- For Konstantin in other continuities, see Konstantin disambiguation page.
- "Our goal is within reach, but we must be vigilant. If we succeed here, a new world awaits. One of our own making."
- ―Konstantin before enucleating a soldier[src]
Konstantin is the secondary antagonist in Rise of the Tomb Raider.
He is the brother of Ana, and a Trinity Field Commander, being a highly skilled soldier, as well as a charismatic and inspiring leader.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
He and his sister Ana were raised by Trinity. Konstantin's faith wavered as a child, until one night he awoke in pain, his hands now bear stigmata, leading Konstantin to believe he was chosen by the Abrahamic god Yahweh to carry out his work on Earth. Little did he know, the scars were made by Ana in order to strengthen his resolve and faith, turning him into an efficient and ruthless operative of Trinity.
When Lord Croft was researching immortality, Trinity began monitoring him, using Ana to get close to him. Konstantin was displeased that Ana had to pretend to love Lord Croft, and would not allow himself to believe her feelings for him were real. However he soon caught wind of them. When Trinity decided Lord Croft knew too much, they ordered his execution. Ana was unable to perform the deed. It is likely that Commander Rourke killed Lord Croft, instead of Konstantin.
Search for the Divine Source[]
Years later, the survivors from the wreck of the Endurance, claiming to have found Yamatai. Trinity tasked a crew to head to Yamatai and destroy all evidence and possibly recover Himiko. Their task accomplished, Lara Croft was branded crazy, just as her father had been. To prove what she saw, Lara resumed her father's research, looking for the Deathless Prophet and the Divine Source. Ana alerted Trinity, who tasked Konstantin and his men to followed Lara to the Tomb of the Prophet. Konstantin ambushed Lara and her driver, in a gunship destroying their jeep. Believing Croft dead, Konstantin proceeded to continue searching for the Tomb.
Lara threatens Konstantin after she is discovered.
He and his men arrived some time later, Konstantin ordered his men to set charges, so they could destroy any evidence of the Prophet's existence, he is given the detonator which he attaches to his belt. He opens the sarcophagus, and Lara, who was hiding inside, surprises Konstantin and holds him at gunpoint. Lara demands to know who they were, but Konstantin is not intimidated and merely told her she already knew. He demands to know what she did with the artifact and the prophet's body. Lara stood down and told the truth, the sarcophagus had been empty when she arrived, no body or artefact. Satisfied, Konstantin walks away, before turning back and taking a knife, intending to kill Lara. He is halted when he realized that Lara had snatched the detonator. She arms it and detonates the charges, forcing Konstantin to flee as the tomb collapses, killing most of his squad. Konstantin is later picked up by Trinity. Konstantin orders a man to go after and finish Croft, at her father's house. He fails, though he manages to steal a book from Lara to lead Trinity to the Divine Source, in Siberia.
Konstantin is dispatched to lead the operation alongside Ana. He gouges our the eyes of one of his own men for his failure at the old Soviet factory. He receives a call to return to the Gulag, where they have set up their base of operations, as they have captured the leader of the Remnants. He is brought the leader of the Remnants, a man named Jacob. Konstantin brutally beats and interrogates him, to no avail, and has him thrown into a cell.
Konstantin "chokes" Ana.
He spends much of his time in a dilapidated church near the old Soviet Gulag. After the Remnants launch a raid on the Gulag, Konstantin is forced to explain the error to Dominguez while promising to step up efforts. It is turning this time that Lara comes across him before being knocked unconscious by one of his men. Konstantin has Lara taken to the cell block. Ana poses as a prisoner as well, to try and gain emotional leverage over Lara. Konstantin goes in with a garrote wire and forces Lara to reveal what she knows about the Divine Source by slowing choking Ana in front of her, but Lara cannot provide useful information. Upon realizing that Lara is telling the truth, Ana tells Konstantin to stop and admits to Lara that she has been working for Trinity. She urges Lara to join them, but an insolent Lara defies them and insults Ana, resulting in Konstantin wanting to kill Lara. Ana denies this and forces him to stand down in case they find a use for her, he takes Lara and throws her in the cell beside Jacob.
He meets with Ana in a makeshift operations room, and the two get into an argument, as Konstantin doubts Ana's commitment after she made him spare Lara, the notion of which outrages Ana. The argument ends when Ana has a coughing fit. Unaware that Lara and Jacob have escaped and are spying on them, Konstantin tells her that the ends will justify the means, and she will be saved by the Divine Source. Ana tells Konstantin to send soldiers to Jacob's village, to find out what they know. Konstantin is called to the holding cells. Discovering Lara and Jacob gone, he raises the alarm.
He takes the helicopter, finding Lara and Jacob in the train yard, and opens fire on them. They manage to escape, though he later finds Lara again, forcing her into the freezing river. Unaware that Lara was rescued by Jacob, he begins co-ordinating the attack on the Remnant village.
Konstantin prays for guidance.
After the attack is unsuccessful, Konstantin and Ana argue again. Konstantin feels that the failure is Ana's fault because she stopped him from killing Lara when he had the chance, while Ana feels that Trinity will step in and kill them both if Konstantin cannot obtain results soon. Konstantin prays for guidance, when his scars open and bleed, he interprets this as Yahweh telling him to kill the Remnants for their heresy and ups his efforts, being even more brutal towards prisoners.
After Trinity learn of a map to Kitezh known as the Atlas, they direct their efforts to finding it, however Lara manages to get it first. Konstantin sends men to attack the observatory, where Lara is using it to find the location of Kitezh. Konstantin's men are successful, securing the Atlas and abducting her ally, Jonah Maiava, in the process.
Konstantin interrogates Jonah.
Konstantin and Ana use the old Soviet Weather dome to view the Atlas. With the location of the Atlas secured, Konstantin goes to interrogate Jonah, to find out what he knew. In the middle of the interrogation, Jonah suddenly begins laughing, before he suddenly hears gunshots. Lara had arrived and attempted to shoot him through the reinforced glass. Jonah uses this distraction to tackle him, breaking his bonds in the process and take his gun. Lara yells at Jonah to kill him, while Konstantin begs for his life. Jonah cannot bring himself to shoot an unarmed man, and Konstantin uses Jonah's hesitation to stab him, much to Lara's horror. He leaves the room, and radios his men to sweep the cell block and kill everyone.
Konstantin orders his men to move out, piloting one of the choppers himself, Trinity makes their way to break through the ice. They are held off by the Remnants, but they are eventually successful, Trinity's forces flood into the city. As a battle begins between Trinity, the Remnant and the Deathless Ones. When Konstantin spots Lara, he engages her in his helicopter, sending in several Trinity soldiers for backup. Despite his superior firepower, and ordering in more troops, Lara is able to take down his chopper with aid of Sofia and a trebuchet, causing it to crash below.
Death[]
Having survived the crash, Konstantin ambushes Lara as she proceeds to the Chamber of Souls. He strips Lara of all her weapons (except for her climbing axe and combat knife) and begins an assault. By jumping from nearby pillars and using objects in the room to distract him, Lara manages to stab Konstantin in the back twice with her climbing axe. After the second stab, Konstantin knocks away the axe and makes a final desperate attempt to kill her, though Lara manages to evade his attack and thrust her knife into his chest.
Konstantin is left speechless by his defeat.
Konstantin is speechless. He states that he was meant for greatness. Lara however tells him the truth. Ana had lead him to believe he had been chosen by Yahweh, to make him more devoted and ruthless. He is shattered by this revelation. A sudden rumbling causes Lara to begin to leave, However Konstantin demands Lara not walk away from him. Lara ignores him until he reveals Trinity was behind her father's death, calling him a pathetic man and telling Lara that he begged for his and Lara's lives until the end.
Lara is left with the choice to execute Konstantin, or leave him, if that latter is chosen Lara will claim "you're not worth it" before the floor below him collapses, and Konstantin plummets into the flames below to his death.
Personality[]
Konstantin is a deeply religious man and holds a devout faith in Yahweh. He believes himself to be Yahweh's chosen warrior, suffering from a Messiah complex, he justifies all the atrocities he commits as them being his god's will. He is a cruel, ruthless man, as is evident when he gouges out the eyes of a subordinate with his thumbs after the man fails one of his commands and leaves him on the ground in torment. He savagely beats prisoners he interrogates, and has no qualms with killing the Remnants who he considers heretics. He believes that his purpose is to purge the world of all sin.
Despite his cruel tendencies, Konstantin clearly is not without heart, as he genuinely loves his sister. His search for the Divine Source was motivated mostly by the prospect of saving her life before anything else. He also disapproves of Ana's habit of smoking, despite her illness. Konstantin was very protective of his sister, as shown when he slapped Lara before she could call Ana a derogatory word, and kicked Lara in the chest when she spat in Ana's face. Konstantin also worries that his sister had faked her feelings for Lord Croft too well and they had become real as a result, due to her refusal to kill Lara.
Skills and Abilities[]
- Exceptional Strength: His strength appeared to be at the peak of human ability. He was able to overpower grown men without much effort, wielded heavy weaponry effectively and even destroyed a mans eyes with just his thumbs.
- Pain Tolerance: His resilience, stamina and durability were also above that of the average human. Even after taking injuries that would have proved fatal to most other men, Konstantin remained well enough to gloat about Lara's father. On top of this he seemed to feel no pain when the holes in his hands bled, and could operate weaponry with great precision despite their heaviness.
- Weaponry Expertise: He was able to utilize advanced weaponry with complete proficiency, as demonstrated through his piloting skill and marksmanship.
- Strategic Leadership: He was able to lead a battalion of Trinity's forces with remarkable proficiency, leading them on a long incursion into the Siberian mountains until they were repelled by the combined efforts of the Remnants, Deathless Ones & Lara Croft.
- Intimidation: Konstantin's devotion to Yahweh had left him with a loose grip over reality. This coupled with his extreme strength meant he could intimidate almost anyone, as they rightfully feared what he would do if they got on his bad side. He believed he was doing Yahweh's work, even if said work involved genocide.
- Charisma: Konstantin is very charismatic, and was seen as very inspirational by many of the lower ranking troops of Trinity.
- Helicopter Pilot: He was able to expertly dodge fire-balls thrown by a trebuchet manned by Sofia, this shows he has remarkable skill at piloting a helicopter.
Trivia[]
- Konstantin says in one document that he was a child when the wounds in his hands first appeared, that he had woken up screaming in pain. In another document by Ana, it is revealed that his "stigmata" were actually caused by her stabbing him through the hands with a knife in order to manipulate him into holding much stronger faith in both Trinity and herself. According to the document, Konstantin used to question everything, have no confidence in his faith, and would wander about.
- Konstantin has blinding faith in Yahweh, but he is not completely loyal to Trinity. He said to Ana when they discovered the source's location thanks to the Atlas, that when they had the Divine Source and Yahweh's immortal army, that Trinity and anything else did not matter.
- It is possible that Konstantin himself is responsible for killing Lord Croft.
Gallery[]
