The (Unofficial) Timeline of Dead by Daylight

It should be noted that the Omniverse mentioned in Tome II seems to indicate that Dead by Daylight exists in a multiverse that the Entity is able to travel though, in addition to being able to travel through space and time. The Omniverse/multiverse explains the presence of licensed killers and survivors who cannot exist in the same universe (Stranger Things features frequent references to The Evil Dead, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and A Nightmare on Elm Street; Left4Dead’s zombie apocalypse cannot have happened in any other timeline / universe). As a result, we cannot assume that all original killers and survivors come from the same universe, unless they come from the same DLC or are explicitly stated to be related in the case of the Yamaokas. This timeline assumes that dates for world events such as the existence of Ancient Babylon, Feudal Japan, and World War I are likely the same.

1895-539 BCE: Ancient Babylonia (The Birth, Rise, Fall, and Death of Adiris)1

1185-1600: Feudal Japan (The Birth, Rise, Fall, and Death of Kazan Yamaoka)2

1300: Ash fights the Army of Darkness.3

1857: The Crotus Prenn Asylum is established.4

1860: Caleb Quinn is sentenced to 15-years in Hellshire Pennitentiary for the attempted murder and assault of Henry Bayshore. It is unknown how much of his sentence he served before striking a deal with the Warden. The exact date of the “Mad Mick Massacre” is unknown.5

1876: The date of Gold Creek Whiskey's advertisement, a bottle of which serves as an add-on for the Deathslinger.6

1896: Many of Benedict Baker's entries are dated November 1896, despite him being from the 1950s, indicating the warped nature of time in the Realms of the Entity. The entries include his notes on the Bloodweb, the Entity, the Terror Radius, Killers, Evan MacMillan, Philip Ojomo, and Max Thompson Jr. (the latter two of whom were certainly not from 1896).7

1897: February and June, Benedict Baker makes notes referencing the Bloodweb, such as opening the second perk slot and unlocking teachable perks.8

28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918: World War I (the Great War, or Anna’s ‘Lovely War’) occurs and Anna hunts the German/Russian soldiers that pass through the Red Forest, taking a doll from them for one of her kidnapped/adopted daughters.9

1877-1910s: September, the Massacre at the Crotus Prenn Asylum10 leaves 50 patients and staff dead at the hands of the Nurse, who vanishes after capture. (While the Nurse has a WWII cosmetic, her default uniform more closely resembles a nurse’s uniform somewhere between the Civil War and WWI era. I assume 1910s because Sally Smithson worked at the Asylum for upwards of two decades, meaning the absolute earliest would be 1877, 20 years after the Asylum’s founding. The only exact date I can find is that the massacre happened overnight in September.)

Exact dates for the MacMillan Estate Mine Explosion are unknown but may be anywhere from late 1800s (1896 if Benedict Baker's journal is correct) to early/mid 20th century (Nurse is said to be older than Trapper and she is approximately 40 in the late 1910s).

1932: The Birth of Kenneth Chase. His mother does not survive the birth.11

1954: Kenneth Chase leaves home after seeing his father exit the crawlspace with his cigar box of trophies in-hand. He changes his identity to Jeffrey Hawk and joins a traveling circus.11

1956: Sometime in September/Summer, Benedict Baker begins his investigation of a blight of missing people in the town of Weeks, outside of Seattle, Washington. He is taken by the Entity after about twelve days of investigation.12

1957: April 8th, Ashley Joanna (“Ash”) Williams is born.3

1964-April 1975: Sometime during U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War (in the Left 4 Dead universe’s timeline/universe), Bill Overbeck serves two tours, during which his knee is injured by shrapnel.13

1967: Lery's Memorial Institute becomes a front for the C.I.A.14 (specifically Project MK Ultra). Sometime between now and 1983, Dr. Herman Carter will be brought in to run the Treatment Theater. (The Mansion itself was built in the late 1800s.)

1970: Lery's Memorial Institute becomes a C.I.A. black site.14

1972: The 'Horrific Events' of 1972 (presumably Max Thompson Jr.'s escape) cause the Thompson House to be abandoned, fall into disrepair, and ruin.15 

(Continuity Error: There are inconsistencies in the dates as to when exactly Max Thompson Jr. (The Hillbilly) broke out. Early concept summaries had the farm stop production in 1946 (but also mistakenly name the Farm's owners as Mr. and Mrs. Adams),16 while the individual Map summaries place his escape in 1972. The latter seems more correct given his use of a chainsaw and his character being inspired by The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), which took place in the 1970s.)

1973? Or 1974?: Bubba Sawyer (Leatherface | The Cannibal) is taken by the Entity after failing to capture/kill Sally Hardesty.17 While the game confirms Leatherface was taken immediately after the events of the movie, the movie itself is confused about the time. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) narration places it in 1973, but later states it to take place in “present day.”18 The use of the name “Bubba Sawyer” indicates that this is the timeline including the 1986 sequel.

1978: Michael Myers (The Shape) and Laurie Strode (Cynthia Myers) are pulled into the Realm of the Entity some time after their family reunion on Halloween 1978. There is no in-game text to support this, apart from one line in the Spotlight confirming that Laurie Strode knows Michael Myers is her brother.19

1970s: The hair and clothing in the cutscene for Lisa Sherwood's Tome "Stroke of Luck" indicates that she lived in the 70s and is African American, meaning the Blackwater Swamp is likely somewhere in the American South.20

1976?: Possibly the year where Alessa Gillsepie is burned alive during her mother’s attempt to birth God from her womb. Instead, she manages to partially reincarnate herself as Cheryl Mason, who is found by Harry and Jodie Mason. The whole series was made without regard to continuity/chronology so the fashions rarely reflect the era.

1979-1984: Philip Ojomo begins and ends his time working at Autohaven Wreckers sometime between those years (this is based on the designs of Illinois and Virginia license plates that formerly acted as map offerings).21

1982: In October, Ash, his girlfriend Linda, sister Cheryl, and friends Scotty and Shelly go to a cabin in the woods. They are slowly all murdered/possessed by the Deadites until only Ash remains. He is forced to chainsaw off his own hand, kill/dismember his sister, friends, and girlfriend, and is eventually sent back in time to 1300.3

1983: The events of Silent Hill (1999), result in the ‘deaths’ of Alessa Gillsepie and Cheryl Mason, and the birth of Heather Mason on July 17th.22 The whole series was made without regard to continuity/chronology so the fashions rarely reflect the era.

Lery's Memorial Institute is condemned (The Doctor has presumably been taken by the Entity by this point).14

Forced by Dr. Brenner to make contact with the creature, Eleven accidentally opens the Rift in Hawkins National Laboratory, unleashing the Demogorgon on Hawkins, Indiana. She uses the chaos to escape.

1985: Nancy Wheeler, Steve Harrington, and the (captured Russian) Demogorgon are taken by the Entity some time after the events of 4th of July in the Stranger Things timeline/universe.23

1993: GHOST FACE DISAPPEARS June 18, 1993, article by Jed Olsen. We know that Jed Olsen had been writing for the Roseville Gazette for five months when the Ghost Face murders started, but we do not know how long he had been killing before Roseville. We know he had already struck several small towns between Utah and Pennsylvania. It is probably safe to assume that Roseville was one of the last towns he hunted in before being taken by the Entity.24

1996: February 19th (Chinese New Year), Susie of the Legion stabs a man outside of a store for his wallet to impress Frank.25 The Damaged Photo (Ormond Map Offering) was dated August 28th of 1996.26 It is assumed that the Legion disappeared at some point during this year (most likely during the winter).

Takamatsu University (the university Rin attends) is established.27

1994?: Possible year for the events of Silent Hill 2 (2001), which includes the debut of Pyramid Head. The whole series was made without regard to continuity/chronology so the fashions rarely reflect the era.

2000?: Possible year for the events of Silent Hill 3 (2003)? The whole series was made without regard to continuity/chronology so the fashions rarely reflect the era. Cheryl Heather Mason is taken by the Entity some time after.

2003: The Great Storm brings down the Silo at Torment Creek (Coldwind Farm), revealing 12 previously undiscovered bodies (victims of Max Thompson Jr.).28

(Continuity Error: The original map summary places the Great Storm in 2003, but the 80s Suitcase features a summary that indicates the storm was in 1984. Alternatively, the summary could have meant that the victims found in the Silo were from 1984.)

2004-6: Amanda Young becomes the first surviving victim of Jigsaw and becomes his apprentice, facilitating/building countless games and murders. The Jigsaw games end 2006 in the deaths of John Kramer and Amanda Young. (Exact dates are difficult to track due to the fluid nature of the Saw franchise's timeline, but mid-2000s is generally accepted).29

2008-2009: At some point in the Left 4 Dead universe/timeline, Bill Overbeck sacrifices himself to ensure his friends’ survival. After his death, he awakens in the Realm of the Entity.13

2008: Quentin Smith and Freddy Krueger are taken by the Entity some time after Nancy Holbrook's mother is murdered by Krueger. (While the remake came out in 2010, the dates given in-universe, namely Quentin being approximate four or five-years-old during his time at Badham Preschool in 1994-530, mean that the movie is set in 2008 at the latest for him to still be in high school.) Meg Thomas has “Rolled Up Jeans and Sneakers” dated 2008, but that is a reference to the Left 4 Dead character Zoey and is unlikely to have been an outfit of hers outside of the Entity.31

2012: Feng Min competed and presumably won at the 2012 Nebula Arc Championships. “A special Laser Bear uniform worn exclusively during the 2012 Nebula Arc Championships. A fine piece of gaming history.”32

2014: Feng Min competed and presumably won at the 2014 Nebula Arc Championships. “A special Laser Bear uniform worn during the 2014 Nebula Arc championship and retired within the hall of fame.”33

2015-2018: Ash Williams accidentally re-awakens the Evil Dead and spends the next three years dismembering them, eventually falling into a supernaturally long deep sleep after his final battle.3

2016: Feng Min competed and presumably won at the ‘2016 e-sports tournament,’ which may be a reference to the Nebula Arc Championships that defined some of her later (earlier?) outfits. “Lazer Bears' official polo shirt for the 2016 e-sports tournament.”34 / “Special edition Lazer Bears' polo shirt / shorts celebrating their victory in the 2016 tournament.”35 These confirm Feng Min was still playing with the Lazer Bears in 2016, so her breakdown may have happened shortly after this tournament, which works with the theory that her disappearance was around the time of her DLC’s release (May 11th, 2017).

2021?: “The image showcasing Nea's first Legendary Skin (Graft-Crafter, released mid-2020) shows a screenshot of a security camera overlay with the date stamp being in the then future (11/03/2021).”36 This seems to indicate Nea may have been from the future? Or it could just be in the same vein of cosmetics as Jeff Johansen’s Unhinged Rider outfit and be from an alternate timeline where Nea was not taken by the Entity.

Post-Apocalyptic Future (year unknown): Ash Williams eventually wakes up in the Post-Apocalyptic and fights the Dark Ones. He eventually bargains with a Deadite version of his old girlfriend, Linda, to send him back to his time, only to mess up the magic words and get sent to the Realm of the Entity instead.37

Sources

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonia
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Japan#Feudal_Japan
3. https://evildead.fandom.com/wiki/Ash_Williams#Biography
4. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Crotus_Prenn_Asylum#Lore
5. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Zarina_Kassir#Lore
6. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Gold_Creek_Whiskey
7. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/index.php?search=1896&title=Special%3ASearch&go=Go
8. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Bloodweb
9. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Tome_III_-_Escalation#Anna:_A_Lovely_War
10. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Sally_Smithson#Lore
11. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Kenneth_Chase_alias_Jeffrey_Hawk#Lore
12. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Benedict_Baker#Benedict.27s_Journal
13. https://left4dead.fandom.com/wiki/Bill
14. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/L%C3%A9ry%27s_Memorial_Institute#Lore
15. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/The_Thompson_House#Lore
16. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Coldwind_Farm#Lore
17. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Bubba_Sawyer#Lore
18. https://texaschainsaw.fandom.com/wiki/Timelines#The_Texas_Chain_Saw_Massacre_.281974.29
19. https://youtu.be/6X4Pl7_tGRw?t=191
20. https://youtu.be/S-sur_ZjBdw?t=76
21. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Autohaven_Wreckers#Trivia
22. https://silenthill.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline#1983
23. https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Stranger_Things/Timeline#Thursday.2C_July_4 
24. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Danny_Johnson_alias_Jed_Olsen#Background
25. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Frank,_Julie,_Susie,_Joey#Outfits (New Year Shoplifter Outfit + Lunar Mask, Stolen Hoodie Body, Sparkling Knife Weapon)
26. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Damaged_Photo
27. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Rin_Yamaoka#Trivia
28. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Torment_Creek#Lore
29. https://youtu.be/1Bx--Rx8bdY?t=823
30. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Class_Photo
31. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Meg_Thomas#Special
32. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Feng_Min#Torsos
33. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Feng_Min#Archives
34. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Feng_Min#Default
35. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Feng_Min#Special
36. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Nea_Karlsson#Trivia
37. https://deadbydaylight.gamepedia.com/Ash_J._Williams#Lore