Pre-Memory Arc
- Death of Shinta's parents
- Shinta is sold into slavery
- Hiko Seijuurou teaches Shinta Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu
* Shinta is renamed to Kenshin
- Kiyosato Akira is engaged to Yukishiro Tomoe

Memory Arc
- Kenshin leaves Hiko's side to fight for the patriots
- Kenshin enlists in the Kihei Tai and is asked to become a hitokiri by Katsura Kogoro
- Kenshin meets Iizuka after completing his first assassination
* Kenshin carries out more assassinations and earns the nickname Battousai
- Battousai slays Shigekura Jubei, Ishiji, and Kiyosato Akira
* Battousai gets the first scar on his face
- Battousai meets Tomoe for the first time
- Tomoe is brought to the Kohagi Inn by Battousai and is employed
- A spy is residing in the Choushuu Clan
- Plans fall through between Katsura and Miyabe, leading to a setback in the revolution
- Battousai and Tomoe are forced to move to Otsu, where they live as a married couple
(In the anime, Kenshin and Tomoe don't get married, they just pretend to be husband and wife. In the manga, Kenshin and Tomoe actually get married.)
* Battousai is now referred to as Kenshin
- A group of Bakufu fighters wish to eliminate Battousai
* They are aided by Iizuka, the traitor, and Enishi, Tomoe's brother
- Tomoe leaves Kenshin's side in order to protect him from being killed
- Kenshin follows Tomoe and accidentally kills her before Enishi's eyes
- Kenshin becomes a rurouni once finished helping the new government to rise
- Kenshin cuts off Kujiranami's right arm

Tokyo Arc
* Fifteen years after the Memory Arc
- Kenshin meets Kaoru while passing through Tokyo
- Kenshin moves in to the Kamiya Dojo
- Yahiko becomes a student of the Kamiya Kasshin Ryuu
- Sanosuke (Zanza) is met and becomes friends with Kenshin
- Udou Jin'e encounters Kenshin and begins to bring out Battousai
- Jin'e commits suicide once he has been beaten by both Kenshin and Kaoru
- Takani Megumi asks Kenshin to protect her
- Kenshin and company fight the Oniwa Banshuu
- The Oniwa Banshuu are killed by Takeda Kanryuu
- Yahiko meets Tsubame
- Kenshin fights Raijuuta in order to stop him from creating a group of killers
- Sanosuke joins Tsukioka Katsuhiro in a shortlived revival of the Seikihou Tai

Kyoto Arc
- Saitou Hajime returns to test Kenshin's fighting skills
- Kenshin returns to Kyoto on May 14, 1878 to stop Shishio Makoto
- Kenshin meets Misao
- Kenshin encounters Shishio for the first time
- Kenshin defeats Senkaku, but has his Sakabatou broken by Soujirou
- Sanosuke learns the Futae no Kiwami from Anji
- Kenshin gets a new Sakabatou after defeating Chou
- Aoshi creates an alliance with Shishio
* The Juppon Gatana is gathered
- Kenshin reunites with Hiko to learn the Hiten Mitsurugi Ryuu succession techniques
- Shishio's Rengoku is stopped before it sets sail by Sanosuke
- Sanosuke defeats Anji
- Saitou defeats Usui
- Kenshin defeats Aoshi
* Yahiko defeats Henya
* Kaoru and Misao defeat Kamatari
* Hiko defeats Fuji
- Kenshin defeats Soujirou
- Kenshin defeats Shishio when he combusts
- Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, and Sanosuke return to Tokyo

Revenge Arc
- Enishi arrives in Tokyo
* Enishi forms a group of comrades with Gein, Kujiranami, Inui, Otowa, and Yatsume
- The Akabeko is destroyed
- The Maekawa Dojo is partially destroyed
- Chief Uramura's residence is destroyed
- Kenshin tells everyone his past (Memory Arc)
- The Comrades challenge the Kenshin Gumi
* Kenshin defeats Gein
* Sanosuke defeats Inui
* Yahiko defeats Otowa
* Saitou defeats Yatsume
- Kaoru is killed
* Kenshin falls into a deep state of depression
- Sanosuke leaves and ventures to his hometown
- It is learned that Kaoru is not really dead
- Kenshin, Yahiko, Sanosuke, Saitou, Aoshi, and Misao head to an island where Enishi is holding Kaoru captive
- Four Stars Battle
* Saitou defeats Seiryu
* Aoshi defeats Suzaku
* Sanosuke defeats Byakko
* Yahiko defeats Genbu
- Kenshin defeats Enishi
- Enishi is arrested, but escapes later and is never heard of again

Post-Revenge Arc
* A few years after the Revenge Arc
- Sanosuke becomes a wanderer of the world
- Megumi returns to Aizu
- Saitou is transferred to Hokkaido
- Kenshin and Kaoru get married
- Kenshin and Kaoru have a boy named Kenji
- Yahiko is given the Sakabatou from Kenshin