The Entire Underworld Timeline Explained

The lineage of all vampires and werewolves can be traced back to Alexander Corvinus (played by Derek Jacobi), a Hungarian nobleman born at an unspecified point in the fifth century. The patriarch of the Corvinus clan, Corvinus was able to survive a devastating plague that wiped out most of his village thanks to a genetic quirk. The plague caused rapid cell division in its hosts, and Alexander's immune system fought back by altering the virus. This resulted in his body completely stopping all cell deterioration, giving the Underworld universe its first immortal. 

The genetic anomaly was aptly named The Corvinus Strain. Within Alexander it still possessed the ability to mutate, manifested in the gene fusion that occurred in his children. In the sixth century, Alexander's wife gave birth to three sons. Their son, William, was bitten by a rabid wolf and the strain mutated him into the first werewolf; William's twin, Marcus, was bitten by a rabid bat, which mutated him into the first vampire. The third son, unnamed, carried the gene recessively and lived as a normal human, passing the strain down through his bloodline.

While vampires retained a large portion of their humanity, early forms of werewolves were unable to return to human form, resulting in an uninhibited growth of savage beasts across their homeland. The steps taken to push back against the growing horde included the recruitment of Viktor (Bill Nighy), who we meet as our primary antagonist in the first film. His introduction into the war would escalate the mayhem and cultivate an entire sub-species of werewolves.

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans continues to put Viktor's lust for power on display — and it shows no signs of stopping as he asserts himself through brutish displays of corporal punishment. Lucian becomes his personal whipping boy as a way to show the other Lycans their place in his world. The tyrannical vampire is enraged when he finds out his own daughter, Sonja, has been in an intimate relationship with Lucian and is pregnant with his child.

Sonja is put on trial for her "crimes against the species" and found guilty. In a moment which pushes tensions past the tipping point, Lucian is chained up, whipped into submission, and forced to watch a handcuffed Sonja disintegrate in the sunlight. At the sound of Lucian's howls of pain, a wave of werewolves advance and overrun Castle Corvinus — forcing the vampires to retreat back into the darkness. Years later, a vampire named Kraven leads an attack to take back control of the fortress and returns with Lucian's branded skin as proof of kill. It is revealed later that the two actually formed an alliance.

After William's prison is completed Viktor kills all those involved, including Selene's family. When he finds a terrified Selene hiding in a barn, he takes pity on her, takes her in, turns her into a vampire, and blames her family's death on the Lycans. An unwitting pawn, she commits herself to a life as a death dealer, vowing to hunt down all Lycans.

The first Underworld centers on a stoic Selene as she hunts Lycans through the city streets. The Lycans seek to harness the Corvinus Strain within Michael's blood and use it to create a hybrid of the two species. Lucian is spotted alive by Selene while he's out hunting for a sample of the mutant blood; Michael is bitten by the Lycan general and begins to shift forms in the moonlight. Given Kraven's claim to killing Lucian centuries earlier, this causes allegiances to shift.

Until this point, the three vampire elders have been extending their reign through the centuries by alternating hibernations — two asleep, one awake. Upon learning of Kraven's deceit, Selene awakens Viktor a full century ahead of schedule in an attempt to halt an incoming Lycan onslaught. The ancient dictator assembles what scrambled memories he can from the dose of Selene's blood that woke him and sets out to remedy the situation, starting with bashing in the skull of a Lycan in the middle of their hibernation chambers. He's too late, though: The Lycans ambush a coven gathering and kill the elder Amelia (David's mother), bleeding her dry to use her blood in the creation of a super hybrid.

Visions of Lucian's past are transferred through his bite to Michael and, combined with knowledge Selene gathered, reveal Viktor's evil machinations. In an attempt to save Michael as silver nitrate from bullets courses through his veins, Selene bites him — creating the first hybrid in the Underworld universe. While the newly empowered Michael possesses strengths from both species, he's no match for Viktor in battle.

Seeking out answers, Selene and Michael meet with Tanis and unravel the complicated history of their species. Marcus is not far behind, and shortly after, he also meets up with Tanis and bleeds the vampire dry, soaking up his knowledge. Selene and Michael set out to meet Alexander Corvinus, who has been quietly covering up the existence of vampires and Lycans. The Corvinus patriarch willingly shares what he knows and expresses remorse for the havoc his sons have unleashed on the world. In drinking some of his blood, Selene gains a vast amount of knowledge.

Marcus ambushes the meeting and kills Alexander, claiming "a god has no father." All the primary characters converge on William's tomb in an epic showdown. Marcus releases his brother William from his imprisonment and Selene and Michael are forced to face the first vampire and the first werewolf in combat. Underworld: Evolution doesn't hold back the carnage as the immortal species clash. 

Michael displays an incredible amount of raw strength and rips William's skull in half. Meanwhile, Selene has her hands full fighting a powerful Marcus but manages to overcome him. The death dealer impales him with a piece of his own wing and shoves him into spinning helicopter blades, dismembering the ancient vampire beyond the point of regeneration. In the final moments of the film, Selene steps into the sunlight unscathed — a parting gift from the blood of Alexander Corvinus.

With the help of a sympathetic detective named Sebastian, Selene raids the Antigen lab, seeking to save her daughter and stop the creation of more Super-Lycans. A short while later, a fully healed David joins the fray and helps put an end to the experiments at Antigen. The lead scientist falls prey to an angry Eve, who rips his throat out. Meanwhile, Selene faces down the hybrid monstrosity and overcomes him by tricking him into a narrow doorway, forcing the Super-Lycan to transform back into human form. Selene punches into his stomach, plants a silver grenade, and pulls her fist back out to let his regeneration seal the explosive inside. The plume of gore that erupts signifies the success of their mission.

They attempt to find Michael back in the lab but only discover a broken cryo-tank. The truth of Michael's demise is later revealed in Underworld: Blood Wars, by the Lycan leader Marius. Shortly after their takedown of Antigen labs, Selene sends her daughter into hiding in parts unknown, refusing to know where Eve is headed in order to thwart any potential attempts to get the information out of her. Lycan and vampire leaders continue to hunt down Selene in attempts to find her daughter and harness her blood for their own nefarious means.

After returning to the Eastern Coven, David and Selene face off against their evil counterparts. While hordes of Lycans clash against vampires in the foyeur, complete with heavy artillery punching holes in the building to let in sunlight, Marius relentlessly pursues Selene. In a state of emotional grief, Selene reaches into Marius' transformed body and rips out his spine. Meanwhile, David impales Semira through the skull while she is distracted by her newfound immunity to sunlight. The ordeal leaves David as the new leader of the coven and gives Selene a seat on the high council, as well as some semblance of peace.

Given that Kate Beckinsale has displayed little interest in reprising her role, it's unlikely audiences will ever get to see more of Selene's journey. Seems we'll have to be satisfied with our final images of the steely death dealer in Underworld: Blood Wars — peacefully perched on a lake of ice outside the Nordic Coven, reuniting with her daughter.