It's widely known that Lara Croft was created as a female version of Indiana Jones. The Tomb Raider games, while not being an Indy rip off, do share some common elements with the Indiana Jones series. Both heroes search for hidden treasures in tomby locations, dodge traps and fearlessly fight enemies. That is, they both are archaeologists and adventurers. You can read a very interesting article here, which has detailed info on the similarities between Lara Croft and Indiana Jones.
We don't know if EIDOS wanted to pay homage to the first Indy game, but they certainly show their affection by putting the Ark of the Covenant, originally discovered by Indiana Jones in 1981, in Lara's home in the first Tomb Raider game. According to Lara's bio, it was discovered by her in 1995, but we have no further information on how she did it.
The Ark of the Covenant was the artifact Indiana Jones was after in his first movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark, starring Harrison Ford. Indiana Jones was hired to find the legendary biblical artifact by the US government, before the Nazis could lay their hands on it.
You can view
imdb's entry on the movie to get more details.
The Ark of the Covenant is an artifact mentioned in the Bible, as the wooden chest where the Ten Commandments were stored. It has yet to be discovered by anyone, and speculation about where it is hidden goes on and on. You might find this article on the Ark of the Covenant enlightening. Whether this artifact is real or not, of course, is a matter of faith.
(Seen in Tomb Raider 1, retrieved in the Great Pyramid Level)
The Scion is an artifact that is the key to activating the Great Pyramid of Atlantis. The powers of the Scion can control the course of evolution, change the genetic codes of any organism, and create entire races of new species.
It was divided into three pieces and the three rulers of the Atlantis island, Qualopeg, Tihocan, and Natla shared its power. When used wisely, the Scion allowed Atlantis to thrive and thanks to it, it became the most advanced civilization on earth. However, Natla believed natural selection was at an all time low and abused her powers to create a race of monsters. Her monsters went mad and destroyed the island of Atlantis. Qualopeg and Tihocan stripped her of her powers and froze her into what they thought would be an eternal prison. But Natla never felt sorry for her creations. Qualopeg and Tihocan then fled with their followers before Atlantis sank. Qualopeg and his followers migrated to Peru and took his piece of the Scion with them. They established what became the Incan civilization. Tihocan fled to Italy, carrying his piece of the Scion, and his descendants later created the Roman Empire. Natla's piece was entrusted to a group of Atlantean refugees who settled in Egypt. You can take advantage of Scion's powers only if you have all three pieces. Lara Croft was hired by Natla to find the three pieces of the ancient artifact, which she managed to retrieve in 1996, in Atlantis, after having defeated a rather scary mutated Natla who had transformed into a winged demon.
Now, this is the story of the game. In fact, Atlantis was destroyed by a volcano eruption ,as stated by a Greek philosopher, Plato. There are many other rumors about where the lost continent of Atlantis used to be.
To learn more about the History of Atlantis, click here.
Lara found this particular artifact in Tomb Raider 1 Gold. She returned to the city of Khamoon and retrieved the artifact in the temple of the Egyptian cat goodness Bastet. Date of finding is in 1996. Apparently cats play a large role in the Egyptian Mythology.
Click here to learn more about the cat goddesses of Egypt.
(Seen in Tomb Raider 2, retrieved in Dragon's Lair Level)
The dagger of Xian has the power to turn its bearer into a dragon, after a certain ceremony takes place and he or she inserts the dagger into his or her heart. It was first created by a cruel emperor who wanted to destroy his enemies and also, conquer new countries. He ruled China and the places he had conquered in a tyrannical way. A group of Tibetan warrior monks managed to remove the dagger from the heart of the Xian emperor. That was of course, the end of him. The monks hid the dagger in a secret chamber in the Great Wall of China and gave their descenders the task to guard the dagger and fight against people who wanted Xian's powers for their own good. Lara Croft managed to retrieve the dagger for herself in 1997, racing against the leader of Fiamma Nera, the megalomaniac Marco Bartoli. She dived deep into the ocean to get the Seraph, which she used in Tibet, to get the Talion- the key to the chamber of the dagger.
Actually, there was a Xian dynasty that ruled China from 400 to 700 AD and they were not very peaceful either. They soon became weak however and another family, the Shangs, took over from them. Their dynasty is said to be a legend, because there aren't any written records about them.
(Seen in Tomb Raider 2 Gold, in Level Furnace of the Gods)
This mask is rumored to revive the dead. According to legend, this relic bestows powers of re-animation on its bearer. Lara went to a Alaska, to an abandoned Russian military base, to the remains of an ancient Inuit settlement and then into a tropical Shangri-La
and recovered the artifact in 1997. The Inuit people helped her fight against the mercenaries that wanted to possess the mask themselves. There is no truth in this story, except for the fact that there are actually some remains of Cold War in Alaska.
(Seen in Tomb Raider 3, retrieved(all four)in Level Meteorite Cavern)
The Comet of Vermilion crash landed in Antarctica thousands of years ago. The comet drastically changed the path of evolution on the earth and turned the once temperate Antarctica into a wasteland. The surviving members of a local civilization revered the meteor as a god and made five artifacts out of it. The civilization was unable to survive in the harsh environment that was created by the impact and soon died out, leaving the artifacts buried under ice. From 1831 to 1836, British anthropologist Charles Darwin embarked on his infamous worldwide journey on the HMS Beagle to study the origin of man. While doing research in the Southern Arctic Circle, some of Darwin's crew secretly snack onto the Antarctica continent to hunt for meat. The crew members accidentally discovered the five artifacts and took them back to the Beagle. The artifacts got scattered all over the planet as the crew went about their separate ways.
Lara was hired to find one of these artifacts, the Infada Stone, in India, clearly not aware of the existence of the others. After retrieving the first artifact, she met a Scottish scientist, Dr. Willard, who told her the whole story and hired her to find the remaining three artifacts. After travelling worldwide, Lara managed to recover all four artifacts in 1998: The Infada Stone in India(Caves of Caliya), the Ora Dagger in Nevada(Area 51), the Eye of Isis in London (City) and the Element 115 in South Pacific Islands(Temple of Puna). Take in mind that you might find the Ora Dagger in South Pacific and the Element 115 in Nevada, playstation users!
He might have forgotten to mention it at first, but what Dr. Willard really wanted to do with the artifacts was use them to create mutants and then take over the world, naturally. Lara didn't agree with his plan, but the evil scientist took her by surprise by knocking her over with a table. After a heated conversation, he managed to render Lara incapable of moving for just a few seconds, enough for him to snatch the artifacts and run away. In the end, he ended up becoming a mutant spider himself, which Lara defeated, thus recovering the four artifacts.
The only truth in this story is that Charles Darwin was the navigator of the Beagle, which, however, never went as far as Antarctica.
(Seen in Tomb Raider 3 Gold, discovered in Level Sleeping with the Fish, retrieved in Level Reunion)
Lara Croft found a small telegram in the wallet of the dead Willard which said:"Fifth Artifact found. Stop. Delivery confirmed to your Lock Ness Estate. Stop." So there was a fifth artifact made from the same meteorite. It is the key to unlocking the ancients meteorites' powers. Lara Croft soon set off to find it in 1998. She defeated Sophia, who somehow had survived the battle in London and retrieved the artifact in Paris. However, all this was revealed in the year 2000.
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Only minutes have passed since the hideous creature that Dr. Willard had become gasped the last breath of its violently short life cycle. The experiment had failed, the gleam of immortality returned to the stars from which it came.
Lara looks on silently, oblivious to the press of the bitter Antarctic wind. Suddenly a ragged figure emerges from the dark, gaping hole of the meteor cavern-it is Willard, a human reborn, but in the throes of death. A hand gestures wildly, a final guttural laugh tears through the silence, the figure slumps forward and is still.
With the snow already forming a ghastly shroud over the body, Lara quickly tears an object form the dead man's grasp. A wallet, its monogrammed "W" now standing sadly against Willard's last earthly remains. Inside, the usual collection of tattered mementos, a hodge-podge of foreign currency and. . . but this cannot be! A familiar expression glides across Lara's face-an eyebrow raised by a wry and knowing smile. Before her, a telegram urging an immediate return to take possession of another artifact now secure beneath the Scottish mists at Willard's Loch Ness estate.
"The adventure continues," says Lara, to nothing but Willard's dark laughter still ringing in her ears. "So there was a fifth..."
(Seen in Tomb Raider 4, discovered in Level Burial Chambers)
Lara was hired to discover a new tomb in Egypt and she discovered Tomb of Seth. She took the Amulet of Horus from a sarcophagus in 1999 in the Burial Chambers Level. That was a terrible mistake. Seth was an evil god, imprisoned in his tomb by his brother Horus, and Lara, by removing the amulet, had set him free. She had accidentally activated a terrible prophecy. Jean-Yves ,an old friend of her, told her about the prophecy of Seth:
"I am the shadow across the sun; I am the bringer of plagues. My wrath will consume all lands and shall be ceaseless."
Only Lara could set things back to normal again and save the world. Fortunately the person who unleashed Seth is the one that can imprison him again in his tomb. Lara went to tomb of Semerkhet in Karnak, in order to put Seth back into his sarcophagus through a special ceremony. The Amulet of Horus was the artifact that she used to imprison Seth again in the Temple of Horus level in Tomb Raider the Last Revelation.
The fight between Horus and Seth is something that is mentioned in the Egyptian Mythology. However, several things have been changed or cut out in the game's story-the existence of Osiris who did play a large role in this story for example.
Reference Links
Learn more about the Egyptian mythology in general
Learn more about the battle between Horus and Seth
Lara Croft had a meeting with the editor of the Times newspaper, Peter Stothard. He told her that there had been discovered some new tunnels in Tutankhamon's Tomb by Howard Carter, which he wanted her to explore. Then she would report her findings exclusively to them. Lara explored the area and found the famous Tutankhamon's Mask in the tomb.
In fact, there was an archaeologist called Howard Carter who explored Tutankhamon's tomb and found his sarcophagus. Tutankhamon was the king of Egypt. Tutankhamon's Mask, made of solid gold was found right on top of the king's mummy as magic protection in 1922. The mask weighs more than 10 kg and it is decorated with coloured glass and semiprecious stones (turquoise, lapis lazuli and coralline). The king is represented in an extremely classical way, with a ceremonial beard, a long necklace made of twelve concentric strings composed of semiprecious stones, and the headgear "nemes" in which gold is combined with blue-coloured glass on the forehead. There is the real ureo and the head of a vulture, symbols of the two deities of the upper and lower Egypt: Uaget and Nejbet. The study of Tutankhamon's mummy has revealed that the Pharaoh died when he was 18 years old and his height was 163 cm. Tutankhamon died in 1323 BC, so this piece of work is more than 3000 years old.
Learn more about the opening and the exploration of Tutankhamon's Tomb by Howard Carter and the finding of the golden mask in 1922.
(Seen in Tomb Raider 4 (Level:Race for the Iris) and 5 (Tower Block Episode))
In fact, this is the reason Von Croy and Lara Croft began to hate each other. When Lara was sixteen, in 1983, Von Croy, together with her, found the Iris in a temple in Cambodia. He got trapped inside though, because of his greed for fame and money and Lara fled, leaving him helpless, in order to save her own life. Von Croy somehow managed to retrieve the Iris and escape from the temple, wanting to take revenge on the girl that had betrayed him. He put the Iris in his headquarters. Lara Croft broke into the Von Croy Industries Headquarters and stole the Iris, which was protected by a laser shield, in 1999. Von Croy recognized the intruder though and the hatred between the two grew even stronger.
The Iris artifact is supposed to enable you to travel through time. There is absolutely no truth in it. The name iris was given apparently because this artifact looks like the iris of the human eye.
Lara Croft went to Rome in 1996 and attempted to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone. She collected the four necessary artifacts to get access to the chamber of the Philosopher's stone-the Mercury Stone, the Venus Symbol, the Mars Symbol and the Saturn Symbol. Pierre du Pont, who had teamed up with Larson, was after the same artifacts as well. The chamber of the philosopher's stone was guarded by three giant fire-throwing snakes, which Lara defeated. She placed the four symbols by the chamber's door and opened it. However, there was a trap in there, a collapsing floor tile, which sent Lara down for a short visit to the famous Colosseum. She finally managed to grab the artifact, after having some fun with gladiators, lions and knights.
In fact, the Philosopher's Stone is a very popular legendary artifact, rumored to turn all metals or even all materials into gold and enable its possessors make the filter of immortality. Many famous characters have joined the hunt for this artifact including Lara Croft and Harry Potter. Arab alchemists were the first to try and make it. Their experiments failed, but they did discover some new elements, which are extremely useful to modern Chemistry.
Read a story about the philosopher's stone(children's tale)
It's an ancient book containing the names of the demons. It's one of the most important findings of young Lara. It actually saved her life. The story started when she secretly followed Father Dunstand on his way to an Irish island where strange things were happening. She found the Bestiary in the Labyrinth level, deep below a church full of traps and lava pits. It was with it that Lara managed to defeat the monstrous demon Knight .In Old Mill, in the cutscene at the end of the level, Father Patrick told Lara to find the list of the names of the demons in the Bestiary and read them aloud. She began to do so, but the knight tried to stop her. Father Dunstand attacked the demon, distracting him long enough for Lara to speak the correct name(verdilet). This, according to Father Patrick, gave her power over the demon. The demon froze in his position and Lara banished him to return where he belonged.
There is no truth in this artifact. The only thing I can say is that the word "Bestiary" has a Greek or Latin origin.
It was divided into three pieces and the three rulers of the Atlantis island, Qualopeg, Tihocan, and Natla shared its power. When used wisely, the Scion allowed Atlantis to thrive and thanks to it, it became the most advanced civilization on earth. However, Natla believed natural selection was at an all time low and abused her powers to create a race of monsters. Her monsters went mad and destroyed the island of Atlantis. Qualopeg and Tihocan stripped her of her powers and froze her into what they thought would be an eternal prison. But Natla never felt sorry for her creations. Qualopeg and Tihocan then fled with their followers before Atlantis sank. Qualopeg and his followers migrated to Peru and took his piece of the Scion with them. They established what became the Incan civilization. Tihocan fled to Italy, carrying his piece of the Scion, and his descendants later created the Roman Empire. Natla's piece was entrusted to a group of Atlantean refugees who settled in Egypt. You can take advantage of Scion's powers only if you have all three pieces. Lara Croft was hired by Natla to find the three pieces of the ancient artifact, which she managed to retrieve in 1996, in Atlantis, after having defeated a rather scary mutated Natla who had transformed into a winged demon.
(Seen in Tomb Raider 2, retrieved in Dragon's Lair Level)
The Comet of Vermilion crash landed in Antarctica thousands of years ago. The comet drastically changed the path of evolution on the earth and turned the once temperate Antarctica into a wasteland. The surviving members of a local civilization revered the meteor as a god and made five artifacts out of it. The civilization was unable to survive in the harsh environment that was created by the impact and soon died out, leaving the artifacts buried under ice. From 1831 to 1836, British anthropologist Charles Darwin embarked on his infamous worldwide journey on the HMS Beagle to study the origin of man. While doing research in the Southern Arctic Circle, some of Darwin's crew secretly snack onto the Antarctica continent to hunt for meat. The crew members accidentally discovered the five artifacts and took them back to the Beagle. The artifacts got scattered all over the planet as the crew went about their separate ways.
Lara Croft found a small telegram in the wallet of the dead Willard which said:"Fifth Artifact found. Stop. Delivery confirmed to your Lock Ness Estate. Stop." So there was a fifth artifact made from the same meteorite. It is the key to unlocking the ancients meteorites' powers. Lara Croft soon set off to find it in 1998. She defeated Sophia, who somehow had survived the battle in London and retrieved the artifact in Paris. However, all this was revealed in the year 2000.
(Seen in Tomb Raider 4, discovered in Level Burial Chambers)
In fact, this is the reason Von Croy and Lara Croft began to hate each other. When Lara was sixteen, in 1983, Von Croy, together with her, found the Iris in a temple in Cambodia. He got trapped inside though, because of his greed for fame and money and Lara fled, leaving him helpless, in order to save her own life. Von Croy somehow managed to retrieve the Iris and escape from the temple, wanting to take revenge on the girl that had betrayed him. He put the Iris in his headquarters. Lara Croft broke into the Von Croy Industries Headquarters and stole the Iris, which was protected by a laser shield, in 1999. Von Croy recognized the intruder though and the hatred between the two grew even stronger.
Lara Croft went to Rome in 1996 and attempted to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone. She collected the four necessary artifacts to get access to the chamber of the Philosopher's stone-the Mercury Stone, the Venus Symbol, the Mars Symbol and the Saturn Symbol. Pierre du Pont, who had teamed up with Larson, was after the same artifacts as well. The chamber of the philosopher's stone was guarded by three giant fire-throwing snakes, which Lara defeated. She placed the four symbols by the chamber's door and opened it. However, there was a trap in there, a collapsing floor tile, which sent Lara down for a short visit to the famous Colosseum. She finally managed to grab the artifact, after having some fun with gladiators, lions and knights.
It's an ancient book containing the names of the demons. It's one of the most important findings of young Lara. It actually saved her life. The story started when she secretly followed Father Dunstand on his way to an Irish island where strange things were happening. She found the Bestiary in the Labyrinth level, deep below a church full of traps and lava pits. It was with it that Lara managed to defeat the monstrous demon Knight .In Old Mill, in the cutscene at the end of the level, Father Patrick told Lara to find the list of the names of the demons in the Bestiary and read them aloud. She began to do so, but the knight tried to stop her. Father Dunstand attacked the demon, distracting him long enough for Lara to speak the correct name(verdilet). This, according to Father Patrick, gave her power over the demon. The demon froze in his position and Lara banished him to return where he belonged.