5. Lara Croft - Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness
Miss Croft was at one point the pinnacle of the action adventure genre and basically invented her own gaming formula that others would adopt to run away success. She is still known as one of the strongest, most dynamic, most exciting female characters in gaming. She is the definition of an iconic figure and was the driving powerhouse behind the success of the Tomb Raider franchise. One that broke out into comics, films etc. Somewhere between the backlash of the films and the endless sequels people got sick of her. There is no other way to put it. She was worn out and tired; the cute pixellated blocky look of Tomb Raider was literally stuck in the past. The latter sequels were the same thing and felt like a poor remake of Tomb Raider III and things stayed like that until the trend reversing Legends and the cinematic Tomb Raider of 2012. Fortunately, things seem to be picking up for Lara but she was completely ruined by her own success. Before Legends, the one of a kind, aristocratic adventurer was lame and provoked nothing but apathy. I had written off this series and avoided everything Tomb Raider for years but I was wrong. I cannot wait to follow this fresh Lara, the Lara Croft for 2013.