| “ | (Lara Croft: How do I know, once I gave you that piece, that you wouldn't then just try to kill me?) Manfred Powell: Would it make it easy for you - on more familiar ground - if I killed you now? | „ |
| ~ Manfred Powell faces off with Lara Croft |
Manfred Powell is the main antagonist in the 2001 film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.
He was portrayed by Iain Glen, who also portrays Dr. Alexander Isaacs in the Resident Evil film series, Ralph D'Amico in Kick-Ass 2, and Madoc Faulkner in Ripper Street.
Biography[]
The novelization details about Powell's origins. He was born in Dorset, but was educated at Oxford. At the age of 23, he became a barrister and was later appointed Queen's Counsel at the age of 36. His occupation is a counsel to several large banking firms, board member and stockholder for multinational corporations. He has an apartment in New York City and homes in London, Washington D.C. and Venice.
Powell is a member of the Illuminati (the self-proclaimed "People of the Light") who goes in search of the two lost halves of the Triangle of Light, a legendary artifact that grants its wielder power over time and space. However, the halves must be rejoined before the final phase of the planetary alignment, which happens only once every five thousand years. Though Powell is at first unsure of their whereabouts, he soon learns the location of one of the pieces after meeting with adventurer and archaeologist Lara Croft, who shows him a mysterious clock she had found with a special device concealed within. Powell takes the clock and travels to an ancient temple in Cambodia to find the first half of the Triangle, along with Lara's friend Alex West who also wants to find the Triangle simply for profit. Lara finds the piece first and after fighting off a vast number of stone statues guarding the temple, she escapes down a waterfall. Later, Lara contacts Powell, and they agree to help each other find the second half of the Triangle, since they both have something the other needs to complete it.
Powell and his men travel with Lara to Siberia, eventually reaching the ruins of the ancient city where the Triangle of Light was once worshiped. Lara manages to retrieve the second half of the Triangle and Powell seizes the opportunity to kill the Illuminati's leader and unite the pieces himself, but when Powell puts them together, he finds that they don't fuse. Realizing that Lara knows the secret to completing the Triangle, Powell forces her to do so by killing West with a knife. Knowing that the Triangle can save West and also her father, Lara completes it and she and Powell both try to take control of it. Lara reaches it first and is confronted by her father in an alternate reality, who persuades her to destroy the Triangle rather than using it to save his life.
Lara Croft and Manfred Powell square off with each other
Lara returns to the ruins to find that time is slowly running backward, and she grabs the knife that Powell had thrown at West and reverses it before destroying the Triangle. Time is instantly returned to normal and the knife hits Powell in the shoulder, knocking him down while everyone else flees from the self-destructing chamber. As Lara is about to leave, Powell calls out to Lara and tells her that he was responsible for the death of her father, having shot him after he tried to leave the Illuminati. Powell and Lara then engage in a fistfight.
Powell blocks Lara's attack
Using his quickness and mastery of the martial arts, Powell takes control of the fight early on, surprising Lara with his agility. Powell surprises Lara with a sucker punch to the jaw, sending the normally tough woman stumbling back. Surprised, Lara attempts to counter back with her punch to the jaw only for Powell to avoid the attack, sending two more vicious punches to the woman's stomach and another punch to the jaw. The feisty Lara Croft fights back, but Powell is faster and a more refined and controlled fighter, easily blocking most of Lara's attacks.
Powell stands over a beaten down Lara Croft
Frustrated, Lara lunges at Powell with a push kick, which he easily bats down before striking Lara with a vicious backhand. Giving Lara no space to recover, Powell jumps in the air and lands a spinning kick to the gut. As Lara doubles over winded, Powell lunges forward and connects with a crushing elbow to Lara's back, knocking her to all fours. Powell swiftly kicks Lara in the ribs, sending her rolling and nearly knocking her out. Lara is left injured on the ground, being a groaning and bleeding mess. The confident and fierce Lara Croft is left defeated on the floor, unable to move from the constant beat down she was unable to resist. Powell stands over her triumphant, cocky over the defeat of the woman, believing she was as easy to defeat as her father.
Lara Croft lies injured after enduring a barrage of attacks from Powell
However after he picked up his knife, Lara got back up, filled with anger and determined energy, and landed the heavy blows as she finished Powell off with a strike to the throat which seemingly snaps his neck, killing him.
Personality[]
Like the cult he is part of, Manfred Powell is power-hungry and wants to achieve godhood level by being able to control space and time. But unlike the others members, Powell is selfish and does not care about anyone except himself. His treacherous nature is revealed when he coldly orders his men to shoot the cult leader and takes his place as the new leader. He also uses one of his men as his shield during the statues' attacks, demonstrating how his men are expendable to him.
Despite all of this, Powell is shown to have a honorable side to himself, proposing two times Lara Croft to join him in his project. When she feigns to refuse the first time, instead of killing her with his dag in the back, he throws it on the blank on the other side of the hall. However, this honor is limited. For example, when he and Lara decide to engage in a fistfight, the two slowly place down their guns to fight equally. But Powell takes the chance to sucker punch Lara, sending her stumbling back both in surprise and pain, due to wanting her to suffer for her thwarting his plans. He also is very arrogant such as when he beat down Lara with a kick to the stomach, sending her tumbling to the ground. Lara Croft, who has been able to counter most of his plans through sheer wit and determination, is left injured and nearly knocked out, the woman groaning in pain and bleeding from injuries. Powell doesn't take the chance though and seemingly gloats over his defeat of Croft over his leisurely checking of his injuries.
Powell is arrogant as well, constantly underestimating both subordinates and his enemies. During the end of Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, he calls out Lara for a fight, wanting to kill the woman who has foiled his plans. He seemingly wins with Lara Croft being unmatched and beaten down to the ground from constant punches to the face and blows to the stomach, but his own arrogance gives the injured Croft a chance to kill him.
He is sophisticated, being cultivated and liking to have oriental massages.
Abilities[]
Powell strikes Lara with a vicious blow
Powell was able to keep his true agenda hidden from the head of the Illuminati. Powell was resourceful and able to form an alliance with Lara Croft to find the triangle.
Powell demonstrates his speed, delivering powerful strikes to Lara Croft's abdomen. The normally skilled Croft is unable to defend against these strong attacks, being forced to endure the attacks.
Powell was highly skilled in Chinese martial arts. He was able to severely beat down Lara Croft during their fight, injuring and nearly killing her.
Trivia[]
He is based on many cult leaders, with the most notorious being Shoko Asahara (born as Chizuo Matsumoto), who was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult, Aum Shinrikyo. Aum was notorious for perpetrating the Tokyo Subway sarin attack in 1995.
Gallery[]
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 Villains
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Games Tomb Raider II Tomb Raider III Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation Tomb Raider: Chronicles Tomb Raider: Curse of the Sword Tomb Raider: The Prophecy Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness Tomb Raider: Legend Tomb Raider: Anniversary Tomb Raider: Underworld Tomb Raider (2013) Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Rise of the Tomb Raider Shadow of the Tomb Raider Movies Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life Tomb Raider | ||