Talk:Timeline of the .hack series

If anyone cares, I can prove that there is at least one error in the published timeline. This is, of course, based on the assumption that in-canon material takes precedence over things like the timeline published in the front of AI Buster 2.

I will, for the moment, ignore the issue of exactly how many months would have to be in 2010 for all of SIGN, ZERO, and the games to fit (It only works if you allow "half a year" to mean four months or less. Twice.). Rather, I'll focus on the timeframe of AI Buster, which cannot possibly take place in the same year as SIGN.

In AI Buster, Kamui has just started working at CC Corp, fresh out of college. In Wotan's Spear (which is concurrent with the early episodes of SIGN), she is identified as "in her second year since entering the company".

QED.

--Shinsou Wotan, 03:07, 12 January 2007 (UTC)
 * It's probably just a consistency error.--Ellimist 03:34, 12 January 2007 (UTC) Insert non-formatted text here
 * Yeah, it's either a consistency error, or an assumption by Albireo. He wasn't even willing to learn her name, he may have just assumed she was fresh out of college by her attitude. By the time of Wotan's Spear he'd gotten a lot closer to her. It's likely an error though, so we'll just have to assume that Kamui was still rather new at the time of Wotan's Spear. --CRtwenty 04:43, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Is Another Birth canon? As I heard, it contradicts .hack//games, doesn't it? CruelAngel 09:07, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Another Birth is canon, it doesn't contradict anything, just shows things from a different perspective. --CRtwenty 14:22, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Thx, then my bad. --CruelAngel 17:19, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Technically, it DOES contradict the games... it has Kite yelling at BlackRose instead of vice-versa.... but it was a typo =P EmiHinata 00:29, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Jun's death
Was it ever outright said Jun died? Going by the Terminal Disc, he atleast disappeared, but saying he died can be risky... --Biccy 00:27, 8 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I think it's confirmed by Pi later in the series. --CRtwenty 00:31, 8 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Is it confirmed in the Perfect Guidebook that CC killed him/Pi hid her relationship to him? - Kuukai2 04:22, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Ages?
I don't know if anyone else finds this revelant but I myself have been working on figuring out the ages throughout the timeline. If anyone can contribute, that would be fantabulous ^_^
 * What do you mean by ages? --CRtwenty 20:14, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, I know on here it has many of the characters' ages and all... But some of it you have to do the math yourself! Ha ha. So I'm just curious as to if anyone's figured some ages that aren't on here. O=
 * If the ages aren't on here, then there is no known age for them. And all ages should be accurate to that character's first appearance. --CRtwenty 20:27, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

So you're telling me that if it's on here then it's like.. directly from the site or something? (sorry for delayed reply, had to reserve copy of GU vol2)

Timeline picture
I don't think the "timeline of series" picture is particularly useful, and it's one of the many official things that counts the Udeden anime and the Udeden manga as canon... - Kuukai2 16:24, 18 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Any chance we could get a picture of the Timeline from the Perfect Guide? --CRtwenty 21:30, 18 May 2007 (UTC)
 * It takes up several pages, and is entirely text-based. I suppose it's possible to get one, but it would be fairly useless for the vast majority of visitors here who don't read Japanese.
 * On another note, I'd like to propose retitling the sections from "Canon" and "Non-canon" to "Main Storyline" and "Other Storylines", or something of the sort. --Shinsou Wotan 23:11, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

I second that motion
 * I think "Canon" and "non-canon" are fine, personally. EmiHinata 04:14, 19 May 2007 (UTC)
 * I think "Main Storyline" and "Other Storylines" is more accurate because we really don't have any official source stating what is canon and what is not. We assume that what doesn't fit is non-canon, but without an afficial source stating it, it's still just an assumtion.Kazu-kun 21:40, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, if it's in the infobooks and games, it's canon... if something in the games or infobooks contradict it, it's non-canon, really. EmiHinata 22:02, 29 May 2007 (UTC)
 * It's not that simple; Kuukai2 himself said above that there are "many official things that counts the Udeden anime and the Udeden manga as canon". This is just an example, but the message is clear; most of the time we are the ones who decide what is canon and what is not based on what doesn't fit well in the main stoyline. So, "Main Storyline" and "Other Storylines" seem more accurate.Kazu-kun 21:47, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
 * That argument doesn't make much sense. "Main storyline" and "canon" are the same thing. "It's not the creators, but the fans, who discern what is actually part of the main storyline.  As far as the creators are concerned, all the storylines are the main one." is just as valid a statement.  I don't see how you jump from that to needing to change what we call it... - Kuukai2 22:05, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeah... the terms mean the exact same thing. So I don't see why we need to change it. --CRtwenty 22:36, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

SIGN and the Games
Something's occured to me while reading Another Birth. It's impossible for the games AND SIGN to both be in 2010. Or rather, all of the events. Tsukasa was trapped in the game for six months (pointed out by Mimiru in Net Slum), and the games take place six months after An is freed, making it a full year since Tsukasa was trapped. And the games themselves take 3-4 months.--Biccy 21:24, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
 * What is your source for claiming that Infection and Sign have a six-month difference? --AuraTwilight
 * Damned if I know. I've been hearing six months since I got into the fandom.--Biccy 22:27, 1 January 2008 (UTC)
 * The back cover of ZERO says it fits in the "half a year" between SIGN and the games. That's the only definite reference I can think of right off hand. --Shinsou Wotan 02:56, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

G.U. Novels
Should the G.U. Novels be listed as an "alternate canon" that replaces roots and G.U. instead of "non-canon"? Because in the back of the first volume it is explained that the Novels are just as canon as the Games. Also they connect with the previous installments of dothack better than Roots and The G.U. Games do. 24.178.109.223 18:49, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
 * "Alternate canon" is just a way of saying "non-canon" supplements don't suck. They don't take place in continuity. And I don't really see how the GU Novels connect better, or how they cover Roots at all. AuraTwilight 20:12, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

The line between canon and non canon is decided by the fans, in truth it doesn't exist. The novels are vague when referring to Roots however don't show any problems with continuity. As stated in the book both stories are pulled from the original storyboard and split for their respective media. The only exceptions are stories specifically stating when they are based from the main story. Even then things are dependent on what future creations refer to for the past. Perhaps instead of thinking it doesn't exist its something for following the story more conveniently. Outlaw630 00:44, 1 March 2009 (UTC)
 * It does indeed exist; Just because the developers said "There are many worlds" doesn change that there's a main "universe" the timeline follows that all installments are based off of. AuraTwilight 18:53, 1 March 2009 (UTC)

That is the problem though, if the creators state they used a storyline from the storyboard & relate to that each time then it overrules fan speculation. When two parts of the story don't evenly match its not recon unless stated, if the storyboard includes that information however every other series lacks that because of the changes for the media then the storyboard holds the overrulling. Outlaw630 04:55, 2 March 2009 (UTC)


 * What exactly does the back cover say? The idea of fan-determined canon is that everything is canon unless it's contradicted.  This isn't magic or arbitrary.  If something doesn't fit in with everything else, we have to document that here.  If they choose to deliberately make something outside of the continuity, no amount of hand-waving will repair that unless they actually do something to integrate it into the plot as another dimension or dream or something. If we're throwing creator rhetoric out there, Hiroshi Matsuyama has said that the entire .hack series revolves around the games. The novels could be based off of the original storyboard, but that doesn't instantly legitimize it.  What we're interested in is the final storyboard.  Is CELL compatible with the novels?  Is Alcor?  Is GnU?  Ultimately Link will probably settle this, and I'm betting it will be in the games' favor... - Kuukai2 17:31, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Both of these are very detailed, lets use the information it has. There some things on it we don't have down. Outlaw630 08:31, 5 March 2009 (UTC)

Parallel Timelines?
I have a question to ask about the timeline concept. Ever since .hack//Link for the Playstation Portable had been released in Japan, it shows a root map of The World universe. For example, the appearance of the PC Cubia from .hack//XXXX that only appear in the manga becomes as a special character in the game or that two minor characters from .hack//GIFT. It possibly brings a theory on my perspective, if that map consist parallels of the online game universe connecting to the same flow of the series and onto the Ultimate AI Aura's memory system? If it does, can we reorganize the timeline to a better view of what we have known so far?

Roru aurarios 05:12, August 21, 2010 (UTC)

2016 Confusion
If Jun died in spring, how did he file Interim Report 11 in which he discussed Ovan and the Twilight Brigade, even mentioning Gord & Bset? If "End of the World" isn't canon that's one thing. But another would be Gord & Bset joining the brigade in October, just a month before Haseo & Tabby did. Didn't they along with Sakisaka spend "months" searching for the key rather than join & leave in less than a months time? Also, how could Canard be founded in February 2017 if Alcor takes place towards the end of 2016, a time at which Canard already exists! Dot lindz 21:59, February 16, 2012 (UTC)