Lara Croft or ...Laura Cruz?

Toby Gard, one of the top designers, if not the best one, was dreaming of creating a male character, who would explore ancient Egyptian pyramids, in order to find treasures and artefacts.

However, this concept had plenty of similarities with the popular franchise of Indiana Jones and, because of that, it had to be changed.

So, the male turned into a latin woman, named Laura Cruz. Yet, Core Design preferred a name that sounds more... friendly to the American and British audience, so they came up with Lara Croft.