The Complete Assassin's Creed Timeline

Assassin’s Creed Shadows is the latest installment in the iconic series, set during the Sengoku period of feudal Japan in 1579. While the game is new, its historical setting places it at the midpoint of the series' timeline, which spans from ancient times to the dawn of the First World War. The Assassin’s Creed series is renowned for its non-linear approach to history, jumping across centuries to explore pivotal events and eras.

With a total of 14 mainline games and counting, the Assassin’s Creed timeline has become increasingly intricate. To help fans navigate this complex narrative, IGN has meticulously pieced together the series' lore, creating a comprehensive timeline that organizes all the key events in chronological order.

The Isu Era

75,000 BCE

Before delving into the timeline, it's essential to understand the foundational lore. In the distant past, a highly advanced civilization known as the Isu ruled Earth. These god-like beings engineered the human race as their servants, 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. The 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 Greece, mercenary Kassandra uncovers The Cult of Kosmos, a secretive group manipulating the conflict. Her brother Alexios, kidnapped and transformed into a powerful weapon by the Cult, is among its members. 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 dismantle the Cult leads her to destroy an Isu device used to predict future outcomes, ultimately ending the war. Kassandra also reunites with her father, Pythagoras, who gifts her the Staff of Hermes, an artifact granting immortality, and entrusts her with guarding Atlantis.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

49 to 43 BCE - Ptolemaic Egypt

In the time of Cleopatra’s reign, The Order of the Ancients, linked to the Cult of Kosmos, kidnaps peacekeeper Bayek and his son, seeking to unlock an Isu vault using Bayek’s bloodline. After accidentally killing his son during their escape, Bayek vows vengeance. Alongside his wife Aya, he uncovers The Order's global conspiracy to control politics and religion using the Apples of Eden. To combat this threat, they found The Hidden Ones, a secretive group of spies and assassins based in Egypt and Rome.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

861 - Islamic Golden Age

Nearly a century later, The Hidden Ones have established strongholds worldwide, including Alamut in Iran. Basim, a Baghdad street thief, is trained as an assassin and tasked with investigating The Order of the Ancients in his city. He discovers their plan to access an Isu temple beneath Alamut, where he finds a prison once holding Loki, an Isu revered as a god by the Norse. Realizing he is Loki’s reincarnation, Basim vows to exact revenge on those who imprisoned him.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

872 to 878 - Viking Invasion of England

In the following decade, Basim joins a Viking clan in England to pursue members of The Order. The clan's leader, Sigurd, and his sibling Eivor, work to establish their settlement, Ravensthorpe, while confronting the tyranny of King Alfred, a leader within The Order. After encountering an Isu artifact, Sigurd experiences visions convincing him of his divinity. Basim reveals that Eivor and Sigurd are reincarnations of Odin and Týr, Isu who imprisoned Loki. Eivor traps Basim in a simulated world generated by an Isu computer resembling the Yggdrasil tree. Sigurd, traumatized, relinquishes leadership to Eivor, who returns to England to defeat King Alfred at the Battle of Chippenham and becomes a hero at Ravensthorpe.

Assassin’s Creed

1191 - Third Crusade

Three hundred years later, The Hidden Ones evolve into the Assassin Brotherhood. Their adversaries, The Order of the Ancients, transform into The Knights Templar, maintaining their goal of a new world order. During the Third Crusade, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, tasked with stealing an Apple of Eden, must atone for his arrogance by assassinating nine Templar leaders. He uncovers a conspiracy involving the Apple, and learns that his mentor, Al Mualim, betrayed the Templars to control the artifact's power. Altaïr kills Al Mualim and takes leadership of the Brotherhood.

Assassin’s Creed 2

1476 to 1499 - Italian Renaissance

In the Italian Renaissance, Ezio Auditore Da Firenze is drawn into the Assassin Brotherhood following the Templar-orchestrated execution of his family. Armed with his father’s tools and new inventions from Leonardo Da Vinci, Ezio battles the Templar-aligned Borgia family. He acquires an Apple of Eden, which leads him to an Isu vault beneath the Vatican. There, he confronts a vision of the Isu Minerva, who warns of an impending apocalypse in 2012 and reveals the existence of Isu vaults that could prevent it.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

1499 to 1507 - Italian Renaissance

After sparing the life of Pope Rodrigo Borgia, Ezio faces the consequences when the Papal Army attacks his villa and steals the Apple of Eden. He rebuilds the weakened Assassin Brotherhood, becoming the leader of the Italian Bureau. The Assassins dismantle the Borgia regime in Rome and secure the Apple, which Ezio hides in an Isu vault beneath the Colosseum.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations

1511 to 1512 - Ottoman Civil War

In pursuit of Isu knowledge, Ezio journeys to Masyaf to explore Altaïr's library, only to find the Templars already there, seeking its keys. He allies with the Ottoman Assassins in Constantinople to thwart the Byzantine Templars' plans to re-establish their empire. Inside the library, Ezio discovers Altaïr’s remains and a message from the Isu Jupiter about data crucial for humanity's survival, stored in the Grand Temple. Ezio leaves the Apple locked away as Altaïr intended and retires, later succumbing to injuries sustained over his long career.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

1579 - Sengoku Period

Set in 16th-century Japan, Assassin’s Creed Shadows follows an African mercenary and a Catholic Jesuit missionary as they encounter Oda Nobunaga, a powerful daimyo unifying Japan. The mercenary, named Yasuke, becomes one of Nobunaga’s samurai and participates in the invasion of Iga province in 1581. There, he meets 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 inadvertently joins the Assassin Brotherhood after killing one of its members. He learns of the Templars' quest for The Observatory, an Isu device capable of spying on anyone. Only the Sage, a human reincarnation of the Isu Aita, can unlock it. Edward allies with pirate Bartholomew Roberts, the current Sage, to access The Observatory but is betrayed. After escaping, he kills Roberts and the Templar leader, sealing The Observatory to protect the world. Edward retires 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 Assassins to retrieve an Isu artifact, inadvertently triggers an earthquake in Lisbon, prompting his defection to the Templars. He climbs their ranks, killing prominent Assassins, and with Haytham Kenway, son of Edward Kenway, confronts his former master Achilles. Shay suggests starting a revolution in France to counter the Assassins' American uprising.

Assassin’s Creed 3

1754 to 1783 - American Revolution

Haytham Kenway seeks to unlock the Isu’s Grand Temple, but fails. He fathers a child, Ratonhnhaké:ton, with a Mohawk woman before abandoning them. After his mother’s death, Ratonhnhaké:ton, now Connor Kenway, becomes an Assassin and fights against Templars during the American Revolution. He confronts his father, Haytham, and ultimately kills him, securing the Grand Temple key and denying the Templars their goal.

Assassin’s Creed Liberation

1765 to 1777 - Spanish Occupation of Louisiana

Aveline de Grandpré, an Assassin in New Orleans, uncovers a Templar plot to control Louisiana using slaves to unearth an Isu temple. She learns the plot is part of a larger conspiracy led by the 'Company Man', her stepmother, who seeks to induct Aveline into the Templars. Aveline kills her and uses the Isu device, the Prophecy Disk, to uncover the story of Eve’s rebellion against the Isu.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

1789 to 1794 - French Revolution

Orphaned Arno Dorian, raised by the Templar Grand Master François de la Serre, is framed for his adoptive father’s murder and joins the Assassin Brotherhood. He uncovers a Templar schism led by François-Thomas Germain, who seeks to ignite the French Revolution. Alongside his sister Élise, Arno pursues Germain, who tries to use a Sword of Eden against him. The sword explodes, killing Élise and wounding Germain, who reveals himself as the Sage. Arno seals Germain's remains in the Paris Catacombs, keeping them from the Templars.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

1868 - Victorian England

In Victorian London, twin Assassins Jacob and Evie Frye seek The Shroud, an Isu device. They discover the Templars control the city through industry, politics, and crime. Jacob assassinates Templar leaders while Evie searches for The Shroud. Templar leader Crawford Starrick steals The Shroud from beneath Buckingham Palace, but the twins kill him and return the artifact to its vault. Jacob leads the London Assassins, and Evie later tracks down and kills Jack the Ripper, raising her daughter Lydia as an Assassin. During WWI, Lydia thwarts a Templar espionage network led by another Sage.

Transition Period

1914 to 2012

The Assassin’s Creed series uses a modern-day framing story. During the transition from the Victorian era to the modern storyline, the Templars establish Abstergo Industries in 1937 as a pharmaceutical company. In the late 1970s, Abstergo develops the Animus, a device that lets users explore ancestral memories, aiming to control the future by understanding the past.

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

2012

In 2012, Desmond Miles, a descendant of Altaïr, is abducted by Abstergo and forced to use the Animus to locate Isu artifacts. With help from Assassin mole Lucy Stillman, he escapes and joins the Brotherhood. Desmond explores Ezio’s memories, learning of an impending apocalypse. He finds an Apple of Eden, but Juno, an Isu villain, possesses him, forcing him to kill Lucy. In a coma, Desmond continues exploring Ezio’s memories, discovering the Grand Temple's existence. He sacrifices himself to activate Isu technology and 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 tasked with hacking Abstergo’s systems by John Standish, the modern-day Sage. Standish’s plan to use The Noob as a host for Juno fails when he is killed by Abstergo security, believing him responsible for the hacks.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

2014

Abstergo releases Helix, allowing public access to genetic memories. An Assassin initiate, guided by Bishop, relives Arno Dorian’s life to locate the remains of Sage François-Thomas Germain. Learning they are sealed in the Paris Catacombs, Bishop believes they are safe from Abstergo.

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 these plans.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

2017

Layla Hassan, an Abstergo researcher, develops a new Animus version that uses DNA samples to explore memories. In Egypt, she relives Bayek and Aya’s lives, uncovering the origins of The Hidden Ones. 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 and discovers Atlantis. Kassandra, kept alive by the Staff of Hermes, explains the need for balance between the Assassins and Templars. She gifts Layla the Staff, dying as Layla assumes her role.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

2020

Layla investigates magnetic field fluctuations, exploring Eivor’s memories. She discovers the Yggdrasil computer in Norway, linked to the Isu technology Desmond activated. Inside the simulation, she works with Desmond’s consciousness to prevent future apocalypses. Basim escapes the simulation, claiming the Staff of Hermes containing Aletheia's consciousness, and joins the Assassins to search for Loki’s children.