Izumi

Izumi was a character in Tomb Raider's reboot first prototype.

Lara Croft teamed up with a 6-year-old girl named Izumi, the Japanese word for fountain, as they adventured through a mysterious island inhabited by ghosts and monsters.

Izumi would crawl into small places to help the player, thus creating asymmetric gameplay. Eventually the player would discover Izumi's magical ability to manipulate water and interact with the island.

After a few months of work the concept was deemed too ethereal and difficult to understand for Tomb Raider. Izumi was excised and at first replaced by a monkey that would accompany Croft on her adventures. When that didn't work out the kids and animals were replaced by a more menacing presence on the island: colossal monsters.

Trivia

 * Given the similarities between them it seems that Izumi was the original concept for Samantha Nishimura as both are of Japanese decent, have some sort of connection to the Island they are on, and are someone Lara seeks to protect.