Line #103 Main/Flashback


1	[[quoteright:320:[[Manga/HayateCrossBlade https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8982317a5f9c39ebb3ab0b25611b9c8f.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:320:You don't ''have'' to ask for permission.]]
3
4	->''"I think I'll try extra hard to remember today's events and conversations, in case I someday want to recall them verbatim."''
5	-->-- '''Gordon Frohman''', ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}''
6
7	A narrative technique in which we're shown events that took place before the episode's main action. Said events may have taken place on-screen earlier, but may also be new scenes depicting things hitherto only referenced.
8
9	Specific types of flashbacks include:
10	* AnotherMansTerror: A character relives the end of another character's life.
11	* DeathByFlashback: A character who gets a flashback has a high probability to die.
12	* EyeRecall: A flashback sequence that starts with the camera zooming inside the pupil of the character recalling the memory.
13	* FlashbackBPlot: A linear secondary story is told through flashbacks alongside the main story, both involving the same character(s).
14	* FlashbackCut: A very brief flashback.
15	* FlashbackEcho: Past events in a flashback parallel what's occurring in the present.
16	* FlashbackMontageRealization: A character's realization is shown with a montage of previous scenes and lines of dialogue.
17	* FlashbackWithinAFlashback: A flashback within a flashback occurs when a character recounts an event in which they also flashback into ANOTHER event within the first flashback.
18	* HappyFlashback: A flashback to a happy time, may segue into a TroubledBackstoryFlashback.
19	* HowDadMetMom: A flashback to how two parents met.
20	* HowWeGotHere: The episode opens InMediasRes, then the events leading up to the episode's beginning are explained via flashback.
21	* PensieveFlashback: The present-day version of the character shows up inside their own memories of the past, in order to provide snarky commentary or to inexplicably interact with the past.
22	* RashomonStyle: Multiple flashbacks depicting one event from several different perspectives.
23	* RegainedMemoriesSequence: Multiple very brief flashbacks used to show the return of a character's memories.
24	* SelfServingMemory: A character flashes back to an event, only for the flashback to be quite different from what actually happened, usually to make that character look better.
25	* ThirdPersonFlashback: A character flashes back to things they did not actually witness themselves.
26	* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: A character with a DarkAndTroubledPast flashes back to a happy memory that transforms into a bloodbath.
27	* UnreliableVoiceover: During the flashback, the voiceover's narration doesn't match what's being shown.
28	* WholeEpisodeFlashback: A flashback that [[ShapedLikeItself takes up the whole episode]]. (in literary works, this would be an example of a "frame story").
29
30	SubTrope of SeparateSceneStorytelling. DreamingOfTimesGoneBy and PastExperienceNightmare are two ways to show them. See also FlashbackEffects for ways of distinguishing a Flashback from normal action, and ViewersAreGoldfish for flashbacks to events that are still fresh in the audience's mind. It's also a brilliant way to indulge in some ExpositionOfImmortality. The inverse of this trope is the {{Flashforward}}, which depicts events in the future instead of the past. Compare {{Interquel}}, which is usually a separate installment in the franchise but set in between previously released works.
31
32	When a ''character'' is having a flashback, it can be because of [[{{Seers}} psychic/magical powers]], Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or simply resurfacing memories. In either case, it's a common justification for a movie to show the audience a Flashback.
33
34	If you want the page about the game ''Flashback: Quest for Identity'', [[VideoGame/{{Flashback}} go here]].
35	----
36	!!'''Examples:'''
37	[[index]]
38	* Flashback/{{Film}}
39	* Flashback/LiveActionTV
40	[[/index]]
41
42	[[foldercontrol]]
43
44	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
45	* ''Manga/AharenSanWaHakarenai'': The final chapters of the manga reveal that [[spoiler:the events presented thus far are a big flashback, which is why the manga's pages have black borders overall.]]
46	* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Happens a lot in the manga. They often happen during a significant fight in which one character is going to lose or die or if the fight helps defines a character that's won. The anime, via AdaptationExpansion, can go to town with this making episodes out of what's sometimes nothing more than a few panels in the manga.
47	* Episodes of the ''Manga/CaseClosed'' anime adapted from the manga, especially multi-part episodes, frequently employ flashbacks and in-dialogue recaps to pad out the run time (as well as occasionally replaying the last several minutes of the previous episode as the beginning of the current one), since otherwise there wouldn't be enough material to fill the full episode length. It's not uncommon to have seen the same footage 3 or 4 times (counting the first time it was shown) by the end of a multi-part episode. (It's especially noticeable when viewing all parts of multi-part episodes in one sitting.)
48	* ''Anime/CelestialMethod'' consistently uses flashbacks to when the main cast were 8 years old to drive the targedy of the ongoing drama present throughout the series.
49	* ''Anime/ClusterEdge'' uses this ''constantly'', to the point it conquers the series.
50	* Happens multiple times in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' where characters' childhoods are shown to better explain their motivations and behavior. Usually it leads to a TearJerker.
51	* In ''Franchise/{{Digimon}}'', after [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Impmon]] does his HeelFaceTurn, the series constantly flashes back to [[spoiler: Leomon's death, which Impmon caused as Beelzemon and comes to deeply regret]]. Impmon and Jeri have other flashbacks to show how they became what they are. Jeri's mother died when she was little, her father became distant and she could never really connect with her step-mom, and Impmon gained a hatred of humans because of his abuse at the hands of his young Tamers.
52	** Series [[Anime/DigimonAdventure one]] and [[Anime/DigimonAdventure02 two]] also had flashbacks. Most of the Digidestined have flashbacks of family deaths, such as Izzy and Cody, who have flashbacks about their parents' deaths, Ken has his brother Sam's death, and Tai has the time that he almost was responsible for his sister Kari's demise. Owikowa also had flashbacks, to show how and Hiroki (Cody's dad) were friends, and how alone he felt after Hiroki died. TK often has flashbacks about Angemon's sacrifice to stop Devimon, and Ken has flashbacks of his time as the Digimon Emperor.
53	* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'' has quite a few, since we need to see how each character's DarkAndTroubledPast has caused them to be the wreck they are now.
54	* ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' is not the typical shounen series where characters grow and get stronger as the story progresses. Instead they start strong and stay strong, and goofy, and vulgar, and undignified. The majority of the funny stuff happens in the present. It's in the flashbacks, however, that the serious pasts of the main characters come out (with some funny moments) to show what happened to bring these characters here to the present. Eventually, the drama of the past catches up to the drama of the present.
55	* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' uses flashbacks to explain some parts of a few character traits, then [[spoiler:spends an arc to build up a new character and ready the story to be thrown into a much more serious arc]], before toning things back down.
56	* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': America admits to always getting these when he begins to clean his storage room, and never being able to finish or throw anything out. Might overlap with ItWasAGift since two of the three objects he gets flashbacks over (a house with a set of wooden soldiers and a 3-piece suit) were in fact presents from England. Might overlap with TroubledBackstoryFlashback several times- both the soldiers and the suit bring back bittersweet memories, which he lampshades by exclaiming [[TemptingFate there HAS to be something cool that doesn't bring bad memories with itself.]] Cue him finding a scratched musket from the Revolutionary War, bringing one of the biggest TearJerker moments in the entire series.
57	* ''[[Anime/TheIdolmaster THE iDOLM@STER]]'' - Chihaya gets a ton of flashbacks foreshadowing her past, before things hit the fan.
58	* The beginning of episode 9 of ''Manga/IsTheOrderARabbit'' shows Chino's grandfather [[spoiler:while he was still human]] sitting on a park bench with his pet rabbit Tippy. He then sees a young Cocoa who sits next to him while hugging Tippy, and her older sister Mocha can be seen as she leaves the bench a short while later.
59	* ''Anime/KiddyGrade'' starts doing frequent {{Flashback Cut}}s around episodes 9-12 when Eclair [[spoiler:struggles with her repressed memories and the numerous times she's come back from the dead]]. This is followed by episode 16, appropriately titled "Look/Back" which combines a RecapEpisode with expository flashbacks and episode 20 which is again largely based around a series of flashbacks.
60	* Used many times in ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', may it be to reveal the {{Anti Villain}}s StartOfDarkness or to simply show what drives the characters. Played with in regards to Fate, who had a FlashBack of her days when her mother loved her to show why she's such a LoveMartyr, only for her to [[spoiler:eventually realize that [[GeneticMemory those memories]] [[ReplacementGoldfish were not hers]]]].
61	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has an large number of flashbacks. Protagonists, antagonists, and bystanders alike will go into flashback after flashback, explaining their tragic back-stories, lives, and motives. Entire episodes will consist two characters talking while they exchange flashbacks. An example: Hinata's confession to Naruto during the Pain arc took a couple pages in the manga, while in the anime it took an episode because roughly 3/4 of the episode was a montage of flashbacks going through her childhood and her interactions with Naruto. This used to be different with this series in its early days, when it didn't have much to recount, but the anime OvertookTheManga and went into a {{Filler}} marathon until the manga picked back up again. Then the producers of the anime developed a strategy to add {{Padding}} to almost all canon episodes so they would be as drawn out as possible, barring extended fight scenes, lest this happen again. Many times these flashbacks really accentuate a moment or decision by a character. Example: Sasuke's Tragic Backstory at the Valley of the End, to which we get new meanings of hundreds of chapters later. In the case of Hinata's flashbacks in the anime episode of the Pain arc, the flashbacks were not mere filler but an elaboration of Naruto and Hinata's characters, or an expansion on what is canon.
62	* ''Manga/NinjaNonsense'' parodies this. When asked to explain how he got stuck on Miyabi's chest, Onsokumaru promptly goes into a flashback covering various events from the previous week, even though the only ''relevant'' event (Miyabi tripping and falling on top of him) occurred about five minutes earlier. The ninja are quick to [[LampshadeHanging point this out]].
63	* ''Manga/OnePiece'' uses these like there's no tomorrow. Mostly for the background stories of the main cast, but other characters get plenty of them, too.
64	** [[spoiler:Flashbacks are carefully crafted to be the only place where people die. [[WhamEpisode Just to then have Ace, and soon after Whitebeard, die in the present...]]]]
65	* The ''Anime/RaveMaster'' dub as a truly epic flashback. The first time they use it it's a little fitting; It shows when Elie first meets Sieg after developing amnesia and he attempts to kill her, leading to her present actions. The second time they play it is right after she meets Sieg again. Right before it starts he questions her with (voiced very well) "How did you survive?" Then it goes to the flashback, where he says the exact same thing... in the exact same tone, with the exact same expression (not that he has [[TheStoic that many expressions]])
66	* ''Manga/SoulEater'' - Used mostly in the conventional manner of revealing backstory, but Maka's one during the Clown chapters is particularly twisted. It ''looks'' like an ordinary flashback until everyone falls down dead and little!Maka wants to know why her daddy isn't getting up...
67	* ''Manga/TenjhoTenge'' has a flashback arc, which takes up a large chunk of the anime. While it is important for establishing the backstories of many of the show's characters, unfortunately the anime didn't get far enough to really do anything with those newly fleshed-out characters before it was cancelled.
68	* ''Literature/UnlimitedFafnir'': Used regularly to reveal important events, such as Yuu first making a contract with Yggdrasil for PowerAtAPrice way to defeat a dragon attacking his hometown.
69	* A lot of these show up in ''Anime/YuGiOh'', even to the point where they actually had a Flashback ''within'' a Flashback.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Asian Animation]]
73	* ''Animation/HappyHeroes'' employs flashbacks fairly often, with Season 8 containing a few specifically to earlier episodes prominently featuring Kalo since Careful S. is remembering him [[spoiler:since the HeroicSacrifice he performed in Season 7]]. The episodes from Season 10 onwards with the new art style that flashback to pre-art shift episodes keep the footage in the old art style, with Season 12 episode 35 and its flashbacks to pre-art shift episodes featuring Zelia (as well as the theatrical film ''Happy Heroes 2: The Battle of Planet Qiyuan'', which was also from before the new visual style was first used) being one example.
74	* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolf'': In episode 173, Wolffy has a flashback to when he ate some disgusting cookies earlier.
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Comic Books]]
78	* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'': Flashbacks were frequent in early issues, with a page or more of some issues used to recreate scenes from previous issues.
79	* ''ComicBook/TheTaleOfOneBadRat'': Flashbacks are used several times, especially the first half, to show significant events in Helen's life before she ran away. One example is how she adopted her pet rat.
80	* ''ComicBook/LastDaysOfTheJusticeSociety'': Dr. Fate shares with the modern Justice Society a flashback sequence of events that happened on the day of President UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt's funeral in 1945, to show how history has been changed when UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler has used the [[PublicDomainArtifact Spear Of Destiny]] to destroy the universe, tapping into the mystical energies of the Spectre to make it happen.
81	* ''ComicBook/{{Violine}}'': The titular character's father tells his backstory in flashback.
82	* ''ComicBook/CleanRoom'' has the primary narrative interwoven with flashbacks to Astrid's past that introduce or explain elements in the present.
83	* ''ComicBook/{{Birthright}}'' uses flashbacks to Mikey's time in Terrenos, often framed as him explaining something to his family.
84	* ''ComicBook/{{ElfQuest}}'' uses a flashback right at the beginning to show the reader some of the elves' OriginStory, which goes a long way toward explaining the current events which we return to following the flashback.
85	* ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'':
86	** In ''ComicBook/TheGirlWithTheXRayMind'', Lex Luthor tells ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} through a flashback scene ''[[ComicBook/HowLuthorMetSuperboy how he met Superboy]]'' and lost his family. Later, Lesla-Lar ''[[ComicBook/TheUnknownSupergirl flashes back to the first time she harassed Supergirl]]''.
87	** ''ComicBook/TheStrangeRevengeOfLenaLuthor'': After picking Lena up at the airport, Linda flashes back to the time when they were students together at Midvale High, and Lena looked being always on the verge of figuring her secret identity out.
88	** ''ComicBook/DeathAndTheFamily'': As she observes the gigantic hives raised by Insect Queen, Supergirl flashes back to different scenes: [[ComicBook/TheHuntForReactron Flamebird warning that something foul was taking over her friend Lana]], Lana confessing something strange was killing her, and Kara finding Insect Queen's cocoon.
89	** ''ComicBook/DayOfTheDollmaker'': The final issue features a short flashback showing the titular villain living with his parents until his mother took him away.
90	** ''ComicBook/TheDeathOfLuthor'': A single-panel flashback shows Luthor creating giant solar spheres to drive everyone out of Metropolis, thus allowing him to plunder the city leisurely.
91	** ''ComicBook/SupergirlsThreeSuperGirlfriends'': Before travelling to the 30th century to take her initiation test again, Supergirl flashes back to her failed former attempt to join the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes.
92	** ''ComicBook/SupergirlAdventuresGirlOfSteel'': One story opens with Superman and Supergirl holding a funeral for Kara's family and retrieving one piece of equipment of Kara's mother's lab. Then it is shown that Kara is reminiscing while the Kents are gathered for dinner on Mother's Day.
93	* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'':
94	** ''ComicBook/TheLastDaysOfSuperman'': As he is dying, Superman flashes back to his childhood in Smallville, meeting Lana Lang and later Lois Lane, and ''[[ComicBook/SupermansReturnToKrypton going back in time to pre-destruction Krypton and meeting Lyla Lerrol]]''.
95	** "ComicBook/LuthorUnleashed" The story starts with the aftermath of a battle between Superman and Luthor, followed by the latter's flashback showing how it went down.
96	** ''ComicBook/WorldsFinest1941'': Issue #71 -the point when the series became a Superman/Batman team-up rather an AnthologyComic- opens with a flashback to the time both heroes discovered each other's identity in ''ComicBook/Superman1939'' #76 (published two years earlier).
97	** ''ComicBook/TheEarthwarSaga'': As searching for her evil brother Lightning Lord, Light Lass flashes back to the day she and her siblings gained lightning powers.
98	** ''ComicBook/TheCondemnedLegionnaires'': Supergirl's evil doppelganger tells her story via a flashback before dying.
99	* 'ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': "The Legend of Rainbow and Stardust!" starts with the framing device of sitting around a campfire with Hard Candy telling how Rainbow went from circus performer to local Texan legend, with Rainbow's final performance and escape with Stardust shown in flashback. The last half of the story involves Rainbow and Stardust helping Wondy, the Heyday triplets and the Candy family and ranch hands fight off some hustlers in the present.
100	* ''ComicBook/SecretPath2016'': A number of flashbacks occur in the comic about [[TheProtagonist Wenjack's]] life, mostly from his time in the residential school.
101	* Used frequently in Creator/IDWPublishing's ''[[ComicBook/Clue2017 Clue]]'' comic, [[NoFourthWall to the annoyance of the butler]]. This proves... [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou unwise.]]
102	* ''ComicBook/Calico2020'': The stories are interspersed with sepia-toned flashbacks to Hector's childhood, usually when he's talking about days gone by.
103	* ''ComicBook/SamuraiGrandpa'': The comic has a number of flashbacks to various points of [[TheProtagonist Ojichan]]'s youth. In them, we see his old battles, his relationship with his son, and his old loves.
104	* ''ComicBook/TheSimpsonsFuturamaCrossoverCrisis'': In the first issue of the second miniseries, Farnsworth explains to his employees how the ''Simpsons'' characters ended up in New New York. He gives to his employees flashback pills that will allow them to see his story while he's telling. However, Bender has no tongue, so he hides his pill under Fry's tongue. Fry then ends up seeing double flashbacks as a result.
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
108	* ''ComicStrip/{{Sally Forth\|Howard}}'': In an arc for Feb. 12, 2010, Sally remembered the first time she met her boss, Ralph. She eventually snaps out of it.
109	-->'''Ted:''' You seemed zoned out for days! I almost called the hospital.\
110	'''Sally:''' Don't worry. [[LampshadeHanging No one's ever died from a flashback.]]
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Fan Works]]
114	* ''Fanfic/AlwaysVisible'': The entirety of Zero Act is essentially Delia's memories of what happened to her two years ago.
115	* The ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'' FanFic ''Fanfic/TheJoyOfBattle'' uses flashbacks in the same way that ''Series/{{Lost}}'' does to tell [[HowWeGotHere how the characters ended up at the point of the story's beginning]] and also to reveal BackStory through characterizing scenes.
116	* Several in ''Fanfic/TheTaintedGrimoire'':
117	** Vaticus when explaining his {{Backstory}}.
118	** Sir Loin has flashbacked to his and Adelle's history together, and his history from before that.
119	** Bowen had a flashback showing his memories of his wife.
120	* True to the series, the ''Fanfic/CalvinAtCamp'' Series/{{LOST}} parody features some... troubling... flashbacks for the kids.
121	* ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'' uses this to explain Dr. Brainstorm's SiblingRivalry with Thunderstorm.
122	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' story, ''[[Fanfic/LegacyTotalDrama Legacy]]'', chapter 2 and most of chapter 3 cover events from years before the main setting, but are told as if they were set in the same time frame.
123	* Chapter 18 of ''Super Fanfic/PaperMarioX'' starts with [[Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]], as always, scared of going in the water ([[SuperDrowningSkills since he can't swim and will drown in the water, after all]]). When he is informed that this was not the first time the group had to go through water, Sonic says to "name the times", followed by a flashback to the first Paper Mario X ({{lampshade\|Hanging}}d by Mario). When Sonic says there was no way it happened twice, a flashback to Paper Mario X 2 follows.
124	** Chapter 61 of the original includes a flashback to the moment when Sonic, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]] and Franchise/{{Kirby}} first met [[Franchise/{{Metroid}} Samus]]. It also shows the origin of Sonic and Samus's {{Embarrassing Nickname}}s.
125	* ''WebAnimation/TurnaboutStorm'', true to the ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' style it uses, has several of these, [[MonochromePast usually in monochrome]]. For example, both [[SimultaneousArcs Part 3 - Twilight and Part 3 - Phoenix]] include a flashback to a same scene of Part 2 (specifically the point where [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Twilight]] touches [[Franchise/AceAttorney Phoenix]]'s Magatama, [[WrongContextMagic causing it to react weirdly]]), both for different reasons.
126	* In the ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' AU story ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8340339/1/The-Quiet-Fox The Quiet Fox]]'', virtually every other chapter is a flashback, each one narrated by a different character. The one narrated by Sasuke is quite notable, yet Naruto himself doesn't provide any narration.
127	* ''Fanfic/GlitchedMikoAU'': Miko has flashbacks to her time in the lab where she was created every time she is knocked out.
128	* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Penny's disastrous first driving experience in "The Car" is told via flashback.
129	* The ''Fanfic/ForeverCaptain'' series: a frequently used device across the series.
130	** ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/23171335 His Part to Play]]'' flashes back to the events of ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/19728214 The End of the Line]]'' in their entirety, when Bucky encourages Steve to do what he needs to take care of himself.
131	** ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/33797137 Boulder in the Stream]]'' makes use of an extended FlashbackBPlot to the one occasion Steve was called back into action between 1947 and 1954.
132	** ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/33907513 The Hemingway Trip]]'' flashes back to two other occasions Steve took Howard fishing.
133	** ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/31329512 The Favor]]'' flashes back to when Tony went to tell the Carters that Captain America had been found and revived.
134	* ''Fanfic/TheExtendedRailwaySeries'': Many stories in the series are told this way. These include most of the stories in "Mid Sodor Engines", Winston's recounting the time he tried to save King James II from scrap in "Winston the Diesel-Hydraulic Engine", and Skarloey talking about some kids joyriding in a truck in "Railway Safety Engines".
135	* ''Fanfic/GuysBeingDudes'': While he's unpacking his old clothes from Subject Debate in Orre to wear on Go Fest Day 2, seeing a sticky note from Candela starts Arlo on one about their past relationship.
136	* ''Fanfic/Batman1939'': In ''Three's Company'' Batman flashes back to a point in his training during a fight.
137	[[/folder]]
138
139	[[folder:Literature]]
140	* ''Literature/DarcyAndGranDontLikeBabies'': When Gran says that she thinks what Darcy's mother said about her being just like the baby when she was one, we see an illustration of Darcy's own infancy.
141	* Creator/StephenKing's ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'':
142	** ''Book One: Literature/TheGunslinger'': The first quarter of the novel is devoted to flashbacks to events just prior to the beginning of the novel, and flashbacks to Roland's childhood within those.
143	** ''Book Four: Literature/WizardAndGlass'': [[WholeEpisodeFlashback The bulk of the story]] is a flashback to a formative event in Roland's early adulthood.
144	* ''Literature/DreambloodDuology'': In ''The Killing Moon'', Nijiri's and Ehiru's first meeting, in which Nijiri has requested a gathering of his mother to end her suffering from ThePlague and Ehiru is sent to enact it, is described in a flashback.
145	* In the ''Literature/ErebusSequence'', the first book alternates between telling the main story and providing chronologically-ordered scenes from the protagonist's life before that, meaning that what's happening "now" and the background of HowWeGotHere are interwoven. The second book uses fewer flashbacks, but there's still a reasonable number.
146	* ''Literature/GoToSleepAJeffTheKillerRewrite'': The third chapter is entirely in italics and shows what happened the day that Ben drowned. Jeff and Ben were on a summer camping trip the former went to fetch sunscreen just before the canoeing activity while Ben ran ahead, and by the time Jeff found people crowding around his body, it was too late.
147	* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
148	** Tom Riddle's diary, introduced in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'', could show the reader events that had occurred while Tom Riddle had been at school, fifty years before current events.
149	** The Pensieve allows characters to relive memories that have been added to this magical bowl.
150	* A variation in ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'', where POV character Ward can't actually see Oreg's PTSD flashback, but can hear the sounds of [[ATasteOfTheLash Oreg being tortured]] and [[NightmareFuel see the injuries open back up on his body]]. The second book notes that this is a fairly regular occurrence.
151	* Creator/IsaacAsimov:
152	** "{{Literature/Flies}}":
153	*** The first flashback is to over twenty years ago; when the trio discuss {{Beelzebub}} and establishing flychology by analyzing the emotions of Casey's flies.
154	*** The second flashback is to about eighteen years ago; when they discuss animals having religion and Polen is starting to become [[JadeColoredGlasses miserable]] because of his [[TheEmpath empathic abilities]].
155	** "Literature/WhatIf1952": Mr What If has a pane of cloudy glass that he uses to show [[AlternateUniverse "what if" timelines]]. The characters experience them as if they were reliving a memory together.
156	* ''Literature/TheMachineriesOfEmpire'':
157	** Multiple flashbacks to Jedao's past happen near the end of ''Ninefox Gambit'' as [[spoiler:Cheris starts swallowing wraithglass to view Jedao's memories and figure out what his plan is about.]]
158	** In ''Extracurricular Activities'', Jedao's and Meng's first meeting is shown in a flashback.
159	%%* ''Literature/TheOdyssey'': Odysseus has a long flashback. %%About what? What causes it?
160	%%* Creator/KJParker's ''Literature/TheScavengerTrilogy'': In places there's more flashback than straight narrative.%%About what? What causes it?
161	* In Creator/MichaelFlynn's ''Literature/SpiralArm'' novel ''On the Razor's Edge'', Donovan has many flashbacks of recovering memories.
162	* ''{{Literature/Sten}}'': In the final book, the Emperor flashes back to his childhood and his steps on his rise to power.
163	* ''Literature/SweepTheStoryOfAGirlAndHerMonster'': Some parts of the book delve into Nan's past with her old guardian, the Sweep. These parts have the text in italic.
164	%%* ''Literature/ToughMagic'': has a few flashbacks, most notably two at the very beginning of the second book.%%About what? What causes it?
165	* In ''{{Literature/Transitions}}'' Catti-brie's magical illness causes her to float in the air while being trapped in flashbacks of her life. Drizzt can even discern the scenes from what she's saying, which really doesn't make his emotional stability during the crisis any easier.
166	* In ''Literature/VampireAcademy'', Rose occasionally interrupts the present narrative to Flashback to past events. Rose herself, Lissa, Dimitri, and Sonya Karp all receive additional characterization through these Flashbacks.
167	* ''Literature/WarCrimes'': For [[BigBad Garrosh Hellscream's]] trial, the court uses the [[TimeTravel Vision of Time]] to view past events, in order to avoid errors in the witness testimony.
168	* ''Literature/{{Shtum}}'': Ben has a series of these in "Rollercoaster," remembering his youth, the time around Jonah's conception, and Jonah's childhood.
169	[[/folder]]
170
171	[[folder:Radio]]
172	* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': A large portion of "Borrowing Money to Fly", features Miss Brooks flashing back to her initial arrival in Madison.
173	[[/folder]]
174
175	[[folder:Religion]]
176	* ''Literature/TheBookOfMormon'':
177	** Large parts of the book of Mosiah are a flashback, first to the people of Zeniff, who split from the main body of the Nephites about 70 years earlier, then to the people of Alma, who split away from ''them'', making the chronology quite confusing.
178	** About ten chapters of the book of Alma do the same, recounting the sons of Mosiah and their 14-year proselyting mission among the Lamanites, immediately after having recorded the ''end'' of their mission.
179	** Also [[WholeEpisodeFlashback the book of Ether]], which records the history of the Jaredites, starting from thousands of years earlier.
180	[[/folder]]
181
182	[[folder:Theatre]]
183	* The first act of ''Theatre/NineMusical'' ends with a series of flashbacks to Guido's youth.
184	* ''Theatre/MissSaigon'' goes back to "The Fall of Saigon" midway through the second act
185	* During the song "Poor Thing" from ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', the story of Lucy Barker's rape is shown onstage as Mrs. Lovett sings about it.
186	* ''Theatre/{{Arcadia}}'' alternates scenes between flashbacks and the modern day.
187	* In ''Theatre/{{Proof}}'', there are several scenes that flashback to when Robert was alive.
188	* The original version of ''Theatre/MerrilyWeRollAlong'' had the story told in flashback, framed by Frank speaking at a graduation ceremony.
189	* ''Theatre/AngelsInAmerica'': In something not unlike a PensieveFlashback, Prior recounts his encounter with The Angel to Belize in the middle of a later scene, and both his telling and the encounter are played simultaneously onstage.
190	* ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' is told in one giant flashback, as the show's opening scene is of the aged Raoul attending an auction selling off items from the opera house.
191	* In the musical ''Theatre/{{Violet}}'', flashbacks occur regularly. Some characters (e.g., Young Violet, Father) appear only in flashbacks.
192	* The ''Theatre/{{Mrs Hawking}}'' play series: About a third of installment four, ''Gilded Cages'', takes place in 1859 Singapore, where Mrs. Hawking grew up, met the man who would she would reluctantly marry, and made her very first discovery of the injustice of the world.
193	* In ''Theatre/TheMiracleWorker'', UsefulNotes/AnneSullivan's past is revealed to the audience through multiple flashbacks. During her flashbacks, she hears and interacts with the voices of her younger brother and others from the orphan asylum.
194	-->'''Boy's Voice''': Annie, what's that noise?
195	-->'''Annie''': Just a cot, Jimmie.
196	-->'''Boy's Voice''': Where they pushin' it?
197	-->'''Annie''': To the deadhouse.
198	-->'''Boy's Voice''': Annie, does it hurt to be dead?
199	[[/folder]]
200
201	[[folder:Video Games]]
202	* ''VideoGame/NinetySix'': Late in the game, Niles starts flashing back to when Sixten was alive before the outbreak hit the island.
203	* In a game that revolves around memories, ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'' covers a variety of these.
204	* ''VideoGame/EchoSecretsOfTheLostCavern'' has a couple of flashbacks at the beginning of the game. They're of Arok and a shaman artist named Klem.
205	* ''[[VideoGame/{{Flashback}} Flashback: The Quest for Identity]]''. In-game flashbacks.
206	* In ''VideoGame/FredbearAndFriends'', the player gets to see two flashbacks to a security guard working during the pizzeria's heyday. While the first is playable, the other is just a short cutscene.
207	* ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' makes extensive use of this, though technically, it's actually Rookie going through camera recordings, not flashbacks ''per se,'' but it still counts.
208	* In ''[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare]]'', when Price finds out Zakhaev is behind the game's plot, he decides to roll a flashback to explain the guy's background. Players know this as the "All ghillied up" mission.
209	* All of the interludes in ''VideoGame/TheReconstruction''. Subverted in that all but one of them are flashbacks to [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent the prologue's cast]].
210	* ''VideoGame/ToyStory3'': The story mode is told in this form.
211	* In ''VideoGame/ValkyrieProfile'', flashbacks are often used to show the events leading up to the Einherjar's deaths.
212	[[/folder]]
213
214	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
215	* In Minori's route in ''VisualNovel/BrassRestoration'', flashbacks are used much more frequently than needed, often to recap something that happened half a scene ago. Thankfully not as prevalent in other routes.
216	* The protagonist’s breakup with Rachel is shown with one of these in ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework''. In the same flashback, he realizes exactly how he first met Dennis.
217	* ''VisualNovel/MajikoiLoveMeSeriously'' has flashbacks interspersed between routes as necessary; no single path gives a complete background on the family, with each person's pertinent set of flashbacks happening in their own storyline.
218	* A large portion of ''VisualNovel/FaultMilestoneOne'' is comprised of Rudo and Albas' memories.
219	* Many of the scenes in the after-story routes of ''VisualNovel/PrincessEvangile'' are flashbacks to events that took place during the Common Route.
220	[[/folder]]
221
222	[[folder:Web Animation]]
223	* Discussed in ''WebAnimation/TerribleWritingAdvice''. J.P. Beaubien suggests using flashbacks in various ways such as making a filler episode. He also suggests to use flashbacks in intrusive and pace-breaking manner.
224	[[/folder]]
225
226	[[folder:Webcomics]]
227	* ''Webcomic/{{Concerned}}'' has an mini-arc when Frohman flashes back to his days at Black Mesa, providing arguably the best LampshadeHanging of this trope ever as the quote for this page.
228	** He [[http://www.screencuisine.net/hlcomic/index.php?date=2006-04-03 later proves less than adept in relaying these]], though.
229	---> '''Laszlo''': Uh... Frohman? If you're having a flashback you've got to narrate it for us. We can't just see it in your head. I... I don't think he can hear me.
230	* ''Webcomic/VanVonHunter'' plays with this. [[http://www.vanvonhunter.com/vvh8.html "You have exceeded the maximum number of flashbacks allowed by the courtroom."]]
231	%%* Lampshaded with sarcasm in [[http://guildedage.net/webcomic/chapter-1/chapter-1-page-15/ here]] in ''Webcomic/GuildedAge''. %% Administrivia/WeblinksAreNotExamples
232	* In ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'', when Kieri reads through [[spoiler:Darius']] diary.
233	* Crop up at random intervals as "Reg's Lost Years" in ''Webcomic/RegularGuy''
234	* Lampshaded in [[http://booksdontworkhere.thecomicseries.com/comics/69/ this]] ''Webcomic/BooksDontWorkHere'' strip which starts a Flashback which took place before the Flashback they are already in started.
235	* In ''Webcomic/{{Endstone}}'' numerous: to when Jon tried to destroy the world, how he and Kyri met, facing down Drakyl -- etc.
236	* ''Webcomic/{{Shortpacked}}'' had a character trying to stop flashbacks to avoid drama. She interrupted a flashback mid-sequence, but [[http://www.shortpacked.com/2007/comic/book-5/06-flashbacked/mute/another character continued the same flashback]].
237	* In ''Unforgettable'', the female lead is in the habit of replaying events that she witnessed earlier in the episode, often finding a clue from something she saw that didn't seem important at the time.
238	* [[http://wapsisquare.com/comic/10232002/ This]] ''Webcomic/WapsiSquare'' strip uses a single panel flashback to show what happened last time Fermented Banana played at a wedding.
239	* The entire third story arc of ''Webcomic/TheSenkari'' is basically an extended flashback where Natalie learns some of the titular characters history..
240	* ''Webcomic/SleeplessDomain'':
241	** In Chapter 3, Undine revisits the scene where [[spoiler:her teammates, [[SoleSurvivor and very nearly herself]], were killed just days ago]]. As she does, the scene begins to [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-3-page-15 play itself out again in her mind]]. This time, however, there's one crucial difference that [[OnceMoreWithClarity the audience wasn't shown the first time]] -- a mysterious purple entity appeared to taunt her as she lay dying, before slinking away into the shadows.
242	** Chapter 9 [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-9-page-1 opens]] with a flashback sequence showing Undine attempting, unsuccessfully, to make a high-powered water jet with her powers. Said flashback sequence is placed right as [[spoiler:Undine successfully manages to pull off the attack in a burst of HeriocResolve]] in the present.
243	** In Chapter 10, Kokoro reveals her backstory to Undine in the form of a [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-10-page-26 flashback]] to the night that her mother was killed (as related to her by Mingxing, since Kokoro was too young to remember it herself). This same flashback is [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-17-page-31 continued]] seven chapters later from Mingxing's own perspective, revealing a part of the story that she never told Kokoro -- [[spoiler:that Mingxing had [[DePower burned out her own powers]] to save Kokoro's life that night.]]
244	** Chapter 13 ends on an ominous {{cliffhanger}}, as Tessa discovers [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chapter-12-page-33 a threatening message left on her window]] just as the scene ends. Several weeks later, when Tessa prepares to finally confront the author of the message, a [[https://www.sleeplessdomain.com/comic/chaper-18-page-26 brief flashback]] shows the rest of their conversation, revealing the entity's [[DealWithTheDevil true intentions]] in contacting her.
245	* ''Webcomic/SplitScreen'' jumps back and forth between Jan and Jeremy's childhood friendship and their strained relationship as adults.
246	* ''Webcomic/ErrantStory'' gets a lot of use out of these, with every main character having at least one, and not a single HappyFlashback to show for the whole bunch of them.
247	** Sarine gets the first one in the story, as she [[http://www.errantstory.com/2003-06-27/114 remembers]] how her husband got killed
248	** Bani and Meji [[http://www.errantstory.com/2004-07-14/250 meet]] as outsiders at school
249	** Jon gets [[http://www.errantstory.com/2004-04-09/216 thrown out of the house]] by his mother, as his sister Sara watches
250	** Sara's not-so-fun introduction to the Ensigerum is the subject of a [[http://www.errantstory.com/2006-08-18/550 series]] of mini-flashbacks
251	** The BigBad (Ian) gets an entire [[http://www.errantstory.com/2006-01-02/456 chapter]] of them, to explain why he set off on a quest that [[FaceHeelTurn turned him from adoring kid brother to world-shattering menace]]
252	* Some short poignant ones all over ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod''. So far there have been flashbacks for [[TheHero Bam]], [[MagnificentBastard Khun]], [[LittleMissBadass Anaak]], [[SocialDarwinist Endorsi]], [[RidiculouslyAverageGuy Rachel]], [[HotBlooded Ja]] [[GuileHero Wangnan]], [[TroubledButCute Viole]], [[SacrificialLamb Nia]] and [[PapaWolf Hon Akraptor]].
253	* Animated updates of ''[[Webcomic/{{Morphe}} morphE]]'' typically flashback to how one of the seedlings ended up in a crate at the start of the story. The [[http://morphe.thewebcomic.com/comics/1790280/chapter-2-page-19-sweet-dreams/ first flashback]] shows each seedling in torment, [[http://morphe.thewebcomic.com/comics/1901549/chapter-3-page-18-open-your-eyes/ the second]] focuses on one specific seedling and [[http://morphe.thewebcomic.com/comics/2084108/chapter-5-page-1-misery-loves-company/ the third]] shows how they ended up in captivity in the first place.
254	* ''Webcomic/MarioAndLuigiCleanupCrew'': Luigi and Mario briefly appear in the beginning of the first chapter, but the bulk of "A Mess in the Making" is Toad's recollection of the events leading to the current crisis.
255	* ''Webcomic/{{Inhibit}}'' begins with a flashback to when Victor first arrived at Urquhart. Chapter five also includes a flashback to Victor's time at Urquhart and how he met some of the other variants his age.
256	[[/folder]]
257
258	[[folder:Web Original]]
259	* ''WebVideo/TheBritishRailwayStories'': Episode 10, "The Legacy Of Gadwall", is told mostly through flashbacks to when the titular engine was [[spoiler:alive, before he got bombed to pieces in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII]].
260	** Episode 18, "The Last Run", has a flashback to [[spoiler:all the engines saying their goodbyes before Copley Hill closes down for good]].
261	* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', various characters have flashbacks which often explain their past and their relationship with other characters.
262	* Unusually for the series, ''WebVideo/{{lonelygirl15}}'' episode "Comfort Food" included flashbacks to Daniel's grandmother's funeral. Flashbacks were again used in the series 3 episode "I Miss Her".
263	* ''WebVideo/LG15TheResistance'' makes frequent use of these to show Maggie's past.
264	* Frequently used in ''Roleplay/TheGunganCouncil'' in order to explain why a character has or does something. "It's Not That I Keep Hanging On, I'm Never Letting Go" uses it in spades.
265	* Parodied in episode X of WebVideo/TransolarGalactica, when Captain Trigger gets a flashback without the series actually cutting to it.
266	-->'''Reggie''': Oh great, he's having one of his little flashback things.
267	-->...
268	-->'''Samson''' (after half a minute of Trigger staring vacantly into space): ... how long does it take?
269	* ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' has quite a few of those:
270	** In episode three, Kitten flashes back to the Age of Apostasy to break the monotony of his monologue.
271	** In episode five, the Emperor reminiscences of Malcador and how he set up what would [[NiceJobBreakingItHero later become Inquisition]].
272	** In episode thirteen, Magnus has two flashbacks, both showing his corruption by Tzeentch.
273	** Episode sixteen is largely a huge flashback to the War in Heaven.
274	** The short "Why Kitten Hates The Tau" plays with this -- it might be a flashback explaining the eponymous matter, or it might be the Emperor trolling Kitten.
275	* ''Literature/FunnyBusiness'' has a flashback right in the middle of the story that manages to double its overall length, and making what would otherwise be an ordinary PlotTwist into an AssPull.
276	* ''WebVideo/TheMostStupidDeathsInSuperMario64'': In 'Even More Stupid Deaths', Mario has a flashback to the first time he went on the "slider".
277	* ''LetsPlay/{{Mahu}}'': "Second Chance" sees several flashbacks, not all of which have the Commonwealth as the protagonist.
278	[[/folder]]
279
280	[[folder:Western Animation]]
281	* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' also lampshades a common problem with this trope: In "The Fry Cook What Came From All That Space", Zim recalls a flashback of being demoted to fry cook under fry lord Sizz-Lorr, and then escaping. After Zim escapes, it shows Sizz-Lorr alone, shouting at the top of his lungs:
282	-->'''Sizz-Lorr:''' I will find you Zim, so help me, I will search the entire universe, and I! WILL! FIND YOOOOOOOOU!
283	-->''(Cut back to present time with Zim and Sizz-Lorr)''
284	-->'''Sizz-Lorr:''' How did you remember what I said if you weren't there?
285	-->'''Zim:''' shrugs
286	* ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'':
287	** In "Wise Raven and Old Crow," Molly has a flashback to when she was little and Grandma Catherine was still alive, and she taught her how to tan hides.
288	** "A Song For Lola" features a flashback to when Molly and her family performed a song for Auntie Merna.
289	* ''WesternAnimation/NightOfTheAnimatedDead'': When Ben says he got a truck from a diner, the movie cuts to a scene from earlier showing Ben finding the truck, and encountering some of the chaos caused by the undead.
290	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'' often uses flashbacks, for example, to show Wu and Garmadon before the latter became fully evil.
291	* On ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'', there have been a few flashbacks about Lucius' life under [[RoyallyScrewedUp his father]], including the one that made him a SelfMadeOrphan.
292	* Used a lot in ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' by the character Dr. Doofenshmirtz, since almost all of his inventions have a backstory and he uses flashbacks to let Perry and the audience know the purpose for it. However, there have been some occasions where he'll skip over a flashback since Perry already knows the story, and on one occasion he had a horrible headache and said it hurt too much to do a flashback.
293	** In "The Belly of the Beast", Perry was going into a flashback of how he escaped, which Doofensmirtz took advantage of by attacking him.
294	** Parodied in "Doof Dynasty", an {{Elseworlds}} episode set in ancient China, where this discussion occurs about "Master Perry":
295	-->'''Phineas:''' What's he doing?\
296	'''Ferb:''' [[NoFourthWall That's a ripple dissolve]]. He must be having a flashback.\
297	'''Phineas:'''...does he know we can't see it? Should we give him some privacy? I don't know the protocol for flash-backs.
298	* Used frequently in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender,'' usually in the form of someone in the present narrating something that happened in the past (like the flashbacks in "The Storm," "The Avatar and the Firelord," and "The Southern Raiders"). "Zuko Alone" and "Appa's Lost Days" have characters who [[DarkAndTroubledPast don't]] or [[TeamPet can't]] talk about their pasts quietly remembering them in the form of flashbacks.
299	* ''WesternAnimation/TheCareBearsMovie'' is told as this by Mr. [[spoiler:Nicholas]] Cherrywood.
300	* ''WesternAnimation/DangerMouse'': "The Return Of Count Duckula" uses footage of DM's first encounter with Duckula from "The Four Tasks Of Danger Mouse" as a flashback as he recounts the meeting to Colonel K.
301	* The questionable reliability of flashbacks is PlayedWith in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Mobius Dick", when Farnsworth recalls the earliest days of Planet Express:
302	-->'''Amy:''' Zoidberg had hair?\
303	'''Farnsworth:''' I never said he had hair! If you chose to imagine him that way, that's your business!
304	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': In Episode 136, a flashback is shown to Kaeloo, Stumpy, Quack Quack and Mr. Cat [[EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether at school in the same class as little kids.]] This is despite the fact that other episodes have established that Kaeloo and Mr. Cat are older than the other two.
305	[[/folder]]

Context Main / Flashback