Samantha Nishimura

Samantha "Sam" Nishimura is the 22 year old Documentary Producer/Translator of the Endurance's expedition. Her nationality is Portuguese, but she has Japanese citizenship. She can speak both English and Japanese fluently. She receives regular money from her rich family. Her interests include high living, clubbing, spending money, travel and adventure.

Samantha’s mother is a Portuguese model who was working in LA when she met Sam’s father, a media mogul from Japan. Growing up she moved a lot, not just down the street, but between continents. This has a negative effect on Sam's behavior and as a result, Samantha was often the outsider in school, and gained attention by being a bit of a wild child. Because of this, she was expelled from many of the schools she attended, as well as nearly being in trouble with the authorities. Even her parents' influence had its limits, so they finally decided to enroll Sam in a boarding school. This is where she met Lara Croft.

Lara and Sam became great friends, strengthening each other's weaknesses. Lara helped Sam by being a calming influence on her otherwise wild personality. Sam and Lara grew closer over the years and when it became time to choose a college to go to they both decided to attend UCL. Sam studied film, specializing in documentary filmmaking.

As Sam and Lara's education at UCL was coming to a close, they had an insatible desire to go on an adventure. Sam was quick to sign aboard the Endurance as the expedition's filmmaker and translator. She believes Lara is on to something and she wants to be there to film it for posterity.

Samantha is a budding documentary filmmaker and, like Lara, has a passion for uncovering the untold stories of the world. Despite her rebellious streak, Samantha has extremely expensive taste in clothes. Sam really can’t understand why Lara refuses to touch her fortune, and sometimes ribs her about it, but she doesn’t let it get in the way of their friendship.

Samantha and Lara share a feeling of being out of place in the world and feed on each other’s thirst for adventure.

Surviving the Shipwreck
One of the survivors of the shipwreck on the island, Sam, is the best friend of Lara and seems to be a bit gullible or too willing to trust others, espcecially since she only just meets a random survivor on the island and allows him to bandage her leg and tells him everything about what happened to the crew aboard the ship.

She is shown being taken by Mathias at knife point in one of the gameplay demos. Lara attempts to rescue her but gets caught in a bear trap and Sam hasn't been seen again. However, in the Survival trailer she is heard talking to Lara over the radio, proving that she is still alive.

Near the end of the game, Mathias takes her to the Sun Queen to transfer the Sun Queen's soul into her, but is saved by Lara when she stabs the Queen, destroying her body and releasing her spirit. She is seen being carried bridal style by Lara back to the PT Boat as the remaining survivors leave the island.

Trivia

 * Sam's last name could be a reference to Toru Nishimura, Lara's Japanese contact in Tomb Raider Legend.