Timeline

***CAUTION:** The following timeline contains spoilers for Fallen Hero: Rebirth and Fallen Hero: Retribution, it is highly recommended that you play the games to the fullest before reading.*

* **1945:** World War II ends, but the technological arms race continues. The United States and the Soviet Union "recruit" available German and Japanese scientists, taking full advantage of what they learned from the more unconscionable experiments during the war.
* **1951:** The Korean War takes a turn for the worse as the first Chinese Type 52 bipedal tanks push UN forces out of the mountains and nearly out of the country. Though clumsy and slow, the tanks prove useful in the mountainous terrain, leading to an upswing in the power armor industry.
* **1955:** The Soviet Union announces that it has successfully created the first functional cybernetic limb replacement. This is widely considered the start of the Cyber Race.
* **1957:** The Soviet Union successfully interfaces man and machine, leading to a quantum leap in power armor technology as mechanical bipedal movement patterns become more organic.
* **The 1960s:** The US repeatedly releases new versions of its power armor suits as the Vietnam War rages on. The lighter, more maneuverable armors are more suitable for close-terrain fights. Various upgrades for soldiers become more common, and the nickname "mods" is coined for those changed by the cybernetic implants.
* **1967:** Marshal Hood is born.
* **1968:** The first so-called "masked heroes" appear in public: modded veterans from the Vietnam War angry at their treatment at the hands of the government and the public. Soon after, new villains also take to the stage. The police find it increasingly difficult to deal with criminals who have military training and equipment.
* **1971:** A metabolic diet pill launched without proper testing has uncommon and dangerous side effects. Though some users die or are damaged for life, a lucky few develop powers hitherto unseen in humans.
* **1972:** A refined version of the diet pill is released on the black market. This new version has a greatly increased chance of both death and positive side effects. It is nicknamed the "Hero Drug" by the press. Though it is pulled off the market, use and research continue. Every new version released grows increasingly effective and dangerous. People who gain powers are nicknamed "boosts" in the media.
* **1976:** The hero drug is finally declared an illegal narcotic and is banned after causing the deaths of untold thousands of people. Still, the lure is too strong, and research moves underground and behind securely locked corporate doors.
* **1979:** Wei Chen, who will later be known to the public as Marshal Steel, is born.
* **1980:** The Year of Hell. The Big One hits the West Coast on November 10, and the San Andreas Fault causes a massive earthquake to strike Los Angeles, which triggers the Cascadian subduction zone on November 13. The massive earthquake and resulting tsunami affect the whole West Coast, resulting in more than 150,000 people estimated dead and missing. As if this were not enough, the Mammoth Lake volcanic system reawakens three months later, and the resulting eruption destroys any hope of quickly salvaging the West.
* **1981:** The US government is paralyzed by a surge of refugees and the rain of ash covering most of the Midwest. President Clark declares martial law. There is a massive effort to evacuate as much of the West Coast as possible.
* **1982:**
	+ The evacuation effort ends; everybody remaining in the western states is on their own as volcanoes continue to erupt. Food rationing is in place, and riots are common.
	+ Ortega, also known as Charge, is born in Texas.
* **1983:** As the eruptions slow, the military is called in to help save what can be salvaged of the Midwest farmlands. Most refugees are forcibly settled there, but many escape farther east. There are rumors that the "work camps" set up to help clear the ash and till the soil are nothing more than glorified slave camps.
* **1984:** Los Angeles is renamed "Los Diablos" in *The Angels of Los Diablos*, a famous documentary about the rescue efforts.
* **1985:** The largest of many armed uprisings against the increasingly authoritarian government results in the Thanksgiving Massacre. After this, a review of the "resettlement camps" is promised but fails to materialize.
* **1986:** The GeniTech Corporation patents the creation process of lab-grown stem cell organs, revolutionizing the transplant industry.
* **Late 80s:** Estimated birth of Sidestep, based on physical age.
* **1991:** As conditions along the West Coast stabilize, people fed up with the suffocating yoke of the federal government and martial law see an opportunity for freedom. Over the coming decade, they move back into the ruins of the West, starting its recolonization. A disproportionate amount of these people are Enhanced heroes and villains, both mods and boosts fleeing government control.
* **1992:**
	+ To increase private industry investments, the West Coast is declared a free economic zone where there will be only the bare minimum of federal oversight. No taxes. No regulations.
* **1992:** The GeniTech Corporation patents whole-body stem cell clones, allowing for large-scale harvesting of replacement organs. Following a tumultuous debate about the ethics involved, GeniTech becomes one of the first companies to move their corporate headquarters to Los Diablos to escape regulation.
* **1993:**
	+ The Re-Gene project is first revealed in a *New York Times* article claiming the technology dates back to the seventies and was intended to make androids for use in war. The author, Tim Mazetti, is killed in a traffic accident soon afterward.
	+ The future Ranger, Lady Argent, is born.
* **1996:**
	+ Los Diablos is up and running: its first mayor is elected, and it is starting to look more and more like a functional city. With the huge changes to the coastline, large tracts of the South Bay are abandoned, and the city shuffles inland.
	+ The future Ranger, Herald, is born.
	+ Chen drops out of high school.
* **1997:**
	+ Appalled at the lack of law and order in the free economic zone, or the FEZ as people call it, the newly elected President Ross creates the Marshal system. Recruiting some of the most famous masked heroes of the region, he funds the Rangers initiative to stem the worst excesses of the Enhanced populace.
	+ Chen joins the army and gets a boyfriend (Soo Park)
	+ Hood is one of the founding members of the Los Diablos Rangers, as is Sentinel.
* **1998:**
	+ Chen is deployed overseas in Southeast Asia.
* **1999:**
	+ A breakthrough in energy technology gives rise to the first plasma reactors, leading to ever-more-compact cybernetics.
	+ Hollow Ground self declares as the kingpin of Los Diablos.
	+ Chen has an accident with an IED and loses his hands. He quickly adapts to his new mods, so the army invests in an access port for armor interface and promotes Chen to an MBA unit.
	+ Soo Park, Chen's boyfriend, is killed in action.
	+ Ortega has their accident and is used as a test subject for cutting-edge electrical mods and spinal column enhancements.
	+ Chen and Ortega meet in the hospital during rehab.
	+ Mount Hood becomes Marshal Hood of the Rangers.
* **2000:**
	+ Intent on regaining lost influence, the US flexes its muscles in the Middle East, leading to a series of proxy wars with the ailing Soviet Union.
	+ Chen gets deployed to the region, now piloting an armored suit instead of a helicopter.
	+ The first known sighting of a Re-Gene on the battlefield occurs. Chen is among the units that witness their capabilities.
	+ Ortega debuts as Charge, sponsored by a military subcontractor because they want to see how the mods perform.
* **2001:**
	+ Steel is sick of the army and what he is doing abroad. He has racked up enough commendations that he's considered a suitable candidate for the Rangers. He meets up with Ortega again when they are both in for surgery upgrades, and Chen talks them into signing up for the Rangers as well.
	+ Ortega's father dies.
* **2002:**
	+ Ortega joins the Rangers.
	+ Sentinel officially starts to transition, and there are a lot of rumors that Hood shuts down. Sentinel is not fired.
* **2004:** A huge scandal rocks the Re-Gene project after its operatives are suspected of human rights abuses in another proxy war in Panama. The charges are never brought to court as the Re-Genes themselves are androids with artificial minds, but the scandal moves the project back underground, where it has remained ever since.
* **2005:** The Special Directive is formed, rumored to be a black-ops strike team of Re-Genes, deployed against anyone deemed dangerous enough by the government.
* **2006:**
	+ Anathema joins the Rangers.
	+ The Rangers team up with the Special Directive for a mission. It does not go frictionlessly.
* **2007:**
	+ Ortega is promoted to marshal after the death of Marshal Hood at the hands of Hollow Ground.
	+ Sunstream joins the Rangers.
	+ Sidestep escapes The Farm for the first time.
* **2008:**
	+ Sidestep debuts as a vigilante.
	+ Charge and Sidestep meet for the first time.
* **2009:**
	+ Psychopathor is the villain headliner of the year until finally brought to a halt by the Rangers and Sidestep.
	+ Dr. Mortum and the Vitruvian debuts as villains but are not high enough threats to be a target for the Rangers.
* **2010:**
	+ The Catastrofiend goes on a year-long rampage, tearing through Marshal Charge before disappearing again, a pattern repeated over the years.
	+ Ashfall works closely with the Rangers, becoming another associate.
* **2011:**
	+ Los Diablos is hit by the Nanosurge, a runaway nano weapon devouring all flesh before it is contained by an alliance of heroes led by the Rangers. Sidestep plays a vital part in its defeat.
	+ Herald takes the hero drug with his brother, Joshua, who does not survive the process.
	+ Psychopathor escapes.
	+ Sunstream quits the Rangers and disappears soon afterward.
* **2012:**
	+ The Void is looking to expand their Santa Ana territory into Los Diablos, and the Rangers strike back, leading to a final showdown in the southeast deserts.
		- The Void is allegedly killed.
	+ Herald moves to Los Diablos.
	+ Dr. Mortum retires from active villain life, focusing on research.
* **2013:**
	+ The Heartbreak incident occurs.
		- Sidestep and Anathema are believed to be killed in action, and Steel's legs are damaged enough to require amputation.
		- Ortega retires as marshal and hero, replaced by Steel once he has been modded.
	+ Sentinel and Herald meet.
* **2014:**
	+ Ortega returns from retirement, joining the Rangers once more as Charge.
	+ Herald debuts briefly as a vigilante under the name Kestrel before gaining a corporate sponsorship.
* **2015:**
	+ Lady Argent debuts as a vigilante in San Francisco.
	+ Herald switches corporations and changes his name to Kinetik.
* **2016:**
	+ Lady Argent joins the Rangers.
	+ Steel nearly gets assassinated, losing an arm in the process.
	+ Steel ceases his search for Sidestep.
	+ Sentinel retires.
	+ The Catastrofiend escapes but disappears after a mercifully short rampage.
* **2017:**
	+ Sidestep returns to Los Diablos under an assumed identity.
	+ The current mayor is assassinated by the Crack, a villain who had up to this point been waging war against the LDPD. Not long after, the Crack disappears.
	+ Mayor Teresa Alvarez is elected.
* **2018:**
	+ Herald joins the Rangers under his current name since Kinetik is trademarked by the corporation he used to work for.
	+ The Guardians are founded; proposed by Mayor Alvarez and run directly by the Mayor and City Council.
	+ Estimated year Locus goes missing.
* **2019:** Civilian telepaths and psi-sensitives start to go missing.

## Fallen Hero: Rebirth

* **2020:**
	+ Psychopathor is captured by the Special Directive.
	+ Sidestep steps onto the scene as one of the villains of Los Diablos.

## Fallen Hero: Retribution

* **2021 (Now):**
	+ Mortum's disintegration gun ends up on sale at Hollow Ground's auction in Los Diablos.
		- The Catastrofiend is revealed to be trapped in it.
	+ Sentinel is confirmed to be back in Los Diablos.
	+ Shroud is revealed to be a farm-trained telepath.
	+ Puppet is revealed to have been a boost who was killed by Shroud.

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 1.44 1.45 1.46 Fallen Hero Retribution, Timeline
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Fallen Hero: Retribution, Chapter 18
3. ↑ Fallen Hero: Revelations, Demo
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fallen Hero: Retribution, Chapter 19
5. ↑ Fallen Hero: Retribution, Chapter 23
6. ↑ Fallen Hero: Retribution, Chapter 20