Assassin’s Creed Shadows marks the latest installment in the expansive Assassin’s Creed series, set in the rich backdrop of feudal Japan. This setting places it in the middle of the series' historical timeline, as the franchise does not follow a strictly chronological order but instead jumps across various epochs, from the ancient Peloponnesian War to the onset of the First World War.
With a total of 14 mainline games and counting, the timeline of the Assassin’s Creed series grows increasingly intricate. IGN has meticulously analyzed every piece of lore to construct a comprehensive timeline that organizes the centuries-spanning narrative and the interconnections between each game.
The Isu Era
75,000 BCE
To fully grasp the timeline, it's essential to understand some foundational lore. Long before recorded history, a technologically advanced civilization known as the Isu dominated Earth. These beings, akin to gods, engineered humans as their servants, controlling them with powerful artifacts called the Apples of Eden. However, the desire for freedom sparked a rebellion led by humans Adam and Eve, who stole an Apple of Eden and ignited a war against their creators.
This conflict lasted a decade until a catastrophic solar flare struck Earth, wiping out the Isu. Humanity, though severely diminished, emerged from the ruins to rebuild and inherit the planet.
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey
431 to 422 BCE - Peloponnesian War
Amidst the chaos of the Peloponnesian War in Greece, mercenary Kassandra uncovers the Cult of Kosmos, a clandestine group manipulating the war from the shadows. Her journey reveals her brother Alexios, abducted by the Cult as a child and transformed into a powerful weapon due to their shared lineage with the legendary Spartan King Leonidas, an Isu descendant.
Kassandra's mission to thwart the Cult involves dismantling their plans to control Greece using an Isu device capable of forecasting future outcomes. She successfully eliminates key members and destroys the device, ending the conflict. Her journey also reunites her with her father, Pythagoras, another Isu descendant, who entrusts her with the Staff of Hermes, granting immortality, and tasks her with safeguarding Atlantis.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
49 to 43 BCE - Ptolemaic Egypt
During Cleopatra's reign in Egypt, the Order of the Ancients, an organization linked to the Cult of Kosmos, kidnaps peacekeeper Bayek and his son in pursuit of an Isu vault. Bayek's inability to unlock it leads to a tragic accident where he inadvertently causes his son's death, fueling his quest for vengeance.
Together with his wife Aya, Bayek dismantles the Order's grip on Egypt, which had infiltrated the ruling class, including Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. They uncover the Order's global conspiracy to manipulate politics and religion using the Apples of Eden. In response, they establish the Hidden Ones, a secretive group of spies and assassins dedicated to opposing the Order's tyranny.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage
861 - Islamic Golden Age
By the 9th century, the Hidden Ones have expanded globally, with strongholds like Alamut in Iran. Basim, a Baghdad street thief, is trained as an assassin to investigate the Order of the Ancients' activities in his city. He discovers their quest for an Isu temple beneath Alamut and helps defend against their attack.
Inside the temple, Basim uncovers a prison holding Loki, an Isu revered as a Norse god. Learning he is Loki's reincarnation, Basim vows to avenge his past imprisonment.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
872 to 878 - Viking Invasion of England
Basim joins a Viking clan in England to hunt down members of the Order. Clan leaders Sigurd and Eivor navigate England, forging alliances and confronting the oppressive rule of King Alfred, a prominent Order member seeking to establish a Christian regime.
Sigurd's encounter with an Isu artifact leads to visions of his divinity, prompting a return to Norway. There, Basim reveals that Eivor and Sigurd are reincarnations of Odin and Týr, Isu who imprisoned Loki. Eivor survives Basim's attack and traps him in a simulated world within the Yggdrasil computer. Traumatized, Sigurd relinquishes leadership to Eivor, who triumphs over King Alfred at the Battle of Chippenham 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 their adversaries, the Order of the Ancients, transform into the Knights Templar, still driven to establish a new world order.
During the Third Crusade, assassin Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad works to retrieve an Apple of Eden from the Templars. His initial arrogance leads to tragedy, but his subsequent mission to assassinate nine Templar leaders exposes their conspiracy. A shocking betrayal reveals that Altaïr's mentor, Al Mualim, sought the Apple's power for himself, forcing Altaïr to kill him and assume leadership of the Brotherhood.
Assassin’s Creed 2
1476 to 1499 - Italian Renaissance
In the Renaissance era, Ezio Auditore da Firenze joins the Assassin Brotherhood to avenge his family's execution by the Templars. Equipped with his father's tools and new inventions from Leonardo da Vinci, Ezio confronts the Templar-aligned Borgia family, uncovering an Apple of Eden that leads to an Isu vault beneath the Vatican.
Ezio battles Pope Rodrigo Borgia, a Templar Grand Master, to access the vault. Inside, he encounters the Isu Minerva, who warns of an impending apocalypse in 2012 and suggests that a network of Isu vaults could be humanity's salvation.
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
1499 to 1507 - Italian Renaissance
After defeating Borgia but sparing his life, Ezio faces the consequences when the Pope's forces besiege his home and steal the Apple of Eden. In response, Ezio revitalizes the weakened Assassin Brotherhood, becoming the leader of the Italian Bureau. They overthrow the Borgia regime in Rome and secure the Apple, hiding it in an Isu vault beneath the Colosseum.
Assassin’s Creed Revelations
1511 to 1512 - Ottoman Civil War
Seeking more knowledge about the Isu, Ezio journeys to Masyaf, where Altaïr built a library. The Templars, also after the library, are collecting keys to unlock it. Ezio allies with the Ottoman Assassins in Constantinople to thwart their plans and secure the keys.
Inside the library, Ezio finds Altaïr's remains and an Apple of Eden, which projects a message from the Isu Jupiter about data crucial for humanity's survival stored in the Grand Temple. Realizing the message is meant for someone else, Ezio leaves the Apple secured and retires, later succumbing to injuries sustained over his long career.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
1579 - Sengoku Period
Details about Assassin’s Creed Shadows are limited, but it is set during Japan's Sengoku period. An African mercenary, accompanying a Catholic missionary, meets the powerful warlord Oda Nobunaga and becomes his samurai, taking the name Yasuke. During Nobunaga's campaign to unify Japan, Yasuke participates in the invasion of the Iga province, home to Naoe, a shinobi's daughter. Despite their opposing allegiances, Yasuke and Naoe unite for a common cause.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
1715 to 1722 - Golden Age of Piracy
During the Golden Age of Piracy, pirate Edward Kenway becomes entangled in a Templar plot to control the Caribbean using the Observatory, an Isu device for spying on humans. Only the Sage, a reincarnation of the Isu Aita, can unlock it. Edward allies with pirates to find the current Sage, Bartholomew Roberts, and disrupt the Templars.
Despite their success, Edward and Roberts clash over the Observatory's use, leading to betrayal. Edward ultimately retrieves the device's key, assassinates Templar leader Laureano de Torres y Ayala, and seals away the Observatory, prioritizing global safety over personal gain. He returns to England to live with his family.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue
1752 to 1776 - French and Indian War
Shay Patrick Cormac, an Assassin, is tasked with retrieving an Isu artifact from Lisbon, unintentionally causing a devastating earthquake. Stricken with guilt, Shay defects, steals the Assassins' map of Isu temples, and is saved by the Templars. He rises through their ranks, hunting down Assassins and confronting his former mentor, Achilles, in the Arctic to prevent further Isu temple excavations.
In 1776, Shay suggests starting a revolution in France to counter the Assassins' influence in America, marking a pivotal moment in Templar strategy.
Assassin’s Creed 3
1754 to 1783 - American Revolution
Templar Haytham Kenway seeks to unlock the Isu's Grand Temple, traveling to the American Colonies after murdering a keyholder in London. His journey leads to a romance with Kaniehti:io, resulting in the birth of their son, Ratonhnhaké:ton. When their settlement is destroyed and Kaniehti:io killed, Ratonhnhaké:ton, now Connor Kenway, joins the Assassins to avenge his mother.
During the American Revolution, Connor eliminates Templar threats and confronts his father, Haytham, over their conflicting visions for America. Their clash ends in tragedy, with Connor killing Haytham and burying the Grand Temple key, thwarting the Templars' plans.
Assassin’s Creed Liberation
1765 to 1777 - Spanish Occupation of Louisiana
Parallel to Connor's story, New Orleans assassin Aveline de Grandpré uncovers a Templar plot in Louisiana led by the 'Company Man,' who uses slaves to access an Isu temple. Aveline's quest to stop the Templars and liberate the slaves leads her to collect parts of an Isu device called the 'Prophecy Disk.'
She discovers her stepmother is the Company Man, intent on inducting Aveline into the Templars. After killing her, Aveline activates the Prophecy Disk, which recounts the story of Eve, the human rebellion leader against the Isu.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
1789 to 1794 - French Revolution
Orphaned Arno Dorian, raised by Templar François de la Serre, is framed for his murder and imprisoned. In the Bastille, he meets an Assassin who helps him uncover a Templar schism led by François-Thomas Germain, the true killer. As the French Revolution unfolds, Arno and his Templar sister Élise pursue Germain, who seeks to use a Sword of Eden to overthrow the monarchy.
Their confrontation ends with the sword's explosion, killing Élise and mortally wounding Germain, who reveals himself as the Sage. Arno later secures Germain's remains in the Paris Catacombs, out of Templar reach.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
1868 - Victorian England
In Victorian London, twin assassins Jacob and Evie Frye seek the Shroud, an Isu healing device. They discover the Templars control the city through industry, politics, and crime. Jacob assassinates Templar leaders while Evie searches for the Shroud.
Despite losing his lieutenants, Templar leader Crawford Starrick finds the Shroud beneath Buckingham Palace. The twins assassinate him and return the Shroud to its vault, securing another Assassin victory. Jacob later leads the London Assassins, while Evie tracks down Jack the Ripper and raises her daughter, Lydia, as an Assassin. During World War I, Lydia foils a Templar espionage operation led by the current Sage.
Transition Period
1914 to 2012
The Assassin’s Creed series frames its historical narratives with modern-day stories. During this period, the Templars establish Abstergo Industries, a pharmaceutical company, in 1937, as part of their plan to control the world through capitalism. By the late 1970s, Abstergo develops the Animus, a device for exploring ancestral memories, aiming to manipulate the future through the past.
Assassin’s Creed 1, 2, Brotherhood, Revelations, and 3
2012
In 2012, bartender Desmond Miles is kidnapped by Abstergo to use the Animus and locate Isu artifacts. An Assassin mole, Lucy Stillman, aids his escape, and he joins the modern Assassin Brotherhood at a safehouse. Through the Animus, Desmond explores Ezio's memories, learning of an impending apocalypse from the Isu Minerva.
Desmond retrieves an Apple of Eden from beneath the Colosseum, but Juno, a malevolent Isu, possesses him and forces him to kill Lucy. Comatose, Desmond still accesses Ezio's memories, discovering the Grand Temple's existence. Upon waking, he and the Assassins locate the Temple, where Desmond sacrifices himself to activate Isu technology, preventing the apocalypse but freeing Juno.
Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
2013
Using Desmond's DNA, Abstergo continues its search for Isu technology through his ancestor Edward Kenway. A researcher, dubbed "The Noob," is assigned to explore Edward's memories and locate the Observatory. Abstergo's IT head, John Standish, a modern-day Sage, manipulates The Noob to hack into Abstergo's systems, but his plan to host Juno fails, leading to his death by Abstergo security.
Assassin’s Creed Unity
2014
Abstergo releases the Helix software, allowing public access to genetic memories. An Assassin, Bishop, guides an initiate to explore Arno Dorian's life, discovering the location of Sage François-Thomas Germain's remains in the Paris Catacombs, out of Abstergo's reach.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
2015
The initiate's next task is to find the Shroud in London through Jacob and Evie Frye's memories. Abstergo retrieves it before the Assassins, planning to create a living Isu. Juno, manipulating Abstergo, aims to sabotage these plans.
Assassin’s Creed Origins
2017
Abstergo researcher Layla Hassan develops an Animus version that uses DNA samples directly. In Egypt, she explores Bayek and Aya's memories, tracing 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 relives Kassandra's memories, uncovering Atlantis. Kassandra, immortal due to the Staff of Hermes, entrusts Layla with the staff, believing she is destined to balance the Templars and Assassins. Kassandra dies, relieved of her duty.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
2020
Layla investigates magnetic field anomalies, exploring Eivor's memories through Viking remains. She discovers the Yggdrasil computer in Norway, linked to the Isu technology Desmond activated. Inside the simulation, Layla works with Desmond's consciousness, "The Reader," to prevent future apocalypses. Basim, freed from the simulation, claims the Staff of Hermes, containing Aletheia, and joins the Assassins to seek Loki's children.
