Assassin’s Creed Shadows may be the latest game in the long-running series, but its feudal Japan setting places it at the midpoint of the series’ historical timeline. That’s because Assassin’s Creed doesn’t progress chronologically; this long-running franchise hops forwards and backwards in time between each entry, exploring significant events from as far back as the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, and right up to the dawn of the First World War.
With 14 games in the mainline series and counting, the timeline of these events is increasingly complex. That’s why IGN has pored over every scrap of lore to make sense of the series' centuries-spanning timeline, the overarching story, and how the games all fit together. The result is this timeline, which covers all the key events in the Assassin’s Creed timeline in chronological order.
The Isu Era
75,000 BCE
Before we can jump into the timeline, we need to cover a little bit of lore. Waaaay back when, a highly advanced civilization of god-like beings ruled the earth. Known as the Isu, they created the human race to act as their slaves. Humanity was kept under Isu control through the use of the Apples of Eden, a collection of incredibly powerful artefacts. People generally dislike being enslaved, though, and so two humans – Eve and Adam – stole an Apple of Eden and escaped the Isu, triggering something of a revolutionary war.
The war between the Isu and humanity continued for a decade, but was cut short when a solar flare hit the earth. The Isu were obliterated. The remains of humanity, meanwhile, were able to rise from the ashes and inherit the earth.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
431 to 422 BCE - Peloponnesian War
As the Peloponnesian War rages in Greece, a mercenary named Kassandra discovers The Cult of Kosmos; a shadowy organisation that has secretly been orchestrating the war. Among their number is her long-lost brother, Alexios, who was kidnapped by the Cult as a child and turned into a demigod-like human weapon. Kassandra learns that the Cult targeted Alexios because he possesses the genes of their grandfather, legendary Spartan King Leonidas, who was a direct descendant of the Isu.
Kassandra embarks on a mission to halt the Cult’s plan to dominate Greece, during which she learns that the organisation is using an Isu device that calculates possible futures to help control the war. Kassandra kills the key members of the Cult and destroys the Isu device, bringing the conflict in Greece to an end.
During her quest Kassandra is reunited with her biological father, Pythagoras, who is also a descendant of the Isu. Pythogoras gives Kassandra the Staff of Hermes, an Isu artifact that grants immortality, and asks her to become the eternal guardian of Atlantis.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
49 to 43 BCE - Ptolemaic Egypt
During the era of Cleopatra’s rule over Egypt, The Order of the Ancients – another shadowy organisation that worked in collaboration with the Cult of Kosmos – kidnaps a peacekeeper called Bayek and his son. The Order believes Bayek’s bloodline is the key to unlocking an Isu vault, but he is unable to do so. In the fight to escape his kidnappers Bayek accidentally kills his son. Devastated, he vows to take revenge on those responsible.
Bayek and his wife Aya work to dismantle The Order, which establishes control over Egypt using its puppet Pharoah, Ptolemy, and by bringing both Cleopatra and Julius Caesar into their ranks. While the couple are able to track down and kill the men who wronged them, they learn that The Order is not a local villain but in fact a globe-spanning conspiracy intent on controlling politics and religion by finding and using the Isu’s Apples of Eden. In an effort to fight against The Order’s oppression Bayek and Aya establish The Hidden Ones; a secret collective of spies and assassins that operate out of Egypt and Rome.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
861 - Islamic Golden Age
Almost a century later The Hidden Ones have established a number of strongholds across the world, including the mountain fortress of Alamut in Iran. There Basim, a street thief from Baghdad, is trained as an assassin and tasked with investigating The Order of the Ancients’ activities in his home city. Basim discovers that The Order seeks an Isu temple buried beneath Alamut and helps the assassins fend off The Order’s invading forces. Inside the temple Basim finds a technologically advanced prison which once held Loki – an Isu now considered a god by the Norse people. Basim learns that he is a reincarnation of Loki and vows to take revenge on those who imprisoned him in his former life.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
872 to 878 - Viking Invasion of England
During the following decade Basim travels with a Viking clan to England in hunt of more members of The Order of the Ancients. There, the clan’s leader Sigurd and his sibling Eivor travel the country in search of allies to help them establish their settlement, Ravensthorpe. As the pair aid neighbouring communities they learn of the tyranny of King Alfred, a leader within The Order who wishes to overthrow the current regime and replace it with a Christian system.
After discovering an Isu artifact Sigurd begins to experience visions that convince him he is a god. Returning to Norway to investigate the hallucinations, Basim reveals that Eivor and Sigurd are reincarnations of Odin and Týr – the Isu who imprisoned Loki – and that he has been hunting them down to enact his revenge. Eivor survives the attack and traps Basim in a simulated world generated by an Isu computer shaped like the Yggdrasil tree. Traumatised by the events, Sigurd passes leadership of the clan to Eivor, who heads back to England to defeat King Afred at the Battle of Chippenham and return to Ravensthorpe as a hero.
Assassin’s Creed
1191 - Third Crusade
The next three hundred years see The Hidden Ones adapt and change, eventually becoming known as the Assassin Brotherhood by the end of the 11th century. Its foe also evolves; King Afred’s quest for a God-fearing system morphs The Order of the Ancients into the The Knights Templar. But while the cult’s structure is new, its goals are not: the Templars are still hell-bent on establishing a new world order.
During the era of the Third Crusade, the assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad works with the Brotherhood in the Holy Land to steal an Apple of Eden from the Templars. While the theft is successful, Altaïr’s arrogant tactics result in the death of fellow assassin Kadar. The Brotherhood's leader, Al Mualim, tasks Altaïr in hunting down and assassinating nine Templar leaders in order to make up for his mistake.
Altaïr completes his task, but with each Templar killed he gradually pieces together their conspiracy to use the Apple of Eden’s powers. But there’s a twist: Al Mualim had worked with and then double-crossed the Templars to secure the Apple for himself, and plans to use its powers to forcefully impose “peace” upon the world. Altaïr has no choice but to kill his former master and take control of the Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed 2
1476 to 1499 - Italian Renaissance
Fast forward to the Italian Renaissance and Ezio Auditore Da Firenze finds himself inducted into the Assassin Brotherhood as he seeks revenge for the death of his father and brothers (an execution arranged by, you guessed it, the Templars). Using his father’s assassin equipment and new tools developed by Leonardo Da Vinci himself, Ezio wages war against the Templar-aligned Borgia family. It’s a quest that sees Ezio take possession of an Apple of Eden, which reveals the location of a secret Isu vault beneath the Vatican. The Templars already know this secret, though, and Grand Master Rodrigo Borgia is made Pope so that he can access the Vatican’s hidden chamber. And so there’s no other option: Ezio has to challenge the literal ruler of the Catholic church to a boxing match.
Emerging victorious, Ezio uses the Apple to unseal the vault. Inside he’s confronted by a vision of the Isu Minerva, who informs the assassin of an impending doom due to befall the earth in 2012. She reveals that a network of Isu vaults hidden across the world could be the key to surviving this future disaster.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
1499 to 1507 - Italian Renaissance
Ezio may have defeated the Pope in a fistfight but he didn’t kill him, a decision that backfires when Borgia’s Papal Army besieges Ezio’s Monteriggioni villa and steals the Apple of Eden. In retaliation Ezio helps the weakened Assassin Brotherhood build up its strength and numbers, a quest that sees him become the leader of the Italian Bureau. The Assassins dismantle the Borgia regime in Rome and reclaim the Apple of Eden, which Ezio hides in an Isu vault beneath the Roman Colosseum, safe from the Templars.
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
1511 to 1512 - Ottoman Civil War
In search of more information about the mysterious Isu, Ezio travels to the former Assassin Brotherhood headquarters, Masyaf, to investigate a library built by Altaïr. Annoyingly, the Templars have already discovered the library and begun to collect the five keys required to unlock it. To halt their progress, Ezio travels to Constantinople where he allies with the Ottoman Assassins against the local Byzantine Templars. His efforts disrupt the Templars' goal to re-establish the Byzantine Empire and secure the library keys it had claimed.
Inside the Masyaf library Ezio discovers Altaïr’s remains. The former Assassin leader had locked himself inside with his own Apple of Eden in an effort to keep it out of the hands of the Templars. The Apple projects a message from Jupiter, another Isu, who reveals that important data that could aid humanity survive the apocalypse has been collected in the Grand Temple. Understanding that this knowledge is not meant for him but instead a mysterious observer, Ezio leaves the library and keeps the Apple locked inside as Altaïr had intended. He retires from his duty but shortly thereafter dies due to the injuries accumulated over his three decades working with the Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
1579 - Sengoku Period
We currently know very little about the storyline of Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but what we do know is that in the 16th century an African mercenary travels with a Catholic Jesuit missionary to Japan. There he meets Oda Nobunaga, a powerful lord in the process of politically unifying the country’s warring clans. Nobunaga makes the African man one of his samurai. Taking the name Yasuke, the African man helps invade the Iga province in 1581 as part of Nobunaga’s campaign. Iga is home to Naoe, the daughter of shinobi master Fujibayashi Nagato. Despite coming from opposing sides of the conflict, Yasuke and Naoe eventually unite in pursuit of a shared goal.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
1715 to 1722 - Golden Age of Piracy
During the Golden Age of Piracy, scoundrel Edward Kenway finds himself caught up in a new Templar conspiracy after killing an Assassin and taking their place. He attends a secret meeting where he learns that the Templars have arrived in the Caribbean in search of The Observatory, an Isu machine capable of spying on any human. With it they hope to blackmail world leaders. However, only the ‘Sage’ can unlock the Observatory; a human reincarnation of the Isu Aita. The Templars seek the current reincarnation of Aita, a pirate named Bartholomew Roberts.
Seeing an opportunity to use The Observatory for profit, Edward embarks on a quest to find Roberts and disrupt the Templars. He allies with a group of pirates and helps establish an independent pirate republic before finally uniting with Roberts. The pair unlock The Observatory but disagree on what to do with it. Edward is soon betrayed by Roberts, who takes the skull-shaped artifact powering the device and locks Edward inside. Proving savvy enough to escape, Edward soon tracks down Roberts to retrieve the stolen skull and take his bloody revenge. He then returns to The Observatory, where he assassinates Templar leader Laureano de Torres y Ayala and seals the skull away, deciding the safety of the world is more important than his personal quest for riches. His war against the Templars concluded, Edward returns to his home in England where he lives out his days with his daughter, Jennifer, and son, Haytham.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue
1752 to 1776 - French and Indian War
Shay Patrick Cormac is sent by the Assassin Brotherhood to retrieve an Isu artifact from a temple in Lisbon. Shay’s disturbing of the temple causes an earthquake that almost completely destroys the city. Struck down with guilt, Shay decides to leave the Brotherhood and steal their map of Isu temples. The Assassins attempt to kill Shay for his betrayal, but he is rescued by Templars who take him to New York.
Over a number of years Shay gradually climbs the ranks of the Templar Order, killing a number of prominent Assassins as he does. His work puts him on the trail of his former master, Achilles, whom he tracks to the Arctic in hope of halting the Brotherhood’s search for more Isu temples. There, he and fellow Templar Haytham Kenway – yes, son of Edward Kenway! – injure Achilles but stop short of killing him, leaving him alive to ensure he prevents the Assassins from unearthing any more Isu temples.
In 1776, on a trip to Versailles to eliminate an Assassin, Shay suggests that the Templars start a revolution in France in response to a recent uprising sparked by the Assassins in America.
Assassin’s Creed 3
1754 to 1783 - American Revolution
The Templars set their sights on unlocking the Isu’s Grand Temple. Haytham Kenway murders a man in London to obtain the key, and then travels to the Mohawk-guarded site of the Temple in the American Colonies. Haytham fails to work out how to unlock the Temple, but finds himself falling in love with a Mohawk woman named Kaniehti:io. Together they have a child, Ratonhnhaké:ton, but Haytham eventually abandons his new family.
Years later, the Mohawk settlement is burned to the ground and Kaniehti:io is killed. Seeking revenge, Ratonhnhaké:ton renames himself Connor Kenway and trains with a reluctant Achilles to become an Assassin. Against the backdrop of the American Revolution, Connor eliminates the Templars hidden within the British forces. His quest eventually reunites him with Haytham, with whom he hopes to work with to establish some kind of peace. However, Haytham believes it’s vital that the Templars control the nation, and the pair’s conflicting ideals end in a son killing his father. Connor takes the Isu Grand Temple key and buries it, denying the Templars their end goal.
Assassin’s Creed Liberation
1765 to 1777 - Spanish Occupation of Louisiana
Occuring in parallel to Connor’s journey, New Orleans-based assassin Aveline de Grandpré learns of a Templar plot to control Louisiana. Following the trail, Aveline learns that the plot is part of a much larger conspiracy organised by the ‘Company Man’, who is using slaves to unearth an Isu temple. On her crusade to disrupt the Templars and free the slaves, Aveline collects three components that link together to form a Isu device called a ‘Prophecy Disk’.
Aveline eventually discovers that the Company Man is her own stepmother, who has been grooming her with the intent of inducting her into the Templars. Aveline kills her stepmother and then activates the Prophecy Disk, which tells the story of Eve; the leader of the human rebellion against the Isu.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
1789 to 1794 - French Revolution
Arno Dorian is orphaned as a child when Shay Cormac murders his father in Versailles. He’s taken in by François de la Serre, the Grand Master of the French Templars, and grows up alongside his new sister, Élise. As an adult, Arno is framed for the murder of de la Serre and imprisoned in the Bastille. There he meets a member of the Assassin Brotherhood who offers to help Arno track down his adoptive father’s killer.
The Brotherhood’s investigation uncovers a rift within the Templars led by the extremist François-Thomas Germain – the man behind de la Serre’s murder. Germain plots to revolt against France’s monarchy and ignite revolution. As Paris falls into chaos, Arno and Élise work together to track down Germain. They pursue him to an underground Templar crypt where he attempts to use a Sword of Eden, a powerful Isu weapon, to kill Arno. However, the sword unexpectedly explodes, killing Élise and wounding Germain. In his final moments the Templar reveals that he is the current Sage. Arno later seals Germain’s remains in the Paris Catacombs, ensuring they stay out of reach of the Templars.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
1868 - Victorian England
In 1868, twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye arrive in London in search of The Shroud, another Isu device. They soon discover that the Templars have seized complete control over the city through use of industry figures, political leaders, and organised crime. The twins split up to complete parallel goals: Jacob focuses on assassinating the Templars’ leadership, while Evie attempts to beat the Templars in the race to find The Shroud.
While all of his lieutenants are killed during Jacob’s bloody spree, Templar leader Crawford Starrick still manages to learn that The Shroud is being held in a vault beneath Buckingham Palace. He steals the device, but his plans to kill Britain’s leaders are halted when Jacob and Evie assassinate him. The twins return The Shroud to the vault, netting another victory for the Assassin Brotherhood.
In the following years, Jacob is made head of the London Assassins and Evie manages to track down and assassinate grisly serial killer Jack the Ripper. The pair later move to the countryside, where Evie raises her daughter, Lydia, as an Assassin. During the First World War, Lydia is tasked by Winston Churchill to investigate a German spy facility in London, which just so happens to be staffed by Templars. Lydia’s mission concludes when she kills the espionage network’s leader, who is revealed to be the latest Isu Sage.
Transition Period
1914 to 2012
While the majority of each Assassin’s Creed game is set during a historical time period, the series as a whole uses a framing story set during the modern era. During the transition period between Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s Victorian era and the start of the modern storyline, the Templars create Abstergo Industries. A pharmaceutical company established in 1937, Abstergo is part of the Templars efforts to control the world through capitalism. In the late 1970s, Abstergo begins development of the Animus: a virtual reality machine capable of exploring the memories of a person’s ancestors. By exploring the past, Abstergo hopes to control the future.
Assassin’s Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, and 3
2012
In 2012, bartender Desmond Miles is abducted by Abstergo Industries and forced to use the Animus. Abstergo intends to use Desmond, who is descended from Altaïr, to locate the Apples of Eden and other Isu artefacts. Thankfully for Desmond there’s an Assassin Brotherhood mole working at Abstergo, Lucy Stillman, and she helps him escape from the facility.
Desmond is brought to a Brotherhood safehouse where he works with Lucy and her teammates, Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane, to explore the memories of another one of his ancestors: Ezio. Desmond learns of the impending apocalypse via Ezio’s encounter with Minerva beneath the Vatican, kickstarting the Assassins’ quest to prevent the end of the world.
By exploring more of Ezio’s memories, Desmond is able to find the Apple of Eden that was hidden beneath the Roman Colosseum. Unfortunately, the Apple projects a vision of Juno, a villainous Isu who possesses Desmond and forces him to kill Lucy. The traumatic ordeal puts Desmond into a coma, but he’s still able to explore Ezio’s final memories despite such a medical emergency. Through them he observes Ezio’s discovery of Altaïr’s library and Jupiter’s message revealing the existence of the Grand Temple.
Awakening from his coma, Desmond travels with Shaun and Rebecca to the Isu Grand Temple in New York where they meet with William Miles, Desmond’s father and the leader of the modern Assassin Brotherhood. By reliving the memories of Connor Kenway, Desmond is able to locate the key to the Temple. Inside, the group discover that the Isu technology can prevent the apocalypse but at the cost of killing Desmond and unleashing the imprisoned Juno, who plans to control humanity. Desmond decides to sacrifice himself, believing humanity will be able to defeat Juno.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
2013
Abstergo uses samples taken from Desmond’s body to continue their hunt for Isu technology via his ancestor’s memories. In hopes of discovering the location of The Observatory, Abstergo assigns “The Noob”, an unnamed researcher, to explore the memories of Edward Kenway.
During their assignment The Noob is tasked by the company’s head of IT, John Standish, to hack Abstergo’s computers in hunt of information on the Assassins. Standish is eventually revealed to be the modern-day Sage, and he intends to use The Noob as a host for Juno. However, it turns out that Juno is not yet ready to emerge into the world, and so Standish attempts to murder The Noob to keep her existence secret. Unfortunately for him, he’s killed by Abstergo security, who believe him responsible for the hacks.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
2014
In a bold attempt to track down the remains of former Sages, Abstergo releases “Helix” to the public; a video game-like software that allows players to experience genetic memories. Guided by an Assassin called Bishop, an unnamed initiate relives the life of Arno Dorian in search of the remains of François-Thomas Germain, a Sage from the 1700s. Learning that Arno sealed Germain’s bones away in the Paris Catacombs, Bishop believes the Sage’s remains are safe from Abstergo’s grasp.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
2015
The following year, the initiate is tasked with finding The Shroud, an Isu device hidden in London. By exploring the memories of Jacob and Evie Frye the initiate learns that The Shroud is hidden beneath Buckingham Palace. Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane are sent to retrieve it but Abstergo beats them to it. By hacking a senior Templar’s computer, the Assassins learn that Abstergo intends to use The Shroud to create a living Isu. It is revealed that Juno also has her eyes on The Shroud, and has been manipulating Abstergo employees in an attempt to sabotage the Templar’s plans.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
2017
Layla Hassan, a researcher for Abstergo, has ambitions of joining the company’s Animus Project. In an attempt to prove her talent she develops a new version of the Animus capable of exploring memories via a DNA sample, completely skipping the need to find a biological descendant. On a trip to Egypt she discovers the mummified remains of Bayek and Aya and uses their DNA to relive the origins of The Hidden Ones. Layla is then contacted by William Miles, who offers her a position in the Assassin Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
2018
Using DNA samples recovered from the Spear of Leonidas, Layla is able to relive the memories of Kassandra and discover the location of Atlantis. In the mythical city she comes face to face with the Greek mercenary, kept alive for centuries thanks to the Staff of Hermes. Kassandra explains that the world needs balance between the Templars and Assassins to prevent disaster, and reveals that Layla is prophesied to bring that balance. As her final act, Kassandra gifts Laya the Staff of Hermes. Relieved of her duty to guard Atlantis, she dies in Layla’s arms.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
2020
After observing fluctuations in the Earth’s magnetic field, Layla and the Assassins recover Viking remains in New England and use them to explore the memories of Eivor. Through them Layla discovers the existence of the Yggdrasil computer which is located in an Isu temple in Norway. Simultaneously, the Assassins learn that the magnetic field disturbances are a result of the apocalypse-preventing Isu technology that Desmond Miles activated in 2012.
Laya travels to the Norway temple and uses Yggdrasil to enter its simulation, hoping to find a way to stabilise the magnetic field. Inside she meets Basim, trapped there by Eivor, and a figure called “The Reader”, a manifestation of Desmond’s mind. Abandoning her mortal form, Layla works with The Reader to prevent future apocalypses. Basim, meanwhile, escapes the simulation and claims the Staff of Hermes, which is revealed to contain the consciousness of Loki’s lover, Aletheia. He then joins the Assassin Brotherhood and uses their Animus to begin his quest to track down Loki’s children.
Matt Purslow is IGN's Senior Features Editor.
Connexion
