History Main / FlashbackBPlot

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': In "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZukoAlone Zuko Alone]]", the A-story of Zuko wandering around the Earth Kingdom and being offered hospitality by a peasant family mirrors the story (told in flashbacks) of Zuko's childhood and how Ozai became Firelord.

* Similarly to the Pepper Ann example, ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' finale, Operation INTERVIEWS has the adult team revealing to the audience [[spoiler: and Father]] what happened on their final mission with [[spoiler: Numbuh 1]].

* ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations2'': Episode 3 has two flashbacks to when the originating incident happened, with the rest taking place in the present and involves finally solving the incident.

* This is a big part of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', with the first five seasons alternating between the present day and Oliver's days on the island. Each episode divides its time between Oliver's activities in the present as the Hood and the events in his past (mostly on the island) that led up to him becoming a vigilante.
** The episode "Odyssey" put most of its emphasis on events on the island.
** The episode "The Undertaking" didn't use the island at all but did focus on events surrounding [[spoiler:the sinking of the Queen's Gambit and Moira's involvement with Tempest]].
** "The Promise", like "Odyssey" focuses more on the island than on the present.
** And in Season 3, these flashbacks focus on his [[spoiler:hitherto undisclosed training with A.R.G.U.S. in Hong Kong]].
* The ''Series/{{Constantine}}'' episode "Quid Pro Quo" uses this, with the A plot being Constantine trying to save Chas's daughter, and the B plot being a flashback to when Constantine accidentally made Chas [[Main/ResurrectiveImmortality semi-immortal.]]

* ''Series/TheFlash2014'' has a number of these, as you would expect from a spinoff of ''Arrow'':
** "[[Recap/TheFlash2014S1E3ThingsYouCantOutrun Things You Can't Outrun]]" includes three flashbacks to the night of the particle accelerator explosion, each time entering the story from a different character's perspective.
** "[[Recap/TheFlash2014S1E17Tricksters Tricksters]]" shows what really happened [[spoiler:with the Reverse-Flash and Harrison Wells after the former killed Barry's mother.]]
** "[[Recap/TheFlash2014S1E20TheTrap The Trap]]" is somewhat of a SequelEpisode to "Things You Can't Outrun", in that it uses a similar format to show the time when Barry was in a coma (which was right after the accelerator explosion). [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSqq2kLk0A0 A deleted scene]] would have added another flashback to the episode, from Caitlin's point of view.
** "[[Recap/TheFlash2014S4E7ThereforeIAm Therefore I Am]]" shows us us Clifford [=DeVoe=]'s origins on the night of the accelerator explosion and the aftermath.
** "[[Recap/TheFlash2014S5E7OComeAllYeThankful O Come All Ye Thankful]]" gives us Cicada's origin story in a similar manner, showing us his relationship with his niece and how he received powers from a satellite from the Enlightenment, which also injured his niece.

Unlike [[FramingDevice frame stories]], this trope does not involve anyone narrating the story InUniverse. Compare SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Subtrope to AnachronicOrder, MeanwhileInTheFuture, TwoLinesNoWaiting, and often FlashbackEcho. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Transitions may involve AgeCut. Is inverted when the B-plot is {{Flash Forward}}s instead of flashbacks. See also SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback.

* ''{{Literature/Holes}}'': There's a B plot in the first act about Stanley's ancestor, and second act is interspersed with chapters telling the story of the outlaw Kissing Kate Barlow a hundred years prior.

** "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS4E02TheOldSugarmanPlace The Old Sugarman Place]]" follows two stories taking place at the titular Michigan home.[[note]]While the stories do not focus on the same character, enough [[FlashbackEffects flashback transitions]] are used to consider it this trope rather than MeanwhileInTheFuture.[[/note]] The A-plot has [=BoJack=], having impulsively fled Los Angeles, spend a year fixing up the abandoned house with help from his new neighbor. The B-plot flashes back to the [=1940s=], when [=BoJack=]'s mother Beatrice spent summers there with her family, and [[TroubledAbuser the trauma that her family endured when she was still a child]].

** "[[Recap/BojackHorsemanS4E02TheOldSugarmanPlace The Old Sugarman Place]]" follows two stories taking place at the titular Michigan home. The A-plot has [=BoJack=], having impulsively fled Los Angeles, spend a year fixing up the abandoned house with help from his new neighbor. The B-plot flashes back to the [=1940s=], when [=BoJack=]'s mother Beatrice spent summers there with her family, and [[TroubledAbuser the trauma that her family endured when she was still a child]].

Unlike [[FramingDevice frame stories]], this trope does not involve anyone narrating the story InUniverse. Subtrope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, AnachronicOrder, and often FlashbackEcho. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Transitions may involve AgeCut. Inverted when the B-plot is {{Flash Forward}}s instead of flashbacks. See also SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback.

Compare SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously", and MeanwhileInTheFuture, in which events in two time periods are cut between as if they took place in the same time.

Unlike [[FramingDevice frame stories]], this trope does not involve anyone narrating the story InUniverse. Subtrope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, AnachronicOrder, and often FlashbackEcho. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback. Transitions may involve AgeCut. Inverted, this trope involves {{Flash Forward}}s instead of flashbacks.

Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously".
Note: Please do not duplicate examples with MeanwhileInTheFuture. That trope either involves the story cutting across time because there's time travel involved, or alternating between different eras (though possibly focusing on members of the same family line) in what are often stories about history ({{real|Life}} or fictional).


Different also from MeanwhileInTheFuture, which either involves the story cutting across time because there's time travel involved, or alternating between different eras in what are often stories focusing on history ({{real|Life}} or fictional). Similarly, SanDimasTime sees two plotlines in two different times occuring "simultaneously" due to TimeTravel.

* Used in conjunction with FramingDevice in ''Film/MemorialDay'': WWII veteran Bud Vogel's war experiences are told through a series of flashbacks while he explains his them to his grandson Kyle, while the film also flashes forward to an adult Kyle developing his own war experiences similar to Bud's.

* This, as well as a FramingDevice, is used in''Film/MemorialDay'': WWII veteran Bud Vogel's war experiences are told through a series of flashbacks while he explains his them to his grandson Kyle, while the film also flashes forward to an adult Kyle developing his own war experiences similar to Bud's.

Unlike [[FramingDevice frame stories]], this trope does not involve anyone narrating the story InUniverse. Subtrope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, AnachronicOrder, and often FlashbackEcho. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback. Transitions may involve AgeCut.

Unlike [[FramingDevice frame stories]], this trope does not involve anyone narrating the story InUniverse. Subtrope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, AnachronicOrder, and often FlashbackEcho. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback. Can be done with {{Flash Forward}}s as well. Transitions may involve AgeCut.

* ''Manga/KakushigotoMyDadsSecretAmbition'': Stories from the A plot are bookended by flash forwards, now following a teenage Hime instead of Kakushi, [[spoiler:after Kakushi’s death]].

Unlike [[FramingDevice frame stories]], this trope does not involve anyone narrating the story InUniverse. Transitions may involve AgeCut. Subtrope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, AnachronicOrder, and often of FlashbackEcho. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback. Can be done with {{Flash Forward}}s as well.

* ''ComicBook/{{Katmandu}}'': The whole story is told this way: After the third issue onwards, the plot switches between stories told by Leahtrah to either Thorin or their children about her ancestor Liska, and how the latter became a warrior.

Unlike [[FramingDevice frame stories]], this trope does not involve anyone narrating the story InUniverse. Transitions may involve AgeCut. Subtrope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, AnachronicOrder, and often of FlashbackEcho, though the stories don't have to have any direct connection besides involving the same character(s) or sometimes location. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback. Can be done with {{Flash Forward}}s as well.

The story of a character in the present day is interspersed with {{flashback}}s telling a linear story of past events of the same character's life. The flashbacks [[MatchCut may be prompted]] by various related objects or situations in the present. Sometimes the flashbacks can instead be of the present-day character's parent or grandparent, showing the similarities between the generations.

Unlike [[FramingDevice frame stories]], this trope always has the secondary story happening inside a character's mind, or the overall story is just [[FabulaAndSujet organized]] [[AnachronicOrder this way]] without any specific [[WatsonianVersusDoylist Out Of Universe]] reason. In other words, the B plots here do not take place inside of an InUniverse narration as frame stories do.

Transitions may involve AgeCut. Subtrope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, AnachronicOrder, and often of FlashbackEcho, though the stories don't have to have any direct connection besides involving the same character(s) or sometimes location. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback. Can be done with {{Flash Forward}}s as well.

* ''Film/MemorialDay'': WWII veteran Bud Vogel's war experiences are told through a series of flashbacks while he explains his them to his grandson Kyle, while the film also flashes forward to an adult Kyle developing his own war experiences similar to Bud's.

The story of a character in the present day is interspersed with {{flashback}}s (or sometimes {{flash forward}}s) telling a linear story of past events of the same character's life. The flashbacks [[MatchCut may be prompted]] by various related objects or situations in the present. Sometimes the flashbacks can instead be of the present-day character's parent or grandparent, showing the similarities (or differences) between the generations.

Transitions may involve AgeCut. Subtrope to TwoLinesNoWaiting, AnachronicOrder, and often of FlashbackEcho, though the stories don't have to have any direct connection besides involving the same character(s) or sometimes location. Can be considered a variation of HowWeGotHere. Compare with SanDimasTime, where due to TimeTravel, two plotlines in two different times occur "simultaneously". Compare also with SimultaneousArcs and WholeEpisodeFlashback.

The story of a character in the present day is interspersed with {{flashback}}s telling a linear story of past events of the same character's life. The flashbacks [[MatchCut may be prompted]] by various related objects or situations in the present. Sometimes the flashbacks can instead be of the present-day character's parent or grandparent, showing the similarities (or differences) between the generations.

* Inverted in ''Manga/KakushigotoMyDadsSecretAmbition''. Stories from the A plot are bookended by flash forwards, now following a teenage Hime instead of Kakushi, [[spoiler:after Kakushi’s death]].

* ''FanFic/SpanningTime'' explores the world of VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers of Time/Darkness/Sky through the eyes of Grovyle. The tale cuts between Flashbacks detailing his history and the 'here and now' smack in the middle of Explorers' plot, fleshing out the details and providing an interesting take on Grovyle's past.

* ''FanFic/SpanningTime'' explores the world of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky through the eyes of Grovyle. The tale cuts between Flashbacks detailing his history and the 'here and now' smack in the middle of Explorers' plot, fleshing out the details and providing an interesting take on Grovyle's past.

The story of a character in the present day is interspersed with {{flashback}}s telling a linear story of past events of the same character's life. The flashbacks [[MatchCut may be prompted]] by various related objects or situations in the present.

* ''Film/MemorialDay'': WWII veteran Bud Vogel's war experiences are told through a series of flashbacks while he explains his them to his grandson Kyle, while the film also flashes forward to an adult Kyle developing his own war experiences similar to his grandfather's.

* ''Film/TheDuelOfTheBrothers'': More often than not, Ho-tian and Jiao-hao will have flashbacks to their pasts when they are kids, promising to look out for each other, before the scene cuts back to the present where they were adults. Notably [[spoiler: the last scene of the two brothers together: Ho-tian holding on Jia-hao's corpse and telling him not to die, while intersect with a MatchCut depicting a flashback of Ho-tian (as a child) holding a feverish, seriously ill Jia-hao (ditto) telling his younger brother to wake up]].

* This is a big part of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', with the first five seasons alternating between the present day and Oliver's days on the island.
* Every episode of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' divides its time between Oliver's activities in the present as the Hood and the events in his past (mostly on the island) that led up to him becoming a vigilante.

* The ''[[Series/{{Constantine}} Constantine]]'' episode "Quid Pro Quo" uses this, with the A plot being Constantine trying to save Chas's daughter, and the B plot being a flashback to when Constantine accidentally made Chas [[Main/ResurrectiveImmortality semi-immortal.]]

** "[[Recap/TheFlash2014S5E7OComeAllYeThankful O Come All Ye Thankful]]" gives us Cicada's origin story in a similar manner, with him receiving powers from a satellite from the Enlightenment, which also injured his niece.