Samus Aran (サムス・アラン, Samusu Aran^?) is the protagonist of the Metroid video game series. Introduced in the 1986 video game Metroid, Samus is an ex-Galactic Federation soldier turned bounty hunter, usually fitted with a powered armor suit with weapons that include beams and missiles. Throughout the series, she executes missions given to her by the Galactic Federation while hunting the antagonistic Space Pirates and their leader, Ridley, along with the energy-draining extraterrestrial parasites called Metroids. Orphaned at a young age, Samus was brought up by the extraterrestrial avianoid Chozo race, who trained her as a warrior. The Chozo infused her with their blood in order to create a perfect warrior, and also gave her the Power Suit. The suit gives Samus the ability to transform herself into a sphere called the Morph Ball in order to roll through tight areas such as tunnels.

Samus has appeared in all eleven Metroid video games as of 2010. She has also been featured in media outside of the series, including the comic book version of Captain N: The Game Master, all three games in the Super Smash Bros. series of multiplayer fighting games, and the video games Super Mario RPG (1996), Kirby Super Star (1996), and Kirby's Dream Land 3 (1997), in which she makes cameo appearances. Makoto Kano created the characters for the original Metroid, while Hiroji Kiyotake designed the main protagonist Samus. The idea for the character to be female came up partway through the development of Metroid, when the developers determined that it would be an interesting twist to reveal her as female at the end of the game. Samus is one of the first major female protagonists in a video game, and her popularity among fans has helped her top several lists of the best video game heroines.

Lara Croft is a fictional character and the protagonist of the Square Enix (previously Eidos Interactive) video game series Tomb Raider. She is presented as a beautiful, intelligent, and athletic British archaeologist-adventuress who ventures into ancient, hazardous tombs and ruins around the world. Created by Toby Gard during his employment at UK developer Core Design, the character first appeared in the 1996 video game Tomb Raider. The character has also appeared in video game sequels, printed adaptations, a series of animated short films, feature films (portrayed by Angelina Jolie), and merchandise related to the series. Official promotion of the character includes a brand of apparel and accessories, action figures, and model portrayals. Croft has also been licensed for third-party promotion, including television and print advertisements, music-related appearances, and as a spokesmodel.

Core Design handled initial development of the character and the series. Inspired by pop artist Neneh Cherry and comic book character Tank Girl, Gard designed Lara Croft to counter stereotypical female characters. The company modified the character for subsequent titles, which included graphical improvements and gameplay additions. American developer Crystal Dynamics took over the series after the 2003 sequel Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness was received poorly. The new developer rebooted the character along with the video game series. Crystal Dynamics focused on making the character more believable. The company altered her physical proportions, and gave her additional ways of interacting with game environments. Croft has been voiced by four actresses in the video game series: Shelley Blond, Judith Gibbins, Jonell Elliott and Keeley Hawes, plus an unannounced voice actress for the tenth game, scheduled for release in early 2013.