Franchise: Tomb Raider

In 2002, actress Sofia Vergara portrayed Lara Croft for a live-action Visa Monster Chase commercial. In the ad she was handed a PlayStation 2 version of "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider", a game that doesn't exist, but uses the the same artwork as Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness.

Lara Croft's design was based on the style of Swedish pop star Neneh Cherry, and the attitude of Tank Girl from the comic book series of the same name.

Nell McAndrews undertook the role of Lara Croft in 1998 through to 1999, during which time she posed nude for Playboy. At the time, Eidos threatened Playboy with a lawsuit. They were unable to alter the U.S. printing, but won a lawsuit forcing the U.K. printing of the magazine to cover up the Tomb Raider logo on the cover. This scandal was likely the reason she was replaced as the role of Lara Croft.

Excluding Angelina Jolie, who played her in the movies, Lara Croft has been portrayed by ten models, from Nathalie Cook (who was replaced with Vanessa Demouy before the game was released) to Alison Carroll.

For years, Lara Croft's bust size was believed to be the result of an error made by developer Toby Gard, when he accidentally increased the dimensions of her breasts by 150%. The creative team then argued to keep the change. This claim originated from a 1997 interview with Gard, who joked that a "slip of the mouse" resulted in Lara's chest being resized by 150% instead of 50%. In a 2021 article by TheGamer investigating the origin of the claim, Gard confirmed that this statement was intended as a joke. The article also revealed that false belief in the claim was exacerbated by an April Fool's Day article by GameSpot in 2000, which attributed the claim to a supposed developer named Nigel West, who is not actually listed in the credits for any Tomb Raider games that existed at that time.