INFORMATION   I've had several people approach me on Instagram after I shared some of my Ateez lore ideas and ask if I would put together a little something explaining the lore as I understand it so far, so I figured I may as well!Disclaimer: I am not 100% sure about anything, obviously things are subject to change as Ateez sees fit, but this is what I've gathered from what's going on so far (plus a few of my very unconfirmed theories at the end).It's possible to find the entire diary entries online, so I will not just be copy-pasting what the diaries say, but instead I will give a summary of each section of the diaries and try to explain in an easier-to-understand way what's going on.Please see the Summary for a basic run-down of the overall lore so far, and then each individual album for more in-depth summaries of the diary entries found within them.You can also check the Glossary for a quick view of Ateez lore-specific terms and their definitions.I don't mind if you share this with other Atiny, but please do not copy / spread it without the credits! I'm spending a long time writing this out and don't want my work stolen!

   GLOSSARY OF TERMS   Note: depending on the point of the story you have read through, there may be some spoilers in this glossary! Please read at your own risk!   ANDROIDS / ANDROID GUARDIANS    emotionless humans who have gone through 40 years of schooling at Prestige Academy to become "keepers of peace" in Strictland; trained to control people and punish those who defy control according to government guidelines; also known as White Androids or just Guardians   ATEEZ    the protagonists of the story; this is the Ateez from our dimension   BLACK LINK    some sort of emotional or neural connection network that the Black Pirates connect people to after they've awakened from using a Breaker; citizens and Black Pirates are able to send messages to each other through it
Note: the lore is actually super unclear about what this Black Link actually is   BLACK PIRATES    the group of rebels fighting the corrupt government of Strictland, including Ateez as their leaders   BLUE BIRD    ???
Note: this term / name has shown up so many times in recent lore, but we have not been given any concrete answers about what / who Blue Bird is   BREAKERS    small devices used to destroy the government's emotion-suppressing chips; also have the capability to force citizens to connect to the Black Link rather than giving them the choice; created by Ateez and Left Eye   BUTTERFLY DRONES    cameras shaped like blue butterflies that are used as surveillance by the Black Pirates; some of these also double as bombs that are able to be detonated remotely; created by Left Eye   CROMER    an hourglass-shaped device that can make the user travel through space, time, and dimensions; works most powerfully according to certain moon phases, but can be used in minor ways at other times as well; there are different Cromers from separate dimensions
Full Moon: during a full moon, the person or group of people that have the Cromer can move / travel from one dimension to the other
Crescent Moon: during a crescent moon, the person or group of people that have the Cromer can deliver messages through dreams   GRIMES SIBLINGS    two young siblings (a boy and a girl) who helped Ateez when they first arrived in World Z; introduced Ateez to Left Eye   GUARDIANS    emotionless humans who have gone through 40 years of schooling at Prestige Academy to become "keepers of peace" in Strictland; trained to control people and punish those who defy control according to government guidelines; also known as White Androids, just Androids, or Android Guardians   HALATEEZ    the previous leaders of the Black Pirates
Note: the name "Halateez" is not canon and never actually appears in Ateez lore, but it is a good way for me to differentiate between them and our Ateez.   HENRY JO    the leader of World A's religious cult (Sciensalvar) that possessed World A's Cromer for a time; wears goggles and has a mole on his right cheek   IMPERIAL WATCH    Z's personal Guardians; the only Guardians that always carry weapons; also known as Z-Only Guardians   LEFT EYE    manager of the Strictland dump; Ateez's ally and part of the Black Pirates; aptly named due to the scar over his left eye (shown as broken glasses in the Guerilla MV, but described as a scar in the written diaries)   PRESTIGE ACADEMY    an elite fortress-like school for only the best that Strictland has to offer; students must pass a test at 6 months old to prove they are emotionless to enter, then are sorted into different classes based on their talents (if they have any); students attend Prestige Academy for 40 years
Class 1: raised to work in the government; the ones responsible for researching / implementing systems for better efficiency and control of society
Class 2: future Guardians, trained to control people and punish those who defy control according to government guidelines
Class 3: taught to classify new humans following the system, and then in charge of educating them accordingly
Class 4: fostered to handle various tasks necessary for human survival, such as overseeing new energy exchanges, charging control chips, or the supply / manufacturing of essential energy
Class 5: in charge of city management, sanitization, and organization   RED HUMANS    humans who work at World Z's Disposal Site; their skin has become reddened from working around the hot furnace and they are "so hideous they now resemble goblins more than people"   SCIENSALVAR    a religious cult from World A led by Henry Jo that owned our dimension's Cromer for a time; also a pseudo-religious scientific group from World Z led by Z; sometimes Romanized as Scieonsalvar   SENSE OFFENDERS    a term in Strictland to refer to people who have emotions   STRICTLAND    the city in World Z where our story takes place; controlled by a corrupt government that banned all emotion, art, music, and fun   THUNDER    an elite student body within Prestige Academy made up of future rulers of World Z that monitors and controls students; led by a girl that Seonghwa recognizes from World A; a resistance group fighting against Z's rule   WHITE ANDROIDS    emotionless humans who have gone through 40 years of schooling at Prestige Academy to become "keepers of peace" in Strictland; trained to control people and punish those who defy control according to government guidelines; also known as just Androids, Android Guardians, or Guardians   WORLD A    our dimension; Ateez's home dimension   WORLD Z    the dimension where Strictland presides; Halateez's home dimension (as well as Left Eye's and the Grimes siblings')   Z    the leader of Sciensalvar and the top government official in World Z; created a political party using Sciensalvar's ideals; Z's hideout, where all political subordinates operate, acts as a control tower of World Z, which Z now controls
Note: the hologram man that we see speaking to the students in the World Ep 1: Movement Prologue video is either Z himself or a teacher of Prestige Academy reading from a script provided by Z, since he is using the exact same wording as Z uses in his speech in the diary entry from World Ep 1: Movement; likely it is Z himself since we know that he only speaks to the public through video and audio

   THE (BASIC) STORY SO FAR   In the far future (and an alternate dimension), there is a dystopian city called Strictland that is led by a corrupt government. The government, in setting out to create a "perfect" utopia that is free of crime, decide that there is one variable they cannot control: human emotion. Anything related to the arts (music, dancing, art, etc) are banned in the Strictland in an attempt to suppress individual expression and thus control crime rates and put an end to any other hardships. This individual expression is suppressed through brainwashing chips that are implanted in the Strictland citizens' heads.Eight students grow tired of the strict ban on the arts and the control of the government, so they band together and decide to fight against the oppression. They begin calling themselves the Black Pirates (Halateez, as we know them).The government doesn't take too kindly to the Black Pirates' revolt, obviously, and they create giant white "Androids" to hunt the Black Pirates. These White Androids, or Guardians, are people who have been completely stripped of emotion and are under the government's control (they are not literally androids / robots).Fearful, the Black Pirates use their teleportation / time travel device called the Cromer (shaped like an hourglass) and find themselves in an alternate universe...our universe.Note: I will refer to Strictland Ateez as Hala[member] and our Ateez simply by their names from here on out. Same thing with Halateez vs Ateez.Hongjoong recieves the Cromer from HalaHongjoong in a dream, but wakes up and the actual Cromer is there before him. He turns it, which transports Ateez into the alternate dimension where Halateez come from: to the Strictland future.Ateez gets attacked by Guardians right away, but are able to get away with the help of two people called the Grimes siblings. Unfortunately, in the altercation, Ateez loses the Cromer to the Guardians, which means there is now no way for Ateez to return home to their own dimension.The Grimes siblings allow Ateez to rest with them, then take them to the Strictland garbage dump to look for a man called Left Eye who knows the location of the Guardian base. They hope to learn the location, infiltrate the base, retrieve the Cromer, and just go home. Ateez did not sign up for all of this.Yellow fog—that Ateez later finds out is from the Guardians burning the memories of Strictland citizens—engulfs the dump. This fog causes extreme hallucinations if it's breathed in, so they have to be careful.The group finds Left Eye and has to break him out of his hallucinations from the yellow fog. Ateez decides to split into two groups: one to convince Left Eye to help them and one to get the Grimes girl's voice back (it was taken somehow(?) and apparently it is a physical item that they can find and return to her). The Left Eye group ends up tricking him into chasing them out of the fog where he finally regains a clear head and agrees to tell Ateez the location of the Guardian base. At the same time, the other group hunts for the Grimes girl's voice. They find it in a cave and have some trouble, but all ends well and they retrieve the Grimes girl's voice, returning it to her.Ateez regroups and goes to the Guardians' base, found on a previously-popular tourist island. Ironically, the bunker is inside of a museum full of art pieces, which are strictly banned in the Strictland.Once there, Ateez finds the members of Halateez captured in a glass prison. Hongjoong briefly has a conversation with HalaHongjoong, obviously confused about seeing his own face on somebody else, and asks a lot of questions. HalaHongjoong tells Hongjoong that he doesn't have any time to answer questions and explains to him that since Halateez are trapped, Ateez are the new Black Pirates now.While the other members are talking with Halateez, Yeosang finds the Cromer. There is an altercation between the Guardians who captured Yeosang with the Cromer, and Ateez who were attempting to broker a deal to get Yeosang released. Long story short, nothing goes according to plan and Yeosang breaks the Cromer to save the group. The Cromer sends Ateez back to their own (our) dimension, but leaves Yeosang trapped with the Guardians in the Strictland future. He remains captured.Eventually, Ateez learns about a religious cult (in their own world / our world) led by a man called Henry Jo. The cult is in the news because a few of the members had tried to steal an hourglass-shaped ancient Mayan artifact from a museum. They piece together that this Mayan artifact is actually their dimension's Cromer and put together a plan to steal it so they can return to the Strictland and rescue Yeosang.Yunho decides to stay back (long story, more information in Zero: Fever Epilogue), but the rest of the Ateez members head to the museum to steal the Cromer. They make it inside, but are met by the cult, who takes them hostage. Yunho has a change of heart and shows up with his motorcycle gang to save the day. With all members free, Wooyoung turns the Cromer and Ateez finds themselves back in Strictland.Meanwhile, Yeosang—trapped in his glass prison—is forced to watch while the Guardians "kill" a bunch of resistance members, including the Grimes siblings who had helped Ateez earlier. Yeosang is put into a "tube," completely alone for about a week. Afterwards, Seonghwa—accompanied by the rest of Ateez—find Yeosang and break him out of prison.Back together as eight members, Ateez take up the mantle of the Black Pirates as Halateez's successors, leading the resistance army against the government. They create a Black Link and Breaker chips that can override the brainwashing chips that the Strictland government had implanted in its citizens. After freeing a bunch of people from their control, Ateez realizes that in order to make a difference, they'll have to free a large amount of people all at the same time.Ateez targets the elite Prestige Academy and plan to break all of the students from the government's control all at once. That's where The World: Movement (and the Guerilla music video) ends. The student at the end of the Guerilla MV is a certain student who approaches Ateez for help concerning his older brother (more information on that in The World Ep 1: Movement).Ateez and the Black Pirates, along with the help of Left Eye, infultrate Prestige Academy to save the boy's brother. Unfortunately, since all of them (Ateez, the boy, and the boy's brother) have emotions, they are caught before their full plan can take effect. A student organization similar to school prefects—calling themselves THUNDER—interrupts Ateez's plan to help the boy's brother escape. At the head of this group is a girl that Seonghwa recognizes: a dancer from our world who he vows to try to save while they are there.They are able to talk themselves out of the situation, but of course nothing can go right for our protagonists for long. Overwhelmed with too much new emotion, the boy's brother climbs to the top of Prestige Academy in an attempt to commit suicide. While Wooyoung and Yunho are trying to talk him down, we learn a new term for people who have emotions in World Z: Sense Offenders (yes, really, that is canon...I wish I was joking).Note: from here on out, they seem to refer to Ateez's old dimension (our dimension) as World A and the world with the dystopian Strictland as World Z.After saving the boy's brother by using the Cromer, Ateez's plan finally goes fully into motion. They cover the entirety of Prestige Academy in a black tent and drop Breakers (the items that destroy the emotion-suppressing chips) and Ateez leaflets from the sky. Many students immediately pick up and use the Breakers and, upon seeing their peers utilizing them, most others follow suit.Guardians flood the area and begin to capture any awakened students that they can, intending to dispose of them rather than attempt to rehabilitate them. Ateez and their Black Pirates are able to save the students by setting off rainbow-colored smoke bombs, which conceal their movements in the fog. However, as they are all escaping, Seonghwa hears a shout and turns to see that the boy who originally asked for their help has been captured. Seonghwa turns to rescue him and is pulled off into the smoke by the girl who leads THUNDER. San and Yeosang run after them, but as they breach the smoke, there is no sign of Seonghwa, the THUNDER girl, the Guardian, or the captured boy.Ever since the event at Prestige Academy, Strictland has been plunged into a state of chaos. More civilians have begun revolting, spraying graffiti on buildings of statements like "wake up" and "be free." Accompanying the graffiti are posters of Ateez's faces placed by the Guardians, urging people to turn them in, and warnings from the government, threatening to execute anyone who are deemed associates of the Black Pirates. In the city square, displayed dead bodies of rebels hang as warning signs: if you continue to resist, this could be you.As Ateez are gathered in the Black Pirates' bunker discussing whether or not Seonghwa had been taken by force, he returns and states that he had followed the girl from THUNDER of his own accord. To ease the other members' concerns, Seonghwa goes on to explain that she had told him that THUNDER is secretly a resistance group fighting against Z. Their goal is to find Z's hideout; since they are high-ranking and trusted in the prestigious school, working towards becoming the next leaders of World Z, they are in the perfect position to rise through the ranks and attempt to find Z's location.Seonghwa was also given a map of the Guardians' Disposal Site by the THUNDER girl, which she said is where the boy was taken. Ateez decides that saving the boy is the most pressing matter and that finding Z can wait, so they all head out to the Disposal Site with a plan. Unbeknownst to them, Z knows they will come attempt to save the boy and tells his Head Guardian—along with 100 other Guardians—to intercept Ateez.When they arrive, Ateez splits into two groups: one group distracts the Guardians with a fight while the other group takes the Cromer to transport the prisoners from the Disposal Site back to the safety of the Black Pirates' bunker. Both groups are met with resistance, including the group at the bunker, which was supposed to be hidden. The Head Guardian gains the upper hand against the group he is fighting at the Disposal Site and demands that this half of Ateez radio for the other half to return to the Site and bring the Cromer with them. Back at the bunker, the other half of Ateez are also losing their battle against the overwhelming numbers of Guardians...until a group of individuals with ridiculous masks and long electrified sticks come to save them. The newcomers distract the Guardians long enough for Ateez to get away with the Cromer, but not before one of the masked people gives Seonghwa a folded up piece of paper with another map of the Disposal Site on it along with a single word: THUNDER.The Cromer-bearing half of Ateez (along with the boy's brother, who had jumped into the Cromer's range and travels with them) uses it to return to the Disposal Site and, using the Cromer, makes quick work of stealing the guns from the Guardians and depositing them into the burning furnace below the platform they are all standing on. However, the Head Guardian grabs the boy that Ateez is there to rescue and holds him over the burning furnace, threatening to throw him in if Ateez doesn't submit. The members kneel to the ground and allow the Guardians to tie them up, after which it is revealed that the boy had been working with Z and the Guardians all along and had betrayed Ateez to them.An argument and altercation occurs, which ends in the boy and his brother both falling over the edge of the platform and towards the furnace. Mingi uses the Cromer to go save them, but it is too late for the boy's brother and he is only able to save the boy. Once safe back on the platform, the boy is overcome with grief and anger, and lunges at the Head Guardian, tackling them both over the edge of the platform and into the furnace to their deaths. The boy is able to make eye contact with Hongjoong and mouth "I'm sorry" to him on his way down.There is a short timeskip after the group leaves the Disposal Site in which they travel to THUNDER's main base, which is located outside of Strictland in a village surrounded by lush forest. Outside the base is a memorial to all of the Black Pirates lost in the rebellion, as well as two trees that had been planted for the two brothers. Seonghwa and the THUNDER girl have a conversation as she shows him around the village, during which they come to understand each other and their worlds better, and they see Black Pirate members and THUNDER members working together.Some more time passes and Prestige Academy, that had temporarily closed down after Ateez's terrorist act, has been transformed into a prison. The THUNDER girl was able to graduate school elsewhere and recently has been hired as Z's protocol manager. This means that she will be sent to Z's hideout to work and will be able to learn the location to tell the members of the resistance, but first she has to pass a "test": Z inspects every person who will work in his building with his own eyes to ensure they are devoid of emotion. The THUNDER girl meets face-to-face with Z and begins answering his questions to the best of her abilities, pretending to have no emotion.There is a time skip in the story, during which Z disappears and Ateez—with the help of THUNDER—help World Z establish order. The people of World Z are able to choose whether to live on in blissful ignorance without emotions, or break their control chips and live with emotions. World Z is set up in such a way to allow both groups of people to coexist with one another.Ateez returns to World A, their own dimension, and everything is great...for awhile. They return to their lives as kpop trainees and work hard towards their goal of debuting with their group. But over the years, their dreams fade. The group members have picked up jobs to get much-needed money, so they are always busy. Practices with the full Ateez group become less frequent, and then stop. They all have lives now, separate from each other with only their daydreams take them back to the days where they were heroes three years ago in World Z. Here, in World A, they feel like nothing.   UPDATED THROUGH GOLDEN HOUR: PART 1   

   ZERO: FEVER PT. 1      A. INTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   1. HONGJOONG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   2. SEONGHWA   
(work in progress, come back later!)   3. YUNHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   4. YEOSANG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   5. SAN   
(work in progress, come back later!)   6. MINGI   
(work in progress, come back later!)   7. WOOYOUNG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   8. JONGHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   Z. OUTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)

   ZERO: FEVER PT. 2      A. INTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   1. HONGJOONG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   2. SAN   
(work in progress, come back later!)   3. WOOYOUNG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   4. SEONGHWA   
(work in progress, come back later!)   5. YEOSANG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   6. MINGI   
(work in progress, come back later!)   7. JONGHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   8. YUNHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   Z. OUTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)

   ZERO: FEVER PT. 3      A. INTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   1. JONGHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   2. YUNHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   3. MINGI   
(work in progress, come back later!)   4. WOOYOUNG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   5. HONGJOONG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   6. SAN   
(work in progress, come back later!)   7. SEONGHWA   
(work in progress, come back later!)   8. YEOSANG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   Z. OUTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)

   ZERO: FEVER EPILOGUE      A. INTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   1. SAN   
(work in progress, come back later!)   2. SEONGHWA   
(work in progress, come back later!)   3. JONGHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   4. YUNHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   5. WOOYOUNG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   6. HONGJOONG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   7. MINGI   
(work in progress, come back later!)   8. YEOSANG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   Z. OUTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)

   THE WORLD EP 1: MOVEMENT      A. INTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   001   
(work in progress, come back later!)   002   
(work in progress, come back later!)   003   
(work in progress, come back later!)   004   
(work in progress, come back later!)   005   
(work in progress, come back later!)   006   
(work in progress, come back later!)   007   
(work in progress, come back later!)   008   
(work in progress, come back later!)   Z. OUTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)

   THE WORLD EP 2: OUTLAW      A. INTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   001   
(work in progress, come back later!)   002   
(work in progress, come back later!)   003   
(work in progress, come back later!)   004   
(work in progress, come back later!)   005   
(work in progress, come back later!)   006   
(work in progress, come back later!)   007   
(work in progress, come back later!)   008   
(work in progress, come back later!)   Z. OUTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)

   THE WORLD EP FIN: WILL      A. INTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   01   
(work in progress, come back later!)   02   
(work in progress, come back later!)   03   
(work in progress, come back later!)   04   
(work in progress, come back later!)   05   
(work in progress, come back later!)   06   
(work in progress, come back later!)   07   
(work in progress, come back later!)   08   
(work in progress, come back later!)   Z. OUTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)

   THE WORLD: TO THE END   (work in progress, come back later!)

   GOLDEN HOUR: PT. 1      00. INTRO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   01. HONGJOONG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   02. SEONGHWA   
(work in progress, come back later!)   03. YUNHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)   04. YEOSANG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   05. SAN   
(work in progress, come back later!)   06. MINGI   
(work in progress, come back later!)   07. WOOYOUNG   
(work in progress, come back later!)   08. JONGHO   
(work in progress, come back later!)

   THEORIES      INSTAGRAM HIGHLIGHT   
While I work on this site more and finish typing out / finalizing more of my theories, you can see some of my brief (and not very put together) theories and thoughts on my Instagram via the Theories Highlight on my account! :D(work in progress, come back later!)