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.

April

 * 9 - Kozo Fuyutsuki born

April

 * 29 - Gendo Rokubungi born

March

 * 30 - Yui Ikari born

June

 * 17 - Ryoji Kaji born

November

 * 21 - Ritsuko Akagi born.

December

 * 8 - Misato Katsuragi born.

July

 * 11 - Maya Ibuki born.

1999

 * Gendo Rokubungi and Kozo Fuyutsuki first meet.
 * Gendo Rokubungi marries Yui Ikari and takes her last name.

September

 * 10 - The Katsuragi Expedition arrives in Antarctica to investigate "Adam."
 * 12 - Gendo Ikari returns to Japan from Antarctica, taking the research data with him. He knows in advance what the results of the next day's "Contact Experiment" with Adam will be. Gendo and Yui conceive Shinji. Second Impact is only hours away.
 * 13 - Second Impact occurs due to the "Contact Experiment. "
 * 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 a N² mine)

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

 * 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 Unit-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 Unit-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 Unit-01; Kensuke and Toji are aboard, and this shared experience marks the true beginning of their friendship with Shinji.
 * Core of Shamshel 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.
 * 11 September
 * The 7th Angel, Israfel is destroyed.
 * Gendo Ikari has Adam grafted onto the palm of his right hand.
 * Asuka defeats the 8th Angel, Sandalphon, in a volcano.
 * 9th Angel Matarael 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.
 * Unit-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 2016 )
 * 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 2016 )
 * Shinji merged with the Eva, and his body was reverted to LCL inside the entry plug for 30 days.
 * 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 2016 )
 * 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 2016 )
 * 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 Unit-01 initiate 3rd Impact.

2016

 * 1 January
 * 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.
 * Shinji Ikari rejects Human Instrumentality.