The Unknown Entity (aka. Force Monster[2]) was an antagonistic creature featured in Tomb Raider: Legend. This being is of unknown origin, hence its name.
The Unknown Entity is described, in-game, as a malevolent creature that murdered Lara’s friends and colleagues. It had a vicious temperament and acted as if it had one goal at all times: to kill. The creature acted as a deadly sentinel for the tomb of the last Queen of Tiwanaku. It was linked to a mystic artifact found in said tomb, in Paraíso, Peru, called the Wraith Stone. This stone was able to summon it and its supernatural powers. The stone was possessed by Amanda Evert, most recently, who used it to unleash the being at her will.
Tomb Raider: Legend[]
During an expedition in Peru, the creature was unintentionally unleashed by a team of archeologists, including a young Lara Croft and Amanda Evert. The dig started off playfully enough, with Amanda teasing Lara about falling behind. However, the screams of their companions quickly halted that leisure. Before Amanda and Lara are cut-off from one another by a cave in of a tunnel, one of their colleagues lifeless bodies is suddenly thrown against an underground wall of rock. Lara, who searched for a way back to Amanda, discovered their friend Sara deceased on the ground of a larger chamber in the tomb. She then witnessed the Unknown Entity itself after it attacked their other colleague Kent.
Lara ran from the creature as it hunted and clawed at her. She barely escaped, before it jumped at and phased through a wall. It did so much like smoke and a ghostly apparition. Lara and Amanda found themselves on either side of a locked gate and tried to frantically figure out what this entity was. Before they could discuss anything else, the creature chased Kent and Amanda away from Lara. Lara and Amanda found their way to a central chamber in the tomb. Amanda spied the Wraith Stone on a stone door. With no other alternatives, Amanda pried the stone from the wall, hoping it could help. When she freed the stone the creature vanished, but the removal also caused a cave in and the chamber to flood. Amanda's foot was trapped underneath falling rocks en route to an escape. The water level was quickly rising, Lara was forced to escape alone, and more debris fell on Amanda. The survivors assumed that Amanda has perished and they shut down the site and left.
Nevertheless, Amanda actually survived. She somehow tamed the creature (which likely obeyed her as a result of her taking the Wraith Stone) and used its powers to escape the collapsed tomb. Amanda learned how to summon the Unknown Entity at will by wielding the stone. She later wore the stone as an amulet on a necklace.
The Unknown Entity was first seen, in modern times, by Zip and Alister during Lara's expedition to Ghana. While Lara was away Amanda infiltrated the Croft Manor in search of the Ghalali Key. Amanda used her demonic pet to subdue Zip and Alister and stole a headset to communicate with Lara.
Amanda summoned the creature again to attack Lara as they both tried to obtain a fragment of Excalibur from a facility in Kazakhstan. Amanda’s summoning ritual showed her holding the stone with her hand and rolling her eyes back until only the whites of her eyes showed. The stone was glowed with a dark, red, ominous, smokey energy as the Unknown Entity slowly appeared to form itself out of thin air. The creature, full formed and summoned, used its demonic arms to claw its way around the facility’s large room. She warned Lara to stay out of its way and that it would “kill anything in its way.” The entity attempted to claw and slice at Lara. It also showed the ability to charge and ignite small, fiery explosions on the ground. During this altercation, Lara discovered that the creature was vulnerable to strong electromagnetic fields. She used the Tesla coil gun to seize the ghostly creature and force it into large electrical arc that was part of the KGB experiment. When she did this the creature roared in pain and dissolved into a cloud of smoke before disappearing altogether. This was only temporary though as the entity would reform shortly after and continue to hunt her. Lara was able to fend it off long enough to retrieve the sword fragment from the experiment. Afterward, Amanda called the creature back and escaped the facility.
Amanda returned to the Dais in Bolivia to wait for Lara, knowing she would have the reforged Excalibur and the key to the dais. Lara, however, refused to part with the sword and slaughtered Rutland and his men. Enraged, Amanda merged with the beast in order to kill Lara. When doing so Amanda pulled the stone from her necklace and a different summoning ritual occurred. The stone levitated and spun rapidly between her hands and emanated more and brighter energy than before. Amanda began levitating as the figure of the creature appeared around here. The two merged into one being with Amanda in control of its powers now. The merging increased the Unknown Entity’s powers incredibly. Amanda was able to fire incredibly fast waves and bursts of pink and purple energy. These waves slowly destroyed the stone monuments on the dais’ battleground. Lara dodged and swung Excalibur to fire back her own wave of green energy. The Amanda-Entity hybrid was vulnerable to these attacks and was slowly weakened by them. When the Amanda-Entity creature was weakened enough Amanda’s body would separate, partially, from the Unknown Entity’s. In this vulnerable state Amanda’s ghostly body could be seen panicking as her pet laid ghostly and motionless on the ground. Lara used Excalibur to stab at Amanda and damage her and the entity’s connection. After Lara attacks the Amanda-Entity enough, Amanda and the being permanently separate. The battle ends with the motionless Unknown Entity rising into the air and bursting into a cloud of sparks and smoke. Amanda’s corporeal body is left on the ground, exhausted from the exertion.
Amanda is never seen with the Unknown Entity in its incorporeal, ghostly form ever again. It is unknown if the entity or its consciousness was ended permanently by Lara, or if Amanda chose to no longer rely on the creature and its behavior for her own gain. Amanda is later seen using powers that emanate a smokey aura just like that which made up the entity’s bodily form.
Abilities[]
The Unknown Entity was a vicious and violent creature that used a variety of supernatural powers to attack. The creature was known to slash at victims with its large, clawed hands. It was also known to produce and ignite fiery explosions from a distance.
It was capable of phasing through solid matter, much like a ghost.
It also had regenerative healing abilities. In Kazakhstan, Lara forced the creature into an electrical arc using an electromagnetic cannon. This causes the entity to disappear. Soon after these attacks, it was able to regenerate its body and heal itself. When Amanda merged with it she was able to heal the creature's wounds multiple times.
Under Amanda's control the creature was able to produce waves of deadly energy. These waves were imbued with a pinkish-purple glow and could knock Lara off her feet and into the air.
Appearance[]
The Unknown Entity resembles a ghostly, demonic creature with a torso hosting no legs, two large, muscular arms tipped with long claws, and a skull-like head with glowing, featureless eyes and sharp teeth. Its entire body is formed by a substance that resembles black smoke with fiery, red embers floating throughout. Its bottom section resembles a long tail that extends under its torso and gradually fades into nothingness. Throughout its incorporeal body it features veins of glowing energy. The color of these vein-like segments changes from orange-red to pinkish-purple depending on its form. It also has a number of long dark tendrils protruding from its back that whip around and disappear in a ghostly fashion as it moves around.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is currently unknown if the Unknown Entity survived the encounter in Bolivia at the end of Tomb Raider: Legend. The fact that it does not appear in Tomb Raider: Underworld may suggest so. However, its true fate is not known.
- Many fans of Tomb Raider: Legend have referred to the Unknown Entity as “Fluffy.” This is a comical, sarcastic name in reference to its role as Amanda’s pet (e.g. guard dog).
- It is unknown if Amanda could truly control the entity as she can be heard stating “I don’t control it, I only unleash it” during the climax of Kazakhstan.
References[]
- ↑ Tomb Raider The Official Fact Files
- ↑ Concept Art