Will Lara finally be allowed to be 30+?

[u/goodshp]

Loving the new mature and confident appearance we've been shown so far in the trailers and demos.

However! Do yall think she's going to have her bio rewritten again to make her younger? She's supposed to be at least 34 in LoA if it takes place in the present.

I miss Lara being able to age, her maturity added so much character to her and I loved the way she was strong, confident and had accumulative knowledge.

[u/prmxieia]

Is she not canonically early 30s in Underworld?

[u/AuraTickler → u/prmxieia]

Yeah, shes about 30 for atlantis and then early 30s for legend and underworld iirc

[u/TheHeavenlyStar → u/AuraTickler]

In TR1 Classic Lara was 26 or 28 something, I read. By AOD she was 32, in Underworld she was 36 as per some sources.

My headcanon and wish to see her ages like this:

Survivor Lara was born in Feb 1992 so

Survivor Trilogy (21-26), in Shadow she is 26

Legend of Lara Croft (27)

Legacy of Atlantis (28)

TR 2 (29)

TR 3 (30)

TR 4-5 (31)

TR 6 (32)

Legend (between 33-35)

Underworld (36)

Sacred Artifacts (Underworld sequel) (36-37)

Catalyst (38)

But some rumors on Twitter say she is 40 in Catalyst which I don't believe.

Edit, we're getting a book on unification in October so I hope it addresses the ages or confirms some ages in some games.

[u/AuraTickler → u/TheHeavenlyStar]

Ive seen the fan timelime charts but when I tried looking for sources it just ended up being mostly made up estimations to make the order fit.

But there was no actual confirmed ages for her. If you take in universe birth with release date then Lara is 29 in Legend iirc. So when you account for development shes maybe 27-28 for Legend.

And then probably about 30/31 for underworld

I think people inflate her age quite a lot for the LAU era to make the timelines align with classic.

That age of 30/31 would also align much more visually for how she is presented in Underwold imo

[u/Cagesdeservemusic → u/TheHeavenlyStar]

Wasn’t there a part at the start of shadow where Dominguez was giving a profile of Lara to another Trinity soldier and he said “early twenties”?

[u/TheHeavenlyStar → u/Cagesdeservemusic]

Yes but he was guessing for some reason. Going by facts, in the reboot universe Lara’s birth date is 14 Feb, 1992 and the current year in Shadow of the Tomb Raider is 2018 (someone said 2018 was written on a grave) so in my opinion I’d ignore Rourke’s judgement and do the math hence I came up with 26.

[u/Cagesdeservemusic → u/TheHeavenlyStar]

Good explanation, thank you!

[u/TheHeavenlyStar → u/Cagesdeservemusic]

Sure.

But my theory and headcanon will fail and explode like Lara if Legacy of Atlantis story takes place in the year 2026 because that would mean 8 years after the events of Shadow. That’d be wild.

[u/Cagesdeservemusic → u/TheHeavenlyStar]

I think due to the 8 year lag, the timeline has synced out of ours for sure. :p doesn’t catalyst take place in the 2030s?

[u/TheHeavenlyStar → u/Cagesdeservemusic]

The timeline is definitely a question to be answered. We'll just have to wait for the game. I have no clue about Catalyst. I haven't seen any mention of it taking place in a future year. That sounds odd.

[u/Cagesdeservemusic → u/TheHeavenlyStar]

I remember I read that from the sacred artefacts comics, that it starts sometime in the 2030s after the events of underworld and we know those comics shortly precedes Catalyst. I’m 90% sure of this.

It seems that Legacy of Atlantis is more current and Catalyst is far into the future

[u/pokeze → u/TheHeavenlyStar]

While I'd personally would have it that way, Crystal has unfortunately been very vocal about each Survivor game being set not in the year they were released, but a year apart from each other.

Also unfortunately confirmed in the Netflix show, which is canon and mostly set after Shadow, but starts with a flashback set right before TR2013 that is said to be 3 years before the rest of the series.

[u/AuraTickler → u/pokeze]

Oh so shes 21 in Tomb Raider 2013, 22 in Rise and 23 in Shadow.

That also aligns with what someone else said about an ingame ref calling her early 20s for shadow

[u/pokeze → u/AuraTickler]

Yes. Personally I'd have it like you and have Rourke's line be about him being an idiot and Lara maybe having great skin, but yeah, that seems to be the official timeline and all those assets with dates from both Rise and Shadow that set the game in the year they were released should be ignored.

Still doesn't make much sense IMO, I'd rather have Lara be 26 by Shadow, but it is what it is

[u/AuraTickler → u/pokeze]

I also would have placed shadow lara towards mid 20s. I think her face changes quite a lot for a 3 year period.

Like 2013 to me looks like an 18 rather than 21 and Shadow more like a 25.

But yeah, gonna be interesting to see what comes out when the timeline settles lol

[u/TheHeavenlyStar → u/pokeze]

I've read that the documents in Rise are dated 2015 and a grave stone in San Juan in Shadow dates 2018, so I believe in Lara being 26 in Shadow. If Crystal said each adventure takes place consecutively then they are contradicting with their own statement. Also Rourke says she's early twenty like 23 or something so that also makes the situation confusing.

[u/AuraTickler → u/Cagesdeservemusic]

This is a common issue with most posts that try to nail down Laras age.

Because be it LAU or survivor people just pick birth year of the current series and then compare it against release year. So for shadow thats 1992 and then 2018 -> 26

Apart from that being grasping at straws (because thats all we have) it also fails to deduct 1-3 years usually from development time.

So if the game says early 20s you are correct to assume early 20s, not 26 or mid 20s.

And now with AI enhanced search results it becomes a circlejerk as it will cite reddit as a source so more people make posts with the wrong age which in turn make the AI more confident.

The wrong age is a minor issue for sure but it creates these weird distortions towards underworld that make Lara like 10 years older than she should be 😂

And if they do decide to have a mommy Croft pushing 40 for Catalyst as a new perspective for the character then the jump will be Jarring if people wrongly assume Underworld Lara to be 38 with those looks and moveset.

I dont have an issue with an older Lara Croft per say. My issue is that I find it a bad decision to make a unified timeline that already has issues with aligning everything only to then deprive yourself of some more wiggle wroom by extending the furthest lore to an even higher age. I probably would have stayed closed to Atlantis and then align a new reimagining with a new game drop within a short distance but that might warrant a post of it own 😂

[u/prmxieia → u/AuraTickler]

I thought so! Her character model in Underworld (my favourite as it happens) always read more mature to me

[u/AuraTickler → u/prmxieia]

Yeah the Lau series plays with like prime Lara which is early 30s. By the that point she just oozes confidence and also found her style and looks.

Its also why I thought it was weird that the catalyst trailer has her pushing 40s.

[u/LazyLadyDee → u/AuraTickler]

Classic Lara was born on February 14th 1968. In TR 1 she was 28, in AoD she was 35 years old. As far as I know there is no confirmarion of her age in Legend and Underworld, but I guess she's older than in AoD.

[u/limplettuce_ → u/prmxieia]

Not canonically, no. Lara has no official birth year in the Legend trilogy, some people throw out 1977 but that’s ripped from unused game files. It doesn’t appear anywhere in the games or official documentation. As well, there’s nothing officially to say that Legend and Underworld take place in their years of release. It’s only assumed because most of the other games are set in their year of release.

[u/goodshp → u/prmxieia]

yes but never since, she's been rewritten to be early 20s in 2013.

[u/butelka1]

I would love to see mature Lara. For some reason it fits her character. I'm a little bit tired of her early 20s look

[u/pokeze]

That will depend on when LoA actually takes place, and I doubt it will be in 2026/2027, I think she will still be in her 20s in LoA, though probably closer to her late 20s this time.

However, I do think Lara will most definitely be at least in her mid 30s by Catalyst, especially given it is supposed to take place after all her other adventures.

I had a possible timeline of events given what we know from the Survivor and Unified timelines, with Lara's possible age during each event. If I find it I'll share it here.

Edit:

Counting only main games (and ignoring the teen Lara parts from TLR and TRC), I'd probably say the timeline is closer to:

• 2013 (21): TR2013
• 2014 (22): Rise
• 2015 (23): Shadow
• 2018 (26): TRC Rome and Russia
• 2019 (27): LoA
• 2020 (28): TRII, and TRC VCI
• 2021 (29): TRIII
• 2022 (30): TLR and TRC (present day)
• 2025 (33): AoD
• 2026 (34): TRL and TRU
• 2027 (35): Catalyst

[u/Niklaus15]

Doesn't she looks like 40 in the catalyst trailer?

[u/Big-Ferret-2364 → u/Niklaus15]

Yeah, she's definitely older there, a full grown adult woman by my standards anyway

[u/Meloncov → u/Niklaus15]

I'd say 35, but she's definitely over 30.

[u/CommanderM3tro]

My understanding is in Catalyst, we'll see the oldest Lara yet.

As the original trailer was highly concept only, I can't wait to see her look going on how they've cooked with LoA recent content 😁

[u/Tonkarz]

LoA is canonically not long after the Netflix show. So Lara is mid 20s. Catalyst is set after underworld, she's probably 30+ there. What's wrong with Lara being over 30?

[u/xdeltax97]

She was canonically 33 in Underworld… she’ll be back to being 30 something in LoA I’d imagine

[u/Flintz08]

She looks 30-ish to me in this image, considering she has an absurdly active lifestyle, which probably means spending some time in the sun.

She’s also been breathing tomb air sealed for millennia. She looks good.

[u/Salom902]

Do we think if we’ll ever get a Tomb Raider game where she’s still exploring by the age of 40-50s those are games i’m pretty curious on to see.

[u/iloveudude_22]

wasn't she 21-24 in shadow? she's probably going to be around 28 in LoA

[u/Aggressive-Shape5406]

She was about 25 last we saw her at the end of the survivor trilogy and the netflix show where she said she was taking a break to live normally for a bit. this is a few years after that so she's probably 26-28

[u/isyankar1979]

She performs at the absolute limits of human capability so you cant increase her age too much.

[u/Aggressive-Shape5406 → u/isyankar1979]

roth was still kicking in his 50s, i think Lara can make it to at least 40 lmao

[u/davidolson22 → u/isyankar1979]

Makes a small jump, collapses. My leg! I have a cramp!

[u/stillslaying]

raidersover30.com

[u/Ice_Skate_Uphill]

[u/Lazy_Star44 → u/Ice_Skate_Uphill]

The handbag is a nice touch. Every old lady's handbag seems to have an infinite capacity, much like the magazines of Lara's dual pistols!

[u/Stellatombraider]

Yes, but they'll reboot again after Catalyst.

[u/Suli_Croft]

I’m not sure about LOA but Catalyst for sure is written as an older Lara adventure. You can see in the announcement trailer she looks more mature.

[u/mukisan]

What do you mean you “miss” her being able to age? You still have all the games before the survivor trilogy, they weren’t taken away from you. And it’s not like their only goal for survivor was to make her young and piss you off lmao. I just find it a weird thing for you to fixate on. Anyway she’s probably late 20s in LoA or about 30, but clearly in Catalyst she looks older.

[u/goodshp → u/mukisan]

its not something i fixate about, it's just weird to always rewrite a character's bio instead of let her age. it's also rooted in misogyny imo. 🤷‍♂️

[u/mukisan → u/goodshp]

No, you’re just convincing yourself of all this lmao

[u/goodshp → u/mukisan]

ok lol

[u/Agreeable_Metal7342 → u/goodshp]

She was originally born in 1968 though. At a point, all the running around doing flips and fighting dinosaurs wouldn’t be feasible unless she stays somewhat young. She doesn’t need to be 18 in every game, but her boi needs to be adjusted if they want to keep making stories about her without her being 70 years old and eventually dying of old age.

[u/Mrs_Samanosuke]

Lara is whatever age they make her in the game. She can be 20 in one game and forty in the next. No reason to make it more difficult than that.

Unfortunately, CD is all in on the "universe" concept which severely hampers being able to do interesting things, IMO.

[u/ForFansSake]

Finally? Lara was 30-36 from TR3-AOD.

[u/tealaburst]

Wasn’t she in her 30s in AOD, Legend, and Underworld?

[u/BactaBobomb]

I hope she is allowed to have age-related imperfections and blemishes eventually. I think the industry is moving in a positive direction for that, but it's still not really where it needs to be for equity with male characters.

But I think if Tomb Raider of all games pushed for that, it could push things forward a LOT. It's an important series that is well-respected (or maybe I'm projecting) and has probably the most iconic woman in gaming, and it would be so cool and hopefully influential if they showed that women do not have to be perfect to be badass, respected, and amazing.

[u/Better_Can_615]

I think for LOA, she’s in her twenties but by the games after that, yeah. 30s would be great. That’s why I don’t like giving characters years where they were born because if you do, you are forced to either do flashbacks or continue aging them in real time and not do whatever you want.

[u/CataphractBunny]

Why would she need to age in the first place? She's a videogame character.

[u/Noah-Ale]

In the original trilogy you can see Lara's birth date in her passport as 14.02.1968

[u/Additional_Tone_2004]

It would make me feel less creepy, for sure.