History and Timeline of the 'Retribution' Universe

Warning: mild spoilers in timeline, which contains events in yet-to-be-released chapters/stories.

Disclaimers: This history is a product of my imagination, and has no claim to canon accuracy, particularly in relation to the official Samurai 7 novels. (in Japanese only) Don't own S7 or any of Gonzo's charas. OCs are mine. For fun, not for profit.

Historical Background of the 'Retribution' Fanfiction Universe

The Great War
The Samurai Clan and the Federal/Imperial Military
Aftermath of the War
The Northlanders and their Samurai
The People of Other Regions
Timeline for 'Retribution' and Companion Fics

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The Great War

The Great War was waged between the Forces of the Allied Provinces (Allied Forces for short) under the command of the shogun, and the Army of the Confederated Prefectures (Confederated Army for short), which was nominally under the authority of the emperor or Amanushi (literally 'heavenly lord'). The states on the side of the shogun called themselves provinces, while those officially under imperial rule were termed prefectures. The mecha models used by the Allied Forces were the Raiden, the Tobito and the Rapid-fire Gunners. (My made-up name for the human-sized mecha model inside the capital) The Confederated Army used Red Spider, Yakan, Mimizuku and the Crab Claw. (A name I made up for the model of those mecha who came to burn the House of the Fireflies)

The Great War started over restoring the right to rule from the Supreme Military Commander (the shogun) to the Imperial Court. It raged for three generations and came to a halt shortly before S7's main timeline.

About century before S7, Yanagijima Senji, a warlord of the Western states, had 'pacified' the warring states of the Empire's East, South and West sectors. He even secured control of the North Sector, which had until this point been independent of the Empire. The emperor gave him the title of shogun and he became the de-facto ruler of the land, with the Amanushi remaining a figurehead. But by the time Senji's grandson became shogun, the Empire was fractured once more, with individual provinces rebelling against the police state established by the shogunate samurai. The Imperial Court took the chance to appeal to regional daimyos to pledge their loyalty to the Emperor and restore his right to rule. Most of the western states, together with some of the northern and southern states, remained allied with the shogun. The majority of remaining states swore loyalty to the emperor, and thus the Great War began. (Some regions like the city-state of Sai'an managed to maintain 'neutrality', but these areas were few.)

Although there are general regional trends in the physical characteristics of people, the people on the planet where Samurai 7 was set did not assume if you have a certain 'look' you have to be fighting on a certain side. Thus, someone like Shichiroji could travel from East to West and eventually enter the service of a clan fighting on a different side from his state of origin. Not an impossibility since during the Chinese Three Kingdoms era, it had so happened that siblings were in the service of warring kings.

In Keicho 16, the daimyo of the strategic southern state of Yoshin defected to the shogun and helped the shogun attack the capital, which was adjacent to Yoshin Prefecture. The capital was at that time located on land and known as Nankyou (Southern Capital). The Allied Forces tried to capture the emperor; the Amanushi managed to escape but he was so severely injured his body could not survive without a life-support system. The remnants of the imperial court fled Nankyou and relocated temporarily to Hokuhei, a northern city loyal to the emperor. Three years later the decision was made to change the era name from Keicho to Genna. Usually era names only change when a new ruler ascends the throne, but in this case, the era name was changed in the hopes that luck would change. This is precisely what happened in real world history for the Keicho/Genna era. Keicho was plagued by natural disasters and people thought a name change would end the bad luck.

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The Samurai Clan and the Federal/Imperial Military

Each state is ruled by a military government, the samurai clan. The daimyo (literally 'great name') is the hereditary military governor of the state. Each province or prefecture maintained its own armed forces for internal defense, but was also required to contribute troops to the combined armies. E.g. Shimada Shizuka, and later Kanbei, were 'contributed' by their clan to the Allied Forces.

Some soldiers who were not of samurai birth bypassed the clan recruitment process and went straight into the combined armies. E.g. Mizuho, Ayame and Kyuuzou were not born samurai. Their senpai Haruko volunteered for the Confederated Army through her clan, and then wrote letters of recommendation for her 3 commoner kouhai. That was one of the few ways a non-samurai could become a samurai - through the recommendation of a samurai officer.

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Aftermath of the War

The Winning Side

The military governors of the victorious states were allowed to retain their power in return for regular taxes which the capital would come by to collect. The victorious Confederated Army was disbanded since it had outlived its usefulness. Much of its military infrastructure was taken into possession by the merchants as collateral for war debt. Thus the emperor relocated his capital into the Sky Fortress, the main base used by the Confederated Army during the war. The emperor did not trust any of the military governors, even those 'loyal' to him, so he chose a mobile capital to make himself less vulnerable to attack.

The 'victorious' samurai returned to their clans in their prefectures. Kyuuzou and Ayame were never affiliated with a state-based clan; they joined the Confederated Army directly (see previous section for historical background). So samurai like them were ronin once the war ended. A small portion of the Confederated Army (consisting mostly of veterans who were not born samurai and had no clans) was re-organized into police forces serving the civil governments of city states like Kougakyo. Others found new professions.

But even some of the 'victorious' samurai who had clans found themselves unemployed. They went home from the Confederated Army to find that their state clans could no longer afford to keep them. The samurai clans owed war debt to the merchants who now wanted to collect. Thus, there were many ronin dismissed by their clans.

The Losing Side

Towards the end of the war, as the Confederated States overwhelmed the Allied States, the daimyos on the losing side, their closest kin and higher-ranking retainers either died in battle or were executed. The lower-ranking samurai were killed or scattered. Kanbei was not in his home province at that time since he was with the Allied Forces. He secretly made his way back to his home state after the war only to find that his family members were dead or missing.

The Nobuseri

If things were hard for human ronin, the situation of the giant mechanized samurai was worse. The large mecha warriors were a creation of the Allied Forces and the Confederated Army. Some of the luckier giant mecha veterans in the better-off prefectures retained their samurai status on returning home. Their carrying capacity and flight speed made them ideal grain tax collectors for their daimyo (literally 'great name', military governor of the prefecture). They flew about the countryside collecting taxes from peasants. Part of this grain tax was sent by the daimyos to the emperor as tribute.

But not all the prefectures (the 'victorious' states) could afford to maintain the returning Red Spider veterans. Samurai clans were now impoverished as the merchants started to collect on the hefty war debt. The mecha veterans were often the first to be dismissed from their clans as 'cost-cutting' and downsizing became the practice of the day.

On the losing side, the Raidens fared worse since their provincial clans had been brought to extinction and they had no clans to return to. Thus, mecha models from both sides roamed the wilderness and banded together, commandeering abandoned floating bases once used by the Allied Forces. They were joined by smaller mechas such as the Tobito, Yakan and Mimizuku.

This was how the defeated states came to be plagued by a Nobuseri problem. Some of the 'victorious' states, particularly those who had to dismiss their mecha samurai for financial reasons, also suffered from banditry since the state governor did not have the resources to scour the countryside for bandits. [I'm not making excuses for the Nobuseri. Certainly, if they really had a mind to make an honest living, they could. I'm just putting in their point of view for 'balance' ;-)]

The military governments in the losing states were dissolved but no real effort was made to put a working civil government in place since the imperial court was only interested in taking care of itself. Still, the resources of these provinces had to be exploited so the imperial court used the Nobuseri as unofficial tax collectors in the defeated states in return for cash. Bartering rice could not always buy the Nobuseri what they needed to maintain their bases.

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The Northlanders and their Samurai

There are altogether 9 Northland states. The Northlander samurai differ from the samurai of other regions in that they originated from the nomadic pastoralists, not from the peasantry. In the East, West and South, the samurai rose out of the peasant class. (which was what happened in the real world) In ancient times, the peasant was the warrior. It was later that farming populations which occasionally took up arms collectively in the service of their rulers started to develop a specialized warrior class. This dedicated military class became the samurai.

The history of the northern states is different. The ancient Northlanders were originally nomadic herders. Later, some of them learnt the ways of other states and decided to settle and grow grain. Those were the first northland peasants. In the hot, arid northland climate, they grew millet and not rice since rice-cultivation is water-intensive.

The peasants had conflicts with the remaining pastoralists over land and water. The pastoralists set aside part of their population as a standing army. These warriors did not have to tend to their flocks and could answer their chieftains' call to war anytime. Eventually the herders prevailed and established military rule - the samurai clans - in the northern states. These military governments taxed the sedentarized peasants for grain.

In other parts of the continent, only the higher-ranking samurai had the privilege of equestrian training. Thus superb riding skills were a mark of rank among the samurai of the East, West and South. (as was the case for real world samurai) But because of their pastoralist background, all Northland samurai, regardless of rank - and even the commoner herders - grew up on the backs of the fast turtles and could shoot arrows with deadly accuracy at full gallop. The best among them can hold their balance and aim even when sitting sideways in the saddle. (Inspired by documentary of Tibetan riding competition.)

But even the sedenterized Northlanders were far from helpless against the samurai. Peasants developed their own self-defense arts based on the use of the human body and farm tools. (Real world inspiration: the Okinawan peasants) Two hundred years ago, a large scale peasant rebellion erupted throughout the northern states. It was precipitated by the incident of the 'straw coat dance'. In Shichiyama State, peasants who failed to pay their taxes to the military government were set alight with their straw coats on. The samurai enforcers watched as the peasants 'danced' and burnt to death. (By the way, the straw coat dance incident did happen in real world samurai history). The already smouldering anger of the peasants at many other incidents of samurai arrogance exploded in a full-scale rebellion against the military government. The Shichiyama State peasants did not want to take over the government. They were simply furious and wanted samurai blood. Faced with peasants who were not afraid to die and who were well-versed in the arts of self-defense, samurai trained in the martial arts did not always fare too well. (Inspired by samurai history as told in the non-fiction book Secrets of the Samurai, and by the history of numerous peasant rebellions in China).

Losses on both sides were heavy, but still the Shichiyama State peasants held their ground with the arts of bone-breaking and combat with farm tools. The flames of rebellion spread to Kokuryu State, Juushuu State, and then to all other northern realms. It took seven years and hundreds of thousands of lives of both warriors and farmers for the northern samurai governments to finally 'pacify' the rebellion. (In actual history, Japanese peasant rebels had held out for years against samurai sent to exterminate them.) By that time, many of the samurai realized it was foolish to decimate and alienate the tax base as the economy had practically ground to a halt in the long, internecine struggle. Thus many of the Northern daimyos made a pact with their peasants to include peasant representatives in the government so that peasants could have a say in taxation policies. (In the 'real world', the lowest-ranking samurai were actually out-ranked by the highest-ranking peasant chieftains, according to Secrets of the Samurai).

It is partly because of this history - the unexpected thrashing the samurai initially received at the hands of the outraged peasants, and their economic interest in keeping the farming populace satisfied - that the Northlander samurai (particularly the lower-ranking ones) have a somewhat more 'egalitarian' attitude towards the peasants compared to the samurai of other regions. (The Northlander Mayumi in Beyond the Blade surprised Rikichi - a Southlander - with her 'lack of samurai arrogance'.) Of course, there are always exceptions, like Tokuko, princess of Kokuryo State, who firmly believes peasants and lower-ranking samurai should 'know their place' and would not countenance a peasant with an opinion.

Some of the Northland states are home to matrilineal cultures, that is, the family name and property is passed from mother to daughter, and the position of daimyo (hereditary military governor) is passed from mother to daughter. One such state is Kokuryu, home prefecture of Mayumi, Michiyo and Rannosuke. (Real world inspiration: The Nayars of Kerala, India, a matrilineal warrior caste. According to my friend whose mother is a Nayar, only the warrior caste in that state is matrilineal. Those in other states are patrilineal. And even in Kerala, other classes besides the warrior caste are patrilineal.)

In Juushuu Province, another matrilineal Northern State, the peasant chieftainship is passed from a man to his sister's son, but his own son still holds a measure of power in the position of advisor. The office of Mikumari is passed from mother to daughter. The OC Aiko is from Juushuu. Kanbei and Shichiroji were stationed there for part of the Great War.

The most common skin/hair coloring in the Northlands is ebony or dark brown skin with light hair and eyes. But there are always exceptions, nor is this coloring limited to Northlanders. People have moved between the states for millenia, and in big cities all over the continent, folk from all regions mingled. Ayame is from the northern city of Hokuhei; she has the yellow eyes found only among Northlanders but she also has dark hair and a slightly redder skin tone from Westerling ancestors (people who look like Kanbei). Chihiro has 'typical Northlander' coloring (ebony skin, pale blue hair) but she is a Westerling.

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People of Other Regions

The Southlanders are generally patrilineal, except for the office of Mikumari, which is passed matrilineally. Women of the South do not change their family names on marriage. They retain their original surnames. (Real world inspirations: China, Korea and Vietnam) The typical coloring in the South is dark hair with pale skin (like that of Haruko and Kirara).

The people of the West are generally patrilineal; women usually change their family names upon marriage. Kanbei, Midori and Mizuho are of Westerling stock and have the typical brown skin/dark hair combination common to the West. In the West, samurai clans have 'neutral' names (often the names of animals) unlike the clans of other regions which are called after the family name of the leading family.

The imperial court was first established in the South in ancient times, but the capital moved many times through the centuries to various locations in the East and the South. The combination of pale skin and pale hair (like that of many of the court nobles) is more common in the East, although they also occur in the populations of other regions. in Retribution, both Shichiroji and Kyuuzou were born in Eastern prefectures.

People of the borderlands often do not fall into 'neat' physical categories as far as hair/skin color is concerned. E.g. the minor character Masahiko from Wolf Warriors/Happy Endings hails from the North/West border and has very dark skin and dark hair. (It's not mentioned in the fic but I'm planning to create the artwork for Kyuzo's Squad 1 members at some point) Another minor Retribution character Sayoko is from the South/West border and has tan skin and dark hair.

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Timeline for 'Retribution' and Companion Fics

Samurai 7 opens 13 years after the year Genna 1. (Kikuchiyo's genealogy chart lists his birthdate as Genna 1). Historically, the Genna period was preceded by the Keicho period, which lasted 19 years.

• 8 year old Kanbei (then named Kisshoumaru) watches his 18 year old cousin Shizuka leave to join the Forces of the Allied Provinces (Unforgiven Chapter 2) .
• Mizuho born in Mizuta Village in the West.

Keicho 3
Shichiroji born in Yoka Hamlet in the East

Keicho 5
Ayame born in Hokuhei City in the North.

• Shizuka deserts the Allied Forces and flees with her childhood friend Rumi, a deserter from the Confederated Army. (Unforgiven Chapter 2, Retribution Chapter 2 ) .
• Kyuuzou born in Tamatani Village in the East.

Keicho 10
Kyuuzou found by the wanderers Shizuka and Rumi in the destroyed Tamatani Village.

Keicho 11
Shizuka and Rumi settle with Kyuuzou in Shirase Village in the southern prefecture of Yoshin.

Keicho 14
Kanbei's older brother Chobei is killed in action.

Keicho 16
Yoshin State switches sides in the Great War. Allied Forces attack the land capital of Nankyou. Imperial court relocates to Hokuhei.

• Spring - 25 year old Kanbei carries out the order to execute the deserter Shizuka (Unforgiven Chapter 2, Retribution Chapter 9 flashback portion), 10 year old Kyuuzou loses his parents a second time (Unforgiven Chapter 1, Retribution Chapter 10 flashback portion) and travels to Mount Keian Dojo (Retribution Chapter 6 flashback portion).
• Summer - 15 year old Shichiroji enters the service of Kanbei's clan and is assigned to the Shimada family.
• Early Fall - Kyuuzou passes the final test to be accepted as a student of Aikawa Sensei. (Retribution Chapter 8 flashback portion) .
• Late Fall - While Kanbei is back home on rotation, Shichiroji is given to Kanbei as an orderly. He follows his master back to the Allied Forces.

• Early Spring - Ayame and Mizuho are woken as a result of Kyuuzou's nightmare in Mount Keian Dojo (Unforgiven Chapter 2)
• Late Spring - Plans are made for an arranged marriage between Shimada Kanbei and Hasegawa Chihiro (One Life, One Love)
• Midsummer - Ayame takes Kyuuzou on a special field trip (Unforgiven Chapter 3)
• Fall - Kyuuzou finds himself 'neglected' by his 'sisters' when their female friends come to visit (Wolf Warriors Prologue) .

• Late Spring - The three Red Wolves carry out their mission at Kuroki Village. (Wolf Warriors Chapter 2)
• Early Summer - Kyuuzou rescues the kitten Kyuujiro from Ayame (The Ghosts of Chrysanthemum Bridge)
• Fall - Kanbei and Shichiroji confront Aiko and Haruko in the northern millet-growing village of Kaneda (Wolf Warriors Chapters 3-4 ), Haruko leaves Mount Keian to return to the Kurume Clan and volunteer for the Confederated Army (Wolf Warriors Chapter 5).

Genna 3
Mizuho and Ayame join Haruko in the Confederated Army (Wolf Warriors Chapter 5).

Genna 4
30 year old Kanbei persuades 20 year old Shichiroji to enter the military science program at Sai'an University. Kanbei meets the northern peasant student Michiyo while visiting the campus (Edge of Alienation Chapters 1-2).

• Early Spring - 16 year old Kyuuzou joins his sisters in the military. (Wolf Warriors Chapter 6)
• Summer - Tokuko graduates from Sai'an University and returns to Kokuryu Prefecture, leaving to join the Confederated Army soon after.
• Fall - Kyuuzou's Platoon 3 battle the Allied Forces samurai who razed Kazumi's village. (Wolf Warriors Chapters 6-7), The Mount Kei'an 'sisters' cross paths with Kanbei and Shichiroji while in Sai'an on RnR. (Wolf Warriors Chapters 8)
• Winter - Mizuho chooses mechanization and transfers to the 51st Squadron (Wolf Warriors Chapter 9-10)

• Spring - Yasue joins Mount Kei'an Dojo.
• Summer - Kanbei pays a visit to Michiyo in Sai'an before returning to the front (Edge of Alienation).
• Fall - Haruko is transferred to Special Operations to lead the ninja commandos.
• Winter - Kyuuzou gets into a mess hall brawl. (Happy Endings Chapter 1)

• Spring - Sadamitsu is killed in battle (Happy Endings Chapter 1)
• Summer - Michiyo graduates from the Agricultural Sciences graduate school at Sai'an University. Rannosuke completes his undergraduate program in the Military Studies department. They return to their home prefecture of Kokuryu where Rannosuke is promptly sent by his clan to the Confederated Army. Kyuuzou is transferred to the 42nd Battalion.
• Fall - Kanbei returns to Sai'an to seek Michiyo(Edge of Alienation). Mizuho visits Kyuuzou. (Cloud Age Samurai)
• Winter - the tide of war begins to turn definitively against the Allied States. Rannosuke mechanizes to become a Red Spider.

• Spring - Shichiroji loses an arm in the assault against the Sky Fortress. He is fitted with a mechanized arm. The remnants of the Western Allied Forces retreat to Irakawa Castle.
• Fall - Mizuho is killed in battle by Gorobei (Happy Endings Chapter 2). Confederated Army captures the Northwestern Sector from the Allied Forces, putting the entire North under Confederated control.
• Winter - Irakawa Castle finally falls to the Confederated Army. Kanbei puts Shichiroji in an escape pod.

• Early Spring - Great War ends. Tashiro Haruko is court-martialed. Kanbei returns to his home province secretly, to find his family dead and his clan disbanded.
• Late Spring - While awaiting their honorable discharge, Kyuuzou directly challenges Ayame's will without apology for the first time.(Happy Endings Chapter 3). Haruko travels to Sai'an to seek Kazumi at the orphanage (Happy Endings Chapter 4).
• Early Summer - Kyuuzou and Ayame have one last duel in Mount Kei'an Dojo before Ayame goes home to Hokuhei and Kyuuzou heads to Kougakyo (Retribution Chapter 21 flashback portion)
• Late Summer - Kyuuzou accepts employment with Ayamaro (Happy Endings Chapter 5)
• Winter - Together with a few other female ex-samurai, Ayame starts the veteran retraining company "From Swords to Sewing Machines" in Hokuhei.

• Imperial Court relocates from Hokuhei to the Sky Fortress, the flying base used by the Confederated Army during the war.

Genna 11
Lady Takako, daimyo of Kokuryu Prefecture, passes. Lady Tokuko inherits her mother's position. Mayumi chooses to become a ronin.

Genna 12
The Red Wolf Aiko, Mikumari of Kaneda Village, leads a failed revolt against the Nobuseri and seeks the help of fellow Wolf Haruko. (Mandate of Heaven)

Genna 13
Ayame sends Kyuuzou an elegant red dress made by participants in the "From Swords to Sewing Machines" program. (Retribution Chapter 3)

Genna 14
Samurai 7 begins.