Tomb Raider 1 Easter Eggs

This page is dedicated to all the Tomb Raider 1 easter eggs.

So what is an easter egg? According to Wikipedia:

> While the term **Easter egg** has been used to mean a hidden object for some time, in reference to an Easter egg hunt, it has come to be more commonly used to mean a message, image, or feature hidden in a video game, movie, or other, usually electronic, medium.
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This page lists the easter eggs to all the eggs noticed in the game itself not related to any level and level specific eggs.

## Main

All things noticed in the game itself, not related to any level..

### Level skip cheat code

Gavin Rummary said that the level skip cheat code for the pc was based on the movie Wizard of Oz. Dorothy goes home by kicking her boots and spinning around. As mentioned on “The making of Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider 25th anniversary panel at Derby Quad”

### Weird audio track on the Saturn Disc Pal/NSC

There is a weird audio track on the Tomb Raider I disc. When inserting the disc into a regular CD player, audio and music from the game can be heard. On Track 56, the audio track talks about 1999, a helicopter and a firestorm. It is an unused track of an early Core Design game called **Thunderhawk 2 - Firestorm**. As mentioned by Stereopatic on Tomb Raider Forums

### Lara's handstand

The handstand move of Lara has not a purpose in Tomb Raider I. Toby Gard putted in just for fun.

> Sometimes he'd add new moves without telling his fellow developers. Gard added Lara's famous handstand move - more of an Easter egg than a useful ability - without telling the development team in the hope that they'd discover it for themselves. They did.
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> We were testing every day, then somebody went, \*\*\*\*, I didn't know that was in the game," Neil Boyd says. "Why didn't you tell us? Toby said, 'I wanted to see if you could come across it.' He would go that bit further to add something else in there, rather than just say, that's fine, then move on to the next animation."
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### Lara's passport

As you progress in the game, more stamps appear in Lara’s passport.

## The Levels of Tomb Raider I

All easter eggs found in the levels of Tomb Raider I

### 00 - Lara's Home

In the intro FMV of Croft Manor, there is a scene showing a fish in a fountain. This fish was taken from an FMV in **BLAM! Machinehead**, which features a drowning sequence. The FMV for both games was created by Peter Barnard, who worked for Core Design.

### 02 - City of Vilcabamba

The picture of the city of Vilcabamba was taken from the film "Raiders of the Lost Ark". In the opening scene, Indiana Jones steals the Golden Idol, and this artwork can be seen in the background (as shown in the second picture).

### 03 - The lost Valley

* The level "Lost Valley" has been inspired by 1912 novel "**The Lost World**" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the film **Jurassic Park** from 1993.
* The Trex in the Lost Valley was originally made and invented by Toby Gard and pitched in an early demo version of Tomb Raider.

### 07 - Palace Midas

The first unreachable medipack on a pillar.

* It was left there 'just for fun' to make the players nuts and it became an inside joke.
* Another source said: there was a secret route to the medipack but was removed.

### 10 - City of Khamoon

#### Name of the level

The name "Khamoon" is derived from "Tutankhamun". We all know that the tomb of King Tut was discovered in 1922 by Howard Carter. So the “boy king” became famous. They put down the “Tutan” and keep the “Khamun” but turned into “Khamoon”. And it has nothing to do with a moon. It is just because calling a game “City of Tut” is too obvious and so cheap…

#### Heather name in hieroglyphics

On the walls is a hidden message in hieroglyphics, the line ends with a smiley. The line with hieroglyphics above and beneath the middle line are bogus.

In the second picture can be seen that it spells H-I-A-T-H-I-R. If you replace the “I” for an “E” you get Heather. It is the first name of **Heather Gibson** one of the major level designers. She designed this level and most of the textures. Here is an **interview** with her.

### 14 - Atlantis

* Two large medipacks after a door that can't be openend.

#### Muscle like structures

**In both Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider II there are levels that are wilder in concept after playing a majority of a believable game.The settings are organic in nature and locations are real. In Tomb Raider Neal developed the Atlantis levels. How was this concept created?**

*Yes didn’t Atlantis turn out wild or possibly weird? That might have been partly due to the textures. Neal didn’t have time to do his textures for this level so I supplied them for him. I was looking into more bizarre sources for my texture library when Gavin arrived one day with a human anatomy book used by the medical profession. Perfect for me to use as a basis for some very unnerving and surreal textures.*

#### Initials of Heather

In this picture I'll see an "H" and a "T". This could be:

1. **H**ea**T**her
2. **H**eater & **T**oby

The problem with the last one is that it is missing **N** from Neal.
So I stay with the first one.

### 15 - The Great Pyramid

After bringing Natla down for the first time, she will raise her weapon when Lara gets close to her. At first I thought that it was a graphics glitch, but after reloading my last save game and shooting Natla again, I noticed that it indeed is an animation that plays when Lara stands next to Natla.

## The levels of Tomb Raider I gold

This is the additional Gold pack for Tomb Raider then only for the PC and MAC and ported to Playstation.

### Return to Egypt

In the first unfinished business level “return to Egypt’ where you return to the City of Khamoon, the sphinx is sort of winking to you.

### Temple of the Cat

In the level there is a wall with Lara Croft as an ancient Egyptian goddess.
Not sure it is an easter egg, but it lovely.

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ Heard at The making of Tomb Raider. Tomb Raider 25th anniversary panel at Derby Quad from 31:00 - 32:00. Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHCLQlZuJ8M
2. ↑ https://www.tombraiderforums.com/showpost.php?p=718475&postcount=7
3. ↑ https://www.tombraiderforums.com/showpost.php?p=7770579&postcount=4
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Explained in **The Making of Tomb Raider** by **Daryl Baxter**.
5. ↑ https://www.tombraiderforums.com/showthread.php?t=118205&highlight=easter
6. ↑ https://www.tombraiderforums.com/showpost.php?p=2456352&postcount=12
7. ↑ From an interview with Heather Gibson and Ash. Found here: http://www.core-design.com/interview3.html
8. ↑ https://www.tombraiderforums.com/showpost.php?p=7770554&postcount=1
9. ↑ https://www.tombraiderforums.com/showpost.php?p=1431227&postcount=1