Neon Genesis Evangelion timeline

The following is a timeline for the events in the Japanese animation series "Neon Genesis Evangelion" and the related movies "Revival of Evangelion". All information given is entirely fictional and only serves a purpose for the show itself.

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

eptember

* 13 - Second Impact occurs.
** 13 - Dr. Katsuragi dies.
** 13 - Kaworu Nagisa born (according to in-show reference).
* 15 - A refugee incident leads to war between India and Pakistan.
* 20 - Tokyo-1 is destroyed by a nuclear bomb (as opposed to N² Bomb)

2001

February

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

June

* 6 - Shinji Ikari born.

eptember

* 12 - Kensuke Aida born.

December

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

2002

* During the official investigation of the Second Impact with Gendo, Fuyutsuki finds Misato Katsuragi in confinement and suffering from aphasia.

February

* 18 - Hikari Horaki born.

2003

* Construction of the Evangelions begin.
* Fuyutsuki threatens to expose the 2nd Impact coverup; he is convinced by Gendo Ikari to instead join Gehirn.
* Construction of the MAGI Super Computer System is planned.
* The Japanese Strategic Self Defense Forces (JSSDF) is formed, in response to the outbreak of war between China and Vietnam over the Nansha islands (according to the Platinum DVD set's commentary track).

2004

* Yui Ikari disappears during contact experiments with EVA-01 in Hakone 2nd Underground Laboratory. Gendo initiates Nerv's involvement in the "Instrumentality Project" and the "Adam Project", and places Shinji in the care of a relative or acquaintance .
* The first Rei Ayanami is created during this period but there is some debate as to the precise date and year (between 2004 and 2006).

2005

* Asuka is selected to be the Second Child. Asuka's mother, Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu (who had gone insane shortly before), commits suicide.
* Asuka's father remarries.
* Misato Katsuragi befriends Ritsuko Akagi; she also meets and begins living with Ryoji Kaji.
* The Japanese Diet approves the building of a new capital in Fuji-Hakone.
* Construction of Tokyo-3 begins.

2007

* Misato and Kaji break up.

2008

* Planning and design for the MAGI Super Computer System is completed.
* Construction of the MAGI supercomputer begins.
* Ritsuko Akagi graduates from Tokyo-2 University and joins her mother in the research arm of Gehirn, where she learns of Naoko's affair with Gendo.

2009

* Ryoji Kaji joins Gehirn.
* Misato Katsuragi joins Gehirn's 3rd Branch in Hamburg, Germany.

2010

* Rei Ayanami (I) first publicly encountered.
* Construction of the MAGI Super Computer System is completed.
** The night of completion, Rei Ayanami (I) is strangled by Naoko Akagi for telling Naoko that Gendo did not love her and was using her as a tool. Naoko Akagi commits suicide by jumping onto the MAGI.
* Seele disbands Gehirn and moves all assets and personnel to the newly formed Nerv in reaction to the death of Dr. Akagi.

2012

* Shinji sees his father for the first time in 8 years at that anniversary of Yui's death; he flees Gendo and the grave.

2014

* Rei Ayanami (II) transfers into the New Tokyo-3 1st Municipal Junior High School.
* Construction of entry plugs finishes.

2015

Generally, a timeline of 2015 overlaps heavily with the plot because so many important and crucial events take place in that year. See it for a more unified overview.

Dates are rarely mentioned in the anime, and often there are multiple possibilities. Events are given in order, with possible dates listed if known.
* Rei Ayanami (II) begins attempting to synchronize with Eva Unit 00, which she will only succeed in doing 7 months later.
* Rei Ayanami (II) injured during a test of Unit 00.
* The third Angel, Sachiel, attacks Tokyo-3, first beginning the pattern of constant Angel attacks which will last up to the seventeenth Angel.
* Gendo Ikari orders Shinji Ikari to Tokyo-3, where he joins Nerv. Series begins. After Eva-01 goes berserk and defeats Sachiel, Shinji moves into Misato Katsuragi's apartment.
* The 4th Angel Shamshel attacks, three weeks after Sachiel's attack. It is defeated by Eva-01; Kensuke and Toji are aboard, and this shared experience marks the true beginning of their friendship with Shinji.
* Core of Shamsiel retrieved in good condition.
* 5th Angel Ramiel attacks.
* 6th Angel Gaghiel attacks.
* Asuka Langley Sohryu joins Nerv.
* Ryoji Kaji delivers Adam, in an embryonic state, to Commander Gendo Ikari, and is attached to Nerv headquarters.
* The 7th Angel, Israfel is destroyed. (September or December 11th 2015fn|2)
* Gendo Ikari has Adam grafted onto the palm of his right hand.
* Asuka defeats the 8th Angel, Sandalphon, in a volcano.
* 9th Angel Matariel attacks.
* The Lance of Longinus retrieved from Antarctica by Gendo and Fuyutsuki. Previously had been used in the White Moon against Adam.
* 10th Angel Sahaquiel attacks.
* 11th Angel, Ireul, penetrates a "protein wall" defense in Nerv and begins to crack the MAGI system.
* Eva-00 tasked with using Lance of Longinus for an unknown task; possibly arresting development of Lilith in Terminal Dogma.
* 12th Angel, Leliel, attacks.
* Unit 04 is lost after a problem during a test of its S² Engine destroys it and the entire 2nd US Nerv installation surrounding it.
* Unit 03 is destroyed by Unit 01 (under the control of the Dummy Plug system) after being possessed by the thirteenth Angel, Bardiel, after being transported to Japan from the 1st US Nerv branch. (Alternative date: January 2016fn|1)
* In the manga, Toji Suzuhara (previously designated the Fourth Child) dies during the battle between Units 01 and 03. In the series, he loses his left leg during the battle.
* The 14th Angel, Zeruel, is eaten by a berserk Unit 01. Its S² Engine is absorbed by the Eva, giving it unlimited power reserves. (alternative date : January 2016fn|1)
* Ryoji Kaji is shot to death by an unknown person.
* Lance of Longinus lost killing the 15th Angel (Arael) rendering it inaccessible for Seele's purposes.
* Rei Ayanami (II) self-destructs her Eva, killing herself and the 16th Angel (Armisael), and Tokyo-3. (Alternative date: March 2016fn|1)
* To strike at Gendo, Ritsuko Akagi destroys the Dummy Plug System and all Rei clones except for the recently activated Rei III.
* Asuka Soryu breaks down and is no longer capable of piloting an Evangelion. Seele sends Kaworu Nagisa as a replacement.
* Shinji Ikari kills the seventeenth Angel, Tabris, in the form of a human boy named Kaworu Nagisa. (Alternative date: March 2016fn|1)
* With the last Angel except for the humans, Adam, and Lilith dead, Seele and Nerv turn on each other as Seele attempts to put into operation its Human Instrumentality Plan. The TV series begins focusing on the Instrumentality of Shinji, while "The End of Evangelion" records the war between Seele and Nerv, and 3rd Impact.
** The other MAGI branches attempt to crack the Tokyo-3 MAGI, and fail.
** The JSSDF invades Nerv headquarters, but fails to prevent Asuka and Shinji from launching with their respective Evangelions. Asuka is eventually defeated by the Mass Production Evangelion units after Unit-02's power runs out. Shinji and EVA-01 initiate 3rd Impact.

2016

* 1 January [In "The End of Evangelion", during the battle between Asuka and the Mass Production Evangelions, Maya Ibuki's laptop lists the date as being 2015; but of the TV series explicitly states in the intro that the Complementation of Shinji, which entails the Third Impact which itself takes place within a day of Asuka's battle, is in 2016 ("The year is 2016 A.D. / The thing that people had lost / In other words, the instrumentality of souls was still ongoing / However, there is far too little time left to make mention of it all / Therefore, now, we will take the boy named Shinji Ikari / and tell the story of the instrumentality of his soul.") Hence, if the original ending and End of Evangelion are assumed to take place in the same universe, the only pair of feasible dates is December 29th for the death of Kaoru, December 31st for Asuka's battle, and January 1 for the Third Impact. However, this ties into the larger debate of how to reconcile the TV series ending with "End of Evangelion".]
** Rei Ayanami (III) reunites with Lilith's body and merges with Adam, whom she absorbed along with Gendo Ikari's right hand.
** Third Impact occurs.

References

* According to the "Ayanami Raising Project" video game.
* According to the calendar in episode 9 with the 11th falling on a Friday.