<Li> Emily Carey (2018) </Li> <Li> Maisy De Freitas (2018) </Li> <P> Lara Croft is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the video game franchise Tomb Raider . She is presented as a highly intelligent, athletic, and beautiful English archaeologist who ventures into ancient tombs and hazardous ruins around the world . Created by a team at British developer Core Design that included Toby Gard, the character first appeared in the video game Tomb Raider in 1996 . </P> <P> Core Design handled initial development of the character and the series . Inspired by Neneh Cherry and comic book character Tank Girl, Gard designed Lara Croft to counter stereotypical female characters . The company modified the character for subsequent titles, which included graphical improvements and gameplay additions . American developer Crystal Dynamics took over the series after the 2003 sequel Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was received poorly . The new developer rebooted the character along with the video game series . The company altered her physical proportions, and gave her additional ways of interacting with game environments . Croft has been voiced by six actresses in the video game series: Shelley Blond (1996), Judith Gibbins (1997--98), Jonell Elliott (1999--2003), Keeley Hawes (2006--14), Camilla Luddington (2013--present), and Abigail Stahlschmidt (2015). </P>

When did the character lara croft first appear in the video game tomb raider