Line #5 Main/RealEventFictionalCause


1	This trope is when a real-life historical event is revealed to have a fictional cause behind it in a work. This can be due to a case of BeenThereShapedHistory in some cases.
2
3	This may be done to lend a darker context to tragic historical events.
4
5	Compare BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy (with real '''people''' instead of events), BeenThereShapedHistory (which can overlap) and HistoricalInJoke (same). Also compare FictionalizedDeathAccount, and also WeDidntStartTheFuhrer and DemonKingNobunaga for when this is combined with a HistoricalVillainUpgrade. Related to FamouslyMundaneFictionallyMagical, where a RealLife ''object'' has greater significance in fiction. Also compare PaintingTheFrostOnWindows, for when a fictional/mythical cause exists for a mundane phenomenon that may be an extremely common everyday event. Contrast SecretHistory, where historical events (in RealLife, not an obvious AlternateUniverse with publically known superheroes/aliens/whatever) are said to ''actually'' have causes other than the commonly accepted ones.
6
7	A supertrope to TheTunguskaEvent, PhlebotinumKilledTheDinosaurs, CausedTheBigBang, WhoShotJFK, AlternateLandmarkHistory and HistoricalRapSheet (when an InUniverse BigBad is mentioned to have caused, or at least been part of, some historical atrocity or disaster).
8	----
9	!!Examples
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13
14	[[foldercontrol]]
15
16	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
17	* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant-impact_hypothesis Giant Impact]] (also known as "First Impact" in-universe) is stated to have been the result of [[{{Ultraterrestrials}} Lilith]]'s starfaring vessel, the Black Moon, crashing into primordial Earth about 4 billion years ago, with said vessel's rocky exterior separating from the vessel and coalescing into the Moon; as for the real-life explanation, it's a cover-up story by [[AncientConspiracy Seele]] in-universe.
18	* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'' does this with the assassination of Okubo Toshimichi. In real life, Okubo was assassinated by a group of samurai unhappy with his [[UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration rapid modernization/westernization]] and abolition of the privileges the samurai had enjoyed. In the story, SocialDarwinist Shishio has [[TheDragon his dragon]] assassinate Okubo as a step to weaken Japan and make it easy for Shishio to take over the country. The group of samurai who killed Okubo in real life were also planning to kill him, but they only find Okubo's body after he is already dead and claim credit for the deed.
19	[[/folder]]
20
21	[[folder:Comic Books]]
22	* ''ComicBook/TheBoys'': Fanatical Nazi superhero and [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]][=/=][[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] knockoff Stormfront was responsible for destroying the levees around New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. He did so to engage in some old-fashioned ethnic cleansing and to allow [[IncompetenceInc Vought American]] to [[VillainousGentrification buy the devastated lands at the lowest prices possible]].
23	* ''ComicBook/DeathVigil'': {{Implied}}. While Bernadette and Allistor are expositing to Clara the significance of the [[TomeOfEldritchLore Codex]], Bernie mentions that the last known translation was kept in the Library of Alexandria, "and that problem was taken care of a long time ago."
24	* The Franchise/MarvelUniverse has a handful:
25	** The 1666 Great Fire of London started due to the demonic presence of Dormammu.
26	** The Black Plague was caused by the anguish scream of a cosmic being.
27	** The Tunguska Event is either caused by time travel shenanigans or powerful magical rituals with explosive after effects.
28	** Hitler postponed the invasion of the Soviet Union – with the Nazis ultimately failing before the harsh Russian winter set in – in order to attack [[Comicbook/SubMariner Atlantis]] first.
29	* ''ComicBook/{{The Sandman\|1989}}'': The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica#Pandemic_of_1915%E2%80%931926 1916 - 1926 Encephalitis lethargica pandemic]] was caused by a sorcerer summoning and binding the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Dream.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Fan Works]]
33	* ''Fanfic/StrangeTimesAreUponUs'' has Brokosh and the crew of the IKS ''[=HoSbatlh=]'' accidentally cause the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859 solar storm of 1859]] after they accidentally TimeTravel from 2410 and trigger a solar flare to destroy a Breen warship that was dragged along with them.
34	* In ''Fanfic/KnowThyself'', according to the Oracle, the Salem Witch Trials were orchestrated by the machines as a culling method for the wizards in the matrix.
35	* ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'': Given the location of where it's found, Dib and his friends come to the conclusion that the Tunguska Event was caused by the Meekrob cargo pod containing [[LostSuperweapon Project Domination]] crashing to Earth.
36	* The eruption of Santorini is portrayed in ''Fanfic/SixesAndSevens'' as the result of a battle between [[Film/ThorRagnarok Hela and Odin]]. The destruction of the Minoan civilization happens the same as well, though the ensuing rise of the Greek Pantheon is portrayed as the Muses calling upon said gods to settle in the area to protect the decimated populace.
37	* ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainSeekerOfCrocus'': The Lost Colony of Roanoke was caused by the Infinity Train taking the settlers away.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
41	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Anastasia}}'' shows that the UsefulNotes/RussianRevolution was caused by UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin making a DealWithTheDevil as vengeance against the Romanovs for trying to assassinate him.
42	* In ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp'' the Genie explains that EvilSorcerer Merlock was responsible for the sinking of Atlantis and the destruction of Pompeii.
43	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}}'' depicts the [[https://historydaily.org/disneys-moana-depicts-an-actual-event-in-polynesian-history Long Pause]], when Polynesians suddenly stopped sailing for roughly 2000 years after the colonization of Samoa and Fiji. According to the movie, this was caused by Maui stealing the [[CosmicKeystone Heart of Te Fiti]], the source of the creator deity's power. Monsters and demons started to roam the seas looking for it, making navigation dangerous.
44	* In ''Anime/{{Suzume}}'', the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923 was caused by the Great Wyrm managing to fully emerge from a [[PortalDoor door]]. While the Wyrm was subsequently bound with the Keystones, the door itself was buried in rubble deep beneath Tokyo and remained open.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
48	* In ''Film/AbrahamLincolnVampireHunter'', the UsefulNotes/AmericanCivilWar was caused partly because the vampires want to support the Confederacy's racism policy against the black people, as the vampires feed from those people. The war also has vampires becoming the Confederacy's troops.
49	* In ''Film/DadsArmy2016'', after the group is tricked into [[NiceJobBreakingItHero destroying Britain’s invasion force]], the Brigadier in charge (Creator/IanLavender in a RemakeCameo) admonishes them, saying that now they have to move their invasion back to June when it happened in real life.
50	* In ''Film/ForrestGump'', the titular character is an AccidentalHero who routinely [[BeenThereShapedHistory shapes history]] by being at exactly the right place at the precise time. Who discovered the Watergate burglary? Gump. Who sparked the T-shirt phrase "shit happens?" Gump. Who designed TheSixties Smiley Face? Gump. If it's a critical juncture in American history, Forrest Gump went jogging through it.
51	* ''Film/Godzilla2014'': The many nuclear "tests" the United States conducted in the 1950s in the Pacific Ocean were actually secret attempts to destroy [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} a gargantuan prehistoric sea-beast]] that they accidentally stirred from dormancy. The prologue shows the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo Castle Bravo detonation]] at Bikini Atoll being used to try and kill Godzilla.
52	* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'': The CreativeClosingCredits reveal that a war between [[{{Kaiju}} Titans]] and AdvancedAncientHumans was the cause of one of the last great ice ages, which was also what forced the Titans into hibernation for thousands of years in the first place.
53	* ''Film/TheHuntForRedOctober'': The movie adaptation implies that Captain Marko Ramius defecting to the United States with ''Red October'' was partly the cause of UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev's rise to power, as a result of the incident discrediting the more militaristic party officials who were backing UsefulNotes/KonstantinChernenko's leadership (the original book was published in October 1984, months before Gorbachev took power).
54	* ''Film/MenInBlack'':
55	** The 1977 New York Blackout was caused by an alien releasing a HyperDestructiveBouncingBall into the area as a prank.
56	** The 1964-65 New York World's Fair was a cover operation so that the first alien ambassadors to Earth could land -- their ships became the flat circular tops of the observation towers. The movie jokes that this was the only reason the fair was held in Queens. It becomes a ChekhovsGun later when [[spoiler: MIB are trying to stop the Bug from leaving Earth -- all the other New York-area spaceships registered in MIB's database are gone and they're trying to figure out how the Bug intends to leave when Agent J looks over a picture of Flushing Meadows, sees the observation towers, and asks whether those still work.]]
57	* According to ''Film/SpaceJam'', Michael Jordan returned to the Chicago Bulls after saving the Franchise/LooneyTunes from a horrible fate, because Charles Barkley, Muggsy Bogues, Shawn Bradley, Patrick Ewing, and Larry Johnson believed he couldn't play the game anymore.
58	-->'''Podolak''': Did you hear that, Michael? They think you can't play basketball anymore.\
59	'''Jordan''': Only one way to find out.
60	* The Filipino horror anthology film ''Shake, Rattle & Roll Fourteen: The Invasion'' all but outright states that [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Ninoy_Aquino Ninoy Aquino]] was killed by Buboy the Little Devil, a sadistic, [[RealityWarper reality-warping]] boy brought to life from a comic. This also meant that he indirectly kickstarted the EDSA Revolution that lead to the ousting of president Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
61	* In ''Film/WonderWoman2017'', Diana hypothesizes that UsefulNotes/WorldWarI is caused by Ares' influence on humanity. [[spoiler:It's actually zig-zagged. Ares may have given humanity the means to destroy each other, but humans decided to go to war all on their own. That said, Ares actually was manipulating things in an attempt to lead towards World War II, but had no role in its actual occurrence, as he was long dead by then.]]
62	* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'':
63	** ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' has a fictionalised version of the Three Mile Island incident, in which the nuclear plant is actually a secret laboratory for mutant experimentation, and a fight between Wolverine, Sabretooth and Weapon XI caused one of the plant's cooling towers to collapse.
64	** In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'', the Cuban Missile Crisis was instigated by [[BigBad Sebastian Shaw]] as part of his plan to have mutantkind become widespread from the nuclear fallout and dominate over humans.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Literature]]
68	* In sci-fi/horror novel ''Literature/{{DARLAH}}'', the [=NASA=] lunar missions were discontinued not because of dwindling funding and public interest, as in real life, but because of dangerous and possibly supernatural happenings on the Moon.
69	* In ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', one saint on Venus attributes the creation of Florence to the Devil.
70	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Ebenezar [=McCoy=], Harry's mentor [[spoiler:and grandfather]] and one of the most powerful wizards in the world, has claimed responsibility for not only Tunguska but also the New Madrid earthquake of 1812 and Krakatoa.
71	* ''Literature/ErastFandorin'':
72	** In ''Literature/TheTurkishGambit'', the taking of Nikopol instead of Pleven and the resulting prolonging of the Russo-Turkish War are all the workings of brilliant Turkish schemer Anwar Effendi.
73	** In ''Literature/TheCoronation'', the Khodynka tragedy where thousands were crushed in the crowds is provoked by one of Dr. Lind's goons to ensure Dr. Lind escapes in the mess.
74	* ''Literature/ANetOfDawnAndBones'' has several catastrophes as being the result of a [[EvilSorcerer sorcerer]] managing to complete a [[{{Hellgate}} Demongate]]. The Great Fire of London and the 1692 Jamaican Earthquake were both the result of Demongates opening while being opposed. The 1257 Mount Rinjani explosion was the last Demongate to open unopposed, and while it was later sealed by HeroicSacrifice it still released enough curses to cause the catastrophes that occurred in the next few centuries, including the Black Death.
75	* ''Literature/ThePendragonAdventure'': In ''The Never War'', the Hindenburg disaster was the result of a mobster igniting it with a firework to destroy his rival's fortune, which was secretly on board.
76	* ''Literature/TheCampHalfBloodSeries'':
77	** In the first ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' novel, it's revealed that UsefulNotes/WorldWarII was basically a case of the children of Zeus and Poseidon (part of the Allies) fighting against the children of Hades (part of the Axis). This was actually the reason that Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades agreed not to have any more children, as they were too powerful. Zeus and Poseidon violated their agreement, however.
78	** ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'' reveals that the American Revolutionary War and American Civil War were caused by Roman and Greek Demigods fighting for supremacy. During the former, the Romans sided with the British, and the Greeks sided with the Americans. During the latter, most Romans sided with the South, and most Greeks sided with the Union, but not all in either case, in line with that war being "brother against brother".
79	* ''Serpent'' (part of the Kurt Austin Adventures) opens with the sinking of the ''Andrea Doria''. In this version, the sinking was deliberate on the part of the Stockholm's helmsman. It isn't explained why until later.
80	** ''Zero Dawn'' reveals that a secret government experiment of an unstable energy source caused the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
81	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'': Towards the end of the Cretaceous, two alien species were warring with each other for control of Earth: the antlike Nesk and crablike Mercora. The Animorphs side with the Mercora and drive the Nesk off-planet, but as a parting gesture the Nesk redirect a passing comet onto the Earth. The Animorphs had stolen a nuke with which to return to their own time, but willingly give it up to the Mercora to destroy the comet. [[spoiler:Or that was the plan: Tobias, who knew full well ''what'' [[TheDayTheDinosaursDied the comet meant]], had Ax disarm the nuke in order to ensure the complete eradication of the Mercora, the slow death of the dinosaurs, and the subsequent rise of mammals and later humans.]] The Mercora's only legacy would be that they introduced broccoli to Earth.
82	* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/KidStuff": The elf from [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Avalon]] says the country is in the Atlantic Ocean, hidden using psychic powers. When the UsefulNotes/RMSTitanic crashed into the island, it took the focus of the whole population to make the island [[PerceptionFilter look like an iceberg]].
83	* ''Literature/{{Leviathan}}'': In the third novel, ''Goliath'', Nikolas Tesla's DeathRay contraption (a massive LightningGun) apparently caused the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event Tunguska event]] in this universe. [[spoiler:Later subverted, the Tunguska event was caused by a meteorite, just as it was in real life; Tesla either lied and said that his weapon caused it or mistakenly believed it did.]]
84	* ''Franchise/HarryPotter'': Some of these examples are from the website ''[[AllThereInTheManual Pottermore]]''.
85	** Apparently, the eruption of Vesuvius was caused by a Roman warlock named Zaccaria Innocenti when he launched a dance spell.
86	** An ancestor of Malfoy (whose name is also Lucius Malfoy, adressed as "Lucius Malfoy I" by in-universe historians) apparently attempted to marry [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethI Queen Elizabeth I]], of all people. But she rejected him, and since he's NotGoodWithRejection, he put a jinx on her, resulting in her well-known reluctant behaviour towards marriage. However, many historians believed it's just an exaggeration of the story, not mention that Malfoy family is well-known for their fanaticism towards blood purity and thus it's unlikely that he actually considered to marry her at all. This story was also denied by subsequent generations of the Malfoy family, but there has never been solid evidence for either side.
87	* In ''Literature/StarTrekTheEugenicsWars,'' the titular Eugenics Wars are portrayed as a SecretHistory full of proxy conflicts rather than a full-on open war, which go on to include events from Smiling Buddha to the Yugoslav Wars and Watts Riots.
88	* In ''Crooked'', several events are portrayed as consequences of American leaders having occult dealings: The Roanoke colony was destroyed by demons, the spanish flu was a consequence of Woodrow Wilson's releasing an EldritchAbomination to help win the war, and the moon landing was faked after the real inhabitants of the moon attacked the astronauts.
89	* On the other hand, ''Literature/TheLastAmericanVampire'' claims the Roanoke colony was wiped out by a vampire among them. Protagonist [[HistoricalDomainCharacter Henry Sturges]] is one of [[spoiler:three]] survivors, counting the vampire in question, who turned Henry.
90	* In ''Dracula Unbound'' by Creator/BrianWAldiss, the dinosaurs are wiped out (as collateral damage) by a nuclear bomb set off by a time traveler in order to destroy the vampires, which are actually a parasitic species predating humans.
91	* ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers'' attributes the historical murder of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Villiers,_1st_Duke_of_Buckingham George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham]] by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Felton_(assassin) John Felton]] to him being seduced by Milady de Winter while assigned to guard her by her ex-brother-in-law Lord de Winter. Historically, Felton had his own grievances with Buckingham; Creator/AlexandreDumas suggests Milady [[FalseRapeAccusation accusing Buckingham of drugging, raping, and branding her as a convict]] is the straw that breaks the camel's back.
92	* In "The Reaper's Image" (A short story in Stephen King's ''Literature/SkeletonCrew''), it's implied that the DeIver Glass, a mirror in which certain people see the titular image and then vanish without a trace, was responsible for the disappearance of [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Force_Crater Judge Joseph Crater]].
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
96	* In ''Series/Babylon5'', it's revealed that the reason UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper was never caught is because he was [[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E21ComesTheInquisitor kidnapped by the Vorlons]].
97	* Several episodes of ''Series/DarkSkies'' purport that various events of TheSixties were a result of the alien conspiracy. For example, the accidental activation of an alien device is blamed for the 1964 earthquake in Homer, Alaska.
98	* ''Series/TheDefenders2017'': According to Chaste member Stick, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum was caused by The Hand in order to cover up their activities at mining the black substance from dragon bones buried near the cities.
99	* ''Series/DoctorWho'' is full of scenes in all its history when the Doctor, as well some of his many companions, inspired or accidentally provoked various facts in history. A good example is the First Doctor in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS2E4TheRomans "The Romans"]], who accidentally inspires Nero [[WhileRomeBurns to burn Rome]].
100	** A short list includes [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E2TheShakespeareCode the inclusion of the word Sycorax in a Shakespearean play]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock the KT Boundary event that killed the dinosaurs (poor Adric)]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS31E10VincentAndTheDoctor at least two of Van Gogh's paintings]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E7TheUnicornAndTheWasp the brief disappearance]] of Creator/AgathaChristie, and, at least according to the Doctor, [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E4ThePowerOfThree the creation of Yorkshire Pudding]]. [[AvertedTrope He was not]], [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E4BeforeTheFlood however]], [[BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy Beethoven.]]
101	* Several historical events in ''Series/{{Grimm}}'' are connected to [[OurWerebeastsAreDifferent Wesen]] activities, including the rise of Hitler (who was a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Blutbad]]), Pogroms and witch hunts to be anti-Wesen campaigns and the worship of Wesens as gods in Ancient Egypt.
102	* ''Series/TheSandman2022'': The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica#Pandemic_of_1915%E2%80%931926 1916-1926 Encephalitis lethargica pandemic]] was caused by a sorcerer summoning and binding the AnthropomorphicPersonification of Dream.
103	* The ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS2E1The37s The 37's]]" has UsefulNotes/AmeliaEarhart and her crew be found on a planet by Captain Janeway and her crew, having been frozen in a deep sleep for four-hundred years.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
107	* ''TabletopGame/{{Alternity}}'' campaign setting ''Dark*Matter'' core rules. When a Grey spaceship on Earth was close to being discovered by humans, its commander followed standard procedure and re-directed a comet to impact and destroy the landing site. He made a mistake, and the result was TheTunguskaEvent.
108	* In ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'', TheTunguskaEvent was caused by Azathoth (one of the Franchise/CthulhuMythos deities) being summoned to Earth.
109	* After a while, you begin to suspect every single event of any import in human history in the TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness had at least ''some'' supernatural involvement. Here is a small sample:
110	** Carthage was a city where vampires existed openly alongside humans, ruled over by the founder of Clan Brujah... who had fallen in love with an infernalist and driven the city to engage in some truly depraved shit. This led to Clan Ventrue rallying Rome to sack Carthage. The Brujah are still pissed at the Ventrue to this day.
111	** The Beast of Gevaudan incident was the result of a particularly demented [[TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse Shadow Lord]] trying to restart the Impergium, the disgraceful period of werewolf history when they tried to prevent spreading spiritual corruption by culling humanity and keeping it scattered.
112	** One book for ''TabletopGame/WraithTheOblivion'' suggested the Curse of the Bambino was the result of a deceased, disgraced Red Sox player using telekinetic powers to sabotage any chance of the team winning a World Series. We have no idea what happened to him in 2004.
113	* The TabletopGame/ChroniclesOfDarkness does this less so... but just enough.
114	** ''TabletopGame/MageTheAwakening'' ascribes the 1917 Halifax explosion to an all-out war between two factions of mages.
115	** ''TabletopGame/PrometheanTheCreated'' claims the Tunguska event was the result of a Promethean trying to summon an arch-''qashmal'', an extremely powerful being made up of the very energy that powers the motion of the universe (and, conveniently enough, Prometheans).
116	** ''TabletopGame/DemonTheDescent'' has a series of splinter timelines in its main setting of Seattle, crafted by the God-Machine as theoretical back-ups should things go utterly to hell in the prime timeline. One is centered on 1999, and contains a copy of the angel given the task of stopping [=Y2K=] from crippling global computer systems. And if some enterprising demon goes into that timeline and triggers the angel's Fall... well, the end results get messy, but at least the timeline resets itself, eventually.
117	[[/folder]]
118
119	[[folder:Video Games]]
120	* In the ''Franchise/AssassinsCreed'' series, nearly every major event in human history, from wars to assassinations to the rise of capitalism, was engineered or affected by the SecretWar between Templars and Assassins.
121	** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII'': The Pazzi Conspiracy isn't just a (failed) conspiracy of the namesake family to bring down the Medici, it's also a Templar plot to [[ThePurge purge]] the Auditore family, which is a prominent house of Assassins (the Pazzi are Templars in the game).
122	** ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'': The Boston Massacre is portrayed as a Templar plot to destabilize the colonies and fan the flames of war.
123	** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedRogue'', the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake Lisbon earthquake of 1755]] was triggered by a Precursor artifact.
124	* ''VideoGame/{{Control}}'' has a lot of fun with its in-universe documents by the [[ArtifactCollectionAgency Federal Bureau of Control]] alluding to bizarre, unexplained real-world phenomena as being related to "Altered World Events" that created [[ArtifactOfDoom Artifacts of Doom]].
125	** The "Havana AWE" is based on the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome Havana Syndrome outbreak]] between 2016-17, where American and Canadian embassy staff inexplicably developed symptoms such as hearing loss, memory loss, nausea, and even brain damage. FBC agents recovered a mysteriously vibrating cowboy boot that was determined to be the cause of the outbreak, with them also planting the baseless rumor that it was some kind of sonic attack (perpetuated in real life by then-US president Donald Trump following the incident) as a means of covering up the discovery.
126	** The Kyiv AWE is based on a series of incidents from 2011 in Kyiv, Ukraine, where [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcUDYBIrWio loud screeching noises could be inexplicably heard all across the city]], which in the AWE was also said to have caused additional afflictions like aphasia and sleep paralysis. The FBC weren't able to determine a definite source from it, and their conclusion was that the area was experiencing [[RealityBleed "planar friction"]].
127	** The Arctic Queen Refrigerator item was recovered from the wreckage of the Grand Central Hotel in New York City, which collapsed in 1973. In real life, it came down because of improper maintenance of its load-bearing walls, but the game also implies that the fridge (which is demonstrated to have a tendency of [[StuffBlowingUp making things violently unstable]]) was involved as a catalyst.
128	* According to ''[[VideoGame/EmpireEarth Empire Earth II]]'', the UsefulNotes/ColdWar ''really'' ended when the U.S. stole the stealth bomber the Soviets had developed and used it against them.
129	* ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' attributes the death of UsefulNotes/{{Charlemagne}} to a plot by [[EldritchAbomination the Ancients]] to end a period of enlightenment brought about by the emperor unifying Europe under his banner.
130	* In ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', the failure of the Apollo 13 mission is caused by Lunarians who don't want Earthlings on the moon.
131	* ''VideoGame/Vampyr2018'': The 1666 Great Fire of London was caused when vampire knight Sir William Marshall fought against a witch responsible for TheBlackDeath in the city the year before (in reality, [[spoiler:she was a [[ApocalypseMaiden Disaster]], another of the [[BigBad Red Queen's]] minions]]. The battle lasted for hours to a stalemate, so Marshall was forced to trap her under St. Paul's Cathedral and set it on fire to [[ItsTheOnlyWayToBeSure make sure she was dead]].
132	* [[EnsembleDarkhorse Goro Majima]] of the ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}}'' series inspired the tax hikes that led to Japan's bubble economy bursting in the late 80s after rescuing a politician from a mugging and getting a little too into a conversation on taxes during ''VideoGame/Yakuza0''.
133	* In the ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'' series, the 2003 blackout that took place in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and the Canadian province of Ontario was due to a rogue hacker instead of a software bug found in the computers of [=FirstEnergy=] Corporation. This gave Blume Corp. the opportunity to provide [=ctOS=] with a safeguard against future incidents, while causing another: the 2007 crash is the result of Blume meddling with an already tense trading market.
134	[[/folder]]
135
136	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
137	* In VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry, the real life [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Polo_Bridge_Incident Marco Polo Bridge Incident]] is mentioned as occurring because the missing soldier was a draftee from Hinamizawa. Since this would mean [[spoiler:Hinamizawa Syndrome]] indirectly started the Second Sino-Japanese War, [[spoiler:it's a motivation for the government to cover the disease up.]]
138	[[/folder]]
139
140	[[folder:Webcomics]]
141	* In ''Devilish Romance'', there's a [[https://www.webtoons.com/en/supernatural/devilish-romance/episode-41/viewer?title_no=2529&episode_no=41 demon who buys young musicians' souls]] and makes them world-class talents, but in exchange, [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/27_Club their lives end at the age of 27.]]
142	* The "Eternity Stones" of ''Webcomic/HeroineChic'' that Geordie and Zoe use to transform into the superhero alter egos are part of a set of {{Power Crystal}}s that can generate devastating power when used in concert. According to the narration, ''The last time the Eternity Stones were used together, it created the '''Ice Age''' -- a global disaster that lasted over nine thousand years and forced man to wear animal skins at unfashionable lengths.''
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Web Original]]
146	* The Website/SCPFoundation has many of these, which usually double as [[HistoricalInJoke Historical In-Jokes]]:
147	** The explosion of Mount St. Helens was caused by a [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-076 SCP-076]] containment breach.
148	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-081 SCP-081]] caused all (or most) recorded instances of spontaneous human combustion.
149	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-089 SCP-089]] has announced and prevented (or at least reduced the impact of) many disasters throughout history, such as [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_New_Orleans_Fire_(1788) the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Bhola_cyclone the 1970 Bhola cyclone]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion the Taiping Rebellion]]. However, it's [[AmbiguouslyEvil unclear]] if the SCP actually causes the disasters or merely offers an extreme means of stopping them (involving sacrificing a baby to it).
150	** The "[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloop Big Bloop]]", a RealLife extremely loud underwater sound, was caused by [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-169 SCP-169]], an [[KrakenAndLeviathan enormous undersea creature]] which is at ''least'' 1,000 km in length. The Foundation had a spy in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who tried to prevent the public from learning of the Bloop, but failed.
151	** According to [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/code-name-the-truth CODE NAME: The Truth]], [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-184 SCP-184]] is responsible for [[spoiler: the ''expansion of the universe.'' Beyond GN-Z11, there's nothing but defective copies of the Milky Way being repeated over and over.]]
152	** Both the image and the redacted clues show that [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-435 SCP-435]] was responsible for Castle Bravo, [[FantasticNuke the largest American nuclear detonation.]]
153	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-453 SCP-453]] caused the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1857_Basilicata_earthquake Great Neapolitan Earthquake]].
154	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-687 SCP-687]] apparently caused the Cleveland Torso Murders.
155	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-966 SCP-966]] is implied to be the cause of sleep paralysis.
156	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1120 SCP-1120]]: It's revealed that the eruption of Vesuvius was caused by a man who was trying to bury the numerous instances of SCP-1120 in the ashes before they overran any more towns.
157	** The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia_mine_fire underground fires in Centralia, Pennsylvania]] are actually the Norse fire giant Surtr ([[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1179 SCP-1179]]) waking up.
158	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1529 SCP-1529]] is apparently responsible for killing the first man to ever climb Mt. Everest and about half of all the people who've died climbing it since.
159	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1574 SCP-1574]] is implied to have some connection to the Boxing Day Tsunami, despite being on the other side of the world. It may or may not have been caused by aliens from its home planet who had come looking for it.
160	*** The Boxing Day Tsunami itself has been caused by no less than three different [=SCPs=], including an [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/dr-clef-s-proposal 001 Proposal]], [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-090 SCP-090]], SCP-1574, and even [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/in-the-big-league an asteroid brought down by the Foundation]]. It got to the point that [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/the-big-list-of-overdone-scp-cliches "things what caused teh INDIAN OCEAN TSUNAMI]] is specifically listed as an overdone cliche.
161	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2090 SCP-2090]]'s containment involved the creation of [[spoiler:Hurricane Hugo, an actual hurricane]]. Oh, and a bizarre ritual called [[spoiler:''basketball'']].
162	** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-2399 SCP-2399]] is responsible for the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.
163	[[/folder]]
164
165	[[folder:Web Video]]
166	* ''WebVideo/KanePixelsTheBackrooms'': According to ''First Contact'' and its unlisted sister video, [[spoiler:[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1989_Loma_Prieta_earthquake the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake]] was a byproduct of the ASYNC Foundation successfully opening a portal to the Backrooms]].
167	[[/folder]]
168
169	[[folder:Western Animation]]
170	* In ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6TheSeries'', The Great Catastrophe is the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. [[spoiler: It was caused by Lenore Shimamoto, who was creating a new power source that accidentally became a ''star''.]]
171	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'':
172	** As [[TheAhnold Jorgen Von Strangle]] recalls every disaster that [[TheDitz Cosmo]] was responsible of, he mentions the destruction of Pompey, the sinking of Atlantis and transforming the once "high-tech gleaming utopia" of Xanadu into a PollutedWasteland that Cosmo quickly christened "UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}".
173	** The episode "Hassle in the Castle" concerns Timmy exploring Cosmo and Wanda’s castle in his fishbowl and bringing to life portraits of their past godkids to ask how they got into the Hall of Fame. Except he accidentally pulled kids from the Hall of Infamy, the worst of which, Maryann, is mentioned by Wanda to have abused their magic to take out Archduke Ferdinand and plunge the world into its first World War (leading to EpilepticTrees about how Da Rules’ ThouShaltNotKill policy was involved).
174	* In ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'', the UsefulNotes/Covid19Pandemic was apparently caused by magic fortune cookies, whose fortunes therein are all destined by universe/fate-altering entropy to come true once the consumer eats the cookie. The enslaved old man being forced to make the cookies, in an attempt to get someone to investigate the factory where he's imprisoned and free him, made some of the fortunes say "Investigate this cookie factory or a virus will take over the world." Considering he's still stuck there by the time of the episode...
175	* And similarly, in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', COVID-19 was caused by [[spoiler:Randy Marsh]] drunkenly [[BestialityIsDepraved having sex with a pangolin]].
176	[[/folder]]
177

Context Main / RealEventFictionalCause