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The Magistrate, also known as Jonah, is a Gibborim who, along with his family, was exiled from his homeworld. He is also the biological father of Karolina Dean and the former lover of Leslie Dean. Since his spaceship crashed on Earth, Jonah has possessed human bodies during centuries and influenced the creation of the Church of Gibborim. He assembled the members of PRIDE, granting them resources in order to make them fulfill his own agenda. As part of the deal he struck with PRIDE, Jonah's host body was repeatedly revived by PRIDE's annual rituals. When he was restored for the fifteenth time, however, he discovered that PRIDE had to face many ordeals. In parallel, Jonah also began collaborating with Frank Dean. He tightened his grip over the Church of Gibborim and kept pursuing his own agenda.
Jonah met with Karolina to explain who she was, hoping to convince her to join him once his spaceship would be restored. During the Battle at the PRIDE Construction Site, the host Jonah was possessing was killed by Nico Minoru, forcing Jonah to possess another body: Victor Stein's. Under this new disguise, Jonah subtly maneuvered to take the head of PRIDE and to influence the other PRIDE members into manufacturing weapons specifically designed against the Runaways, aided in this endeavor by his wife and his daughter, who respectively possessed Stacey Yorkes and Tina Minoru. Thanks to this, and despite Xavin trying to interfere, Jonah was able to capture Karolina, along with Janet and Chase Stein, intending to use one of them as a new vessel in order to wait until a new spaceship was built.
The patriarch of a Gibborim Royal family, the Magistrate was exiled from his home planet along with his family. He used a stowaway, a Xartan named Xavin, to steer his spaceship. Eventually, his spaceship crashed on Earth in the prehistoric period. The Magistrate was able to escape before the impact, but the others remained trapped inside the buried spaceship.[1]
Early Life on Earth
Human Hosts
The Magistrate as a preacher
"I wish there was another way, but the technology, it just isn't there yet."
Now stranded on Earth with no possibility to leave the planet, the Magistrate was forced to survive and wait for the necessary technology to repair his ship to be developed by the Humans. To that end, the Magistrate possessed countless human hosts, changing from one to another once the body of the person he was possessing became unable to endure his presence. In the 20th century, the Magistrate possessed the body of a religious preacher, using Gibborim technology to perform so-called miracles.
Once the preacher reached the end of his life, he was approached by a doctor named Jonah, and took him as his new host, progressively erasing the original Jonah's personality until he fully controlled his body.[2]
Influencing a Religion
"I can teach you everything you need to know. And you you can bring my Light to the world."
Needing to form a reliable group to periodically revive his host body,[2] as well as perform specific tasks so he could unearth his ship and finally leave the planet,[3] Jonah went to the Los Angeles Penitentiary and met with inmate Geoffrey Wilder. Jonah offered Wilder to purchase a land he owned in the south of Los Angeles, claiming that it was highly valuable. When Wilder suggested that they struck a partnership instead of a simple transaction, Jonah refused as Wilder was imprisoned and thus unavailable for rich business. Catherine Henderson, Wilder's legal counsel, offered to have Wilder released within a month, prompting Jonah to carefully consider the option. Wilder was eventually released just like Henderson had announced.[4]
Jonah later met with the now married Geoffrey and Catherine and led them to an old basement located in the rich neighborhood of Brentwood. Jonah told Geoffrey and Catherine that he would give them the land located above for them to build their home on. In parallel, Jonah also allocated many resources to other people: Robert and Tina Minoru; Victor and Janet Stein; Dale and Stacey Yorkes, Gene and Alice Hernandez. All those people gathered by Jonah, and the companies they had started, formed PRIDE, led by Church of Gibborim leader Leslie Dean.[5]
Jonah also had an affair with Leslie, which eventually caused Leslie to become pregnant and give birth to a daughter named Karolina. His daughter was raised by Frank Dean, Leslie's husband. Periodically, using Dematerialization Boxes, PRIDE perpetrated secret rituals which revived Jonah once he had returned to a decrepit condition forcing him to stay in bed in a secret room of the Church of Gibborim Executive Office.[5]
When Jonah was revived by the PRIDE for the first time, he went to the Minoru Mansion and dismissed the babysitter who was looking after Amy Minoru. He then played with Amy until Tina got back home and told her that he wanted to thank her for having kept the video tape showing the sacrifice in the Wizard servers. Tina replied that she had only obeyed Jonah out of fear that he would carry on his threats. Before leaving, Jonah warned Tina about the fact that Amy could be a difficult teenager when growing up.[6]
Upon learning that Amy Minoru had hacked into Wizard's servers, Jonah feared that she might have discovered the video tape displaying her parents and other members of PRIDE performing the Rite of Blood in order to revive him. Therefore, Jonah headed for the Minoru Mansion, pretending to Leslie Dean that he would simply talk with Minoru to assess what she knew. However, once he arrived in Minoru's room, he forced her to ingest a lethal dose of medicines, making her murder look like a suicide.[7]
Several years later, Jonah had returned to his decrepit condition like he used to once his powers wore off and waited for the PRIDE to commit another sacrifice. Leslie Dean came to see Jonah in his secret chamber at the Church of Gibborim Executive Office and informed him that they had found someone to be sacrificed.[8] However, the day following the sacrifice, Jonah remained in his frail condition, which Leslie did not understand, unaware that the ritual actually had failed. Later, Jonah perceived someone trying to break into his room, worrying him, but eventually the intruder was sent away and Jonah could peacefully rest while waiting for the sacrifice's results to appear.[9]
Dean came once again to visit Jonah and asked him whether he felt anything, but Jonah replied that he did not.[10] Jonah then heard Dean praying in his room, prompting him to ask her to stop and to warm him instead. As a result, Dean took off her clothes and lied next to Jonah.[11]
Jonah is successfully revived
Some time later, the PRIDE managed to find another person to sacrifice: Andre Compton, who had been wounded by Alex Wilder and taken to the Church of Gibborim Executive Office to be sacrificed to Jonah. This time, the Dematerialization Boxes worked and Jonah was successfully revived thanks to Compton's sacrifice. While Jonah recovered, Dean ordered all the members of the PRIDE to leave the room. Finally, Jonah was restored to his youth and Dean asked him how he felt, to which Jonah replied that he felt fantastic and that he looked forward to meeting Karolina Dean, his biological daughter.[4]
PRIDE Gala
"I've been looking forward to meeting you all evening." "Why? Who are you?" "I'm a friend of your mother." "I know my mom's friends." "I'm an old friend new in town. I'm Jonah. It's my pleasure."
Now fully restored, Jonah decided to attend a fundraising gala held by PRIDE in Wizard Headquarters, despite his lover Leslie Dean's reluctance to change their usual cover story and risking to have Jonah meeting her husband Frank Dean. Still, Jonah insisted on going to the gala as he wanted to meet with his biological daughter, Karolina. Thus, during the gala, Jonah, posing as an old member of the Church of Gibborim having moved to Los Angeles, came to Leslie as she was talking with her husband and asked her to take him to Karolina who, however, was nowhere to be found.
Jonah then listened to the speech delivered by Tina Minoru, which was quickly followed by Victor Stein revealing that he knew about his wife Janet cheating on him with Tina's husband Robert. As Victor fainted on the ground and was transported in a quiet room, Jonah figured out that the PRIDE would need his services and went to find a bag containing some of his serum. Just like he expected, Leslie came to ask for his help to heal Victor, who suffered from a brain tumor. Before going, Jonah remarked how Leslie had trouble with keeping the members of PRIDE in line.
Jonah arrived in Victor's room and told Victor's son Chase that he would cure his father. Remaining only with Leslie and Dale Yorkes, Jonah injected some of the serum into Victor's body, which immediately and significantly improved his condition. Jonah then returned to the party and managed to find Karolina. He introduced himself as a friend of Leslie, although Jonah was visibly moved to finally meet his daughter. As Frank joined the conversation and Karolina left, Jonah praised Frank's work for the Church of Gibborim and told him that despite what Frank believed, he had ascended to the rank of Ultra.[5]
Following their conversation at the gala, Jonah gave Frank Healing Gloves. He was confronted about this decision by Leslie, who feared that Jonah was trying to undermine her authority in the Church of Gibborim. However, Jonah replied that despite everything Leslie had done for it, the Church belonged to the past and that Leslie's focus should be in PRIDE, which was all what mattered.[12]
"Victor is the only one of you that's actually necessary for this to work. The dig is about to start, and his time is just about up, so I would appreciate it if you choose quickly. Because if I don't revive him, you all die. And so do your children."
Jonah was informed of Victor Stein's death by Tina Minoru, prompting him to drive to the Stein Mansion with his Dematerialization Box. Upon arriving, Jonah told the PRIDE's members that he needed to sacrifice one of them to revive Victor, as he was the most valuable member of the PRIDE to him. Jonah told that the person responsible for the situation had to be sacrificed and reassured Leslie Dean when she thought he was talking about her. Instead, Jonah ordered Janet Stein to give her life for her husband's. However, Janet refused, blaming Jonah and the serum he had given Victor to cure him.
Jonah then remained silent as an argument erupted within the members of the PRIDE as to who they should sacrifice. Annoyed by their struggling, Jonah threatened to kill them all as well as their children if they did not quickly decide. As the argument continued, Jonah told Janet that he would sacrifice either Janet or her son Chase. Janet agreed to give her life, but requested some time to say goodbye to her son, something Jonah initially refused.
However, as they were all distracted, Jonah and the others realized that Robert Minoru intended to sacrifice himself instead. Although Jonah did not see any problem in that, Tina refused to let her husband die and destroyed one Dematerialization Box with the Staff of One before Jonah could stop her, thus making the sacrifice impossible.
Disappointed, Jonah still stopped Dean from attacking Tina, claiming that he no longer needed to be revived. Jonah then had the members of the PRIDE putting Victor's body in the remaining Dematerialization Box, which would be kept by Jonah while waiting for another solution to revive Victor.[13]
As the dig in the PRIDE Construction Site were ready to begin, Jonah dismissed the security team provided by Geoffrey Wilder Construction Inc. and replaced them with members of the Church of Gibborim. He then welcomed the members of PRIDE into the site and informed them that they were close to their objective. Ignoring Dale Yorkes' and Tina Minoru's requesting details about the energy source they were supposed to find there, Jonah activated the Nemo Industrial Drilling Machine, enacting the final phase of his plan.
Later, Jonah was asked by Frank Dean for a private interview. Both men met in the Church of Gibborim Executive Office and Frank, who had been informed by his daughter Karolina who trusted, revealed to Jonah that the Runaways knew about the PRIDE's secret rituals and that they were trying to stop whatever plan's PRIDE was attempting to achieve. As a result, Jonah contacted the members of the PRIDE and ordered them to join him in his room in the Church's office.
Once all the PRIDE was gathered, Jonah repeated what Frank had told him about the teenagers having discovered the PRIDE's illegal activities. Jonah also confronted some of the members of the PRIDE with their most recent choices: Leslie Dean not informing him of the Attack on Victor Stein, Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder not telling him that Molly Hernandez had witnessed a ritual and Yorkes keeping a vial of his serum. Jonah warned the members of the PRIDE that they had hard choices ahead of them and that he would punish anyone who defied him. He then asked the PRIDE whether they knew where their children were.
Jonah later got into a car with Frank. While on their way, Frank received a call from Karolina, who still ignored her father's betrayal, which enabled Jonah to learn that the Runaways wanted to enter the PRIDE Construction Site. As Frank hung up, Jonah congratulated him on his performance and claimed that Frank would be a good leader to the Church of Gibborim.[6]
Jonah and Frank arrived on the PRIDE Construction Site where the PRIDE was already confronting the Runaways. Using his powers, Jonah incapacitated Hernandez as she attempted to attack them. Although the PRIDE members forbade Jonah to hurt the children, with Minoru even raising her Staff of One against Jonah, Jonah ignored them. He disarmed Minoru before turning his eyes on the Runaways and knocking them over with a powerful light beam. The teenagers briefly stood back before fleeing when asked by Karolina, who knew Jonah was only interested in her. Jonah countered Karolina's light beams with his own, which created a powerful vortex. In the end, Jonah was more powerful than Karolina's, enabling him to capture his daughter.[7]
Preparing the Future
"Frank has done a wonderful job raising you. I will always be grateful to him, but I think you know the truth. I'm your father. You're a smart girl, Karolina, always hungry for answers. I think last night you got them. I realize how difficult it must be, discovering the truth about yourself with no one to guide you, no one who truly understands. Unfortunately, the truth can make you very lonely."
Jonah took Karolina into his secret room at the Church of Gibborim's office, waiting for her to regain consciousness. When Karolina woke up, Jonah told her that he was her biological father. Jonah also told Karolina that he was willing to guide her through the use of her newfound powers so that she would not feel as lonely as he had felt in the past.
Later, Jonah was informed that the Wilders had come to the Church's office. Jonah went to see them and informed them that Leslie was not here. However, the Wilders replied that they had come to see Karolina, prompting Jonah to pretend that she was still recovering and unable to have visitors. As Geoffrey's tone became more threatening, Jonah signed to some members of the Church of Gibborim to be ready to intervene should the situation escalate. Jonah then subtly mocked the Wilders and dismissed them before leaving.[7]
Later, Jonah met with Frank Dean in a secret room where Jonah kept Victor Stein's body in the Dematerialization Box. Jonah assured Dean that their collaboration would be very successful and that things would get even more interesting once Stein would have been revived. However, Jonah also noticed that the skin on his arm started to peel, signalling that he was slowly returning to his decrepit condition and thus that time was running out.[7]
Gibborim Physiology: Jonah is part of an alien species known as Gibborim, possessing various superhuman attributes that are common among his kind.
Possession: Like the rest of his species, Jonah has to possess a human in order to interact among them while on Earth. Due to the sheer energy he releases, his human hosts are unable to contain him for extended periods of time without a energy transference through a human sacrifice.
Longevity: Jonah is effectively long-lived.
Regenerative Healing Factor: Jonah's DNA has regenerative properties. It was even able to synthesize a serum which cured the brain tumor of Victor Stein.
Light Generation: Jonah's skin emits an aura of iridescent light.
Light Beam Emission: Jonah is able to project beams of light that can stun and injure his enemies.
Flight: When taking his daughter to see what was at the bottom of the infamous hole, he and Karolina Dean used their flight powers to drift to the bottom.
Life Force Absorption: With tentacles of light emerging from his body, Jonah can drain someones life force.
Equipment
Healing Gloves: The Magistrate owned healing gloves which enabled him to cure other people from seemingly fatal diseases or injuries. He often used them while posing as a preacher performing miracles, but eventually gave them to Frank Dean to empower him and make him feel important so he would gain him to his cause.
Dematerialization Box: Designed by the Magistrate and built by Victor Stein, the Dematerialization Boxes were used by Jonah to convert a body into pure energy he used to restore the body he was using as a vessel. Jonah temporarily lost one of the Box which was destroyed by Tina Minoru, but later had Stein build another one.
Abstract: The Magistrate possessed the Abstract, a book containing all of the Gibborim knowledge. He entrusted it to Geoffrey and Catherine Wilder for them to carry it during the ceremonies. He also promised to leave it behind once he would take his spaceship away from Earth.
Jonah's Serum: Jonah carried vials of an extremely powerful regenerative serum he notably used to heal Victor Stein's brain tumor. He later realized that Dale Yorkes had stolen some of the serum from him.
Anti-Gibborim Inhibitor: While posing as Victor Stein, the Magistrate reclaimed some Anti-Gibborim inhibitors created by Robert Minoru before going to confront his daughter Karolina Dean and disable her powers while he would remain unaffected by the inhibitors thanks to a specialized suit material.
Vehicles
Jonah's Ship: The Magistrate and his family arrived on Earth on a bioorganic spaceship which crashed in the place which would later known as California. He managed to escape from the ship and waited for millenia until Humans gained the necessary technological advancement to access the buried ship and repair it. Jonah attempted to launch his ship from Earth, but his attempts were thwarted by both PRIDE and the Runaways, causing the destruction of the ship and forcing the Magistrate to consider building another one.
Facilities
Church of Gibborim Executive Office: During his time in his decrepit condition, Jonah remained in bed in a secret room publicly known as Leslie Dean's private meditation room in the main facility of the Church of Gibborim. Once he was revived, Jonah turned the room as his main base of operations and welcoming his visitors in it.
PRIDE Construction Site: Despite being forced to remain in bed most of the time, it was Jonah who ordered PRIDE to undertake a massive drilling on a construction site which would enable him to reach his ship beneath the surface of the Earth. During his final revival, Jonah personally oversaw the activation of the Nemo Industrial Drilling Machine on the site.
