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 English, Latin, French, Japanese, and Russian fluently, and receives a regular income of $20 per month from her poor family. Her interests include wasting money and traveling. She is Lara's girlfriend.

Background
Samantha’s mother was 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 with her disability. Sam and Lara grew closer over the years and when it became time to choose a college to go attend, 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 onto something, and she wants to be there to film it for publicity.

Surviving the Shipwreck
Sam is one of the few Endurance crew members to survive the shipwreck. Her whereabouts are unknown until Lara stumbles upon her at a camp with a mysterious man, who introduces himself as Mathias and explains that he's been stranded on Yamatai for several years. Sam continues her story of Queen Himiko at his behest, and Lara falls asleep.

Once Lara falls into a deep sleep, Mathias kidnaps Sam for unknown reasons, and Lara doesn't realize her friend is gone until she awakens.

Captured
Sam manages to steal a radio from a man and contacts Lara. She pleas for help, and Lara assures her that she's coming to save her. Sam contacts Lara once more before she's discovered with the radio, and is abruptly cut-off from Lara.

Lara finds Sam tied to a pyre with Mathias intending to burn her. Lara steps out of the shadows and fires an arrow at the Solarii holding the torch, but is beaten by the enraged Solarii. Mathias lights the pyre, only to have a powerful gust of wind put the fire out. Mathias proclaims that Sam is the one they've been waiting for, and Sam is once more separated from Lara as the Solarii take the latter away.

Escaping the Base
Following the previous events, Sam is brought to the main chamber of the Solarii base where Mathias expresses that she's been given a great honour, but she refuses to accept it. After Mathias leaves her, Lara kills the only Solarii guard and rescues Sam. Lara and Sam encounter Whitman and Mathias, with the former appearing to be captured. Retreating back into the main chamber, Lara urges Sam through an entryway into a hallway before the debris from the burning base separates them.

Sam is given a gun by Lara and heeds her friend's advice to escape ahead of her. Sam encounters several Solarii, who attempt to recapture her, but Sam manages to escape them and reunite with the other Endurance crew members. Along with them, she witnesses the helicopter's crash with both Lara and Roth on board.

She and the other survivors make their way to the crash site to find Roth dead and Lara stunned. Sam defends Lara when Reyes lashes out in anger at Roth's death, and thanks Lara for saving her.

Personality and Characteristics
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 rubs 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.

Trivia

 * Sam's last name could be a reference to Toru Nishimura, Lara's Japanese contact in Tomb Raider Legend.
 * Rhianna Pratchett had stated in an interview that she would have loved to make Lara a lesbian, and that she liked how fans had speculated about the relationship between Lara and Sam. It is unknown if anything will ever come of this as Lara's sexuality is never directly stated during the game.