Chronological History of Events

This page shows the general timeline of the Dead Rising series. For the specific timelines, see the below sections.

1990s: Santa Cabeza
Santa Cabeza was a Central American town in which a research facility was built by the US government. The facity was occupied by a team of scientists led by Dr. Russell Barnaby Their goal was find a way to double the livestock of local cattle. They were able to accomplish their task, but their progress advanced expeditiously when they discovered a mysterious and previously undiscovered insect species in the local region beside the Pachacamac River. The species was subsequently scientifically named Ampulex Compressa Giganteus. The researchers found out the queens of the species could kill reanimate corpses through infection by attaching to the hosts, turning them into zombies. Disaster struck when several queens escaped the facility and begun infecting residents of the town, leading to an outbreak. When news of the outbreak reached the U.S. government, the military was called in to wipe out the town, to cover up the existence of the outbreak and the research facility. A Special Forces unit lead by Brock Mason was dispatched, which led to the destruction of the town and the deaths of its residents. Dr. Barnaby and his research team were extracted from the compromised town after the clean-up. After being debriefed, to cover his actions in future questioning, Barnaby claimed that Santa Cabeza was used by terrorists to disperse a "zombie drug".

September 19 - 22, 2006: The Willamette Incident
The Willamette Incident was a series of events that took place in Willamette, Colorado from September 19th through September 22nd. Though the United States government tried to cover up the story as a simple riot, there was a very different happening indeed: Zombies. The zombies arose when Carlito Keyes unleashed the Ampulex Compressa Giganteus species on the town in revenge for a similar outbreak in the Central American town of Santa Cabeza caused by the US government. Though the Special Forces killed nearly everyone in the town, freelance photojournalist Frank West, along with a handful of others, managed to escape and spread the story of the outbreaks in both Santa Cabeza and Willamette. Though the US government accepted responsibility for Santa Cabeza, they blamed the Willamette Incident on terrorists (which, in a sense, was true). Though the world reeled from the shock of actual zombies, they soon let the incident fade from their minds.

Dead Rising
''See Dead Rising Timeline for the specific times and events that occurred during the Willamette Incident.

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero
See Dead Rising 2: Case Zero Timeline for the specific times and events

Dead Rising 2
See Dead Rising 2 Timeline for the specific times and events