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Timeline? (spoilers)
Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 10:10 pm
by 8bitsonic
I was thinking over Act 3 of Snatcher and I got a little confused. I wish there was somewhere I could read a timeline of the events described by Modnar (the year snatcher development started, the year the three of them went into cryogenic sleep, etc.) If anyone can get some dates down I'd really appreciate it. Try to keep it with the original Japanese timing, not the five-years-ahead Western version.
Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 6:36 pm
by Synthoid
Without further ado, I present to you the first release of the Snatcher timeline corresponding to the original Japanese dates. I'd like to extend my thanks to 8bitsonic for providing me with a few key dates and helping me figure out a few things with the years, cheers mate. Naturally, to coincide with the Japanese timeline, dates have been pushed back five years.
Now this is where the rest of you come in, if there's any errors or discrepancies with the timeline then do point them out. At the end of this, I'm hoping to create a definitive and accurate timeline for the Japanese dates. Just to point out now, a number of dates are copied directly from the Sega-CD manual of Snatcher. I've also gathered information from the JORDAN text dump here on the site, and the end speech by Modnar from Snatcher itself.
There's still bits and pieces that need filling out.
1930s/1940s
Birth of Pettrovich Modnar
Early 1960s
Birth of Elijah Modnar
1963
Birth of Gillian Seed
1965
Birth of Jamie Lorraine
Early 1980s
The Soviet Union initiates the Snatcher project.
Development begins on Lucifer-Alpha, a biological weapon designed to eliminate the entire populace of a country.
1984
Learning about the Soviet Union's twisted project, the CIA send Gillian Seed on a mission to the Soviet Union under orders to infilitrate the Snatcher project.
Gillian and Jamie arrive in the Soviet Union, they meet for the first time.
Mid 1980s
Elijah Modnar joins the Snatcher project via his father, Pettrovich Modnar. During this time, Elijah begins to develop feelings towards Jamie. However, Gillian's arrival on the team disturbs the delicate balance, as Jamie begins to feel attracted to Gillian - a member of her home country. Ultimately, Gillian and Jamie fall in love and later marry.
1987
Birth of Harry Seed (Benson)
Birth of Jean Jack Gibson
1991
June 6th:
The Catastrophe
Elijah Modnar transfers his research and materials to an underground laboratory, then destroys the facilities involved with the manufacture of Lucifer-Alpha. The resulting explosion releases the biological agent into the atmosphere, killing 80% of the Eurasian population. Elijah brings both Jamie and Gillian with him into the shelter, and places them both in cryogenic stasis. Elijah then programs an atmospheric research satellite to transmit a wake signal to his pod after the danger of Lucifer-Alpha had passed, before going into stasis himself.
Harry is taken into government custody.
1996
Birth of Benson Cunningham
2000
December:
Construction begins on the "Wells Project," an unmanned robot production facility on Mars.
2001
An atmospheric satellite transmits a signal to awaken Elijah Modnar from cryogenic stasis, he considers waking Jamie to continue working with him on the Snatcher project, but ultimately cannot find the heart to do so. Over the course of the next forty years, Elijah works alone on the project.
By this time, Lucifer-Alpha had mutated into a non-toxic form and a new vaccine had been developed.
Harry Benson receives his Ph.D from Michigan State University.
2005
June:
First satellite put into permanent Mars orbit.
August 8th:
World War III
Fourteen years after the Catastrophe, war broke out over possession of Northern Eurasia, left uninhabited by the disaster. Conservative Soviet leaders who had managed to survive the Catastrophe received military support from China and launched an invasion of the region. Nevertheless, Western economic sanctions forced the Chinese to withdraw this support, leading to victory for the Western forces. Ending just six months after it began, this conflict has become known as the "Half-Year War".
Harry Benson becomes well known for developing weapons for the Western forces during WWIII.
2010
July:
Construction begins on experimental manned base, "Le Guin".
Jean Jack Gibson joins the Police Science Division.
2013
Birth of Freddie Nielsen
2015
Birth of Ivan Rodriguez
2017
Birth of Lisa Nielsen
November:
Construction begins on Mars space port, "Moorcock".
2018
Birth of Isabella Velvet
2019
Birth of Mika Slayton
2020
The Konami Omni Building is constructed in a joint venture between Konami Co. Ltd and the Omni Corporation.
June:
Completion of early manned base, "Herbert".
2025
December:
First full-scale Mars base, "Vonnegut," begins operations.
2028
Birth of Katrina Gibson
Benson Cunningham participates in the 2028 Wellington Olympics in Judo.
2030
January:
Operations begin at "Asimov," the first mine on Mars.
STBO, a mysterious disease rumoured to be a mutated form of the AIDS virus, is discovered in France.
Queen's Hospital undergoes renovations, a new basement is constructed.
2035:
Summer:
The first patient of STBO in Neo Kobe is recorded. In 2042, between 50,000 and 100,000 residents of Neo Kobe are believed infected.
2038
The "Road Runner" single-wheeled motorcycle is adopted as Traffic Control's pursuit vehicle of choice.
March:
Chin Sho Oh is taken into custody and stripped of his Class-1 medical license for involvement in "Eugenics" scandal.
July 8th:
Little John is manufactured.
2039
Elijah kidnaps his own father from a government hospital, and forces him to work on the bioroids' artificial skin.
Gillian and Jamie are found in the underground shelter by the 17th Siberian Investigative Force. Both are taken into protective custody. Gillian is assigned to Junker Headquarters as their last hope against the Snatcher menace. It is believed that since Gillian is somehow connected to the Snatchers, he will be their best chance against them. Jamie starts work at Neo Kobe Pharmaceuticals.
December 22nd:
First contact. A bioroid's remains are discovered in the wreckage of SRS Flight 4003, which crashed in the Rokko Mountain range. The bioroid is identified by its possessions as Rick Sawamura, but due to severe injuries, no further data is obtained. Rumours begin to circulate that it is a secret weapon from a certain country.
December 29th:
The Mayor of Neo Kobe asks all the countries of the world to investigate the Bioroid incident, but all investigations prove fruitless.
2040
Isabella Velvet wins the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Neo Kobe International Film Festival. She stars in the following films during this year: 'Kiss of the Honey Bee' and 'Catch Her in the Rye'
The first official 'Dragon Horse' competition takes place.
February 18th:
A Snatcher which had killed and replaced ("snatched") the mayor of Neo Kobe, B. O'Connor, is captured, but self-destructs during transport.
August:
A certain magazine editor leaks information concerning Snatchers. This spawns an onslaught of Snatcher coverage. Japan catches "Snatcher Fever".
September:
Chin Sho Oh is arrested for the operation of an unregistered medical facility. He is stripped of his Class-2 medical license.
2041
Isabella Velvet is awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. She stars in the following films during this year: 'The Other Side of Sadness', 'Star Luster' and 'Naked Pistol'.
January 7th:
Alice Gibson, Jean's wife, is killed by a Snatcher during the Bioroid Panic.
May:
Chin Sho Oh is arrested for violation of physical containment (handling of dangerous substances) laws. He is permanently stripped of all medical licenses.
Winter:
Neo Kobe falls into "Bioroid Panic". All around the city, suspicion of Snatchers leads to violence and killing. The mayor calls on all citizens to submit to "Bioroid tests".
November:
The police form an anti-Snatcher task force.
December:
All over the city, citizens participate in "Bioroid hunts", similar to the Salem Witch Hunts. The level of anxiety in the city rises further. Over five thousand people are killed in the panic.
Late December:
The Bioroid Panic spreads to all of Japan.
2042
April 20th
Fearing a recurrence of the Bioroid Panic, a new law, "Snatchers and the Protection of Civil Rights", is passed. The law requires that a scanning warrant must be obtained before citizens can be scanned.
May:
The government intelligence agencies form "Rug Hunt", a scientific investigative team, to analyse the Snatcher problem.
August:
The anti-Snatcher police force and "Rug Hunt" join forces to form the Junker Agency.
Mid October:
The Snatchers begin their extermination of the Junkers.
October 13th:
Lewis Gilmore is killed in action.
October 19th:
Sergio Glazer killed in action.
David Johnson is greviously wounded, currently in stable condition, but is purported to be brain-dead.
October 22nd:
Schultz Descartes killed in action.
Descartes' family found massacred.
Late October:
Bounty hunters recruited from among citizens. Five hundred bounty hunters are registered.
September 13th:
Metal Gear is manufactured.
November 1st:
An emergency phone line for Snatchers is set up. Out of about two hundred calls received per day, only 1% are reliable.
November 3rd:
A well-known KBC newscaster is discovered to be a Snatcher, and is terminated by a bounty hunter. The remains self-destruct.
November 9th:
A Yakuza mob boss, killed in a gang dispute over "Liquid Sky", is discovered to have been a Snatcher.
November 11th:
Bounty hunter Thomas Kadota mistakenly shoots and kills a human citizen, causing a great controversy. Mr. Kadota is eventually found guilty of manslaughter.
November 15th:
The leader of a prominent revolutionary religious group is discovered to be a Snatcher. During pursuit, the Snatcher's car crashes, and it is destroyed in the resulting fire.
November 20th:
The former president of a biotechnology firm, John Randolph, is uncovered as a Snatcher and terminated by Jean Jack Gibson. During transport, the remains are stolen.
December:
The government decides to quarantine Neo Kobe in order to prevent the spread of the Snatcher problem.
A rocket carrying the first immigration investigative team to Mars, the "Beagle Jerusalem", is launched.
December 1st:
Neo Kobe Bridge is closed off and patrolled around the clock, airports are shut down and the ocean is charged with high-voltage electricity. In effect, the city is put under martial law.
December 18th:
Gillian Seed starts his first day as a JUNKER. The events of Snatcher begin.
2044
The first phase of the "Mars Greening Project" is scheduled to begin.
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 2:42 am
by Solidé
Wow, great work!
Lot's of information, and mostly new info for me.
(well, i have only played the SEGA CD version 3 times...)
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:32 pm
by Synthoid
Thank you.
I've updated the timeline with a few more tidbits of information, for the sake of completeness. I've also noticed a couple of references pertaining to Isabella's film career. For example, "Naked Pistol" is a play on the Naked Gun films. "Catch Her in the Rye" is clearly a nod to J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, and "Indecent Proposition" is a reference to Indecent Proposal.
Kojima certainly likes his subtle nods.
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:39 pm
by seraphssavior
Jaime's last name was Lorraine? Think that could tie in with Lorraine Hojo at all?
Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2007 10:40 pm
by 8bitsonic
No.
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:32 am
by Spike
Wonderful job !
But, shouldn't you add MG1 events into the timeline (since Harry mentions the Metal Gear menace from the 20th century, Metal Gear Mk II is based on the TX-55 and the club is called "Outer Heaven") ?
Something along the lines of...
Early 1990s
Hi-Tech Special Forces unit FOXHOUND founded by Big Boss. Benson Cunningham would later become a strategist for this group.
1995
FOXHOUND member Solid Snake infiltrates Outer Heaven, a fortified state in South Africa, and destroys the ultimate weapon, Metal Gear TX-55.
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:42 am
by 8bitsonic
Spike wrote:shouldn't you add MG1 events into the timeline
Absolutely not. Metal Gear events have nothing at all to with this. Perhaps the first one might fit in after we looked into it more, but the second one has too remote a connection with Snatcher to be appropriate in this timeline.
What would indeed be an interesting idea to look into would be to combine dates from all of Kojima's games and make one big Kojima timeline.
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:22 am
by Spike
Oh, yeah. You're right. I just remembered why : Dr Madnar has got a daughter in MG1 while he has got a son in Snatcher. So MG1 doesn't perfectly fit in the Snatcher timeline (some events - Metal Gears, Outer Heaven, ... - are apparently shared by both universes, but not all).
MG2 couldn't fit in the Snatcher timeline anyway (because Dr Madnar dies in it, while he's still alive in Snatcher)
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:27 pm
by Marc
Yeah, it wouldn't be a good idea to mix separate universes like that.
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:37 pm
by Synthoid
I'd like to see a Kojima timeline, actually. Different colours could be used to signify events from separate games, so we have three timelines merged into one. Technically, we wouldn't be mixing up any timelines, just putting 'em side by side if that makes any sense.
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:47 pm
by 87th
Synthoid wrote:so we have three timelines merged into one.
It'd be at least four (MG, Policenauts, Snatcher, ZOE). Possibly more than that for non-canon storylines (Ghost Babel, SD Snatcher, etc.). Games like boktai and Kabutore never try to fit into the same universe like the others do, so they're not worth including.
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:49 pm
by Henry Spencer
Bravo. Good job.
Next up: Z.O.E and Policenauts' timelines.
Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 12:52 pm
by Synthoid
87th wrote:It'd be at least four (MG, Policenauts, Snatcher, ZOE). Possibly more than that for non-canon storylines (Ghost Babel, SD Snatcher, etc.). Games like boktai and Kabutore never try to fit into the same universe like the others do, so they're not worth including.
Ah, course. ZOE. It'll be a somewhat ambitious task but if I can find the time, I'll start work on it. Should keep me busy for a while, plus the Snatcher timeline is already completed. I'm not sure about the non-canon timelines, I don't want to create too much work with this, and of course we can skip stuff like the Boktai and Kabutore games.
Henry Spencer wrote:Bravo. Good job.
Next up: Z.O.E and Policenauts' timelines.
Spike wrote:Wonderful job !
Solidé wrote:Wow, great work!
Lot's of information, and mostly new info for me.
(well, i have only played the SEGA CD version 3 times...)
Cheers.

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:20 pm
by Marc
Synthoid wrote:I'd like to see a Kojima timeline, actually. Different colours could be used to signify events from separate games, so we have three timelines merged into one. Technically, we wouldn't be mixing up any timelines, just putting 'em side by side if that makes any sense.
As long as you indicate the separate universes (like with color), then there's nothing wrong with that, sure. It'd actually be a good idea. I just meant that having them all as one list might be confusing to some (Meryl being 18 in MGS1, 2005, and 24 in Policenauts, 2040, for example). There's a Policenauts timeline at Policenauts.net, if you want to incorporate it.
Anyway, good work with this.

Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2007 2:43 pm
by Solidé
Henry Spencer wrote:
Next up: Z.O.E and Policenauts' timelines.
Actually i have once made ZoE timeline, and it wasn't just text from ZoE1 manual, i collected much information from many kind of ZoE sites and made timeline of it.
But unfortunetly i have not made it in English. Oh well, maybe i could translate it soon and post to ZoE area.

Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:20 am
by Spike
Well, about the MG timeline, there's a huge one in the new version of the site in my sig (but it's written in French). If you like, I can always send it to you.
It doesn't include retconned information, nor non-canon games.
Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 9:03 am
by Synthoid
Spike wrote:Well, about the MG timeline, there's a huge one in the new version of the site in my sig (but it's written in French). If you like, I can always send it to you.
It doesn't include retconned information, nor non-canon games.
Sure, thank you. That would certainly save a lot a time.

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 8:34 pm
by 8bitsonic
Synthoid wrote:I've also noticed a couple of references pertaining to Isabella's film career. For example, "Naked Pistol" is a play on the Naked Gun films. "Catch Her in the Rye" is clearly a nod to J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, and "Indecent Proposition" is a reference to Indecent Proposal.
Kojima certainly likes his subtle nods.
That stuff doesn't smell like Kojima to me. It smells like...localization.
Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 9:31 pm
by Synthoid
Added the date for when Queen's Hospital installed a new basement.
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:41 am
by Spike
Synthoid wrote:Spike wrote:Well, about the MG timeline, there's a huge one in the new version of the site in my sig (but it's written in French). If you like, I can always send it to you.
It doesn't include retconned information, nor non-canon games.
Sure, thank you. That would certainly save a lot a time.

There it is (
http://mgworld.free.fr/documents.php?page=chronologie). Last updated from the TGS 2007 pamphlet timeline.
Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 7:10 pm
by Artemio
8bitsonic wrote:Synthoid wrote:I've also noticed a couple of references pertaining to Isabella's film career. For example, "Naked Pistol" is a play on the Naked Gun films. "Catch Her in the Rye" is clearly a nod to J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, and "Indecent Proposition" is a reference to Indecent Proposal.
Kojima certainly likes his subtle nods.
That stuff doesn't smell like Kojima to me. It smells like...localization.
Indeed, Jeremy's hand. =)
Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:25 am
by RandommodnaR
Synthoid, you didn't wrote the date when Benson Cunningham was snatched (according to your time line it was in late september - early october).
Never the less it was a wonderful job.
Cheers from Argentina!
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 3:15 pm
by Johnny Undaunted
8bitsonic wrote:Synthoid wrote:I've also noticed a couple of references pertaining to Isabella's film career. For example, "Naked Pistol" is a play on the Naked Gun films. "Catch Her in the Rye" is clearly a nod to J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye, and "Indecent Proposition" is a reference to Indecent Proposal.
Kojima certainly likes his subtle nods.
That stuff doesn't smell like Kojima to me. It smells like...localization.
Yeah, the movie titles are different, but they're still puns on popular films. IIRC, one of her movies was titled "Taxi Drive", a not-so clever play on Taxi Driver.
Posted: Sun Dec 16, 2007 4:23 pm
by snatcher1988
Johnny! Why one Earth were you gone for so long?