LiveElvinClive
He/Him- 44
- 15
I got bored and recently decided to look through the Original Tomb Raider timeline. This included checking out the rather obscure tie-in novels. While going through them, I noticed a few additional powers and some potential buffs, and I felt like sharing them. But before we get into that, I feel like there's an issue with the Artefacts section that needs attention.
Artefacts:
I feel as if the Artefacts section could use some reworking. The abilities in each Artefacts' descriptions are unsourced, so linking to displays of these powers would be appreciated. Especially this part describing the Hand of Rathmore:
Novels:
Before we discuss the additions the novels give Lara, I feel that it's important to clear up some misconceptions I've seen. For some reason, a lot of people assume these novels all occur between The Last Revelation and Angel of Darkness. But if you actually read the novels, you'd find that only Amulet of Power fits that bill. Lost Cult's prologue explicitly mentions that Lara's working for the CIA to clear her name of the Von Croy murder charges, and Man of Bronze has her reference one of the levels from AoD.
Amulet of Power:
In The Amulet of Power, Lara is shown to be searching for an artifact called the Amulet of Mareish. This 3-inch, Sudanese artifact was created by an ancient sorcerer and is said to grant its wielder enhanced strength, invulnerability, immortality, and an irresistible charisma. While this is the only thing consistently mentioned by both the narrator and characters in the novel, the amulet itself is shown to be sentient and displays far more powers. It states that it can control many things, with sand being foremost among them, and in this same scene, it's shown manipulating probability to give Lara a winning card, then later transmutes this card into a massive snake.
The amulet is also shown to have a corrupting effect on its user and is shown to drive those surrounding them mad with greed. If its user is threatened, the amulet can summon its servants (an army of sand demons) to kill the attackers. Lara is shown to resist the amulet's influence long enough to destroy it.
The Lost Cult:
During The Lost Cult, Lara receives some an experimental harness as thanks for working with the CIA. This voice-activated delivery system (VADS) provides her with a wide variety of bullets. It can give explosive rounds, flechette shells, illumination rounds that coat its target in phosphorescent dye, incendiary rounds, rubber bullets, and armor-piercing rounds capable of tearing through platinum.
She also shows further mental resistances in this novel. The main villain of the novel, Alex Frys, possesses the Control Lens, a crystal that allows him to control the minds of others and manipulate their emotions. When he attempts this on Lara, she's completely immune to the crystal's effects and turns it on him, forcing him to give it to her.
The Man of Bronze:
This novel upgrades the VADS technology to be directly incorporated into her guns and gives her two additional forms of ammo: blanks and silver bullets, which can harm unholy beings. She also wields Shadow Slayer, a katana capable of slicing through a shaman made of shadows (who survived the Tunguska explosion), and gains the Silver Shield. The Silver Shield is an indestructible, airtight force field that coats whatever touches it in a layer of frost. Living tissue deadens and loses circulation, while inorganic matter becomes frozen and shatters. If the user becomes surrounded by water and trapped, the shield automatically boosts their strength to release them, and it can extinguish any fires in its presence.
The main additions here come in the form of resistances and a potential speed buff. In the novel, it's stated that the severed body parts of the android Bronze leak radiation. The thigh in particular is shown to mutate the nearby shamans and animals, driving them mad and transforming them into hybrids of man, animal, or even machine. It's also shown to revive the dead as zombies, and was responsible for the Tunguska explosion. The reason I bring this up is that Lara survives being exposed to this same radiation as a child and as an adult with no ill effects.
But the really impressive thing here is the potential speed buffs. Throughout the novel, it's stated multiple times in the narration that Lara is capable of reacting in a nanosecond.
TL;DR
Original Lara should possibly be upgraded to Faster than Light combat speed and reactions from her multiple statements of reacting in a nanosecond.
She should also have these abilities added to her profile:
Statistics Amplification, Invulnerability, Immortality (types 1 and 2), Mind Manipulation, Empathic Manipulation, Corruption, Sand Manipulation, Illusion Creation, Probability Manipulation, Matter Manipulation, and Summoning with the Amulet of Mareish
Mind Manipulation and Empathic Manipulation with the Control Lens (The Control Lens can control the minds of others and manipulate their emotions based on the user's willpower)
Resistance to Mind Manipulation and Empathic Manipulation (Was completely immune to the effects of the Control Lens, which could control the minds of others and manipulate their emotions)
Non-Physical Interaction with Shadow Slayer (Can cut through a shaman who was made of shadows)
Ice Manipulation, Invulnerability, and Statistics Amplification with the Silver Shield (The Silver Shield coats its wearer in a layer of metal that freezes inorganic matter and deadens any living tissue that touches it. It will also automatically boost the user's strength in the presence of water)
Resistance to Radiation Manipulation, Madness Manipulation, Biological Manipulation, Matter Manipulation, and Necromancy (Was unaffected by constant exposure to Bronze's radiation, which can transform nearby beings into hybrids of different species, turn them cybernetic, drive them mad, and revive them from the dead)
Artefacts:
I feel as if the Artefacts section could use some reworking. The abilities in each Artefacts' descriptions are unsourced, so linking to displays of these powers would be appreciated. Especially this part describing the Hand of Rathmore:
Novels:
Before we discuss the additions the novels give Lara, I feel that it's important to clear up some misconceptions I've seen. For some reason, a lot of people assume these novels all occur between The Last Revelation and Angel of Darkness. But if you actually read the novels, you'd find that only Amulet of Power fits that bill. Lost Cult's prologue explicitly mentions that Lara's working for the CIA to clear her name of the Von Croy murder charges, and Man of Bronze has her reference one of the levels from AoD.
Amulet of Power:
In The Amulet of Power, Lara is shown to be searching for an artifact called the Amulet of Mareish. This 3-inch, Sudanese artifact was created by an ancient sorcerer and is said to grant its wielder enhanced strength, invulnerability, immortality, and an irresistible charisma. While this is the only thing consistently mentioned by both the narrator and characters in the novel, the amulet itself is shown to be sentient and displays far more powers. It states that it can control many things, with sand being foremost among them, and in this same scene, it's shown manipulating probability to give Lara a winning card, then later transmutes this card into a massive snake.
The amulet is also shown to have a corrupting effect on its user and is shown to drive those surrounding them mad with greed. If its user is threatened, the amulet can summon its servants (an army of sand demons) to kill the attackers. Lara is shown to resist the amulet's influence long enough to destroy it.
The Lost Cult:
During The Lost Cult, Lara receives some an experimental harness as thanks for working with the CIA. This voice-activated delivery system (VADS) provides her with a wide variety of bullets. It can give explosive rounds, flechette shells, illumination rounds that coat its target in phosphorescent dye, incendiary rounds, rubber bullets, and armor-piercing rounds capable of tearing through platinum.
She also shows further mental resistances in this novel. The main villain of the novel, Alex Frys, possesses the Control Lens, a crystal that allows him to control the minds of others and manipulate their emotions. When he attempts this on Lara, she's completely immune to the crystal's effects and turns it on him, forcing him to give it to her.
The Man of Bronze:
This novel upgrades the VADS technology to be directly incorporated into her guns and gives her two additional forms of ammo: blanks and silver bullets, which can harm unholy beings. She also wields Shadow Slayer, a katana capable of slicing through a shaman made of shadows (who survived the Tunguska explosion), and gains the Silver Shield. The Silver Shield is an indestructible, airtight force field that coats whatever touches it in a layer of frost. Living tissue deadens and loses circulation, while inorganic matter becomes frozen and shatters. If the user becomes surrounded by water and trapped, the shield automatically boosts their strength to release them, and it can extinguish any fires in its presence.
The main additions here come in the form of resistances and a potential speed buff. In the novel, it's stated that the severed body parts of the android Bronze leak radiation. The thigh in particular is shown to mutate the nearby shamans and animals, driving them mad and transforming them into hybrids of man, animal, or even machine. It's also shown to revive the dead as zombies, and was responsible for the Tunguska explosion. The reason I bring this up is that Lara survives being exposed to this same radiation as a child and as an adult with no ill effects.
But the really impressive thing here is the potential speed buffs. Throughout the novel, it's stated multiple times in the narration that Lara is capable of reacting in a nanosecond.
TL;DR
Original Lara should possibly be upgraded to Faster than Light combat speed and reactions from her multiple statements of reacting in a nanosecond.
She should also have these abilities added to her profile:
Statistics Amplification, Invulnerability, Immortality (types 1 and 2), Mind Manipulation, Empathic Manipulation, Corruption, Sand Manipulation, Illusion Creation, Probability Manipulation, Matter Manipulation, and Summoning with the Amulet of Mareish
Mind Manipulation and Empathic Manipulation with the Control Lens (The Control Lens can control the minds of others and manipulate their emotions based on the user's willpower)
Resistance to Mind Manipulation and Empathic Manipulation (Was completely immune to the effects of the Control Lens, which could control the minds of others and manipulate their emotions)
Non-Physical Interaction with Shadow Slayer (Can cut through a shaman who was made of shadows)
Ice Manipulation, Invulnerability, and Statistics Amplification with the Silver Shield (The Silver Shield coats its wearer in a layer of metal that freezes inorganic matter and deadens any living tissue that touches it. It will also automatically boost the user's strength in the presence of water)
Resistance to Radiation Manipulation, Madness Manipulation, Biological Manipulation, Matter Manipulation, and Necromancy (Was unaffected by constant exposure to Bronze's radiation, which can transform nearby beings into hybrids of different species, turn them cybernetic, drive them mad, and revive them from the dead)
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