Timeline

The events of the When They Cry franchise occurs in multiple different timelines, though there is an overarching timeline connecting the events from Rika Furude's point of view.

Distant Past
Around 1000 years prior to the events of 1983, a group of spiritual beings arrive at Onigafuchi. Among them is Hanyuu, who is eventually sacrificed when the presence of the beings infects the villagers of Onigafuchi with a mysterious disease. Following Hanyuu's sacrifice, the villagers begin a religion centered around the deity Oyashiro.

1979
At the peak of the Dam War, a construction worker is murdered by a group of coworkers.

1980
Satoko Houjou falls victim to Hinamizawa Syndrome and pushes both of her parents off of a cliff.

1981
During the Watanagashi Festival, the priest of the Furude Shrine began having heart problems. He was taken to the Irie Clinic but was ultimately pronounced dead from a heart attack. On the same night, the priest's wife went missing. Her slippers and a suicide note were found in front of the Onigafuchi swamp, leading the public to believe that the priest's wife killed herself to appease Oyashiro's anger. In truth, the incident was orchestrated by the Mountain Hounds under orders from Miyo Takano. Miyo had the priest's wife killed as the wife had been attempting to withdraw her daughter, Rika Furude, from the Irie Clinic's study on Hinamizawa Syndrome. The priest was killed to maintain the appearance of one death and one disappearance every year.

1982
Satoshi Houjou falls victim to Hinamizawa Syndrome and murders Tamae Houjou. Five days after the murder, Satoshi goes to buy a large teddy bear of his sister's birthday and began to exhibit symptoms of the terminal phase of Hinamizawa Syndrome. Kyousuke Irie takes Satoshi to the basement of the Irie Clinic for treatment and has the Mountain Hounds manipulate information so the murder of Tamae Houjou appeared to have been done by a drug addict. The drug addict is made to confess to the murder and later dies by choking on a spoon.

1983
Miyo Takano manages to fulfill her plans to "ascend to godhood" by killing Rika Furude and causing the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. Upon Rika's death, Hanyuu uses her powers to take Rika back in time to a parallel world. Rika goes through several different timelines attempting to defeat Takano, including /,, , , , and. Every time Rika fails, Hanyuu takes Rika back in time to a new parallel world. After just over 100 years worth of time-hopping, Rika and Hanyuu manage to defeat Takano in. Shortly after defeating Takano, Rika is hit by a truck and falls into a month-long coma. During her coma, she dreams of the world of, wherein no one dies. When she wakes, Hanyuu informs Rika that she won't use her power again, even when Rika dies.

1986
The Ushiromiya family has their annual meeting on Rokkenjima. During the meeting, the island explodes. The sole survivor, Eva Ushiromiya, returns to Japan's mainland and adopts the only other member of the Ushiromiya family, Ange Ushiromiya.

1995
The reporter who interviewed Keiichi Maebara dies in a shipwreck ( only).

1998
Eva Ushiromiya dies. Ange Ushiromiya searches for the truth behind the Rokkenjima massacre.

2003
The parents of the reporter who interviewed Keiichi Maebara find their son's interview tape for Keiichi ( only).

2006
.

Purgatorio
After Rika Furude experiences the world, Rika's despair and hopelessness coalesces into a separate being, Bernkastel. Bernkastel lives for a thousand years and spends much of that time trapped in a "logic error" by Featherine Augustus Aurora.

Number of Timelines
Each new timeline is represented by a "fragment" found in Purgatorio. In theory, there are an infinite number of possible fragments. In terms of fragments visited by Rika Furude, the novels never provide a specific number of timelines. However, the novels do claim that Rika lived for the equivalent of just over 100 years in the time loop. The length of the loops varies; Rika claims she could originally travel backwards almost a full year, however her powers waned by the time of and she was only able to go back a single week. Assuming an average of 6 months, a medium estimate of timelines Rika visits is around 200.