Tomb Raider co-creator Paul Douglas has shed light on the background of Lara Croft's proposed Japanese redesign.
The early years of PlayStation featured some really weird contrasts between how the console was approached in the West and the East. One notable rumor is that Sony Computer Entertainment America didn't want 2D games on the platform at first – and while this has seemingly never been confirmed, it was somewhat reflected by the console's early days. The other major distinction was how it treated mascots; it's well known that the appearances of PS1 icons Crash Bandicoot and Spyro were softened in Japan, but apparently Lara Croft did too, albeit not as extreme.
Back in 2021, Douglas posted "manga style" designs of Lara Croft and Jacqueline Natla and explained that the game's Japanese publisher, Victor, "decided our western character design wouldn't go down well there. So they faxed over some of their own designs - that we didn't implement." Over the weekend, BlueSky user Tadashidaiba posted some scans (from Saturn Fan magazine), including designs for other characters, but more notably, a 3D model of Lara that more closely resembled the illustrations.
Victor wanted us to change in-game Lara to appeal more to a Japanese audience. Huge eyes/head etc. They faxed through examples really late in dev. Toby Gard really didn't want to alter Lara. As a compromise all that was changed was the manuals & guide. Not sure who did that render or illustrations.
— @cnhyv.bsky.social (@cnhyv.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-01-19T16:05:37.766Z
A fan asked Douglas about this model, and he explains, "Victor wanted us to change in-game Lara to appeal more to a Japanese audience." adding that the publisher "faxed through examples really late in dev." However, despite the effort put in by Victor, Douglas explains, "Toby Gard really didn't want to alter Lara. As a compromise all that was changed was the manuals & guide."
Douglas adds that he's not sure who did the render or illustrations featured in the magazine, but regardless, it's an interesting piece of Tomb Raider lore that I had somehow missed all these years, despite knowing way too much about Japanese Crash Bandicoot changes.
