Why Did Himiko Wait So Long to Take a New Host?

[Winter]

As I mentioned before, I think Himiko is a great villain in Tomb Raider: A Survivor is Born mainly due to how unknowable she is. We learn next to nothing about her, we get no documents written by her and most of what we do learn is told by people who knew her in a few documents and Mathias' slowly being driven made by her.

As such she takes on an almost Lovecraftian nature, the unknown horror of things better left forgotten and if you learn the truth it might very well drive you mad.

But the biggest question surrounding Himiko is why did she take so long to find a new host when her newer one took her own life. CharlesPhipps Thinks it's a case of racism, that Himiko refused to take another host unless said host was Japanese but I'm not sure I buy that. We're talking about someone who's been trapped in a decaying body for hundreds maybe even thousands of years, unable to move or interact with the world outside her control over the storms, at that point I think she would except any host if it got her out of her hellish existence which is a classic example of "I have no mouth and I must scream!"

I thought it was a case of her just being a narcissist that she would only except a host if they looked almost exactly like her or were beautiful but the same issue applies as CP's idea, after a while even a narcissist would get tired of a fate that is more certainly worse the death and would just take anybody.

Another possibility is that maybe there's something special about her hosts. Like maybe they have to have a spark of magic within them in order for Himiko to survive. That the magic she learned hurts the body and causes it to burn up after prolonged use. Kinda like what we see with the Force in Star Wars, that while it is capable of amazing feats it can kill the user if they over exert themselves.

So maybe the reason Sam was the only host that would do was because she might have that spark?

We just don't know and I do like how we never learn. Even in the comics when Himiko makes a return she never tells us anything about her and she's clearly lost what sanity she had left. All we know is she will make everyone's life a living Hell until she is freed from hers.

It could be that she is just so racist and narcissistic that she refuses to take a host unless it fits certain, shallow, requirements.

Again, this is something I like about Himiko, we learn nothing about her and as such she comes off as more threatening. With Mathias we get his deal right away, he wants off Yamatai and will do anything to achieve this goal no matter how many innocents must die to achieve it.

[CharlesPhipps]

If you want to be less racist, I'd say that its possible that Sam is actually a blood descendant of Himiko and that's required for the magic. After all, Sam's family has a reverence for Himiko that might be related to the original god queen being her literal ancestor.

However, going back to my racist comment, I note that Himiko's chief quality is vanity. It may well simply be she refuses to accept anything less than perfection.

Also, while she's a bodiless spirit, she still controls her Oni and the weather. She's far from helpless.

[Winter]

If you want to be less racist, I'd say that its possible that Sam is actually a blood descendant of Himiko and that's required for the magic. After all, Sam's family has a reverence for Himiko that might be related to the original god queen being her literal ancestor.

However, going back to my racist comment, I note that Himiko's chief quality is vanity. It may well simply be she refuses to accept anything less than perfection.

Also, while she's a bodiless spirit, she still controls her Oni and the weather. She's far from helpless.

True, but being trapped in that body does seem to be torture for her. There was even a long standing theory that Himiko just wanted to die after being trapped in that corpse for so long hence why the storms seem to be aiding Lara in the final battle. Though there is also a theory that while the two were linked that Sam was able to exert some control over the storms since they don't really start helping her until the final battle starts.

Given what we see of Himiko in the comics the latter seems more likely then the former.

But again I like that we just don't know. There's no real way to know the mind of Himiko, even the comics kept her motives vague as she seemed more interested in returning to Yamatai then taking over the world. And the comics raise even more questions that are never fully answered like it reveals that there seems to be some sort of connection between Himiko and the Divine Source and Himiko doesn't seem to have her powers anymore or at least their far weaker then what we saw in the game.

One idea I have for my own sequel to the Survivor games is that Himiko was a student of the Four Dragons (the ones trapped beneath mountains that created the four rivers of China) before she betrayed them but even then much of her story is left vague because I feel that's the best part of her. We have to guess at her motives and character which adds to the mystery and horror of her and even when we do meet her she's still never fully explained.

I honestly love this villain and think she's underrated.