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Old 05-09-18, 20:54   #1
LateRaider
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Default Larson... "Conway"?

Edit as of Jan 11 2020 - "Conway" appears to be made up. Read here for the history of the surname: Click

Edit as of Jan 25 2020 - Got made into an article. Read here. Updated Dec 1 2021.

Edit as of Jan 17 2021 - "Conway" has been official since 2016! Click the first link to read more.

I expect by January 2022 we'll have even more info

Edit as of Jul 27 2021 - Ed Perkins of Tomb Raider Reloaded has accidentally canonized the name further. Again, see the first link

Original post as follows.

------------

Hi everyone. I hope you're doing well today. With Shadow of the Tomb Raider so close on the horizon, I know it seems silly of me to ask a trivial question like this, but I figure it's worth a shot in the dark.

We all know Larson's surname is "Conway," right? Thing is, I have no idea where it originates. WikiRaider and the Tomb Raider Wiki both say it comes from TR: Anniversary, but Larson's unlockable in-game biography simply calls him "Larson". It's not on Natla's computers when Lara breaks into her office, either.

The 90's collectible card game isn't the origin either; that erroneously calls him "Larsen".

Can anyone help me out? Thanks for your time; have a great day and please, be kind.

Last edited by LateRaider; 16-02-23 at 07:34.
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Old 05-09-18, 21:00   #2
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Originally Posted by LateRaider View Post
Hi everyone. I hope you're doing well today. With Shadow of the Tomb Raider so close on the horizon, I know it seems silly of me to ask a trivial question like this, but I figure it's worth a shot in the dark.

We all know Larson's surname is "Conway," right? Thing is, I have no idea where we got ot from. WikiRaider and the Tomb Raider Wiki both say it comes from TR: Anniversary, but Larson's unlockable in-game biography simply calls him "Larson". It's not on Natla's computers when Lara breaks into her office, either.

The 90's collectible card game isn't the origin either; that erroneously calls him "Larsen".

Can anyone help me out? Thanks for your time; have a great day and please, be kind.
Apparently it originates somehow with Anniversary (maybe the commentary or a dev interview?), It's not in the classics, I checked the two wiki's and I checked The Official Tomb Raider Fact Files (essentially an Annual for the series released before AOD, it even has a Beta AOD Lara render at the end of the book with green trousers and black pants and other stuff like the unused Scarecrow in Ireland) and they don't mention his surname.

Last edited by Samz; 05-09-18 at 21:03.
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Old 06-09-18, 01:29   #3
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Thank you for the response, Samz, despite our differences. I appreciate it a lot.

I decided to do some hunting because this mystery was very perplexing. I'm fond of figuring out fandom myths and the truth behind fanon, so down the rabbit hole I went.

I first found this thread on the Square Enix Europe message board, which I presume was once the Eidos board.

The original poster, Salazar, claimed to have gotten their intel from "TRC's boards." Since Justin runs TombRaiderChronicles.com, I assumed that Salazar meant these very forums. Off to Google I went, searching site:tombraiderforums.com "conway" (And let me tell you, it was super annoying to have to sift through tons of posts by user Conway, lmao)

I wound up finding this. This appears to be ground zero (near as I can tell) for the fandom-widespread belief of Larson's surname. No scans of the sourced magazine were ever provided.

Jo269976 claims to have gotten their source from a Dr. Cheese on IMDb's message boards, which are long since gone. I decided to scour the Wayback Machine for more intel, but unfortunately, IMDb only goes as far as Jun 2007 for TR:A discussion. I searched the TR: Legend forum as well to no avail. I have no idea where this would have been discussed. I also can't seem to find any scans of PC Powerplay magazine.

Can anyone else help? So far, it's looking like this is entirely fanon, with just that one lead of PC Powerplay magazine from January or February 2007. I can't find any official TR sources that actually call him "Larson Conway."

Edit 1 - Before I did any of this, I did check the ending credits and all 5 cutscenes TR:A Larson is featured in. (Calcutta, QTE after Tomb of Qualopec, Lara viewing Natla's footage of him when she breaks into her office, the cliffs where Lara's guns are stolen, QTE where you kill him) In the credits, and no one's full name is listed except Lara's; same for the unlockable biographies. (Meaning that the man of subject is just "Larson" in both places) I also checked the in-game commentaries, and he's just called "Larson" there.

Edit 2 - Not really related to the subject at hand, but I'm glad that I'm not the first one to discuss this name debacle, lol

Edit 3 - To clarify, I'm pretty sure we're looking for the Australian "PC PowerPlay", (issue 135, 2007 Feb) not the German "PC Power Play".

Last edited by LateRaider; 29-10-18 at 01:55.
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Old 06-09-18, 11:58   #4
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Interesting question!

https://www.wikiraider.com/index.php/Larson
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_Raider_Chronicles


The first one suggest CD gave the name. That article was made in 2015.
The second one suggest Larson always had a surname. That article was edited very recently: 16th of august,2018.

Side note: I never take these sites seriously, since anyone can edit it. However, I believe it was CD who gave him a surname when they made a biography for him.
Don't forget in Anniversary, Toby Gard was still involved, it could have been his idea; just like to turn Natla to some kind of demigod. (ingame commentary for proof)
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Old 06-09-18, 18:12   #5
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"Larson" sounds more like a surname to begin with tbh, well to me anyway (I know anything goes with names in America though, so idk maybe it isn't).
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Old 06-09-18, 19:37   #6
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"Larson" sounds more like a surname to begin with tbh, well to me anyway (I know anything goes with names in America though, so idk maybe it isn't).
As an American I take offense!
My children Saturnalia and Mephistopheles are perfectly named little angels!


Nah, you’re right. America has some pretty odd names haha
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Old 06-09-18, 20:57   #7
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As an American I take offense!
My children Saturnalia and Mephistopheles are perfectly named little angels!
Saturnalia tho
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Old 06-09-18, 21:29   #8
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Thanks for your thoughts, everybody! I much appreciate the help.

Edit - I had the wrong issue of PC PowerPlay. This post has been amended as a result. However, the findings remain the same.

We've located the magazine in question.

Turns out it's just a simple 1-page blurb on page 14, with Timothy C. Best's thoughts being that TR:A seems to be an exciting return to basic adventuring. But the important part is, this article has no mention of Larson at all. None.

Just to be sure that I didn't get my magazines confused, I found a text transcript of the German "PC Power Play" from February 2007, and it also speaks nothing of Larson.

Before I can say with confidence that we can wrap things up here, a number of things could still be going on.

1. Dr. Cheese didn't mean to type "PC PowerPlay";
2. There's a third magazine named "PC Powerplay" out there; or
3. Issues 134 or 136 of PC PowerPlay mention TR:A characters by full name.

(Point 3 seems unlikely, however; I've checked those issues' tables of contents, and it seems like #135 was the only one to mention TR:A. I checked #140 as well, which has a final review on TR:A, and no character is mentioned other than Lara. I could be wrong though, and it might be hidden away in a magazine proper. I didn't read the full issues, after all.)

But at the moment, the final verdict seems to be:

Dr. Cheese made up their information. Larson never had a surname--or a first name.

(If you check the TRF thread I linked that sparked the search for PC PowerPlay #135, you'll see blue_box suggests Larson's first name might be "Milo," coming from PC Gamer's "movie script," but I doubt this is official intel.)

So... where do we go from here, gang?

Well, this is all just one man's opinion, but... Larson "Conway" has been deeply entrenched in the fandom for 11 years now. It's a nice-sounding name, and there's no reason to stop giving him this surname. Fan-made media, official and unofficial fansites, and even some official outlets have been giving our sexy blond cowboy this last name for ages, and I doubt that it's going to change now.

However, due to the fact that this is a fan-given surname, I think that it should be removed on wikis and no longer given in official or official-style articles and infopieces.

And there we have it. Another Tomb Raider mystery solved.

Last edited by LateRaider; 05-01-20 at 09:19.
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Old 07-09-18, 06:16   #9
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^^^
Well Done! That was such an interesting read!
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Old 07-09-18, 08:20   #10
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Oh hold on, something doesn't add up. PC PowerPlay #140 is from July, not January, February, or March. Let me look up the proper magazines, lol. I knew something was off when the magazine I found was #140...

Edit 1 - Outcome was the same. He is not named in issue 135, which is what I was seeking all along.

Edit 2 - Now that that's fixed, I can say: thanks, JoelCaesar! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Last edited by LateRaider; 07-09-18 at 11:58.
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