Beginning with the 2013 reboot, Crystal Dynamics’ Tomb Raider trilogy is a fantastic modern take on the iconic action-adventure series that took the original PlayStation by storm. The trilogy is more realistic and dark, following a young Lara Croft as she crash-lands on an island, surviving against mercenaries, and going through everything from destroying an entire cult.

While the stories in these games are certainly more grounded than some of the older Tomb Raider titles, this new storyline is not without its otherworldly twists and absurdist explosions. With confirmation from Crystal Dynamics that a new Tomb Raider game is in the works, there’s no better time than now to look back on the trilogy’s story.

Tomb Raider (2013)

2013’s “Tomb Raider” is an all-new origin story for the character Lara Croft, showing the young student’s first adventures. Lara’s ship, the Endurance, crashes on an unknown island in the Dragon Triangle while attempting to find the lost kingdom of Yamataikoku. Unconscious, Lara is taken to a nearby cave by a scavenger who kills her when the cave collapses, allowing Lara to escape. Lara stumbles around the island trying to find her crew. She finally meets up with Sam and Matthias, and the three set up camp.

The next day, Lara finds the rest of the expedition: Whitman, Reyes, Jonah, Alex, and Grimm. Whitman and Lara go looking for Ross, the last remaining member of the crew. During their journey, they find evidence that the island was once inhabited and that the inhabitants worshipped Himiko, suggesting that the island is in fact Yamataikoku. After attempting to escape, Lara and Whitman are captured by the islanders and are pursued along with several other crew members. Lara confronts Vladimir and must kill him to survive. This is her first life.

Later, Lara finds the injured Ross. She climbs the mountain herself, reaches a relay node at the top, and sends out a distress signal. A plane receives the distress signal and flies to Lara’s location, but is soon shot down by a mysterious storm.

When the plane’s crew is killed by the islanders, Lara learns that Sam has been kidnapped by the islanders, who are said to be the Solari Brotherhood. Lara rushes to save Sam, but Mathias turns against her. Just before she is killed, Lara is rescued by Oni, an undead warrior, and taken to a monastery at the top of the mountain.

Lara manages to escape again, but this time she ends up in the ancient ritual room. There, she learns that the “Ascension” ceremony is taking place to decide who will be the next Sun Queen of the island, and that Sam has been chosen as the successor and will be burned alive at the stake. To stop the ceremony, Lara heads to Solari Fortress with the captured Grimm. Grimm sacrifices himself, and Lara narrowly escapes death when Ross comes to her rescue. Lara sneaks into the fortress to interrupt the ceremony, but is stopped by Matthias’s minions. The ritual continues, but Sam does not die in the flames.

When Lara encounters the corpse of an ancient samurai, she learns that the Sun Queen’s original successor committed suicide before the ritual, causing the Sun Queen’s soul to be trapped for centuries and causing mysterious storms on the island. Lara realizes that the Ascension Ritual will transfer the Sun Queen’s soul into a new body.

When Lara returns to camp, she learns that Whitman has betrayed the survivors and returned Sam to Matthias. Lara and the crew reach the monastery, where Whitman is murdered by an undead samurai. In the game’s final moments, Lara picks up two handguns and shoots Matthias, then destroys the Sun Queen’s decaying body and saves Sam, after which the crew is rescued by a freighter, and Lara vows to uncover further myths.

Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider begins with Lara and Jonah climbing the mountains of Siberia. As the pair discover the ruins of Kitesh, a flashback plays. Two weeks earlier, Lara had spotted a stranger in the window of her father’s apartment in London. A recording of her father, Richard Croft, plays, revealing that he is close to achieving immortality, but that a fanatic cult called Trinity is after him. Lara meets with Ana, her father’s ex-girlfriend, who explains that she has found the tomb of a prophet, where the secret of immortality, known as the Source of God, is supposedly hidden. Ana tries to dissuade Lara, but Lara is convinced that her father was right.

In Syria, Lara finds the Tomb of the Prophet, but it is empty and is soon besieged by Trinity forces. Konstantin, the leader of these forces, fires at Lara, but she escapes. Lara returns to Croft Manor and discovers that the cross symbol in the tomb is linked to the ruins of Kaitesh in Siberia.

A mysterious figure breaks into Croft Manor and fights Lara, but is driven off by Jonah, but first steals Lara’s father’s research results. The two then leave for Siberia. In the present, Lara meets Trinity, who is also trying to find the Source of God. Trinity gets caught up in a battle with Remnant, a group dedicated to protecting the Source of God.

Lara is finally captured by Konstantin and thrown into a cell with Ana. Ana turns out to be Konstantin’s sister. Lara refuses to join Trinity and is left in a cell with Jacob, the leader of the Remnant. The two escape and, with the help of the Remnant, Lara finds the Atlas, an artifact that shows the way to Kitezh.

Lara learns that Jonah has been captured and injured by Konstantin. Lara saves him and takes him to Jacob, who heals him and reveals that he is an immortal prophet. Lara enters Kitezh and fights Konstantin. Before killing him, he tells Lara that Trinity killed her father.

Before Lara can reach her, Ana absorbs the Divine Source but is overwhelmed by its power. Lara grabs the artifact and destroys it. In a post-credits scene, Ana is killed by a sniper who has orders not to kill Lara yet.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider takes place several months after Rise, and sees Lara and Jonah tracking down Trinity in Mexico, this time led by Pedro Dominguez. In Mexico, Lara discovers the Chak Chel dagger and a mural warning of a Mayan apocalypse called the Purge. Dominguez captures Lara and takes the dagger. He reveals that the Purge has begun and that Trinity intends to use her powers to remake the world to her own will. A tsunami then destroys Cozumel, but Lara and Jonah manage to escape in the nick of time.

Lara and Jonah follow Trinity in the Amazon, where they find the hidden city of Paititi. Here, Lara meets the townsfolk, who tell her that if she uses the Box of Ix Chel, she will be able to stop the cleansing and gain the power of the god Kukulkan. Lara and a local resident named Unuratu attempt to take the Box from Trinity, but he is captured. Lara comes into contact with otherworldly beings called Ya’asir, led by Crimson Fire. She learns that the Box was stolen many years ago by a Spanish conquistador named Andres Lopez. Lara attempts to rescue Unuratu, but is killed by Rourke, a commander of Trinity.

Lara and Jonah find the box in Lopez’s tomb, but confront Trinity, who disappears with the box and the dagger. The two return to Paititi and, with the help of Ya’asir, help the residents stop the ritual. Lara defeats Amur, the leader of Trinity, and absorbs Kukulkan’s power, which can be used to stop the purification. In the post-credits scene, it is revealed that Lara’s new goal is to protect the world’s secrets instead of stealing them, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the Tomb Raider series.