Darksiders III

Darksiders III

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Full DARKSIDERS timeline (wip)
By Erbettagioiosa and 1 collaborators
Here we attempt to unravel the intricate timeline of the entire Darksiders franchise. This includes both events from each of the games, books, comics etc. and established lore, referred to in them.

Whenever we explore the Lore, i.e. events that have happened before or in between the games, we will cite our sources. For events from within the games, however, we will not do so as the source should be obvious (a Darksiders II event will have Darksiders II as the source etc.).

With the scope and nature of this guide in mind, naturally expect heavy spoilers for the following media:
  • Darksiders
  • Darksiders II
  • Darksiders III
  • Darksiders Genesis
  • Darksiders: The Graphic Novel
  • Darksiders: The Abomination Vault
  • Darksiders II: Death's Door

If the guide appears to be incomplete or wrong, do not hesitate and comment at the end of the page!

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Additional information
All the Darksiders games, comics and book so far (in order of release).
Before Darksiders Genesis
The Creation of the Charred Council
At an unspecified point in time, at least four entities, including the Lord of Hollows, are tasked with keeping Creation from total annihilation - The Charred Council. At some point, one of them, the aforementioned Lord of Hollows, becomes weary of the other members' focus on politics and power instead of their original task and leaves the group.
  • Source: Darksiders III

Gulbannan and Lilith (and Belisatra)
Gulbannan, one of the oldest among the Makers, is seduced by Lilith and teaches her how to create life. When he becomes doubtful and intends to tell the other Makers what he has taught the Demon, his apprentice Belisatra murders him to protect Lilith whom she is morbidly fascinated by.
  • Source: Darksiders - The Abomination Vault (novel) by Ari Marmell

The birth of the Nephilim
Using the essence of both Angels and Demons, Lilith creates Absalom, the first Nephilim, and subsequently an entire race. The Nephilim are a race more powerful than both of its parts but, made without the influence of The Creator, the Nephilim find themselves without a purpose or a world of their own.
  • Source: Darksiders II

The Nephilim Rampage
The homeless Nephilim decide to ravage other worlds in search of a place to make their home. They start by massacring the Ravaiim, a race of creators much more ancient than even the Makers, who had not only created the first "society" in Creation but also made their crafts (housing, tools etc.) by incorporating parts of their own bodies and their will in them.

Darksiders II


Since the numbers of the Ravaiim are relatively low, the Nephilim easily overwhelm them and extinguish their entire race. Using the Ravaiim's special bodies for materials, a few of the oldest Nephilim create weapons of immense power and hatred, the Grand Abominations. The one who came up with this depraved idea and crafted many of the weapons himself was none other than Death, the oldest of the group that would later become the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

With the hatred of the Ravaiim towards the weapons' wielders, the Grand Abominations proved so powerful that even the Nephilim feared them. To keep them from any hands that might aim to stop the Nephilim's conquest, the weapons were equipped with several security measures. For one they need the blood of the Ravaiim to be fully awakened. Additionally, they were locked in a pocket dimension separate from Creation, the so-called Abomination Vault.

Only afterwards are the other three who would become Horsemen - Strife, Fury and War - born.
  • Source: Darksiders - The Abomination Vault (novel) by Ari Marmell

After an unspecified amount of worlds had fallen prey to the rampage of the Nephilim, four of them, the aforementioned Death, Strife, Fury and War become so terrified by their actions that they approach the Charred Council, offering their help in the extermination of their brethren. The Council grants them immense powers in exchange for their fealty.
  • Source: Darksiders, Darksiders II, Darksiders III, Darksiders Genesis, Darksiders: The Graphic Novel written by Joe Madureira and Paul DeMeo, illustrated by Ludo Lullabi

Darksiders II


The Horsemaster - acquiring the apocalyptical steeds
The four renegade Nephilim visit an unknown world to meet a mysterious, nameless person with human features simply referred to as The Horsemaster, who instructs them on how to tame one each of the mythical, colorless horses inhabiting that world. Death is the first to confront the herd and emerges atop one of the colorless steeds. He names it Despair and upon receiving its name, it also changes its appearance to an almost skeletal steed with greenish corporeal flames in place of its mane and tail. The other Horsemen follow his example, acquiring Mayhem, Rampage and Ruin respectively.
  • Source: Darksiders II - Death's Door (comic) written by Andrew Kreisberg, drawn by Roger Robinson

The Horsemaster, Darksiders II: Death's Door


The Massacre of Eden
Armed with immense power and their supernatural horses, the four renegade Nephilim, now the Council's Enforcers also known as the Four Horsemen, accompanied by scores of Angelic Warriors, including Abbadon and Astarte, confront the Nephilim army at their latest stop, Eden. When that world was created, it was intended for Mankind but Absalom and his followers seek to make it their own through sheer force.
  • Source: Darksiders Genesis, Darksiders II

Darksiders II: Death's Door


During the battle, War who is devastated by the slaughter of his own kind and believes himself lost, engages in an uncontrolled slaughter, seeking to fight on until he is finally overcome by the enemy.

His three brethren confront him for his sake and a battle between them ensues. Because Chaoseater, War's massive sword, feeds the energies of the unprecedented Chaos around them to its wielder (and because War is about to impale Fury), Death, seeing no other way of subduing his brother, allows himself to be impaled by the blade. This allows Fury to restrain War with her whip, the Barbs of Scorn, while Strife lays supressive fire down.

War loses his left arm in the confrontation but is finally calmed down.
  • Source: Darksiders: The Graphic Novel written by Joe Madureira and Paul DeMeo, illustrated by Ludo Lullabi

Darksiders: The Graphic Novel


The aftermath of Eden
The Horsemen and the Angels emerge victorious with Absalom falling at Death's own hands. Unable to destroy his own kind for good, Death secretly puts their souls in an amulet of his own making and hands it to The Crowfather, one of the Old Ones who secludes himself on his own world and seeks to gain the knowledge of the souls contained within. He gives one of his Crows to Death who gives it the name Dust, much to the Crowfather's disliking.
  • Source: Darksiders II, Darksiders - The Abomination Vault (novel) by Ari Marmell

After the Battle of Eden, that world is sealed and the Council is supposed to keep it safe but does little to fulfill that duty. Thus an Angelic contingent led by Abbadon and his second in command, Astarte, takes it upon themselves to guard the Garden against any intrusions.

The Council decides to punish Lilith for the monstrocities she has created by taking away her memory of the techniques required for creating life like the Nephilim's and thus her ability to do so ever again.
  • Source: Darksiders Genesis, Darksiders - The Abomination Vault (novel) by Ari Marmell
Darksiders Genesis (creation of the Seven Seals)
Prelude: Lucifer's breach of Eden

Lucifer, the "Dark Prince" manages somehow to keep a gateway to Eden open and hidden from the Council, the Angels and the Horsemen.

He releases one of the Abominations spawned by Absalom's death (not to be mistaken with the Grand Abominations), which manages to corrupt Astarte. Her condition worsens when many of her Angels fall to the threat.

When she is finally approached by Lucifer himself, she strikes a deal with him:
In exchange for freedom from her duty to protect the fallen and now rotting realm and for the power to raise the slaughtered Nephilim under her command, she agrees to hand him Eden and, once she dies, her soul.

Lucifer begins gathering Nephilim weapons and artifacts from the battlefield and offers them to other Demon Lords in exchange for their support while they live and their souls upon their death. One of them is Samael, who is rumored to be almost as powerful as Lucifer himself and who turns the Dark Prince down, refusing his offer.

At the same time Lucifer sets the gateway up in such a way that Eden's sacred and potent waters flow into Belial's domain where he turns them into extremely potent poison, as part of a similar deal he struck with that Demon Lord.

The Horsemen get involved

The Council, having learned of Lucifer's attempts to win over other Demon Lords, sends out two of the Horsemen, War and Strife to pay Samael a visit and find out if and how he is involved with the Dark Prince and to put a stop to it.

Upon arriving at Samael's domain, the two discover that his fortress is under siege by a lesser Demon Lord, Moloch.

They fight their way through Moloch's forces to confront Samael where they learn that the Demon has refused to cooperate with Lucifer and deduce that Moloch must have accepted, which is why he is attacking.

Samael becomes a temporary ally and sends the two into the Void, the realm of the Serpent Holes, where Vulgrim, a Demon who is known to be an underworld dealer able to supply almost anything one might need, is to support them.

To be continued . . .
The Abomination Vault (after Darksiders Genesis)
Abbadon's growing frustration - Part I
Abbadon, in violation of the Pact, creates a bomb that is infused with sacred energy, capable of hurting only Demons while leaving Angels unscathed. The Council decides to send War to the White City to openly destroy the weapon and the research and cut down anyone who tries to stop him.

The Rider of the Red Horse accomplishes this goal with relative ease, killing dozens of Angels with Chaoseater and the Angels' own Redemption Cannons.
  • Source: Darksiders - The Abomination Vault (novel) by Ari Marmell

Hadrimon's and Belisatra's bid for the Grand Abominations
The Angel Hadrimon who is immune to Lilith's supernatural charms approaches the Demon in disguise with an offer. If she helps him achieve his goal, he will in turn help her reclaim what the Council has taken from her. She refuses alluding to much more intricate plans of her own and muses that he must be immune to her charms because he is deeply in love with another woman already.

On his way out, Hadrimon is approached by the Maker Belisatra, former apprentice of Gulbannan and follower of Lilith who wishes to restore her mistress' power and thus agrees to aid the Angel in his efforts.

The Angelic forces stationed outside Eden are attacked by a squad of Belisatra's Constructs. They manage to deflect the attack but one of the Constructs manages to take Abbadon's eye using a Nephilim sword called Affliction.

To be continued . . .
Before Darksiders (what led to the premature End War)
Death, Vulgrim and the end of a Leviathan

When Abbadon learns about an Angel running amok on Earth in the 18th century, he finds himself unable to intervene without causing a huge commotion. He secretly hires Death, pretending to send him after a Demon.

Because the mission is unsanctioned by the Council and kept a secret from even them, Death fears that his supernatural scythe Harvester will not be activated and therefore be powerless. Thus, he pays Vulgrim his first visit, knowing him to be a capable black market handler. He asks for a powerful pair of scythes that will not be bound by the Council and agrees to deliver a Leviathan's tongue to the Demon.

Traversing to the River Styx, he confronts the mythical beast and returns to Vulgrim's hideout with(in) the entire head. He emerges from the dead Leviathan's mouth, receiving his price.

Darksiders II: Death's Door

To make his journey harder to trace, he then visits The Horsemaster to use his access to the Serpent Holes to arrive at his destination...

1722: Marseilles, France - first signs of the Corruption on Earth

When Death arrives on Earth he is witness to massive fields of corpses and the burning city of Marseilles. When he tries to summon the spirits of the dead, he is attacked by Abbadon's "Demon" - discovering it is really a female Angelic Warrior.

Confronting her, he discovers that she is in fact the Angel Makhala, one of those who stood with the Horsemen at the Battle of Eden (and original wielder of the Crossblade).

He further discovers that she has been corrupted and has deluded herself into believing that everyone else is corrupted with her being the only one unaffected, so she massacred countless Angels around her.

Darksiders II: Death's Door

Afterwards she felt the urge to come to Earth where she has been spreading the Corruption among the people of Marseilles.

Death slays her with one of his scythes and confronts Abbadon who insists that he believed it was a Demon that attacked his Angels and Earth.

Unbeknownst to him, the Corruption managed to survive...
  • Source: Darksiders II - Death's Door (comic) written by Andrew Kreisberg, drawn by Roger Robinson

The Corruption Spreads
Some time after the events in Marseille, the Corruption reaches the Forge Lands. Before all entries are sealed off, a group of Makers, including the blacksmith Ulthane, the Black Hammer leave for Earth.
  • Source: Darksiders II

Abbadon's growing frustration - Part II
Growing more and more certain that the Demons are raising an army to whipe out the White City and afraid that Heaven will be defenseless once that happens, Abbadon proposes a bold plan to an Angelic court, suggesting that he and his Hellguard should be granted permission to launch a massive scale preemptive strike, but is rejected because of the Pact.

Darksiders: The Graphic Novel

Unwilling to stand idly by in the face of this perceived danger, Abbadon comes up with a new plan. Leaving his most trusted, Uriel, in the dark about the details, he meets up with the Angel Azrael and the Maker Ulthane in the White City.
  • Source: Darksiders: The Graphic Novel written by Joe Madureira and Paul DeMeo, illustrated by Ludo Lullabi

The Horsemen go to Hell

Sensing the stirring unrest, the Charred Council sends the Horsemen - all of them to make a clear statement - to Hell with a message:

They remind Samael, whom Lilith is trying (with little success) to seduce at the time, of the truce between Heaven and Hell and who enforces it. When Samael reminds them that he is not the one, they should bring this up to, referring to Lucifer, the riders hint at Samael's ambitions to take over the black throne in the near future.
  • Source: Darksiders: The Graphic Novel written by Joe Madureira and Paul DeMeo, illustrated by Ludo Lullabi

Abbadon's conspiracy

The plan goes as follows:

Ulthane forges the Armaggedon Blade, a sword capable of breaking the Seals of the Apocalypse.
Azrael who possesses a vast amount of knowledge, figures out where the Seals are hidden and secretly fetches them.

Using the newly forged sword, they shatter the first six Seals in order to deceive the Demons into thinking the End War has begun.

Afterwards Ulthane shatters the Armaggedon Blade and reforges the Seals followed by Azrael returning the Seals to their hiding spot and hiding the pieces of the sword making it seem like it never even happened.

When the Demons march on Earth, the Angels can then destroy them without violating the Pact since the Demons are the apparent aggressors.

What they do not know is that the Council is aware of their plans.
  • Source: Darksiders
Darksiders prologue (The premature End War)
The Rider of the Red Horse walks the Earth (game prologue)

When War gets summoned to Earth by the Council, the forces of Heaven and Hell are already locked in conflict.

The Horseman fights his way through the streets of a densely populated city, killing all who oppose him but he soon realizes that something is amiss: His brethren aren't present and his powers are slowly getting drained (also by the Council but War does not know that).

He finally discovers Abbadon and his Hellguard and tries to interrogate the Archangel who is shocked to see the Horseman and remarks that the Seventh Seal hasn't been broken.

Distracted by this, he is caught unawares by the Demon Lord Straga and killed.

Uriel blames War for the Angel's demise and takes off.

War fights Straga and appears to be winning when the call sounds once more and the last of the Horseman's power is drained. He is crushed by the Demon Lord and finds himself chained before the Charred Council.

The rise of The Destroyer and the fall of Samael

Unbeknownst to him, the Angels lose the war against the Demons.

Abbadon, having lost his life to Straga finds himself confronted by Lilith who offers him to become a ruler of Hell's forces.

Having failed to convince Heaven of the looming dangers at every possible turn and having become a traitor by causing the premature End War, he agrees to the proposal and becomes The Destroyer, leading Lucifer's forces on Earth.

Samael, who has allegedly been plotting to overthrow Lucifer for a long time, is not pleased to learn that the Archangel gets to lead the Hellish armies and, according to his own later words, gets imprisoned by Lucifer and his Chosen at the Crossroads, a prison on Earth, for voicing his objections.
Darksiders III (The Seven Deadly Sins and the Protector of Humanity)
Prelude: Sins, Strife and a Maker

10 year after the break of the Seals, in the chaos following the premature End War and potentially as a result of the Seals being destroyed, the Seven Deadly Sins, entities previously imprisoned by the Four Horsemen, manage to escape their prison and make themselves at home on Earth.

Around the same time, Strife also goes to Earth with plans and motivations that only he seems to know.

Ulthane, who regrets his part in the conspiracy that doomed the Third Kingdom, gathers the other Makers that escaped the Forgelands' corruption and plants a Maker Tree on Earth to serve as a Haven for what remains of humanity.

At some point, Strife seeks out the Makers, disguises himself as the human Jones and supports the efforts to keep the survivors safe.

A task worthy of a horse... person?

Fury, who has apparently spent decades or even centuries on a desolate world receives the call and gets summoned before the Charred Council. Excited to finally get some action, she approaches the fiery figures.

She has a brief encounter with War, who is still in chains before the Council at this point and ignores his warnings that someone or something conspires against the Horsemen.

Fury is informed about the situation regarding the End War¹ and the escape of the Seven Deadly Sins and is tasked with bringing them back in. As recompense for fulfilling this task, she demands to be declared leader of the Horsemen.

¹Author's Note
At this point the game creates a plot-hole, because the Charred Council explicitly tells Fury that War has caused the End War by breaking the Seventh Seal, when he was originally accused of riding alongside the armies of Hell while the Seals were still intact. They are known to be dishonest and manipulative but War was present and did not protest when they told this version, so we believe it's a mistake on the writers' part.

Especially since changing their lie now wouldn't even make a difference, even if War hadn't been present. Telling Fury that War had caused a premature End War alongside Demonkind, while the Seals were still intact, instead of this alternative version, would have literally changed nothing for Fury, whereas saying the Seventh Seal has been broken in front of War would greatly affect his whole motivation of returning to Earth to face the Destroyer in an attempt to clear his name and make Fury wonder why she and the others hadn't been summoned. Remember that this - making War want to attack out of a sense of honor - was their whole reason to orchestrate those events.

What's even more baffling is that the Seventh Seal is the one Seal that actually hasn't been broken at this point, as Abbadon, Ulthane and Azrael didn't dare to actually start the End War. This seems more like a mix-up with the timeline, as War will eventually be the one to break the Seventh Seal (and only that one, which may be why they didn't say that he broke "the Seven Seals").

Fury is assigned a Watcher with female features, who is secretly the Sin Envy in disguise. It is unclear whether the Council ordered a Watcher to be present or whether Envy just decided to show up, because the procedure differs from when War later receives his Watcher (Envy asks for Fury's consent and doesn't seem to be magically bound to her in the same way via dipping-hand-in-lava).

Fury hesitantly accepts the company and takes off to Earth.

Some time after her departure, the Council relocates War to an unknown location where he is kept captive for almost a century.

Sinister encounters

On her way to Haven, her Watcher primes her for the next encounter by alluding that the first Sin they encounter, might be Envy.

When they encounter a creature with Avian features ("Faux Envy" from here on out), who is apparently afraid of the Seven Sins, or at least of Envy, Fury fails to recognize any of the signs² and confuses her for the Sin.

²Author's Note
For those who are still a bit confused about the whole situation with the fake and the real Envy, here's our take:

When Fury and the "Watcher" approach Faux Envy, she teleports close to them. Because the real Envy is close, the Talisman of Sin starts to glow, making Faux Envy realize that the Watcher is really Envy.

At this moment Fury, who thinks she found the Sin her "Watcher" had eluded to, says "Envy!" which the Avian creature falsely interprets as the Horsewoman addressing her Watcher by her real name. Faux Envy, who is more greedy than envious by the way, acts in a way that seemingly confirms Fury's initial suspicion, because she fears that Envy will be envious of her possessions and take them from her.

After the fight is over, Fury uses the Talisman to imprison the Faux Envy. The energy that accompanies this is white, subtly hinting that something is amiss (for every real Sin hereafter the energy is a saturated green). After the creature is caught, the Talisman doesn't stop glowing because the real Sin is always close. Instead it only glows stronger when a second Sin is nearby, which Fury fails to recognize as a giveaway.

To be continued . . .
Darksiders IV (speculation)
Coming soon . . .
Darksiders II (The Avatar of Corruption and the restoration of Humanity)
Coming soon . . .
Darksiders main plot (Revelations and the Fall of The Destroyer)
Coming soon . . .
32 Comments
Endless Melancholy 2 Jun @ 11:19pm 
Nice. Can't wait. <3
Manostion  [author] 2 Jun @ 10:32pm 
Thanks a lot for the positive feedback, @Endless Melancholy.
The creation of the Seals would be a part of the "To be continued . . ." stuff in the Darksiders Genesis section and has yet to be done. Life has been keeping me very busy, recently, but when I can, I will dive back into this and fill more of the many gaps.
Endless Melancholy 2 Jun @ 10:04am 
Whoa! So much love and effort has been put into this. When will you be adding new things to it?
Another question I have is that the whole making of the seals is missing. Did I miss that or was that on purpose?
Loved all the work you did for this
Manostion  [author] 3 Aug, 2023 @ 3:51am 
Interesting theory, @HeathenSW, is there any other evidence to support that?

Personally, I think that her "transformation" is supposed to be gradual, and there's some evidence to suggest that Faux Envy never was the real one.
HeathenSW 2 Aug, 2023 @ 3:21pm 
There is a theory that Faux Envy is actually real Envy, that just snatches the body of the Watcher when she looks at the talisman closely. Since before that Watcher is very timid in behaviour and after that it's getting more and more envious and vocal.
EmberBlades 2 Jan, 2023 @ 5:49pm 
This is great! I'd forgotten most of what happened in the book and comics.
furbleburble 2 Sep, 2022 @ 1:45am 
I just watched videos of what we're talking about. I'm now inclined to believe that you are correct in your assessments, that there is something screwy happening with the writing. If the error in writing exists on purpose, I'm not seeing what that purpose would be, so I'm definitely inclined to believe it was an accident. Please keep up the work in calling out errors in the writing where you find them.

The above was said with sincerity.
Manostion  [author] 2 Sep, 2022 @ 12:18am 
I added some more stuff to that box about why I think it's an error on the part of the writers.
Manostion  [author] 1 Sep, 2022 @ 11:51pm 
1/2
@furbleburble:
While War isn't a dumb meathead who can only punch, he's very direct and honest.

He told the Council that he rode to Earth because the seals were broken and he was following the Call, to which the Council replies that the seals are all intact and no other Horseman rode. His alleged crime was being part of the End War before the seals were broken, thus violating the Contract.

If they feel it's necessary to lie to him when they're alone with him, it would be dumb as fuck (excuse my French) of them to let that slip in front of him with Fury present. War would definitely protest loudly, as they literally confirmed that they had been lying, and they had no reason whatsoever to tell Fury that he broke the Seventh Seal. Had they told her that he rode to Earth without the Call, it wouldn't have changed anything for Fury.
Manostion  [author] 1 Sep, 2022 @ 11:51pm 
2/2
Besides, this is before the major part of the first game. Before War gets his Watcher and is sent to destroy the Destroyer, at which point he is still trying to clear his name of the crime of riding with all Seals intact.

Your attempt to explain this oversight away is neat, but I'm fairly certain that the writers just messed up with that line. It's a small mistake that would be easily missed, but a mistake nonetheless.

Also, thanks for the praise... one of these days I will continue writing this 😅