05-11-21, 09:57 | #21 | ||
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The Lara Croft wiki is filled with so many errors, and whoever runs it does not seem to update or fix those errors. (Such as placing the Ireland adventure before Cambodia, which has been disproven by Core's most recent timeline). This is a scan from the TR2 booklet. No mention of someone called Qin Shihuang, even though you said he is mentioned in the booklet. Quote:
The Qin Shihuang entry on the Lara Croft wiki page seems to only mention him as being the first emperor of Imperial China. That doesn't have anything to do with TR2 though, so writing him into TR2 is fan fiction. It's nice fan fiction, it's good fan fiction, but whoever runs the page really should clarify that it is fan fiction and not official. If you have a different scan from a different TR2 booklet, then that is great. Or if you have scans of the French magazines that mention Qin Shihuang, that's great too. But for now it really does just seem like fan imagination. Last edited by .snake.; 05-11-21 at 09:59. |
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05-11-21, 14:58 | #22 |
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I've taken up Chinese chess (called Xiangqi) in the past few years and have gotten to know some Chinese people online through a Xiangqi website. I asked one about this topic and his reply was that it's probably the Dagger of Xi'an
His words- "Xian" (better written in English as Xi'an or Xi An) corresponds to 西安 (Xī'ān), the capital city of Shaanxi Province. Xiān, or 仙, are legendary Taoist Immortals. The Chinese version of Tomb Raider has Chinese characters in the product description and they seem to translate distinctly as "Xi'an" So Xian seems to refer to a place, not a person. However I have to say the "immortal" aspect suits the characteristic of the dagger perfectly! Whether the devlopers knew this or it was just coincidence I don't know. |
05-11-21, 15:31 | #23 |
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As many have pointed out, I think it is just a mistake by the developers that they named it Xian instead of Xi'an. I would speculate that they were searching for the next theme and places of tomb raider and came to the conclusion that the great wall and the terracotta warriors were great to implement into the gameplay. From there you are not far away from finding out that Xian has the meaning of immortality etc.
But it is also only speculation from my side, we shouldn't forget that there were many inaccuracies build into the games and it's quite hard to figur out what is canon and what is not. |
05-11-21, 15:35 | #24 |
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Honestly, the fact that Core's games weren't historically accurate makes them more endearing as a work of fiction imo and more unique.
I mean, it wasn't an isolated incident. Look at TR4. Horus and Seth were depicted as cousins there, and in real Egyptian mythology Horus was depicted as being his nephew. |
06-11-21, 05:49 | #25 |
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Another argument against the “Dragon Emperor” being Qin Shihuang: Buddhism didn’t reach Tibet until hundreds of years later: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor..._(6th_century)
Honestly though, I think Core just pulled together anything they liked from ancient China: Great Wall, terracotta warriors, dragons… Also, Chinese dragons don’t breath fire (usually), they are associated with rain. So, I think debating exactly where or when TR2’s story takes place might be missing the root of it, which is just fantasy |
06-11-21, 08:59 | #26 | ||
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My issue was just with certain people posting here as if the whole emperor Qin Shihuang was some sort of confirmed official canon. Which it simply isn't. It's a shame that Lara Croft Wiki page posts things as if they are official when half of it is fan fiction. Last edited by .snake.; 06-11-21 at 09:07. |
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06-11-21, 12:38 | #27 | |
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Maybe all of it is me just putting Core on a pedestal haha. But the fact that they did this more than once, I like to think they were all intentional. Last edited by Jathom95; 06-11-21 at 12:42. |
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07-11-21, 00:00 | #28 | |
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"The Emperor is the dragon; the idea being that the dagger will give this power to whoever has enough belief to drive it into their heart - and that his warriors who fight alongside him will have added powers too. Hence the [Fiama Nera] cult's interest [in the dagger]. The guy with the disturbing green eyes is one of the Emperor's generals and when the dragon is killed, he and the other soldiers return to their normal human strength. You might be able to see when the general falls to his knees, that his eyes turn back to normal and his fangs and reptilian skin disappear." Two minutes to check the source on a wiki page. I quite agree that fans need to be more careful. Wiki pages are not sources, and have a lot of false information on them. That's why you should always check where the information came from. Last edited by Boobandie; 07-11-21 at 00:02. |
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07-11-21, 01:48 | #29 |
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Thank you for posting that Boobandie!
Traveler's Guide really is one of the only - if not that only - fan website that always made an effort to post proper footnotes and differentiate between which information was official and which was embellished or invented out of thin air. |
07-11-21, 05:20 | #30 |
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They really went the extra mile to make the relatively bare bones storytelling of the PS1 era games feel more fleshed out, and clear up a bit of confusion at the same time.
Definitely worth reading to anyone who hasn't already. |
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