The Ring / Ringu Franchise Timeline
Based on Koji Suzuki's novels, the Ring cycle is one of the most convoluted franchises in horror history.
The story of Sadako Yamamura (and her American counterpart Samara Morgan) centers on a cursed video tape that kills the viewer in seven days unless copied and shared. It is a viral curse in the literal sense.
NOTE: The Japanese films have three separate timelines that ignore each other. This guide organizes them by continuity.
Timeline A: The Nakata Continuity
The "Main" Japanese timeline, directed primarily by Hideo Nakata. It focuses on the supernatural/ghostly aspect of Sadako.
Ring 0: Birthday
The Origin
Set 30 years before the original film, this adaptation of the short story "Lemon Heart" portrays Sadako Yamamura not as a monster, but as a fragile, tragic figure attempting to live a normal life in a Tokyo acting troupe. She falls in love with the sound director, but her uncontrolled "Nensha" (thoughtography) begins to plague the theater with strange recordings and visions.
The film reveals a crucial biological twist: Sadako split into two entities - one resembling a shy human girl, and the other a murderous spirit trapped in a box by her father. The horror stems from human cruelty; the troupe members club her to death in fear. Her father, Dr. Heihachiro Ikuma, completes the tragedy by throwing her still-living body into the well to "seal" the evil, inadvertently creating the vengeful Onryō that would curse the world.
Ring (Ringu)
The Incident
The film credited with launching the global J-Horror boom. Reporter Reiko Asakawa investigates the "Cursed Video" after her niece dies of sudden heart failure. The film relies on atmospheric dread rather than jump scares, using the grainy, surreal imagery of the tape - a woman brushing hair, kanji characters, a man pointing—to create subconscious unease.
The investigation leads Reiko and her ex-husband Ryuji to Izu Oshima to uncover the psychic history of Shizuko Yamamura. The finale subverts the "ghost laid to rest" trope; discovering Sadako's corpse does not break the curse. The chilling realization is that survival requires the sacrifice of ethics: Reiko must copy the tape and show it to another person (her own father) to save her son, perpetuating the viral cycle of evil.
Ring 2
The Continuation
Ignoring the events of Spiral, this film follows Mai Takano (Ryuji’s assistant) as she searches for answers regarding his death. It introduces Masami Kurahashi, a survivor from the first film, whose trauma is so severe that Sadako’s energy is imprinted on her brain waves, allowing the curse to manifest through psychiatric equipment.
The film shifts focus to the "Scientific vs. Supernatural" conflict, with Dr. Kawajiri attempting to exorcise the energy using electrical experiments in a pool. This disastrously backfires, proving Sadako cannot be contained by physics. The climax involves Mai entering a metaphysical "well" world to save Reiko’s son, Yoichi, who has begun to exhibit the same psychic powers as Sadako.
Sadako
The Modern Update
Hideo Nakata returns 20 years later to update the mythology for the digital age. The curse evolves from physical VHS media to digital video when an aspiring YouTuber attempts to film inside Sadako's haunted apartment, inadvertently uploading the curse to the internet.
The plot centers on a hospital setting and a new "reincarnation" arc involving a young girl with psychokinetic powers, linking back to the "Child of Sadako" themes. While less acclaimed than the original, it attempts to explore how a viral curse would propagate on social media platforms where "sharing" is instantaneous, removing the physical barrier of the tape.
Timeline B: The Spiral Continuity
Based closer to the novels, this timeline treats the curse as a biological virus (Ring Virus) rather than a ghost.
Spiral (Rasen)
The Medical Sequel
Released simultaneously with Ring (1998) as a double feature, this film offers a radical scientific explanation for the curse. Mitsuo Ando, a pathologist, discovers a tumor in Ryuji Takayama's throat containing a variation of the smallpox virus. The DNA within the virus matches Sadako Yamamura.
The horror here is biological rather than spiritual: the virus uses the tape as a vector to impregnate female viewers with clones of Sadako, effectively resurrecting her as a new species. The film ends on a nihilistic note, with the virus mutating to spread via the written word (the novel Ring itself), ensuring the eventual replacement of humanity with Sadako-hybrids.
Sadako 3D
The Digital Mutation
A sequel to the Spiral timeline, this film posits that Sadako is attempting to find a suitable host to be reborn into the physical world using "Cursed Video" livestreams. The antagonist, Seiji Kashiwada, actively tries to resurrect her to punish humanity.
The film departs significantly from the atmospheric horror of the 90s, leaning into action and creature-feature elements. It introduces "Sadako-creatures" - insect-like monsters that swarm victims—and focuses heavily on the use of 3D gimmicks (hair flying out of the screen). It treats Sadako more as a kaiju or queen alien than a ghost.
Sadako 3D 2
The Child
Set five years later, the story follows Fuko Ando and her niece Nagi, who is the daughter of Sadako born at the end of the previous film. The curse has evolved to kill people not through video, but through the psychic projection of the child's negative emotions.
The film explores themes of stigmatization and "bad blood," as Nagi is shunned for being the "child of a monster." It returns to a slightly more atmospheric tone than its predecessor, focusing on the mystery of sudden deaths surrounding the child, though it still retains the CGI-heavy climax characteristic of this specific timeline.
Timeline C: The DX Continuity & Standalones
Modern reboots and crossovers that establish their own rules.
Sadako vs. Kayako
The Showdown
Originally an April Fool's joke that became real, this film pits the antagonist of Ring against the vengeful spirit of Ju-On (The Grudge). The premise involves two protagonists - one cursed by Sadako’s tape (now with a 2-day deadline), the other by Kayako’s haunted house - who are advised by an eccentric exorcist to pit the ghosts against each other to cancel out the curses.
The film is a mix of horror and dark comedy, showcasing the different "rules" of the ghosts (Sadako’s stealth vs. Kayako’s violence). The climax is a catastrophic failure for humanity: instead of destroying each other, the spirits merge into a pulsating mass of flesh and hair known as "Sadakaya," creating a super-curse with no known countermeasure.
Sadako DX
The Mutation
A direct sequel to the 1998 Ring that ignores all other timelines. It modernizes the premise by treating the curse as a viral marketing hazard that has mutated to a 24-hour deadline to survive the fast-paced internet attention span. The protagonist is Ayaka Ichijo, a graduate student with an IQ of 200 who attempts to dismantle the curse using logic and science.
The film adopts a meta-comedic tone, deconstructing the tropes of the franchise. It concludes that the curse spreads like a meme—fear and belief fuel it. The solution presented is to "enjoy" the fear and spread the video widely, diluting the curse's potency through mass exposure, turning Sadako into a manageable digital avatar rather than a lethal threat.
Timeline D: The American Remakes
The Hollywood interpretation, featuring Samara Morgan and a distinct "green/blue filter" aesthetic.
The Ring
The Remake
Director Gore Verbinski reimagines the story with a distinct, sickly green visual palette. Rachel Keller (Naomi Watts) investigates the tape, which is filled with surreal, non-linear imagery (a burning tree, a ladder, maggots). The antagonist is Samara Morgan, an adopted child with "Nensha" powers who was drowned in a well at the Morgan horse ranch on Moesko Island.
The film focuses heavily on the mystery of the Morgan family and the tragic abuse Samara suffered. Unlike Sadako, Samara is depicted more as a "bad seed" - a child who was inherently evil and drove her horses and parents to madness. The ending retains the bleakness of the original: Rachel realizes Samara never wanted to be saved, she only wanted to be heard, and the only way to save her son Aidan is to make a copy.
The Ring Two
The Pursuit
Hideo Nakata (director of the original Japanese film) took the helm for this US sequel. Samara pursues Rachel and Aidan to a new life in Oregon. The film establishes that Samara is no longer bound by the tape; she is seeking a mother figure and attempts to possess Aidan to live again.
Key sequences involve water behaving unnaturally (flowing upwards, defying gravity) as Samara's primary medium. It explores the concept of the "Dark World" - a mirror dimension inside the TV where Samara resides. Rachel must enter this realm to save her son, eventually sealing Samara inside the well of her own making, closing the loop on the mother-child dynamic.
Rings
The Network
Set 13 years later, the curse has become an underground study. A college professor, Gabriel, sets up an experiment where students watch the tape and immediately pass it on in a "tail" system to study the existence of the soul. The film introduces a "movie within the movie" - a digital file hidden in the static that contains new footage.
The plot delves into Samara's biological origins, revealing her mother Evelyn was held captive by a priest, complicating Samara's backstory with religious trauma. The film ends on a global scale: the video goes viral via email and airplane cockpit screens, fulfilling the ultimate threat of a worldwide curse that cannot be contained by analog methods.
Timeline E: International Variants
The Ring Virus
The Korean Adaptation
Released shortly after the Japanese original, this South Korean version is actually a more faithful adaptation of Koji Suzuki's novel than Nakata's film. The ghost is named Park Eun-Suh, and the protagonist is a male doctor, Dr. Choi, preserving the book's gender dynamics.
It includes controversial elements cut from the Japanese film, such as the hermaphroditic (intersex) nature of the antagonist and the specific, brutal rape scenario that led to their death. The cursed tape in this version is different, featuring more explicit imagery of the moon and a different visual tone. While it lacks the atmospheric subtlety of the Nakata version, it provides a crucial bridge between the source material and the cinematic interpretation.
