The original developers of Tomb Raider turned down a Japanese publisher’s request to give Lara Croft an anime-inspired makeover, according to series co-creator Paul Douglas.

Douglas recently shared details about an interesting moment in the franchise’s history on BlueSky. When Tomb Raider launched in Japan in 1997 for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation 1, publisher Victor Interactive Software wanted to change Lara Croft’s appearance to better appeal to Japanese players. The proposed changes included larger eyes and different head-to-body proportions similar to anime characters.

Victor Interactive Software sent faxed designs to the development team late in the production process. Toby Gard, who created the original concept and designs for Tomb Raider, rejected the proposal. As a middle ground, the Japanese-style designs were used in the game’s manuals and guides instead of the actual game.

Magazine scans from 2021 show the Japanese version of Lara Croft looking younger with larger eyes and smaller lips, matching the manga style popular at the time. A redesigned version of another character, Jacqueline Natla, also appeared in these materials.

Douglas suggested that Victor Interactive Software may have underestimated how difficult it would be to change the 3D models and cutscenes, since 3D art was still relatively new technology in the mid-1990s. While Core Design’s management considered the request, Douglas and Gard personally opposed it. According to Douglas, the request kept getting scaled back: “It started out as a request to change all the in-game and cutscene models. Then just in-game. Then just Lara. Then just Lara’s head…”

Some magazine scans have shown what appear to be 3D renders of the localized design, but Douglas said he doesn’t know who created them—it wasn’t his team. One change that did make it into the Japanese version was Lara Croft’s name, which was changed to Leil.