Final Fantasy VII timeline

This is a timeline for the events of Final Fantasy VII.

Timeline Of Final Fantasy VII
This timline works assuming that the events of the game take place in late 2007, which was sourced from the Ultimania Guide, and also pieced together from information presented in the Compilation Of Final Fantasy VII.

Over 2,000 Years Ago

 * The Cetra begin their long journey to heal the Planet.
 * A being known as "Calamity from the Skies" crashes into the Planet's northern polar icecap on a meteor, gravely injuring the Planet. The Cetra gather at this location so that they may heal the planet.
 * The Calamaity from the Skies emerges from the crater left by the meteor, bringing with it deceit and treachery as a great pestilence falls upon the Cetra and the Planet.
 * The planet creates six powerful weapons to combat the Calamity from the Skies: Jade Weapon, Sapphire Weapon, Diamond Weapon, Ultimate Weapon, Ruby Weapon, and Emerald Weapon.
 * Having nearly wiped out the entire Cetra race, the Calamity of the Skies is finally defeated and sealed in a geological stratum. Due to this, the Weapons remain dormant as they have never had to act.
 * The Cetra's numbers continue to dwindle as time goes on, eventually being swallowed up by the ever-growing human population. Over time, the Cetra assimilate into human civilization, but still maintain their ancient knowledge and powers.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1867

 * Bugenhagen is born.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1956

 * October 13th – Vincent Valentine is born to Grimoire Valentine.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1959

 * Nanaki (Red XIII) is born in to Seto in Cosmo Canyon.
 * Cosmo Canyon is attacked by the Gi Tribe. During the battle, Seto leaves the front lines to hold off a group of Gi Tribe forces that plan to use an underground cave to sneak into Cosmo Canyon and flank its defenders. Ultimately, Cosmo Canyon is victorious against the Gi Tribe, but Seto, having been shot with many poison arrows during his defense of the cave, is eternally petrified.
 * September 23rd – Shinra Manufacturing Works discovers mako energy.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1970

 * Professor Gast Faremis becomes head of the Shinra Science Department.

Circa [ μ ] – εуλ 1970

 * Shinra scientists Grimoire Valentine and Lucrecia Crescent, having done extensive research into an ancient legend surrounding two entities born of the Planet known as Chaos and Omega, make new progress in their research when they discover the Crystal Cave, the place where Case is said to awaken at the appointed time. After mistakenly awakening Chaos's malevolent spirit, Grimoire is killed while protecting Lucrecia from the attacking Chaos. Shortly after, the Shinra Science Department scraps the project.
 * Professor Gast unearths the Calamity from the Skies from the geological stratum. Gast gives the Calamity the name "Jenova" and misidentifies it as an Ancient (Cetra).
 * The Shinra Science Department begins the Jenova Project, with the goal further studying the unearthed being so that they may learn more about the Ancients and their powers as well as the possibility of implementing these powers into humans. The project his headed up by Professor Gast Faremis, with help from fellow Shinra scientists Professor Hojo, Dr. Hollander, and Lucrecia Crescent.
 * As the Jenova Project advances in its stages, the scientists of the project decide to attempt genetically engineering a human with cells from Jenova. However, Professor Hojo and Dr. Hollander have differing methods for how this process should be carried out. In the end the two scientists establish two different projects for this under the Jenova Project: Hojo establishes Project S, which based in Nibelheim's Shinra Mansion, while Hollander establishes Project G, based in Banora Village.
 * The Department of Administrative Research, also known as the "Turks," assigns Vincent Valentine to protect the Shinra scientists for Project S as they carry out their research in Nibelheim, much to the surprise of Lucrecia.
 * Dr. Hollander uses Shinra Science Department Employee, Gillian Hewley as a test subject for Project G (which is named after Gillian herself), injecting Jenova cells into the woman's body.
 * Using Gillian's DNA, now infused with the Jenova Cells, Dr. Hollander seeds the genome of a fetus with Jenova cells.
 * As a part of Project G, Gillian becomes pregnant, her child inheriting the Jenova cells present in her body.
 * Genesis Rhapsodos is born, yielding the results of Hollander's attempt of incorporating Gillian's DNA with a human fetus. When it is discovered that Genesis only has the ability to create clones but not to incorporate others into him, he is labeled a failure and given over to the landlord of Banora, so his family could raise them as their own.
 * Angeal Hewley is born to Gillian Hewley as apart of Project G. Unlike Genesis before him, Angeal is labeled a success, having the ability to make clones of himself and incorporate others into himself. However, due to Shinra's lack of support, and ultimate abandonment of Project G, Angeal was left in the custody of his mother to be raised as a normal boy.
 * During their time in Nibelheim, Vincent and Lucrecia start to get romantically involved. However, this later comes to an end when Vincent discovers that Lucrecia not only knew his father, but was involved with his death. This causes Lucrecia to distance herself from Vincent, seeking comfort from her colleague, Hojo, to whom she later bears a child.
 * Hojo convinces Lucrecia to use their unborn child as a test subject for Project S by injecting Jenova cells into the fetus.
 * Sephiroth is born to Hojo and Lucrecia. He is taken away from Lucrecia immediately following his birth so that he may be studied. The presence of the Jenova cells is apparent in the boy's body from an early age, therefore labeling him a success.
 * Lucrecia becomes ill from the experiments that are performed upon her, the Jenova cells now coursing through her own body as well. When an enraged Vincent confronts Hojo about this, the scientist shoots him. Hojo then performs experiments upon Vincent, which increases his body's durability, halts his body from aging, and gives him the power of metamorphosis. However, Vincent ultimately dies during the experiment.
 * Lucrecia uses Vincent's body in an experiment to make him a vessal for Chaos. She is able resuscitate him by infusing pure mako into him, and successfully merges Chaos's spirit with Vincent's own essence, putting the Protomateria in his chest to keep Chaos under control. Shortly after this, Lucrecia leaves Nibelheim, hiding away from the rest of the world in the Crystal Cave.
 * Vincent awakens in the basement of Shinra Mansion, where he changes into the Galian Beast. Horrified by this, Vincent thinks this to be punishment for his failure to stop Lucrecia from allowing herself and her unborn child to be experimented upon. He finds a room full of coffins in a room in the basement of Shinra Mansion and shuts himself away inside one of them as punishment for his actions. Because of Hojo's experiments, Vincent is able to stay asleep inside of the coffin without aging or even having to sustain himself.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1972

 * Reeve Tuesti is born to Ruvie Tuesti.
 * December 15th – Barret Wallace is born in the coal mining town of Corel.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1975

 * February 22nd – Cid Highwind is born in Rocket Town.
 * Tseng is born.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1976

 * The city of Midgar is constructed. The Shinra Company headquarters is relocated to Midgar.

Late 1970s

 * Unique experiments begin in the secret department beneath the ShinRa building, known as Deepground.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1977

 * Azul is born.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1978

 * Rude is born.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1980

 * Professor Gast leaves Shinra, setting out on a journey across the Planet in order to find answers to the many questions he has about Jenova, the Ancients, and the Planet in general.
 * In Gast's absence, a power struggle occurs within the Shinra's Department of Scientific Research between Professor Hojo and Dr. Hollander over who the new department head will be. In the end, Hojo obtains the position, his achievements in Project S being more recognized by Shinra than Hollander's Project G.

Early 1980s

 * During his travels, Gast visits Cosmo Canyon, home to a group of people who know much about the Planet. During his time in Cosmo Canyon, Gast provides Bugenhagen with scientific equipment so that he may better monitor the planet.
 * Professor Gast meets meets a woman named Ifalna, one of the last Ancients on the Planet. Initially, he takes an interest in her, wanting to know more about her people and the planet. However, they eventually fall in love and retire to Icicle Inn, on the Northern Continent.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1982

 * Reno is born.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1985

 * February 7th – Aerith Gainsborough is born to Gast and Ifalna at Icicle Inn.
 * February 27th – Hojo tracks Gast down to his home at Icicle Inn. Professor Gast is shot to death by the troops accompanying Hojo, who then takes both Ifalna and Aerith into custody at the Shinra Building in Midgar.
 * Zack Fair is born in Gongaga.
 * Rufus Shinra is born.
 * Rosso is born in Deepground.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1986

 * Shalua Rui is born.
 * August 11th – Cloud Strife is born in Nibelheim.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1987

 * Nero is born in Deepground as the result of experiments involving the injection of stagnant mako into fetuses. As he was born, a void of darkness formed around the infant's body, pulling his mother into it, never to be seen again. Nero is the only successful result of these stagnant mako injection experiments.
 * May 3rd – Tifa Lockhart is born in Nibelheim.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1990

 * Midgar begins construction of the Plate—eight sectors built above the smaller settlements on the ground, which in turn gradually become nameless slum areas.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1991

 * Shelke Rui is born.
 * November 20th – Yuffie Kisaragi is born to Godo Kisaragi in Wutai.

Circa [ μ ] – εуλ 1992

 * The Wutai War begins between the forces of Wutai and Shinra, which seeks conquer the last major land free of their influence and harvest the mako energy within the land. Among the Shinra troops deployed to Wutai are Elmyra Gainsborough's husband and Sephiroth, now a Soldier, 1st Class.
 * Sephiroth's unparalleled strength and skill gains recognition during the Wutai War, quickly becoming a world-famous war hero.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1992

 * Elmyra receives a letter saying that her husband is coming home on leave. Anxiously awaiting his safe return, Elmyra goes to the Sector 7 train station every day after receiving this letter in hopes of being reunited with her husband.
 * Ifalna and Aerith escape from the Shinra building, fleeing to the Sector 7 Slums by train. Upon arriving at the Sector 7 train station, Ifalna collapses, then dies. Elmyra, having been at the train station when this happened, takes Aerith into her home. The young girl adapts to her new home fairly quickly.
 * Elmyra's husband is killed in action. Aerith is somehow able to sense his death and tells Elmyra, but she does not believe her. A few days later, Elmyra receives a notice saying that her husband has died.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1995

 * Tifa's mother dies.
 * Grieving over her mother’s death, Tifa climbs Mt. Nibel, believing that she will find her mother waiting for her there. In the process, she falls from a suspension bridge along with Cloud, who had been following her up the mountain. Suffering severe injuries, Tifa remains in a coma for seven days while Cloud, miraculously, suffers only minor injuries but is blamed for the accident. The guilt that he feels from this causes him to become somewhat more aggressive, constantly getting into fights with other kids, often for no apparent reason.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1997

 * Determined to join SOLDIER, Zack Fair leaves Gongaga and heads off to Midgar.
 * Tseng, a young member of the Turks, makes a name for himself by uncovering a group of smugglers selling Shinra weapons on the black market while working on the case of a kidnapped trooper.

[ μ ] – εуλ 1999

 * Denzel is born to Abel and Chloe in Midgar.
 * The Legendary Turk is put under house arrest in Costa del Sol for abandoning his mission to rescue a kidnapped weapons trader.

[ μ ] – εуλ 0000

 * Shelke Rui is kidnapped by the Turks, and taken to Deepground where she is turned into a Deepground SOLDIER.

Late Summer

 * Sephiroth, Genesis, and Angeal, now comrades and friends (all three 1st Class), go into the SOLDIER training room for some sparring. During the training session, things get out of hand when Genesis challenges Sephiroth to a one-on-one battle, forcing Angeal to intervene. As a result, Genesis sustains serious injuries, while the training room sustains major damage.
 * During his treatment by Dr. Hollander, Genesis is told the truth about his birth and the secrets of his body. He also learns that the cells in his body are beginning to degrade, and he does not have much longer to live. Upon hearing this, Genesis agrees to ally himself with Hollander, so that he may find a cure for his degradation
 * Hollander contacts the Director of SOLDIER, Lazard, and informs him of Genesis' origins, proposing they use the SOLDIER's abilities for an uprising against Shinra. Holding a great deal of enimity towards Shinra, Lazard agrees to help the scientist, secretly providing him with the neccessary funds to put this plan into motion.

October

 * Mass SOLDIER Desertion Incident – Genesis is dispatched to Wutai, as the country's war with Shinra rages on. Upon arriving in Wutai, Genesis puts Hollander's plan into motion, leaving Shinra in the line of duty and taking a multitude of 2nd and 3rd Class SOLDIERs with him.
 * Hollander steals classified documents from the Department of Scientific Research and disappears.
 * SOLDIER, 1st Class Angeal Hewley and his protégé, SOLDIER, 2nd Class Zack Fair, are dispatched to Wutai to carry out what was supposed to be Genesis' mission: capture Fort Tamblin.
 * Angeal and Zack suceed in capturing Fort Tamblin. During the raid of the fort, a third party gets inolved: Genesis Copies, the missing SOLDIER members, now turned into mindless puppets. In the ensuing fight between Zack and the Genesis Copies, Sephiroth shows up on the battlefield. After eliminating all of the Copies, Zack and Sepiroth realize that Angeal has disappeared.

December

 * Rufus Shinra assumes the position of Vice President of the Shinra Electric Power Company. Shortly after, he leaves on a long-term business trip.
 * Zack and Tseng go to Banora Village in search of Genesis. Upon arriving, the village appears to be completely deserted, with the exception of Gillian Hewley, with Genesis having turned the village's warehouse into his stronghold. Gillian kills herself out of guilt for her involvement in Project G. With both Angeal and Genesis having left the scene, Shinra destroys Banora in an air raid to get rid of all evidence of the events that had transpired there.
 * Cloud asks Tifa to meet him out at Nibelheim's water tower at night. There, Cloud tells Tifa about his plans to leave Nibelheim for Midgar so that he could join SOLDIER, aspiring to one day be like Sephiroth. That night, Cloud makes Tifa a promise that he would save her when she was ever "in a pinch."

January

 * January 10th – Veld, the leader of the Turks, contacts the Legendary Turk regarding a new threat that may arise in the aftermath of the Wutai War.

February

 * The Wutai War ends.
 * February 30th
 * 2:15 am – The Wutai-based anti-Shinra organization, AVALANCHE, launches an attack on from the sewers Midgar Sector 8, lead by a man named Shears. The newest member of the Turks is ordered to patrol Sector 8 that night and encounters some AVALANCHE operatives. The Turk, along with Reno, fight off the AVALANCHE operatives and stop them from blowing up the Sector 8 Reactor. During this time, Reno and the Turk encounter and are defeated by Shears. Tseng informs Veld of the identity of the group that attacked them and tells him that their next target is Junon, where President Shinra visiting for military inspections. Fuhito, one of the commanding officers of AVALANCHE, orders Shears to rendezvous with the rest of their forces in Junon while Veld orders Reno and the Turk to go to Junon to protect the President.
 * Reno and the Turk arrive at the hotel in Junon that President Shinra is staying in, with AVALANCHE operatives arriving shortly after, lead by an AVALANCHE special operative. The AVALANCHE operatives easily make it past the guards, the special operative making it into the President's room, but only to be taken out by Reno and the Turk. Veld arrives on the scene and informs President Shinra that AVALANCHE has nearly overtaken the entire hoteld. After clearing the hotel of AVALANCHE operatives, Reno and the Turk begin escorting President Shinra out of the hotel. After getting separated from Reno, the Turk is ordered to escort President Shinra to the Junon Branch Shinra Building, for his press conference. Fighting off AVALANCHE operatives along the way, the Turk is able to get President Shinra to the Junon Branch Building safely, where they meet up with Reno. The building is then hit with a blackout, with Fuhito coming onto the scene shortly after, fighting the Turk to the point of exhaustion before leaving the fatigued Turk behind. After Fuhito escapes, the Turk receives a call from Veld saying that AVALANCHE has seized the Mako Cannon and are planning on firing it at Midgar. As the Turks and President Shinra focus on taking back the Mako Cannon, Fuhito is able to slip into the press room and shoot the President. President Shinra, however, is not killed by this and orders Veld to call in Sephiroth.
 * 3:30 pm – Security in Junon is moved from A to S level, in order to stop AVALANCHE from using the Mako Cannon. Reno leads some troops as they go to take back the Mako Cannon from AVALANCHE, while the Turk takes an underground passage to get to the cannon's control room so that lockdown sequence for the cannon can be finalized. The Turk arrives in the control room, only to find that not only has the Mako Cannon been shutdown, but the room is littered with corpses of AVALANCHE operatives. The Turk is then attacked by Elfe, the leader of AVALANCHE but is saved at the last minute by Sephiroth. Knowing that victory cannot be achieved with Sephiroth present, AVALANCHE retreats from Junon.

March

 * Angeal and Genesis are officially announced as being killed in action.
 * President Shinra decides to bring in SOLDIER to deal with AVALANCHE. Due to the shortage of SOLDIER operatives since the Mass SOLDIER Desertion Incident, the Turks are ordered to recruit SOLDIER candidates. Veld sends out Reno, Rude, and the Turk to find these recruits.
 * March 16th – With Reno and Rude aving already successfully recruited a number of SOLDIER candidates in Costa del Sol (most of them by force), the Turk heads to Club Duel seeking some additional recruits. After defeating a number of challengers, the Turk is able to subdue Club Duel's King, taking him and the rest of Club Duel's patrons to a cargo ship bound for Midgar. On the ship, one of the candidates, Azul, starts causing a commotion, violently attacking the other recruits in the hold. The Turk attempts to subdue Azul, but he is ultimately taken down by Rude, who intervenes during their fight. Before they are able to set out, a group of AVALANCHE operatives, lead by Shears, infiltrates Costa del Sol, intending to release the SOLDIER candidates from the ship. The Turk and Rude are able to hold off the AVALANCHE troops on the ship, but Shears releases the candidates from the cargo hold. Rude attempts to fight Shears on his own, but is easily defeated. Reno and the Turk attempt to recover some of the escaped SOLDIER candidates. After recovering most of the Candidates, Reno knocks out the Turk, heading to AVALANCHE's ship so that he may settle his score with Shears, tagging along with Reno along the way. Once the Turk wakes up to find Azul has returned, deciding to join SOLDIER of his own free will, so that he may become stronger. Meanwhile, Reno and Rude take on Shears together, overpowering the AVALANCHE operative by attacking him together and forcing him to retreat.

April

 * Zack is promoted to SOLDIER 1st Class. On the same day, Genesis invades Midgar with his army of copies, and Zack is dispatched to help fight them off. During the battle, Zack comes to the rescue of the the Turk, Cissnei. While pursuing Dr. Hollander into the Sector 5 Reactor, Zack encounters Angeal, who attacks him and sends him falling to the Sector 5 Slums below.
 * Zack's fall to the Sector 5 Slums is broken by a bed of flowers growing inside of the Sector 5 Church. There, he is woken up by the Aerith Gainsborough whom he credits for saving his life and offers to repay her with a date. On their date in the he buys a red ribbon for Aerith. Their date, however, is cut short when Zack receives a call to return to Midgar help defend against an attack on the Shinra Headquarters.
 * Zack receives some help from Angeal as they both head back to Shinra headquarters, where Zack must defend Professor Hojo from Genesis. During his attempt on the scientist's life, Hojo tells Genesis. that Hollander would not be able to cure his degradation. He then flies off to Modeoheim with Angeal in hot pursuit.
 * Cissnei of the Turks undertakes a top secret assignment to keep Zack under surveillance.
 * In order to find Genesis and Hollander, Zack and Tseng go to Modeoheim along with some Shinra infantrymen, among them being Cloud Strife, whom Zack befriends. Zack finds Hollander and Genesis inside of a Mako excavation facility, where he fights and defeats Genesis, who then throws himself into the depths of an excavation site. Zack then goes up against Angeal, who fuses with several other Angeal monster copies to become Angeal Penance. Zack defeats Angeal, who gives him his Buster Sword with his dying breath.
 * Zack secures Hollander and hands him over to Shinra. He is detained in Shinra's Junon branch office.

June

 * While stationed in Junon, Cloud Strife, still only a Shinra infantryman, is sent out to Midgar for a new assignment.
 * June 27th – Fuhito receives word from an informant that Professor Rayleigh, a Shinra scientist who carries a disk containing highly classified information on Shinra and SOLDIER, will be arriving at Midgar Station early in the morning of the following day. AVALANCHE operatives to the Midgar Station, supplemented by Fuhito's new special troops, the Ravens.
 * June 28th
 * 6:00 a.m. – Cloud and two other Shinra infantrymen are assigned to protect Professor Rayleigh. Upon arriving at Midgar, the Turk joins them to ensure Rayleigh's safety, however, they are attacked by AVALANCHE shortly after their arrival. While protecting Rayleigh, the two Shinra troops protecting Rayleigh are attacked by a Raven. Cloud jumps onto the train that the AVALANCHE operatives take the captured Professor Rayleigh onto, separating him from the Turk, who stays behind to fight the Raven. After defeating the Raven, the Turk uses some service tunnels to catch up with the train, arriving just in time to save Cloud from certain death at the hands of AVALANCHE. With more Ravens coming in pursuit of them, the Turk sends Cloud and Professor Rayleigh into the next train car, disconnecting it to keep the Ravens from reaching the professor or, more importantly, the SOLDIER data that she carries. The Turk takes out the three Ravens and heads back to the car that Cloud and Rayleigh are in, having now rolled to a stop. The Turk makes it to Cloud and Rayleigh just in time to save them from another Raven. Cloud then joins the Turk in a fight the some additional AVALANCHE troops lead by another Raven, wielding the sword that the fallen Raven had been carrying rather than his rifle. Cloud and the Turk are able to defeat the AVALANCHE operatives, but during the battle the Raven that the Turk had supposedly killed earlier stands up and steals Professor Rayleigh's disk.
 * Fuhito deciphers the lock on the disk, which supposedly could only be unlocked by Professor Rayleigh herself, granting him complete access to all information on SOLDIER. Fuhito tells Elfe that they will now need Professor Hojo to carry out their plans further.

December

 * December 22nd – Reno orders the Turk to tail Rude in Midgar to see what he's up to. The Turk follows Rude to a bar where he meets a woman named Chelsea for a date, who is actually a spy for AVALANCHE sent to get close to Rude.
 * December 23rd – Veld orders the Turk look into a massive outbreak of monsters in Sector 8. The Turk finds that Kimara Bugs are nesting sewers, but is unable to handle the situation on his own, forcing him to return to headquarters. Meanwhile, Rude meets up with Chelsea again, this time being tailed by Reno. During their date, she attempts place a wiretap on Rude's phone, but cannot bring herself to do so. After their date, Reno continues to follow Chelsea and sees her meeting with a man from AVALANCHE, learning the truth about who she was, but perplexed as to why she did not place the wiretap when she had the chance.
 * December 24th – Reno confronts Rude about Chelsea, although Rude seems to imply that he already knows her secret. Reno receives a call from Veld telling him that monsters are still running rampant in Sector 8, and orders him deal with the problem. Reno and the Turk venture into the sewers of Sector 8, successfully eliminating the Kimara Bugs and their nest. After destroying the nest, the Turk sees Chelsea and follows her into the sewers, where she meets with three AVALANCHE operatives. The operatives attack Chelsea when she tells them that she does not want to continue to deceive Rude, but is saved by the Turk. Chelsea then decides that she and Rude cannot be together, leaving the Turk to tell Rude this as he waits for her at West Park.

January

 * January 14th – SOLDIER operatives Essai and Sebastian are sent to Icicle to look into the loss of communication with the front line base there, thinking it to be nothing more than a monster extermination mission. Upon their arrival, they are ambushed and captured by AVALANCHE Ravens, who take them to a nearby base where Fuhito performs experiments upon them in order to genetically transform them into Ravens as well. Veld sends the Turk to as well as another Turk investigate the situation. The Turk successfully infiltrates the compound in which AVALANCHE has occupied and finds the two SOLDIER operatives contained in liquid-filled capsules. The Turk frees them, then is attacked by AVALANCHE Raven, Tears. After defeating Tears, the Turk flees the compound along with another Turk but is once again attacked by Tears, then by Fuhito. They are then rescued by the Turk, Martial Arts (Female), who drives them away in a truck. When President Shinra sees the data gathered on the compound, he orders for Zack Fair to be called in to deal with the situation
 * January 16th – Shinra sends in troops to take out AVALANCHE's Icicle base, Zack, Essai, Sebastian, and the Turk being among them. On their way to the compound, Zack and the Turk get separated from the others while the rest of the party is ambushed by AVALANCHE. All of the Shinra infantrymen either killed or incapacitated in the ambush, while Essai and Sebastian are dispatched by the Raven, Kyneugh, and taken back to the AVALANCHE base and put back into the capsules. When Zack arrives at the scene and learns what happened, he rushes off to the compound alone with the Turk following after him. The Turk finds Essai and Sebastian and frees them from the capsules, only to suddenly be attacked by both of them, forcing the Turk to fight the two brainwashed SOLDIER operatives. During the fight, Zack comes onto the scene, causing Sebastian and Essai to attack him on sight. However, Zack is able to and bring them to their senses, only to have them slip away and die shortly after. As the base's self-destruct sequence is initiated, the Turk flees while Zack stays behind to fight Kyneugh, easily defeating him. Zack and the Turk escape from the base just as it explodes. The Turk heads back to the Shinra base while Zack stays behind and makes grave markers for Essai and Sebastian.
 * Back at Shinra Headquarters, President Shinra relieves Veld of his duties as head of the Department of Administrative Research, placing the part of the blame for Shinra's security leak upon him. Veld is transfered him to a different department, telling Tseng that he is now in charge, as he leaves.
 * Heidegger takes over command of the Turks, ordering them to patrol Junon in preparation for a potential attack by AVALANCHE.

February

 * February 1st – AVALANCHE launches an attack on Junon, just as expected, popping up in various locations around Junon without warning. Heidegger orders the Turks to just distract the AVALANCHE operatives until the army arrives, but because of his insistence to not let them coordinate their strikes against AVALANCHE, the Turks are quickly overwhelmed, with the AVALANCHE beginning their assault on Junon's airport. Monitoring the situation, Veld goes to President Shinra and blackmails him to give him command of the Turks for this operation, threatening to divulge classified information to the public. Taking command of the Turks once again, Veld orders the Turks to deal with the situation at the airport. The Turk heads to the landing strip to deal with the operatives aboard the airships, encountering the Kyneugh, still alive and well, upon arriving. However, the Turk is able to defeat the Raven, and the others Turks succeed in their duties as well, successfully diverting AVALANCHES attack on Junon. Back at Shinra Headquarters, President Shinra and Veld begin to suspect Professor Hojo as the source of the information leak.

Early Summer

 * Lazard disappears, believing that it’s only a matter of time before his secret communications with Hollander are exposed.

June

 * June 17th – AVALANCHE launches an attack on Shinra Headquarters, releasing monster test subjects from Hojo's laboratory to wreak havoc upon the building. Due to the classified nature of the monster research project, only the Turks can deal with this situation. The Turk deals with the monsters on the 65th, 66th, and 67th floors of the Shinra Building. Upon arriving at the 68th floor, the Turk finds Kyneugh, Shears, and Fuhito in Hojo's laboratory. Fuhito attempts to coax Hojo into leaving Shinra, offering him the chance to study AVALANCHE's Ravens. The Turk attempts to intervene, once again having to fight off Kyneugh, but the Raven is able to recover more quickly this time and attacks the Turk again. Hojo, interested by the Raven's strength and regenerative abilities, agrees to go with Shears and Fuhito. Realizing that the only way to defeat Kyneugh for good is to destroy his body, the Turk uses gravity magic to push him into the furnace, incinerating his body. When Veld informs President Shinra of the situation, he orders Sephiroth to be brought in to deal with it. The Turk pursues Hojo and his captors up to the roof of the Shinra building, but is unable to make it before they board a helicopter and take off. Tseng and the Turk give chase the chopper on the highway in a truck, keeping up with it until Shears parachutes down and takes out the road with a bomb. The Turk is able to make it out of the truck, but Tseng is nowhere in sight. The Turk then attacks Shears, putting up a better fight against him than before, but ultimately being overpowered by the AVALANCHE operative, who again spares the Turk so that he can make his getaway. The Turk tries to follow the chopper, but is attacked by one of Hojo's research specimens, a dragon. The already-weakened Turk is mortally wounded by the dragon, but is ultimately saved by Sephiroth. Sephiroth then hits the helicopter with a long range attack, damaging it enough make it come crashing down to the ground. Fuhito manages to get away, but Hojo is recovered from the helicopter and taken back to Shinra HQ.
 * Back at AVALANCHE's base, an unknown person chastises Elfe, Fuhito, and Shears for raiding the Shinra Building and trying to capture Hojo without his authorization. He then informs them of their new target: The last surviving Ancient, a young girl who Shinra has had their eye on for quite some time. They intend to take her into their custody so that they may learn the location of the Promised Land.

August

 * August 9th – After a night of drinking, the Turk wakes up in a bar in the Sector 5 Slums, having been left behind by the other Turks. While wandering around, the Turk comes upon Aerith Gainsborough's house, scaring the young girl and making her run away when she sees the Turk's uniform. As she flees, however, she runs into some AVALANCHE operatives who are looking for her. In a panic, she runs back in the direction of the Turk, who takes out the AVALANCHE troops and, not knowing who Aerith is, protects her as more AVALANCHE operatives come after them. While fleeing from AVALANCHE, the two of them eventually find an empty house to hide in to wait out the AVALANCHE operatives. However, their cover is blown when Shears spots the Turk outside of the house retrieving Aerith's dropped Materia, a gift from her mother. The Turk engages Shears in combat once again, and yet again fairs better against him then before, but is still ultimately defeated by the him.

September

 * Zack sent on leave from SOLDIER and heads to Costa del Sol for vacation. While on the ship to Costa del Sol, he runs into Cissnei, claiming it to be coincidence that she's taking a vacation in Costa del Sol as well. In reality, however, she is still under orders to keep Zack under surveillance.
 * During Zack's vacation, Costa del Sol is attacked by Genesis clones. During this time, several other cities are attacked by Genesis clones as well. After taking care of the clones in Costa del Sol, Zack is called in to Junon, where the majority of the Genesis clones seem to be present. The Turks aid in the evacuation of Junon while Zack is ordered to guard Dr. Hollander so that he won't take this opportunity to escape. However, Hollander is able to slip out of the Junon branch building before Zack can get to him. Pursuing Hollander throughout Junon, Zack is finally able to catch up with the scientist, but he ultimately escapes when two winged Genesis clones come and carry him off. Sephiroth shows up shortly after to update Zack on the situation, telling him that Genesis clones have started appearing in Midgar as well. Before leaving to head back to Midgar, Sephirtoh informs Zack of the possibility that Genesis is still alive, but unbeknownst to them, Genesis is standing atop the Mako cannon in Junon at that moment.
 * September – The Nibelheim Incident – Reports of monsters disrupting life for the workers at the Mt. Nibel Mako Reactor. This results in Sephiroth, Zack, and Cloud being sent to Nibelheim to investigate. On reaching Nibelheim, Cloud keeps his identity hidden from Tifa and the other townspeople. He cannot bear to be seen as just an "ordinary" soldier. Tifa takes the party to the Mako reactor. Tifa and Cloud stay outside. Inside, Sephiroth discovers Jenova's body and sees all the mutated "failed" experiments of Hojo's. He begins to realize his origins may be similar and becomes upset. Zack is disbelieving at first, but when one of the mutated humans falls out of a pod he also begins to be concerned. The party returns to Nibelheim Mansion.
 * September 22nd-29th – Sephiroth finds all the notes of Jenova Project in the basement of the Mansion. He is aware of Professor Gast’s initialization of the project but has not been told how Gast died or Hojo's full involvement in his creation. Later in the night Zack goes to speak to Sephiroth and finds Sephiroth a changed man. Sephiroth has discovered Gast's notes he made at Icicle Lodge about the Ancients. He now believes he is descended from the Ancients and regards normal humans as traitors who abandoned the Cetra to a terrible disaster. However he does not seem to accept Jenova is the cause of that disaster. He rants and raves at Zack before leaving quickly to see Jenova whom he refers to as "Mother" Zack follows him outside and sees the whole village in flames. Many people are dead or dying, a Shinra Soldier (Cloud) tends to his dying mother. Sephiroth heads for the reactor with several townsfolk in hot pursuit. Tifa and Zack chase after him, Cloud following behind. At the reactor, Tifa discovers her father's body. Sephiroth has killed him. As Sephiroth moves towards the Pod with Jenova in it, Zack tries to attack him but is batted away. Tifa picks up Sephiroth's discarded sword and attacks him, but he takes the sword back and cuts her down. Cloud arrives to witness this and he tenderly moves Tifa into a more comfortable position before confronting Sephiroth. Sephiroth opens the pod and tries to free Jenova. As Cloud approaches Sephiroth tells Jenova he has come to reclaim the Planet for her. Cloud stabs Sephiroth then returns to tend to Tifa. Injured, Sephiroth can only take Jenova's head with him. He leaves the pod room, walking past Cloud. Cloud follows him onto the bridge above the Lifestream running far below at the bottom of the reactor. Sephiroth stabs Cloud though the chest, but Cloud keeps a hold of the sword and uses it to flip Sephiroth and Jenova's head into the bottom of the Mako reactor, into the Lifestream. Cloud then passes out due to his wounds.

October

 * October 1 – In the immediate aftermath, Zangan (Tifa's tutor) arrives at the reactor and takes the wounded Tifa to Midgar. Here she sets up a bar called "Seventh Heaven" in the Sector 7 slums when she has recovered. Cloud, Zack, and the surviving residents of Nibelheim are gathered up and used by Hojo to create clones of Sephiroth, as he believed the original was dead. Jenova is moved to Shinra Headquarters (now minus her head), for safekeeping. After the cloning project proves to be a failure, Hojo moves back to Midgar permanently and carries on research there.

[ ν ] – εуλ 0003

 * Marlene is born to Dyne and Elenor.
 * April 11 –' The failed launch of Rocket Shinra 26.
 * May 8 – Shinra persuade the people of Corel to accept the building of a Mako reactor. Barret, seeing that coal has no future, pleads Shinra’s case. His best friend Dyne opposes it, but Barret talks him round. One day Barret and Dyne come back from a trip out of town and find Shinra burning down Corel. They discover that Shinra have blamed several explosions at the new reactor on sabotage by Corel townsfolk. Barret and Dyne are both severely injured in the fighting. Dyne falls over a cliff and Barret believes him dead. Barret goes back to Corel to be with his now dead wife Myrna. He sees Dyne's wife Eleanor is also dead, but Dyne's daughter Marlene isn't. He decides to take Marlene and flee to Midgar. Barret, swearing revenge on Shinra decides to start targeting their reactors in Midgar. He hooks up with Tifa (who is also harboring anger towards Shinra) and uses the basement of her bar as a center of operations for the environmental terrorist group AVALANCHE.

[ ν ] – εуλ 0004

 * The Gongaga Reactor explodes, killing many of the townsfolk.

[ ν ] – εуλ 0006

 * October 30 – Nanaki's capture by Shinra.


 * December 19th – After years of experimentation, Zack and Cloud escape the Shinra Mansion. Cloud is nearly catatonic from the Mako and Jenova treatments. Zack dresses him in a spare SOLDIER uniform and they manage to get to the mountains near Midgar before Shinra catches up with them. On their journeys, Zack tells Cloud all about his life in SOLDIER and what happened when he was alone with Sephiroth. Cloud is still too confused and disoriented to respond, but Zack takes care of him.

[ ν ] – εуλ 0007

 * December 22nd – When Shinra find the ex-SOLDIERS just outside of Midgar, Zack is shot and killed. Cloud is left alive, as he is considered no threat. However Cloud manages to pick up Zack's sword and make it to Sector 7 railway station in Midgar, where Tifa finds him still confused. As he gets better, Cloud's mind takes Zack's experiences and mixes them with his own, setting up the split personality that would allow Sephiroth such control over him. Tifa talks him into helping AVALANCHE destroy the Sector 1 reactor.


 * Late 0007 – Early 0008 – The events of Final Fantasy VII.

[ ν ] – εуλ 0008

 * Last third of January – Meteor destroys Midgar.
 * Geostigma begins to infect the Planet’s population.
 * Early Spring – Edge is constructed by the inhabitants of Midgar, and the WRO are founded by Reeve (and funded by Rufus).
 * June 29th (in the early afternoon) – Denzel is found by Cloud just outside of Aerith's church.

[ ν ] – εуλ 0009

 * The Events of Advent Children.

[ ν ] – εуλ 0010

 * After three years of being trapped beneath Midgar due to the devastation caused by Meteor, Deepground makes its presence known to the world by launching attacks on Kalm and Edge. This commences The Events of Dirge Of Cerberus.

Unspecifed Future

 * 500 Years After the End of Final Fantasy VII – Final scene of the game, wherein Red XIII (and his children) view the ruins of Midgar.