Death Queen Himiko In “Tomb Raider” Was A Real Japanese Queen

Main image via Warner Bros

In the new Tomb Raider, Lara Croft travels to a small remote island to find her
dad. When she arrives, she’s met with a secret organisation called Trinity, who is
after an evil object they want to use as a weapon to probably control the entire
world.

via GIPHY

That object is the corpse of Himiko, an ancient Japanese queen who supposedly
has powers over life and death, and can kill people by simply touching them.
According to the legend, Himiko’s soldiers took her to a desert island called
Yamatai to keep her away from the rest of the world.

Image via Trailer Addict

When Lara and the gang find her corpse, they find out that Himiko isn’t magical
at all. She just had a weird deadly disease that was contagious by touch. And
even though she’s been dead for a long time, the virus is still very alive.

Image via Inverse

They also realise that Himiko wasn’t brought to Yamatai, but went there on her
own accord because she didn’t want to harm people. Her soldiers and
handmaidens followed her there because they liked her!

Since Tomb Raider is based on the 2013 reboot of the video game, we thought
we’d mention what Himiko was portrayed as in the game too.

Image via Tomb Raider Wiki

So, Himiko (game version) can control the weather, not life and death. She can
also transfer her soul to another host body. So, instead of being super dead like
in the movie, game Himiko is just super undead. And Yamatai Island is home to a
cult that worships her.

Now, on to the real Himiko. She’s nothing like movie Himiko or game Himiko.
The real Himiko was also known as Pimiko. She was a Japanese queen who lived
in third century Japan and ruled peacefully for about 50 to 60 years. She
presided over Yamatai, a territory, and was known to be a shaman. Currently, no

one knows where Yamatai is, but some historians believe that it’s located
somehwere on one of the larger Japanese islands (not a small desert island like
in the Tomb Raider movie).

Image via WordPress/Heritage Of Japan

According to real life legend (don’t confuse it with fictional legend), Himiko had
1,000 female handmaidens and never married. Her brother helped her with
various state affairs, especially when she started focusing more on her
shamanism. When she died in the year 248, 100 people sacrificed themselves to
join her in her tomb. Say what?!

Article via Cosmopolitan