Lara Croft Crowned as the Most Iconic Video Game Character
The main heroine of the popular franchise Tomb Raider, Lara Croft, has been recognized as the most iconic video game character in history according to BAFTA. This was reported by VentureBeat.
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts conducted a survey among gamers to determine the best characters in the world of video games. It is dedicated to the 20th anniversary ceremony of the BAFTA Games Awards, which will take place on April 11. Over 4,000 gamers from around the world participated in the survey.
Lara Croft, the heroine who first appeared in the Tomb Raider series in 1996, topped the list, receiving the highest number of votes from players. Since her debut, this character has become popular not only in video games but also on television and in movies.
It is worth noting that this year alone, games like Tomb Raider I-III Remastered have been released on various platforms, and later this year, the premiere of the TV show "Tomb Raider on Netflix: The Legend of Lara Croft" is expected. Overall, as of 2024, there have been over 30 video games about Lara Croft, over 10 mobile games, four feature films, three books, and seven comics.
Lara Croft was created by British game designer Toby Gard. She is depicted as a beautiful archaeologist, intelligent and athletic, who often risks her life in dangerous places like ancient ruins, tombs, jungles, and more. During her adventures, she encounters numerous traps and puzzles, as well as a large number of enemies - rival archaeologists, gangsters, dangerous animals, and mythical creatures.
Additionally, the top 20 iconic video game characters according to BAFTA include characters of various forms and sizes, from anthropomorphic animals to heavily armed spies. This rating brings together the most recognizable faces from the entire world of video games and looks like this:
- Lara Croft (Tomb Raider)
- Mario (Super Mario)
- Agent 47 (Hitman)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic)
- Sackboy (LittleBigPlanet)
- Pac-Man (Pac-Man)
- Link (Legend of Zelda)
- Master Chief (Halo)
- Kratos (God of War)
- Shadowheart (Baldur’s Gate 3)
- Arthur Morgan (Red Dead Redemption 2)
- Pikachu (Pokémon)
- Steve (Minecraft)
- Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid)
- Crash Bandicoot (Crash Bandicoot)
- Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII)
- Astarion (Baldur’s Gate 3)
- Kazuma Kiryu (Yakuza)
- Ellie Williams (The Last of Us)
- Nathan Drake (Uncharted)
However, some iconic video game characters such as Gordon Freeman (Half-Life) and DoomGuy (Doom) unexpectedly did not make it into this list.