Assassin's Creed: Full Timeline Revealed

Assassin’s Creed Shadows marks the latest installment in the storied Assassin’s Creed series, set during the feudal Japan of the Sengoku period in 1579. This setting places it at the midpoint of the series' historical timeline, which does not follow a chronological order but rather jumps across various eras, from the ancient Peloponnesian War to the dawn of the First World War.

With 14 mainline games and counting, the Assassin’s Creed timeline has become increasingly intricate. IGN has meticulously analyzed every piece of lore to construct a comprehensive timeline that organizes the series' events in chronological order, providing clarity on the overarching narrative and how each game interconnects.

The Isu Era

75,000 BCE

To understand the Assassin’s Creed timeline, we must first delve into the lore of the Isu Era. In this distant past, a highly advanced civilization known as the Isu ruled the earth. They engineered humanity to serve as their slaves, controlling them with powerful artifacts called the Apples of Eden. However, humans, led by Eve and Adam, rebelled after stealing an Apple, sparking a revolutionary war against the Isu. This conflict lasted a decade until a catastrophic solar flare wiped out the Isu, allowing humanity to rise and inherit the earth.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

431 to 422 BCE - Peloponnesian War

During the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece, mercenary Kassandra uncovers the Cult of Kosmos, a secretive group manipulating the conflict. Her brother Alexios, kidnapped and transformed into a weapon by the Cult, is among its ranks. Kassandra learns that the Cult targeted Alexios due to his lineage from the legendary Spartan King Leonidas, a direct descendant of the Isu. Her mission to thwart the Cult's domination of Greece leads her to destroy an Isu device used to predict future outcomes. Kassandra reunites with her father, Pythagoras, another Isu descendant, who entrusts her with the Staff of Hermes, granting immortality, and tasks her with guarding Atlantis.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

49 to 43 BCE - Ptolemaic Egypt

In the era of Cleopatra's rule, the Order of the Ancients, another shadowy organization linked to the Cult of Kosmos, kidnaps peacekeeper Bayek and his son, seeking to unlock an Isu vault. After accidentally killing his son during an escape attempt, Bayek vows revenge. Alongside his wife Aya, they dismantle the Order, which has infiltrated Egypt's leadership, including Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. Discovering the Order's global ambitions to control politics and religion using the Apples of Eden, Bayek and Aya form the Hidden Ones, a secret society of spies and assassins operating from Egypt and Rome.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

861 - Islamic Golden Age

By 861, the Hidden Ones have established strongholds worldwide, including Alamut in Iran. Basim, a street thief from Baghdad, is trained as an assassin and tasked with investigating the Order of the Ancients' activities. He discovers their pursuit of an Isu temple beneath Alamut, which houses a prison containing Loki, an Isu revered as a god by the Norse. Basim learns he is Loki's reincarnation and vows to avenge his past imprisonment.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

872 to 878 - Viking Invasion of England

A decade later, Basim joins a Viking clan in England, hunting members of the Order of the Ancients. Clan leaders Sigurd and Eivor seek allies to establish their settlement, Ravensthorpe, while uncovering King Alfred's tyrannical rule, a leader within the Order. After discovering an Isu artifact, Sigurd experiences visions, believing himself a god. Basim reveals that Eivor and Sigurd are reincarnations of Odin and Týr, whom he seeks to avenge for imprisoning Loki. Eivor traps Basim in a simulated world within an Isu computer, and after defeating King Alfred at the Battle of Chippenham, returns to Ravensthorpe as a hero.

Assassin’s Creed

1191 - Third Crusade

By the Third Crusade, the Hidden Ones have evolved into the Assassin Brotherhood, facing the Knights Templar, successors to the Order of the Ancients. Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, an assassin, steals an Apple of Eden from the Templars but his arrogance leads to a fellow assassin's death. Tasked with assassinating nine Templar leaders, Altaïr uncovers their plan to use the Apple's power. He learns that his mentor, Al Mualim, betrayed the Templars to control the Apple and impose peace. Altaïr kills Al Mualim and takes leadership of the Brotherhood.

Assassin’s Creed 2

1476 to 1499 - Italian Renaissance

During the Italian Renaissance, Ezio Auditore da Firenze joins the Assassin Brotherhood to avenge his family's execution by the Templars. Using his father's equipment and Leonardo da Vinci's inventions, Ezio battles the Templar-aligned Borgia family. He acquires an Apple of Eden, revealing an Isu vault beneath the Vatican. Inside, he encounters Minerva, who warns of an impending apocalypse in 2012 and suggests that Isu vaults worldwide could be humanity's salvation.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

1499 to 1507 - Italian Renaissance

After defeating Pope Rodrigo Borgia in combat, Ezio rebuilds the weakened Assassin Brotherhood. They dismantle the Borgia regime in Rome and reclaim the Apple of Eden, which Ezio hides in an Isu vault beneath the Colosseum, safeguarding it from the Templars.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations

1511 to 1512 - Ottoman Civil War

Seeking more Isu knowledge, Ezio travels to Masyaf to explore Altaïr's library. The Templars, also interested in the library, have collected keys to unlock it. Ezio allies with the Ottoman Assassins in Constantinople to thwart the Byzantine Templars' plans. Inside the library, he finds Altaïr's remains and an Apple of Eden, which projects a message from Jupiter about data crucial for surviving an apocalypse, stored in the Grand Temple. Ezio leaves the Apple secured and retires, later succumbing to injuries sustained over his career.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

1579 - Sengoku Period

Set during Japan's Sengoku period, Assassin’s Creed Shadows follows an African mercenary and a Catholic Jesuit missionary who meet Oda Nobunaga, a powerful lord unifying Japan's warring clans. The mercenary, named Yasuke, becomes a samurai and aids Nobunaga's campaign, including the invasion of Iga province. There, he encounters Naoe, daughter of a shinobi master, and despite their opposing sides, they unite for a common cause.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

1715 to 1722 - Golden Age of Piracy

During the Golden Age of Piracy, Edward Kenway becomes entangled in a Templar plot to control the Observatory, an Isu device capable of spying on anyone. Only the Sage, a reincarnation of the Isu Aita, can unlock it. Edward allies with pirates, including the current Sage, Bartholomew Roberts, to access the Observatory. After a betrayal, Edward retrieves the device's power source, assassinates Templar leader Laureano de Torres y Ayala, and seals the Observatory, prioritizing global safety over personal gain.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue

1752 to 1776 - French and Indian War

Shay Patrick Cormac, sent by the Assassin Brotherhood to retrieve an Isu artifact, inadvertently causes an earthquake in Lisbon. Guilt-ridden, he defects, stealing a map of Isu temples. Rescued by the Templars, Shay rises through their ranks, targeting Assassins. He tracks his former mentor, Achilles, to the Arctic, preventing further Isu temple excavations. In 1776, Shay suggests a French revolution to counter an American uprising sparked by the Assassins.

Assassin’s Creed 3

1754 to 1783 - American Revolution

Templar Haytham Kenway seeks to unlock the Isu's Grand Temple, murdering for the key and falling in love with Mohawk woman Kaniehti:io. Their son, Ratonhnhaké:ton, later known as Connor Kenway, becomes an Assassin after his mother's death and the destruction of his village. Amid the American Revolution, Connor eliminates Templars within British forces, eventually confronting Haytham. Their conflicting visions lead to Connor killing his father and burying the Grand Temple key, thwarting the Templars' plans.

Assassin’s Creed Liberation

1765 to 1777 - Spanish Occupation of Louisiana

In New Orleans, assassin Aveline de Grandpré uncovers a Templar plot to control Louisiana, linked to a larger conspiracy involving the 'Company Man' and an Isu temple. Aveline assembles components of an Isu device called the Prophecy Disk, learning that her stepmother is the Company Man, grooming her for the Templars. After killing her stepmother, Aveline activates the Disk, revealing the story of Eve's rebellion against the Isu.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

1789 to 1794 - French Revolution

Orphaned Arno Dorian, raised by Templar Grand Master François de la Serre, is framed for his murder and imprisoned. An Assassin helps him escape, leading to the discovery of a Templar rift led by François-Thomas Germain, who seeks to ignite the French Revolution. Arno and his sister Élise pursue Germain to a Templar crypt, where he attempts to kill Arno with a Sword of Eden. The sword explodes, killing Élise and wounding Germain, who reveals himself as the current Sage. Arno seals Germain's remains in the Paris Catacombs.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

1868 - Victorian England

In 1868, twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye arrive in London to find the Shroud, an Isu device. They discover the Templars' control over the city through industry and crime. Jacob assassinates Templar leaders while Evie races to find the Shroud. Templar leader Crawford Starrick steals the Shroud from Buckingham Palace, but the twins kill him and return it to its vault. Jacob leads the London Assassins, and Evie later tracks down and kills Jack the Ripper. During World War I, their daughter Lydia, an Assassin, investigates a Templar-run German spy facility, killing its Sage leader.

Transition Period

1914 to 2012

The Assassin’s Creed series uses a modern-day framing story. During the transition from Syndicate's Victorian era to the modern storyline, the Templars establish Abstergo Industries in 1937, a pharmaceutical company aimed at global control through capitalism. In the late 1970s, Abstergo develops the Animus, a virtual reality machine to explore ancestral memories and control the future.

Assassin’s Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, and 3

2012

In 2012, Desmond Miles, a bartender and descendant of Altaïr, is abducted by Abstergo to locate Isu artifacts. An Assassin mole, Lucy Stillman, helps him escape to a Brotherhood safehouse. Exploring Ezio's memories, Desmond learns of an impending apocalypse and the need to find Isu vaults. After locating an Apple of Eden, Desmond is possessed by Juno, an Isu, and kills Lucy. He later awakens from a coma, enters the Grand Temple, and sacrifices himself to prevent the apocalypse, releasing Juno.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

2013

Using Desmond's DNA, Abstergo explores Edward Kenway's memories to find the Observatory. An unnamed researcher, "The Noob," is assigned to this task and is manipulated by John Standish, the modern-day Sage, to hack Abstergo's systems. Standish's plan to host Juno fails, and he is killed by Abstergo security.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

2014

Abstergo releases Helix, allowing the public to experience genetic memories. An Assassin, Bishop, guides an initiate to explore Arno Dorian's life, locating the remains of Sage François-Thomas Germain, sealed in the Paris Catacombs.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

2015

The initiate explores Jacob and Evie Frye's memories to find the Shroud. Abstergo retrieves it first, planning to create a living Isu. Juno manipulates Abstergo employees to sabotage this plan.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

2017

Layla Hassan, an Abstergo researcher, develops a new Animus version to explore memories via DNA samples. In Egypt, she relives Bayek and Aya's lives, learning about the Hidden Ones' origins. William Miles recruits her into the Assassin Brotherhood.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

2018

Using DNA from the Spear of Leonidas, Layla explores Kassandra's memories, discovering Atlantis. Kassandra, kept alive by the Staff of Hermes, reveals Layla's role in balancing the Templars and Assassins. Kassandra dies after gifting Layla the Staff.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

2020

Observing magnetic field fluctuations, Layla explores Eivor's memories, discovering the Yggdrasil computer in Norway. Inside its simulation, she meets Basim and Desmond's manifestation, "The Reader." Layla abandons her mortal form to prevent future apocalypses, while Basim escapes, claiming the Staff of Hermes containing Aletheia's consciousness, and joins the Assassin Brotherhood to find Loki's children.