History Timeline / DarkTales

* The events of ''Devil in the Belfry'' take place. No date is given in the game, but the detectives are brought into the case because Simon Loyalle has gone missing, and he is explicitly identified as their old friend. Simon first meets Dupin in ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', so ''Belfry'' must take place after that game, but prior to ''Speaking With the Dead'', in which he is next seen, as he is of a lower rank in ''Belfry'' than he is in ''Speaking.'' (Publication of the original story was 1839.)

* The events of ''The Bells'' take place. A newspaper article found early in the investigation talks about the recent death of Beatrice Carpenter, allegedly the result of a ghost sighting. Not long after this article is found, the detectives visit Beatrice's grave, which gives her a confirmed death year of 1899. (Publication of the original poem was in December 1844.)

* Police Chief Simon Loyalle, introduced in ''The Tell-Tale Heart'' and seen again in ''Devil in the Belfry'', is promoted to the rank of Commissioner. He marries Valentina, the mortician introduced in that game, and they move from Gurtos to Dover. They are shown to be residing there in ''Speaking With the Dead''. Likely both are retired, given how much time elapses between the two games.

* Police Chief Simon Loyalle, introduced in ''The Tell-Tale Heart'', is promoted to the rank of Commissioner. He marries Valentina, the mortician introduced in that game, and they move from Gurtos to Dover. They are shown to be residing there in ''Speaking With the Dead''. Likely both are retired, given how much time elapses between the two games.

* The events of ''The Bells'' take place. A newspaper article found early in the investigation talks about the recent death of Beatrice Carpenter, allegedly the result of a ghost sighting. Not long after this article is found, the detectives visit Beatrice's grave, which gives her a confirmed death year of 1899.

* The events of the bonus chapter of ''Lenore'' take place. According to Alan Guillinger's diary, he returns to Goldstone/Goldtown on July 5, 1895, which would set the events of the chapter sometime in the next week or so. However, the letter in the banker's mailbox instructs him to turn over all documentation concerning his property no later than October 12, 1890. It's unclear which of these is the correct year.

!!Between 1878 and 1890
* The events of ''The Oval Portrait'' and its bonus chapter take place. Like with ''Pendulum'', there is no attempt at dating the events of the game and it contains no references to any other games. However, Chief Constable George (the police official who assists the detectives in ''Portrait'') is another one of the jurors in ''Speaking With the Dead''; he and Dupin show no sign of knowing each other prior to their first in-game meeting in ''Portrait'', suggesting that ''Portrait'' takes place before ''Speaking''. Furthermore, Dupin is shown in the bonus chapter to be speaking with the Chief Constable on a telephone. Telephones were not available in France until 1878, when the country's first telephone network was installed in Paris for the occasion of the ''Exposition Universelle''.

* The events of ''The Oval Portrait'' and its bonus chapter take place. Like with ''Pendulum'', there is no attempt at dating the events of the game and it contains no references to any other games. However, Chief Constable George (the police official who assists the detectives in ''Portrait'') is another one of the jurors in ''Speaking With the Dead''; he and Dupin show no sign of knowing each other prior to their first in-game meeting in ''Portrait'', suggesting that ''Portrait'' takes place before ''Speaking''.

* Victorine Lafourcade, third wife of Renelle Fore in ''Premature Burial'', is born. The record of cataleptic women in the pharmacist's office gives her age as 22 at the same time that Louise's is 30, meaning that she is eight years younger.

* Laura Michel, first wife of Renelle Fore in ''Premature Burial'', is born. The record of cataleptic women in the pharmacist's office gives her age as 20 at the same time that Louise's is 30, meaning that she is ten years younger.

!!Before 1836
* C. Auguste Dupin enters the criminal investigation profession. He specifically notes that the murder investigation the bonus chapter of ''Tell-Tale Heart'' is his first homicide case.

* At the beginning of the tenth century, King Charles the Simple of France gives land in northern France to the Viking invaders to persuade them to stop invading. Over the subsequent hundred years, the Vikings settle this land and it becomes known as [[https://www.historyonthenet.com/the-normans-who-were-the-normans Northmannia]] (later Normandy). Henry Usher, the great ancestor of the Usher line, is shown in the bonus chapter to be dressed in garb contemporary to these Viking settlers, suggesting that this is the time and place in which he finds the enchanted stone and establishes his village.

The ''Dark Tales'' have a small ContinuitySnarl created by the fact that most of the games have no dated information. For a long time, it was assumed that they were released in chronological order; however, later games in the series contain dates which indicate that this is not the case. This, therefore, is an attempt to figure out the order in which the events in the games happen. '''Unmarked spoilers''' ahead.

* The events of ''Ligeia'' and its bonus chapter are impossible to pin into the timeline. There is absolutely no dated information found in either. The only thing we know for sure is that the bonus chapter takes place at least ten years before the time of the main game, because Ligeia is a child during the bonus chapter and a young woman at the time of her death six months before the main game. The closest thing we have to a clue about the timing is the fact that Judge Phoenix owns a car in the bonus chapter, which suggests it takes place in the latter half of the 19th century; however, the car in question uses (as the main page notes) a key ignition which wasn't available until 1949, which means that it's really not a useful clue. (Publication of the original story was September 18, 1838.)

* The events of ''The Black Cat'' and its bonus chapter take place. The in-game diary's first entry notes that the events of the previous game happened "recently," suggesting it was within the past few months. Later, the detectives find a code to open the leather safe, and the diary specifically notes that the code is a date - 1845.7.23 (July 23, 1845 as Americans write it). Given the fact that nearly everything in the house has been deliberately engineered to conceal evidence of the murder, this is very likely the date on which it was actually committed; it's mentioned in the game that the victim has been missing for two weeks, which would put the actual investigation in early August. (Publication of the original story was August 19, 1843.)

!!Between 1845 and 1851
* The events of ''The Premature Burial'' and its bonus chapter take place. The diary in this game, unlike its predecessor, makes no mention of previous cases; the only attempt at dating anything in the game is on the tomb of Louise Fore, which is incomplete. The engraving above the door is dated 1814-184X, with the last digit of the death year damaged because of the bas relief piece hidden there. This confirms that she died no earlier than 1840, and no later than 1849. The cemetery caretaker tells the detectives that he remembers her being buried a few years before the events of the game. Additionally, one of the hidden object puzzles has among its items the newspaper from ''Rue Morgue'' with the headline about the murders, so this game definitely happens after that one but before ''Masque''. (Publication of the original story was July 31, 1844.)

* The bonus chapter of ''Morella'' takes place not long afterward. Dated documents in the main game provide a confirmed year for that, and the bonus chapter is stated to have happened two years earlier.

!!Before 1845

* The events of ''The Black Cat'' and its bonus chapter take place. The in-game diary's first entry notes that the events of the previous game happened "recently," suggesting it was within the past few months. Later, the detectives find a code to open the leather safe, and the diary specifically notes that the code is a date - 1845.7.23 (July 23, 1845 as Americans write it). Given the fact that everything in the house is specifically engineered to conceal evidence of the murder, this is very likely the date on which it was actually committed; it's mentioned in the game that the victim has been missing for two weeks, which would put the actual investigation in early August. (Publication of the original story was August 19, 1843.)

* The community of Goldstone is founded by a Knight of the Teutonic Order nicknamed "Crow," according to one of the achievements in ''Lenore''. Within a few years, one of his friends establishes the nearby community of Coldstone.

* The Crows League is founded in Goldstone. The approximate date is given by the spirit of the League's founder, who interacts with the player character in ''Lenore''; the game takes place in the 1880s, and he tells the player that he founded the group "more than a century ago."

* A flood completely submerges the city of Goldstone, according to one of the achievements in ''Lenore''. When the waters recede, it reveals the existence of a hitherto-unknown cave system beneath the town theater.

* The events of the bonus chapter of ''Lenore'' take place. According to Alan Guillinger's diary, he returns to Goldstone on July 5, 1895, which would set the events of the chapter sometime in the next week or so. However, the letter in the banker's mailbox instructs him to turn over all documentation concerning his property no later than October 12, 1890. It's unclear which of these is the correct year.

* The events of ''The Oval Portrait'' and its bonus chapter take place. Like with ''Pendulum'', there is no attempt at dating the events of the game and it contains no references to any other games. However, one of the jurors is clearly Chief Constable George, the police official who assists the detectives in ''Portrait''; like the other jurors, he and Dupin show no sign of knowing each other prior to their first in-game meeting, suggesting that ''Portrait'' takes place before ''Speaking''.

* The bonus chapter of ''Speaking With the Dead'' takes place. The game confirms that the events of the chapter occurred three years before the main game. However, this is a ''different'' murder trial, as revealed by the ending; Brian Marsh was tried for two different murders, and this is the first one.

* The events of the main game of ''Speaking With the Dead'' take place. No specific year is given; however, one of the jurors captured by the BigBad is Mayor Thomas Guillinger, from ''Lenore''. The bonus chapter of ''Lenore'' confirms that he passes away sometime during the ten years between the main game and the bonus, and since he's alive in ''Speaking With the Dead'', that game has to take place prior to his death. Their first meeting in ''Lenore'' makes it very clear that the mayor and Dupin are not familiar with one another at all, so the implication is that ''Speaking'' happens after ''Lenore.'' (It definitely happens after ''Usher'', because the player character recognizes Dr. Morris.)

!!Before September 1851
* The events of ''The Mystery of Marie Roget'' and its bonus chapter take place. The game itself does not give the date; however, this is the game in which Dupin gives the player character their "Dark Tales Agency" badge, which returns in the next game. (Publication of the original story was in 1842.)

!!1848
* The events of ''Metzengerstein'' take place. Newspaper and diary dates confirm the year. The bonus chapter happens afterward; it's not specified how much time has passed, but it appears to be less than a year. (The original story was published in January 1832.)

* The events of ''The Fall of the House of Usher'' and its bonus chapter take place. Nothing in the game concretely determines its place in the timeline, but it was produced at the time that the games were still implied to be released in the order they happened. (Publication of the original story was September 1839.)

* C. Auguste Dupin enters the criminal investigation profession.

!!1836
* The events depicted in the bonus chapter of ''The Tell-Tale Heart'' take place; it's explicitly stated that this happened fifteen years before the main game. This is specified to be Dupin's first homicide investigation.

* Dupin is named a Chevalier in the ''Legion d'Honneur''. The diary in ''Rue Morgue'' notes that he already holds this rank by the time of that game.

* The events of ''The Black Cat'' and its bonus chapter take place. The in-game diary's first entry notes that the events of the previous game happened "recently," suggesting it was within the past few months. Later, the detectives find a code to open the leather safe, and the diary specifically notes that the code is a date - 1845.7.23 (July 23, 1845 as Americans write it). Given the fact that everything in the house is specifically engineered to conceal evidence of the murder, this is very likely the date on which it was actually committed; it's mentioned in the game that the murder victim has been missing for two weeks, which would put the actual events of the game in early August. (Publication of the original story was August 19, 1843.)

* The events of ''The Fall of the House of Usher'' and its bonus chapter take place. Nothing in the game concretely determines its place in the timeline, but this was at the time that the games were still implied to be released in the order they happened. (Publication of the original story was September 1839.)

* Thomas and Mary Brown, owners of the Old Smugglers Tavern seen at the beginning of ''Lenore'', are murdered by members of the Crows League. The approximate date can be guessed from their family album, found inside the tavern; the final photograph is of their daughter Lenore on her eighth birthday. She's roughly 18 years old at the time of the game, which takes place ten years later.