Home News The Complete Assassin's Creed Timeline

The Complete Assassin's Creed Timeline

Author: Patrick Mar 17,2025

Assassin's Creed Shadows, the latest installment in this sprawling saga, might seem chronologically misplaced. Its feudal Japan setting actually sits near the middle of the series' extensive historical timeline. That's because the Assassin's Creed franchise doesn't follow a strict chronological order; it leaps across centuries, exploring pivotal moments from the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece to the eve of World War I.

With 14 mainline games and counting, keeping track of this complex, centuries-spanning narrative can be challenging. IGN has meticulously researched every detail of the lore to unravel the overarching story and the connections between each game. This chronological timeline presents the key events in the Assassin's Creed universe.

The Isu Era

75,000 BCE

Before we delve into the timeline, a bit of lore is essential. Eons ago, a highly advanced civilization of god-like beings, the Isu, ruled the Earth. They created humanity to serve as their slaves, maintaining control through powerful artifacts known as the Apples of Eden. However, humanity's inherent resistance to enslavement led Eve and Adam to steal an Apple, sparking a revolutionary war.

This war raged for a decade, only to be abruptly ended by a devastating solar flare that wiped out the Isu. Humanity, scarred but surviving, inherited the Earth.

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 organization secretly manipulating the conflict. She discovers her long-lost brother, Alexios, kidnapped as a child and transformed into a demigod-like weapon by the Cult. Kassandra learns the Cult targeted Alexios due to his Isu lineage, inherited from their grandfather, the legendary Spartan King Leonidas.

Kassandra embarks on a mission to thwart the Cult's plan for Greek domination, uncovering an Isu device capable of calculating potential futures. She eliminates key Cult members, destroys the device, and brings an end to the war. Her quest reunites her with her father, Pythagoras, another Isu descendant, who bestows upon her 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, Bayek, a Medjay peacekeeper, and his son are kidnapped by the Order of the Ancients, another shadowy organization collaborating with the Cult of Kosmos. The Order seeks Bayek's bloodline to unlock an Isu vault, a quest tragically culminating in the death of his son. Devastated by loss, Bayek vows revenge.

Bayek and his wife, Aya, dismantle the Order, exposing its puppet Pharaoh, Ptolemy, and its influence over Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. Their quest reveals the Order's global reach, manipulating politics and religion through Isu Apples of Eden. To combat oppression, Bayek and Aya establish the Hidden Ones, a secret network of spies and assassins operating across Egypt and Rome.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

861 - Islamic Golden Age

Centuries later, the Hidden Ones have established strongholds globally, including Alamut in Iran. Basim Ibn Ishaq, a Baghdad street thief, undergoes assassin training, investigating the Order of the Ancients in his city. He discovers the Order's pursuit of an Isu temple beneath Alamut, aiding the assassins in repelling an invasion. Inside, Basim uncovers a technologically advanced prison, once holding Loki, an Isu now revered as a god by the Norse. He learns of his own reincarnation as Loki and vows revenge.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

872 to 878 - Viking Invasion of England

Basim accompanies a Viking clan to England, continuing his hunt for the Order of the Ancients. Clan leader Sigurd and his sibling, Eivor, establish the settlement of Ravensthorpe, encountering King Alfred, an Order member seeking to impose a Christian regime. Sigurd's discovery of an Isu artifact triggers visions, revealing his identity as a reincarnation of Odin. Basim, as Loki, attacks, revealing Eivor and Sigurd as reincarnations of Odin and Týr, respectively. Eivor traps Basim in a Yggdrasil-shaped Isu computer simulation. Sigurd relinquishes leadership to Eivor, who defeats Alfred and returns as a hero.

Assassin’s Creed

1191 - Third Crusade

Over the next three centuries, the Hidden Ones evolve into the Assassin Brotherhood, facing the Knights Templar, the evolved Order of the Ancients. During the Third Crusade, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad steals an Apple of Eden, but his actions lead to the death of a fellow assassin. He is tasked with assassinating nine Templar leaders, uncovering Al Mualim's betrayal and seizing the Apple for himself. Altaïr kills Al Mualim to prevent the misuse of the Apple's power.

Assassin’s Creed 2

1476 to 1499 - Italian Renaissance

In the Italian Renaissance, Ezio Auditore da Firenze joins the Assassin Brotherhood, seeking revenge for his family's murder at the hands of the Templars. Using his father's equipment and Leonardo da Vinci's inventions, he combats the Borgia family. He obtains an Apple of Eden, revealing an Isu vault beneath the Vatican, where he confronts Rodrigo Borgia, the Templar Grand Master and Pope. Ezio wins, accessing the vault and encountering Minerva, who foretells a 2012 apocalypse and hints at a network of Isu vaults.

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood

1499 to 1507 - Italian Renaissance

Following his victory, the Borgia army steals the Apple of Eden. Ezio rebuilds the Assassin Brotherhood, becoming leader of the Italian Bureau. They dismantle the Borgia regime in Rome and recover the Apple, which Ezio hides in an Isu vault beneath the Colosseum.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations

1511 to 1512 - Ottoman Civil War

Seeking Isu knowledge, Ezio investigates Altaïr's library in Masyaf, encountering Templar interference. He travels to Constantinople, allying with Ottoman Assassins against Byzantine Templars. In the library, he finds Altaïr's remains and an Apple of Eden containing a message from Jupiter, revealing the Grand Temple and its importance. Ezio leaves the Apple untouched, retiring and dying shortly after.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

1579 - Sengoku Period

In 16th-century Japan, an African mercenary, Yasuke, travels with a Jesuit missionary and becomes a samurai under Oda Nobunaga. He encounters Naoe, daughter of a shinobi master, and they unite despite their opposing sides in the conflict.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

1715 to 1722 - Golden Age of Piracy

Edward Kenway becomes entangled in a Templar conspiracy involving the Observatory, an Isu device used for blackmail. He seeks the Sage, Bartholomew Roberts, to control the Observatory. Edward allies with pirates, establishes a republic, and ultimately retrieves the Observatory's power source from Roberts, assassinating Laureano de Torres y Ayala and securing the artifact. He returns to England.

Assassin’s Creed Rogue

1752 to 1776 - French and Indian War

Shay Patrick Cormac, after causing an earthquake in Lisbon, defects from the Assassin Brotherhood, stealing their map of Isu temples. He joins the Templars, assassinating prominent Assassins. He confronts Achilles in the Arctic, preventing the Assassins from finding more Isu temples. In 1776, he suggests a Templar-led revolution in France.

Assassin’s Creed 3

1754 to 1783 - American Revolution

Haytham Kenway seeks the Grand Temple, traveling to the American Colonies. His son, Connor (Ratonhnhaké:ton), becomes an Assassin, fighting Templars during the American Revolution. Connor eventually confronts and kills his father, Haytham, securing the Grand Temple key.

Assassin’s Creed Liberation

1765 to 1777 - Spanish Occupation of Louisiana

Aveline de Grandpré uncovers a Templar plot to control Louisiana, discovering her stepmother's involvement and her role in using slaves to unearth an Isu temple. Aveline confronts and kills her stepmother, activating a Prophecy Disk revealing Eve's story.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

1789 to 1794 - French Revolution

Arno Dorian, orphaned by Shay Cormac, is framed for murder and imprisoned. He joins the Assassins, uncovering a Templar plot led by François-Thomas Germain. Arno and Élise work together, confronting Germain in a Templar crypt, where a Sword of Eden explodes, killing Élise and wounding Germain. Arno seals Germain's remains.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

1868 - Victorian England

Jacob and Evie Frye arrive in London, seeking the Shroud. They combat the Templars' control over the city, with Jacob assassinating leaders and Evie pursuing the Shroud. They recover the Shroud, assassinate Crawford Starrick, and return the artifact to its vault. Evie later raises her daughter, Lydia, who during World War I kills the latest Isu Sage.

Transition Period

1914 to 2012

The Templars establish Abstergo Industries, aiming for global control through capitalism and the Animus, a virtual reality machine accessing ancestral memories.

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

2012

Desmond Miles, an Assassin descendant, is forced by Abstergo to use the Animus, aided by Lucy Stillman. He explores the memories of Altaïr and Ezio, learning of the impending apocalypse. He locates the Apple of Eden, but Juno possesses him, causing him to kill Lucy. He awakens, travels to the Grand Temple, and sacrifices himself to prevent the apocalypse.

Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag

2013

Abstergo uses Desmond's DNA to explore Edward Kenway's memories, seeking the Observatory. The Noob, an Abstergo researcher, discovers John Standish, the modern-day Sage, who attempts to use The Noob as a Juno host but is killed.

Assassin’s Creed Unity

2014

Abstergo releases Helix, allowing players to explore Arno Dorian's memories, guided by Bishop, an Assassin seeking François-Thomas Germain's remains.

Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

2015

The initiate explores Jacob and Evie Frye's memories, discovering Abstergo's plan to create a living Isu using the Shroud, with Juno also manipulating events.

Assassin’s Creed Origins

2017

Layla Hassan, an Abstergo researcher, uses Bayek and Aya's DNA to explore the origins of the Hidden Ones and is later recruited by the Assassins.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

2018

Layla explores Kassandra's memories, discovering Atlantis and meeting Kassandra, who reveals Layla's role in bringing balance and bestows the Staff of Hermes upon her before dying.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla

2020

Layla explores Eivor's memories, discovering the Yggdrasil computer in Norway. She enters the simulation, meeting Basim and Desmond's consciousness ("The Reader"), working to prevent future apocalypses. Basim escapes, obtains the Staff of Hermes containing Aletheia, and joins the Assassins.

Assassin's Creed