Tomb Raider writer tried ‘so hard’ to make Lara Croft explicitly gay – but a steamy same-sex kiss was quietly scrapped

The creator of a Tomb Raider comic tried “so hard” to make Lara Croft explicitly queer – but a planned kiss somehow became just a hug instead.

Tomb Raider: Inferno co-writer Jackson Lanzing revealed the abandoned plot point on Twitter, but declined to explain why Lara Croft’s queerness ended up on the scrap heap.

Queer fans of the video games have pined for a romance between Lara and her best friend Sam for years, while many believe their relationship is a classic example of queercoding.

But the romance has never become canon – even though comic book writers tried to make it so.

Tomb Raider comic writers tried to make Lara Croft queer – but the culminating kiss became ‘a friendly hug’.

Fellow comic book writer Gail Simone tweeted in February of last year that she had replayed the new Tomb Raider trilogy of video games and said nobody could convince her that Lara and Sam weren’t “10,000 per cent gay for each other”.

“It’s not even subtext,” she added.

Lanzing, co-writer of the Tomb Raider comic books, replied to Simone a full 17 months after she posted the tweet and explained that they had tried to make the romance official.

By the time it went to publishing, their culminating kiss had become a friendly hug.

“Gail, we tried so hard to make it canon,” Lanzing wrote. “We had an entire issue in Tomb Raider: Inferno dedicated to Lara going through a toxic drug trip and finally, fully understanding her feelings for Sam.”

He added: “By the time it went to publishing, their culminating kiss had become a friendly hug.”

Gail, we tried so hard to make it canon. We had an entire issue in TR: INFERNO dedicated to Lara going through a toxic drug trip and finally, fully understanding her feelings for Sam.

By the time it went to publishing, their culminating kiss had become a friendly hug.

— ??????? ??????? (@JacksonLanzing) July 18, 2020

Comic book artists Phillip Sevy, who worked on the Tomb Raider comic, added: “I still have the original pencils/inks for that page before I had to redraw it.”

The team behind the comic book have kept tight-lipped on exactly why their storyline was scrapped – but it has been enough to validate queer fans’ long held theories.

Queer fans have reacted with joy at the news.

Many have reacted with unbridled joy at discovering that Lara Croft’s queerness was not just a figment of their imaginations.

REBOOT LARA CROFT IS A CONFIRMED LESBIAN WE FEAST TONIGHT COMRADES WE’VE EARNED IT pic.twitter.com/k64qOmG0hu— Kyle (@kyleliddell22) July 20, 2020

Guys Lara Croft is a lesbian !! This is the best news I've ever had. I luv my bb Lara ♡— bea ♡ (@ghostwonderer) July 20, 2020

Okay but what if Square Enix finally lets Lara Croft be the lesbian that she definitely is because of the record-breaking sales of TLOU2 which proved a gay protagonist didn’t have to be seen as an obstacle for sales and that working tirelessly not to offend bigots isn’t worth it— Jaclyn: Wayfaring Lesbian (@Jbandos) July 21, 2020

LARA CROFT IS A LESBIAN!? LIKE CONFIRMED!!3!4!4!

— kate (@mytholgys) July 20, 2020

Lesbian Lara Croft? Here for it https://t.co/8BsmJkD0Ha— (sad)ie (@sadiewith30es) July 20, 2020

Tomb Raider has remained hugely popular since the original video game was released in 1996.

Since then, the franchise has had various reboots and sequels, with the character of Lara Croft going from strength to strength.