Assassin's Creed: A Full Timeline Revealed

Assassin's Creed Shadows marks the latest installment in the renowned Assassin's Creed series, set uniquely during the feudal Japan period, which positions it centrally within the series' vast historical timeline. The Assassin's Creed saga does not unfold chronologically; instead, each game leaps across different eras, exploring pivotal historical events ranging from the Peloponnesian War in ancient Greece to the brink of the First World War.

With 14 mainline games and counting, the series' timeline grows increasingly intricate. To unravel this complexity, IGN has meticulously analyzed the lore to create a comprehensive timeline that organizes the series' events in chronological order. This timeline covers all significant moments in the Assassin's Creed universe.

The Isu Era

75,000 BCE

Before delving into the timeline, it's essential to understand some foundational lore. Long before recorded history, a highly advanced civilization known as the Isu governed the earth. These god-like beings created humans as their servants, controlling them with powerful artifacts called the Apples of Eden. However, humans, led by Eve and Adam, rebelled against their enslavement by stealing an Apple of Eden, sparking a revolutionary war.

The conflict between the Isu and humans lasted a decade until a catastrophic solar flare struck the earth, annihilating the Isu. Humanity, though decimated, survived and inherited the earth.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

431 to 422 BCE - Peloponnesian War

Amidst the Peloponnesian War in Greece, mercenary Kassandra uncovers the Cult of Kosmos, a clandestine group manipulating the conflict. Among its ranks is her brother Alexios, who was abducted by the Cult as a child and transformed into a formidable weapon. Kassandra learns that the Cult targeted Alexios because of his lineage to the legendary Spartan King Leonidas, a direct descendant of the Isu.

Kassandra embarks on a quest to thwart the Cult's plan to dominate Greece, discovering their use of an Isu device to predict future events and control the war. She eliminates key Cult members and destroys the device, ending the conflict. During her journey, Kassandra reunites with her father, Pythagoras, another Isu descendant, who entrusts her with the Staff of Hermes, granting immortality, and asks her to guard Atlantis eternally.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

49 to 43 BCE - Ptolemaic Egypt

During Cleopatra's reign in Egypt, the Order of the Ancients, another shadowy organization linked to the Cult of Kosmos, kidnaps peacekeeper Bayek and his son, believing Bayek's bloodline can unlock an Isu vault. Tragically, Bayek accidentally kills his son during an escape attempt, spurring him to seek vengeance.

Bayek and his wife Aya dismantle the Order, which manipulates Egypt through its puppet Pharaoh, Ptolemy, and by enlisting Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. They learn that the Order's ambitions extend globally, aiming to control politics and religion using the Apples of Eden. To combat this threat, Bayek and Aya found 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. Here, Basim, a former street thief from Baghdad, trains as an assassin and investigates the Order of the Ancients' activities in his city. He uncovers their plan to access an Isu temple beneath Alamut and helps repel their attack.

Inside the temple, Basim discovers a prison once holding Loki, an Isu now revered as a Norse god. He 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 accompanies a Viking clan to England, seeking members of the Order of the Ancients. The clan's leaders, Sigurd and Eivor, aim to establish their settlement, Ravensthorpe, and ally with local communities against King Alfred, an Order member pushing for a Christian regime.

After discovering an Isu artifact, Sigurd experiences visions suggesting he is a god. Basim reveals that Eivor and Sigurd are reincarnations of Odin and Týr, the Isu who imprisoned Loki. He attacks them to exact revenge, but Eivor traps Basim in a simulated world generated by an Isu computer resembling the Yggdrasil tree. Traumatized, Sigurd relinquishes leadership to Eivor, who returns to England to defeat King Alfred at the Battle of Chippenham and is celebrated as a hero in Ravensthorpe.

Assassin’s Creed

1191 - Third Crusade

Over the next three centuries, the Hidden Ones evolve into the Assassin Brotherhood, while their adversaries, the Order of the Ancients, transform into the Knights Templar. Despite their new structure, the Templars' goal remains the same: to establish a new world order.

During the Third Crusade, assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad works with the Brotherhood in the Holy Land to steal an Apple of Eden from the Templars. After a successful theft marred by arrogance and the death of a fellow assassin, Altaïr is tasked with assassinating nine Templar leaders to atone for his mistake.

As he completes his mission, Altaïr uncovers the Templars' plot to use the Apple's power. He also learns that their leader, Al Mualim, had betrayed them to seize the Apple for himself, intending to impose "peace" through force. Altaïr kills Al Mualim and assumes 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 father and brothers, killed by the Templars. Armed with his father's equipment and innovations from Leonardo Da Vinci, Ezio battles the Templar-aligned Borgia family.

His quest leads him to an Apple of Eden, revealing an Isu vault beneath the Vatican. The Templars, aware of this secret, have made Rodrigo Borgia Pope to access the vault. Ezio confronts Borgia and, after defeating him, enters the vault to meet the Isu Minerva, who warns of an impending apocalypse in 2012. She suggests that a network of Isu vaults could be humanity's salvation.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

1499 to 1507 - Italian Renaissance

Though Ezio spares Borgia after their confrontation, the Pope's army retaliates by besieging Ezio's villa and stealing the Apple of Eden. In response, Ezio strengthens the weakened Assassin Brotherhood, becoming the leader of the Italian Bureau. The Assassins dismantle the Borgia regime in Rome, reclaim the Apple, and secure it in an Isu vault beneath the Colosseum.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations

1511 to 1512 - Ottoman Civil War

Seeking more Isu knowledge, Ezio travels to Masyaf to investigate Altaïr's library. However, the Templars are already there, collecting keys to unlock it. To thwart them, Ezio allies with the Ottoman Assassins against the Byzantine Templars in Constantinople, disrupting their plans to revive the Byzantine Empire.

Inside the library, Ezio finds Altaïr's remains and an Apple of Eden, which projects a message from the Isu Jupiter about data vital for humanity's survival post-apocalypse, stored in the Grand Temple. Realizing this message is not for him, Ezio leaves the Apple in the library and retires, succumbing to injuries from his long service to the Brotherhood.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

1579 - Sengoku Period

Set during the Sengoku period, Assassin's Creed Shadows follows an African mercenary who, alongside a Catholic Jesuit missionary, arrives in Japan. Meeting Oda Nobunaga, a powerful lord unifying the country's warring clans, the mercenary becomes samurai Yasuke and participates in the invasion of Iga province. Here, he encounters Naoe, the daughter of shinobi master Fujibayashi Nagato. Despite their initial opposition, Yasuke and Naoe eventually unite in pursuit of a common goal.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

1715 to 1722 - Golden Age of Piracy

During the Golden Age of Piracy, rogue Edward Kenway finds himself entangled in a Templar plot after killing an Assassin and taking his place. At a secret meeting, Edward learns the Templars are searching for the Observatory, an Isu device capable of spying on anyone, with the aim of blackmailing world leaders. Only the 'Sage', a reincarnation of the Isu Aita, can unlock it, and the Templars seek the current Sage, pirate Bartholomew Roberts.

Edward aims to exploit the Observatory for profit, joining forces with pirates to establish a pirate republic. He eventually allies with Roberts to access the Observatory, but their goals diverge, leading to betrayal. Edward escapes, tracks down Roberts, retrieves the stolen artifact, and assassinates Templar leader Laureano de Torres y Ayala. Deciding the world's safety outweighs personal gain, he seals the artifact away and returns to England, living out his days with his family.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue

1752 to 1776 - French and Indian War

Shay Patrick Cormac, sent by the Assassin Brotherhood to retrieve an Isu artifact from a Lisbon temple, inadvertently triggers an earthquake that devastates the city. Guilt-ridden, Shay defects, stealing the Brotherhood's map of Isu temples. After surviving an assassination attempt, he joins the Templars in New York.

Rising through the Templar ranks, Shay eliminates several Assassins and tracks down his former mentor, Achilles, to the Arctic to prevent further Isu temple excavations. Alongside Haytham Kenway, Edward's son, they leave Achilles alive to deter the Assassins. In 1776, Shay suggests sparking a revolution in France to counter an Assassin-led uprising in America.

Assassin’s Creed 3

1754 to 1783 - American Revolution

The Templars aim to unlock the Isu's Grand Temple. Haytham Kenway kills for the key in London and journeys to the American Colonies, where he fails to access the temple but falls in love with Mohawk woman Kaniehti:io, fathering Ratonhnhaké:ton. After abandoning them, the Mohawk settlement is razed, and Kaniehti:io dies.

Seeking vengeance, Ratonhnhaké:ton, now Connor Kenway, trains as an Assassin under Achilles. Amidst the American Revolution, he targets Templars within the British forces, eventually confronting Haytham. Their conflicting visions lead to Connor killing his father and burying the Grand Temple key, thwarting the Templars.

Assassin’s Creed Liberation

1765 to 1777 - Spanish Occupation of Louisiana

Parallel to Connor's journey, Aveline de Grandpré in New Orleans uncovers a Templar plot to control Louisiana. She learns it's part of a larger conspiracy led by the 'Company Man', who uses slaves to unearth an Isu temple. Aveline gathers three components forming an Isu device called the 'Prophecy Disk'.

Discovering her stepmother is the Company Man, Aveline kills her and activates the Prophecy Disk, revealing the story of Eve, the human rebellion leader against the Isu.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

1789 to 1794 - French Revolution

Orphaned Arno Dorian, whose father was killed by Shay Cormac, is raised by the French Templar Grand Master François de la Serre. Framed for de la Serre's murder, Arno is imprisoned and later recruited by the Assassin Brotherhood to track down the killer, extremist Templar François-Thomas Germain.

As the French Revolution unfolds, Arno and his sister Élise pursue Germain to a Templar crypt where he attempts to kill Arno with a Sword of Eden. The sword backfires, killing Élise and wounding Germain, who reveals he is the current Sage. Arno seals Germain's remains in the Paris Catacombs, keeping them from the Templars.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

1868 - Victorian England

In 1868, twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye arrive in London to find the Shroud, another Isu device. They discover the Templars have control over the city through industry, politics, and crime. While Jacob targets Templar leaders, Evie searches for the Shroud.

Despite Jacob's successful assassinations, Templar leader Crawford Starrick steals the Shroud from beneath Buckingham Palace. Jacob and Evie kill Starrick and return the Shroud to its vault, securing another victory for the Assassins. Jacob later leads the London Assassins, while Evie hunts down Jack the Ripper and trains her daughter, Lydia, as an Assassin. During World War I, Lydia is tasked by Winston Churchill to investigate a Templar-run German spy facility, ultimately killing the espionage network's leader, the latest Sage.

Transition Period

1914 to 2012

While each Assassin's Creed game is set in a historical period, the series uses a modern-day framing story. During this transition, the Templars establish Abstergo Industries in 1937, a pharmaceutical company aimed at world control through capitalism. In the late 1970s, Abstergo develops the Animus, a virtual reality machine allowing exploration of ancestral memories to control the future.

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

2012

In 2012, bartender Desmond Miles is kidnapped by Abstergo to locate Isu artifacts through his ancestor Altaïr's memories. With help from Assassin mole Lucy Stillman, Desmond escapes and joins the Brotherhood. Exploring Ezio's memories, Desmond learns of an impending apocalypse and the location of an Apple of Eden, but Juno, a villainous Isu, possesses him, forcing him to kill Lucy.

Recovering from a coma, Desmond relives Ezio's final memories, discovering the Grand Temple's existence. At the temple, he sacrifices himself to activate Isu technology, preventing the apocalypse but releasing Juno.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

2013

Using Desmond's DNA, Abstergo continues its search for Isu technology through Edward Kenway's memories. Assigned to this task, "The Noob" is manipulated by Abstergo's IT head, John Standish, the modern-day Sage, who plans to use The Noob as a host for Juno. When Juno isn't ready, Standish tries to kill The Noob but is killed by Abstergo security.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

2014

To find Sage remains, Abstergo releases "Helix," allowing the public to experience genetic memories. Guided by Assassin Bishop, an initiate relives Arno's life, locating François-Thomas Germain's remains in the Paris Catacombs, believed safe from Abstergo.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

2015

The following year, the initiate searches for the Shroud in London through Jacob and Evie's memories. Abstergo beats the Assassins to it, planning to use the Shroud to create a living Isu. Juno manipulates Abstergo employees to sabotage this plan.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

2017

Abstergo researcher Layla Hassan develops a new Animus version, exploring memories directly from DNA samples. In Egypt, she uses Bayek and Aya's remains to relive the origins of the Hidden Ones. Contacted by William Miles, Layla joins the Assassin Brotherhood.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

2018

Using DNA from the Spear of Leonidas, Layla relives Kassandra's memories, finding Atlantis. Kassandra, alive due to the Staff of Hermes, reveals Layla's role in balancing the Assassins and Templars. Kassandra passes the staff to Layla and dies, relieved of her duty.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

2020

Observing Earth's magnetic field fluctuations, Layla and the Assassins explore Eivor's memories, discovering the Yggdrasil computer in Norway. Entering the simulation, Layla meets Basim and Desmond's manifestation, "The Reader." Abandoning her physical form, Layla works with The Reader to prevent future apocalypses. Basim escapes, claiming the Staff of Hermes containing Aletheia's consciousness, and joins the Assassins to find Loki's children.