Timeline / NieR

This page will have spoilers for the Nier series, as well as Drakengard, all unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

2003

• June 12, approximately 3:00 PM, local time: A large white statue-like being, known as "the giant"^note The Grotesquerie Queen, appears in the sky over Tokyo, Japan. Shortly afterwards, a red dragon-like entity^note Angelus, the red dragon, mounted by Caim, appears. The two engage in a battle, using attacks that defy conventional understanding of battle. The JSDF sorties to deal with the situation.

• Approximately 4:00 PM, local time: The dragon defeats the giant. The giant disintegrates into a substance likened to sodium chloride and vanishes. Shortly after, JSDF pilot Bravo-1, of the 303rd Squadron, shoots down the dragon, whose body subsequently falls onto, and is impaled upon, Tokyo Tower. The body of the dragon is later recovered by the military for analysis.

• The Japanese government enacts a gag order on what becomes known as the "6-12 Incident". Regardless of the gag order, video of the incident leaks onto the internet, causing widespread fear.

• September: An international summit is convened in regards to the 6-12 incident. Japan, the United States, and Russia participate in the summit. The US suspects terrorism, and both the US and Japan take measures to increase national security.

• December: A new disease is discovered, breaking out from Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan. Those infected have their bodies transform into sodium chloride and completely break down. The disease has a 100% mortality rate, but initial research into the disease notes that it is extremely rare, leading to a positive outlook.

2004

• February: Incidents of the new mysterious disease in Shinjuku increase severalfold.

• April: Among those infected with the mystery disease, some are documented to break out into violent rage. The rapid increase in infection leads to the Japanese government deindustrializing the Shinjuku district. The international community begins mounting pressure on Japan to contain the mystery disease.

• May: Incidents of violence among the infected increase. Research proceeds on discovering why the mystery disease kills some victims while driving others to violence.

• June: The mystery disease is officially named "White Chlroination Syndrome" (WCS). Tokyo Prefectural Hall is relocated in a move to protect government officials from being infected with WCS. Proposals are also made to relocate the national government's office and the Imperial residence, but are rejected.

• July: Rates of WCS infection in Shinjuku continue to rise. Road blocks are set up, and all travel to and from the district is restricted. Martial law is enacted in Japan.

• September: Due to increasing rates of WCS infection, the Japanese government announces plans to completely quarantine Shinjuku in the hopes of stopping the disease from spreading. Opposition against the quarantine is strong at first, but in light of a national celebrity contracting WCS and subsequently dying from it, public opinion sways to favor the quarantine.

• October: The Shinjuku Sealing Plan is implemented. A large wall, later called the Wall of Jericho, is erected around Shinjuku, sealing it off from the outside world. As the international community criticized Japan for what is considered a rash and inhumane decision, plans to supress WCS are announced, and research continues in the hopes of finding a treatment and/or cure.

• December: Transmissions and communication from Shinjuku cease. The last broadcast ends in screams and the appearance of a giant white entity. The government attempts to suppress images of this broadcast, but fail as they are leaked to the internet.

2005

• December: As the JSDF and vigilante groups fight back against WCS victims who are driven to violence, the Japanese government announces that rates of infection are on the decline. Research continues on possible causes and possible vaccination.

2006

• May: Results of research into WCS is presented to the Japanese government. According to the research, whether someone infected with WCS dies or becomes violent is determined at the genetic level. It is believed that those with slight chromosomal abnormalities are more likely to become violent. These research results are not released to the public, and later found to be incorrect based on falsified data.

• Unknown month: An unknown faction launches an attack on the research facility housing the remains of the dragon. The attack is repelled by the JSDF, local police, and security forces. As the JSDF begins enacting harsher security measures, rumors spread about the cause of WCS, blaming everyone and everything from religious cults to the United States.

2007

• October: Satellite photography over Shinjuku reveals the existence of a black dot over Shinjuku. Further research into this abnormality, however, is deemed unnecessary.

2008

• February: The Wall of Jericho falls, and the Shinjuku quarantine is broken. Pale-white creatures — "the Legion" — spill out from the quarantine zone, led by one creature with red eyes, simply known as "Red Eye". As the Legion slaughters any and all humans in their path, the JSDF mounts a counteroffensive to rout them, but is met with difficulty as Red Eye rallies and leads the Legion.

• May: Reports of White Chlorination Syndrom infections begin anew. WCS spreads outside of Tokyo, and eventually spreads through the entire Kanto prefecture.

• August: The research facility housing the remains of the dragon is relocated. The new location is kept secret, but is rumored to be somewhere in the United States.

• September: With WCS spreading and the threat of the Legion, the Japanese government approves of the relocation of the Imperial residence to Kyushu.

• October: As WCS spreads and those infected continue to swell the ranks of the Legion, battles erupt all across the island of Honshu. Civilians flee to Kyushu and Hokkaido, and many refugees flee Japan. Several countries begin to bar entry by Japanese refugees for fear of bringing WCS with them. As the Japanese government is overwhelmed by increasing rates of crime and anarchy, as well as foreign interference, the United States proposes a military alliance to deal with the Legion, albeit one that heavily disfavors Japan. Others in the international community disapprove of the alliance.

2009

• January: Japan approves of the formation of the US-Japan Joint Operation Accord. With the US's help, the Legion begins to be pushed back. Bodies of fallen and captured Legion are transported back to the US for military research.

• March: The Legion continue to rise from Shinjuku, in spite of reported losses in their ranks. Carpet bombing operations are carried out over Shinjuku, with minimal success. Research now turns to finding a way to effectively fight back the Legion, but progress is slow.

• April: The US-Japan Joint Operation Accord announces that, in order to stop the Legion, nuclear weapons will be used. While the decision is met with approval by the international community, opinions on the use of nuclear weapons is more mixed among Japanese citizens.

• August: On August 6, a nuclear weapon is deployed over Shinjuku. While the date of the attack is coincidental, it still falls on the same day as the destruction of Hiroshima during World War II, something the media is quick to pick up on. Shinjuku is declared "Ground Zero", and other areas in the country with reported Legion activity are also struck with nuclear weapons.

• November: Surveys report that Legion activity in Japan has completely halted. It is announced that the Legion has been destroyed.

2010

• February: WCS infection is reported in China. The Legion subsequently begins to appear throughout Asia.

• March: Other countries begin to report WCS infection. Research into the disease continues with renewed vigor.

• WCS infection and Legion activity is reported in several other nations across the planet. The survival of Red Eye is also confirmed.

• June: Research into the dragon gives rise to the "Multiple Origin Theory", which stipulates that the dragon and the giant from the 6-12 Incident are of alien origin, having come to Earth from a parallel dimension. This also leads to the discovery of particles of extraterrestrial origin, which were found imminanting from the remains of the giant, and is subsequently labeled "Maso". Maso is announced to be the origin of WCS, and is spread via bodily fluids and waste. No means of eradicating Maso are known, and the nuclear bombardment of Japan is revealed to be the cause behind the global WCS pandemic. The discovery of Maso leads to further breakthroughs in technology, and the Multiple Origin Theory also leads to the discovery of energy sources from other dimensions.

2011

• October: The research facility housing the dragon's remains is attacked and destroyed by unknown parties. The dragon's remains are taken, but no one claims responsibility for the attack nor the abduction of the dragon's remains. Investigation into the attack are halted.

2014

• March: "Project Gestalt" begins. In the hopes of combating WCS, scientists create a method by which a human soul can be removed from their body using Maso via the process of "Gestaltisierung". Initial tests of Gestaltisierung are successful, as human souls are reported to be successfully removed from their bodies and subsequently reunited.

• May: Maso is used to draw energy from parallel dimensions, and experiments begins regarding the use of this energy to break the laws of physics by circumventing the law of conservation and generating matter and energy from nothing. This process is called "magic", and initial experiments provide promising results.

2015

• Unknown month: The process of Gestaltisierung is revealed to the public and met with condemnation. Regardless, Project Gestalt continues, now investigating solutions to the potential problem of a "Gestaltized" soul losing its original body.

2016

• February: "Luciferase" is developed and shown to slow the onset of WCS.

• May: Luciferase is administered to select individuals in the hopes of forming a powerful anti-Legion military force. This force shows promising results in battle against the Legion, and similar forces begin to form across the world. Several of these forces band together to form the "1st Crusade" squadron, which is, unfortunately, ultimately defeated by the Legion.

• December: Continued research into Luciferase shows that it is more effective when administered to adolescents. Several adolescents with exceptional physical abilities are administered with Luciferase, and the "Hamelin Organization" is founded to train these youths into a force of Legion-fighting child soldiers.

2018

• The Japanese government begins to raise concerns with the Hamelin Organization and call for strengthened defenses in response to its increasing reach. At the same time, the "National Research Weapons Laboratory" is founded to research military applications of Maso — in particular, using Maso to strengthen humans.

2019

• Battles between the Hamelin Organization and the Legion continue across the world, with casualties on both sides as they appear locked in a stalemate. The Hamelin Organization's influence continues to spread as they recruit more child soldiers to combat the Legion, while Japan's economy suffers as its remaining survivors gather in Kyushu.

2023

• The war against the Legion destabilizes the global economy. Income inequality increases to the degree that the poor begin to live in squallid slums and shantytowns. Civil unrest also increases.

2025

• January: Project Gestalt creates the first Replicants: artificial humanoid vessels for Gestaltized souls. The creation of Replicants is believed to be the solution to the problem of Gestaltized souls lacking their original bodies. Initial experiments into transplanting Gestaltized souls into Replicants succeeds, and the process of "Replicantization" is integrated into the expanded Project Gestalt.

2026

• Unknown month: The events of The Stone Flower takes place.

• June: The National Weapons Research Laboratory suffers a major setback as they lose control over one of their creations, "Number 6". As the Laboratory enacts a plan to deal with "Number 6" using "Number 7", oversight declares that the risks of enhancing humans using Maso outweigh any benefits. Research into Maso enhancement is scaled back.

2030

• Red Eye is defeated by the Hamelin Organization's 13th Crusade unit in Jerusalem. With Red Eye's defeat, the Legion becomes disorganized and easily defeated. While the threat of the Legion has been contained, WCS infections continue.

2032

• February: WCS infections continue, and with no cure in sight, Project Gestalt publicly unveils the processes of Gestaltization and Replicantization. The upper class of society are the first to sign on for the processes.

• March: Widespread Gestaltization begins across the world, with the upper class of people given preferential treatment due to the high cost of the process. The extracted Gestalts are placed into suspended animation until such a time that WCS can be cured. Replicants are also made for those who undergo Gestaltization, overseen by autonomous Androids. The Replicants are created with immunity to WCS, as well as a minimal level of sentience from the Android overseers. Under the Androids' supervision, the Replicants are tasked with exterminating the remaining Legion, collecting Maso, and bring the Maso to a "celebrant Android", who then sends the Maso back to its original dimension.

2033

• The events of And Then There Were None take place.

• The Grimoire Project begins, using the Multiple Origin Theory to transplant Gestalts into special vessels designed like books. Thirteen of these "sealed books", including Grimorie Weiss and Grimoire Noir, are created. The combined power of two of these sealed books is enough that they can forcefully insert Gestalts into Replicants on a large scale in the case of the eradication of WCS.

2049/2053 (prologue of NieR)

• The "World Purification Commission" — the public face of Project Gestalt — discovers that Gestalts have a high possibility of losing their sense of self and descending into violent insanity, a process known as "Relapse". Left unattended, relapsed Gestalts would likely die. To preserve a Gestalt's sense of self, stable solidified Maso must be extracted from its mass. Gestaltization through the use of one of the Sealed Books has the highest chance of accomplishing this and creating an "Original Gestalt". The task is left to Grimoire Noir and its clones.
• In the hopes of creating an Original Gestalt, Project Gestalt and the Hamelin Organization begin experiments with cloned Grimoire Noirs, disguised as relief centers for slums and refugee camps. Among those who come to a "relief center" is a Shinjuku native named Nier, along with his sister/daughter, Yonah, who is sick and needs treatment. Realizing something is amiss, however, Nier escapes from the relief center with Yonah as they are beset by relapsed Gestalts from previous failed experiments.
• Cornered in a ruined supermarket by relapsed Gestalts, Nier offers himself up to Grimoire Noir to begin Gestaltization, using Noir's power to fight off the relapsed Gestalts. At the same time, Yonah comes into contact with a clone of Grimoire Noir and accidentally initiates her own Gestaltization. Unable to sync with the Grimoire's power, however, her Gestalt immediately begins to relapse.
• The World Purification Commission finds Nier's Gestalt and convinces him that they can save Yonah from relapse by placing her Gestalt into suspended animation. In exchange, Nier would provide the commission with his Gestalt form's solidified Maso to maintain other Gestalts. Nier agrees. This would continue for over a millennium.

26??

• The moon breaks free of the Earth's orbit, and the planet's axis shifts: the western hemisphere is thrown into permanent night as a result, while the eastern hemisphere is thrown into permanent daytime.

2764

• The Replicants begin to develop sentience.

circa 3000

• In spite of developing sentience, the Replicants continue to fight against the Legion under the Androids' orders, continuing to cull their numbers.
• Legends spread among Replicants of a forbidden land where one's wish can be granted. One Replicant brings the body of a deceased lover to this forbidden land — Jerusalem, where Red Eye was killed. Within the white mist where Red Eye's body was destroyed, the Replicant wishes for his lover to be brought back to life. Surprisingly, his wish is granted. Unfortunately, this is accomplished by the white mist being absorbed into his lover's body, transforming her into a new Red Eye.

3287

• The revived Red Eye rallies the Legion against the Replicant forces. Ultimately, four Replicants band together with an android to fight, and once again slay, Red Eye. The rest of the Legion is destroyed afterwards.
• The last of the corrupted Maso on Earth is disposed of, eradicating WCS in so doing.

3288

• With White Chlorination Syndrome finally eradicated, Project Gestalt initiates the next phase of their project: rejoining the Gestalts with their Replicants. The sentient Replicants, however, see the Gestalts as monsters, dubbing them "Shades" and attacking them on sight. Areas under heavy Android control see their Replicants forced into rejoining with their Gestalts, but the success rate of rejoinings is low.

circa 3300

• With the low success rate of Gestalt rejoinings, the Gestalts start to investigate using the Grimoires to forcibly rejoin their Replicants. Making matters worse, Gestalts that had been treated with Gestalt Nier's Maso begin to relapse. Gestalt Nier begins to grow desperate as the possibility of saving Yonah grows more remote...

3361/3465 (the events of the first half of Nier)

• Gestalt Nier finds Grimoire Noir, which he hopes to use to save Yonah. Devola and Popola, a pair of androids, assist Gestalt Nier in his endeavor while declaring to the other Gestalts that he would be their savior.
• As part of their plan to help Gestalt Nier, Devola and Popola aid the Replicant Nier in obtaining Grimoire Weiss, as well as collecting Weiss's "Sealed Verses" in the eventual hopes of having Grimoires Weiss and Noir fuse to forcibly join the Gestalts with their Replicants.
• Gestalt Nier, who had come to be known among the Replicants as the "Shadowlord", doubts the plan's success. He abducts Yonah's Replicant in the hopes that he can at least join Yonah's Gestalt with her, then do the same with his own Replicant.
• Red and Black and A Little Princess take place.

3366/3470 (the events of the second half of Nier)

• Gestalt Yonah gives up her life so that Replicant Yonah may live her own life, and Replicant Nier destroys Gestalt Nier after destroying Devola and Popola.
• The destruction of the Original Gestalt means purified Maso can no longer be produced, dooming all Gestalts to eventual relapse. The destruction of Devola and Popola also means Replicants cannot be produced. With Replicants being incapable of sexual reproduction, the Replicants will also eventually die out. With the deaths of Gestalt Nier, Devola, and Popola, Project Gestalt fails, and humanity's extinction is guaranteed.

3473

• The Lost World takes place.

3474

• Nier's Replicant is rebuilt.
• Records form the Tokyo Administrative Region are lost.

3627

• The Human Heritage Committee is established with the goal of preserving the records of humanity and exploring the ruins of the civilizations of the past in the face of the Replicants' dwindling population.

3631

• The Human Heritage Committee forms the Human Heritage Reclamation Management Organization to protect, and later restore, the heritage of the Old World. This organization becomes the de facto governmental body of the Androids.

4198

• The last Gestalt dies.

circa 4200

• Android manufacturing plants begin to shut down. The Android population begins to decline.

4515

• "Independitst" ideology begins to spread among Androids who no longer feel loyalty to humanity.

4519

• Tensions between independist and loyalist Androids rise. The independists eventually form an independent nation of their own in Australia.

5012

• Aliens invade the Earth.

5013

• The Androids organize into a united armed force known as the "Army of Humanity". Factories are built for the purpose of building combat-model androids.

5024

• The aliens conquer North and South America. They begin to produce "machine lifeforms" to combat the Army of Humanity.

circa 5100

• With the aliens producing machine lifeforms faster than the androids can build new models, the Army of Humanity begins to lose ground. A lunar facility is constructed to preserve information about humanity and the Old World, and orbital bases are built as staging areas for combat androids.

5112

• Emil, a Replicant who had survived since the extinction of the Gestalts in the head of "Number 7", creates an army of millions of clones to fight back against the aliens.

5204

• The Army of Humanity launches regular large-scale operations against the aliens. In spite of these operations, however, they cannot gain a decisive victory against the aliens.

5645

• The Fires of Prometheus takes place.

6230

• The Army of Humanity constructs a "dragon weapon", which it deploys to the Americas — now known as the "Kingdom of Night". The first Accord android is also built.

7645

• The Old World military factory known as the "Junk Heap" explodes, and a massive structure of unknown origin ascends from its ruins towards space. At the time of its launch, a powerful electromagnetic wave caused Androids and machine lifeforms in the surrounding area to confuse friend and foe. As such, the likelihood of this being an alien attack are remote.

circa 7645

• The machine lifeforms' expansion ceases. The Army of Humanity launches several operations to defeat them, but they all end in failure as the machine lifeforms' numbers continue to increase.

circa 11,000

• Sightings of aliens and alien spacecraft decline.

circa 11,306

• The machine lifeforms turn on their alien masters, exterminating them.

11,502

• The machine lifeforms build a floating city over the Pacific Ocean, which the Army of Humanity dubs "Atlantis". Two years later, Atlantis sinks into the ocean.

11,627

• A "Behemoth-class" machine lifeforms appears out of the East Asian sea, launching electromagnetic attacks upon making landfall that decimates the Androids' forces. After a month of battle against both Androids and machine lifeforms, the Behemoth-class machine lifeform retreats into the Izu-Ogasawara trench.

11,689

• "Ernst", a Goliath-class machine lifeform, declares independence from the machine lifeforms' army and founds the Forest Kingdom.

11,732

• During the 8th Machine War, the Army of Humanity begins employing planetside resistance movements.

11,810

• "Kaguya", an orbital base dedicated to extracting machine lifeform cores, suffers catastrophic damage from an explosion. It falls into the Earth's atmosphere and is subsequently destroyed.

11,815

• "Labo" begins to operate as a replacement for Kaguya and starts development of anti-machine lifeform weapons.

11,817

• Ernst, the leader of the Forest Kingdom, ceases function. A second ruler, Immanuel, is built.

11,928

• The first "Black Box" is manufactured from machine lifeform cores.

11,932

• "YoRHa" is approved for manufacture.

11,934

• The machine lifeform "Engles" is manufactured. Engles, along with three other machine lifeforms of the same design, are deployed to the Phillipines and proceed to destroy Androids in the region.

11,937

• July 7: A fire breaks out on Labo, destroying prototype YoRHa units. Backups from the moon are used to develop new units.
• September 2: The first YoRHa androids are deployed on Earth.
• Immanuel speaks his first words.

11,938

• September: Construction begins on a new orbital base, the "Bunker".

11,939

• The 14th Machine War begins.

11,940

• November: The Bunker is complete.
• December: The Bunker begins operations. Commander White is assigned to lead the YoRHa androids from the Bunker.

11,941

• The events of YoRHa take place.

11,942

• January: YoRHa unit 9, type S, is activated for the first time.
• March: The YoRHa all-male squadron M002 is created.
• May: A coup is carried out within M002 following investigation into a distress signal.
• June: Deserters from M002 fuse with machine lifeforms and go berserk. Atlantis resurfaces from the Pacific Ocean, and the fused machine lifeforms cause widespread destruction across the Pacific Region. An operations center is built in the Bunker to deal with this crisis.
• August 7th, 4:00 AM: YoRHa launches an attack against the fused machine lifeforms, with the attack force including Type-E androids. After several days, destruction of the Atlantis fused lifeforms is confirmed.

11,944

• June 6: The Army of Humanity launches a surprise attack on machine lifeforms occupying Normandy, France. The attack ends in failure, with over 85% of the Android's forces in the battle lost.
• August 1: The Army of Humanity initiates the 215th Descent Operation. New machine lifeform types are observed cannibalizing fallen comrades.

11,945 (NieR: Automata)

• February 10: Evidence of hacks into the Bunker are discovered, then subsequently erased.
• March 10: The 243rd Descent Operation is carried out with the purpose of destroying a Goliath-class machine lifeform. Six YoRHa units are deployed, including 9S and YoRHa Number 2, Type-B. The operation is a success, albeit with 2B and 9S as the sole survivors.
• June 26: Following the crippling of the machine lifeforms' data network, a large-scale operation begins to finally retake the Earth from the machine lifeforms. In the ensuing battle, most of the Androids of YoRHa, including Commander White, fall victim to logic virus infection. The Bunker is destroyed, and save for a very small handful of survivors, YoRHa is exterminated. At the same time, a large tower structure appears in a Ruined City.
• August 6: The tower in the Ruined City fires an object into space before collapsing. With the destruction of the remaining YoRHa Androids, the Pods begin to delete data related to this iteration of YoRHa, only to be interrupted. In the days following, 2B, 9S, and A2 are recovered and reactivated.