Start with Assassin’s Creed II
Then Brotherhood → Revelations → III before branching outward.
Enter the Assassin’s Creed universe
Synchronise history
Preserve the modern story.
Explore 87 distinct games, novels, comics, screen stories and audio works across the historical memories—then follow the separate 21-part modern-day frame in release order.
Last editorial check
Universe orientation
Two timelines. One conflict that refuses to sort cleanly.
The quick answer
Use release order for a first playthrough. Historical order begins with Odyssey-era material, but it scrambles Desmond, Layla and the modern-day plot beyond recognition.
You land on the full chronology. Switch to release order—or turn on Starter Mode only when you need a shorter run.The second chronology
The modern-day story, in the only order that works.
Desmond, Abstergo, Layla and the Animus Hub move forward by release—not by the century being simulated. These 21 frame chapters are shown separately so historical browsing never destroys their narrative.
Modern chapter 01Chapter I — The Desmond Miles Saga5 frames
- M1Sept 20122007Canon
Abstergo abduction
Found in Assassin's Creed
Desmond Miles, bartender and Assassin descendant, is kidnapped by Abstergo Industries and forced into the Animus.
- M2Sept–Oct 20122009Canon
The escape and the farm
Found in AC II
Lucy Stillman breaks Desmond out. Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane join. First contact with Minerva.
- M3Oct 20122010Canon
Monteriggioni
Found in AC Brotherhood
The team occupies the Auditore villa. Ends with Juno forcing Desmond to kill Lucy — the franchise's most shocking moment.
- M4Oct–Dec 20122011Canon
Animus Island
Found in AC Revelations
Desmond comatose, his mind fragmenting. Subject 16 appears. The most experimental modern-day segment.
- M5Dec 20122012Canon
The Grand Temple
Found in AC III
Desmond's death and Juno's release. The end of the saga the franchise was originally built around. Everything after this is a different show.
Modern chapter 02Chapter II — The Abstergo Entertainment Era9 frames
- M620132013Canon
The research analyst
Found in AC IV: Black Flag
You are a nameless Abstergo Entertainment employee mining Edward Kenway's memories for a video game. Sharply satirical; quietly the best-written modern-day segment.
- M720132014Canon
The analyst, continued
Found in AC Rogue
Same employee, now working the Templar side. Direct continuation.
- M820142014Canon
The Initiates and Helix
Found in AC Unity
You become a Helix user directed by "Bishop." Juno's plans advance.
- M920152015Canon
Juno's endgame begins
Found in AC Syndicate
Shaun and Rebecca in London. The Shroud of Eden.
- M1020152015–16Canon
AC (Titan comic, 2015)
Found in [READ] comic
Charlotte de la Cruz, a new modern-day Assassin. Runs parallel to the games.
- M1120152016Canon
AC: Locus
Found in [READ] comic (4 issues)
Tie-in to the Last Descendants novels.
- M122015–162016–18Canon
AC: Last Descendants trilogy
Found in [READ] novels
Matthew J. Kirby. Last Descendants, Tomb of the Khan, Fate of the Gods. YA; a separate modern-day cell.
- M1320162017Canon
AC: Uprising
Found in [READ] comic (12 issues)
Juno's death happens here — in a comic, not a game. Arguably the single most consequential piece of plot the franchise has ever put outside the games.
- M1420162017Canon
AC: Reflections
Found in [READ] comic (4 issues)
Anthology; short historical vignettes framed in the present.
Modern chapter 03Chapter III — The Layla Hassan Trilogy4 frames
- M1520172017Canon
Sinai
Found in AC Origins
Layla Hassan, an Abstergo Historical Research engineer, goes rogue with a portable Animus.
- M1620182018Canon
The Staff
Found in AC Odyssey
Layla and the Assassins; direct contact with an Isu survivor.
- M1720202020Canon
The Reader
Found in AC Valhalla
Layla's arc concludes. Basim's true nature revealed. The Isu plotline escalates hard.
- M1820202022Canon
AC Valhalla: The Last Chapter
Found in [PLAY] free epilogue
Modern-day coda. Easily missed.
Modern chapter 04Chapter IV — After Layla3 frames
- M192020s2023Canon
Basim in the present
Found in AC Mirage
Requires Valhalla. Playing Mirage first spoils Valhalla's central twist completely. This is the sharpest ordering trap in the franchise.
- M202020s2023Canon
AC Nexus VR
Found in [PLAY] VR
Dolores Vasquez, an Abstergo employee. Three historical strands (Ezio, Kassandra, Connor) in VR. Genuinely canon; almost never discussed.
- M212020s2025Canon
Present-day frame
Found in AC Shadows
Continues the post-Layla thread.
Universe explored
The Assassin’s Creed universe, story by story
The main map follows the ancestor memories from the Isu simulations to twentieth-century conflicts. It does not pretend that this is a safe first-play order: the modern-day frame has its own dedicated chronology directly above it.
Story chronology · Full mapped list
Historical setting controls this view. The modern-day storyline is intentionally separated because it only remains coherent in release order.
Showing 82 of 82 released stories.
- DLC (3 episodes)Canon
AC Odyssey: The Fate of Atlantis
Elysium, Underworld, Atlantis. The deepest look at Isu society in the franchise.
- ExpansionCanon
AC Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarök
Havi/Odin. Frames as Norse myth; is Isu history.
- Comic (Dark Horse, 3 issues)Canon
AC Valhalla: Forgotten Myths
Companion to Dawn of Ragnarök.
- DLCCanon
AC Origins: The Curse of the Pharaohs
Simulated realms of Aaru, Duat.
- DLC (3 episodes)Canon
AC Odyssey: Legacy of the First Blade
Darius, who wielded the first Hidden Blade against Xerxes. Chronologically the origin of the weapon.
- Action RPGCanon
Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018 · Action RPG)
Peloponnesian War. Kassandra is the canonical protagonist. The franchise's largest historical map and its loosest connection to Assassin lore — no Assassins exist yet.
- NovelisationCanon
Assassin's Creed Odyssey (2018 · Novelisation)
Gordon Doherty.
- NovelCanon
AC Origins: Desert Oath
Oliver Bowden. Bayek's youth; direct prequel to Origins.
- Action RPGCanon
Assassin's Creed Origins (2017 · Action RPG)
Ptolemaic Egypt. The founding of the Hidden Ones. If you want the Brotherhood's actual origin story, this is it.
- NovelisationCanon
Assassin's Creed Origins (2017 · Novelisation)
Oliver Bowden.
- DLCCanon
AC Origins: The Hidden Ones
Bayek four years on; the Brotherhood taking shape in Sinai.
- Manhua (webcomic, 3 vols)Canon
Assassin's Creed Dynasty
Li E during the An Lushan Rebellion, Tang dynasty China. Chinese-market original; a genuinely under-read corner of the franchise.
- NovelCanon
AC Mirage: Daughter of No One
Maria Lewis. Roshan's backstory before Mirage.
- Comic (Dark Horse, 3 issues)Canon
AC Mirage: A Soar of Eagles
Michael Avon Oeming. Roshan and Fuladh; prequel to the game.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed Mirage
Basim Ibn Ishaq in Abbasid Baghdad. A deliberate return to the pre-RPG formula. Historically before Valhalla, but must be played after it — its modern-day framing spoils Valhalla entirely.
- NovelCanon
AC: The Golden City
Jaleigh Johnson. Hytham and Basim in Constantinople. The explicit bridge between Mirage and Valhalla.
- Action RPGCanon
Assassin's Creed Valhalla
Eivor Varinsdottir. Norway and England. The longest game in the series by a wide margin.
- Comic (Dark Horse, 3 issues)Canon
AC Valhalla: Song of Glory
Prequel to the game.
- NovelCanon
AC Valhalla: Geirmund's Saga
Matthew J. Kirby. Runs parallel to the game.
- ExpansionCanon
AC Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids
Ireland.
- NovelCanon
AC Valhalla: Sword of the White Horse
Elsa Sjunneson.
- ExpansionCanon
AC Valhalla: The Siege of Paris
Francia.
- Free epilogueCanon
AC Valhalla: The Last Chapter
Closes Eivor's story. Frequently missed because it shipped as a patch.
- Action-adventure (DS/mobile)Canon unclearStanding unclear
AC: Altaïr's Chronicles
Prequel to the first game. Canon standing never formally addressed; broadly treated as compatible.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed
Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, Third Crusade. The original. Structurally repetitive by modern standards; historically essential.
- Action-adventure (PSP)Canon
AC: Bloodlines
Direct sequel to the first game, on Cyprus. Bridges to AC II's modern-day setup.
- NovelCanon
AC: The Secret Crusade
Oliver Bowden. Altaïr's entire life, framed as Niccolò Polo's account. Covers decades the games only gesture at.
- In-game sequencesCanon
AC Revelations — Altaïr memory seals
Five playable sequences spanning 68 years of Altaïr's life. Chronologically belong here; mechanically embedded in a 1511 game.
- Live-action short film (3 parts)Canon
Assassin's Creed: Lineage
WatchMovie↗Search JustWatch — title page not verified · Opens search resultsCanonWatchTV / streaming↗Search JustWatch — title page not verified · Opens search resultsCanonGiovanni Auditore, Ezio's father. Produced as a marketing prequel to AC II; genuinely good, entirely canon, almost forgotten.
- NovelisationCanon
Assassin's Creed: Renaissance
Oliver Bowden. The first AC novel.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed II
Ezio in Florence, Venice, Tuscany. The best entry point to the entire franchise. Everything the series is known for begins here.
- Action-adventure (DS)Canon unclearStanding unclear
AC II: Discovery
Ezio in Inquisition-era Spain. Rarely reissued.
- Animated short filmCanon
Assassin's Creed: Ascendance
WatchMovie↗Search JustWatch — title page not verified · Opens search resultsCanonWatchTV / streaming↗Search JustWatch — title page not verified · Opens search resultsCanonCesare Borgia's backstory, told in motion-comic style.
- Feature filmCanon unclearStanding unclear
Assassin's Creed (2016 film)
Aguilar de Nerha, Spanish Inquisition, plus a modern-day Callum Lynch strand. Officially "in the universe" but never integrated with the games' continuity. Treat as its own branch.
- NovelisationCanon unclearStanding unclear
Assassin's Creed (film novelisation)
Christie Golden. Expands the film substantially.
- NovelisationCanon
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010 · Novelisation)
Oliver Bowden.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2010 · Action-adventure)
Rome. Introduces recruit management and the series' first multiplayer. Widely regarded as the peak of the pre-RPG era.
- Browser gameCanon unclear
AC: Project Legacy
Facebook tie-in. Servers long dead. Contained genuine supplementary lore now only preserved in wikis.
- NovelisationCanon
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011 · Novelisation)
Oliver Bowden.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed: Revelations (2011 · Action-adventure)
Ezio in Constantinople, aged 52, searching for Altaïr's library. Closes both Altaïr's and Ezio's arcs at once.
- Animated short filmCanon
Assassin's Creed: Embers
WatchMovie↗Search JustWatch — title page not verified · Opens search resultsCanonWatchTV / streaming↗Search JustWatch — title page not verified · Opens search resultsCanonEzio's final days and death. Ten minutes long. Do not skip it — it is the actual ending of the Ezio trilogy and it ships buried in a bonus menu.
- 2.5D side-scrollerCanon
AC Chronicles: China
Shao Jun, Ming dynasty. Direct continuation of Embers — Ezio's last student.
- NovelCanon
AC: The Ming Storm
Yan Leisheng. Chinese-market original, later translated. Shao Jun's fuller story.
- Manga (4 volumes)Canon
AC: Blade of Shao Jun
Minoji Kurata. Serialised in Japan.
- NovelCanon
AC: The Desert Threat
Yan Leisheng. Sequel to The Ming Storm; Shao Jun in Mongolia.
- MangaCanon
AC Shadows: Tales of Iga
Prequel to the game; the Iga shinobi before Oda Nobunaga's invasion.
- Action RPGCanon
Assassin's Creed Shadows
Naoe and Yasuke. Two protagonists, both canonical, with materially different playstyles. The franchise's most requested setting, delivered after fifteen years of asking.
- ExpansionCanon
AC Shadows: Claws of Awaji
Awaji Island. ~10 hours.
- Original audio drama (8 eps, ~4h40m)Canon
Assassin's Creed: Gold
Anthony Del Col. Aliyah Khan in the present; her ancestor Omar Khaled during Isaac Newton's Great Recoinage. The only audio-native story in the franchise — it exists in no other form. Full cast including Riz Ahmed and Anthony Head; Danny Wallace reprises Shaun Hastings.
- NovelisationCanon
Assassin's Creed: Black Flag
Oliver Bowden.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
Edward Kenway, Golden Age of Piracy. Frequently named the best game in the series. A remake ("Black Flag Resynced") is in development.
- Naval strategy (mobile)Canon unclear
AC Pirates
Light narrative; naval combat spin-off.
- WebtoonCanon
AC: Black Flag webtoon sequel
East Asian market. Continues Edward's story in serialised vertical-scroll format.
- DLC / standaloneCanon
AC IV: Freedom Cry
Adéwalé in Saint-Domingue. A slave-rebellion story; the most politically serious thing the franchise has made. Released standalone as well as DLC.
- NovelCanon
Assassin's Creed: Forsaken
Oliver Bowden. Haytham Kenway's journal. Recontextualises AC III entirely; best read before it, not after.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed Rogue
Shay Cormac, an Assassin who defects to the Templars. The franchise's best structural argument — it makes you the villain of AC III and is right to. Overlooked because it shipped on last-gen hardware the same week as Unity.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed III
Haytham (1754–60) then Connor/Ratonhnhaké:ton (1760–83), American Revolution. Structurally ambitious, tonally divisive.
- Action-adventure (Vita, later HD)Canon
AC III: Liberation
Aveline de Grandpré in New Orleans. The first AC game with a female lead.
- DLC (3 episodes)Non-canonIn-fiction simulation
AC III: The Tyranny of King Washington
Explicitly an Animus anomaly. George Washington as a mad king with an Apple of Eden. It is canon that this did not happen. A rare case of a franchise formally labelling its own what-if.
- NovelisationCanon
Assassin's Creed: Unity
Oliver Bowden.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed Unity
Arno Dorian, French Revolution. Catastrophic launch; now patched to 60fps and substantially rehabilitated. The densest crowd simulation and best parkour in the series.
- DLCCanon
AC Unity: Dead Kings
Saint-Denis. Released free as an apology for the launch.
- Graphic novelCanon
AC: Brahman
Arbaaz Mir in Sikh-era India.
- 2.5D side-scrollerCanon
AC Chronicles: India
Arbaaz Mir.
- NovelCanon
AC: The Magus Conspiracy
Kate Heartfield. Simeon Price and Pierrette Arnaud; Ada Lovelace appears.
- NovelCanon
AC: The Resurrection Plot
Kate Heartfield. Direct sequel.
- NovelCanon
Assassin's Creed: Underworld
Oliver Bowden. Henry Green and the London Brotherhood before Syndicate.
- Action-adventureCanon
Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Jacob and Evie Frye, Victorian London. The last pre-RPG mainline game.
- Comic (3 issues)Canon
AC: The Fall
Nikolai Orelov and Daniel Cross. Introduces the Bleeding Effect's long-term consequences.
- DLCCanon
AC Syndicate: Jack the Ripper
Evie Frye, twenty years on. Notably darker than the base game; introduces the fear mechanic later reused elsewhere.
- Comic (3 issues)Canon
AC: The Chain
Sequel to The Fall.
- In-game sequencesCanon
AC Syndicate — WWI sequences
Lydia Frye, Jacob's granddaughter, in wartime London. A short standalone strand inside Syndicate.
- 2.5D side-scrollerCanon
AC Chronicles: Russia
Nikolai Orelov during the Romanov execution. Concludes the Chronicles trilogy.
- Comic (2 volumes)Canon
AC: Conspiracies
French-market original. WWII, the Manhattan Project, Nikola Tesla.
- NovelCanon
AC: Heresy
Christie Golden. Simon Hathaway, a Templar reliving Joan of Arc's era. Chronologically splits; filed here for its modern strand.
- Mobile action RPGCanon unclearStanding unclear
AC: Identity
Renaissance Italy. Servers shut down 2021.
- Mobile strategy RPGCanon unclearStanding unclear
AC Rebellion
Spain, 1490s. Shut down 2023.
- Mobile card gameCanon unclear
AC: Memories
Non-narrative.
- Competitive MPCanon unclear
Multiplayer modes
Brotherhood, Revelations, AC III, AC IV, Unity co-op. Diegetically framed as Abstergo training programmes — canon as an activity, not as events.
- EducationalCanon unclear
Discovery Tour modes
Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece, Viking Age. Non-narrative guided tours, built with academic consultants. Excluded from the story catalogue; genuinely worth your time anyway.
- Cosmetic eventCanon unclear
Attack on Titan crossover
Excluded from the narrative catalogue. Cosmetic crossovers carry no original story. Listed only so the exclusion is deliberate rather than accidental.
- Novels (French-market)Canon unclearStanding unclear
AC: Fragments series
Including The Blade of Aizu. Several remain untranslated; placement in the wider continuity is not formally established.
Not part of the checklist
Announced and unreleased
These records are tracked for context but are excluded from chronology numbers, filters and progress until release.
- AC Codename JadeTBAUpcoming — date TBA
- Netflix live-action seriesTBAUpcoming — date TBA
- AC Codename HexeTBAUpcoming — date TBA
- AC Codename InvictusTBAUpcoming — date TBA
- AC IV: Black Flag remake ("Resynced")TBAUpcoming — date TBA
Useful ways through
Chronology is a map. This is where to begin.
The full list is for reference. These shorter routes preserve the reveals and relationships that make the universe work.
Start with Origins
Continue Odyssey → Valhalla → Mirage for the newer connected arc.
Use release order
It keeps the modern-day story coherent even when historical periods jump.
One title, all its doors
Pick the version that fits your evening.
When a story has researched editions or adaptations, those routes stay together. Some universes currently have richer version coverage than others; each page’s coverage note states the boundary.
See how stories are organised →Receipts, not vibes
Where this map gets its bearings.
Official franchise, creator and publisher sources anchor the chronology. When those sources disagree—or stay suspiciously quiet—we say so instead of inventing certainty.
Spot a missing branch?
Help expand Assassin’s Creed.
Request a title, comic run, game, audio story or continuity note that deserves the next research pass.
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