Neon Genesis Evangelion Timeline

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

~4 Billion years ago

• Adam arrives on Earth
• First Impact takes place: Lilith arrives on Earth when her Black Moon transport collides violently into the planet, creating the Moon in the process.

1947

• The Dead Sea Scrolls are discovered in a cave by the Dead Sea. Unknown to the public, the Secret Dead Sea scrolls are discovered with them, but acquired by the mysterious Seele organization. The Secret Dead Sea scrolls foretell of the coming of the Angels, the Evangelions, Third Impact, and many events that will later occur.

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

• Kozo Fuyutsuki and Yui Ikari first meet at Kyoto University.
• Kozo Fuyutsuki and Gendo Rokubungi first meet.
• ~Autumn: Yui Ikari and Gendo Rokubungi begin dating.
  • Between 1999 and 2002: Gendo Rokubungi and Yui Ikari marry. Gendo Rokubungi becomes Gendo Ikari.

2000

• Possibly slightly before the year 2000, exact date unknown: The Katsuragi Expedition departs to Antarctica to investigate Adam, buried in the White Moon. Exactly when they initially became aware that Adam was there is unclear, but the knowledge was probably gained from the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls.

September

• 12 - Gendo Ikari leaves the Katsuragi research team and returns to Japan from Antarctica, taking copies of all of the research data with him, knowing full well what the next day's experiment with Adam will result in.
• 13 - Second Impact occurs, as a result of the "Contact Experiment" with Adam.
  • 13 - Dr. Katsuragi dies.
  • 13 - Alleged date of birth of Kaworu Nagisa (according to his files).
• 15 - A refugee incident leads to nuclear war between India and Pakistan.
• 20 - Old Tokyo is destroyed by a nuclear bomb

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.

December

• 4 - Asuka Langley Soryu born.

• 26 - Toji Suzuhara 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 Nansha 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 shortly before her mother Kyoko's suicide. Kyoko's grave marker confirms that this happened in 2005.
• 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.

2007

• ~UN headquarters is relocated to Japan, in Tokyo-2 (according to a newspaper from 2002 seen in Episode 21).
• Misato breaks up with Kaji, because he reminds her of her father.

2008

• 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.

2009

• Misato is posted to Nerv-03 in Germany.

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.
  • After Naoko's death, Seele disbands Gehirn and reorganizes all of its personnel and assets into the successor organization, Nerv.

2012

• Shinji Ikari sees his father Gendo for first and last time in 8 years, when they are visiting his mother's grave marker.

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 (it is unclear how long before Sachiel's attack this was).
• 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-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".
• The timeline for the series can be measured fairly accurately through the first four episodes, but after this point we are left with mostly best-guess estimations.
• In Episode 07, Ramiel's corpse is still being cleared away, and Eva 00 is still being repaired, from the battle in the previous episode. Thus, it does not take place very long after Episode 6. Meanwhile, Eva Unit 02 and Asuka are said to already be "on their way" from Germany, so it takes place fairly soon before Episode 8.
  • During the preview for Episode 08 at the end of the episode, Misato's voiceover says that Eva 02 and its pilot have "left Wilhelmshaven, Germany, to come to Japan". Real-life Wilhelmshaven is the German Navy's main base on the North Sea.
• Asuka arrives at Tokyo-3 in Episode 08. Kaji arrives as well, and 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 09.
  • 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 indistinguishable). Although its not clear entirely how much time passes during the series, Shinji later spends 30 days absorbed inside of Eva-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 Spear of Longinus is retrieved from Antarctica by Gendo and Fuyutsuki.
• The Angel Ireul infiltrates 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 Spear of Longinus to Terminal Dogma to impale Lilith.
• Eva-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 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.
• Spear 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.
  • Episode 24 occurs no later than December 31st 2015.
• Shinji Ikari defeats the final Angel, Kaworu Nagisa, using Eva-01. Shinji falls into an inconsolable state of depression.

2016

• The events of Episode 25 and 26 occur (Most likely New Years Eve/Day?) 2016, based on the tel-op.
• The events of The End of Evangelion occur. Based on Maya's laptop in EoE, it occurs no later than December 31st 2015 given when the series ending happens.
  • 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-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 (Eva-05 through 13) against Eva-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-01. Gendo merges Adam (fused with his right hand) with Rei III, who rejects Gendo and proceeds to merge with Lilith (also reuniting her 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 Spear of Longinus which has returned from the Moon for Eva-01. A giant "Anti A.T. Field" is created which causes everyone's A.T. 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, Shinji wakes up lying on the beach of the LCL Sea. Inexplicably, Asuka is lying 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 "kimochi warui" ("how disgusting"/"I feel disgusting"/"I feel sick", etc)

Events from Evangelion New Theatrical Version

The events from the Evangelion New Theatrical Version movies mostly have dates omitted from them, like Second Impact. However, the December 2006 issue of NewType Magazine has producer Toshimichi Otsuki mentioning "the new story takes place in the same period as the 1995 TV series", which implies that the major events from the new movies occur relatively close to the time they occur in the TV Series. Of some of the details when a date is shown, we see that they're relatively close.

Yui's Death

Near the beginning of Evangelion 2.0, when Gendo and Shinji are visiting Yui's grave, we see that the grave stone is marked "2004", indicating that her "death" was in 2004 which is the same as in the TV Series.

Yui's Grave

Shinji Becomes an Eva Pilot

During one of the classroom scenes early in Evangelion 1.0, shortly after Shinji becomes the pilot of Evangelion Unit-01, there's a notice pinned up on the classroom's bulletin board which has the date 11/13 and in parentheses it says "Monday". The years 2006, 2017, and 2023 all have November 13th occur on a Monday, however, since Shinji is in middle school, it can't be 2023 because Yui's been gone since 2004 which would make Shinji much older, likewise, it can't be 2006 because at the grave site, Gendo says "The last time we came here was three years ago", which would make it at least 2007 (although it's possible that by this time in the movie, it's 2007). The beginning of the school year probably occurred in the year 2017. The same notice is also on the bulletin board throughout 2.0.

A close up of the date on the bulletin board

Asuka's Arrival

During one of the scenes in Misato's apartment in Evangelion 2.0, shortly after Asuka moves in, there's a calendar visible that says "February" (28 days) with the first of the month occurring on a Thursday. The years 2007, 2018, and 2024 all have February first falling on a Thursday. 2007 would have the same logistical issues with when Shinji becomes the pilot for Evangelion Unit-01 and 2024 is a leap year so the number of days won't fit in the calendar. This leaves 2018 as the best fitting year for Asuka's arrival.

Asuka in Misato's apartment with a calendar on the wall

2007 or 2018?

It's possible that the timeline that the first two movies cover are either from 2006-2007 or 2017-2018. If we are to assume the validity of Otsuki's statement, 2017-2018 makes more sense. If Second Impact occurred at relatively the same time as the TV series (2000-ish), then it would mean the children were born before Second Impact, but the conversation between Shinji and Kaji during the field trip in Evangelion 2.0 seem to imply that Shinji is completely unfamiliar with what life was like prior to Second Impact, making it unlikely that he was born before.

14 year timeskip

Assuming the events of Evangelion 2.0 happen in 2018, this means the events of Evangelion 3.0 occur in 2032, due to the 14 year timeskip.

Notes

• For more information on Shinji at the End of Evangelion, see here