Jonah Maiava

Jonah Maiava is the 33-year-old American, but New Zealand born, cook and general ships dogsbody of the Endurance. His interests include fishing, the outside, and inventing new recipes.

Early Life
Jonah was born in New Zealand, but raised in Hawaii by his maternal grandmother. Based on one of his journal entries acquired in the game, Jonah was raised by his grandmother (a practice that is normal in Polynesian families to pass on knowledge and traditions). As a young man, he traveled back to his home country to serve in the New Zealand Army. His strength and almost supernatural ability to detect danger made him a popular member of his unit; his ability to prepare and cook almost anything didn’t hurt either.

Journey to Yamatai
After sustaining injuries in the line of duty, Jonah was honorably discharged and went to work as a chef in his sister’s café in Ngapuhi. While in New Zealand, Conrad Roth encountered Jonah dockside carrying four crates of seafood at once. Impressed by his strength (and later his cooking), Roth offered him a place on the Endurance.

Jonah also seems to be very spiritual, as he sensed that there was something unnatural about the island long before the other survivors; he sensed that the storm that caused the Endurance to become shipwrecked was sent by an inhuman force. His spirituality also plays into his general attitude regarding the island; in one of his journal entries he states that if he is left as the sole survivor of the Endurance that he will allow Himiko to take his life without any resistance.

After Yamatai
Tomb Raider (Dark Horse Comics)