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You can tell a lot about a videogame character from the way they climb a ledge.Mario, for instance. He's a hyperactive, middle-aged toddler, hooking his leg around the ridge of a platform with the eager enthusiasm of a one-year-old clambering up the sofa all by himself for the first time. Nathan Drake meanwhile, with his amateurish swagger, heaves himself around with the kind of casual athleticism that derives from bravado as much as ability. But Lara, the old Lara, the Lara Croft of Tomb Raider: Underworld - she climbs ledges with style.
Pulling herself upward simply by the strength in her arms, Lara doesn't stop like Drake and Mario would when her waist is above ledge height. Instead, she keeps going, her limbs straightening and raising until she's perfectly, exquisitely balanced - her whole body extended perpendicular to the ground, upside down. Only then does she dismount, tipping her legs forward with masterful, gymnastic elegance until she lands, feet first, on the platform. This is Lara's handstand, her elegant spine-bending signature move.
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