Werner Von Croy (Original Timeline)

Werner Von Croy was an archaeologist-adventurer and the one-time mentor of Lara Croft.

Biography
Born in Vienna, Austria on May 21st, 1940. His father, the curator of the city museum, introduced him to ancient artifacts that so possessed his later life. He begin his explorations at an early age to glean items for the museum.

At the University of Salzburg, Von Croy had a Ph.D. in archaeology. At the University of Vienna, Von Croy also had a Ph.D. in musicology. He met Lord Croft through his father, and it was then that he requested to guide Lara through her first exploration.

When Lara was 16, Von Croy took her on a journey to Angkor Wat in Cambodia for her very first adventure in a training level at the start of the game in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation. Werner wanted to find an old artifact "Iris" which was hidden in the temple and despite Lara's warnings that removing it could be dangerous, he stubbornly tries to take it resulting in his right leg being severely injured and having to use a walking stick afterwards. Croft reluctantly abandons Von Croy in order to escape (she would have been crushed to death by falling rocks if she tried to rescue him).

They meet again later in the plot, in the present day, now as enemies, seeking the Amulet of Horus. During the game, Von Croy is possessed by Set, making his and Lara's rivalry grow even larger. When he tries to save her life at the end of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Lara hesitates, as she believes he isn't trustworthy, and is apparently killed, and the game ends with Von Croy paying his respects to her.

In Tomb Raider: Chronicles, stories were told of Lara's past in which she steals the Iris from Von Croy in his high-tech American business headquarters called Von Croy Industries (VCI). At the end of the game a cutscene plays with Von Croy and a digging team finding Lara's backpack in the ruins, picking up from the end of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation.

Between the events of The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Lara and Von Croy have an encounter which is not featured in the games. They once again disagree mostly about the events in Egypt and become enemies until Von Croy invites Lara to his apartment in Paris, where he is murdered by the Monstrum killer, and The Angel Of Darkness begins.

Development
In Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Von Croy's younger model used in the Cambodia levels once had light-purple shoes but were later changed to brown. The purple shoes did, however, get an appearance in Von Croy's wheelchair-bound model in Tomb Raider: Chronicles in the Red Alert! level.

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation

 * Angkor Wat
 * Race for the Iris
 * The Great Hypostyle Hall (cutscene)
 * Hall of Demetrius (cutscene)
 * The Citadel (cutscenes)

Tomb Raider: Chronicles

 * Escape with the Iris (cutscene)

Trivia

 * Von Croy was voiced by Kerry Shale in all of his game appearances.
 * The first FMV in the Last Revelation shows Von Croy breaking through rocks to enter an undiscovered part of Angkor Wat. However, his FMV model is the same model that is used later in the game. Mainly noticeable by the fact that he is wearing glasses.
 * In the Egypt FMV segments of Tomb Raider: Chronicles, Von Croy appears to have discarded his walking stick.
 * Professor Igor Bowmane, who appears in Tomb Raider: The Nightmare Stone, shares the same FMV model as Von Croy's.
 * Von Croy was given a birth date, diplomas and other information in Editions Atlas' Tomb Raider The Official Fact Files: Issue 1.

Appearances

 * Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (First appearance)
 * Tomb Raider: Chronicles
 * Tomb Raider: Level Editor (non-canon appearance)
 * Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness
 * Tomb Raider: The Amulet of Power (mentioned only)
 * Tomb Raider: The Lost Cult (mentioned only)
 * Tomb Raider: The Action Adventure