Tomb Raider writer expressed an interest in making Lara gay?

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Oh I loved the game. I just wish they had paid more attention to the writing. New Vegas was much better and has better dialogue options.

I did as well. When I say "good times" I'm only being half-sarcastic. I love survival games, and I love post-apocalyptic milieus. Digging around in the rubble actually DOES enthrall me.

New Vegas was the better written, more story driven game (Obsidian trumps Bethesda on writing and story presentation, quelle surprise), but I think I preferred the atmosphere of FO3. The capital wasteland was a blasted, haunting ruin. New Vegas was positively jocular by comparison. I guess it did capture more of Fallout's trademark black humor, I just never felt as immersed.

However I digress. We are veering badly off topic.

Indeed what I was going to say is how many games can you think of where the straight female protag has a relationship with a guy. And how many games are there where the female character can pick a romantic interest that is there for benefit of the guys. Look at Baldur's Gate what three female options (while since I played it) for both sexes and 1 incredibly annoying straight guy. hmm yeah.

The balance is really not skewed in favour of straight women.

 

[Easton Dark]

Croft 'aint got time for a relationship.

All those phallic treasures she raids tombs for have to be quite a time sink.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Indeed what I was going to say is how many games can you think of where the straight female protag has a relationship with a guy. And how many games are there where the female character can pick a romantic interest that is there for benefit of the guys. Look at Baldur's Gate what three female options (while since I played it) for both sexes and 1 incredibly annoying straight guy. hmm yeah.

The balance is really not skewed in favour of straight women.

Yes but girls got to romance ANOMEN!

Look at him! Look at that face!

Look! Look at him!

Yeah okay you've got a point. God I hated that guy. "What is it now?! What is it now!?" Shut the fuck up, Anomen. Worst romantic partner EVER.

Until Anders, of course.

 

[Moonlight Butterfly]

Look! Look at him!

Yeah okay you've got a point. God I hated that guy. "What is it now?! What is it now!?" Shut the fuck up, Anomen. Worst romantic partner EVER.

The last time I saw that incredibly punchable face he was being dragged off by vampires and not a single fuck was given that day.

 

[Khanht Cope]

She was just responding to question without a serious implication attached. She just commented in a hypothetical context that part of her would have "loved to make Lara gay". A writer can think of that sort of thing all the time, because it's hypothetically just an interesting body of ideas that may seem appealing to work with. It doesn't necessarily mean it would be a serious ambition for the actual direction.

 

[norashepard]

I always just assumed she was a lesbian and left it at that...

But for real I would have been fine if they had made her canonically gay in the game, so long as they treated whatever relationship there was with respect, which kind of applies to any game with romantic content. If they treated it like Far Cry 3 though? I would probably just shut down the computer and walk away, disillusioned with a world in which that qualifies as good writing.

 

[JayElleBee]

I was shipping Lara and Sam pretty hard by the end of the game, so if it had been canon, I would have been thrilled.

But alas, gay main characters in ideas games are a thing of the very distant future.

 

[Rickin10]

Surprised they didn't follow through from a simply cynical economic point of view. A significant percentage of your fanbase are male adolescents who fantasize about Lara. Having her hook up with a male would not go down well, but if she were to get it on with a woman....? Hmmmm... Maybe Lara could be washing her clothes under a waterfall.... Maybe Sam comes along to help out. 'Here let me help you out of that tight, dirty vest,' she says...

-Sorry! Damn you, internet porn!!!

 

[TheLycanKing144]

I don't see why they would want to do that, it seems like it's the "cool" thing now to be gay or to support gays, hell if you simply state that you disagree with it then they attack you and label you a homophobic bigot for no reason.

I personally don't really care if Lara was a lesbian or not, but it doesn't make the slightest bit of sense, more like "we want to make her gay for the sake of being gay, we are really showing society here". I wish people (not just game developers) would stop pushing this onto everyone.

 

[Tony2077]

i don't think i'll mind either way as long as the romance is done well

 

[C117]

If it serves to make her into a more likeable character, I'm all for it. And even if not, I don't see why not. There is no reason for anyone to freak out over a character in a videogame turning out to be homosexual. In fact, we probably need more videogame characters who are homosexual.

Well characterized homosexuals, mind you. Otherwise it would just be insulting.

 

[Zantos]

This really shone through when she put the 35th flaming arrow through a poor sods skull after insulting him. Or when she was gunning down legions of henchmen, all the while swearing like a sailor.
Empathy, right?

Or that finishing move where she jams a shotgun under some mook's jaw and takes his head clean off.

Even Mr Marcus Fenix might consider that one a bit much.

Didn't one of the Gears of War games feature an execution that was literally ripping someone's arm off and beating them with the soggy end?

OT: Whether or not I have an issue with this depends on things which I am woefully underread on Tomb Raider backstory to make judgements on myself. Mostly on whether it's in direct conflict with previous canon. If she's already established as being straight then that's kinda pulling a 180, if it's not been mentioned before then yeah, you don't lose your sexuality just because you aren't dating at the time. The other is a straight up 'Will it be shit?'. If it's actually a well thought out and written piece of character development then it will make a nice addition to the story. If it's some tacked on bullshit to make you look edgy, leave it the fuck out.

 

[m19]

Surprised they didn't follow through from a simply cynical economic point of view. A significant percentage of your fanbase are male adolescents who fantasize about Lara. Having her hook up with a male would not go down well, but if she were to get it on with a woman....? Hmmmm... Maybe Lara could be washing her clothes under a waterfall.... Maybe Sam comes along to help out. 'Here let me help you out of that tight, dirty vest,' she says...

-Sorry! Damn you, internet porn!!!

Men like "lesbians" not lesbians. The utter lack of potential of getting in between slays that fantasy in its tracks.

Considering the only extra writing they would have to do to make her homosexual is throw in a line about an ex-girlfriend or how she was attracted to some woman, I don't see how that requires so much more effort on behalf of people who write for a living. Blatant fanservice isn't the only way to show a character's sexuality.

Except they've done this. In her origin story from a comic book they did she was betrothed to a man who died in a plane crash. So this whole thing would feel like a retcon for some kind of statement.

 

[LiquidGrape]

Except they've done this. In her origin story from a comic book they did she was betrothed to a man who died in a plane crash. So this whole thing feel a retcon for some kind of statement.

A retcon of a spinoff comic continuity arguably separate from the original games as it were.
And this is a reboot of the franchise.

I don't think it's an issue.

And even if you do take that into account, it doesn't negate the possibility of Lara having a more malleable sexuality. Having a heterosexual relationship in your past doesn't preclude the possibility of homosexual relationships before or after that. We cannot presume on anyone's sexuality until it has been accounted for to a meaningful extent. Otherwise we're just entrenching the heteronormative.

 

[m19]

A retcon of a spinoff comic continuity arguably separate from the original games as it were.
And this is a reboot of the franchise.

I don't think it's an issue.

And even if you do take that into account, it doesn't negate the possibility of Lara having a more malleable sexuality. Having a heterosexual relationship in your past doesn't preclude the possibility of homosexual relationships before or after that. We cannot presume on anyone's sexuality until it has been accounted for to a meaningful extent. Otherwise we're just entrenching the heteronormative.

To me that seems convoluted. They've done what they've done in the comics (and movies for that matter) because the answer is simple: Lara Croft as a base character across the whole franchise has always been simply straight with no indication to anything else. The only reason to confuse it all now is for the attention and the "edgyness".

Besides: fights like a man, bleeds like a man, tough like a man... has to be lesbian. Kind of a stereotype.

 

[King Aragorn]

What difference would it have made? She's just running around the island shooting people and pillaging little tombs. Whether she fancies ladies or gents really wouldn't have impacted the narrative, it just would've been a character note. The fact everyone is viewing it as annoying or outrageous or edgy indicates either A) you have absolutely no trust in the ability of video game writers to write a gay character without making it a Really Big Deal, or B) we still view gay characters as unicorns and their presence in our stories is automatically a point of contention and controversy. Which is pretty sad. If I were gay and reading this I'd be feeling pretty depressed. With all the guys and girls around here who simply cannot fathom playing a character of the opposite gender because they need to project themselves into the experience, I imagine there's a lot of homosexuals out there wondering when they're going to get that option outside of a Bioware title.

To be honest, I actually still don't trust most media in writing gay characters. Because alot of times it turns out to be made a big deal, which is seriously irritating. I wouldn't mind a note or two at best, but what I can see this turning into is A:
Them mentioning it heavily, basically a edgy stunt.
Or they'd exploit with lesbian scenes and what not.

 

[go-10]

at what part in the game was there any hints of romance?
I remember a lot of groaning and awesome action, but no romance... so yeah I don't see how that would affect the game in any way shape or form

 

[ItsNotRudy]

IT would just be the nteenth attempt at making it appear as if next Tomb Raider game would truly stand out from other games. Which it wouldn't, once again.

 

[XMark]

Heh, funny thing... despite her character previously being over-sexualized, she has always seemed strangely asexual in character. Like, all she does is just raid tombs and shoot wildlife.

But yeah, going into Lara's love life in any way would have been silly in the game, since it's supposed to be a survival situation where they don't have time for any of that stuff, regardless of sexual orientation.

 

[redmoretrout]

If this were to happen would she be the first game protagonist who was gay? I certainly can not think of any. (Not counting games where the player decides the protagonist's sexuality.)