Internal Chronology
From Girl Genius
This timeline attempts to place the events mentioned in the Girl Genius story in internal chronological order.
[edit] Methods and Assumptions
- Sources: An attempt has been made in each event description to include a link to the source of the dating information.
- "Relative Dates": This column places events relative to two seminal events: the attack that destroyed Castle Heterodyne (which is assigned Year 0, Day 0) and the start of the main narrative of Girl Genius (which is assigned Year +19, Day 0). Clues in the narrative usually allow an event to be placed relative to one of these.
- When was the attack on Castle Heterodyne? The memorial marker for Klaus Barry Heterodyne shows his birth year as 1_72. The second digit is round on the top and, since older dates in the crypt include 1623, is probably an 8 or 9. Thus, he was born in either "1872" or "1972". The attack occurred 407 days after Klaus Barry Heterodyne was born, which would put the attack in 1873-4 or 1973-4. To simplify this page, the birth is assumed to be in 1872 and calculated dates that may be off by 100 years are marked with (†).
- When does the main narrative begin? The main narrative takes place roughly 19 years after the attack on Castle Heterodyne. Thus, the story likely begins in 1892-4 or 1992-4. This date is assumed to be +19 years, 0 days, though it could as easily be off by +/- several months.
- "Actual Dates": The Canon gives a few absolute dates, but most entries in the Actual Dates column are calculated based on clues in the narrative.
- Canonicity: Nothing is entirely certain. Though statements in the narrative such as "100 years ago" are given literal effect below for convenience, but they were probably only approximations and are, of course, subject to being 'clarified'.
- Elapsed time: As an approximation, a historical event occurring "14 years before", for example, volume 7 of the story is taken to occur at the same time as an event occurring "14 years before" volume 1 of the story, since the amount of time elapsed during the story isn't terribly precise (and may never be).
- Shading: Green highlights the attack-on-Castle-Heterodyne and start-of-narrative events. Unshaded cells hold dates that source material fixes with some precision. Grey cells hold ranges and other best estimates.
[edit] Timeline
| Relative Date | Actual Date | Event |
|---|---|---|
| (long, long ago) | Geisterdamen serve their Eternal Lady at the Geisterdamen temple. | |
| (-832† years, or earlier) | 1041 or earlier | Ht'rok-din takes Mechanicsburg. |
| -831† years | 1042 | Knife, son of Ht'rok-din, builds 1st Castle Heterodyne in 1042 AD. |
| (-830† to -576† years) | Castle Heterodyne is rebuilt three times. | |
| -575† years | 1298 | 5th Castle Heterodyne is built in 1298 AD. |
| (-550† years) | Jägergenerals created. | |
| (-279 to -229 years) | 1593† to 1643† | Maxim, youngest of Da Boyz, is born. |
| (-830 to -196 years) | Faustus Heterodyne makes Castle Heterodyne self-aware. | |
| -196† years | 1677 | A major change to Castle Heterodyne in 1677 AD. |
| (long, long ago) | Jägers take Jägertroth to serve House Heterodyne. | |
| -181 years, or earlier | 1691† or earlier | The spark Van Rijn builds nine muses for Andronicus Valois, the Storm King. Storm King and Coalition of the West battle Bludtharst Heterodyne. Knights of Jove are "destroyed" in Storm King's quest to win the heart of Euprosynia Heterodyne. Storm King's reign ends. |
| -181 years, or earlier | 1691† or earlier | An unidentified spark creates Von Pinn, learns "what [the Heterodyne girl] would be," and orders Von Pinn to keep others safe from that girl. However, Von Pinn's King charges her to protect "the Heterodyne girl". |
| -121 years | 1751† | Embi is born. As a young man, he leaves home to see the world. |
| -81 years | 1779† | Da Boyz (Ognian, Dimo, and Maxim) fight for the Red Heterodyne against the lava cannons of the Unseen Empire. |
| (long ago) | Her Undying Majesty, Queen Albia, ascends throne of England. | |
| (-40 years to -30 years) | 1830s† | Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, The Heterodyne Boys, and Lucrezia Mongfish are born. |
| -20 years | 1852† | The Heterodyne Boys, Baron Klaus Wulfenbach, and Punch & Judy begin adventuring. |
| (-20 years to -3 years, 4 months) | 1852†-1868† | Klaus becomes a construct. |
| (decades ago) | Eternal Lady makes frequent visits to Geisterdamen temple. | |
| -6 years | 1867†-1868† | Prince of Sturmhalten grows experiments in Sturmhalten that occasionally escape to sewers. |
| -3 years, 4 months | 1869† | Bill Heterodyne proposes to Lucrezia Mongfish, Lucrezia beds Klaus, Lucrezia drugs and exiles Klaus. |
| (-2 years, 7 months to +4 years) | 1870†-1879† | Gil is born. Klaus keeps Gil alive. Klaus thinks this would give someone from Skifander a reason to kill Gil. |
| -1 year, 42 days | 1872† | Klaus Barry Heterodyne is born to Lucrezia and Bill in 1_72 AD. It is 2 years and 3 months since Klaus disappeared; gossips still ignore the math. |
| (-?? months) | Lucrezia repurposes von Pinn as nursemaid for Klaus Barry Heterodyne. | |
| -3 days | 1873†-1874† | Carson von Mekkhan retires as Heterodyne seneschal. |
| -1 day | 1873†-1874† | Bill and Barry leave Castle Heterodyne because of "something to do with giant vegetables". |
| Year 0, Day 0 | 1873†-1874† | 5th Castle Heterodyne is destroyed after sundown with massive explosions; Klaus Barry Heterodyne dies; Lucrezia disappears; Lucrezia's notes are burned. |
| +?? hours | 1873†-1874† | Bill and Barry return to Castle Heterodyne, recover bodies of Seneschal Von Mekkhan and 62 other staff. |
| +1 day | 1873†-1874† | Bill and Barry go to war, leaving Castle Heterodyne for last time. |
| +0 years | 1873†-1874† | The Other goes to war against the Sparks and the Heterodyne Boys; 43 major houses destroyed. Knights of Jove under Prince Aaronev VI Sturmvoraus fight for the Other. |
| (+0 to +1 years) | 1873†-1875† | "Eternal Lady" arrives at the Geisterdamen temple, visibly pregnant. The Holy Child is born. Persons unknown assault the Geisterdamen temple while the "Eternal Lady" is absent, take the Holy Child. Geisterdamen rebuild their temple. |
| (+0 to +1 years) | 1873†-1875† | Agatha is born. |
| (+0 to +1 years) | 1873†-1875† | "Eternal Lady" returns to the Geisterdamen temple, sends Geisterdamen to Europa to find the Holy Child. Loremistress Milvistle destroys the gateway to the temple and its plans, stranding Geisterdamen in Europa. |
| (+1 year) | 1874†-1875† | The Other stops attacking; no body is found. The Heterodyne Boys disappear. Last date for construction of a hive engine. Snarlantz hides most of the existing hive engines in Passholdt. The great houses keep right on fighting, causing widespread destruction. |
| (+1 year) | Castle Wulfenbach is destroyed; Klaus won't confirm whether the Other did it. | |
| (+1 to +4 years) | Klaus returns after 'a few years' (four years in Skifander, and possibly additional time elsewhere) with baby Gil but without his wife, begins his war to establish The Baron's Peace throughout Europa. | |
| +4 years, 6 months | TPU expedition enters Castle Heterodyne, is conscripted by the castle to perform repairs. | |
| (+4 years, 6 months to +5 years) | Klaus politely takes Mechanicsburg, acquires Jägers and von Pinn, sets up town council. Shadow government led by Carson von Mekkhan continues to rule Mechanicsburg in secret. | |
| +5 years | Castle Heterodyne sends TPU assistant out for food; Klaus negotiates with the castle to supply labor. | |
| +5 years, 2 months | Carson von Mekkhan uses of Throne of Faustus Heterodyne 437215353 seconds (13.85 years) prior to Agatha's arrival in Mechanicsburg, swears never to channel the castle again. | |
| +6 years | Agatha first 'Heterodynes' at age 5. Barry keeps moving the family to keep them hidden. | |
| (+6 to +8 years) | Barry creates Agatha's locket and gives it to her. | |
| (+1 day to 8 years) | Barry tells Tarsus Beetle that Klaus did something untrustworthy. | |
| +8 years | Barry leaves on what should be a brief mission, placing Agatha in the sole care of Punch and Judy. He never returns. | |
| (+6 years to 12 years) | 1878†-1887† | Gil constructs Zoing at age 8. Klaus hides Gil's spark. Gil attends Castle Wulfenbach school incognito. |
| (+1 to +16 years) | Vrin and Aaronev VI rebuild Holy Machine, kidnap many sparky girls in attemps to revive Lucrezia. | |
| (+16 years) | Hidden Skifander is “discovered” by expedition. Zeetha leaves home to see the world. Skull pirates capture Zeetha. | |
| +16 years | "Dot magnetic prince guy" raises the last significant rebellion against The Baron's Peace but is put down in five months. | |
| (+16 years) | Master Payne's Circus of Adventure acquires two of Van Rijn's muses (Tinka and Moxana). Aaronev VI nearly kills Anevka in the Holy Machine. Tarvek takes Tinka and copies her to create a clank for Anevka. | |
| +16 years | Zeetha destroys skull pirate fortress and, with it, all her leads to finding the way back to Skifander. | |
| +16 years | Professor Tiktoffen is condemned to Castle Heterodyne. He supervises repairs for Klaus, but also reports to the Knights of Jove. | |
| +17 years | Zeetha joins Master Payne's Circus of Adventure. | |
| (+5 to +19 years) | Vole is expelled from Jägers, renounces Jägertroth. | |
| (+6 to +19 years) | A female prisoner earns her freedom from the Castle Heterodyne repair crew. | |
| (+18 years) | Snarlantz successfully modifies one slaver engine to enslave a spark, then another turns all of Passholdt into revenants. Selnikov and the Jotun brothers erase evidence in Snarlantz's lab and acquire spark-enslaving engine for Aaronev VI . | |
| (+18 years) | Klaus defeats the Gilded Duke. Wulfenbach clanks blow up the mountain of the Duke D'Omas. | |
| (not too long ago) | Gil acquires Ardsley Wooster, a reputation, and a Lamp while living incognito in Paris and meets Zola. When Gil returns to Castle Wulfenbach, he is announced as the son of the Baron. Klaus (or Von Pinn) censors Gil's mail. | |
| +18 years, 9 months | Klaus assigns Dihoxulator to TPU as test for Gil. | |
| (+19 years, less ?? weeks) | Bangladesh DuPree destroys walking gunboat Vienna 707. Moloch and Omar von Zinzer flee, as do Bruno and the kid. Bang sees an electrical anomaly during the attack. | |
| (+18 years, 50 weeks) | Tarsus Beetle brings a hive engine to TPU. | |
| (+19 years) | Two weeks after destroying Vienna 707, Dupree investigates a burning town and sees another electrical anomaly. Unusually, Bang wasn't the one who burned the town. | |
| +19 years, 0 days | 1892†-1894† | The events of Girl Genius begin. 18-year old Agatha Clay sees an electrical anomaly with a malevolent figure inside, has her locket stolen by Omar von Zinzer, screams for him to die slowly. Gil discredits the Dihoxulator, kills Tarsus Beetle, and saves a fish (twice). Merlot takes over TPU and expels Agatha. |
| +19 years, 1 day | Agatha builds the Beetleberg Clank. Omar von Zinzer dies while holding Agatha's locket. | |
| +19 years, 3 days | Agatha awakens in Castle Wulfenbach, meets the imprisoned Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer, gets the sniff test from the Jägergenerals. | |
| +19 years, 4 days | Gil adopts a fish. Agatha tells Mr. Rovainen to "go do" whatever it is he "should be doing". | |
| +19 years, 5 days | Agatha builds the Dingbots. She and Gil destroy a hive engine activated by Mr. Rovainen. Gil proposes poorly. Klaus, Agatha, and others conclude that Agatha is a Heterodyne, probably Bill and Lucrezia's child. Punch and Judy rescue Agatha but are 'killed' in the process by Von Pinn. Zulenna Luzhakna is killed by Dupree. Agatha flees the castle, along with Othar Tryggvassen (briefly) and Krosp. | |
| +19 years, 6 days | Madame Olga is killed by spider clank. | |
| +19 years, ?? days | Klaus reassigns Jägers far from Agatha, ships Moloch von Zinzer to Castle Heterodyne. Othar Tryggvassen chats with Theopholous DuMedd. Klaus sends Merlot to Castle Heterodyne because of 'Miss Clay, the Heterodyne girl'. | |
| +19 years, 7 days | Circus helps Agatha fake her death. | |
| +19 years, 8 days | Agatha starts Kolee-dok-Zumil training with Zeetha, designs battle circus. Moxana starts a new game. | |
| +19 years, a few days | Circus arrives at Zumzum a few days after Agatha begins training, meets Othar. Jenka seeks instructions concerning Agatha. | |
| +19 years, a few weeks | Circus discovers revenants at Passholdt a few weeks after leaving Zumzum, acquires Da Boyz. | |
| +19 years, 2 months | Master Payne's Circus of Adventure arrives at Sturmhalten in Balan's Gap, performs for Aaronev VI again. Anevka kills Aaronev VI. Vrin helps an 18-year out-of-date Lucrezia inhabit Agatha using the Holy Machine. Wasp weasels uncover 170 covert revenants aboard Castle Wulfenbach. (First day in Sturmhalten.) | |
| +19 years, 2 months | Klaus deduces that Agatha is alive, deploys to Sturmhalten to capture her. Gil sends Wooster to Sturmhalten, completes primary repairs on Punch and Judy, including Punch's voice. (Second day in Sturmhalten.) | |
| +19 years, 2 months | Tarvek shelves Anevka, puts a copy of Lucrezia into her clank. Geisterdamen and the Lucrezia clank move several hive engines and "some sort of machine" from Castle Sturmvoraus to ancient caverns. Tinka and Moxana presumedly remain in Castle Sturmvoraus. Wulfenbach troops fight covert revenants in Sturmhalten. A gigantic projection announces a Heterodyne heiress to the world, claims Klaus is the Other. Lucrezia/Agatha orders Vrin to die, infects Klaus with a special slaver wasp. Klaus kills Lars, meets Zeetha, Daughter of Chump. Agatha drops a house on the wicked Klaus. Circus creates mass Heterodyne apparition. (Third day in Sturmhalten.) | |
| (+19 years, 2 months, ?? days) | Circus departs for England following Battle of Sturmhalten. Sgt. Scorp, The Unstoppable Higgs, and Klaus arrive in Mechanicsburg. | |
| +19 years, 2 months — Monday | Jenka arrives at Mechanicsburg. Knights of Jove attack Mechanicsburg. Zola enters Castle Heterodyne. Agatha makes coffee. Carson von Mekkhan uses of Throne of Faustus Heterodyne 437215353 seconds (13.85 years) after he swore never to do it again. Agatha enters Castle Heterodyne. Klaus prepares units to destroy Castle Heterodyne. (First day in Mechanicsburg.) | |
| +19 years, 2 months — Tuesday | At nightfall, Agatha's Torchmen take to the skies of Mechanicsburg for first time since the attack on Castle Heterodyne, drive off Zola's pink airship and Castle Wulfenbach. Tarvek enters Castle Heterodyne with Violetta. Von Pinn enters Castle Heterodyne. Gilgamesh Wulfenbach, Schmott Guy enters Castle Heterodyne. Grantz hauls Othar before Klaus in Mechanicsburg. In the morning, Agatha captures conspirators Gil and Zola in Castle Heterodyne. (Second day in Mechanicsburg.) | |
| +19 years, 2 months | Saturday 19, September 1896 | Vertical travel is forbidden by the Feast of St. Bungi. (This assumes the personalized calendar used by the minion master starts weeks on Mondays, not Sundays; if it started weeks on Sundays the closest years would be 1890 or 1902. This also assumes the calendar is the same as in the real world. Finally, this assumes the calendar is actually accurate, and not a random gag.) |
| (in the future) | Agatha uses a time travel device with Gil, Moloch, and a Geisterdame. |
† marks relative or absolute dates that are off by 100 years if Klaus Barry Heterodyne was born in 1972.
