Who created the original Tomb Raider character Lara Croft?

Toby Gard created Lara Croft, the central character of the original Tomb Raider series.

Gard was a British video-game designer and artist working at Core Design when Tomb Raider was developed. He designed Lara as an athletic, intelligent adventurer whose abilities and personality distinguished her from many earlier action-game protagonists.

The character was initially conceived as a male adventurer, but Gard changed the concept to a woman during development. Her original name was Laura Cruz before the team changed it to Lara Croft for some markets.

Core Design developed the first game, while Eidos Interactive published it in 1996. Gard left Core Design after the original Tomb Raider and later worked on the series again through the studio Confounding Factor. Although many writers, artists, performers, and designers shaped Lara over time, Gard is specifically credited with creating the character.