The unstoppable Lara Croft!

If Super Mario is the King of the gaming world then there's only one woman who can rightfully be his queen... Lara Croft!

Two of Lara's most famous assets... I meant her guns, her guns! What dirty minds you have!

After posting the news that a new model, Alison Carroll, had been chosen to represent Lara for her next gaming outing Tomb Raider: Underworld I thought I'd do a little homage to the one and only, Guinness World Record holding "most successful human video game heroine of all time" - Miss Croft.

Created in 1996 by game designer Toby Gard in response to his male co-workers choosing to only play the female characters in Virtua Fighter, Toby created Laura Cruz, a South American female adventurer. Laura Cruz eventually evolved into Lara Croft after the decision was made to give her a little more class and character and make her British.

The many incarnations of Lara that Tomb Raider has given us (click for a bigger picture)

There have been over 15 different Tomb Raider games spanning numerous consoles and Lara has been voiced by numerous women:

* Shelley Blond in Tomb Raider
* Judith Gibbins in Tomb Raider II and Tomb Raider III
* Jonell Elliott in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider Chronicles, and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
* Keeley Hawes in Tomb Raider: Legend, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Tomb Raider: Underworld
* Charlotte Asprey voiced young Lara in the flashback sequences of Tomb Raider: Legend

The stunning Angelina Jolie as Lara in the movie: Tomb Raider II - The cradle of life.

As one of the most stunning video game females ever created, Lara has been portrayed by a whole host of beautiful women (most notably Angelina Jolie in the movies - above) although I was surprised to hear that our very own Jordan (aka Katie Price) was the first person to ever model as Lara. All the lovely ladies are listed below:

* Katie Price (Jordan): 'portrayed' Lara Croft at ECTS before official models were cast
* Nathalie Cook: 1996-1997 (mostly unknown before Tomb Raider became famous)
* Rhona Mitra: 1997-1998
* Vanessa Demouy: 1997 (hired by a French video game magazine for a photo shoot)
* Nell McAndrew: 1998-1999
* Lara Weller: 1999-2000
* Ellen Rocche: 2000 (hired by Brazilian distributor of Eidos' games to promote The Lost Artifact)
* Lucy Clarkson: 2000-2002
* Jill de Jong: 2002-2004
* Karima Adebibe: 2006-2008
* Alison Carroll: 2008 to present

A few of the faces of Lara Croft

Five ex Lara's in PVC... Hear those geeks squeal!
This The photo shoot includes Karima Adebibe (2006-2008), plus Nell McAndrew (1998-1999), Lara Weller (1999-2000), Lucy Clarkson (2000-2002) and Jill De Jong (2002-2004).


My all-time favourite Croft model (and former Topshop assistant) Karima Adebibe


Nell McAndrew. My second favourite Lara model (sacked for posing in Playboy!)

Lara has been the subject of controversy many times over the years, most notably for her increasingly sexual appearance and excessive use of deadly force in the games towards humans and animals alike. This hasn't stopped those games from being released year after year, or her action figures flying off the shelves all over the world or her name and image being known by almost every man, woman or child around the world.

The most recent NECA action figure

Lara has outgrown her pixelated beginnings and become a legend in her own right. I have to admit that the 17" Tonner Doll Lara I bought from SDCC this year is a masterpiece and one of the most beautiful figures I now own, not least because it's simply her.

The Tonner Doll Lara, proudly owned by me ;P

All hail Lara, the queen of games!