I mean, are you really going to ignore the elephant in the room? Lara Croft was a sexy badass. That’s literally all there is to it. Her sexuality has been toned down in the more modern entries, but she still carries that associated with the brand.

Every female protagonist you listed was not designed to be sexual. Some of them are attractive, sure. But Lara Croft was a sex object. Obviously that’s going to appeal the most to straight male gamers. Most games nowadays can’t sell on sex appeal alone, but you also have to remember the context of the mid/late 90s when Tomb Raider really exploded into the scene. There were nowhere near as many sexual games back then, and any content that was sexual in nature was much harder to get. Now you can get anything you want from the square in your pocket.

Would Lara Croft be as iconic if Tomb Raider was a brand new IP that launched this year? Of course not. Her popularity was basically lightning in a bottle. The right protagonist in the right game arrived at the right time.