Jacob

Jacob was a Byzantine Prophet who used the Divine Source to create an immortal army.

Jacob and his followers fled from Trinity to protect the Divine Source, settling in the east founding the City of Kitezh.

Byzantine
Jacob was born in the late tenth century, in the Byzantium area. At some point he discovered the "Divine Source", to which he was exposed to & gained his immunity to death, illness, age & injury. He used his power to heal others who were not supernatural beings. This combined with his wisdom rendered him as a "Messiah" sent by God himself & thus gave him the name "The Deathless Prophet".

This put him in a conflict with Trinity, who were searching for the "Divine Source". During a great battle, he was seemingly killed by Trinity forces & his people fled Byzantium. Jacob created a fake tomb to throw people off his trail, before his people headed east to what would one day be known as Siberia.

Jacob and his followers, seeking to protect the Divine Source, built a massive city, called Kitezh. WIthin the city, Jacob created the Chamber of Souls, a vault used to seal away the "Divine Source". Once there, he gave "the deathless power" to all of his army to make them invincible.

Trinity eventually tracked him down, bartering with Genghis Khan, the began to lay siege to the city.

During the battle, to Jacob's horror, the "Deathless Ones" managed to bring all the ice from the mountains down upon the city. Thousands of citizens & enemy soldiers were killed in this genocide, as the Deathless ones didn't want to risk losing the Divine Source. Jacob and the other survivors fled towards the area surrounding Kitezh. The city and the source were lost, and many of Jacob's people were killed. Jacob and the others settled in the surrounding area becoming the Remnants of Kitezh.

One soldier of Trinity, who had been hunting Jacob since Byzantium and had even once claimed to have killed him, was given food and shelter, and allowed to leave once he had recovered, leaving him alive with the knowledge that he had failed.

Seeing the folly of his ways, Jacob lead his people in a new mission, protecting the location of Kitezh to stop anyone gaining the power of the Divine Source.

Cold War
For hundreds of years, Jacob lead as a wise leader, as well as a healer. In the late 1960s, the Red Army arrived in the area seeking to mine the mountains for their resources. They built several massive structures, including a factory a sawmill, a weather station, a mill, and a gulag as well as the miles of railway needed to reach the area.

Jacob and his followers didn't interfere as they seemed disinterested in the Divine Source. However, the Soviets captured many of Jacob's people and imprisoned them. Jacob ordered the destruction of the railway to prevent them from escaping when they launched their atttack.

The Remnants sneaked into the Gulag and freed the prisoners staging a full on revolt against the guards, killing most, and leaving the rest to die in the wilderness. Jacob allowed the prisoners whom the Soviets had brought with them to join the Remnants, including a former guard who had been imprisoned after conspiring against his former comrades, and his infant daughter.

Some time later, Jacob met and fell in love with a young woman named Alya. He attempted to abstain from his lusts, and told her that they could not be together, however he was unable to deprive himself of the desire and the two became lovers, resulting in the birth of a daughter, Sofia. Jacob feared that Sofia would lead the people to believe him as weak and unworthy of leading them, however, the people didn't seem to mind, and Sofia herself would go on to become the respected military leader of the Remnants.

21st Century
Main Article: Rise of the Tomb Raider

Trinity returned to seek out the Divine Source once more, having found the link between the Deatless Prophet and Kitezh from Lara Croft. They arrived in the area capturing or killing any of the remnants they came across. Jacob himself was captured and taken to the Gulag.

He is interrogated by Konstantin who know he is the Remnant leader. Jacob refuse to give up any information to Trinity. He is summarily thrown into a cell in case Trinity find a use for him as leverage against the rest of the village.

Some time later, Konstantin arrives with another prisoner, Lara Croft. Jacob tries to make small talk, however Lara is dismissive of him and immediately begins to break out. Jacob managed to convince her to break him out of the cell by telling her, "I know what you're all after." Lara relents and helps him escape.

During their escape Ana and Konstantin who sent their forces forces after them, including a gunship. Jacob saves Lara's life after she nearly drowns. He brings her to a cave to recover, when she wakes up he asks why should would risk her life for the Divine source. Lara tells him about her father and how she came to realise he was right after seeing something she thought was impossible. Jacob asked her to help them fight Trinity instead, which Lara agreed to but refused to give up her search for the source.

Later, Jacob and Lara traverse through the old copper mines, however, they are separated and Lara is forced to make her way to the Remnant Valley alone where she encounters a hostile Sofia, who nearly kills Lara when she suspects she killed Jacob. However, Jacob arrived just in time to vouch for Lara, ordering his people that "no harm will come to her."

Jacob suggest that Lara help around the village to earn the trust of the people, to prove herself, Lara obliges, helping gather resources and destroy Trinities drones. Jacob asks Lara to light one of the signal beacons in order to alert the other settlements in the area. He heads to the upper village to help them, and is captured as Trinity storm the area. Spotting Lara sneaking into the area, he disarms a guard and gives his weapon to Lara.

After Trinity's forces have been repelled Jacob tells Lara that Trinity will be searching for the Atlas in the ruins of a tower which is in an area heavily populated by his people. Lara volunteers to go and help them while he tends to the wounded.

He later joins Lara after she has helped fend off Trinity's forces yet again. Lara asks to know the truth, he tells her that the Prohphet had brought the Divine Source to the Valley years ago to protect it from Trinity, and that he and his people were bound by duty to protect the location of the city, and the source. Lara asks him to help her find it, however he refuses, telling her she cannot fill the emptiness and must let it go. Lara storms off after telling him she's going to find it with or without her help.

Jacob goes to the old observatory to wait for Lara's return, meeting Jonah, Lara's friend who was rescued from the wilderness by some of his scouts and taken to the village. When Lara returns, Jacob explains the function of the observatory and how it is used to view the map. Lara uses it to discover the location of Kitezh, and that it is not beneath the lake as Legend suggested, but rather under the glacier, and that the Observatory itself holds a secret path into the city. Lara realises that Jacob had known where Kitezh was all along, Jacob admits this.

Suddenly Trinity attacks, destroying the observatory, Jacob is shot and Jonah kidnapped after Lara is knocked out the window. Lara manages to climb back in, she rushes to Jacob's side and tells him that she cannot lose Jonah. Jacob tells her to save her friend and Lara departs. Jacob heals himself whilst Lara is gone, and waits for her to return.

Lara arrives back later, accompanied by two Remnants she freed, and a dying Jonah, she begs Jacob to save him, Jacob heals Jonah and tells a man nearby to keep pressure where Jonah's wound had been. Lara follows Jacob outside, and confronts him about how he had recovered so quickly from being shot, having figured out he is the Deathless Prophet. He tells Lara that he can still be hurt, and the truth about how he had used the source on his own army, and how they had caused an Avalanche to bury Kitezh beneath ice to protect the Divine Source.

Suddenly they spot Trinity's helicopters fly past, Jacob realises they are going to use brute force to smash through the ice to get into the city, Lara reminds him that she had seen the secret passage. Jacob tells her that it's too dangerous, but Lara insists there is no more time to worry about caution. Jacob has the path opned and wishes her luck, before he and the rest of the Remnants go off to hold Trinity off to buy Lara time.

Death
After Trinity finally manage to destroy the ice atop the glacier, and get inside the city, Jacob makes his way to the chamber of souls where the Divine Source was hidden. He kills a Trinity soldier with a Halberd, as Lara and Ana argue over the Source. Ana shoots Jacob three times and he collapses. The Deathless ones arrive at the chamber to kill the trespassers. Ana uses the source but is overwhelmed by it and drops it. Lara looks to Jacob, who simply says "It's okay." Lara destroys the Source, killing the Deathless ones and taking away Jacob's immortality.

Lara rushes to Jacob's side, telling him to hold on, he tells her he's held on for too long, and that he's met few as extraordinary as her. Feeling his death finally draw close, he begins to laugh, Lara apologises, saying she only wanted to make a difference, he tells her that she already has before he peacefully disintegrates.

Powers & Abilities

 * Divine Empowerment: He was exposed to the "Divine Source" and therefore gained supernatural capabilities. Unlike everyone else exposed to the Divine Source, Jacob retained his sense of self, becoming a charismatic and prosperous leader to all his people for hundreds of years.
 * Enhanced Condition: These "Divine" powers have made him much stronger as well as more mobile & resilient than an average human being.
 * Immortality: Due to his "Divine" powers, he has not aged ever since exposure to the Divine source, appearing to be in his late thirties or early forties despite being over a thousand years old. He doesn't require sustenance to survive either.
 * Regeneration: Any wounds, amputations or infections will always be healed within a short timespan. When he was crushed by big boulders, he returned an hour or so later, with no visible injuries. He even healed from ballistic wounds without any aid. This is something Lara took notice off and it helped her to deduce that the fact that Jacob is The Deathless Prophet.
 * Self-Resurrection: Should he disintegrate or be beheaded, his death will not be permanent, as he will automatically resurrect within a short timespan & all injuries will be healed by his "healing factor".
 * Superhuman Stamina: Jacob can exert himself for long periods of time, he also is also unaffected by cold, being able to swim through a freezing river to save Lara and suffer no ill effects.
 * Restoration/Healing: Via practice over is powers, he learned how to heal any mortal being within several seconds, just by using the "Divine" energies his body produces. He can even use such an ability to restore deceased beings. However, beings who has been dead for some time will not resurrect.
 * Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Due to his centuries of combat experience, combined with his superior physical attributes makes him a formidable combatant & marksman.
 * Warfare Expert: Like most of his people, he too is a highly skilled guerrilla fighter, marksman, stealth tactics, craftsman & hand-to-hand combatant.

Trivia

 * After finishing the game, some villagers around the valley can be overheard talking about Jacob and the source, one saying "Jacob and the source are gone, what are we protecting now" meaning they all knew about Jacob, he hadn't tried to keep himself and his immortality a secret to his people.
 * When it is revealed that he is the Prophet, Jacob tells Lara that "I can feel pain, I can be hurt, I am human.....save for a human ending".
 * At the end of the game, when the player returns to the ruins of Kitezh, the Deathless Ones are still encountered instead of Trinity soldiers. Either this means that some power of the Divine Source is still active, or the game developers overlooked this so the player could fight the Deathless Ones at anytime. There is a slim chance that Jacob is still alive even if the former is true, as he had completely turned to dust.
 * Jacob's voice actor is Philip Anthony-Rodriguez, who also voiced for Fallout 4, which had come out at the same time as Rise of the Tomb Raider (The same day in some territories).