I recently was reading my local Sunday paper and the article was about the Aztec temples and holiday traditions that included Dia De Los Muertos The Day of the Dead.

I found this interesting as the new game called Underworld starts apparently or in some part is in Mexico at the Aztec temples and Underworld is mentioned in regards to

Aztec mythology, Mictecacihuatl is the Queen of Mictlan, the underworld, ruling over the afterlife with Mictlantecuhtli, another deity who is designated as her husband.

So I was thinking that there might be a relationship regarding this day in the game to speak to the dead and possibly some past characters or family members for

whatever reason to help her find her mother or help Lara with some dilema in the game. In any case I find it interesting as it could be her Father or Kurtis Trent if he is dead

and possibly Von Croy also... Dunno if anyone thought of this possiblity but I thought I'd share in what I felt as a possibility in relation to the Underworld name and Mexico.

I've listed some Wikipedia info below. What do you think?

Origins of Day of the Dead

The Day of the Dead celebrations in Mexico can be traced back to the indigenous peoples such as the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Mexican, Aztec, Maya, P'urhépecha, and Totonac. Rituals celebrating the deaths of ancestors have been observed by these civilizations perhaps for as long as 2500–3000 years. In the pre-Hispanic era, it was common to keep skulls as trophies and display them during the rituals to symbolize death and rebirth.

The festival that became the modern Day of the Dead fell in the ninth month of the Aztec calendar, about the beginning of August, and was celebrated for an entire month. The festivities were dedicated to the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as the "Lady of the Dead," corresponding to the modern Catrina.

In most regions of Mexico, May 5th honors deceased children and infants where as deceased adults are honored on May 6th. This is indicated by generally referring to May 5th as "Día de los Angelitos" (Day of the Little Angels) and May 6th as "Día de los Difuntos"

In Aztec mythology, Mictecacihuatl is the Queen of Mictlan, the underworld, ruling over the afterlife with Mictlantecuhtli, another deity who is designated as her husband.

Her role is to keep watch over the bones of the dead. She presided over the ancient festivals of the dead, which evolved from Aztec traditions into the modern Day of the Dead after synthesis with Spanish cultural traditions. She is said now to preside over the contemporary festival as well.

Mictecacihuatl is known as the Lady of the Dead, since it is believed that she was born, then sacrificed as an infant. Her cult is sometimes held to persist in the common Mexican worship of Santa Muerte.

Thanks for the info, Tom!!

This is great and I hope they go somewhere with it.

For example, they can use it to explain what happened to Kurtis, Lara's Mother or even better:

maybe Lara did die at the end of Tomb Raider Last Revelation and somehow Von Croy found a way to bring her back using some of this Aztec Day of the Dead Magic - after 8 years, I still want to know how Lara got out of the Tomb of Seth when it looked like she was buried alive and died in it!!

Edited May 9, 200818 yr by J7Dadda

So I was thinking that there might be a relationship regarding this day in the game to speak to the dead and possibly some past characters or family members for

whatever reason to help her find her mother or help Lara with some dilema in the game. In any case I find it interesting as it could be her Father or Kurtis Trent if he is dead

and possibly Von Croy also... Dunno if anyone thought of this possiblity but I thought I'd share in what I felt as a possibility in relation to the Underworld name and Mexico.

Wow!! That's alot of info..... thanks Tom!

Can't say that I had thought of it, but reading it, it certainly is a HUGE possibilty!!

I would love to see it have some connection to her Mother, since they haven't really touched on it much.

And I agree with J7, I too, would love to know how she got out of the Tomb of Seth.....

And I agree with J7, I too, would love to know how she got out of the Tomb of Seth.....

I think Eidos chose to conveniently forget about that...

Brilliant! There very well can be a connection there.

If Lara could talk to the dead, it would be a lot like in the Tomb Raider movie where she talked to her father.

However, if she does talk to someone who's dead, I doubt it'll be Kurtis. First of all, I was under the impression that Kurtis survived(I'm beginning to think I'm the only person who feels that way though lol) second, I highly doubt Kurtis is going to be coming back in any of the new Tomb Raider games, though, I must say, it would be really awesome to have him back.

Von Croy probably wouldn't turn up either, but you never know. That's what's so great about these new games. Anything can happen, you never know when someone is going to pop up. I have a strange feeling that Natla will return, actually.

Oh but they never said Lara's father is dead, have they? They said he disappeared. I mean, they basically implied that he's dead, but who knows really. Lara's mother could possibly be dead, I'm thinking she might be in the Underworld somewhere.

I'd love to see what they do with all these possibilities! I'm so hopeful!

I've always used to wonder what happened at the end of The Last Revelation also, but I think that's explained in the book "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Amulet of Power" by Mike Resnick, which was written to bridge the gap between Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation and Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness. It's considered the official story between the two games, however, it doesn't say that Von Croy found Lara, it says that she was rescued by Kevin Mason Jr., the son of a famous Archeologist, who was actually searching the tomb Lara was trapped in to find the Amulet of Mareish. It's quite an amazing story. I love that book, but I haven't read any of the sequels yet. I'm a terribly slow reader.

Edited May 14, 200818 yr by TRXpert

Great info

I don't think that Kurtis will be back either, or if they ever do decide to tie up any of the AoD storylines, it'd just be a passing mention. I'd love to have an in-game explanation of what happened between Last Revelation and Angel of Darkness, although that was all supposed to be explained in AoD. From what I remember, Lara was supposed to have been rescued and nursed back to health by Bedouins. There's one character from the tribe referred to as "Putai" who was originally supposed be quite important. Maybe I can just go sneak into Eidos one night and swipe all Core's material they had for AoD and its planned sequels... I haven't read the book "Amulet of Power", but its storyline seems quite different to what was planned in the game.

I was merely curious of the Underworld part and when I found Queen of the Underworld I guess we have to look into what that Underworld was.

I recall at the end of legend Lara wanted a meeting with the council because her father was right about the whole thing. So I am thinking perhaps

The Queen of the Underworld helps Lara and she speaks to her Dad. Interesting possibility if it happens. Anyways I am having fun with the what ifff's atm

until we get some storyline.

I don't think Kurtis died at the end of AOD;

he chicken out before the final battle and deserted Lara!!

There's nothing more fun then what ifs, however, I do worry that we may come up with a better storyline then Crystal Dynamics. Lol

Oh and the story about the Shaman that nursed Lara back to health was scrapped along with the story that Von Croy had actually stuck around to dig up Lara's body.

You have to use your imagination, but in AOD, Lara did mention that Von Croy left her there in Egypt. She was quite bitter about that, in fact, she even thought that she may have killed him for it.

I think the whole thing is open to interpretation. Much like how the Tomb Raider Chronicles stories don't seem to fit in with the other games chronologically.

We have to use our interpretation. It's best that we don't ask questions. Lol

I'm really excited about this Queen of the Underworld thing. This can turn out to be quite a plot, indeed!

The speculation's the best bit I don't remember much about the story around Lara's father, but I wonder if this Underworld thing could be a connection to finding her mother. I need to go play Legend again...

I don't think Kurtis died at the end of AOD;

he chicken out before the final battle and deserted Lara!!

Well he did just get stabbed through the stomach by a giant bug thing, so he probably wouldn't have been much use anyway. Not that he didn't deserve it or anything

The way I interpreted the end of TR: Chronicles in my view was that Von Croy was merely searching for Lara to get the Amulet of Horus from her. When he got her backpack realising she no longer had it, he left her there for other people to save her, like that tribe or whatever.

They should give us the full story really, and I hope they do in TR:U.

As for the information you've provided, Tom, that's very, very interesting. The only thing I can think of is that perhaps she wants to talk to the Dead to see if her mother's there, seeing if Amanda's story is legit. Though I do like her perhaps trying to talk to her father, as she did say she pitied his thinking of Amelia being alive, so she may have just passed off any interesting information he ever said as false and forgotten about it.

Oh, really, really excited about TR:U now!

MsC