Assassin’s Creed’s Entire Story Explained in a Simple Timeline
Assassin’s Creed Timeline
Though the history of Assassin’s Creed starts in B.C. times, the earliest, playable part of the franchise begins in 1190 A.D. Altair, an Assassin, must retrieve an ancient relic known as the Chalice which was said would end the Third Crusade.
The first game in the franchise takes place in two timelines, which would be a recurring theme for the series. Altair searches for the powerful Peace of Eden artifact while assassinating Templar leaders in 1191. Desmond Miles, a descendant of Altair, gets captured by Abstergo Industries in 2007. The company, a Templar front, uses Miles’ memories to search for other Piece of Eden artifacts.
Altair continues his assault against the Templars shortly after the events of Assassin’s Creed. He travels to the island of Cyprus to eradicate the Templars and learn more about the Pieces of Eden.
The movie, released last year, stars Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch and Aguilar de Nerha. Lynch, like Miles, can access the memories of his ancestor through Abstergo’s Animus machine. Lynch must fight Templars in 15th Century Spain and his own time in 2016.
Assassin’s Creed: Lineage was a series of short films following Giovanni Auditore, Ezio’s father, as he investigates the assassination of the Duke of Milan and learns of Rodrigo Borgia’s conspiracy. The story takes place in 1476.
Arguably the best received game in the franchise, Assassin’s Creed II moves out of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. Desmond Miles, on the run from Abstergo after escaping, taps into memories of another ancestor from the 15th Century, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Ezio joins the Assassins to avenge the deaths of his father and brothers who were betrayed by a family friend turned Templar.
This game, released for the Nintendo DS and iOS, takes place between The Battle of Forli DLC in Sequence 12 and Bonfire of the Vanities DLC in Sequence 13 from Assassin’s Creed II. Ezio postpones his Pieces of Eden search and travels to Spain to help rebuild the Assassin Brotherhood there.
Assassin’s Creed: Ascendance is an animated short which takes place between Assassin’s Creed II and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, telling the backstory of Cesare Borgia’s rise to power. It can be found on YouTube and available to rent through Amazon.
The fourth main entry in the series expands upon the naval aspects of Assassin’s Creed III with pirate-faring sea battles. While Desmond died in the previous entry, his brain was extracted by Abstergo and the company continues to search his memories of past ancestors. Edward Kenway, a Welsh pirate in 1715, gets mixed up in the battle between Assassins and Templars.
Brotherhood picks up where Assassin’s Creed II leaves off, as Ezio continues to fight the Borgia family and growing Templar influence in Rome. In modern times, Desmond Miles and his Assassin group continue to search his memories for the location of a Piece of Eden.
Revelations is the final, playable chapter of the Ezio trilogy. In 1511, he travels to Constantinople, present day Istanbul, to search Altair’s old Assassin stronghold for another Piece of Eden. Meanwhile, Desmond Miles is trapped in an Animus-induced coma and must find a key memory that links Altair and Ezio to wake up.
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Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles
Though the history of Assassin's Creed starts in B.C. times, the earliest playable part of the franchise begins in 1190 A.D. Altair, an Assassin, must retrieve an ancient relic known as the Chalice which was said would end the Third Crusade. Turns out the Chalice is actually a woman named Adha who escapes Altair at the finale.
Assassin's Creed
The first game in the franchise takes place in two timelines, which would be a recurring theme for the series. Altair searches for the powerful Peace of Eden artifact while assassinating Templar leaders in 1191. He learns his master was a Templar member and was using the Assassins to kill anyone going after the Piece of Eden to keep to himself. Altair defeats his master, and activates the Piece of Eden which shows a holographic map of every other Piece of Eden location. Desmond Miles, a descendant of Altair, gets captured by Abstergo Industries in 2007. The company, a Templar front, uses Miles' memories to search for other Piece of Eden artifacts.
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines
Altair continues his assault against the Templars shortly after the events of Assassin's Creed. He travels to the island of Cyprus to eradicate the Templars and learn more about the Pieces of Eden.
Assassin's Creed (The Movie)
The movie, released last year, stars Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch and Aguilar de Nerha. Lynch, like Miles, can access the memories of his ancestor through Abstergo's Animus machine. Lynch must fight Templars in 15th Century Spain and his own time in 2016.
Assassin's Creed: Lineage
Assassin's Creed: Lineage was a series of short films following Giovanni Auditore, Ezio's father, as he investigates the assassination of the Duke of Milan and learns of Rodrigo Borgia's conspiracy. The story takes place in 1476 and you can watch the entire film here.
Assassin's Creed II
Arguably the best received game in the franchise, Assassin's Creed II moves out of the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. Desmond Miles, on the run from Abstergo after escaping thanks to a group of Assassins, taps into memories of another ancestor from the 15th Century, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Ezio joins the Assassins to avenge the deaths of his father and brothers who were betrayed by a family friend turned Templar. He defeats Rodrigo Borgia and uses two Pieces of Eden to open the Vault, which contains a holographic figure named Minerva. She explains she was a part of an advanced society that created humans to use as workers, but the humans rebelled and a war broke out. Humans seemingly won the war, but a coronal mass ejection wiped out most of civilization. The advanced race sealed themselves in temples to prevent it from happening again, and Minerva tells Desmond, by name, that it is up to him and his group now.
Assassin's Creed II: Discovery
This game, released for the Nintendo DS and iOS, takes place between The Battle of Forli DLC in Sequence 12 and Bonfire of the Vanities DLC in Sequence 13 from Assassin's Creed II. Ezio postpones his Pieces of Eden search and travels to Spain to help rebuild the Assassin Brotherhood there.
Assassin's Creed: Ascendance
Assassin's Creed: Ascendance is an animated short which takes place between Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, telling the backstory of Cesare Borgia's rise to power. It can be found on YouTube and available to rent through Amazon.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Brotherhood picks up where Assassin's Creed II leaves off, as Ezio continues to fight the Borgia family and growing Templar influence in Rome. He defeats Cesare Borgia, Rodrigo Borgia's son, and takes the Apple of Eden into a Vault under the Santa Maria Aracoeli. In modern times, Desmond Miles and his Assassin group travel to the Vault and he touches the Apple. He was forced to stab his ally Lucy by Juno, a scientist from the advanced civilization, before passing out.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
Revelations is the final, playable chapter of the Ezio trilogy. In 1511, he travels to Constantinople, present day Istanbul, to search Altair's old Assassin stronghold for another Piece of Eden. The elderly Ezio finds it, but does not take it knowing his existence is meant as a message for Desmond. Meanwhile, Desmond Miles is trapped in an Animus-induced coma and finds that key memory that links Altair and Ezio to wake up.
Assassin's Creed: Embers
This animated short follows a retired, elderly Ezio writing his memoirs in the year 1524. Shao Jun, a Chinese Assassin on the run from the Chinese Emperor, appears seeking his help. He helps defeat soldiers after her, and she escapes back to China. Later, Ezio dies peacefully on a city bench while his family is grocery shopping.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China
Shao Jun returns to China in 1526 to exterminate the Templar group Eight Tigers, who destroyed the Chinese Brotherhood. She succeeds, becomes an Assassin Mentor years later, and rebuilds the Brotherhood.
Assassin's Creed: Trial by Fire
Trial by Fire is a five-part comic miniseries following the Salem Witch Trials of 1692. In modern times, Charlotte de la Cruz, an over-educated conspiracy theorist, is attacked by Templars after learning she is the descendent of Assassins.
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
The fourth main entry in the series expands upon the naval aspects of Assassin's Creed III with pirate-faring sea battles. While Desmond died in the previous entry, his brain was extracted by Abstergo and the company continues to search his ancestor's memories to find the Observatory, a Piece of Eden which can monitor anyone anywhere in the world with a blood sample. Edward Kenway, a Welsh pirate in 1715, gets mixed up in the battle between Assassins and Templars and seals the Observatory for good.
Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
Forsaken is a novel about Haytham Kenway, son of Edward Kenway, becoming a Templar and his life during the events of Assassin's Creed III. The novel is presented as journal entries chronicling certain points from 1735 to 1783.
Assassin's Creed Rogue
The game takes place one year after Black Flag, during the French and Indian War. Irish Assassin Shay Cormac betrays the Brotherhood and joins the Templars to wipe out the Colonial Brotherhood in North America. After practically doing so, Cormac spends 20 years searching for the Piece of Eden that can locate other artifacts, in hopes of using it to spread Templar influence in France.
Assassin's Creed III
Taking place during the Revolutionary War in 1765, Assassin's Creed III stars the half Mohawk, half British Ratonhnhaké:ton (or Connor) in the fight against British Templars. He recovers a medallion said to open up a vault containing another Piece of Eden, and buries it in a graveyard. In the present, Desmond retrieves the medallion and activates a pedestal to save the world from impending solar flares that could wipe out civilization. Desmond dies from activating it, and Juno appears saying her time has come.
Assassin's Creed: Liberation
Liberation, originally released on the PlayStation Vita, follows former slave Aveline in her fight against Templars and slavery in post-French and Indian War New Orleans in 1766. In the present, Abstergo releases interactive experiences of the Assassin's memories, but censors any part that reflects the Templars negatively. A hacker group makes the uncensored version available to the public ahead of release.
Assassin's Creed Unity
Arno Dorian joins the Assassins in 1789 Paris to investigate the murder of his adoptive father, who turned out to be the Templar Grandmaster. Dorian rescues François-Thomas Germain, a silversmith who turned out to be the Templar Grandmaster, in his travels and defeats him in the end while the Sword of Eden explodes. The present involves "Helix," a video game console, that plays Arno's memories to a user helping out the Assassin group who have continued on from Desmond's death.
Assassin's Creed: Brahman
Brahman is a graphic novel that follows new Assassin Arbaaz Mir in 1839 India searching for a Piece of Eden, known as the Koh-i-Noor diamond, that is said to have the power to bind all other pieces. In modern times, programmer Jot Soora works for an Abstergo-based company handing out Helix consoles across India and finds out his fiancee is a descendant of Arbaaz Mir.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: India
Two years after the events of Brahman, Arbaaz Mir attempts to recover the Koh-i-Noor diamond in India while a war wages between the Sikh Empire and the East India Company. He retrieves it while protecting Mentor Hamid and his lover, Pyara Kaur.
Assassin's Creed: Underworld
The novel Underworld takes a look at Assassin Henry Green, son of Arbaaz Mir, fighting Templars in 1862 London and mentoring the twins Jacob and Evie Frye.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Jacob and Evie Frye, playable twin Assassins, fight Templars during England's Industrial Revolution and search for The Shroud, a Piece of Eden with the ability to heal any wound. They find it and, after a lengthy battle with Templar Grand Master Crawford Starrick, put it back into a vault. The Assassins in the present use the Helix console to locate The Shroud and fail to retrieve it, letting it land in Templar hands.
Assassin's Creed: The Fall
The three issue comic The Fall follows Russian Assassin Nikolai Orelov in 1888 as he attempts to assassinate Tsar Alexander III and recover a Piece of Eden. He fails, but escapes. In the present, descendant Daniel Cross experiences visions and was experimented on by Abstergo to become a Templar sleeper agent who assassinates the Mentor of the Assassins.
Assassin's Creed Chronicles: Russia
Nikolai Orelov tries to leave Russia with his family in 1918, but is tasked to complete one more mission. He must steal an artifact from the Bolsheviks holding the Tsar's family and, in the process, witnesses the murder Tsar Nicholas II's children. Orelov manages to save the princess, Anastasia, and must protect her and the artifact from the Templars.
Assassin's Creed: The Chain
The Chain is the conclusion to Nikolai Orelov's story, where he and his son live in the American wilderness in 1919 after abandoning the Assassin Brotherhood. The two fight off Assassins, but Orelov dies from battle wounds. In modern times, Daniel Cross is sent by Abstergo to infiltrate an Assassin library.
About the author
Tom Meyer
Follow on Twitter @tomeyerz for musings on video games and things that confound him.