Neon Genesis Evangelion Timeline

The following is a timeline for the events in the continuity of Neon Genesis Evangelion and The End of Evangelion.

1955

April

• 9 - Kozo Fuyutsuki born

1967

April

• 29 - Gendo Rokubungi born

1977

March

• 30 - Yui Ikari born?

1985

June

• 17 - Ryoji Kaji born

November

• 21 - Ritsuko Akagi born.

1986

December

• 8 - Misato Katsuragi born.

1991

July

• 11 - Maya Ibuki born.

1999

• Gendo Rokubungi and Kozo Fuyutsuki first meet.
• Gendo Rokubungi and Yui Ikari marry.
• Gendo Rokubungi becomes Gendo Ikari.

2000

September

• 13 - Second Impact occurs.
  • 13 - Dr. Katsuragi dies.
  • 13 - Alleged date of birth of Kaworu Nagisa (according to his files).
• 15 - A refugee incident leads to war between India and Pakistan.
• 20 - Old Tokyo is destroyed by a nuclear bomb

December

• 4 - Asuka Langley Soryu born.
• 26 - Toji Suzuhara born.

2001

February

• 14 - The Valentine Treaty is signed, ending the wars that followed Second Impact.

June

• 6 - Shinji Ikari born.

September

• 12 - Kensuke Aida born.

2002

• Official United Nations investigation mission is sent to Antarctica, including Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutusuki.

February

• 18 - Hikari Horaki born

2003

• Construction of the Evangelions begins.
• Fuyutsuki confronts Gendo Ikari and threatens to expose the Second Impact coverup. Gendo gives him a tour of then under-construction Tokyo-3, where he meets Dr. Naoko Akagi and Ritsuko Akagi. Gendo "convinces" Fuyutsuki to join GEHIRN.
• Development of the MAGI supercomputer system by Naoko Akagi is underway.
• The Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force is formed, in response to the outbreak of war between China and Vietnam over the Spratly Islands.

2004

• Yui Ikari disappears inside of Evangelion Unit-01 during a "contact experiment" with the Eva. Shinji Ikari is sent away to live with his teacher. Gendo Ikari moves foward with work on the Human Instrumentality Project.

2005

• Asuka is selected as an Eva pilot. Asuka's mother Kyoko commits suicide.
• Asuka's father remarries.
• Misato Katsuragi and Ritsuko Akagi first meet at univeristy, in Tokyo-2. By this time Ritsuko has begun bleaching her hair blonde. Some time later while at the university Misato begins her relationship with Ryoji Kaji, and then introduces him to Ritsuko.
• The Japanese Diet approves the building of a new capital in Fuji-Hakone.
• Construction of Tokyo-3 begins.

2008

• Misato breaks up with Kaji, secretly because he reminds her of her father.
• Planning and design for the MAGI supercomputers is completed.
• Construction of the MAGI supercomputer begins.
• Ritsuko Akagi graduates university at Tokyo-2 and joins GEHIRN to work under her mother. Ritsuko learns of her mother and Gendo's affair.

2010

• "Rei Ayanami" (Rei I) is first publicly encountered in when Gendo introduces her to Naoko and Ritsuko at GEHIRN HQ.
• Misato Katsuragi and Ryoji Kaji join GEHIRN, soon before it is reorganized into NERV.
• The MAGI supercomputer system in Tokyo-3 is completed.
  • The night of the MAGI's completion, Naoko Akagi strangles Rei I to death when Rei reveals to her that Gendo does not truly love her and is only using her. Naoko then commits suicide by throwing herself onto the MAGI.
• SEELE disbands GEHIRN and reorganizes all of its personnel and assets into the successor organization, NERV.

2012

• Shinji Ikari sees his father Gendo for the last time, when they are visiting his mother's grave marker. Shinji runs away.

2014

• Rei Ayanami (Rei II) transfers into Tokyo-3 First Municipal High School, joining the class of students in 7th grade who will be in the 8th grade Class 2-A when Shinji transfers into it the following year.
• ~At about this time, Asuka graduates from university, as a child prodigy.

2015

• Rei Ayanami (Rei II) begins attempting to synchronize with Evangelion Unit-00, but is unsuccessful for seven months.
• Rei is injured during a test of Eva 00, when Eva 00 goes berserk. This apparently happens soon before Episode 01, as medics have not yet changed Rei out of her Plug Suit.
  • According to Ritsuko in Episode 05, the accident with Eva 00 happened before Misato arrived in Tokyo-3, and as a result Misato didn't know why Gendo's hands were burned. Misato says that she just moved into her apartment the other day, and it is indeed filled with unpacked boxes. Given the impression that Rei was injured only recently before the first episode (due to her still being in her Plug Suit), it seems that Misato arrived in Tokyo-3 literally the day before the series begins.
• The 3rd Angel, Sachiel, attacks Tokyo-3. Shinji Ikari is brought to Tokyo-3 by Misato Katsuragi. Shinji is made to pilot Evangelion Unit-01 in its first battle to stop Sachiel. This begins the pattern of Angel attacks for the rest of the series.
• Episode 02 takes place the day after Episode 1.
  • In Episode 02, Misato and Ritsuko drive by a construction zone which has a sign reading "construction begun November 2014, ending August 2015". This puts the events of the first two episodes as no later than August, 2015.
  • In Episode 02, Gendo says that Rei should be out of the hospital in 20 days, at which time they will take Eva Unit 00 out of cryostasis (this does not confirm if Rei does indeed leave the hospital precisely 20 days after Episode 02).
• In Episode 03, the 4th Angel Shamshel attacks "three weeks" after Sachiel is defeated. Rei is released from the hospital some time before this, though she still has her arm in a cast.
  • Hikari says that on the same day, Toji had not been in class for two weeks. This was because he was staying with his little sister at the hospital.
  • At the end of Episode 03, Kensuke and Toji are in school and say Shinji has not come to class in three days.
• At the beginning of Episode 04, Misato says that Shinji has not been in school for 5 days, since he left to fight the Angel Shamshel, and then he runs away. Misato later says that he ran away for two days (Shinji spent the first night sleeping in a movie theater, and the second night at Kensuke's camp). Shinji then prepares to leave on a train the day after that. Thus, the final scene of this episode at the train station occurs at the end of the 8th day after the fight against Shamshel.
• 22 days after Eva 00 went berserk, Episode 05 takes place. This should mean that at most 22 days pass between Episode 1 and the beginning of Episode 5, but 21 days (for three weeks) plus 8 days, equals 29 days. However, Hyuga might have just been "rounding up" when he said "three weeks".
• Asuka arrives at Tokyo-3. Kaji arrives as well, who delivers Adam, in an embryonic state, to Gendo Ikari. At some unspecified time after this, Gendo fuses Adam with his right hand, keeping it concealed beneath his glove.
• September 11th, 2015 -- the Angel Israfel is destroyed by Eva 01 and Eva 02, after an intense week of training by Asuka and Shinji, in Episode 08.
  • From the calendar that Misato marks off for how many days they have until the Angel will have healed itself, we can see that Israfel is destroyed on Friday the 11th, and in 2015 the second Friday will fall on the 11th only in either September or December. However, the bottom row of the calendar is off-screen, so it cannot be determined from the calendar which month it is (December has 31 days, September only 30). However, it is unlikely that it takes place in December (even though due to climate change caused by Second Impact, September and December weather conditions are indestinguishable). Although its not clear entirely how much time passes during the series, Shinji later spends 30 days absorbed inside of Eva Unit 01 in Episode 20. If Episode 08 had taken place in December, that would put episodes 21 onwards in the year 2016. However, several computer display readings (such as Maya's laptop in The End of Evangelion) indicate that these final episodes still take place in 2015. Thus, Israfel's destruction can be firmly dated as September 11th, 2015 (one of the few dates in the series which can actually be firmly dated).
• The Lance of Longinus is retrieved from Antarctica by Gendo and Fuyutsuki.
• The Angel Iruel infiltrations NERV HQ and the MAGI supercomputers.
• Soon after this, SEELE is concerned about an Angel makings its way into the heart of NERV HQ, and holds a council summarizing the Angel attacks so far. Meanwhile, Ritsuko conducts a compatibility test to see if Eva pilots can be switched between Eva Units, causing Eva 00 to go berserk when Shinji tries to synchronize with it. However, Rei's synchronization with Eva 01 is enough for the experiment to be considered a success, and work on the Dummy Plug system begins. Rei uses Eva 00 to bring the Lance of Longinus to Terminal Dogma to impale Lilith.
• Unit 04 is lost after a problem during a test of its S² Engine destroys it and NERV's entire second branch installation in the United States. The US government panics and demands that Eva 03 be transported off of its soil and to Japan. Eva 03 is infected by the Angel Bardiel while being air-transported to Japan.
• Toji Suzuhara is selected as pilot for Eva 03. During Eva 03's first activation test with Eva 03 at Matsushiro, Eva 03 goes berserk as the Angel infection takes over, destrying the base. Eva 02 and Eva 00 are defeated by Eva 03. Eva 01's Dummy Plug system is activated when Shinji refuses to fight, resulting in the destruction of Eva 03. Toji is crippled, having lost a leg.
• The Angel Zeruel attacks, and fights its way into the heart of NERV HQ's command center itself, before being repulsed by Eva 01. Eva 01 defeats Zeruel and eats its S² Engine.
• Shinji Ikari is remains absorbed inside of Eva 01 for 30 days after achieving a 400% synch ratio in the fight against Zeruel.
• Kaji is shot and killed by an unknown party.
• Lance of Longinus is thrown into Earth orbit to defeat the Angel Arael, thus putting it beyond SEELE's reach.
• Rei Ayanami (Rei II) self-destructs Eva 00 to defeat the Angel Armisael, resulting in the destruction of a large swath of Tokyo-3. The third and last Rei Ayanami clone (Rei III) is activated. Gendo sends Ritsuko to be interrogated by SEELE instead of Rei. In revenge for Gendo choosing Rei over her, Ritsuko destroys the Dummy Plug system; all of the other spare Rei clones. Asuka completely breaks down and is incapable of achieving a high enough synchronization ratio to even start Eva 02. SEELE sends Kaworu Nagisa as a replacement. Most of the remaining civilian population of Tokyo-3 is evacuated.
• Shinji Ikari defeats the final Angel, Kaworu Nagisa, using Eva Unit 01. Shinji falls into an inconsolable state of depression.
• The events of The End of Evangelion:
  • With the last Angel destroyed, SEELE turns on NERV and orders the JSSDF to invade NERV HQ, leaving no survivors. What remains of Tokyo-3 is completely vaporized by an N² mine dropped on it by the JSSDF. Asuka reactivates Eva Unit 02 and repulses the JSSDF's assult. Ritsuko is shot and killed by Gendo. Misato is shot and killed by advancing JSSDF troops. SEELE retaliates against Asuka by deploying the nine Mass Production Evangelions (Units 05 through 13) against Eva Unit 02. After a massive battle, Asuka defeats all of the MP Evas but Eva 02 is impaled through the head with a replica Lance of Longinus, just as its battery power runs out. Because the MP Evas have S² Engines they reactivate, and savagely eviscerate Eva 02. Asuka apparently dies. Shinji launches in Eva Unit 01. Gendo merges Adam (fused with his right hand) with Rei III, who rejects Gendo and proceeds to merge with Lilith (also reuniting body with her soul, which was contained in Rei).
  • The combined Rei/Adam/Lilith hyper-being initiates Third Impact along with Evangelion Unit-01, the Mass Production model Evangelions, and the true Lance of Longinus which has returned from the Moon for Eva 01. A giant "Anti-AT Field" is created which causes everyone's AT Field across the world to break down, merging humanity into a single gestalt super-organism, the next level of evolution. Within this state Shinji examines his life and its meaning along with Rei.
  • Some time later, Shinji rejects Instrumentality, Eva 01 rips through the Rei/Adam/Lilith being's eye and snaps the Lance of Longinus. The Lance, Eva 01, and Yui Ikari's soul drift off into space, as an eternal testament that humanity existed which will outlast the Sun and Moon. The Mass Production Evangelions, having impaled themselves on their replica Lances, fall dead to Earth in crucifixion poses. The combined Rei/Adam/Lilith being falls apart and dies. Having rejected Instrumentality, Shinji walks out of the sea of LCL formed by the gestalt being humanity has transformed into.
  • An indeterminate amount of time later, (possibly immediately afterwards given that the corpse of the Rei/Adam/Lilith being is still visible) Shinji wakes up laying on the beach of the ocean of LCL. Inexplicably, Asuka is laying next to him, alive. Shinji begins to strangle Asuka, but instead of resisting she gently strokes his face with her hand. Shinji stops strangling Asuka and breaks down crying. Asuka says "kamochi warui" ("how disgusting"/"I feel disgusting"/"(this whole experience) was disgusting"...)