Human Life
Jonas Hunter was born in New York City, to James and Mary Ellen Hunter. Due to complications during the birth Mary Ellen soon died, leaving James to care for their son. On a trip back to James' home in England, James met a young Irish girl by the name of Caitlyn Larkin and the two quickly fell in love. From this union Jonas' half-brother Tiernan Larkin was subsequently born. Together the family moved to the small town of Kenmare, Ireland and settled down.
Country living did not suit Jonas however, and as he aged Jonas' health began to deteriorate, eventually contracting tuberculosis. James, not being able to afford a nurse to watch over Jonas, began to spend more and more of his time watching over the youngster, in the process alienating both his new wife and younger son. Jonas recovered from his disease at the age of eight, and life in the Hunter household returned to some normalcy for a time.
At the age of eleven Jonas was beginning to lead what would be considered a normal life until his father was brutally murdered on his way home from the local marketplace. Jonas was to be turned over to his step-mother after the funeral, however Caitlin refused custodianship of the child, largely due to the resentment which had built up during his sickness. Jonas was sent off to live in an orphanage until relatives could be contacted to watch over the boy.
After two years in the orphanage, Jonas attempted to run back to the United States by hitching a ride on a fishing boat, and later becoming an active member of the crew. Using the earnings from his years fishing, Jonas eventually attended a private school, where he seemed to have quite a knack for the sciences. Jonas eventually earned a full scholarship to New York University. In his early years at NYU, Jonas met Emiko Cheung, an orphan Chinese girl who frequented the neighborhood and used the college library to expand her own knowledge. The two quickly fell in love, and moved in together on the outskirts of the university.
At the age of 24, Jonas had saved enough money to support both Emiko and himself and he proposed to her. In tears, the proposal was turned down and Emiko stormed out of their apartment. Jonas took the rejection badly but wanted to make sure Emiko was safe. Calling his friend William Black, the two went out looking for Emiko. Hearing what he thought was a woman's cries from a side alley, Jonas and William ran to help, only to find they was cornered by an unknown Methuselah and Jonas was bitten.
Fealty to the Illuminati
Jonas awoke in a bus station accompanied by his sire Marcus Cassian. After a short discourse the two were interrupted by the arrival of the Nosferatu Darrius Stark. Darrius cornered Cassian in a back room at the station and after a brief conversation executed him. Darrius then met with Jonas and explained what had occurred, stating that he had killed the Marcus in order to save Jonas. He also revealed that Jonas was now a Methuselah like him and that he needed to leave his human life behind. After all the difficulties in Jonas' life, he readily agreed and the two set off to train Jonas in the ways of the Methuselah.
For the next five years, Jonas traveled the world with Darrius, being exposed to what he refers to as the "Dark Earth" and the laws that exist within it. Darrius explained that he was a thrall of Arkady Tsargovi, and since Jonas was now his childe, Jonas also owed fealty to Arkady. Eventually the pair settled in Prague, a city ruled by the Illuminati leader Arkady.
At the end of Jonas' fifth year of training, Arkady Tsargovi summoned the neophyte and told him that in order to become a full member of the Illuminati, Jonas needed to complete a mission for the Lord. Tsargovi then spoke of a talisman called the Angel's Tear which a group of vampire hunters known as the Last Crusade had stolen from him. Arkady then asked Jonas (accompanied by Darrius) to retrieve the relic from their stronghold in France.
Jonas and Darrius were successful in their attempt to retrieve the Angel's Tear, however the mission did not go without several hitches. During their incursion Jonas insisted on freeing captured Akikagé assassin Aubryn Darkveil. Also, when Jonas first touched the Angel's Tear a wave of energy overcame him and he momentarily lost consciousness. During the return trip, Jonas began to manifest new abilities, although he kept the extent of these abilities to himself.
While in Arkady's presence Jonas refused to give up the relic, revealing for the first time the extent of his new powers. Jonas revealed to Tsargovi that he knew the true reason for his sire's execution, that Jonas was in fact of the Lundrati bloodline, and that Arkady knew everything. Jonas was imprisoned within the castle, where he met fellow prisoner Adrian Stafford. With the assistance of Cassandra Troy, Jonas and Stafford were eventually able to escape the dungeons. After forcing his way out of the castle, Jonas fled, only to be attacked by a shadow-draped assassin that night. Jonas was able quickly identify his would-be assassin as Aubryn, and easily defeated her with his newfound powers; again sparing her life. Aubryn then revealed that she was planted by the Covenant in the Last Crusade tower and that Jonas was her target the whole time.
Rise of OMEGA
After retreating from Prague with Aubryn in tow, Jonas founded OMEGA with the assistance of Alexander Langston and ORB. Using it as a front for his actions against Tsargovi and the Illuminati, OMEGA quickly became one of the United Nations most accomplished counter-terrorism organizations. Over the next ten years Jonas accumulated several allies in his war against the Illuminati and the Covenant, including Siatum Apsis, Geryon Krevi, and several other high ranking members of the Illuminati. During this time Jonas' relationship with Aubryn also blossomed with the two becoming romantically involved and nearly inseparable.
After the saving of Fiona Thedas from Covenant assassins, Jonas' suspicions that Arkady was also pulling the Covenant's strings from behind the scenes were finally confirmed. Thedas also informed Jonas that Arkady has succeeded in securing the Demon's Eye, the accompanying relic to the Angel's Tear and was planning to use it to ascend to near godhood (his original plan for the Angel's Tear).
Determined to protect Jonas, Aubryn ran off to confront Arkady and was quickly captured. Learning of this from Kalenn Korpse, Jonas led OMEGA in an attack on the cathedral in which the ritual was to be held. With Jonas and company stalled by Xi Zhou Chen and Malcanthet, Arkady was able to complete the ritual and release the power of the Demon's Eye. Arkady attacked Jonas and quickly overpowered him. With Arkady ready to deliver the deathblow, Aubryn interfered, throwing her body in the way. As Aubryn died in his arms, Jonas' anger awoke the soul of Gabrael stored within the Angel's Tear. Jonas lashed out and with his power combined with the soul of Gabrael, ascended to his Melachim Form for the first time.
With full control of his power, Jonas quickly destroyed Arkady (and most of the cathedral) in a magnificent blast. After the battle Jonas was heart-broken over the loss of Aubryn, and willingly sacrificed half his own soul to bring her back from the brink of the Fayd. Greatly weakened by the ordeal Jonas and Aubryn retreated back to OMEGA to plan their next move.
Attempt at Peace Interrupted
With the death of Arkady, Jonas knew a power struggle would likely ensue, so he agreed to meet with the new Sovereigns of the bloodlines to broker peace. During the meetings Jonas was interrupted by Tiernan Larkin, now calling himself Testament. Wielding the power of the Demon's Eye, Testament ascended to his own version of Melachim Form, and wreaked havoc and killing several of the participants. Still reeling from the battle with Arkady and unable to ascend himself, Jonas was no match for the brute strength of Testament. Knowing this, Testament released Jonas with the knowledge that he could come for him at any time.
After the attack the summit quickly dissolved as each side accused the other of bringing Testament to the meeting to interfere in the peace talks. In the end however, many of the Sovereigns ended up giving up their titles to officially join on with OMEGA. These included Kalenn Korpse, Siatum Apsis, and most surprisingly, Xi Zhou Lai.
The Prodigal Children
Having merged with Gabrael's soul, Jonas was now aware of the true history of the Methuselah. Jonas knew he was special because he was a human descendant of Gabrael, and was turned by one of Gabrael's progeny, the Lundrati. Knowing that any other individuals which held a direct bloodline to any of the original Melachim would also have similar powers, Jonas began searching the world for these Prodigals.
During this time Jonas' relationship with Aubryn quickly fell apart. Since the two now shared part of a soul, their feelings for each other became more platonic than romantic, akin to the type of relationship identical twins share. In his travels Jonas discovered quite a few Prodigals, the most notable of which were Madelyn Hydenreich (Dalena Lightblade) and Sura Krevi.
While spending time in the western United States, Jonas met a human woman by the name of Alexis Shay who struck his fancy and the two had a brief but passionate affair. Nicole Hunter Shay was born to Alexis shortly thereafter. It was decided that she would live with her mother, with the condition that if she began to exhibit vampiric traits (as Dhampyr sometimes would) he would return to take care of her. Jonas would end up returning many years later to take Nicole back to Enoch after she attacked and bit a classmate.
Return to Enoch
During Jonas' trips abroad, the Blood Wars between the Illuminati and the Covenant once again began, with OMEGA caught in the center. Jonas knew that OMEGA would not survive the attacks unless better prepared. Reorganizing OMEGA's upper echelon, Jonas created a tiered class-based infrastructure. OMEGA Class-S (Superhuman) initially included the likes of Aubryn, Kalenn, and Stafford.
Jonas also decided it was time to better arm themselves; with knowledge and weaponry. Leaving OMEGA with Stafford and Kalenn, Jonas headed out for the continent on Antarctica, where the ancient city of Enoch lay buried beneath the ice.
Eventually reaching Enoch, Jonas was able to recover the Reaver nanites and was also able to boot up the city's Quantum Core, re-initializing METATRON in the process. Shortly after reaching the center of the city the team was betrayed by Stafford, who had brokered a deal with Testament. Entering the Stygian Vaults below the city Stafford was able to free the essence of the Mother of all Demons, Lilith and was then ferreted away by Larkin. Kalenn was killed attempting to stop Stafford's escape. Using the city's Gate Network, Jonas was eventually able to return to OMEGA with an up-link device and the Reaver nanites.
The Future Imperfect
During a routine trip through the Gate Network Jonas was unceremoniously shunted forward in time by several hundred years. In this post-apocalyptic world Jonas had sacrificed himself to save the world, only for everything to collapse in a subsequent attack from the Nephilim. Here Jonas's son and daughter (Jonathan and Nicole Hunter) ruled the city of Enoch and humanity was reduced to ruined city-states with no interaction from Enoch.
Jonas learned the cause of all the carnage was two-fold:
- The tyrant king of Avalon by the name of The Raven King had begun subjugating humanity in an attempt to consolidate his magical power.
- The Anima from the Fayd had begun to leech into the Prime dimension at the sites of the Gates of the Netherealm thanks to a breach caused by Jonas's original attempt to seal the Gates.
Determined to fix the damage he had caused Jonas traveled to the location of the Ninth Gate Rift and entered the rift into the Fayd. There he met with the Kuei and learned how to seal the rifts. Unfortunately the Anima leaking from the Fayd was poisonous to Jonas. Knowing this the Kuei tossed Jonas into The Maelstrom at the center of the Fayd and infused his body with as much Anima as it could handle, allowing Reaver to restructure his body and adapt to its use.
After returning from the Fayd and sealing the rift at the Ninth Gate, Jonas assembled a new group of warriors- Baphomet (son of Tiernan and Lilith Morningstar), Delana Lightblade, Myra Troy (sister of Cassandra), Vul'Mahri (son of Vul'Aris), and Jonathan and Nicole Hunter. With this team Jonas began sealing the remaining rifts, eventually coming into conflict with The Raven King, who was also seeking the rifts as a source of power.
During their battle at the site of the Sixth Gate Rift Jonas was able to knock The Raven King's crowned helm from his head and discovered that The Raven King was in fact his own body, bereft of a soul. Using Anima to animate himself, The Raven King was determined to use this energy to save the Earth, unbeknownst to him that the energy leech was the cause of the decay. Convincing The Raven King to help seal the rifts, his body soon collapsed after the rifts closed, no longer able to animate itself.
After successfully sealing the rifts, Jonas was able to use the Gate Network to return to his own time and in the process erased the future in which he was just in. Because of this Jonas did not remember any part of his trip and when re-entering his own time was no longer able to contain the Anima in his normal form, releasing it all in a massive explosion.
Seeking an explanation for the explosion Jonas returned to the Fayd to seek the council of the Kuei. There he learned that the amount of Anima in the Universe had increased dramatically (hastening the expansion of the universe in the process) with his return and the Kuei could only conclude Jonas had shunted the energy from a possible future. In order to keep a further eye on Jonas and OMEGA the Kuei asked for one of their own, Chouzan, to join OMEGA; Jonas accepted.
The Vatican Siege
After Jonas's return the numbers of Strigoi in Europe began to steadily increase and it became apparent to Jonas that Testament was planning something. Eventually the Strigoi began to advance on Vatican City. With the help of Delana Lightblade and the demonologist Evangeline Lowsley, OMEGA was brought in to protect the city and its residents. Believing Testament's army was after a relic of demonic origin Jonas hid the artifact in the catacombs beneath the city. During the siege Jonas caught Stafford trying to enter the catacombs, and after a short battle was able to kill him.
Unfortunately the quest for the artifact was but one of Testament's diversions with his true target being Jillian Morningstar, one of the leaders of the Ordo Divinus Venatorum. Testament was successful in kidnapping Morningstar and withdrew from the city after his objective was completed. Jonas later learned that Morningstar was used as a vessel for the essence of Lilith, giving birth to Lilith Morningstar.
The Well of Souls
In the late 21st century, the Last Crusade organization resurfaced under the leadership of a British MI-6 agent by the name of Christian Creed. Creed had uncovered some documents from unknown sources with rumors of an ancient weapon buried in Afghanistan. Determined to use this weapon to wipe vampirism from the face of the planet, Creed set out to find the ARKs to unlock the biblical Well of Souls.
Learning of Creed and his mission after the Last Crusade successfully located the first of the Keys, Jonas contacted the leaders of both the Covenant and Illuminati, trying to get them to agree to a cease-fire to deal with Creed and the Last Crusade. After Jonas explained the true nature of the Well of Souls to the leaders, everyone agreed to the cease-fire.
After acquiring one of the Keys himself, Jonas led all of OMEGA and the combined forces of the Covenant and the Illuminati to Afghanistan to head off Creed and his army. Unfortunately when they arrived at the site, Jonas learned that Testament and his Strigoi army were also laying siege to the Temple which held the Well. Fighting a two fronted battle, Jonas' forces suffered major losses, but Jonas was able to infiltrate the temple and reached the chamber just as Testament opened the seal.
Over the millennia the demonic souls within the Well eventually merged into one being known as The Nightmare. Jonas attempted to stop the creature, however The Nightmare siphoned off Jonas' reserves of Animus energy, leaving him powerless and permanently scarred. Rushing to his side, Aubryn jumped into battle to protect Jonas and in the process ascended to a Melachim Form of her own. The resulting energy blast temporarily dissipated The Nightmare's physical cohesion, allowing Jonas and his followers to escape.
Over the next few years, The Nightmare repeatedly attacked Jonas and other Methuselah strongholds. On one occasion Jonas was protected from The Nightmare by Testament, who succeeded in driving the creature back. Learning the Testament had been stripped of Belial's influence thanks to the incident at the Well of Souls, Jonas eventually extended an invitation to his half-brother to join OMEGA. Despite their past, Tiernan joined Jonas in his effort to defeat The Nightmare.
While in New York City, Jonas met a young Prodigal by the name of Angela Maxwell who was being targeted by Covenant assassins. Jonas saved Angela, and after quite a bit of convincing she decided to join OMEGA, taking the name Samikara Kain.
Thanks to the technology available to OMEGA due to their connection with METATRON, Jonas was able to discover that Cassandra was a pure descendant of the Angelus Raphael and Samikara was a pure descendant of the Angelus Samael. Because of this, both Kain and Cassandra joined Jonas, Aubryn, and Tiernan as Class-S operatives after they are properly trained by Jonas and Tiernan in combat techniques.
Messenger of the Aesir
Following the disappearance on one of the human members of OMEGA (along with dozens of other humans) in the desert city of Las Vegas, Jonas decided to investigate personally. There Jonas met an unknown Lundrati going by the name Scarlet. A dancer in a performance house in the city, Scarlet was helping an as of yet unknown group of individuals kidnap Prodigal visitors to the city. After convincing Scarlet of her wrongdoing, Jonas attempted to ferret out the organization but was quickly attacked by what he believed were rogue vampires. In truth the attackers were a group of super-powered Prodigal humans, which would later become known as The Phage.
Learning that the group of attackers was sent by an organization known as the Aesir Corporation, Jonas began to seek them out only to discover they were a shell company. After examining the formula in the blood of his attackers, Jonas discovered it was similar to a serum created by the Nephilim to control humanity in its infancy. With further testing Jonas learned that exposure to this serum killed anyone without the Arcgene Cluster of genes, but brought out the latent powers of those who did have the Cluster present in their genetic code. These facts lead Jonas to believe that the Aesir Corporation was actually a front for the mythical Aesir, a group of Nephilim who left at the onset of the Demon Wars millennia ago. Jonas's suspicions were confirmed when he was confronted by a holographic Michael.
The Heart of the Matter
After being confronted by Michael, Jonas was determined to further fortify OMEGA's defenses. Michael had revealed the Aesir were behind many of the events in Jonas's life, and knowing that Jonas surmised that everything was leading up to a finale. Sending Aubryn, Samikara, Tiernan and Cassandra out into the world the search began for the other Angelic Relics. Soon the Philosopher's Stone was rediscovered and Cassandra bonded with the relic, theoretically allowing her to ascend to Melachim form as well.
During this time Samikara Kain began training with the Nizari elder Ezra in order to curb her temper. Jonas repeatedly visited her during this training, often in disguise in order to test her progress. Samikara would later tell Jonas that she knew it was him the whole time, and it just made her try harder. Upon completing Ezra's training Samikara was also given the Devil's Heart relic and subsequently bonded with the relic, causing her to manifest new blood magic-based powers.
Sector Prime and the Exodus
With OMEGA distracted by their quest for the Angelic Relics, a human run counter-intelligence organization by the name of Sector Prime made its move. Despite being under the auspice of the United States, Sector Prime had in fact gone rogue and was accepting unsanctioned missions at the whim of its leader, Julien deGare. After repeated conflicts with OMEGA, deGare fabricated several treasonous acts (that were, in fact, performed by his own operatives) and lay the blame on Hunter and OMEGA.
After a very public attack on Jonas and The Inner Circle in the center of London the existence of "Unnaturals" was revealed to the world, along with their true nature. All of OMEGA's ties with the United Nations were severed and the organization retreated back to the city of Enoch (now fully "awake"), using the ancient city as their new base of operations. The city quickly became a refuge for all the Unnaturals who were outed thanks to the actions of Sector Prime. This caused the population of Enoch to quickly grow and the ranks of OMEGA soon swelled.
Jonas was eventually able to return the favor to Julien deGare, publicly revealing their hand in OMEGA's "treasonous acts" as well as proving their connection to the Last Crusade. deGare was eventually imprisoned for his actions, although Creed was able to successfully spirit him away from his detention facility before any trial occurred.
Alliances
Knowing Enoch would need new allies, Jonas began to use his new notoriety reach out to other races. After enlisting the help of the Wilders and the Circle of Marin, Jonas approached the Crimson Rain clan of Lycan Therians and was able to talk their leader Reyna Bloodfang into a truce. As a condition of the truce with the Lycans Tessa Raindancer and Victor Rageclaw were ordered to join OMEGA. The truce was strained however after the betrayal of Rageclaw, which resulted in the near-death of Raindancer and her subsequent turning into the hybrid Kizoku-Werewolf Bonedancer. Thanks to Bonedancer's plea, the truce survived and thrived as other clans and Therian bloodlines soon joined up.
Jonas also made an effort to enlist the help of the Faefolk, going so far as to reveal that demons have infiltrated both the Seelie and the Unseelie Courts. Despite this revelation the Seelie Fae were unwilling to join Jonas' alliance, however Jonas was able to convince the Unseelie Fae to join with OMEGA with the Hsien Twitch returning with Jonas to Enoch.
During this time Jonas also fell in love with Catherine Cassidy and for the first time in his life found himself having a serious, long-lasting relationship.
Sacrifice at the Demon Gates
Soon OMEGA's battles with demonic entities began to steadily rise. Jonas initially thought this was due to the continued activity of The Nightmare and Lilith Morningstar, however after an encounter with Lyala Deimos in a Washington D.C. cemetery Jonas learned that the Gates of the Netherealm had begun to reopen. Jonas also began to experience growing periods of "lost time" as the year continued.
Jonas began to seek out the young girl who was opening the Gates, and learned her name was Lilim and she claimed to be Jonas's daughter from the future. Lilim explained to Jonas that she was doing this because Jonas had traveled into the future, killed her father, and destroyed her timeline in the process. Following Jonas back in time, Lilim was able to survive its destruction with the help of the demon Izuula. Lilim promised him that "Strife would consume the world."
At the location of the Seventh Gate, all of OMEGA was surprised to discover that Jonas was in fact helping Lilim reopen the gates. It seemed that the accumulated souls of evil individuals within Jonas along with a taint left behind by his initial contact with The Nightmare had manifested a dark personality which referred to itself as "Stryfe". From this point on, Jonas ceased to exist and Stryfe took over.
Months later in Tokyo, Japan, Stryfe and Lilim moved to open the Ninth Gate in an attempt to release Abraxas onto the Earth. They were confronted by all of the OMEGA Alliance. The battle was fierce with Stryfe slaying many of his one-time allies. It took the combined force of the new Melachim warriors (Cassandra, Samikara, Tiernan and the newfound Scion of Urael, Vul'Aris) to subdue Stryfe, although the subdual was temporary. It was not until Catherine revealed that she carried his child that Jonas was able to break Stryfe's hold on his body.
Realizing the Ninth Gate was already opening, Jonas made a last ditch effort to close the portal. By tapping into The Fayd and releasing all his power, Jonas ascended to his True Form for the first time. After teleporting OMEGA clear, Jonas sealed all the portals to the Netherealm in a massive explosion of Animus energy.
Jonas was believed to have died in the blast, however the truth was that his body was separated from his soul and shunted halfway around the planet through the closing Demon Gates.
For the continuation of Jonas' story please refer to the following page- Raven
