The butterfly effect. The butterfly effect is a chaos theory. It's the theory where one thing can change the course of man kind. It can be as simple as a extra breath or going down the wrong aisle at the grocery store. What if one significant event overturned. The event after the parents of James Buchanan Barnes and Rebecca Barnes died in two unrelated deaths and custody of 8 year old Rebecca Barnes was given to the closest relatives of the family and the two siblings were never to connect again. What if instead of Rebecca moving away, James Buchanan barnes was granted custody of his younger sister and got to watch her grown up.