowardly actions it's satisfying to watch. Just to drive it home further, while all the other members of the Endurance crew who died each respectively went out performing a Heroic Sacrifice that saw them taking out as much of the opposition as they could, Whitman ends up dying messily as a result of his own smugness.
• Broken Pedestal: Becomes this to Lara by the time of the game after finding a note from him; having seen him for the narcissistic Glory Hound he really is, Lara is completely disgusted with herself for ever having looked up to him.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: Doesn't he look like Gary Oldman? Especially appropriate with the reveal that he's a villain, just like Oldman is frequently typecast as.
• Dirty Coward: He surrenders to scavengers armed with bows and arrows despite having a handgun of his own, handing Lara over to them to save himself.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Despite handing Lara over to the Solarii, he's apalled he sees the leader smack her around and screams at them to let her go.
• Evil Mentor: In one of Whitman's letters, he describes Lara to his ex-wife as his protegée and goes on to comment how though he doesn't believe in her theories about the location of Yamatai, he fully intends to claim credit for them if she turns out to be right. Sam even outright says her footage is being made to ensure Lara gets the rightful credit for the discovery. Lara herself is admittedly disgusted with herself for ever looking up to him. By the end of the game, Whitman's upgraded fully to Evil Mentor when he outright states that he's completely fine with sacrificing the rest of his crew to the Solarii to save his own skin and set himself up as the hero and traumatized sole survivor to boost his public image.
• Face–Heel Turn: Sure, he's pretty much a Jerkass, mixed in with some Dirty Coward, from the beginning, but later in the game he kidnaps Sam, believing he can make an alliance with Mathias. This does not end well for him.
• For Science!: His awe of the weird and cool things on the island blind him to the horror of it.
• Hate Sink: The Solarii are the real danger on the island, but Whitman is so repulsive in so many ways that the player will be yearning for his death. Naturally, he's the last of the crew to die.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Done in by his own arrogance and some samurai swords.
• It's All About Me: He was looking to take credit for anything discovered on this trip if he survived, while later decides to ensure that he is the sole survivor. He makes a note to remind himself to adopt an "appropriately convincing expression of sorrow" for the cameras.
• Jerkass Has a Point:
  • While he surrenders, it's clear he and Lara would have been killed if he tried to fight the scavengers who had them surrounded. Though considering what fate awaited Lara afterwards he may have doomed her to a slower death had she not broken free.
  • While he is a Glory Hound and not a particularly good archaeologist, when he and Lara first go off to find Sam together, he tells Lara that there's a lot about the world that remains unknown and that she shouldn't discount anything just because it seems unreasonable or impossible by modern standards. Lara brushes it off at first, but later admits that he made an excellent point.
• Karmic Death: He dies as he lived: a know-it-all blabbermouth who's out of his depth. He speaks to the Oni — in English, the only Japanese word he could remember was "queen", which is a bad idea when speaking to her fanatical guardians — and before he even realizes it, he's officially the world's greatest expert on getting killed. Bonus points in that he intended to sacrifice everyone for his gains but ended up sacrificed by Mathias as a mere distraction to get himself and Sam past the bridge while they were busy hacking away.
• Know-Nothing Know-It-All: He only cares about getting good publicity, and it's clear to anyone that Lara, his supposed protégée, knows far more about things than he himself does. It's this that ultimately gets him smoked.
• Opaque Lenses: In the single player, you can see his eyes just fine, but in the multiplayer, this trope kicks into effect.
• Pet the Dog: One of the reasons he gives his wife to wait a while before filing divorce papers until after the expedition? If he finds Yamatai she'll get more money out of the court proceedings. This is an arguable case, however.
• Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: He hands Sam back to the Solarii on a silver platter, and Mathias thanks him by tricking him into approaching the Stormguard as a distraction and then slipping by with Sam while he's being torn apart.
• Slave to PR: First and foremost to him is his fame and reputation; everything else is a distant second. To the extent that he begs his ex-wife not to file for divorce until after he discovered Yamatai, pointing out that not only does she not get any of the spoils if she does, but he mostly wants to avoid any bad publicity beforehand.
• The Sociopath: He mentions in his final writings (a document you find) how he planned to betray Lara and the rest of the crew to the cultists, let them sacrifice Sam, and escape the island afterwards to take all the credit. All while putting on an "appropriately convincing expression of sorrow" as the last survivor.
• Too Dumb to Live: He has several stupid moments but the biggest one results in his painful death at the hands of the Stormguard. He calmly walks towards two armored undead Samurai and tries to strike up a conversation. Whilst they approach him with swords drawn. Mathias had deceived him into thinking that the Stormguard would let them pass willingly but he really didn't need to walk right up to them to introduce himself!

Antagonists

Mathias

Father Mathias

Voiced by: Robert Craighead (English), Mikhail Georgiou (Russian)

"A teacher by trade."

The Big Bad of the first game, Mathias leads the Solarii brotherhood of scavengers on the island.

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• Ax-Crazy: That's putting it mildly. His diary entries are even organized under the title "Diaries of a Madman."
• Bad Boss: During Lara's escape from his hideout. He commands his men to blow the bridge. One of them objects stating they'll be killing their own men. Mathias responds by grabbing a pistol off a mook and shooting him point blank, asking if they're are any other "non-believers." Furthermore, his backstory reveals that he routinely tortures and kills their prisoners unless they agree to join him, and when he was first trapped on the island, actually convinced his fellow survivors to try and sail out simply to prove his theory that it would be impossible.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With Himiko the first game.
• Cult: The leader of the Solarii, who are dedicated to the Sun Queen Himiko.
• Crazy Sane: Theorized to be such by Lara in one of her journals:
  "He is so beyond crazy that maybe he's come right back around to some kind of sane."
• Dragon-in-Chief: He's this to Himiko, since she can't do anything sealed away, thus needs to rely on Mathias to resurrect her.
• Dragon with an Agenda: He actually doesn't have any loyalty to Himiko and is only helping her so he can escape her cursed island.
• Disney Villain Death: Though multiple bullet wounds might be related.
• Enemy Mine: With Himiko. They both don't really like each other, but are forced to work together regardless, because Mathias needs Himiko to lift the curse off her island, and Himiko need Mathias to bring her a suitable host to possess.
• Evil Counterpart: To Lara. Both are working to escape the island in their own way. However, Lara is working to make sure No One Gets Left Behind, while Mathias is just a deranged lunatic who doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself.
• Evil Is Hammy: It goes with leading and riling up a deranged cult.
• Evil Sounds Deep: A booming, threatening baritone.
• Fair-Play Villain: When Lara is on the receiving end of a particularly brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown at the hands of two Solarii whose brother she killed, Mathias stops them from killing her...but not before Lara is beaten to a bloody pulp.
• Faux Affably Evil: He feigns politeness and reason when he meets Sam and Lara at first, even earning Sam's trust by treating her injured foot, but soon reveals his Ax-Crazy true self.
• The Heavy: While Himiko is the source of the islands curse, she mostly sealed away leaving Mathias as the biggest antagonistic obstacle Lara has to face.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: A mixture is possible. Using Guns Akimbo, Lara kills him using both his own pistol, which she had just stolen from him, and possibly Roth's own handgun (if not upgraded one last time), the gun of the man whom he had killed.
• It's All About Me: He doesn't really care about Himiko, her kingdom or his own forces. He just wants off the island and is willing to do anything to achieve it.
• In the Hood: Once his allegiance is revealed.
• Meaningful Name: Mathias means "disciple".
• Non-Action Big Bad: Though he does attack Lara in the finale, he's not particularly skilled in combat compared to the likes of Himiko's forces.
• "Not So Different" Remark: In the final showdown, just before he takes off with Sam, he tells Lara that all of his actions were done to ensure his survival, just like she did by mowing down countless Solarii to get to him. Lara noticeably doesn't refute this, meaning she realizes that despite going about their shanghaiing in wildly different ways, they both want the same thing, and that is to get the hell off the island.
• Sanity Slippage: Let's just say that his time on the island haven't done any wonders for his mental health. Lara speculates he's gone so far out of his mind, he might actually have come right back around again.
• Small Role, Big Impact: His role in Lara's origin story is relative small compared to the other villains, in that he has no affiliations with Trinity, the organization that killed her father, and is never mentioned again after his death in the first game. That said, the impact he had on Lara is big in that she would still be haunted by the things Mathias has done while his actions would lead to Himiko possessing her best friend in the tie-in comics, which Trinity would eventually get involved with.
• Starter Villain: He's the first villain Lara had to face in the Survivor's trilogy.
• Straw Hypocrite: He doesn't even believe the stuff he preaches to his followers and is only using his cult as a distraction so he alone can escape the island.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: He kills Roth by chucking an axe into his back. Of course, he was aiming for Lara; Roth just Took The Bullet.
• What Is Evil?: Near the end of the game, he insists that he and Lara are the same since they both have committed morally questionable actions and killed numerous people since being trapped on the island, declaring that there are no heroes on Yamatai, only survivors. Of course, he leaves out the evil things he's done that she hasn't, so it doesn't really hold water.
• You're Insane!: Sam explicitly tells him as much. And she's right.

Vladimir

Vladimir

The most prominent of the Russian Co-Dragons of himself and his brothers, Dmitri, Nikolai and Borys.

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• Attempted Rape: Subverted. It appears as though he is going to do so when he catches Lara trying to escape, but if the Action Command is missed, he simply strangles her to death.
• Avenging the Villain: His brothers, Nikolai, Dmitri and Borys, take turns trying to kill Lara later in the story for killing him.
• Boom, Headshot!: How he is killed.
• Brother–Sister Incest: Implied in Russian.
  Vladimir: You're pretty, aren't you? *touches Lara's face* You remind me of my sister.
• Co-Dragons: Shares the position with his three brothers, who end up taking their turns in Avenging the Villain later.
• Hoist by Their Own Petard: Shot with his own gun.
• Sacrificial Lamb: Of a sort, as Lara's first kill. He himself is not innocent, but Lara's reaction to killing him gives the impression.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Downplayed, he has, at best, a modest amount of screen time compared to his brothers despite being among Mathias' Co-Dragons, yet he's the first of the Solarri to die by Lara's hands. He's given some further characterization via documents written by him that Lara finds scattered accross the island.

Himiko

Himiko the Sun Queen

"Dare mo nokosanai!"^note Rough translation: None will remain

The legendary Sun Queen, this mythical queen of Yamatai is Sam's ancestor, and is told to have had control over the weather and an extremely powerful "Stormguard".

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• A God Am I: Documents found in-game state that Himiko was worshipped by many of her followers as a goddess.
• Ax-Crazy: After possessing Sam, she reveals herself to be both quite unhinged, and extremely violent and murderous at times.
• All Myths Are True: As Lara learns, Sam's stories aren't just stories.
• And I Must Scream: After Hoshi killed herself to break the cycle rather than become Himiko's next host body, Himiko ended up trapped in her rotting carcass of a body, thus kicking off the plot. Furthermore, it's never stated whether Hoshi may have been trapped along with her.
• Asshole Victim: One can't help but cheer when Sam fights through her control and make the former big bad scream in terror as Sun Queen comes face to face with the very item she used to remove the souls of her former hosts.
• Bad Boss: According to information revealed by both Sam and in-game documents, she apparently was a bit of this and a Benevolent Boss. Sam describes her as ruthless, and yet a document left behind by an enemy spy during Himiko's time states that she taxes the citizens fairly and many even worship her.
• The Bad Guy Wins: Downplayed Trope. Interquel comics between the 2013 game and Rise indicate that she succeeded in possessing Sam. After her behavior becomes too erratic, she is confined to a psyche ward, where Lara learns about this predicament. She won in that she has Sam, but lost in that she hasn't been able to rule anyone.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: With Mathias in the first game, needing to rely on him to resurrect her.
• Broken Bridge: The reason for mysterious storms that prevent people escaping Yamatai. "No-one leaves".
• Body Surf: She maintained her immortality by transferring her soul to the next priestess until Hoshi committed suicide to break the cycle.
• Enemy Mine: With Mathias. They both don't really like each other, but are forced to work together regardless, because Mathias needs Himiko to lift the curse off her island, and Himiko need Mathias to bring her a suitable host to posses.
• Ghostly Goals: She wants to have a new body so that she can rule again.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: She's not a queen anymore and it's stated she wasn't the most benevolent of rulers either, but her powers are pretty terrifying.
• Historical Domain Character: Is based loosely on the real-life historical figure of Himiko, a shaman queen who ruled a Wa island said to be located southeast of Tai-fang (North Korea) from 189 to 248 AD.
• Humanoid Abomination: Her possessed bodies become this.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Lara finishes her off once and for all by impaling her with her torch.
• Manipulative Bitch: A despair-ridden Mathias becomes convinced to start a cult to find her next host under the guise of having him think the she would let him leave the island.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Hoshi notes this about her in one of her notes. She later realises Himiko was simply admiring her soon-to-be features.
• Our Ghosts Are Different
• Outside-Genre Foe: A Body Surfing spirit with godlike powers over the weather around her island, in a setting that is otherwise completely mundane and modern. Half the battle is just getting the protagonists to accept that the entity even exists.
• Parasitic Immortality: Himiko survives by transferring her soul into a new host whenever her current body begins to fail her. This process would continue for centuries until the girl chosen to be Himiko's next vessel chose to commit suicide instead of serving as a host for the Sun Queen's spirit leaving her soul trapped inside her current body. By the time the events of the game take place, Himiko has been using Father Mathias and his Solarri Brotherhood to capture young women to determine whether they were worthy of becoming Himiko's new vessel.
• Posthumous Character: Her soul is trapped in her decaying body, but still maintains control over the weather and creates the furious storms that wreck any ships and aircraft that approach Yamatai, and keeps the survivors on the island. She's arguably The Man Behind the Man to Mathias, as there are implications that she is directly influencing his actions. How else would he know the incantation for Himiko's soul to transfer into a new vessel?
• Power of the Storm: Was said to have the power to control the weather itself. Her soul uses this power to cause monsoons and snow storms, making sure nobody gets off the island.
• Race Lift: According to the earliest Chinese sources, the historical Himiko was of the Wa people, who inhabited an area that is now parts of the Shan States in Burma, and Pu'er Prefecture in Yunnan Province, China. The island she ruled was located in the ocean southeast of Tai-fang (North Korea). Himiko is not explicitly mentioned by Japanese sources until much later, and even then remains obscure among Japanese histories (to the point her name is omitted form Japanese translations of the 3rd Century Chinese histories). However the game establishes her as a Japanese queen, with an honor guard of what may as well be Edo-period samurai.^note Although "Wa" was an old Chinese reference to Japan, the Chinese histories specifically associate her with the unrelated Wa people of Burma.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: It's mentioned that, as medieval rulers go, she was actually relatively reasonable, taxing her subjects fairly and using her powers to assure bountiful harvests. She didn't engage in senseless massacres and made sure her people were never attacked by outside powers; however, her subjects had just as little freedom and she was utterly ruthless to anyone who crossed her.
• The Man Behind the Man: Well, Woman Behind: She's the reason why Mathias does what he does.

Other

Richard Croft

Lara's late father.

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• Adventurer Archaeologist: He often went on expeditions, researching myths in other countries.
• Driven to Suicide: According to a flashback in Rise, he shot himself after being disgraced. As it turns out, he was in fact murdered by Trinity, who staged it to make it look like a suicide.
• How the Mighty Have Fallen: He was once a well-known and respected archaeologist, but his obsession with researching immortality eventually ruined his reputation and led him to become a laughingstock.
• Immortality Seeker: He was always fascinated with immortality, but his wife's death turned it into an outright obsession; his final years were spent researching such myths and trying to find ways to achieve it.
• Parental Neglect: His fixation on his research often led him to neglect Lara, and he was absent for most of her childhood.
• Posthumous Character: By the time the first game begins, he's long dead.
• Teasing Parent: In the flashbacks in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, it can be seen that he used to create mysteries around Croft Manor, including hand-drawn treasure maps and secret rooms in the house that he fully expected for Lara to explore.