Causality Chain is a series at PC Gamer exploring the unlikely links between history, culture, and videogames. And ocassionally hedgehogs. The arc of history curves in mysterious ways. Beloved actor Keanu Reeves—Ted, Neo, John Wick himself—may not be Buddhist, but he does, in fact, owe the existence of one of his blockbuster roles to the teachings of one of Buddhism's most important figures.How, you ask? And what exactly does this have to do with videogames? Excellent questions that can only be answered by a causality chain, tracing the butterfly effect of a man walking westward 1,400 years ago to the modern day movie star known for his iconic delivery of the word "Whoa."Join us, as we tip over the dominoes to link past to present...The origins of Chinese Buddhism 🔗 Keanu Reeves big dogging Sonic the Hedgehog🧵A legendary journey🧵1590s: Xuanzang's account inspires 1,000 years of folktales, both written and in the oral tradition. In the late 16th century, a fictional account of the journey of Buddhist monk Tang Sanzang and the monkey king Sun Wukong is published under the name Journey to the West.2(Image credit: Wikimedia)🧵The Super moment🧵1991: After Dragon Ball becomes increasingly popular as a battle manga, Toriyama gives Goku a power-up called Super Saiyan. He draws Super Saiyan Goku with a golden aura and blonde hair instead of black so that his assistant can spend less time inking Goku's hair each issue.4(Image credit: Akira Toriyama, Shueisha)🧵Sonic needs a shadow🧵2001: To give Sonic a more powerful rival, Sonic Team creates Shadow the Hedgehog, the "ultimate lifeform." He canonically approves of stealing candy from babies6, and is also maybe Vegeta.7(Image credit: Sega)