Soyona Santos is a black-market broker and queenpin in the underground de-extinction trade. She rose to international notoriety after the 2018 Lockwood Estate incident brought de-extinct life, and the technology to create and modify that life, into the world outside the corporate sphere. Santos spent years as a wanted criminal in multiple countries, facilitating the illegal movement of animals and animal products through the Amber Clave night market in Malta.
In the spring of 2022, Santos was tracked down by a collaboration between the Central Intelligence Agency (USA) and the General Directorate for External Security (France). A sting operation in Valletta, Malta resulted in her being apprehended by French intelligence operative Barry Sembène, though Santos personally ensured the deaths of three CIA operatives during the sting. She is likely being held by either American or French authorities, but as she faces criminal charges in the jurisdictions of numerous countries her eventual sentence has yet to be seen.
Name
Much like the woman herself, the given name Soyona has unknown origins. It is quite a rare name and may have originated in Greece or Mexico, possibly related to the name Sonya. These names occur not just in Western countries but also in the Middle East, South Asia, and Russia. If these names are indeed related to Soyona, it may mean “wisdom.”
The surname Santos is far more common and originates from the Portuguese and Spanish word for “saints.” Its history comes from the Latin word “sanctorum,” also meaning “saints.” This name, obviously, has a Christian background and was commonly given to babies born around All Saints’ Day. It also became very common in Brazil after the fall of the Brazilian Empire and abolition of slavery; recently liberated people living near the Bay of All Saints would adopt this surname if they had no records of their own family names. Soyona Santos’s family history is made no clearer by analysis of her name, as she speaks with an English accent and has a mixed heritage.
Biography
Soyona Santos was a known Dinosaur trafficker who made her base of operations in the Amber Clave Market in Malta. She appeared to wield enough influence that she could broker the trafficking of several species of dinosaurs, between individual entities and large corporations such as Biosyn. Her activities were notorious enough that she was on the radar of the CIA, and by extension undercover French Intelligence agent, Barry Sembene.
2022
Soyona Santos was contracted by Lewis Dodgson to broker the kidnapping of Maisie Lockwood. She hired trafficker Rainn Delacourt to kidnap Maisie and bring her to Malta. Once Maisie was brought to Malta, Soyona personally supervised her extraction to another plane to transport her to the Biosyn Sanctuary. Afterwards, she would take control of four Atrociraptors, and meet up with Rainn Delacourt again, this time offering to pay him to transport the dinosaurs to Ridyah, Saudi Arabia for seventy-five thousand dollars.
However, the exchange was interrupted by Barry and several other undercover officers, forcing her to flee the scene. After the truck containing the Atrociraptors crashes, Soyona instructs the driver to open their transports, and uses her laser to enrage them to attack. She then attempts to flee the scene, but is pursued by Claire Dearing. As Soyona breaks into an apartment, she attacks Claire with a knife, but is overpowered and tased, being forced by Claire to tell where she took Maisie.
Recovering, Soyona manages to return to the scene of the crash, hoping to retrieve the Atrociraptors. However, Barry is able to force her to surrender at gunpoint. As she raises her hands to surrender, Soyona manages to tag a laser beam on Owen to provoke an Atrociraptor to chase him. Soyona Santos was presumably then arrested by Barry and taken into CIA custody.
Skills
Criminal enterprising
Violence
Skill with animals
Views
On power
On de-extinction
Relationships
Buyers
Suppliers
Authorities
Maisie Lockwood and family
De-extinct animals
Portrayal
Soyona Santos is portrayed by Dichen Lachman. She is not based on any particular character from Michael Crichton‘s works, instead being an original character created for Jurassic World: Dominion. The casting of Dichen Lachman was partly because of her role as Ayacoatl in the 2008 SyFy Channel film Aztec Rex, widely considered a notoriously bad film. Director Colin Trevorrow enjoyed her performance, and allegedly wanted to see her feature in a dinosaur film with higher production value. While more traditional fans felt Santos was not a conventional enough Jurassic villain, many audiences enjoyed her confident portrayal of the character and enjoyed the unique aspect she brought to the world of the series.
In earlier scripts, her first name was Sierra.
