Lauren

Lauren is a human Tournament competitor. Lauren has appeared in multiple Unreal games. In UC2 she is voiced by Tanika Cato. In older games she has a generic female voice. It is unknown who voiced her in the UT2003 intro movie.

"Lauren was said to be Jihan Nyhn's lover. Suspecting Liandri to be the cause of his death, she has joined the Iron Guard to uncover the truth."

- UT character description

"Fierce, loyal, and technically capable. Her frame may be slim but she has the most incredible reflexes. Born into a poor asteroid miner family, she became notorious by stealthily eradicating her parents' competitors in space before becoming a full time Tournament warrior. Her soft side? It has been rumored she'd do anything to defend her high-school sweetheart, Brock."

- UT2004 character description

"A hard woman, forever shaped by the death of her parents, her career as a bodyguard, and years of tournament experience."

- UT3 character description

"A former grand tournament champion, Lauren took her life after her boyfriend and teammate Brock died. The Liandri could not afford to lose two popular competitors at once, so they resurrected her with the horrific - and horrifically expensive - Necris process. One side effect: Lauren is only marginally sane. She does her best to share her demented grief with others."

- UC2 character description

Lauren was born from a poor asteroid miner family. In her youth she eradicated her parents competitors and learned the skills to become a Tournament competitor. Lauren won one of the tournaments and became champion, although it is unknown exactly when this happened.

Lauren was said to be the lover of Jihan Nyhn, a powerful arms smuggler. Jihan was assassinated, and Lauren expected the Liandri Mining Corporation to be behind it. Hoping to uncover the truth, she joined the Iron Guard, Jihan's team of personal bodyguards who entered Liandri's Tournament after the assassination. (UT).

Lauren was the girlfriend of team member Brock, though different sources give different explanations to how they met. It is possible she met Brock after losing Jihan Nyhn and joining the Iron Guard. Another source claims Lauren and Brock were high-school sweethearts (UT2003, UT2004).

During 2302's Tournament (UT2003), Brock fought alongside Tournament champion Malcolm and gained much respect for him. After Malcolm was defeated by the Juggernaut Gorge, Brock foolishly tried to avenge Malcolm by ambushing Gorge. Gorge quickly reacted and killed Brock. Wrought with grief, Lauren took her own life on Asteroid 35332-XA.

Lauren's Death
After her death, the Liandri Mining Corporation paid the Phayder Corporation an huge amount of money to have Lauren resurrected as Necris, effectively turning her into Liandri property. The process caused her to remain only marginally sane. Brock was also resurrected, but he lost all memories of his previous life. Brock and Lauren didn't get back together.

As a Necris, she has fought in the 523rd Nakhti Ascension Rights, armed with her new signature weapon, the Necris Swords (UC2).

Alternate reality?
Some fans speculate whether or not the "Unreal Championship" series are set in the same timeline/reality as the "Unreal Tournament" series. The reason for this is that it would be unlikely that Brock could be killed by Gorge considering the Respawner technology, not to mention that if they would die in 2302, how could've they fought in the 2303 Tournament, leading their old team? Among other things, this would mean Necris Lauren is an alterate version.

Epic considers the UC games part of the Unreal series as a whole. Respawners are used in all regular Tournaments, but not usually outside of them, as can be learned from an early UT3 movie, and Brock was killed outside of the Tournament.

Further speculation lead to the confusion of when Brock was killed. It is described in UC2 that Gorge won the Tournament by breaking Malcom's spine, angering Brock in the process who later got killed by Gorge. The players speculate how this is possible, because it is described in the Tournament mode in UT2004 that Malcom still suffer some injuries (probably his spine), yet... Brock and Lauren is healthy, and very human...

Some fans also speculate if Brock's amnesia might be the cause of some sort of Necris plot to make Brock their own. Lauren might have lost some sanity trying to fight the mind control, that, or she's just angered because of Brock's amnesia. Fans also questions why Lauren (whom retains her memories) has'nt rejoined Iron Guard, and why she keeps being dressed up in Necris uniform, despite hating them. (Like in UT3)

Trivia

 * In Unreal Championship 2, Tanika Cato, her voice actress, performed double duty as both Lauren and Sapphire.
 * In Unreal Tournament 3, she's voiced by Sirena Irwin, who also voiced Persephone Cliche in the Stripperella cartoon.

Links

 * Introduction video of Lauren for UC2
 * Tanika Cato at The Mary Collins Agency - Lauren voice actress