Talk:Samantha Nishimura/@comment-29952513-20160909101800

Alright, I've got it, a sure fire way to determine Sam's sexuality with no middle option. This method is full proof and cannot be disputed under any circumstance. Okay here we go, all systems operational beginning text.

Is Sam Gay or Straight.



Okay all joking aside I really don't see how Sam's sexuality has to do with her character. Sam is likeable, funny and adds the most to Lara's character, even more then her own father does. Next to Lara she has the most development, no seriously she is the only character to have as much development besides Lara.

Look at Sam at the start of the series to how she acts at the start of The Serpent Queen. At first like Lara she is terrified by what is happening, and rightly so, she's a budding film maker, not a killer, yet she is put into a situation where she is forced to fight for her life. And while Lara got her out of the palace she and Sam got separated and Sam was forced to kill and fight her own way through the shanty town without Lara's help.

Then she got captured again and nearly lost her soul to Himiko and it was only thanks to Lara that she survived. In the very first issue of the comics we see that Sam has been changed by what happened on Yamatiai for good and for bad. She is shown to be much more brave then she was in Survivor, mocking her captures and later saying that she will let Himiko take over her body when it seems that Lara may be killed.

Soon after that, Sam offers to help Lara go save Kaz when Lara learns that she is in trouble and the only reason she doesn't go is because Lara insists that Sam remain at home. This is the first sign that Sam doesn't like being left behind which will come into play later but the important bit is this. Sam offers to go with Lara on a mission to save Alex's sister even though there is a great danger in doing so. She's not doing it because someone forced her to, she isn't doing it so she can film the whole thing and get on the news. She hears that someone is in danger and she chooses to go and help them regardless of the risk involved because it's the right thing to do and she and Lara are a team.

And then when she, Lara and Jonah are told that "Grim" is alive she decides to go with Lara and comes up with a plan to get them to Mexico undetected and it actually works. Only a few things go wrong and none of them are through any fault of Sam, (being randomly possessed by a demigod is not something anyone can really plan for).

Then comes her argument with Lara, about Lara always feeling the need to be in control and never anyone else be the hero. True some of this is likely Himiko feeding on Sam's inferiority complex that she's likely developed from the few times Lara had to save her, (more on that in a bit), but it's also kinda true.

The only reason they are able to get as close to "Grim" as they could was because of Sam and if it weren't for her, Lara would have likely have been discovered before now. And yet Lara decides to go out on her own to save someone that Sam and Johan knew because it's to risky?

Now I'm not trying to demonize Lara but even she admits that Sam has a point and that she is to controlling and doesn't really let anyone be the hero. A point that is even shared by her voice actor Camilla Luddington, who said that she feels Lara pushes to many people away and should allow someone to help on her quests.

Quite a far cry from the girl who's only major concern before all this was trying to deal with a Dosh bag from messing up a filler cut.

As for her always getting captured, throughout the entire series Sam is only captured about 5 times. Twice in Survivor, once in the first arc of the comics, once in the thread arc and her current predicament where she is under control of Himiko.

Take this in contrast with Pr. Demur who, throughout the entire Spore arc, either got captured, hampered Lara and Jonah's efforts to help him and nearly got both Lara and Jonah killed when he decided to save himself. And during the whole thing, he would just not shut up about how hard everything was. Sam proved herself as a valuable ally to Lara as shown in the thread arc and even when she did get captured she proved that she was more then capable of handling herself and never once was hindrance to Lara.

Then there's Sam's relationship to Lara. Now both Lara and Sam are strong enough characters to stand on their own, just check out Rise for a good example of Lara working with out help. But I honestly believe that they are stronger together due to their great chemistry as shown in the first game and the comics.

My absolute favorite scene in the series is the bit where Lara is throwing up due to stage fright and Sam delivers a pretty awesome speech where she shows how well she understands Lara's character and how she sees archeology. That to her, it isn't about the find but about seeing a world that is lost to time and that the play that Lara is staring in, Pride and Prejudice, (which is Sam's favorite book BTW) is loved for that very reason, (among other things but I'm on a role here).

This is Sam holding the mirror up to Lara and allowing her to see herself in a good way and shows why Sam loves her so much, (her words not mine). Sam is also the only one who was willing to hold the mirror up to Lara and making her confront her flaws in the thread helps add to Lara and Sam's character's and makes them more relatable.

We see them in a way that we never really saw in the first game and it's one of the reason so many fans, myself included, want them to get a relationship upgrade. But more importantly, all the reasons I just went over, and there's more I could have gone over believe me, are why Sam is such a popular character and why so many want to see her back, despite what the haters try and tell everyone.

Gail Simone and Rhianna Pratchett put so much time and effort into developing Sam's character and her relationship with Lara and there is so much more that can be done with both. Crystal Dynamics wanted Lara to be on her own for Rise and they got that, but without Sam Lara just wasn't as interesting as she was in the first game or the comics in my opinion, (though she was still a great and awesome character).

Which leads us to the current arc and why so many fans are on the edge of their seats. We want to see Sam get better, to see her shake off Himiko's control with Lara's help and join her on her next adventure in both the comics and the next game. Killing her now, or at all, would be a waste of a perfectly good character and the stories she can bring to the series.