Jonah

Jonah
Jonah in Episode 6.
Aliases	Johnathan Mal
Nicknames	"Private Jonah" by Koko Hekmatyar "Jonah Boy" by Koko's Squad "Misha" (мишка) by Chiquita
Status	Alive
Origin	Certain West Asian country
Affiliations	Koko's Squad Kasper Hekmatyar's bodyguards (former) Mountain Division (former)
Occupation	Bodyguard Child soldier (former)
Relatives	Unnamed parents (deceased)
Weapons	Various
Manga debut	Chapter 1
Anime debut	Episode 1
Japanese voice	Mutsumi Tamura (anime) Mie Sonozaki (drama CD)
English voice	Micah Solusod

Johnathan Mar (ジョナサン・マル, Jonasan Maru^?), more commonly known as Jonah (ヨナ, Yona^?), is a former child soldier and the newest and youngest member of Koko Hekmatyar's squad. He is the deuteragonist of the series.

Appearance

Jonah has a medium complexion with short, fair hair and medium-coloured eyes. He has a small scar diagonally underneath his left eye. In the anime, he has medium brown skin and white hair with red eyes. Jonah tends to dress in a dark sweatshirt and shorts, an exception to the rest of Koko's Squad as they with the exception of Koko Hekmatyar typically wear long pants. Jonah has also worn various standard equipment and uniforms when the squad and later Kasper Hekmatyar's bodyguards have been outfitted with them. Several female characters have considered his appearance cute. Two years later, Jonah has grown to be almost as tall as Koko Hekmatyar.

Personality

Jonah tends to be quiet and rarely smiles, and it is unusual for him to laugh. His parents were killed in an attack on his village by its enemies who were armed with weapons sold by Kasper Hekmatyar, Koko's older brother, and he initially wanted revenge for this as well as for the treatment that he received from Kasper before he was recruited. Jonah's recruitment was not completely voluntary, as he exchanged his service in return for Kasper aiding three young orphans that he cares about. From his experiences with Kasper and one of his subordinates, Yusuf Gasud, Jonah developed an overall dislike of arms dealers and hatred of guns. However, his experiences with the squad and Koko have softened him somewhat. Kasper also noted two years later that it would be difficult for Jonah to abandon weapons as he had gotten so used to them.

Jonah has a maturity beyond his years, having a tendency to largely keep his thoughts to himself and not openly complain. He has a fear of needles, which caused him to delay getting a bullet that had been lodged in his rear end for some time surgically removed until Koko had him to do so to avoid continually setting off metal detectors in airports. Jonah has no compunctions about killing when necessary but could not at first accept the initial human cost of activating Jormungand, 700,000 deaths. However he later accepted it as a cost of achieving world peace after two years when the geopolitical circumstances had changed drastically and the world was torn by wars and terrorism. Like the other members of the squad, Jonah has also developed an eagerness to engage in battle when Koko turns them loose. He has displayed compassion towards younger children, especially the base orphans. He also could not fire on a young pirate because of the boy's age. Unlike some of the older members of the squad who have displayed an interest in Valmet because of her physical attributes, Jonah has not displayed an interest in the opposite sex as he is still a preadolescent, and was not affected when Koko later joined him in the bath. Jonah is not an eager student when it comes to his tutoring sessions and will ditch when he is not in the mood to study, displaying the least interest in science and math. In short, while Jonah's quiet and stoic demeanor along with him rarely smiling and it being unusual for him to laugh may make Jonah seem cold-blooded, Jonah is still an optimistic and caring person at heart and like the rest of Koko's Squad (bar perhaps the Hekmatyars themselves), really lack villainous or even amoral traits despite them relishing killing a bit too much on duty. They are as professional in their jobs as they would be in the military and actually prefer sparing their enemies and try to avoid civilian causalities.

Relationships

Jonah feeding the orphans in Chapter 12.

While stationed at a base in his home country, Jonah took responsibility for four orphans who had been taken in by the commander, assuming the role of older brother. He was so distraught when one of them, Malka, was killed by Yusuf and the deputy commander in the process of clearing a minefield, that he singlehandedly wiped out the base to get to Yusuf and kill him. After Kasper arrived on the scene and locked him in a shipping container, leaving the fates of the surviving three orphans in doubt, Jonah eventually agreed to exchange his service as a bodyguard for Koko in return for Kasper taking charge of the orphans. Despite his sacrifices for them, he was content with seeing them doing well as international students settled in Japan and turned down Kasper's suggestion that he see them again face to face.

Koko being affectionate with a reluctant Jonah in Episode 20.

The relationship between Koko and Jonah is unlike that which she has with her other squad members. She tends to lavish him with more physical affection, although he sees this as an impediment to being able to carry out his job as her bodyguard and does not reciprocate. Koko has also tried to get him to open up more and be honest with her even though they may not agree on certain subjects. Early on she entrusted him with acting as her primary bodyguard and after earning her confidence, has allowed him to operate with the other members of the squad.

Despite their initial surprise at being introduced to him, the squad quickly accepted Jonah and has learned to trust his instincts. They largely treat him as a younger brother but despite his young age, also hold him as accountable as they would anyone older. He is somewhat of an indifferent student, making it difficult for his tutors, Mao, Tojo, and Wiley. Lehm has passed on some of what he knows from experience to Jonah and assumed somewhat of a mentor role, but did not hesitate to draw his gun as soon as Jonah threatened Koko when she revealed the cost of activating Jormungand. Valmet was initially suspicious of Jonah but accepted him after his first mission. The squad missed Jonah during his two year absence and readily welcomed him back.

Jonah resented towards Kasper for being indirectly responsible for the deaths of his parents, being the boss of Yusuf, and for locking him in a shipping container for several days as a test. Although he vowed to Kasper that he would kill him after their second meeting and had tried to attack him, his feelings towards Kasper had greatly eased by the time that they met again in Japan and he asked to be shown how the orphans were doing. After Kasper took him to their school and he saw for himself that they were doing well, he developed some more trust in Kasper. However Kasper told him that he wanted people to like him, which was why he does not lie. After leaving Koko's Squad and with nowhere to go, Jonah asked to work for Kasper and served under him for two years. Although he did not complain about his situation, Kasper sensed that resentment had been building in Jonah with how he conducted business and anticipated his eventual departure. He allowed Jonah to leave when he asked, but at the same time told him that his inside knowledge of his dealings and combat abilities made him someone to watch out for. He also promised that he and Koko would handle the orphans' education until they reached college.

Kasper's bodyguards developed an early respect for Jonah after they saw how he had singlehandedly wiped out the base. They easily accepted him when Kasper agreed to let him work with them and Chiquita developed an attachment to him over the two years that they worked alongside each other. The other three, Edgar, Alan, and Poe, were surprised at his departure but deferred to Kasper. Chiquita however was furious with Kasper.

Jonah gets along with Minami Amada, who is intrigued by his personality. Although he shot Karen Low in defense of Valmet, the two do not bear each other ill will.

Abilities

Despite his young age, Jonah is a highly skilled soldier. He has excellent tactical instincts and is proficient with all manner of firearms, which he can handle accurately despite his small frame. Jonah also used a variety of blade weapons but has not added knife fighting to his list of skills.

He has a sixth sense of being able to detect an enemy, determine how many there are, determine their approximate location, and because of his background is used to operating in mountainous terrain. Jonah also has an intuitive sense of suspecting and responding to danger and very good reflexes. He is apparently the only person who can eat his own cooking without getting sick. Jonah also defeated an attempt by Valmet to drug him with sleeping pills by awakening 20 minutes later and following her, although he remained groggy afterwards. Koko is having her squad members tutor him in math, sciences, and languages as his schooling was disrupted. He lacks a full grasp of basic math and uses his fingers to calculate.

Equipment

Blade weapons

• AK-47 bayonet: Used during his rebellion at the base.
• Rubber knife: Used during a sparring session with Valmet.
• Tactical folding knife: Used during an attempt to kill Kasper on the Atlas. After it was foiled by Chiquita she bent the blade out of shape.

Firearms

Jonah firing the FNC at Planina Airport in Episode 10.

• AK-47: Used during his rebellion at the base.
• AK-74: Equipped while in the Mountain Division.
• AKS-74U: Equipped by Kasper Hekmatyar's bodyguards during the timeskip. After leaving Kasper's service, Jonah threw his AKS off a cliff, destroying it.
• FN FNC: Standard primary weapon after joining Koko's Squad until they converted to the Magpul Masada.
• FN P90: Equipped after joining Kasper until the conversion to the AKS-74U.
• OTs-03 SVU: Seized from Lee to cover Valmet, although Jonah was not actually shown using it.

History

Jonah in the Mountain Division in Episode 1.

Jonah was orphaned when his village was attacked by its enemies, who had been armed by Kasper. He became a child soldier and served in the Mountain Division, seeing action against the Russians and learning how to slip across borders undetected. He was later posted to a mountain base where several orphans were taken in by the commander. Although he tried to keep them fed, the deputy commander disagreed with this as none of them were soldiers. After Yusuf arrived in the area with an arms shipment that he left on the edge of a minefield, he and the deputy commander forcibly took two of the orphans away including Jonah's friend Malka, to probe for land mines. Jonah tried to intervene but was beaten by the deputy commander for insubordination.

Koko tells Jonah that she will melt his heart of ice in Episode 5.

Following Malka's death, Jonah sought to avenge her and kill the person he saw as primarily responsible, Yusuf Gasud. He single-handedly annihilated the garrison and learned that Yusuf was actually an arms dealer, killing him. However when Kasper and his men arrived at the base, Jonah was disarmed by Chiquita and Kasper learned what had happened. He then informed Jonah that he had actually been trying to take the base down by selling them weapons, but now that Jonah had handled this for him, the way was clear for a road to be constructed through the area. Leaving the fate of the three surviving orphans in doubt, Kasper had Jonah locked in a shipping container for days with nothing but water to test him. When he released the boy, Kasper revealed his indirect role in the death of Jonah's parents and that the orphans were still alive. He promised to relocate them in Japan and in return Jonah agreed to become Koko's bodyguard. He later met Koko in a certain Eastern European country and she vowed to melt his heart of ice.

Plot

Fire Hare Arc

Jonah meets Koko's squad in Episode 1.

After being brought to the squad's hotel by Koko, Jonah recalled his earlier vow to hate weapons and those who sold them and considered the irony of his situation. Koko then assigned him his first mission, the retrieval of MiG-29 upgrades which were being held up in port. After she handed him an M1911 pistol, which was seen by Mao and Wiley, Koko threw open the door to the squad's hotel room and presented him to everyone else. He did not react when they expressed disbelief that he was a child soldier. When Koko asked him if he understood what they had to do, he replied that he did not care and just needed to know who to shoot.

Jonah fires on the second BMW in Episode 1.

Jonah accompanied Koko in her Volvo, loading his FN FNC in the back seat. She tried to engage him conversation but he was noncommittal. Despite Koko revealing that she knew about his background as well as the fact that she knew that he hated weapons, Jonah responded that he hated talking, but Koko was not dissuaded. After the Voskhod 6 tailing Koko approached in two BMWs and a van, Jonah asked Koko how she would handle being tailed. When she answered to shoot first, he stood up through the open sun roof and fired on the BMWs, taking out both and pointing out that they were scouts.

The pursuit continued into nightfall, during which Jonah noticed a Humvee approach them from the left side. After they exited the highway, he saw one of the soldiers in the Humvee aiming at them with a FGM-148 Javelin, calling Koko by her first name to alert her to this. He was able to warn her that they had an anti-tank missile just as he threw and M67 grenade at the same the Javelin was fired, successfully diverting the missile to a parked car. A stuffed toy dog flew out of the destroyed car and landed on Jonah's head, causing him to laugh when he sees what it was. He then fired a burst at the Humvee to force the Javeling gunner down and then sniped him in the head with a single shot, causing the Javelin to fire into the Humvee and destroy it. After the Voskhod 6 pulled back, Koko pointed out to Jonah the contradiction of his situation, as he would need to use a gun and get through her bodyguards if he wanted to target her out of his hatred for arms dealers. At the port he asked why she sold weapons and Koko responded that she did so for world peace. The next morning he cooked breakfast for Koko, Lehm, and Valmet, but they all got sick from his fried eggs, although he himself did not.

Gunmetal, Calico Road Arc

Jonah executes Kloshkin in Episode 1.

A few nights later Jonah was keeping watch in Koko's room when R roused him for his guard duty shift with Lehm, learning from the older man why he chose to work for Koko. The following morning Koko had him accompany her when they went to negotiate with C. K. Kloshkin, giving him a spare pistol on the way over. When they arrived, she told him to behave like her little brother and not to act until she gave the signal. Jonah did not speak during the meeting and when Kloshkin smashed a coffee pot over Koko's head, drew his pistol, but was stopped by Koko. Despite being disarmed by Kloshkin, Koko winked at him. After Kloshkin's sniper team was eliminated and his Hind-D shipment was canceled by the air force, Koko signaled and Jonah drew his pistol and shot Kloshkin in he head. He then examined Koko's head wound, which as superficial despite the bleeding. As they were about to leave she then hugged him from behind and he carried her back to their car piggybank, thinking that he would stick around. That night to cheer him up, Koko wrapped toilet paper around herself and came out as a mummy, surprising Jonah, but he did not laugh.

Pulsar Arc

Jonah was assigned to ride on the trailing truck during an arms delivery to a certain Eastern European country bordering Russia and did not react when the local border guards' APC was hit with an anti-tank missile. During Koko's meeting with Pollack, Jonah was sitting quietly by himself and was noticed by Mildo, who came over and was highly amused that he was the newest member of her squad. After Koko refused Pollack's request for a new radar and he called in his men, Jonah quickly pointed his FNC at one of the soldiers and his pistol at Mildo. He kept it trained on her after everyone else had stood down while she pinched his cheek and bid him goodbye.

Jonah laughs at escaping a battlefield without firing a shot in Episode 2.

While leaving the following day, Jonah sat in the back of Koko's Volvo and cocked his pistol after she had told off the escort riding with her. Koko gave him her satellite phone when they neared Orin Pass and he found that she now had reception. After halting at the pass, the sudden appearance of a pair of Russian Hind-Es forced everyone to scatter from the road. Jonah stayed by Koko during the attack and when it was over and they returned to the vehicles, asked her if she would try to sell Pollack additional weapons. At the abandoned factory, he unloaded his FNC when Koko ordered the entire squad to disarm, and when they were running for the border suddenly burst out laughing when he realized that this was the first time that he had left a battlefield without firing a shot. After he explained why he was amused, Koko told him to prepare for action the next time and R pointed out to him that it was useless to talk Koko into things because she was an arms dealer.

Musica Ex Machina Arc

While waiting at the airport Jonah noticed that a departing jetliner had a lot of wheels. After Valmet informed him that it had 14 wheels and asked him how many three such aircraft would have, his eventual answer was "a lot". Koko then decided to attempt to remedy his lack of education by having members of her squad tutor him. After arriving in Dubai Tojo took a hand at giving Jonah math lessons. However he was not very engaged and became curious about the list of assassins that HCLI headquarters had forwarded to Koko. After learning about Orchestra, the lesson was interrupted when Lutz and Valmet came in after being drawn by Tojo and Koko laughing at a joke. When Valmet and Koko decided to go out, leaving Jonah to his lessons, he immediately excused himself to go to the bathroom, but ditched, leaving a sign thanking Tojo and packing an MP5K in a backpack. He then set off after Koko and Valmet, on the way seeing Orchestra on the street and noticing Chinatsu at the same time that she saw him. When she tried to point him out to Shisho he hid and followed them without their noticing, having recognised them as Orchestra.

Jonah attacks Orchestra in Episode 3.

When he reached the plaza where Valmet and Koko had stopped to admire an expensive watch, Jonah raced up to the roof where he jumped off and landed on the umbrella attached to the table where Shisho was sitting. At that moment Shisho tried to shoot Koko but the falling umbrella threw off his aime. Pinned down, Jonah was surprised when Koko kissed his cheek and was smiling despite what was going on. After telling him how she saw things, they were able to move when Shisho ceased firing. When the Dubai Police Force arrived on the scene and Orchestra focused on them, Jonah pulled out his MP5K and covered Valmet when she tried to get to them by sheltering behind a ballistic shield. After seeing Valmet apologise to Koko, Jonah tried to take out Orchestra by himself by charging them head on and firing. He was spared at the last second when Lehm snagged him with a rope and reeled him in as Chinatsu deflected Shisho's AKS-47, claiming that Jonah was too cute to kill. Despite being saved Jonah was furious with Lehm, who calmly reacted to his anger by explaining how the squad fought intelligently as professionals, not suicidally. After Koko and Valmet reached them Lehm entrusted him with safeguarding Koko, giving him his headset. They then went ahead while he held up Orchestra and the rest of the squad deployed.

They made it to the waterfront, where they got into a discussion of guns' corrupting influence. The rest of the squad in the CR-V driven by Ugo found them and acted as a shield when Orchestra arrived in their pickup truck. Despite Mao and R's efforts to target their engine, Chinatsu was able to get the truck into position to fire the M2 Browning mounted in the crew cab. Just before she fired Jonah pushed Koko into the harbour. When they emerged, Jonah readied his pistol as he had lost his MP5K and found that they were pinned down by Orchestra, who were opposite them and sheltered behind a shipping container. After Jonah fired his pistol at them Chinatsu's hat was shot off and she sensed that something was amiss. Shisho however thought that Jonah had shot it off and ignored her plea to pull back, charging out and getting sniped by Lutz. Following his death and Chinatsu's subsequent escape, Scarecrow arrived on the scene with a Dubai Police officer. When Jonah asked Koko what to do after the CIA agent confronted them, Scarecrow kicked him in the face and pitched him into the harbour. Jonah subsequently avoided being confined to the hotel by the police and waited for Koko outside police headquarters. He then pointed out to a greatly relieved Koko that it would be easier for him to protect her if she was not hanging over him after she hugged him. They then went for a walk through Dubai, discussing the nature of the arms trade and the influence of guns on people.

Three days later while the squad was resting in their hotel room at night, Chinatsu made a second attempt to take out Koko, entering via the roof. Jonah remained hidden around a corner with his pistol drawn while Koko and Lehm dealt with her.

Vein Arc

Chiquita stops Jonah from attacking Kasper in Episode 5.

While at sea on board the Atlas, Jonah realised that his attitude towards weapons remained unchanged and that he felt like Koko was playing him for a fool after having test fired an XM8. When Kasper's cargo ship approached, Koko had Wiley take him inside to prevent the two from seeing each other. Jonah was given an English lesson but the plan was foiled when he and Kasper went to the bathroom at the same time, with Kasper even using the stall next to him. Jonah drew a tactical folding knife and tried to attack Kasper, but was stopped by Chiquita. Kasper calmly accepted this turn of events, having anticipated that his would happen. Jonah then furiously recalled how they had met when Kasper pointed out that it had been three months since the events at the base.

Afterwards he accompanied Kasper back on deck while being closely watched by Chiquita. Koko was furious with her brother for how he had treated Jonah and tried to literally kick him off the ship. After he departed, Jonah told Koko how he had been locked in a shipping container for days. When she apologised for this he admitted that during that time he realised that he still likes the world and asked her if she does as well. Koko claimed that she could not answer, but gave him a partial hug, which provided the answer for her.

Sea Route Arc

Jonah rejects Koko's invitation to bathe together in Chapter 14.

Jonah cleaned his FNC on deck while Lutz and R cleaned the pilothouse as punishment for leaving the XM8 on deck. Lutz saw him and tried to interest him in joining them but R would have none of it. Jonah left just before Koko arrived to check on them and left his FNC on his bunk, departing before Mao arrived for his science lesson. He ran into Ugo who asked him where Koko was and informed him that Mao was looking for him. Having no intention of participating in his lesson, Jonah climbed to the crow's nest. Here he marveled at the view and decided to make it his secret place. After descending, he ended up in a lounge where R, Tojo, Lutz, and Valmet were. Koko found him here and suggested that they take a bath together, which she claimed would be fun due to the ship's movement. However Jonah replied that she was not a child and to bathe by herself, which Lutz, Valmet, and R considered to be a waste.

African Golden Butterflies

In response to a pending attack by Somali pirates, Jonah was stationed in the stern of the Atlas. He spotted a second speedboat approaching, which Koko designated as Contact 3. It was handled by Ugo, who disabled it with an RPG-7 but not before the pirates were able to attach a grappling ladder to the railing. When Jonah noticed it he was about to shoot the boarder but held his fire when he it turned out to be a young boy armed with an AK-47. After the rest of the pirates were handled, Jonah explained to everyone that he got into a fight with the young pirate after letting him board and disarming him, to their collective laughter. Koko had the boy untied and forced him to jump over the side as they were not far from shore, throwing him a lifebuoy.

Anime and manga differences

• The scene of Jonah making breakfast was moved to occur after the confrontation with Kloshkin and the meal was changed to dinner. His eggs make the entire squad sick. This replaces Koko's attempt to cheer Jonah up by using toilet paper to make herself into a mummy.

Trivia

• Jonah was voted as the second most popular character in a poll conducted by Sunday GX which ran from June through September 2012.