Jonah Maiava


 * This article is about the character, for the photo from Shadow of the Tomb Raider see Jonah Maiava (Photo).

Jonah Maiava is a New Zealand-born, American cook and general ships dogsbody of the Endurance.

He was one of the four crew members who survived the treacherous storms and savageness of Yamatai.

He is Lara's best friend and constant companion throughout the game's franchise.

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, passing on knowledge and traditions is a practice normal in Polynesian families.

His father was abusive when he was young, causing Jonah and his brother to often hide from him.

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.

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 Ngāpuhi, 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.

At some unknown point he became friends with Alex Weiss.

Journey to Yamatai

 * Main Article: Tomb Raider

After Roth was commissioned for the third season of Whitman's World, he told Jonah to follow him, as he knew that Whitman was up to something. Jonah saved Whitman from being beaten up by the bodyguard of Whitman's buyer, Mr. Hong, who promptly shot at him. Jonah returned fire, and caused him to drop the relics Whitman was selling, destroying them.

After funding was secured, and the Voyage was underway, Jonah continued with his regular duties on the ship, as well as appearing in a section of the documentary, where he teaches Whitman how to prepare a fish for cooking.

At some point of the voyage he caught Lara sneaking into the kitchen to try and find Jaffa Cakes, he surprised her by buying a supply just for her.

When Lara brought her theories about Yamatai being in the Dragon's Triangle, Jonah said that he didn't like the idea, since he sensed that there was evil within the Triangle. He was ultimately right, as the ship was hit by a storm, which Jonah sensed was supernatural.

He managed to get to shore, with several other crewmembers, several of whom died on shore, leaving him with a group consisting of himself, Alex, Reyes, Grim and Whitman. They received a transmission from Roth, who told them to regroup at his location. They began the long trek, to where he was.

En route, they received another transmission, this time from Sam, who told them she was injured, and her position was marked with a fire, They made a detour to pick her up. However reaching Sam's position, they found Lara, stuck in a bear trap, which Jonah pried off. Lara told them that she had been with Sam, but she had gone missing along with a man known called Mathias. Jonah's group went to find Sam while Lara and Whitman regrouped with Roth.

After tracking Sam to the Palace, Jonah was captured along with the rest of his group. Grim managed to escape. They were placed in a cage within the caverns, below the palace, where they were harassed by the Solarii. Lara rescued them from the cage, but set off a chain reaction of explosions which caused the caverns to begin to collapse.

They managed to retrieve their gear, and fought their way outside. They found Sam, who had been freed by Lara. They fight off a large group of Solarii, while Sam tries to wave down the rescue helicopter, which they witness crash.

The group make their way to the crashsite, where they find a vacant Lara, and a dead Roth. Jonah suggests they send Roth on as a warrior, and they build a funeral pyre. After Reyes suggests, that they fix a boat and leave, Lara protests, due to something not letting them leave the island. Jonah agrees with Lara's belief that the island is cursed, and that logic cannot be used to understand it. He accompanies Alex, Reyes and Sam to the beach, leaving Lara to grieve alone. Arriving at the beach, Reyes begins working on the boat. Jonah stands guard over the camp. Alex goes to retrieve tools from the wreckage of the Endurance. Lara arrives some time later, both he and Sam greet Lara with a hug. Lara and Jonah then try to hoist the engine for Reyes, to no avail. Jonah says it might be easier with a pulley, which Lara suggest she may be able to get by checking one of the old wrecks for some block and tackle, she heads out.

Lara returns giving the block and tackle to Jonah, she notices he seems worried and Lara asks what's wrong. He says that Alex should have been back by now. Suddenly the sound of screaming draws their attention, Whitman arrives claiming the Solarii are chasing him. Lara accuses him of leading the Solarii to them on purpose like he did back at the palace, Reyes becomes agitated by the confrontation, though Jonah ceases the hostilities before they can escalate any further. Lara heads off to find Alex, before she goes, Jonah gives her a high-tech compound bow he found.

When Lara returns from the Endurance, he is relieved that Lara is okay, having heard the explosion from the ship, suddenly noticing Alex is not with her. When Reyes accuses Lara of causing those around her to have short life spans, Lara warns her to keep her distance, again, Jonah plays peacekeeper stopping the fighting going any further. Lara heads off again, saying she wants to investigate the ruins of the bunker built into the cliff.

The camp is attacked by the Solarii while Lara is away, and Jonah sees how Whitman took Sam. They all agree to use the now fixed boat to move inland near the ritual chamber and rescue Sam, and figure out how to stop the storm. Jonah and Reyes stayed near to boat guarding the entrance to the ritual chamber. When Lara returned with Sam, the storm dissipated and they all managed to hail a nearby ship and leave the island.

After Yamatai
Six weeks after they escape from Yamatai Jonah calls Lara and tells her that he needs help, he's moved to the middle of Devil's Pass near the Grand Canyon, convinced that he will die because of water, and intent on staying away from it. When Lara arrives he says that he believes he is the Jonah, from The Book of Jonah, who was swallowed by the whale. He tells Lara that it's punishment for them stealing relics from Yamatai, which Lara doesn't remember, Jonah plans to kill Lara and himself, however he is unable to hurt Lara and turns the gun on himself. After a sudden flood engulfs them, Jonah forces Lara out of the flooding trailer. Lara refuses to let him die and drags him to the surface and gets him to safety, though he is unconscious. Jonah regains consciousness just in time to stop the guide, Ray, who brought Lara to his trailer, from shooting her, before Lara forces him off a cliff. Jonah then goes to the hospital where he is is diagnosed with delusionary episode. While in the hospital, Lara calls him about Sam being kidnapped and taken back to Yamatai, and he signs out of the hospital to help them get Sam back. However their boat is attacked by the Solarii Worshipers, and Jonah escapes the boat in a raft with Reyes, and they manage to return to Yamatai. Jonah captures one of guards and interrogates him to find Sam. Jonah and Reyes interrupt the ceremony, before they can kill Lara. Lara causes an explosion, Jonah escapes with Sam and Reyes.

Jonah moves to London to be closer to Lara and Sam. He manages to get the chance to put on a theater production of Pride and Prejudice, which he asks Lara to partake in, in the role of Kitty, which she begrudgingly agrees. However Lara's inability to remember her lines annoys the other actors, particularly Andrea, who is the lead, Elizabeth. Andrea quits the production and Jonah asks Lara to try and smooth things out, which she tries to do, but ends up scaring her away. Jonah insists that Lara take her place as Elizabeth, saying that she owes him. Lara begrudgingly agrees, through she ends up missing the final rehearsal, and ruins the dress. Jonah manages to get a new dress before the show opens the next night, and the show goes ahead.

Jonah takes a job at a local restaurant. Despite working with something he loves, he is miserable as the head chef is nasty towards him, and forces him to restart processes he hadn't began in the first place. While taking out the trash, Jonah is followed by a member of Las Serpientes Que Caminan, who delivers a package, containing Grim's bloody hat. Jonah brings the hat to Lara and Sam, who had received a ransom tape, which featured Grim. Jonah didn't hesitate to accompany the group to Mexico to search for Grim, en route he tried to comfort Lara when a storm rolled in. Jonah was captured by Las Serpientes Que Caminan, but was quickly freed by Lara, and they returned to London. After returning, Jonah tried to comfort Lara, who was distressed over all the recent events beginning to overwhelm her.

Searching for Kitezh

 * Main Article: Rise of the Tomb Raider

Jonah receives a message from Lara after her return from Syria, saying she is at her family's manor to do some research. He goes to visit her, where she shows him that she has found a clue that will lead to the location of the Divine Source, in the mythical Russian city of Kitezh, in Siberia, after a run-in with a mercenary group, calling themselves Trinity. He soon berates Lara for her theories and snaps at her for being willing to put her life on the line as he doesn't want to lose anyone else, angrily storming off. But after calming down, he comes back a moment later to apologize, finding Lara being choked by an agent of Trinity, he grabs a lamp as Lara manages to force him off and recover the agent's gun. The assailant escape with what he came for. Seeing that what Lara is after is clearly important if whoever is after it is willing to kill for it, Jonah agrees to accompany Lara to Siberia. At the Siberian mountains, after reaching the base of a mountain range where Jonah tells Lara the rest of their group won't go any further. Lara insists that she's not turning back and a knowing Jonah accompanies her into the mountains in order to find the ruins. After several hours of climbing, a massive storm triggers an avalanche. Jonah cuts their line, and finds shelter while Lara tries to outrun the avalanche. Despite multiple attempts of communication, Jonah cannot get a response from Lara. Jonah starts a search for Lara. He is watched by both Trinity and the Remnants. He is soon rescued from the wilderness by the Remnants and he and Lara are reunited in the Geothermal Valley.

When the Trinity mercenaries steal the Atlas they take Jonah, too, and set up a trap for Lara. Jonah gets interrogated and tortured by Konstantin. When he tries to free himself, he gets mortally wounded in the process, as he is unable to kill Konstantin when he has him at his mercy. Instead Konstantin stabs him and leaves him dying. Only Jacob's powers are able to save Jonah's life. Jonah stayed at the Observatory to recover while Lara went after Trinity and the Divine Source.

He later makes a full recovery as he and Lara are seen leaving Croft Manor to catch a flight.

Search for the Spore
Jonah accompanying Lara on a a archaeology conference in Minnesota, but he himself was more interested in the local malls which has several restaurants. The same night Jonah sleep is interrupted when a fire alarm goes off in the hotel. Reconnecting with Lara they discover the body of Todd Bellamy, an assistant of Dr. Robert Demur. After giving his statement to the police, they meet of with Demur and learn about the Mushroom of Immortality. Jonah is a bit skeptical of Demur's character.

Jonah accompanies Lara to China on her quest to help Robert Demur and find the Mushroom of Immortality. They take a private plane from there, but the plane is hijacked by the Knighthood of the Dark Spore. Lara manages to defeat the hijackers, while Jonah takes over the plane and manages to land it. Jonah is still distrustful of Demur. At night the Knighthood attacks everyone and kidnaps Dr. Demur. Jonah and Lara attempt to catch them, but the last Jeep is blown up. The next day they employ a local guide, Tom who claims to know where they want to go. While crossing the river, Lara slips and gets dragged under. Jonah jumps in after her and manages to find her and pull her out. When the guide offers to cook a snake, Jonah pulls out noodles, and they eat those instead. The next day Tom leads them to the cave, where they spot the Knighthood of the Dark Spore. Tom shows them another entrance, and takes his leave. Jonah lowers Lara into the hole.

Jonah however is captured by the Knighthood of the Dark Spore, and held for ransom in exchange of Robert Demur and the Mushroom of Immortality. Lara manages to save Jonah and escape the Knighthood. Together they track down Dr. Demur who fled with the mushroom earlier, and find him dead in his hotel room after eating the mushroom. While waiting for their flight back home, Lara decides to blow off some steam and go for a climb. Jonah accompanied her and oversaw how Lara was attacked by the last members of the knighthood. Jonah shot and killed the last member of the Knighthood.

Saving Sam
Having learned that Sam has escaped the Halberg Institution, Jonah offers to go find out what happened in case it is a distraction orchestrated to keep Lara from investigating Trinity. After Lara had found that Sam has been taken over by Himiko, she called Jonah and asked for his help. Jonah without any hesitation started backing. Jonah helps from his laptop while in the airport, he learned of a all female group attack in Germany and though it could be Sam and the other escapees from Halberg.

Jonah reaches Germany and picks up Lara after she has found the Wei Mirror. While on the road they notice a stopped vehicle and a man on the road. They stop to offer help, but it turns out it is Trinity who is after the Wei Mirror. Jonah and Lara is captured for a short while before they escape and re-obtain the Wei Mirror. While the follower of Himiko tries to kill them, they let her believe she has succeeded so she would lead them to Sam. Lara follows Sam, while Jonah kept supplies for the ritual. Jonah sets up a ring of mirrors and the Wei Mirror, and Lara manages to capture Sam. The ritual is success and Sam is freed of Himiko's possession. They take Sam to a hospital and contact her parents. Jonah gives Sam a pack of Jaffa Cakes from Lara.

Taking the fight to Trinity with Lara
After saving Sam from Himiko only to leave her without a word, Lara began to grow more cold and distant and began to obsess over hunting down and destroying Trinity. Jonah began to grow more worried about Lara as he felt that her obsession for destroying Trinity for what they did to her father and Sam, was consuming her and that it would destroy her.

However, Jonah remained with Lara until the two went to Thailand. Lara had lied to Jonah about why they were going there as she was gotten a lead of Trinity and wanted to stop them but knew Jonah wouldn't help her if he knew it was Trinity. Jonah was angry once it became clear that Lara had left him to go after Trinity, without letting him know where she was for a day, as he was worried about her.

Lara attempted to justify her actions and that she was only hunting down Trinity because of the threat they possessed. However Jonah called her out on this as he knew the reason Lara wanted to destroy Trinity was to get revenge for what they did to her father and for torturing Sam. Jonah asked Lara to put aside her desire for revenge against Trinity aside and to just toast her father with him but Lara refused.

Though disappointed, Jonah accepted Lara's choice and decides to join the fight to ensure Lara will survive her goal to put and end to Trinity once and for all. He followed Lara without her knowing, and when she was in trouble at the Tomb of Eden Jonah caught up with her and saved her. They closed the tomb which angered the The Cardinal, who then set off explosions to bury the dig site. Jonah and Lara managed to escape.

End of the World

 * Main Article: Shadow of the Tomb Raider

While tracking down Trinity in Cozumel Mexico they find a lost site with clues to a lost city. The site becomes unstable due to Trinity's trap, and Jonah is forced to save Lara who is too keen on taking pictures.

While tracking Pedro Dominguez, Jonah distracts the Trinity guards while Lara sneaks after him. Lara reaches the Key of Chak Chel before Trinity and grabs it despite of Jonah's objection. A short while later A flood hits Cozumel. Jonah reaches a rooftop and helps save people. He even catches Lara, who is climbing the rubble below. Lara wants to go to the hidden city right away. But Jonah protest and convinces her to stay and help the people there for a while.

Some time later, while flying in Peru, the plane it hit by a freak hailstorm. They plane is torn in half, and Jonah is separated from Lara. Jonah stays near the crashed tail section of the plain, and Lara manages to find him there. Lara helps Jonah rid of a parasite he caught while in water. Jonah jokingly names it Eli after his cousin. Together they move on to Kuwaq Yaku. They go to a local bar and meet Abby, a mechanic and de facto mayor of the town. There is an instant connection between Jonah and Abby. While researching the nearby ruins, Jonah works with Abby while Lara runs around. After they find a solid clue leading to the Hidden City Jonah is separated from Lara by a trap, but Abby thinks there might be another way around and Jonah takes that route.

Jonah reaches the outskirts of the hidden city where he is captured by the Paititi Rebels. Soon after Lara is also brought to them. Lara manages to convince the locals that she has good intentions, but the rebels still decide to hold Jonah just in case she lies. Jonah is alright with it and tells Lara to find the Silver Box of Ix Chel.

After the queen Unuratu has been killed but the location of the box revealed not to be in Paititi, Jonah and Lara leave by boat to continue their search for the box. While heading down the river, Lara and Jonah are attacked by a Trinity gunship, destroying their boat and separating them. Jonah manages to contact Lara, but she tell him to shut the radio off as the Trinity can over hear them. Short while later Jonah sees the explosions from an old oil refinery and goes to investigate and sees broken down Lara, who had believed Jonah had been killed by the Trinity. Jonah tries to calm Lara and inspire her not to give up.

Now looking for a Christian site, they enlist Abby's help. They drive to San Juan and manage to find hidden rooms beneath the church. They find the Silver Box of Ix Chel entombed with Andres Lopez, but the collapsing floor once again separates Jonah and Lara. Dominguez arrives and held Jonah at gunpoint.Suddenly Lara calls out to Dominguez, by his real name, offering the box in exchange for Jonah's safety. Jonah suddenly tackles Dominguez and runs with the box. Jonah is captured by Trinity while still holding the box, but is finally kicked out of the helicopter. Lara and Abby rush to Jonah as the Volcano erupts, Abby helps Jonah to safety, while Lara attempts to retrieve to box.

Having failed, Jonah and Lara return to Paititi by boat to inform Etzli that they are still determined to stop Dominguez from completing the ritual. Jonah joins the main force, while Lara tries to sneak her way to Dominguez. Lara manages stop stop him and avert the end of the World.

Two days later, Lara and Jonah attend the funeral of Unuratu. Jonah decides to stay in Peru for awhile, and spend time with Abby, while Lara wants to spend more time in Paititi.

Personality
Jonah is the archetypal gentle giant. His interest include fishing, making new recipes and theater.

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 was left as the sole survivor of the Endurance that he would swim out into the ocean allow Pania of the Reef to take him and join his brother in death.

Appearance and Attire
Jonah is a large man with a muscular, broad frame and a bit of a gut. He has dark hair and eyes and tanned skin; his tribal Maori tattoos on his right arm and left leg suggest a Polynesian heritage.

The tattoo on his arm originally only wrapped around his upper arm, but he later added to it to the point it became a full sleeve.

During the first Tomb Raider, Jonah was clean-shaven and had a small Mohawk; he wore casual attire (mostly a sleeveless red shirt, a beaded necklace, flip-flops, and cargo-shorts) and a brace on his left knee.

In Rise of the Tomb Raider, he has full (curly) hair and a beard. He dresses according to the cold climate: he wears professional high altitude climbing gear, mostly in blue, grey, and black. Unlike Lara, he forgoes shades and a hat.

In Shadow, Jonah has a full sleeve tattoo on his arm and wears his hair long enough to put it in a man-bun, also, his beard is styled in a different way as before. He wears grey cargo pants and tracking boots, a T-Shirt and a vest.

His design was changed remarkably between Survivor and Rise, and again between Rise and Shadow: the first change mostly concerned his eyes and skin-color, the second change included the form of his nose and chin. In-universe explanations were not given.

Trivia

 * In the first issue of the comics, Jonah's belief that he would be eaten by a whale had a humorous nod by his trailer being from a rental company called "Moby Dick"
 * Jonah is the only character besides Lara to appear physically in every comic book arc.
 * Sam also appears, although in the fourth arc she only appears in Lara's mind.
 * Jonah is the only character from Tomb Raider aside from Lara to appear in Rise of the Tomb Raider and Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
 * Jonah saved Lara in the prologue of Tomb Raider (2013) when she was drowning inside the ship. He was recognized by his left arm's bracelet while pulling Lara up.
 * Jonah's surname, Maiava is pronounced MY-AVA.
 * Abigaile Ortiz is his possible girlfriend which Lara was referring to at the end of the trilogy.
 * Jonah appears to have lost a good amount of weight by the events of the Shadow of the Tomb Raider, appearing noticeably slimmer.
 * It's likely that he went through domestic violence, claiming that he had to protect his late brother from their father.