ALTERNATE VERSE: RESIDENT EVIL (trigger warning for violence, suicide.)
Lara Croft is born to Lord Richard Croft, British billionaire and award-winning virologist with ties to Edward Ashford, James Marcus, and Oswell Spencer that go back to their university days. Unverified sources claim that the elder Lord Croft (born Alfonso Ricardo Croft-Alvarez) was born in or near the remote village of Valdelobos, Spain - and may have contributed to the presence of Los Iluminados in the region.
The influential Croft Family has historically funded Umbrella research for decades; Lord Croft makes his mark as the lead executive director at Umbrella Europe, funneling finances through his company Croft Co,. also known as Croft Holdings. But the tension between Umbrella USA and its European subsidiary start to grow as they compete. But in the summer of 2004, Lord Croft takes his own life in the midst of Umbrella’s bankruptcy (foul play suspected, though unproven).
Lara lives a life of privilege, studying at university. She is wholly unaware of her family involvement in bioweapons until she is abducted from her college apartment at the age of 18. She is held hostage by an unnamed sect, and interrogated relentlessly for any information relating to her family’s heavy-handed involvement. The promise of reinforcements never show; Lara is forced to push herself to her limit, to kill in order to survive. She returns alive, and with her enemies dead, but her mind and body are never the same. Not long after the incident she is taken in by Dr. Werner Von Croy, former Umbrella researcher, and is trained as his protege in all aspects of virology, covert operations, and espionage. They soon have a falling out and Lara goes her own way, building her connections within the United States.
Lara is later stalked and approached by The Connections in their effort to seize all Umbrella-era research. She strikes a secret deal with them, but despite this, Lara considers herself an independent force; playing both sides for her benefit to collect viable intel, research data and occasionally, samples of bio-weapons for her own personal use. She plans to defect from The Connections when the time is right.
Present day, Lara is a business woman of celebrity status—she weaves between the spotlight of wealth and fame and the darkest corners of corruption, unafraid to get her hands dirty. Coveted by several organizations because of her success rate, as well as her corrupt family ties. She finds her fix in the dangerous underworld of bioterrorism, commissioned by organizations to retrieve crucial information that sets the next era in motion. Whispers of a clandestine Umbrella-era laboratory beneath her family’s old estate prove her to be a valuable asset.
