{"id":55906,"date":"2026-01-20T12:28:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T03:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=55906"},"modified":"2026-01-20T12:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T03:37:16","slug":"tomb-raiders-original-creators-refused-japanese-publishers-request-to-give-lara-croft-an-anime-redesign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/tomb-raiders-original-creators-refused-japanese-publishers-request-to-give-lara-croft-an-anime-redesign\/","title":{"rendered":"Tomb Raider\u2019s original creators refused Japanese publisher\u2019s request to\u00a0give\u00a0Lara Croft\u00a0an\u00a0\u201canime\u201d\u00a0redesign\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paul Douglas, co-creator of the original Tomb Raider<\/strong> from 1996, recently talked about an unusual bit of the series\u2019 development history. Tomb Raider\u2019s iconic protagonist Lara Croft could have looked a lot different in Japan, had Douglas and Toby Gard (who created the original concept and designs for Tomb Raider) not opposed requests for her design to be altered to cater to local tastes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Japanese version of Tomb Raider released in 1997 for the Sega Saturn and PS1, published by Victor Interactive Software. But prior to the local launch, as Douglas wrote on BlueSky<\/a> on January 19, the publisher requested changes to Lara Croft\u2019s in-game design that would supposedly make her more appealing to the Japanese audience. This included large eyes and head-to-body proportions reminiscent of anime characters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Douglas, Victor faxed the proposed characters designs over to the development team really late into the process, which were promptly rejected by Toby Gard. As a compromise, the localized designs were used in Tomb Raider\u2019s Japanese manuals and guide. Looking at magazine scans shared by Douglas<\/a> in 2021, Lara Croft\u2019s Japanese version looks younger, with large eyes and small lips typical of Japanese manga of the times. A redesigned version of Jacqueline Natla can also be seen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Douglas speculated that with 3D art still being a young art at the time, Victor Interactive Software probably assumed that changing the in-game models and all cutscenes would be an easy job, thus the last-minute request. However, while Core Design\u2019s management was willing to consider the proposal, Douglas and Gard personally rejected it. \u201cIt started out as a request to change all the in-game and cutscene models. Then just in-game. Then just Lara. Then just Lara’s head…,\u201d he recalled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Curiously, magazine scans\u00a0showcasing\u00a0not only\u00a0illustrations of\u00a0the localized Lara Croft design, but\u00a0apparent\u00a03D\u00a0renders\u00a0have also cropped up. Asked about these by fans, Douglas\u00a0says he\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0sure who created them, but it’s safe to say it wasn\u2019t\u00a0his own team.\u00a0As an aside, one bit of localization that did<\/em> make it into the game was Lara Croft’s new name – in the Japanese version, she’s renamed to Leila Croft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Japanese publisher for he original Tomb Raider felt that Lara Croft’s design wouldn’t land well with local audiences.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":55910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-55906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nTomb Raider\u2019s original creators refused Japanese publisher\u2019s request to\u00a0give\u00a0Lara Croft\u00a0an\u00a0\u201canime\u201d\u00a0redesign\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Japanese publisher for he original Tomb Raider felt that Lara Croft's design wouldn't land well with local audiences.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/tomb-raiders-original-creators-refused-japanese-publishers-request-to-give-lara-croft-an-anime-redesign\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tomb Raider\u2019s original creators refused Japanese publisher\u2019s request to\u00a0give\u00a0Lara Croft\u00a0an\u00a0\u201canime\u201d\u00a0redesign\u00a0 - 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