Assassin’s Creed Shadows, the latest installment in the long-running series, is set in feudal Japan, placing it at the midpoint of the series’ historical timeline. The Assassin’s Creed franchise does not follow a chronological progression; instead, it jumps forward and backward through time, exploring significant historical events from the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece to the dawn of the First World War.
With 14 mainline games and counting, the timeline of these events has become increasingly complex. IGN has meticulously analyzed every piece of lore to construct a comprehensive timeline that spans centuries, detailing the overarching story and how each game fits into the narrative.
The Isu Era
75,000 BCE
To understand the timeline, we must delve into the lore. Long ago, a highly advanced civilization known as the Isu ruled the Earth. These god-like beings created humans 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. The conflict lasted a decade until a solar flare obliterated the Isu, allowing humanity to rise from the ashes and inherit the Earth.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
431 to 422 BCE - Peloponnesian War
During the Peloponnesian War, mercenary Kassandra uncovers The Cult of Kosmos, a secretive group manipulating the conflict. She learns her long-lost brother Alexios, turned into a powerful weapon by the Cult, is part of their scheme due to his Isu-descended lineage from Spartan King Leonidas. Kassandra's mission to thwart the Cult's plans leads her to destroy an Isu device they used to predict the future, ending the war. She 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 Cleopatra’s Egypt, The Order of the Ancients kidnaps peacekeeper Bayek and his son, seeking to unlock an Isu vault. Bayek, unable to do so, accidentally kills his son during their escape, driving him to seek vengeance. Alongside his wife Aya, Bayek dismantles The Order, which controls Egypt through its puppet Pharaoh, Ptolemy, and allies Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. Discovering The Order's global reach and their aim to control using the Apples of Eden, Bayek and Aya form The Hidden Ones, a secret group of spies and assassins operating from Egypt and Rome.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
861 - Islamic Golden Age
Nearly a century later, The Hidden Ones have established strongholds, including Alamut in Iran. Basim, a street thief from Baghdad, is trained as an assassin to investigate The Order of the Ancients' activities. Discovering their pursuit of an Isu temple beneath Alamut, Basim aids in fending off their forces and learns of his own past life as Loki, vowing revenge on those who imprisoned him.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
872 to 878 - Viking Invasion of England
Basim travels with a Viking clan to England to hunt down The Order of the Ancients. Clan leader Sigurd and his sibling Eivor establish Ravensthorpe, confronting King Alfred's tyranny and The Order's influence. After discovering an Isu artifact, Sigurd experiences visions, leading Basim to reveal that Eivor and Sigurd are reincarnations of Odin and Týr, whom Loki seeks to avenge. Eivor traps Basim in a simulated world, and Sigurd, traumatized, relinquishes leadership to Eivor, who defeats King Alfred and returns to Ravensthorpe as a hero.
Assassin’s Creed
1191 - Third Crusade
Over the next three centuries, The Hidden Ones evolve into the Assassin Brotherhood, while The Order of the Ancients becomes The Knights Templar, still seeking global control. During the Third Crusade, assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad steals an Apple of Eden from the Templars. Tasked with assassinating nine Templar leaders to atone for his arrogance, Altaïr uncovers a conspiracy and learns his mentor, Al Mualim, planned to use the Apple for personal gain. Altaïr kills Al Mualim and assumes leadership of the Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed II
1476 to 1499 - Italian Renaissance
In the Italian Renaissance, Ezio Auditore Da Firenze joins the Assassin Brotherhood to avenge his family, killed by the Templars. Using Leonardo Da Vinci’s inventions, Ezio battles the Borgia family and secures an Apple of Eden, revealing an Isu vault beneath the Vatican. Inside, Isu Minerva warns of an impending apocalypse in 2012, hinting at a network of Isu vaults that might hold the key to humanity's survival.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
1499 to 1507 - Italian Renaissance
After defeating Pope Rodrigo Borgia in combat, Ezio helps the weakened Assassin Brotherhood regain strength, becoming the leader of the Italian Bureau. They dismantle the Borgia regime in Rome and secure the Apple of Eden, hiding it in an Isu vault beneath the Colosseum.
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
1511 to 1512 - Ottoman Civil War
Seeking more Isu knowledge, Ezio journeys to Masyaf, where the Templars are collecting keys to Altaïr’s library. In Constantinople, Ezio allies with the Ottoman Assassins to thwart the Byzantine Templars. Inside the library, he finds Altaïr’s remains and a message from Isu Jupiter about data crucial for humanity's survival stored in the Grand Temple. Ezio leaves the Apple locked inside and retires, succumbing to his injuries shortly after.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
1579 - Sengoku Period
Set during Japan's Sengoku Period, Assassin’s Creed Shadows follows an African mercenary named Yasuke, who arrives with a Catholic missionary and joins the samurai under Oda Nobunaga. During Nobunaga’s campaign to unify Japan, Yasuke and Naoe, a shinobi from the Iga province, unite despite their conflicting allegiances.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
1715 to 1722 - Golden Age of Piracy
During the Golden Age of Piracy, Edward Kenway infiltrates a Templar meeting after killing an Assassin. The Templars seek The Observatory, an Isu device that can spy on any human. Only the 'Sage', a reincarnation of Isu Aita, can unlock it. Edward allies with pirates to find the Sage, Bartholomew Roberts, but they clash over the device. After betrayal and revenge, Edward destroys The Observatory and returns to England to live 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, causes an earthquake in Lisbon and leaves the Brotherhood, stealing their map of Isu temples. Rescued by Templars, Shay rises through their ranks, killing Assassins and halting their search for more temples. He suggests starting a revolution in France to counter the Assassins' American efforts.
Assassin’s Creed III
1754 to 1783 - American Revolution
Templar Haytham Kenway seeks to unlock the Isu Grand Temple, fathering a son, Ratonhnhaké:ton, with a Mohawk woman. After tragedy strikes, Ratonhnhaké:ton, now Connor Kenway, trains as an Assassin to avenge his people. During the American Revolution, Connor eliminates Templar threats and confronts his father, Haytham, over conflicting ideals, ultimately killing him and burying the Grand Temple key.
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, orchestrated by the 'Company Man'. Discovering her stepmother as the mastermind, Aveline kills her and activates the Prophecy Disk, an Isu device revealing the story of Eve, the human rebellion leader against the Isu.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
1789 to 1794 - French Revolution
Orphaned Arno Dorian, framed for murder, joins the Assassin Brotherhood to find his father's killer. He uncovers a Templar rift led by François-Thomas Germain, who ignites the French Revolution. Arno and his sister Élise pursue Germain, who uses a Sword of Eden, but it backfires, killing Élise. Arno seals Germain’s remains in the Paris Catacombs.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
1868 - Victorian England
Twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye arrive in London to find The Shroud, an Isu device. They discover the Templars' control over the city and split up to pursue their goals. Jacob assassinates Templar leaders, while Evie races to find The Shroud. After defeating Templar leader Crawford Starrick, the twins return The Shroud to its vault. Later, Evie tracks down Jack the Ripper and raises her daughter Lydia as an Assassin, who during World War I, eliminates a Templar-led German spy network.
Transition Period
1914 to 2012
During the transition from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate’s Victorian era to the modern storyline, the Templars establish Abstergo Industries in 1937 as a means to control the world through capitalism. In the late 1970s, they develop the Animus, a virtual reality machine that allows exploration of ancestors' memories to control the future.
Assassin’s Creed I, II, Brotherhood, Revelations, and III
2012
In 2012, Desmond Miles is abducted by Abstergo to locate Isu artifacts through his ancestor Altaïr’s memories. With help from Assassin mole Lucy Stillman, Desmond escapes and joins the Assassin Brotherhood. Through Ezio's memories, he learns of an impending apocalypse and locates an Apple of Eden, which leads to a traumatic encounter with the Isu Juno, causing Desmond to kill Lucy and fall into a coma. Upon awakening, Desmond sacrifices himself to activate Isu technology to avert the apocalypse, releasing Juno.
Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag
2013
Using Desmond’s samples, Abstergo explores Edward Kenway’s memories to find The Observatory. The Noob, an Abstergo researcher, is manipulated by the modern-day Sage, John Standish, who plans to host Juno. Standish’s attempt to kill The Noob fails as he is killed by Abstergo security.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
2014
Abstergo releases Helix, allowing public access to genetic memories. An Assassin initiate, guided by Bishop, explores Arno Dorian’s life to locate Sage François-Thomas Germain’s remains, believed safe in the Paris Catacombs.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
2015
The initiate searches for The Shroud in London through Jacob and Evie Frye’s memories. Abstergo retrieves The Shroud to create a living Isu, while Juno manipulates employees to sabotage their plans.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
2017
Layla Hassan, an Abstergo researcher, develops a new Animus version and explores Bayek and Aya's memories, leading to her recruitment by the Assassin Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
2018
Using DNA from the Spear of Leonidas, Layla relives Kassandra's memories and discovers Atlantis. Kassandra, immortal due to the Staff of Hermes, entrusts it to Layla, prophesied to balance the world's factions, and dies in her arms.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
2020
Layla and the Assassins explore Eivor’s memories, discovering the Yggdrasil computer and magnetic field disturbances linked to Desmond’s actions. In Norway, Layla enters Yggdrasil’s simulation, meeting Basim and Desmond’s manifestation, The Reader. She abandons her mortal form to prevent future apocalypses, while Basim escapes with the Staff of Hermes, containing Aletheia’s consciousness, and joins the Assassin Brotherhood to find Loki’s children.
