Lara Croft from Tomb Raider voted as most iconic game character of all time

In results from a new poll by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), Lara Croft has been voted the most iconic video game character of all time, beating out the likes of Mario and Pikachu. The poll received over 4,000 votes from gamers worldwide.

The poll was launched to celebrate the 20th BAFTA Games Awards on Thursday April 11. The annual awards ceremony in the UK celebrates “outstanding creative achievement” in the video games industry. Categories include animation, audio, narrative, and games beyond entertainment. Well-known hosts have included comedy legends Dara Ó Briain, with Phil Wang to host this year’s awards, along with many games industry veterans such as Blessing Adeoye Jr.

Lara Croft is the legendary protagonist from the Tomb Raider series. Launched in 1996 by Core Design and Eidos Interactive, the action-adventure series has spawned sequels, remakes, movies, and an interactive experience in London.

Shelley Blond, the original voice actor for Lara Croft, will be presenting an award at the awards event in April. In an interview with the BBC, she discussed her relationship with the character of Lara.

“When creating the voice for Lara Croft, it came just by looking at the rough sketches I had in front of me and I took note of the fact that she was a female Indiana Jones type of character, ballsy and well-spoken.

“Lara is very special to me purely because she means so much to the gamers. I love hearing stories from people around the world who played the game and channeled Lara to escape their bullies or to help them feel stronger when they wanted to come out to their loved ones.

“And most beautiful of all is hearing how gamers used to play it with their parents who are no longer with us and the sound of my voice, the music from the game, and sound effects are all wrapped up in their memories of that loved one. I’m honored to play a part in that for them.”

This year, multi-award-winning titles such as Baldur’s Gate 3 and Spiderman 2 dominate. Baldur’s Gate 3 has received ten BAFTA nominations, and Marvel’s Spiderman 2 has received nine. Alan Wake 2 has also received eight nominations.

What other characters were on the iconic video game characters list?

There are some characters who have dominated the games industry for decades but some may be more surprising, with several characters from more recent games making their way onto the list.