Concept of Lara Croft

Lara Croft wasn't originally planned to be in Tomb Raider. At the start Core Design had two ideas, one was to allow the player to choose their own desired gender for the adventure, and two if the decided to set a gender it was going to be male. It was rare in the 90s to see a heroine in a game, women were always the ones being saved or they were weak. The first plan of the hero of the story was a kind of Indiana Jones type guy, with the whip, hat and gun:

Screenshot from Gametap's Tomb Raider Retrospective

When the Tomb Raider team wrote a list of the requirements and skills that the hero would have they then changed it so the protagonist was a woman. She needed the gymnastic skills and grace to be able to solve puzzles and the strong willed and detirmination that will see her through to the end, this woman was Laura Cruz.

Screenshot from Gametap's Tomb Raider Retrospective

 Laura Cruz was a South American woman, however Eidos asked for the heroine to be British probably since both companies were based in the UK and they wanted a British video game icon.The team consulted a phone book to get the name; Lara Croft.

Screenshot from Bit's Tomb Raider Special

 The first drawings of Lara Croft showed her determined, however she was more feminine then she was in the game. She wore earrings and necklaces but this was later removed probably to make what she wore more practical for action and raiding.