10 Creators Who Killed Video Game Characters So They Could Move On

In truth, gaming still hasn't seen a cultural phenomenon quite like Lara Croft in the mid '90s. At the time consoles were still seen as the preserve of both children and lay-about engineering students, but within a few years of the first Tomb Raider game, she'd been launched improbably into the mainstream.

Merchandise, product endorsements, even crossover work with U2, the pixelated adventurer was a household name, and developers Edios wanted to ring every last penny from her. As well as making her the new face of several soft drinks, this meant getting a new Tomb Raider game out every single year, with developers Core running themselves into the ground on seven separate titles in just six years.

Understandably this led to severe development problems, with a burned-out team struggling to meet demand. Thus, in a move that caused the sort of internal arguments not normally seen outside of the goddamn McMahon family, Core killed Lara Croft in Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation.

Speaking in a Gametap documentary, designer Andy Sandham said; "we attempted to kill Lara off because we really thought we'd exhausted what we could do with the franchise. Seeing Lara falling down a gigantic hole in the middle of the pyramid was quite a joyous moment. So, we went for a few pints to celebrate her death."

Publishers Eidos disagreed though, and had the team pump out several more installments before handing the franchise over to Crystal Dynamics instead.