Richard Croft (Survivor Timeline)


 * For Lara's father in other continuities, see Lord Croft disambiguation page.

Lord Richard Croft, Ph.D, is the late father of Lara Croft, and husband of her late mother.

Unlike the previous version of this character, he is portrayed as having been absent for much of Lara's childhood, and having been somewhat neglectful of her in pursuit of his research. However he gave her gifts from his finds, which though appreciative of them at the time, later saw them as bribes. Lara ended up resenting her father and dismissing his theories, much like the rest of the professional archaeological community.

Early Years
Richard Croft was born into the wealthy Croft family, eventually inheriting the title of Lord. He studied archaeology at Oxford University, earning a Doctorate, and becoming quite successful in the field.

As an adult, he met Amelia DeMornay, whom he began a relationship with. Amelia was betrothed to the Earl of Farringdon, though she had no interest in pursuing the relationship, breaking it off to be with Richard. When he met Amelia's parents and brother, Atlas, they treated him with thinly veiled contempt, though Richard took their dislike calmly for the sake of Amelia. The two were later married, with the marriage resulting in the birth of a daughter, Lara.

Though his marriage was sadly cut short, as his beloved wife, disappeared under mysterious circumstances. This lead to Atlas, becoming even more resentful of his brother in law.

After losing Amelia, Richard began to search for the key to eternal life.

He would often travel for his archaeological searches. Often accompanying him, was his friend Conrad Roth and occasionally Lara.

According to Lara he had been involved with several women, after her mother's disappearance, though she didn't know the details.

He met Leticia Cortez, while in Mexico, in need of a local guide, while searching for local ruins. Their romance was very brief however, as he soon left.

He later met and worked closely with a woman named Ana whom he came to meet when Lara was still young. Eventually, she became his girlfriend and a sort of mother figure to Lara.

Search for Immortality
He became obsessed with immortality myths during his career as an archaeologist. Lord Croft was publicly disgraced after his claims of finding evidence of the myth of immortality. During this time, he became increasingly tense in his obsession and often left Lara alone. She became increasingly frustrated and dismissive of her father and his work. He did leave behind some tapes for his daughter, imploring her not to trust those lies spread about him and to encourage her with stories and fond memories. Within these tapes, he also mentioned that he was being followed by the group known as the Order of Trinity.

Death
Later it seemed Trinity was after Lord Croft and his research. He remained defiant towards this group, and soon earned it's wrath against him. He was found by Lara in his study when she stumbled into the room. He was shot in the head with a fired gun still in his hand, implicating suicide. He had died without completing his research.

Trivia

 * In the initial run of Dark Horse Comics, he wears a fedora, similar to the character, Indiana Jones, whom Lara Croft was originally inspired by.