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For Werner Von Croy in other continuities, see Werner Von Croy disambiguation page.

Werner Von Croy was an archaeologist-adventurer and the one-time mentor of Lara Croft.

Biography[]

Born in Vienna, Austria on May 21st, 1940. His father, the curator of the city museum, introduced him to ancient artifacts that so possessed his later life. He begin his explorations at an early age to glean items for the museum.

At the University of Salzburg, Von Croy had a Ph.D. in archaeology. At the University of Vienna, Von Croy also had a Ph.D. in musicology. He met Lord Croft through his father, and it was then that he requested to guide Lara through her first exploration.

When Lara was 16, Von Croy took her on a journey to Angkor Wat in Cambodia for her very first adventure. Werner wanted to find an old artifact "Iris" which was hidden in the temple and despite Lara's warnings that removing it could be dangerous, he stubbornly tries to take it resulting in his right leg being severely injured and having to use a walking stick afterwards. Croft reluctantly abandons Von Croy in order to escape (she would have been crushed to death by falling rocks if she tried to rescue him).[1]

Some years later, Lara steals the Iris from Von Croy's high-tech American business headquarters called Von Croy Industries (VCI).[2]

They meet again several years later, now as enemies, seeking the Amulet of Horus. During the game, Von Croy is possessed by Set, making his and Lara's rivalry grow even larger. When he tries to save her life at the end, Lara hesitates, as she believes he isn't trustworthy, and is apparently killed, and the game ends with Von Croy paying his respects to her.[1]

It is later revealed that Von Croy and a digging team found Lara's backpack in the ruins, indicating the possibility of her survival.[3]

Between the events of The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness, Lara and Von Croy have an encounter which is not featured in the games. They once again disagree mostly about the events in Egypt and become enemies.

Sometime in 2003, Von Croy, now living in Paris, was commissioned by Pieter Van Eckhardt to find five mysterious artefacts known as the Obscura Paintings. Accepting the commission, he approached his associate Margot Carvier. However, over the course of five weeks, Von Croy had grown increasingly disturbed by his commission and client. Von Croy had even inveigled his way into Paris’ criminal underworld for extra help; he went so far as to purchase supplies and information on the Louvre (a probable location of an Obscura Painting) from Parisian businessman and gang tsar Louis Bouchard. With rising tension, Von Croy tried to contact Lara – a fact that took her by complete surprise.

Lara did eventually accept Von Croy’s plea to come to Paris. There, he revealed his commission and rising tensions from his client, with a mysterious serial killer known as the Monstrum, adding to the horror. Although his arrogance and self-control from The Last Revelation had vanished, Lara was in no mood to coddle his wishes as her psychological wounds from Egypt were still painfully raw, as demonstrated by her bitter words. However, in the midst of their argument, a mysterious figure breaches the apartment, to which Von Croy recognizes as Eckhardt. The latter knocks Lara away and strangled Von Croy, demanding for answers on the delay of the retrieval of the Louvre Obscura Painting. The terrified archaeologist admitted that it was too dangerous for him to make the attempt – but that Lara would be able to go in his stead. With that, Eckhardt kills Von Croy and gutted his body, daubing obscene sigils on the wall in his blood.

After running from the authorities, Lara eventually locates Carvier, who reveals of Werner's increasingly tense and anxious behaviour in the past few weeks, describing it as “acting strangely, jumping at shadows”.

Von Croy invites Lara to his apartment in Paris, where he is murdered by Joachim Karel disguised as the Monstrum killer and The Angel Of Darkness begins.

Development[]

Croyrender

In Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Von Croy's younger model used in the Cambodia levels once had light purple shoes but were later changed to brown. The purple shoes did however, get an appearance in Von Croy's wheelchair-bound model in Tomb Raider: Chronicles in the Red Alert! level.

In-Game Appearances[]

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation[]

Tomb Raider: Chronicles[]

Tomb Raider: Angel Of Darkness[]

Trivia[]

  • Von Croy was voiced by Kerry Shale in all of his game appearances.
  • The first FMV in the Last Revelation shows Von Croy breaking through rocks to enter an undiscovered part of Angkor Wat. However, his FMV model is the same model that is used later in the game. Mainly noticeable by the fact that he is wearing glasses.
  • In the Egypt FMV segments of Tomb Raider: Chronicles, Von Croy appears to have discarded his walking stick.
  • Professor Igor Bowmane, who appears in Tomb Raider: The Nightmare Stone, shares the same FMV model as Von Croy's.
  • Von Croy was given a birth date, diplomas and other information in Editions Atlas' Tomb Raider The Official Fact Files: Issue 01.

Gallery[]

Official Artwork[]

Renders[]

Screenshots[]

Appearances[]

Sources[]

  1. Tomb Raider The Official Fact Files: Issue 01
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