| 1 | ->''"OnTheNext Dai Guard, Ibuki has a really long flashback. I mean a '''really''' long flashback."'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''Akagi''', ''Anime/DaiGuard'' |
| 3 | |
| 4 | An episode consisting mainly of one or more {{Flashback}}s. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | Sometimes this is used to tell a story that takes place before the series began. Other times this is used as a variant form of a FramingDevice such as a CaptainsLog to allow the character to comment on the action with the benefit of hindsight. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | When the action takes place before the beginning of the series, the flashback is often used to show [[EveryoneMeetsEveryone how the characters met]]. Occasionally, it will be combined with ADayInTheLimelight, showing the true depths of a character while at the same time letting the audience see what made this person be like they are. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | Occasionally the flashback takes place some time between episodes during the run of the series, especially if it has a TimeSkip. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | When the flashbacks consist of previously recorded footage, you get a ClipShow, likely done in a RecapEpisode. |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Specific variants: HowWeGotHere, HowDadMetMom (sometimes), and RashomonStyle. Compare FlashbackBPlot, where a character's story alternates between flashbacks and present-day events. |
| 15 | ---- |
| 16 | !!Examples: |
| 17 | |
| 18 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 19 | |
| 20 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 21 | * About half of [[LastDayOfTheSchoolPlot Chapter 30]] of ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'' consists of Mari's flashbacks on the days right after the club merger, as well as how she thought about her position as the club president, at the time she's going to GraduateFromTheStory. |
| 22 | * The second half of Episode 6 of ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', where Mikasa starts remembering how she first met Eren. |
| 23 | ** Most of one of the episodes in season 3 involves a HowDadMetMom flashback [[spoiler:regarding Eren's parents, as told by Keith Shadis, the Survey Corps instructor. He talks about things other than Eren's parents' relationship, but it is the main focus]]. [[spoiler:Kenny, Levi's uncle]] also has a whole episode flashback about himself that provides information on [[spoiler:the Reiss family and the Founding Titan]]. His flashbacks overlap with those of [[spoiler:Rod Reiss's]], which also take up most of an episode. |
| 24 | ** The manga has several whole chapter flashbacks, including some mini story arcs that are almost whole ''volume'' flashbacks. These include [[spoiler:Grisha's exposition flashbacks that detail his life and give the audience some extremely important information regarding the titans]], [[spoiler:Reiner's childhood flashbacks that are meant to show how his SanitySlippage started and build up to his AttemptedSuicide]] and the flashbacks that fill in what happened during the [[spoiler:4-year TimeSkip that took place after volume 23]]. |
| 25 | * ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' is kind enough to devote a whole episode to flashing back to 1711 and explaining just why there are [[{{Immortality}} immortals]] in the first place. |
| 26 | * ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' starts InMediasRes for the first two and a half volumes, and then devotes the rest up to volume 14 to Guts' backstory. As for ''Anime/Berserk1997'', [[ExaggeratedTrope The entire series save for the first episode]] is dedicated to Guts' past. |
| 27 | * Two episodes of the second season of ''Manga/BirdyTheMighty'' ''Decode'' were about the title character's [[DarkAndTroubledPast past]] and origins. [[spoiler:She's a [[GeneticEngineeringIsTheNewNuke genetically-engineered]] SuperSoldier who was raised by a RobotMaid named [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Violeen/Violene/Violin]] until the Robot Maid was destroyed in a terrorist attack.]] |
| 28 | * ''Manga/BlackButler'' frequently drops multi-chapter flashbacks in the middle of a cliffhanger, usually to show how the characters involved get find their way to the current situation. |
| 29 | ** During the Blue Cult Arc, Ciel unexpectedly reunites with [[spoiler:his supposedly dead twin brother, the True Ciel Phantomhive]]. Chapter 130 then starts detailing Ciel's entire backstory that lasts until chapter 140. |
| 30 | ** During an espionage mission, Mey-rin gets into a gun fight with [[spoiler:Jane]], a mercenary hired to protect the estate's DarkSecret. [[spoiler:Jane]] then offers Mey-rin to work with her, promising great wealth. Mey-rin refuses due to her UndyingLoyalty to Ciel, and to understand why she would be so dedicated to the young master, we are shown her Backstory as a former [[spoiler:StreetUrchin turned assassin turned maid]] that runs from chapter 157 to 165. |
| 31 | * ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Semi-regular flashback chapters occur during the Soul Society arc. Also, a number of characters have flashback chapters during a significant fight, and especially when dying. There are also two mini-arcs that take place entirely in the past. "Turn Back the Pendulum" covers events affecting Soul Society 110-101 years before the first manga chapter. "Everything but the Rain" covers events affecting Karakura Town 20 years before the first manga chapter. |
| 32 | * ''Anime/BurstAngel'' had an episode about how Meg met Jo and what they used to do before becoming mercenaries. |
| 33 | * ''Manga/CaseClosed'' has featured quite a few episodes showing Shinichi solving cases before he was shrunk at the beginning of the series. One even flashes back to a case from when Shinichi and Ran were children. |
| 34 | * ''Manga/CellsAtWork'': |
| 35 | ** One chapter has Red Blood Cell making a delivery to the bone marrow, which is depicted as a school where erythroblasts (young red blood cells) and myelocytes (young white blood cells) are raised and trained in their duties, and she thinks back to her time in training. |
| 36 | ** Another chapter is a flashback to Killer T and Helper T during their time in the thymus, which is depicted as [[BootCampEpisode a "boot camp" for T cells]]. |
| 37 | * ''Anime/{{Chihayafuru}}'' so far has 2.5 episodes gone this way, starting midway from the first episode. |
| 38 | * ''Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx'': Episode 13 is completely devoted to Hiro and Zero Two's past. |
| 39 | * In ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'', Ken's flashback story in "Genesis of Evil"/"Digivice ga Yami ni Somaru Toki." |
| 40 | * ''Franchise/DragonBall'': |
| 41 | ** A filler episode of ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' entitled "Memories of Gohan" showed Goku and Chichi harkening back to both the day Goku named Gohan after his grandfather and a day during a family outing where Goku wound up witnessing Gohan's hidden potential for the first time. |
| 42 | ** In ''Anime/DragonBallGT'', there was a flashback episode about Vegeta's character development as a whole. Basically about how he was always outclassed by Goku, a low level Saiyan, despite being the prince of the near-extinct race. |
| 43 | * ''Manga/ElfenLied'' uses one of these to explain Lucy's StartOfDarkness. |
| 44 | * ''Manga/FamilyComplex'', the manga Sakamoto Akira starred before appearing in ''Manga/PrincessPrincess'', had one chapter about his parents. |
| 45 | * ''Franchise/FullmetalAlchemist'': |
| 46 | ** The [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist manga]] has a Whole Volume Flashback, in which the Ishval massacre is told in all its bloody horror. Or rather, three simultaneous flashbacks to the same time, but told by and to three different people (Riza's to Ed, Dr. Knox's to Al, Lan Fan, and May Chang, and Dr. Marcoh's to Scar). |
| 47 | ** When the manga was adapted into [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist2003 the 2003 anime]], the anime compressed most of the Elric Brothers' childhood (told in parts in the manga) into the third episode of the anime, then moved several events that happened in the present a couple years in the past so episodes 4-9 were flashing back to the first year after Ed and Al lost their limbs and body. |
| 48 | * ''Anime/{{Gungrave}}'' has this for about half of the series (at least in the anime). |
| 49 | * ''Manga/HenkyouNoRoukishiBardLoen'': Chapter 11 is an entire flashback chronicling how [[spoiler:Prince Windellan and Lady Aidra fell in love, Joulran was born, and then how the family was separated.]] |
| 50 | * In ''Anime/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'', ''Matsuribayashi-hen'' begins with no fewer than ''five'' episodes of flashbacks, of which the first two are made more confusing by AnachronicOrder. |
| 51 | * The last episode of the ''Manga/{{Hyakko}}'' anime shows the lives of the main cast before they met at high school. |
| 52 | * Over the course of its two seasons, ''Manga/ICantUnderstandWhatMyHusbandIsSaying'' had five flashback episodes. Three of them (9, 11 and 10.5) detailed how Hajime and Kaoru became a couple, one of them (-108) was how Rino and Nozomu became a couple, and one of them (-555) was how Mayotama [[BigBrotherAttraction became so attached]] to Hajime. |
| 53 | * ''Manga/HisAndHerCircumstances'' has this in volumes 18 and 19 of the manga to explain the past of the Arima family. |
| 54 | * ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': |
| 55 | ** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'': The first half of Episode 26 details the backstory of [[spoiler:Diavolo]] in his former home and how he became TheDon. |
| 56 | ** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'': Episode 31 is a full flashback showing the past of both [[spoiler:[[CainAndAbel Weather Report and Enrico Pucci]]]], focusing on the tragic events that set their paths in motion. |
| 57 | ** ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion JoJolion]]'': The penultimate chapter does not focus on Josuke, Yasuho, or the Higashikatas, but is a flashback to [[spoiler:1941 that focuses on Lucy Steel from ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Steel Ball Run]]'' and a young man named Fumi (later revealed to be Joseph Joestar), as they unravel the cause behind mysterious disappearances near the Higashikata Orchard]]. |
| 58 | * In ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen'', The Hidden Inventory arc and the following Premature Death mini-arc all take place about a decade in the past[[labelnote:*]]For reference, the main series takes place in 2018.[[/labelnote]], and follows Gojo's past, [[spoiler:with his best friend [[EvilFormerFriend Geto]], and shows the latter's StartOfDarkness, as well as the events leading up to Megumi's recruitment by Gojo into Tokyo Jujutsu High.]] |
| 59 | %% Needs Context * Done a number of times in ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes''. |
| 60 | * There is a fan manga that could be called ''Linux Flashback'' due to more than half of it being flashbacks. Every chapter or so, it switches point of view. |
| 61 | * ''Franchise/LupinIII'': |
| 62 | ** Volumes 4 & 5 for one of the ''Manga/LupinIII'' manga has a few stories starring a teenage Lupin. |
| 63 | ** ''Anime/LupinIIIEpisode0FirstContact'' has the premise of Jigen narrating a flashback to a reporter about how Lupin's gang was formed. Then the rest of the gang shows up. [[spoiler:Revealing that Jigen was actually Lupin in disguise, and none of the gang agrees with his version of events, though they then break into a building and steal the MacGuffin of the tale, proving that the caper in which they all met happened even if the details were not accurate.]] |
| 64 | * The latter half of the two-parter "It Was A Small Wish" of ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', which has Signum and Shamal reminiscing how they met their master and the events that led to the plot of the second season. There's also the [[ComicBookAdaptation supplementary manga]] "Lightning Hearts", which has Fate, Erio, and Caro narrating the stories on how they met each other to various members of [[HeroesRUs Riot Force 6]]. |
| 65 | * Three of Creator/MakotoShinkai's major films - ''Anime/ThePlacePromisedInOurEarlyDays'', ''Anime/YourName'' and the third act of ''Anime/FiveCentimetersPerSecond'' - begin near the chronological end with protagonist(s) reflecting on the past before flashing back to show in detail what happened. |
| 66 | * In ''Literature/MariaWatchesOverUs'', Satou Sei (''Rosa Gigantea'') got one of these in both the first and second seasons. |
| 67 | * ''Anime/MekakucityActors'': Episodes 6, 7, 9 and 10 are all dedicated flashbacks to fill out the stories of Ene, Konoha, Ayano ([[spoiler:and her adoptive siblings, Kido, Kano and Seto]]) and the Medusae (Azami, Shion and Mary), respectively. This also translates into the manga, where the ''Headphone Actor'' and ''Yuukei Yesterday'' chapters (set 2 years in the past, covering Ene and Konoha's joint history) take up a whole volume. |
| 68 | * About half of ''Manga/MermaidSaga'' consisted of these. Then again the main character was something like 700 years old so it was kind of inevitable. |
| 69 | * Several chapters of ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' are devoted to Tohru's past, chapter 32 in particular showing the details of how she and Kobayashi first met. |
| 70 | * ''Manga/MobileSuitGundamTheOrigin'', the AdaptationExpansion manga version of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', had an extended flashback detailing the death of Revolutionary Zeon Deikun, the Zabis' rise to power, Char and Sayla's childhood, Char's enrollment in Zeon's military school, espionage and the development of HumongousMecha between the EFF and Zeon, the events leading up to the One Year War, the Battle of Loum, General Revil's capture by and escape from Zeon----in short, all the events alluded to in the backstory of the original Gundam show----collected in six volumes, ''a third'' of the series published thus far. |
| 71 | * ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' has "After the Rain," which fleshes out Holly and Suezo's {{Backstory}}, and "Monol's Story," which reveals Moo's backstory and how the Monster Rancher world almost came to an end. |
| 72 | * ''Manga/MoriartyThePatriot'': |
| 73 | ** ''The Scarlet Eyes'' ends with an adult William having told a false version of his childhood to his students after having the true story has been told to the audience. |
| 74 | ** ''The Merchant of London'' arc shows Louis telling a story of his and William's life before they even met Albert in chapter one. |
| 75 | * ''Literature/MoribitoGuardianOfTheSpirit'' has two of them that explain Balsa's childhood and how she became a bodyguard. |
| 76 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' has a lot of flashback-only chapters, and even [[NestedStory flashbacks-within-flashbacks]], in order to show characters' backstory. Barring singular ones, the manga has several flashback arcs, while the anime adds so much more in order to pad out the story. Some of the notable flashback arcs from the manga include: |
| 77 | ** Kakashi Gaiden Arc, detailing Kakashi Hatake's mission with his team, Obito Uchiha, Rin Nohara, and Minato Namikaze, during the Third Ninja World War which led to Kakashi gaining his Sharingan [[spoiler:and set up Obito to become Tobi]]. In the manga, the chapters are wedged between Part I and Part II (chapters 239 to 244, to be precise), but thanks to the infamous Filler Hell, the anime decided to delay it so it could properly set up ''Shippuden'', with the episodes being aired during the Itachi Pursuit Arc. |
| 78 | ** The Confining the Jinchuriki Arc has five back-to-back chapters detailing the events around Naruto Uzumaki's birth. |
| 79 | ** The Warring States Arc, which expands on Hashirama Senju's friendship with Madara Uchiha when they were still alive. |
| 80 | * In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', [[Recap/NeonGenesisEvangelionEpisode21TheBirthOfNerv Episode 21]] is dedicated to exploring the backstory of NERV's creation, and, by extension, several of the main characters' pasts, notably Shinji's parents and Fuyutsuki, and more briefly, Misato and Ritsuko. |
| 81 | * In ''Manga/OnePiece'', each member of the crew has gotten at least one Whole Episode Flashback to show their backstory- as the series progresses, these flashbacks have gotten longer and longer, sometimes reaching three episodes of nothing but flashbacks. |
| 82 | * ''Manga/OuranHighSchoolHostClub'' had not one, but two flashback episodes, the first one being about how Hikaru and Kaoru met Tamaki, and the second one being about how Kyoya met Tamaki. |
| 83 | * ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' has an entire multi-volume flashback ''arc'' that spans from Retrace LXVI through Retrace LXXIV (with dips into the present throughout) and reveals the back stories of Glen, Jack, and Lacie as well as the events of one hundred years ago that led to the Tragedy of Sablier. |
| 84 | * Episode [[spoiler:10]] of ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' is one of these [[spoiler:kind of. It's a flashback from [[TimeTravel Homura]]'s perspective. For everyone else, it's a [[GroundhogDayLoop collection of alternative timelines]]]]. |
| 85 | * ''Anime/RahXephon'' had one of these, focusing on the childhood of Helena, Itsuki, and Makoto. It gave Makoto some ''much'' needed character depth, adding a new dimension to his otherwise rather flat SmugSnake-ness. |
| 86 | * ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': |
| 87 | ** Towards the end of the Kyoto arc, the multi-episode battles against Anji and Soujiro each had a flashback episode showing their StartOfDarkness that pretty much took up the entire episode. |
| 88 | ** Also, the manga had about two volumes worth of flashback to Kenshin's life as Hitokiri Battousai and [[spoiler:his ill-fated marriage to Tomoe]]. |
| 89 | * ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'' has a multi episode flashback. Apparent in story reason is to explain why Shana likes [[TrademarkFavoriteFood melon bread]] but it ends up covering her OriginStory as well. |
| 90 | * The "Mobius Klein" episode of the ''Manga/SilentMobius'' TV series details a disaster caused by the main character's father that's very important in the backstory. The first movie is also mostly flashback, as is the corresponding volume of the manga. |
| 91 | * The ''Manga/SlamDunk'' anime is known for several flashbacks happening during the game. One of the most poignant, however, was an entire episode featuring Kogure's flashback to his and Akagi's three year history on the basketball team. An episode-long flashback that somehow managed to occur between his taking a three-point shot and said shot going in the net. |
| 92 | * In ''Manga/SpyXFamily'', Chapters 62 until 62.5 focus on the past of protagonist Twilight and showing his childhood, the beginning of the war between Ostania and Westalis, as well as how he came to become a spy. |
| 93 | * In ''Manga/SummerTimeRendering'', Episode 9 covers the story of the day [[spoiler: Ushio met and befriended her shadow as well as the day that Ushio and Shiori were killed by Haine.]] |
| 94 | * ''Anime/TenchiUniverse'' was a [[WholeEpisodeFlashback Whole Series Flashback]]; the series started at the end and had Tenchi remember everything that happened. |
| 95 | * Roughly half of the ''Manga/TenjhoTenge'' anime consists of these. |
| 96 | * ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'' had the episode "Rem Saverem", which revealed both how humanity ended up on Gunsmoke and revealed Knives, who had never been featured or mentioned in the series up to that point. It also revealed Vash's connection with Rem, who thusfar had been an ambiguous character mentioned several times. |
| 97 | * ''Manga/TwinSpica'' has several of these, emphasizing the SliceOfLife nature of the show, rather than the space exploration part. |
| 98 | * In the ''Manga/UntilDeathDoUsPart'' manga, pretty much all of the Next arc is a flashback to the main character's past in Chechnya, leading up to [[EyeScream how he was blinded]]. |
| 99 | * The first half of Episode 2 of ''[[TheAnimeOfTheGame Venus Project: Climax]]'' shows Eriko's past to present as she shows how she became a contestant for the Formula Venus tournament and an idol, which involves going through ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}''-esque training sequences. Episode 3 also has one focusing on Ruka Sovagasky and Episode 4 has one focusing on Miu Nureha. While Episodes 2 and 4 are narrated by Eriko and Miu respectively, Ruka's episode is instead narrated by her trainer. |
| 100 | * Episode 3 of ''Literature/TheWeakestTamer'' shows the life of Femicia (pre-series Ivy) before her status as a [[IneptMage starless]] is revealed, as well as the three years she spent learning how to survive before running away. |
| 101 | * ''Anime/WolfsRain'' had a couple, although they were more recaps with some commenting from present-[[spoiler:Tsume/Toboe]] than purely flashbacks. |
| 102 | * ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'' has a two-chapter flashback showing Keima and Tenri's first meeting. |
| 103 | * The final episode of the first season of ''Manga/XxxHolic'' shows part of Watanuki's childhood (though they called it a sidestory). |
| 104 | * The first episode of ''Manga/YakitateJapan'' is a Whole Episode Flashback origin story. |
| 105 | * ''Anime/YokaiWatch'': |
| 106 | ** The show normally follows the ThreeShorts format; however, the episode about the day Jibanyan died was one entire episode. It involved Jibanyan reliving (due to time travel by [[KnightOfCerebus Kin and Gin]]) the day when he was the pet of a girl named Amy, and being given a second chance at life. He decided to die as staying alive would mean [[spoiler:his owner would die instead as scheduled by the Reapers association, as well as averting his fateful meeting with Nate]]. |
| 107 | ** A second episode involved Whisper (again by Kin and Gin) relives his life [[spoiler:in the Sengoku Period as the unseen-tactician serving under Ishida Mitsunari]], and likewise is given a second chance [[spoiler:to save the warlord from death]], which he refuses as well, because it'd imply Nate'd never meet the Yo-kai. |
| 108 | * ''Anime/YokaiWatchShadowside'': |
| 109 | ** As a call-back to the first example, an episode of this SequelSeries is also a flashback one as well, and features Jibanyan saving a girl named Miho [[spoiler:who turns out to be the daughter of his previous owner, and coincidentally, she was -mistakenly, this time- scheduled to die by the same Reapers association]]. Bonus points for [[spoiler:meeting Amy (who is now an adult, obviously) and -briefly- reverting to his original self!]] This episode also doubles as an OriginsEpisode, as it reveals [[spoiler:that Junior came into being from pieces of Jibanyan's body which were torn off during a battle with the Reapers to protect Miho]]. |
| 110 | ** Another episode told the origins of the Komasan and Komajiro (the latter debuted in said episode) we see in the series. [[spoiler:As it turns out (and clearing the ContinuitySnarl a bit), these two are completely different from the ones we saw in the original series, as they were a normal dog and frog which were accidentally crushed to death by a Komainu statue a young Mitsue Arihoshi toppled down while training[[note]]though this brings the question of what happened to the original Komasan and Komajiro, who like most Yokai were absent from ''Shadowside''[[/note]].]] |
| 111 | * ''Manga/YouAndMe'': The sixth episode is a flashback to [[UnwantedGlassesPlot Kaname getting his glasses]] in middle school. |
| 112 | [[/folder]] |
| 113 | |
| 114 | [[folder:Asian Animation]] |
| 115 | * In the ''Animation/BreadBarbershop'' episode "Wilk's Story", Wilk recounts his early childhood, when his parents noticed he has the word "MILK" misspelled on him (all the milk cartons in this show have the word "MILK" on them, except for Wilk; that's how he got his name). He goes to the Bread Barbershop after learning about it, wanting to get his label fixed. |
| 116 | * The ''Animation/HappyHeroes'' episode "It's All the Door's Fault" ([=S3E20=]) is one, detailing what caused Doctor H. to not leave his house as often and how the villain Big M. got to be so ugly. |
| 117 | * The ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'' episode "Origins" is about the docs reminiscing about how they first met in school, with the flashback taking up the majority of the episode. |
| 118 | [[/folder]] |
| 119 | |
| 120 | [[folder:Audio Plays]] |
| 121 | * ''AudioPlay/WereAlive'' has a ''four'' episode flashback telling how [[spoiler:Kalani]] became TheMole as told through his journal.[[note]]This being a serialized RadioDrama style show, each episode is a part of a three episode "Chapter" so the flashback takes up all of Chapter 27 and the first episode of Chapter 28[[/note]] |
| 122 | [[/folder]] |
| 123 | |
| 124 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 125 | * ''ComicBook/{{Bionicle}}'' comic 25: ''Birth of the Rahaga'' (also known under the confusing alternate title ''The Final Battle'') was an entire issue dedicated to how the heroic Toa Hagah got mutated into the titular Rahaga creatures. Since comics 16-27 formed a flashback series to begin with, this makes it a FlashbackWithinAFlashback. Graphic novel 8, ''Legends of Bara Magna'', was likewise a volume comprising three full-issue flashback stories. |
| 126 | * Creator/DCComics' ''Zero Month'' is a month with all released comics being issue long flashbacks, serving as a follow-up to the CrisisCrossover ''ComicBook/ZeroHourCrisisInTime''. |
| 127 | * Creator/MarvelComics' Flashback Month, [[FollowTheLeader three years after DC's Zero Month]], added a {{Retraux}} feel with 1960s-style covers, and all books being numbered "-1". |
| 128 | * ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': |
| 129 | ** "W.H.A.D.A.L.O.T.T.A.J.A.R.G.O.N." by Creator/DonRosa was created to celebrate [[MilestoneCelebration the 60th anniversary of the first appearance of Donald Duck's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie]]. It tells, through a flashback, the story of how the boys wound up joining [[ScoutOut the Junior Woodchucks]]. |
| 130 | ** Another Don Rosa story, "Gyro's First Invention", reveals how Gyro's lightbulb-headed robot sidekick Helper was invented (he was actually a novelty lamp exposed to [[CallForward a prototype of an intelligence-boosting device Gyro made in another story]], "The Think Box Bollix" by Creator/CarlBarks). It also offers an explanation of how Uncle Scrooge got the contents of his Money Bin back after it fell into a sinkhole at the end of Barks' "A Christmas for Shacktown" (Gyro retrieved it with the help of another of his inventions). |
| 131 | * ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague2011'' begins with an arc showing how the League got their start. |
| 132 | * ''ComicBook/Earth2'' and ''Worlds' Finest'' begin with flashbacks showing how [[spoiler:that universe's Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman died]] and how Huntress and Power Girl arrived on Prime Earth. |
| 133 | * Issue #6 of ''ComicBook/RedHoodAndTheOutlaws'' takes place a month before the events of #1 and details how Red Hood met Starfire in the first place -- and there are several other flashbacks within that context! |
| 134 | ** The TPB takes the novel route of opening with #6 before going on into #1. |
| 135 | * The ''ComicBook/StrontiumDog'' story "Portrait of a Mutant" was 18 issues long, 16 of which made up one long flashback to when Johnny fought in the mutant army as a teenager. |
| 136 | ** The "Ragnorak Job" from the same series is 21 episodes long all but two of which was one huge flashback of Johnny met his norm partner Wulf. Which leads into the series second biggest wham ending. |
| 137 | * ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': |
| 138 | ** "The Man Who Could See Tomorrow!," the first story in the first issue of ''ComicBook/Superboy1949'' is one, taking place in the present when ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'s already ComicBook/{{Superman}}, and having Clark flash back to his teenage years. |
| 139 | ** ''ComicBook/TheLeperFromKrypton'': Most of the third chapter consists of flashbacks where a dying Superman reminisces his life's history. |
| 140 | ** ''ComicBook/TheLifeStoryOfSuperman'' is mainly an origin chapter, most of it revolving around Superman having flashbacks while telling his life's story. |
| 141 | ** "ComicBook/TheSuperSteedOfSteel": Comet's flashback revealing his origin takes up most of issue #293. |
| 142 | ** "ComicBook/TheUnknownLegionnaire" starts with Superboy showing everyone the Unknown Legionnaire statue and asking if they remember how they met the nameless, masked hero. Superboy's flashback lasts until the second-to-last page of the issue. |
| 143 | ** Both ''ComicBook/ActionComicsNew52'' begins with an arc showing how Superman got his start. |
| 144 | * Issue #7 of ''ComicBook/TheVision2015'' is told entirely in flashbacks detailing the relationship between the Vision and his ex-wife the Scarlet Witch. Only a single splash page at the very end is set in the present. |
| 145 | * ''ComicBook/AstonishingAntMan'': The first ''eleven'' issues out of the thirteen that made up the series are used by the lead character to recapitulate the past eight months in his life and how he ended up back in prison. With the exception of #6, #8 and #10, every issue opens up with a splash page of Scott Lang in jail to re-establish the book's framing device. |
| 146 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'': |
| 147 | ** [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: "Wonder Woman and the Coming of the Kangas" is a flashback to Diana and Mala's time as children on Paradise Island, with the framing device being that Hippolyte is showing the Holliday Girls family photos and videos and talking about the adventure in question. |
| 148 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWomanBlackAndGold'': |
| 149 | *** The ending of "I'm Ageless" reveals the whole story has been one as it's not only set after the scenes set in World War II, but also the scenes of Diana interacting with the Franchise/JusticeLeague, as Diana passes by Batman's grave in a cemetery. |
| 150 | *** "We Built A Better World" is revealed to be one of Diana and Hippolyta conversing about her history with Steve Trevor as they pay tribute at his grave on Themyscira. |
| 151 | [[/folder]] |
| 152 | |
| 153 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 154 | * ''Fanfic/AlwaysVisible'': In fact, the entire zero act is a detailed analysis of the events described in the second, with the only difference being that if in the latter case the reader followed Jordan Thurlow, then in the zero act the actions are described on behalf of Delia herself. |
| 155 | * Most of Chapter 3 of the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' story ''Fanfic/AsylumDaemonOfDecay'' is Applejack explaining how she became a doctor and became Twilight's friend in this world. |
| 156 | * Downplayed in ''Fanfic/CalvinAndHobbesTheSeries'': the first half of "The Transmitter Conspiracy Part 1" is narrated by Calvin. |
| 157 | * [[Fanfic/TheDearSweetieBelleContinuity "Dear Sweetie Belle", "Dear Applebloom" and "Dear Scootaloo"]] largely consist of letters written to [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic the Cutie Mark Crusaders]] by their sisters (or sister figures) explaining {{Backstory}}. |
| 158 | * ''Fanfic/HalloweenUnspectacular'' does this once per collection during its second MythArc, helping to flesh out the backstory: |
| 159 | ** "Department Seventeen" from [=HU6=] serves as an OriginsEpisode for [[BigBad General Rausseman]], showing how he went from being a random German soldier in WWI to being chosen to become a Nazi SuperSoldier to turning TheRemnant that fled to Alaska into the beginnings of PURITY. Only the last scene is set in the present, as Rausseman reflects on his past while preparing the next stage of his plan. |
| 160 | ** "Legacies" from [=HU7=] depicts how PURITY slowly infiltrated the US government, eliminating enemies along the way. |
| 161 | ** "The Silver Man and the Burning Flame" from [=HU8=] reveals the origins of both the Phoenix Force and the silver man (heavily implied to be the Silver Surfer) seen at the end of the previous ''Unspectacular''. It ends with us seeing what the current bearers of the Phoenix Force are doing in the present, as well as Bucky apparently about to free the silver man. |
| 162 | * ''Fanfic/HopToIt'': |
| 163 | ** Chapter 5 cuts back and forth between Rabbit telling Ladybug and Chat Noir what she can about Anita Blacklock and Project Lionheart, and various flashbacks of Jack's memories of her grandmother (Anita) and the day she inherited the Rabbit Miraculous. |
| 164 | ** Chaper 8 has an extended flashback to Jack/Rabbit and Diego/Perro Negro's relationship, including the night they revealed their identities. It's framed by a couple of scenes of Rabbit practicing Dogstruction, with coaching from Perro and Chat. |
| 165 | * ''Fanfic/HuntingSeries'' has two complete flashback stories: ''The First Hunt'' - telling how Neo started hunting with Dean. The second is: ''Hunting and Saving'' - John Winchester saving a boy who turned out to be Neo from vampires thus starting off the whole series. |
| 166 | * ''Fanfic/JauneArcLordOfHunger'': The chapter "[[Recap/JauneArcLordOfHungerLegends Legends]]" consists of a series of flashbacks that begins nearly four thousand years prior to the main story and ends with the events of the prologue chapter ([[PerspectiveFlip retold]] from the POV of the BigBad). The flashbacks all center around the [[EvilMask Mask of Darth Nihilus]] and we're shown the impact the dark artifact had on historical characters from ''Franchise/StarWars'' and ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' alike, as well as how it ended up on the world of Remnant. |
| 167 | * ''Fanfic/JuniorOfficers'': |
| 168 | ** "The Short-Nosed Sea Snake"; to one of the earliest missions. |
| 169 | ** "Midnight Emergency"; to when Kitsune's son Ichiro was a toddler. |
| 170 | ** "Back to School"; to when Peso started fourth grade. |
| 171 | ** "If All Else Fails" until the end; to when Deborah was first joining the Octonauts. |
| 172 | ** "It Was Only a Kiss" until the end; to when Deborah had her first kiss. |
| 173 | * ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles'' is a ''Franchise/{{Naruto}}'' doujinshi taking place during the ''Shippuden'' era. Chapter 45 takes place during the canonical TimeSkip where Naruto spent a couple of years training with Jiraiya. It shows how Naruto became familiar with the hot springs he and [[TrueCompanions his friends]] would later end up visiting during the vacation arc. |
| 174 | ** ''Naru-Hina Chronicles Mini-sodes'': The story told from the 205th through the 213th Mini-sodes is about how Naruko and Hinata from the Yuri-verse fell in love with each other and got married, taking place before these two were introduced in the 200th Mini-sode. |
| 175 | * ''The Sanctuary Telepath'' has a version - the first (and longer) part of the story is framed by hazy lines from a barely-conscious person's POV. It turns out to be Janine, and everything up to the reveal is recalled by her damaged brain as it tries to piece itself together. |
| 176 | * ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Fiora's OriginsEpisode is also a story-long flashback to her years growing up in a shifter clan in the barrens. |
| 177 | [[/folder]] |
| 178 | |
| 179 | [[folder:Films — Live-Action]] |
| 180 | * Most movies in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse occur in the same order that they're produced with two notable exceptions: ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'', set in World War II, and ''Film/{{Captain Marvel|2019}}'', set in 1995. |
| 181 | * ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' is contained within short vignettes that occur after ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 185 | * The entire ''Literature/{{Bionicle}} Adventures'' series of 10 short novels, tie-in guide books and an encyclopedia told events that happened a thousand years before the original ''Chronicles'' series. The later ''Legends #4: Legacy of Evil'' was also a collection of flashbacks detailing the Piraka thugs' backstories and tying together the expanded universe of the entire series. No further backstory books were made, so any further flashback stories had to be squeezed into other novels, such as ''Legends #10: Swamp of Secrets'', where the chapters alternated between flashbacks and ongoing events. |
| 186 | * In ''Literature/CaptainUnderpants'' ''and the Terrifying Return of Tippy Tinkletrousers'', most of the book showcases how George and Harold first met in kindergarten. |
| 187 | * Both the ''Literature/CiaphasCain'' and the ''Flashman'' novels that inspired it are based on the same idea. Each novel is part of the hero's own memoirs prepared for publication with additional material by a third party. |
| 188 | * The ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' novella "Literature/TheManWhoGotOffTheGhostTrain" opens with a four-page set-up to a flashback that lasts for seventy-odd pages, depicting the main characters' first meeting and first adventure together, with another half-dozen pages of wrap-up at the end. |
| 189 | * ''Literature/EventGroupAdventures'': Book 10 is this in more ways than one. Its prologue is set just before book 1, then jumps ahead to just ''after'' book 1, and shows main protagonist Jack Collins receiving and starting to read a journal by an ancestor of his that records the very first Event, back before the organization was even founded, in the 1860s. The rest of the book, save for the epilogue, is the events recorded in the journal. |
| 190 | * ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' is the journal of the captain, mostly recounting Frankenstein's story of how he came to head toward [[spoiler:the north pole]]. In turn, for part of his narration, Victor quotes the creature's flashback story. And in said flashback story, ''the monster'' tells the story of a family he acted as a MysteriousProtector for. |
| 191 | * The whole Part II of ''It's Kind of a Funny Story'' is a HowWeGotHere-style flashback -- subverted in that the book starts in the present, goes back to the past, and then continues on in the present. |
| 192 | * ''Literature/TheLostThing'' by Shaun Tam is told in first person past tense; the narrator couldn't remember any stories to tell the reader, so he talks about the time he found the lost thing instead. Or should that be Lost Thing? |
| 193 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': |
| 194 | ** ''Literature/HaloPrimordium'' is mostly about a recovered [[{{Precursors}} Forerunner]] AI recounting events that happened to it over 100,000 years ago, back when it was still a human. [[spoiler:The major twist is that it's what left of 343 Guilty Spark.]] |
| 195 | ** The entirety of ''Literature/HaloNewBlood'' is Edward Buck talking about various past events in his life during a debriefing. |
| 196 | * A large section of ''Literature/TheOdyssey'' is Odysseus sitting in Phaeacia telling his story. All the iconic adventures (Polyphemus, Circe, consulting the shade of Tiresias, the Sirens and so on) are in here since the main action picks up with Calypso releasing him. |
| 197 | * ''Literature/{{Relativity}}'' uses these occasionally, as a way of fleshing-out some of the characters' backstories. |
| 198 | * ''Literature/{{Sanctioned}}'', a superhero webserial, has a lot of these. By Day Two, every third installment is a flashback to before the serial started. |
| 199 | * Two of the Literature/SherlockHolmes novels, namely ''Literature/AStudyInScarlet'' and ''Literature/TheValleyOfFear'', are structured around this trope: the first half of the book is a standard Holmes investigation in which he deduces what happened, while the second is a lengthy flashback sequence as the culprit tells the story of his backstory and why things happened the way they did. |
| 200 | * ''Literature/TheTimeMachine'' is mostly based around this trope, as the story is told to the narrator (who notes it down and writes the book) and some of his friends by the time traveller after he came back from the future. For this reason, the book is mostly in dialogue from the aforementioned time traveller. |
| 201 | * In William King's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/SpaceWolf'' novels, both ''Space Wolf'' and ''Grey Hunter'' have brief introductions and epilogues in the "current date", but the bulk of both novels is what he is remembering. ''Grey Hunters'' is presented in the same format, but as something he is recounting. |
| 202 | * ''Literature/WaywardChildren'': Odd-numbered books follow a present-day plot at the Home for Wayward Children, while even-numbered books tell the stories of how people there found their {{Magical Land}}s and [[ForegoneConclusion lost them again]]. |
| 203 | * ''Literature/WizardAndGlass'' consists mostly of a story told by Roland about his past. |
| 204 | * The ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' book ''Crewel Lye'' is narrated mainly as a flashback, in the first person as opposed to the third person of most ''Xanth'' books. |
| 205 | [[/folder]] |
| 206 | |
| 207 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 208 | !!!'''In General:''' |
| 209 | * ''Series/ForeverKnight'' and ''Series/{{Highlander}}: The Series'', which were filmed and aired at roughly at the same time, had very similar formats (the several-hundred-years-old hero would be reminded of events from his past, either by the current situation being directly relevant to the past flashback, or the two having thematic similarities. (''Highlander'' tended to the first while ''Forever Knight'' tended to the second.) In at least one case in Forever Knight and two in Highlander ("1966" in ''Forever Knight'' and "The Stone of Scone" and "The Unusual Suspects" in ''Highlander'') the bulk of the episode is the flashback, with the modern day little more than an excuse. |
| 210 | !!!'''By Series:''' |
| 211 | * A recurring bit on ''Series/NineOneOne'' is a flashback episode called "X Begins" that focuses on one major character (Hen, Chimney, Athena and Bobby has had two) and shows how they became the people we know today. |
| 212 | * ''Series/AllInTheFamily'' had a couple of these. One recounts the day Archie and Mike first met, while another (a two-parter) revisits Mike and Gloria's wedding. |
| 213 | * ''Series/{{Atlanta}}'' has one showing Earn and Alfred interacting in grade school. |
| 214 | * The Season 4 Finale of ''Series/BabylonFive'' had a being from the far future looking at data archives of events from the station's [[FlashForward near future]]. |
| 215 | * ''Series/BetterCallSaul'' is a Whole Flashback ''Series'', and each season begins with a look at Saul's fate after the events of ''Series/BreakingBad'' as a FramingDevice and then the rest of the season shows what Saul (and several other characters) were doing before that series began, until eventually the story converges on ''Breaking Bad'' near the end of the final season, and the last few episodes are set solely in the present day ([[TwentyMinutesIntoThePast of 2010]]). |
| 216 | * ''Series/{{Bewitched}}'' uses this trope as a flimsy excuse for a rerun, where an entire episode will be replayed under the guise of a flashback. |
| 217 | * ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' episode "[[Recap/TheBigBangTheoryS3E22TheStaircaseImplementation The Staircase Implementation]]" flashes back to when Leonard became Sheldon's roommate, and explains the events leading to the elevator breaking. |
| 218 | * ''Series/TheBrittasEmpire'' episode “In the Beginning” is this, flashing back to the first winter of the leisure centre and telling the tale of how everyone got snowed in and bonded over New Year's Day. |
| 219 | * ''Series/{{Bones}}'' - the 100th episode was a flashback to a case Bones and Booth solved before the pilot (and the UST that sizzled from day one), with a framing device of Booth and Bones telling Sweets about the inaccuracies in his book. The case itself was pretty mediocre, but the anvil drop at the end? Classic. |
| 220 | * On ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'', the fact that several important characters are centuries old provided plenty of opportunities to base episodes around looks into their complicated histories. The episodes "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E7FoolForLove Fool For Love]]" and "[[Recap/AngelS02E07Darla Darla]]", which aired the same night, were companion pieces, showing many of the same events from two different perspectives (Spike and Darla). |
| 221 | * Two notable ones in ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'': |
| 222 | ** Season 3's "[[Recap/CharmedS3E17PreWitched Pre-Witched]]" shows the sisters six months before the start of the series right before their grandmother died. |
| 223 | ** Season 6's "[[Recap/CharmedS6E10ChrisCrossed Chris-Crossed]]" is a flashback of Chris's past, which is technically a ''flash-forward'' since Chris is from the future. Doubles as a WhamEpisode in that it is revealed that not only is Chris actually [[spoiler:half-witch/half-whitelighter like Paige, but also in the future Wyatt is an evil overlord]]. |
| 224 | * ''Series/{{Colony}}'': Up until its last five minutes or so, the second season premiere "Eleven Thirteen" is one long flashback to the day of [[AlienInvasion the Arrival]]. |
| 225 | * ''Series/CriminalMinds'': |
| 226 | ** Season 4's "Tabula Rasa" had the team investigating a serial killer who just woke up from a coma. The episode drifts back and forth between the present: trying to determine whether he really had amnesia as he claimed, and the past: the initial investigation. Bonus points for it being the first time Garcia worked with the team. |
| 227 | ** The 100th episode features the cast explaining their actions (and Hotch's. Mostly Hotch's) at the culmination of the [[DarkerAndEdgier Reaper arc]]. Each explanation will be followed by a flashback of the characters doing exactly what they have to justify to their boss. |
| 228 | ** The season 7 premiere ("It Takes a Village") had the return of [[spoiler:Prentiss]] and the team explaining their actions in a simliar fashion to the 100th episode except that they were talking to a Senate commitee this time. |
| 229 | * The first post-series special for ''Series/CriminologistHimuraAndMysteryWriterArisugawa'' is a flashback episode showing how Himura and Arisugawa first met, years before the start of the series. At the end it's revealed to be a story told by Arisugawa to Tokie, chronologically set just before the end of the series finale. |
| 230 | * ''Series/DadsArmy'' was a flashback series, insofar as the first episode began in the present (i.e. 1968) and then flashed back to 1939. |
| 231 | * In the ''Series/{{Decoy}}'' episode "First Arrest", a rookie feels guilty about arresting a teenager for shoplifting. Casey comforts her by spending most of the rest of the episode telling her about her first assignment. |
| 232 | * An entire episode of ''Series/DesperateHousewives'' is dedicated to Eli Scruggs (Creator/BeauBridges), a local repairman of Wisteria Lane who dies of a heart attack in TheStinger. Despite [[RememberTheNewGuy never having appeared onscreen previously]], everyone knew him and his presence had a positive impact on the life of several of the housewives, which the episode details as he meets each housewife. |
| 233 | * Used repeatedly in ''Series/TheDickVanDykeShow'' in episodes about Rob and Laura's courtship and wedding, as well as their son's birth. |
| 234 | * ''Series/DirtySexyMoney'' had an episode called "The Facts" that seemed to be made up almost entirely of cut subplots from the show, aired after those plot elements were relevant. |
| 235 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'' |
| 236 | ** The episode aired after [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E7TheWheelInSpace "The Wheel in Space"]], where Zoe joins the Doctor, was a rerun of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E9TheEvilOfTheDaleks "The Evil of the Daleks"]], so it was set up at the end of "Wheel" as the Doctor psychically telling Zoe what she can expect from travelling with him by projecting that serial into her brain. |
| 237 | ** The 1986 season, "The Trial of a Time Lord", consisted of two four-episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E1TheMysteriousPlanet flashbacks]] (the [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E2Mindwarp latter]] of which was actually tampered with — we never find out what really happened), a [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E3TerrorOfTheVervoids four-episode]] FlashForward, and a two-part [[Recap/DoctorWhoS23E4TheUltimateFoe finale]] to wrap it up. |
| 238 | %%* ''Series/EerieIndiana'': "The Retainer" is told in flashback. |
| 239 | * ''Series/EscapeAtDannemora'': The penultimate episode focuses on the events leading up to Matt and Sweat's arrests as well as Tilly's past. |
| 240 | * ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' had a quite a few of these, often being season finales. These episodes often showed key moments in Ray and Debra's lives, including how they moved across the street from Ray's parents, their wedding, and their first time together. |
| 241 | * The ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "Scratch and Sniff", though with the added element that the story Crichton tells Pilot may not be entirely true. The episode "Dream a Little Dream" is another example. |
| 242 | ** DALD wasn't ''written'' as a flashback, though; it was originally shot as the season opener. Then it was decided that it didn't work well as the opener (not enough explosions, probably), so it got pushed back and framed as a flashback. |
| 243 | *** The reason DALD got pushed back was because [[spoiler: half the regular characters don't appear in the episode and the major plot points aren't directly tackled]]. Production was subsequently nervous and moved up "Mind the Baby" to compensate. This is ironic considering the beginning of Season 4, though. |
| 244 | * ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' features the episode "Out Of Gas", which consists of one extended flashback, which shows how the crew came to abandon the ship, leaving Mal alone, and a series of other, shorter flashbacks that tell how they met in the first place. |
| 245 | * ''Series/{{FlashForward|2009}}'' plays with this trope. At first the episodes are split between new scenes in present day and new scenes in future day. Then episodes became split between new scenes from present day and {{FlashBack}}s of the {{Flash Forward}}s and {{FlashBack}}s of scenes from the 'present day' timeline, so that about each episode is half new footage and half old footage. |
| 246 | * The ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'' episode "Acceptable Risk" begins with Team One exiting the scene after being forced to kill the subject. The story is told through a series of flashback scenes as the team recounts the call to a [[InternalAffairs Special Investigations]] officer. |
| 247 | * A popular narrative technique on ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' which was used often. Most notably in the penultimate episode "Crock Tales" where an inanimate object is the basis for multiple flashbacks in different time periods of the show. |
| 248 | * ''Series/{{Friends}}'' did several Whole Episode Flashbacks, which taken together largely explain how Everyone Met Everyone (although Rachel meets Chandler for the first time on about three occasions). |
| 249 | %%* ''Series/{{Fringe}}'' did this with the episode "Peter", and season 3's "Subject 13". |
| 250 | * ''Series/TheFugitive'' episode "The Girl from Little Egypt" has Kimble recalling the circumstances of his wife's murder, and the subsequent trial that led to his conviction of the crime, while recuperating from an automobile accident. |
| 251 | * The penultimate episode of ''Series/{{Glee}}'', "2009", showcases previously-unseen events that occurred before and during the events of the pilot, such as Artie's audition for Glee Club and the five original members discussing whether Finn should stay. |
| 252 | * ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'' had several episodes like this, where a very thin linking plot leads the four main characters to reminisce about past experiences, which are depicted in newly-shot footage. In one case, the women recall past attempts at self-improvement while planning to get into better shape before a friend's pool party. |
| 253 | * ''Series/TheGoodPlace'': |
| 254 | ** [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS4E06AChipDriverMystery "A Chip Driver Mystery]] is about Michael recalling the events of the last few days and explaining the lesson he learned from those days. |
| 255 | ** [[Recap/TheGoodPlaceS4E09TheAnswer "The Answer"]] has Chidi having all of his memories restored, showing dozens of important points in his life. |
| 256 | * In the ''Series/HereComeTheBrides'' episode "After a Dream, Comes Mourning," Biddie interviews Clancey about the days after the brides' arrival so she can write a histry of UsefulNotes/{{Seattle}}. Clancey describes how the men forgot to prepare housing for the women and had to build a dormitory in a few days. |
| 257 | * The ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' episode "Six Months Ago" plays with this by having one character actually going into the past. The episode serves as a flashback for all other characters. The second-season episode "Four Months Ago" also does this. |
| 258 | ** The third season had the episode "Villains", which comprised of flashbacks of different characters at different times, including events happening at the same time as "Six Months Ago", and events taking place at the same time as the series pilot. Hiro, who in season 1 [[spoiler: went back in time (see above)]] had a type of hallucination in which he went back to witness [[spoiler: Angela Petrelli's (failed) murder of her husband]]. |
| 259 | %%* The ''Series/{{House}}'' episodes "Three Stories" and "The Mistake". |
| 260 | * Arguably, ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' is a Flash Back ''Series'', but let's not go there, especially considering the prevalence of flashbacks during some episodes. In one episode, while Ted tells Robin about how he told her sister how he lost his virginity, we end up (in essence) with a [[NestedStory flashback in a flashback in a flashback in a flashback.]] The last episode before the writers' strike one upped this with Future Ted talking about Robin talking about Lily talking about Barney talking about his relationship with Wendy the Waitress: that's five levels of flashbackiness! |
| 261 | %%* ''Series/{{Ideal}}'' did this with "The Past". |
| 262 | * Most of a season of ''Series/ILoveLucy'' consisted of quickly framed frames for reruns of previous episodes (including some which CBS didn't air before). This was so Creator/LucilleBall could complete her pregnancy off-camera. |
| 263 | * ''Series/ISpy'' episode "Return to Glory" featured Scott explaining to a government auditor why he and Kelly charged $5.00 for glass pants. |
| 264 | * A second-season episode of ''Series/{{JAG}}'' uses the technique to incorporate an episode which was produced for the first season but never aired due to the show's cancellation by NBC (''JAG'' was later picked up by CBS). Harmon Rabb thinks his colleague Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie [[YouLookFamiliar looks familiar]] as Creator/CatherineBell plays both Mac and Harm's murdered girlfriend from the original episode. |
| 265 | * ''Series/TheJeffersons'' had two episodes both flashing back to when George first opened his dry cleaning business. One of them took place around the time of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination. The episode aired on the same date as well. |
| 266 | |
| 267 | * ''Series/JustShootMe'' had an episode where Dennis, Elliot and Nina recount how they first met Jack and how he hired them on the spot. (Nina's flashback is not of their first meeting, however.) |
| 268 | * ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'''s section in Movie Wars Core was dedicated to [[EnsembleDarkhorse Sokichi Narumi/Kamen Rider Skull's]] OriginStory. |
| 269 | ** They also have a Whole Movie Flashback to Kamen Rider Eternal in Kamen Rider Double Returns. |
| 270 | * Both ''Series/KungFu1972'' and its 90s sequel ''Series/KungFuTheLegendContinues'' has the main character (s) having flashbacks of his time in the Shao Lin monastry decades before, generally to give some kind of wise advise related to AnAesop the episode is trying to tell. |
| 271 | * The ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'' episode "Philadelphia" is framed as Elliot and Olivia talking to a psychologist about the case. |
| 272 | ** A late season episode of ''Series/LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'', has Zachary tell his partner about a case he worked that make him face his past. He's childhood sweetheart's wealthy father, who he knew well and got along with, was murdered. The girl, now a woman, suffered a nervous breakdown years prior and has the mind of a child, or so it seemed. Eventually, secrets are discovered and the killer is revealed. [[spoiler: Turns out TheButlerDidIt, literally. And the episode itself is presented as a classic {{Whodunit}}.]] |
| 273 | * ''Series/LittleHouseOnThePrairie'': The sixth-season episode "The Little House Years", framed around Thanksgiving dinner, consisted of extended flashbacks from memorable episodes, including "A Harvest of Friends", "100 Mile Walk", "Bunny", "The Race" and "Journey Into the Spring". |
| 274 | * Several episodes of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' employ this trope. Season 2's "The Other 48 Days" is one long flashback showing what the Tailies (crash survivors from the tail section of the plane) were doing during the entire first season, while we were all watching the folks from the front end of the plane. Season 3's "Flashes Before Your Eyes" and season 4's "Meet Kevin Johnson" are almost entirely flashbacks, from Desmond and [[spoiler:Michael]] respectively. Both have a brief frame story featuring only a few of the cast before plunging into flashbacks. Season 5 has two episodes like this, "316" (opens with [[spoiler:Jack's return to the Island]] and flashes back to the night before) and "The Life and Death of Jeremy Bentham". The incredible season 6 episode "Ab Aeterno" takes place almost entirely in Richard's past, showing how he came to the island and how he became immortal. Season 6's "Across The Sea" is a flashback to the origins of Jacob and the Man In Black, which ends with a narrative {{flashback}} but chronological {{flashforward}} to season 1's "House of the Rising Sun". |
| 275 | ** Season 6's "Happily Ever After" is almost a [[WholeEpisodeFlashback Whole Episode]] [[spoiler:Flash Sideways]], with only a few minutes of frame story. |
| 276 | * ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}'': "[[Recap/Lucifer2016S03E11CityOfAngels City of Angels?]]" is a whole-episode flash back to when Lucifer first arrives in Los Angeles. |
| 277 | * ''Series/MadAboutYou'' had one of these showing how Jamie and Paul first met, and another one depicting their marriage. |
| 278 | * ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'': |
| 279 | ** ''Series/Daredevil2015'': The first two-thirds of the season 3 episode "Karen" are an extended flashback of Karen Page's life before she came to New York. |
| 280 | ** ''Series/JessicaJones2015'': Season 2's "AKA I Want Your Cray-Cray" is entirely a flashback save for the last minute, showing Jessica and Trish's teenage lives, and Jessica's mother's treatments at IGH. |
| 281 | ** ''Series/LukeCage2016'': Almost the entirety of the season 1 episode "Step in the Arena" takes place in flashbacks that highlight Luke Cage's time at Seagate Prison, meeting Reva, and the botched experiment that gave him his durable skin. |
| 282 | ** ''Series/WandaVision'': The eighth episode, "Previously On," opens with a flashback of Agatha killing the witches in her coven. Then the majority of the episode sees Agatha walking through memories of key moments in Wanda's life[[note]]In order: her parents' deaths, HYDRA experimenting on her with the Mind Stone, falling in love with Vision, trying to claim Vision's body from SWORD after his death in ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar''[[/note]] trying to find out how she created the Hex. |
| 283 | * ''Series/{{MASH}}'' had a number of these, as in the episodes where a character is writing a letter home or the one where Hawkeye is filling out his last will and testament. |
| 284 | * "Sofa", the last episode of ''Series/MenBehavingBadly'' (before it was revived for three specials) consists largely of flashbacks: at first these deal with the history of the titular sofa, but then they branch out into pretty much being Gary's entire biography (and a bit of Tony's), climaxing in the scene where Gary and Dorothy first met, which had been obliquely referred to in previous episodes (trousers on the head) but never seen. |
| 285 | * ''Series/TheMentalist'''s 100th episode [[note]]but shown out of order with the 99th, making it the 99th aired[[/note]] shows the first case Patrick Jane worked on with the CBI, shortly after his wife was murdered and before he was officially a consultant. |
| 286 | * In the ''Series/MidnightCaller'' episode "Someone to Love", Jack hears that his ex-girlfriend Tina Cassidy is about to die of AIDS. He spends most of the rest of the episode flashing back to the previous December, when he cared for her while her condition worsened. |
| 287 | * Some ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' episodes, like "Frank Factor" or "No Heads and a Duffel Bag", when Earl is in jail or in a coma and can't continue with his list, feature whole episode flashbacks. |
| 288 | * Done at least twice in ''Series/{{NCIS}}''. In season 5's "Requiem" and in season 8's "Swan Song", the latter using a framing device to explain the death of [[spoiler:Mike Franks]]. |
| 289 | * ''Series/PennyDreadful'' episode "Closer than Sisters" follows Vanessa from her childhood right up to the point she joined forces with Sir Malcolm, with only a couple of scenes at a writing desk set in the present tense. |
| 290 | * ''Series/PersonOfInterest'' regularly has flashbacks showing Reese's time in the CIA or Finch's creation of the Machine. One particular third season [[Recap/PersonofInterestS03E16 episode]] takes place entirely in the past, with Finch working with a different partner while Reese and Shaw are still working for their respective government agencies. |
| 291 | * A first season episode of ''Series/PrisonBreak'', 'Brother's Keeper' employed this trope to reveal backstory on most of the main characters. |
| 292 | * ''Series/{{Revenge}}'' has had episodes which consisted almost entirely of flashbacks to events that happened years prior to the series' start. |
| 293 | * ''Series/TheRighteousGemstones'' has one in the middle of each season (episode 5 of each 9-episode season) titled "Interlude", "Interlude II", and "Interlude III". |
| 294 | * ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'': The Season 3 episode "Normandy" is set entirely in 1944, and shows how The Five (and Will's grandfather) were involved with D-Day. |
| 295 | * The entirety of ''Good Morning, Miss Bliss'' was repackaged as a series of flashback episodes to Zack's junior high days in ''Series/SavedByTheBell''. |
| 296 | * ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfTheAmericanTeenager'' has one in the episode where Amy's in labor. She and Ricky flashback to the day they met and got their babymaking on. There are also a few snippets showing what other characters were doing that same summer. |
| 297 | * ''Series/TheSecretLifeOfUs'' has an episode consisting of the group sharing past experiences over drinks and pasta. The flashbacks range from their early childhood to their university days, and all feature the adult actors, regardless of how old the characters were in the scene, or how old the extras around them were. |
| 298 | * ''Series/TheShield'' featured a flashback episode called "Co-Pilot" that was dropped into the middle of the second season because the makeup crew on the series needed time to figure out how to create a certain injury effect. The episode follows the formation of the Strike Team, and how all the main characters met. |
| 299 | * The ''Series/{{Sliders}}'' episode "Post-Traumatic Slide Syndrome" is a story told by Rembrandt. Another example is "The Last of Eden" produced before John Rhys-Davies' firing (thus, Arturo's death), but aired after it, which was introduced by Wade and Rembrandt remembering and talking about the events of the episode. |
| 300 | * ''Series/StationEleven'' jumps back and forth from events 20 years ago (when a deadly plague caused societal collapse and its aftermath) and in the present. Some episodes are fully set 20 years ago: |
| 301 | ** The entirety of "Goodbye My Damaged Home" takes place while Kirsten, delirious from poison, starts looking back on her time with Jeevan and Frank with new clarity. The audience is taken along for the ride through flashbacks. Kirsten picks up on things that weren't clear to her at the time. |
| 302 | ** Except for one scene at the very end, "Dr. Chaudhary" shows Jeevan and Kirsten after leaving Frank's apartment. It tells the audience how Jeevan got separated from Kirsten and where he ended up. |
| 303 | * ''Franchise/StarTrek'', on frequent occasions: |
| 304 | ** ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' has "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E11TheMenageriePartI The]] [[Recap/StarTrekS1E12TheMenageriePartII Menagerie]]", in which the flashbacks consist of footage from [[Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage the unaired first pilot]]. |
| 305 | ** In ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'', "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E19InThePaleMoonlight In the Pale Moonlight]]" and "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E06TrialsAndTribbleations Trials and Tribble-ations]]" use the CaptainsLog variant. "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS02E08NecessaryEvil Necessary Evil]]" is a NoirEpisode that cuts back and forth between the past and present as Odo investigates a crime connected to the first murder he investigated as a security officer for the Cardassians. The flashbacks include his first meetings with Quark and Kira, which both took place in the context of that case. |
| 306 | ** [[Recap/StarTrekEnterpriseS04E21TheseAreTheVoyages The finale]] of ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' is framed as a holodeck flashback by characters who weren't even there, hundreds of years in the future; this was accomplished through use of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'''s holodeck and two of its cast members. |
| 307 | * ''Series/StElsewhere'': The Season Four two-parter "Time Heals", in which St. Eligius celebrates its 50th anniversary, features extensive flashbacks: |
| 308 | ** In 1935, the hospital is founded by Father Joseph [=McCabe=], who serves as its chief administrator. The six-year-old Donald Westphall loses his entire family (bar his father Thomas) in a fire. |
| 309 | ** In 1945, Dr. Auschlander returns from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and is hired as a liver specialist at St. Eligius. At the hospital, he meets Westphall, a sixteen-year-old juvenile delinquent, and his future wife Katherine. |
| 310 | ** In 1955, Dr. Craig is an [[{{Jerkass}} arrogant]], [[ProfessionalButtKisser sycophantic]] intern who is forever trying to get into the good graces of the chief of surgery Dr. David Domedion. Auschlander succeeds Father [=McCabe=] as the chief of services. |
| 311 | ** In 1965, Craig returns to St. Eligius after ten years at Boston General and becomes the new chief of surgery. Helen Rosenthal (then Eisenberg) immigrates to the US shortly after marrying her first husband Edgar and begins working at the hospital as a nurse. |
| 312 | ** In 1975, after his wife Maureen is involved in a terrible car accident, Westphall makes the difficult decision to take her off of life support. Craig performs St. Eligius' first heart bypass on Patrick O'Casey. |
| 313 | * Creator/JimHenson's ''Series/TheStoryteller'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. Every episode has the host and his talking dog telling a story from European medieval folklore or Greek mythology aim by Henson's amazing puppetry and animatronics. Of course, technically the host is telling the stories nor remembering them... [[OrWasItADream or is he?]] |
| 314 | * ''Series/{{Suits}}'' used this type of flashback to detail the events leading to Daniel Hardman's first departure from the firm and the start of Mike's career taking [=LSATs=] for students. |
| 315 | * ''Series/{{Supergirl|2015}}'': Except for the BookEnds, the Season 3 episode "[[Recap/Supergirl2015S3E6Midvale Midvale]]" is entirely set 10 years prior, to the Danvers sisters' first adventure together. |
| 316 | * ''Series/TeenWolf'' has two episodes where the majority is a flashback being told by one character to another. "Visionary" is narrated by Peter and Gerard, explaining both Deucalion's and Derek's backstory. "The Fox and the Wolf" is Noshiko Yukimura telling the origin of the Nogitsune. |
| 317 | * ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'': |
| 318 | ** "[[Recap/TorchwoodS2E12Fragments Fragments]]" is primarily flashbacks by each member of Torchwood regarding how they joined. |
| 319 | ** ''[[Series/TorchwoodMiracleDay Miracle Day]]'' episode "[[Recap/TorchwoodS4E7ImmortalSins Immortal Sins]]" consists primarily of flashbacks to Jack's relationship with a man named Angelo in 1920s New York. |
| 320 | * ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZone1959S2E5TheHowlingMan The Howling Man]]", David Ellington tells a maid the story of his visit to Wolfring Castle and releasing the Devil from his confinement in the 1920s. |
| 321 | %%* ''Series/TwoGuysAndAGirl'' |
| 322 | * ''Series/UglyBetty'' skipped [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swag_%28Ugly_Betty_episode%29 an early episode]] but, due to the necessary plot points in it, it was repackaged as a Whole Episode Flashback. (In overseas distribution, some countries used the edited version as the eleventh episode, some removed the repackaging and showed it as the ''fourth'' episode, while in Australia, Channel Seven removed the repackaging but '''kept it as the eleventh episode'''!) |
| 323 | * ''Series/TheUntamed'': Starting from the middle of Episode 2, Wei Wuxian dreams of the events that led to his demise sixteen years ago. This flashback ends in Episode 33 where he wakes up in Lan Wangji's chambers. |
| 324 | * ''Series/VanHelsing2016'': |
| 325 | ** After the pilot establishes the plot, the following episode "Seen You" is set three years earlier, showing the day of the Rising, and explaining how Axel came to be standing guard over Vanessa's body and the vampiric Doc. |
| 326 | ** The Season 4 episode "No 'I' In Team" is similarly set at the start of the Rising, showing Jack's experiences on that day. |
| 327 | %%* ''Series/TheWestWing'' |
| 328 | * In the second season of ''Series/WhiteCollar'', the episode ''Forging Bonds'' uses the frame device of Peter giving Neal full immunity for one night to tell him everything he knows about Vincent Adler, Neal's old boss, who they're trying to take down. It goes back eight years and shows us how Neal first met Mozzie, Kate, Peter, and Alex. We also find out that Peter himself put together the white collar division of the New York FBI office, the plan that led to Neal's arrest was Diana's idea, and Jones was the one who handcuffed Neal when the bust went down. |
| 329 | ** And also, Mozzie had a toupee and goatee. |
| 330 | * ''Series/TheWonderYears'' is, by default, a flashback ''series''. |
| 331 | * ''Series/{{Workaholics}}'' has an entire episode devoted to how the three guys (and Karl) met in college, called "Flashback in the Day". |
| 332 | * ''Series/TheXFiles'' |
| 333 | ** "[[Recap/TheXFilesS08E13PerManum Per Manum]]" was one of these, with an attempt at telling the audience how baby William could have been conceived...but wasn't. |
| 334 | ** In "[[Recap/TheXFilesS04E07MusingsOfACigaretteSmokingMan Musings of a Cigarette-Smoking Man]]", we get an important part of the backstory for the eponymous character. |
| 335 | ** In season five's "[[Recap/TheXFilesS05E03UnusualSuspects Unusual Suspects]]", we learn all about how the Lone Gunmen met each other and Mulder and became...the Lone Gunmen. |
| 336 | ** Also in season five, "[[Recap/TheXFilesS05E15Travelers Travelers]]" flashes back to a 1980s Mulder asking Arthur Dales about his father's involvement in a case, and then flashes back even further to the 1950s as Dales tells his tale. |
| 337 | * ''Series/TheYoungIndianaJonesChronicles'' was a Whole Flashback Series as well, with an old Indy telling us of his past adventures. |
| 338 | * ''Series/YoureTheWorst'': The first two thirds of "Constant Horror And Bone-Deep Dissatisfaction" depict the two years in Jimmy and Gretchen's lives leading up to the pilot. After that it picks up in the present day. |
| 339 | [[/folder]] |
| 340 | |
| 341 | [[folder:Pinball]] |
| 342 | * Given a unique twist in ''Pinball/TheLordOfTheRings'': "There and Back Again" revisits all the Ring Modes. |
| 343 | [[/folder]] |
| 344 | |
| 345 | [[folder:Radio]] |
| 346 | * ''Radio/AmericanTop40'': To celebrate the series' fifth birthday in 1975, Casey Kasem created a flashback episode, with the episode essentially being a rebroadcast of the first program, from July 4, 1970. |
| 347 | * ''Radio/JourneyIntoSpace'': ''The Red Planet'' is a Whole Flashback Season. The first episode begins with Doc Matthews making an ominous diary entry: "June 15, 1972. Earth time. Seven years since man first conquered space. Two hours ago, we took off from UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} on the first stage of our 355 million mile journey back to Earth and home. Of the twenty men who went out on this mission, only eight are returning." It then flashes back to the flagship ''Discovery'' and eight freighters departing from UsefulNotes/{{Mars}} on April 1, 1971. Doc's retrospective narration is heard throughout ''The Red Planet''. |
| 348 | * ''Radio/TheMenFromTheMinistry'' had two, "A Back-dated Problem" and "The Fastest Brolly in the West", where majority of the episodes are spent on the two pairs of One and Two's ancestors, [[GenerationXerox who worked on the General Assistance Department]] during the Elizabethan era and the Wild West era, respectively. |
| 349 | * ''Radio/TheNavyLark'' has done a few, including one chronicling Navigation Officer, Sub-Lieutenant Phillips' naval training (he was intending to join the army, but [[NoSenseOfDirection got lost]] looking for Military Academy at Sandhurst and arrived at HMS Dartmouth by accident), and one which set the cast in the [[WoodenShipsAndIronMen Napoleonic Era]] as Nelson's and his Crew. |
| 350 | * ''Radio/XMinusOne'': [[Recap/XMinusOneE083ASaucerOfLoneliness Episode eighty-three]], [[AudioAdaptation adapted]] from Creator/TheodoreSturgeon's "Literature/ASaucerOfLoneliness", begins on June 25, 1962 and then flashes back to 1957 to tell the story of Janet Boyce's difficulties after her refusal to divulge the contents of the message from the FlyingSaucer. |
| 351 | [[/folder]] |
| 352 | |
| 353 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 354 | * ''Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}'' starts with Lucheni in the afterlife being tried for Elisabeth's murder. The rest of the show is a flashback to her life and death. |
| 355 | * ''Theatre/TheGlassMenagerie'' |
| 356 | * Stephen Sondhiem's ''Follies''. |
| 357 | * ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' |
| 358 | * The framing device for ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' starts out with someone asking Glinda if it's true she knew the Wicked Witch of the West, to which she says, "Our paths did cross...in school." Cue flashback from their first day at Shiz on to the end of the show. |
| 359 | * The way ''Theatre/ThrillMe'' is set up, we start at Nathan's parole hearing, then swap between hearing what he's telling the parole board and what happened. |
| 360 | [[/folder]] |
| 361 | |
| 362 | [[folder:Toys]] |
| 363 | * The 2004-2005 Metru Nui saga in ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' was a massive two-year (originally planned to be one, but ExecutiveMeddling kept on pushing it) flashback, with many of the toys released at that time representing former versions of pre-existing figures. It also had its own book series (''Adventures''), two DirectToDVD movies and numerous comics (one of them being a [[FlashbackWithinAFlashback flashback]] itself). ''BIONICLE'' co-creator Bob Thompson originally wanted to do more flashback years, but after he had left Franchise/{{LEGO}} in 2005, the company decided against this, reasoning that flashback toy-lines are too confusing for kids. |
| 364 | [[/folder]] |
| 365 | |
| 366 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 367 | * All the events of episodes one through four of ''VideoGame/TalesFromTheBorderlands,'' save for the occasional flash-forward to the present, are Rhys and Fiona telling the masked stranger holding them captive how they got to this point, with the stranger putting a special emphasis on how they found [[MacGuffinSuperPerson Gortys]] and why [[spoiler: she was later destroyed.]] The majority of episode five takes place in the present, and it's revealed that the masked stranger [[spoiler: is their friend Loader Bot, who went missing after Helios fell in episode four--he took on a new robotic body, put on a disguise so they wouldn't be tempted to lie to him about what happened, and set out to find Rhys and Fiona to learn more about their characters and why they took the actions they did that led to Gortys (temporarily, until they manage to reconstruct her) being out of commission.]] |
| 368 | * In ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert'', a whole chapter is devoted to the protagonist explaining everything about his relationship with Lainie to Mortelli, with all of the significant scenes shown in flashback form. |
| 369 | * ''VideoGame/DeusExTheFall'': The opening mission is a flashback to how Ben left the Tyrants. |
| 370 | * ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry5'': The story mostly happens on the 15th of June, a month after the heroes are effortlessly defeated by Urizen in the Prologue chapter. Mission 10 revisits and elaborates what happened in said prologue from the perspective of Dante. |
| 371 | * ''VideoGame/HitmanContracts''. The entire game is an extended flashback that remakes [[VideoGame/HitmanCodename47 the first Hitman game]] (Contracts is the third) with updated graphics and gameplay enhancements, as well as retelling some of the events in a different light to reflect the unreliable memories of the protagonist or him seeing it in a different light after all this time has passed. The framing story between missions, and the final mission after the flashbacks are over, is set in what would later be revealed to be the middle of ''[[VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney Blood Money]]''. |
| 372 | * ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' does this quite a bit. |
| 373 | ** The first case of ''[[VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Trials and Tribulations]]'' is a flashback to when Mia and Phoenix first met. Later, the fourth case is a flashback to ''[[AnachronicOrder before]]'' they first met. |
| 374 | ** Similarly, in ''VisualNovel/ApolloJusticeAceAttorney'', the fourth case has you going back to [[spoiler:seven years ago, to the very trial that got Phoenix disbarred]]. |
| 375 | ** ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigationsMilesEdgeworth'' takes it to ridiculous levels, even by the standards of the series. The second and third cases are flashbacks to the day before the first case, and [[spoiler:the fourth case flashes back to seven years before ''that'', when Edgeworth first met Kay while solving the murder of her father.]] It's less confusing in context. |
| 376 | *** And the second ''Investigations'' game goes all the way back to [[spoiler: the last case of Gregory Edgeworth, Miles Edgeworth's father, nearly twenty years ago.]] |
| 377 | * The SNES game ''VideoGame/{{Plok}}'' features an entire world based on Plok flashing back to the memory of his grandfather, the first man to explore Akrillic Island. In one of the more cool and elaborate gimmicks of any game of its time, everything in "Old Akrillic" is rendered in black and white. |
| 378 | * ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': |
| 379 | ** ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'' is mostly about the Rookie finding pieces of destroyed equipment, and then the flashback of how the equipment ended up that way. |
| 380 | ** ''VideoGame/HaloReach'' has a beginning scene where the player character's helmet is found on the ground, which sets up the rest of the game climaxing with [[spoiler: the death of said character and most of his/her team, their lives sacrificed to bring Cortana to the ''Pillar of Autumn'' by orders of Dr. Halsey. This sets into motion the events of the [[VideoGame/HaloCombatEvolved first game]].]] |
| 381 | * The first chapter of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics'' is Ramza retelling the events in his past that got him to the point of where he is now, and Delita's backstory, to Agrias and Gafgarion. |
| 382 | * The ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series has a few in later installments: |
| 383 | ** ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' features a two-mission long flashback - where Captain Price talks about how he first met the now-identified BigBad as ''Lefttenant'' Price under Captain [=McMillian=]. |
| 384 | ** ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps Black Ops]]'' is mostly (like ''VideoGame/Halo3ODST'') the protagonist talking about where he was stationed before under torture. However, there is a rare ''triple'' flashback. Alex Mason, in 19[[spoiler:68]] tells his interrogator how he was in a Russian gulag in 1963. While there, his prison buddy Reznov tells ''Alex'' about an event that happened in ''1945''. Within Victor's flashback, Victor is talking to his friend Dimitri about what happened in Stalingrad in '''1942'''. |
| 385 | ** ''[[VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOpsII Black Ops 2]]'' has a good portion of the game set in the 1980s, per Woods' flashbacks. |
| 386 | * The main action of ''VideoGame/ElementalGearbolt'' is one big flashback. It begins with a ruined city, then puts the player in the role of the destroyers who caused it. |
| 387 | * In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', there are two of these. One comes from [[spoiler: Archsage Athos, who explains his and Nergal's shared past and sheds light on the city of Arcadia, where dragons and humans live peacefully]]; the other is from [[spoiler: Nils]]'s POV, and is about [[spoiler: him explaining his and Ninian's past to Eliwood]]. |
| 388 | * Two of the tie-in comics for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' are these, with one describing Emmeryn's harsh first days of ruling and the other explaining exactly how Lissa became a Shepherd and then found the Avatar. |
| 389 | * The first three quarters of ''VideoGame/Persona5'' is basically an extended flashback detailing the events that would lead to [[PlayerCharacter the Phantom]]'s arrest in the prologue. |
| 390 | * After completing Stage 3 of ''VideoGame/RadiantSilvergun'' ([[AnachronicOrder the first played stage of the game; stages are numbered chronologically rather than by play order]]), one of the two stages you can play next is Stage 2, in which you play through the events leading up to the Stone-Like eradicating all life on Earth. |
| 391 | * ''VideoGame/EnsembleStars'' has a few - they can be identified if the title begins with 'Reminisence *'. These tend to either go into details about the war, or other elements of character's backstories which haven't been delved into yet, such as Nazuna's past history in Valkyrie. |
| 392 | * The ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'' games are all presented as flashbacks that detail [[HowWeGotHere how Max ends up in the predicament he's shown in at the beginning of the story]]. ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'', on top of that, has three flashback chapters, two of which chronicle Max's escape from the New Jersey mob with Passos and a third that shows what happened to the duo in Panama. |
| 393 | [[/folder]] |
| 394 | |
| 395 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 396 | * ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'': |
| 397 | ** Chapter 27, ''Why A Gorilla?'', had [=McNinja=] in his college years investigating and eliminating a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot vampire hyper-intelligent gorilla]]. Also explaining how he met Judy. |
| 398 | ** Chapter 29, ''First Generation Ninja American'' goes further back to [=McNinja=]'s childhood when first met his grandfather and taking his first job as an assassin. Also explaining the incident involving [[NoNameGiven his name]] and a wizard. |
| 399 | * Cahpter 3 of ''Webcomic/AngelDown'' goes over Bernard's backstory, occuring roughly 30 years before main events of the main plotline. |
| 400 | * ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'', which does its retelling of ''Franchise/StarWars'' in chronological order because that's what a roleplaying game would do, manages to work in ''Film/RogueOne'' after ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' by having the players reminisce about the [[{{Retcon}} previously unmentioned]] campaign they played just before ''Film/ANewHope''. |
| 401 | * ''Webcomic/DragonBallMultiverse'' has one every even chapter since chapter 8. Each one focusing in one (or more) different [[TheMultiverse universe]]. Chapters 8 and 12 retell the Broly stories, Chapter 10 has U12 Trunks reviving Android 16, Chapter 14, 16, and 18 showcase Universes 16, 17, and 6, respectively, and Chapters 20-21 tell the beginnings of Universe 3. |
| 402 | * ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': The first 6 strips of the "Hidden Genesis" storyline (starting [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2007-01-01 here]]) and the first 4 strips of the "In The Shadows" storyline (starting [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2007-04-11 here]]) are set 10 years previous to the day the rest of the strips of those storylines take place. Most of [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2010-08-18 this]] strip takes place the previous October and [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2012-07-20 this]] one takes place when Tedd was just a baby. |
| 403 | * Chapter 5 ("[[TropaholicsAnonymous [=VilAnon=]]]") of ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes'', where Jane tells the story of why she gave up being a villainess. |
| 404 | * ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': |
| 405 | ** Chapter 16, [[Recap/GunnerkriggCourtChapter16AGhostStory "A Ghost Story"]], shows young Antimony's first meeting with [[{{Psychopomp}} The Guides]], and the first time she [[ISeeDeadPeople helped a ghost move on]]. It's presented with the framing device of then-current-day Annie telling the story to Kat. |
| 406 | ** Chapter 22, [[Recap/GunnerkriggCourtChapter22Ties "Ties"]], shows a day in the lives of Annie's and Kat's parents (specifically, the day that group photo was taken). This time, there is no framing device. |
| 407 | ** Chapter 64, "Get Lost" is about how Annie's parents became a couple. While it doesn't start with a framing device, the previous chapter ended with a cliffhanger of Kat's mum being about to tell Annie something about her parents, and this is confirmed to be that story at the end. |
| 408 | * Act 5 Act 1 of ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is a whole ''act'' flashback focusing on the trolls, without any input from the kids until the very end. [[spoiler: [[WhamEpisode Until it turns out the kids had a much greater influence on the troll's universe than anyone previously thought.]]]] |
| 409 | * ''Webcomic/{{Housepets}}'': ''Housepets Babies!'' is taken up primarily by flashbacks illuminating the childhood of Grape and Peanut, narrated by Peanut, including their meeting each other for the first time. |
| 410 | %%* ''Webcomic/HowIKilledYourMaster'' appears to be setting up for a Whole Webcomic Flashback. |
| 411 | * The first half of chapter 3 in ''Webcomic/NextSoundOfTheFuture'' is a flashback exploring Shine’s idol training days and why she gave up on being an idol. |
| 412 | * Chapter 13 of ''Webcomic/RumorsOfWar'' shows a scene from after the events of the first StoryArc, during the TimeSkip. |
| 413 | * ''Webcomic/TheSilverEye'' is riddled with flashbacks, but the only chapter to be entirely a flashback is chapter 9, which presents us with [[TheWoobie Apen Shephard's]] backstory. |
| 414 | * Chapter 10 of ''Webcomic/ToddAllisonAndThePetuniaViolet'', which reveals why Petunia traveled to Melbourne and how she first met Todd. There's also the two side stories "The Daydreamings of Todd Allison" and "All Or Nothing Gamble", which show some events in the childhoods of Todd and Petunia's brothers, respectively. |
| 415 | * ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'': Chapter 7 is a flashback to Duane's last day and evening alive. |
| 416 | * ''Webcomic/WeakHero'': |
| 417 | ** Episodes 26-37 are one long flashback to Gray's experience in middle school, finally elaborating on the tragedies of his past and the identity of Stephen Ahn. When it returns to the present, Alex says that [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall it feels like it's been a while since they were in class.]] |
| 418 | ** Episodes 93-99 elaborate on Ben and Alex's past, showing their experiences in middle school and the infamous incident with [[InvincibleVillain Donald Na]] that led to Ben's arm injury. |
| 419 | ** Episodes 136-143 round out the foursome by delving into Gerard's past, finally explaining his proficiency with a guitar, his strange choice of hairstyle, and his history as the Mad Hound. |
| 420 | ** Episodes 102 and 103 delve into [[TokenGoodTeammate Jake Ji's]] backstory, explaining how he ended up in the Union and also the general history of the Daehyeon schools. |
| 421 | * ''Webcomic/TheZombieHunters'' takes it to a whole other level with a ''six year''-long flashback that shows HowWeGotHere (ie: the aftermath of a near-disastrous mission under series protagonist Jenny's leadership) in excruciating detail. |
| 422 | [[/folder]] |
| 423 | |
| 424 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 425 | * ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneBalance'' has a [[spoiler: ''whole arc flashback'' during The Stolen Century.]] |
| 426 | * ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Episode 5, "The Mystery of Melinda", consists almost entirely of flashbacks. |
| 427 | * Episode 7 of ''WebAnimation/LetsGoTamagotchi'' is a flashback to how Memetchi and Flowertchi became friends when the former saved the latter from being hit by a soccer ball and later helped her to fix the flower garden the ball messed up. |
| 428 | * ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'': Episodes 8 and 60 serve as this, to the Third Grade. |
| 429 | * ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'': |
| 430 | ** "Beginning of the End" shows how Cinder met Emerald, Mercury and the White Fang, and how she [[spoiler:stole the Fall Maiden's powers]]. The last few minutes, however, cut back to the present. |
| 431 | ** "The Lost Fable" shows [[spoiler:how Ozpin got to know Salem, why he reincarnates, why the moon is broken and why Salem is pissed at him.]] The last few seconds, however, cuts back to the present. |
| 432 | * ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'' has "How Mario Was Born". |
| 433 | [[/folder]] |
| 434 | |
| 435 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 436 | * ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'': "Supertroopers" is framed by Killbane and his fellow renegade {{Artificial Human}}s kidnapping [[CorruptBureaucrat Senator Wheiner]] and stealing a biological weapon. Most of the episode, however, is told in flashback as Shane remembers the events that destroyed the project. |
| 437 | %% Needs Context * Every episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfPaddington'' is this. |
| 438 | * ''WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries'': Part One of the "Seems Like Old Crimes" two-parter tells the story about how Aladdin and Abu first met. |
| 439 | * ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' had "When Hairy Met Silly", featuring how Charlie and Itchy first met. |
| 440 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': The episode "The Core & The King" shows the story of how King Andrias' StartOfDarkness occurred. |
| 441 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'': |
| 442 | ** "[[Recap/ArthurS1E1ArthursEyesFrancinesBadHairDay Arthur's Eyes]]" has D.W. discover a picture of Arthur without his glasses, prompting a flashback of how he got them. |
| 443 | ** "[[Recap/ArthurS1E11ArthursBabyDWsBaby Arthur's Baby" and "D.W.'s Baby]]" are episodes that both take place on Kate's 1st birthday. Arthur and D.W. recount how the other acted towards Kate's birth: Arthur was afraid that having a baby sister around would be a lot of work, while D.W. felt neglected and like Kate was taking attention away from her. |
| 444 | ** In "Tales from the Crib", D.W. tells Vicita how she moved from her crib to her bed. The story takes place before Kate's birth, and how D.W. was initially hesitant to get a bed until she realized she could roam around the house at night. |
| 445 | ** The majority of "[[Recap/ArthurS8E9FleaToBeYouAndMeKissAndTell Flea to Be You and Me]]" is dedicated to Pepe the flea's story of his travels around the world. |
| 446 | * Numerous episodes of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': |
| 447 | ** The first one would be "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheStorm The Storm]]", which goes a long way to [[MirrorCharacter prove that Aang and Zuko aren't that different]], as we see Aang coping with the pressure of being the ChosenOne while Iroh narrates how [[NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished Zuko gained his scar]]. |
| 448 | ** Next we had "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderZukoAlone Zuko Alone]]", which gives us even more of the prince's history; his competition with his sister, the deception of the court, and his father's willingness to [[OffingTheOffspring murder him]], which resulted in the death of his grandfather and the [[MissingMom disappearance of his mother]]. |
| 449 | ** Then we had "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderAppasLostDays Appa's Lost Days]]", which flashed back to when Appa was kidnapped, and results in a real TearJerker as we watch the bison become lost and abused. |
| 450 | ** Finally, "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheAvatarAndTheFirelord The Avatar and The Firelord]]", which shows the once-friendship of Avatar Roku and Sozin, the man who started the war. |
| 451 | * The first season of ''WesternAnimation/{{Babar}}'' consisted of an adult Babar telling his kids stories about the founding of Celestville and his adventures as a boy king. |
| 452 | * Every episode of ''WesternAnimation/BackToTheFuture'' was a Whole Episode Flashback, as Doc would tell the audience about past adventures. |
| 453 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': |
| 454 | ** "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE32RobinsReckoningPart1 Robin's Reckoning: Part 1]]", detailing his origin and Batman's failed attempt to capture Tony Zucco. The second half of part two has one more flashback in the first half of the episode before continuing the story in the present. |
| 455 | ** "[[Recap/TheAdventuresOfBatmanAndRobinE13Showdown Showdown]]" consits of a flashback to Ra's al Ghul's time in the old west where he ends up fighting ComicBook/JonahHex. |
| 456 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Beetlejuice}}'' series had two in its final season: |
| 457 | ** “Highs-Ghoul Confidential”: After Lydia finds BJ’s high school yearbook and discovers that he was voted Prom King, he tells her the story of how it happened. |
| 458 | ** “Journey to the Centre of the Neitherworld”: BJ tells Lydia about the time he and Jacques journeyed to the centre of the Neitherworld to rescue Vern Jewels, who was being held prisoner by Captain Nemo, who wanted to be rewritten into a hero role. [[spoiler:But considering how much of an UnreliableNarrator BJ is, it’s most likely that he made the whole story up just to get out of doing housework.]] |
| 459 | * ''WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien'' has two: |
| 460 | ** One, "Escape From Aggregor", describes the Andromeda aliens' capture by and escape from Aggregor before the beginning of the series. |
| 461 | ** The other, "Moonstruck", concerns how Grandpa Max and Verdona met. [[spoiler:Their marriage is AnotherStoryForAnotherTime.]] |
| 462 | * The original ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' cartoon ended with a three-part episode called "Once Upon a Time on Mars". While attempting to thwart Lawrence Limburger's latest scheme, the titular Biker Mice narrate to their human ally Charley Davidson flashbacks that show what Throttle, Vinnie, and Modo went through when they were still fighting Plutarkians on Mars before they went to Earth. |
| 463 | * ''WesternAnimation/BigCityGreens'': “Greens Acres” takes place during Bill’s childhood, focusing on his and his mom’s financial struggles, with his father’s recent death and pressure to sell the family farm. Young Bill tries to get money to help her, meeting his future wife Nancy in his quest, but ultimately fails. In the end, Bill gives his mother the okay to sell the farm, and they discuss that at least they’re selling to another farmer and not city developers, and Alice adds if nothing else, it’ll keep Bill away from [[ToxicFriendInfluence Nancy]]. Flash forward to present day, when Grandma finishes telling the story, and the kids remind her that the farmer who bought the family farm ended up selling the purchase to city developers after all. Furthermore, it’s already been established in previous episodes that Nancy and Bill married and had kids (and later divorced), so that goal fell through, too. |
| 464 | * The ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearofStarCommand'' episode "Lone Wolf" has Buzz tell his story through the whole episode of when he quit Star Command when the judge ordered the release of a criminal when Buzz destroyed the evidence, as well as half of Aliance Plaza, when trying to arrest him for his crimes, believing the justice system is against him. He vowed to look out for himself until came across a widow farmer and her son who were in danger due to a greedy man out to take their land. This adventure inspired Buzz to return to Star Command, and Buzz tells this story during a 10 minute court recess. |
| 465 | * ''WesternAnimation/CarmenSandiego'': |
| 466 | ** The pilot episode, "Becoming Carmen Sandiego", is the story as to how Carmen became the thief she is, with a FramingDevice of her latest move against V.I.L.E. |
| 467 | ** "The Boston Tea Party Caper" reveals how Zack and Ivy first met Carmen, which also happened to be Carmen's first anti-V.I.L.E. operation. |
| 468 | * The ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' episodes "Rudy's First Adventure" and "French Fry Falls" had flashbacks to Rudy's earlier adventures in [=ChalkZone=] when he was eight. The flashbacks came from the first two shorts from ''WesternAnimation/OhYeahCartoons'': "[=ChalkZone=]" and "The Amazin' River" respectively. Because the rest of the shorts took place during the show's current timeline, the show easily made them part of the first season without making them into flashbacks. |
| 469 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Cro}}'' consisted entirely of such eps, with a FramingDevice of a mammoth named Phil telling a Hispanic scientist and some kid about the good old days with the titular Cro. |
| 470 | * The ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' episodes "What You Want" and "The Fenton Menace" are entire flashbacks told respectively from Tucker's and Jazz's points of view. |
| 471 | * The "Summer Camp" episode in ''WesternAnimation/DanVs'' was basically Dan reminiscing about his revenge scheme against some bullies and how he met [[OnlyFriend Chris]]. |
| 472 | * ''WesternAnimation/DoraTheExplorer'': |
| 473 | ** The episode "Backpack" is a flashback to when Dora first received Backpack from Mami and Papi. "Dora's First Trip" is a flashback to way before that when she first became an explorer and went on her first adventure, and met her animal friends for the first time. |
| 474 | ** "Dora's Dance to the Rescue" begins with Dora and Boots dancing and recalling the events of the episode as a past event, and the rest of the episode is what happened that time. |
| 475 | * ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': |
| 476 | ** "Whatever Happened to Della Duck?!" covers everything from [[spoiler:the moment Della exited the Earth's atmosphere and got stranded on the Moon over ten years ago to what she was doing while the events of the previous season's "The Shadow War" were occurring]]. |
| 477 | ** "The Outlaw Scrooge [=McDuck=]!" follows young Scrooge seeking his fortune during the Gold Rush. It's framed as a story Scrooge is telling Louie in an attempt to teach his great-nephew the value of hard work, [[spoiler:but turns into an in-universe case of DoNotDoThisCoolThing. Louie finds the underhanded tactics of Goldie O'Gilt much more interesting, and he secretly asks her to be his new mentor.]] |
| 478 | * Spoofed in the ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'' episode "Every Which Way But Ed". It starts InMediasRes and has Eddy trigger a flashback. Eventually there are flashbacks within those flashbacks, and the Eds get lost among them in one of the show's NoFourthWall moments. The episode ends with Ed [[ItMakesSenseInContext running too fast when moving back to start of the episode]], getting the trio stuck in ''another'' flashback to the day they first met. |
| 479 | * The ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' episode "The Whining Pirates of Tortuga", about a younger Eek's life with pirates. |
| 480 | * All episodes of the short-lived ''The Fantastic Voyages of Sinbad the Sailor'' begin with an elderly Hakeem re-telling his adventures with Sinbad and his cat Kulak with some related event, ála Indy Jones. |
| 481 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': |
| 482 | ** The episode "The Tycoon" opens with Fred arriving home to find Wilma and the Rubbles acting unusually hostile to him, thus setting up a flashback as to how that all came about. Long story short, Fred [[PrinceAndPauper switched places with an identical rich man]] who ended up treating his friends like crap and left them [[YouKnowWhatYouDid mad at Fred for his apparent cruel behavior]]. |
| 483 | ** In the fourth-season episode "Bachelor Daze", when the Flintstones and Rubbles find out that a hotel is going to be torn down, they reminisce via flashback of how they met while working at the hotel. |
| 484 | * Most of the events in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Where No Fan Has Gone Before" are being recounted by the three main characters at a trial (a spoof of the classic ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The Menagerie", mentioned above). Ironically, the flashback only begins a few days beforehand and eventually catches up with itself. |
| 485 | * ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': The ''ComicStrip/USAcres'' segments would sometimes have Orson [[BreakingTheFourthWall talk to the viewer]] and tell them a story about something that happened the other day, which is the main plot of the episode. Strangely, there's nothing besides this that would indicate these episodes being part of a flashback. |
| 486 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' did this often, most notably with the four-part "City of Stone" story arc that explained the back stories of Macbeth and Demona. |
| 487 | * The ''WesternAnimation/GeneratorRex'' episode, "Promises, Promises", focuses on how the title character jonied Providence [[spoiler: and how White Knight became a BubbleBoy.]] |
| 488 | * The ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "[[Recap/GravityFallsS2E12ATaleOfTwoStans A Tale of Two Stans]]" consists mainly of Stan's backstory. [[spoiler:It also details the backstory of his [[Recap/GravityFallsS2E11NotWhatHeSeems recently introduced]] twin brother Stanford, along with the relationship between the two brothers.]] |
| 489 | * The ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Biosquare" is bookended by Arnold and Helga sharing their science project with the class. |
| 490 | * Almost every episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Horseland}}'' is this, with the opening scene having Shep recalling a past event and proceeding to tell the story. |
| 491 | * How has your favorite comic book character first met their friends? Only an episode of ''WesternAnimation/HarveyGirlsForever'' called "Girls Just Wanna Save Fun" will definitely do. But what more than what Audrey did when she first met Dot and Lotta? You'll never know! |
| 492 | * Every episode of ''WesternAnimation/JakersTheAdventuresOfPiggleyWinks'' has the grown-up Piggley recall an event from his childhood to his grandchildren. |
| 493 | %%* Any episode of ''[[WesternAnimation/KaBlam Life with Loopy]]''. |
| 494 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'': Episode 235 is entirely set in the past, and focuses on Quack-Quack's origin story and how he came to live in Smileyland with the other main characters. |
| 495 | * ''WesternAnimation/LegionOfSuperHeroes2006'' has an episode about how the team was first formed. |
| 496 | * ''WesternAnimation/MiloMurphysLaw'': |
| 497 | ** "The Llama Incident": Milo and Melissa finally explain to Zack the infamous NoodleIncident that occurred before he moved to Danville. |
| 498 | ** "Agee Ientee Diogee": Doofenshmirtz recalls a dog much like Diogee that he met [[WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb last summer]]. |
| 499 | ** "First Impressions": Milo and Melissa recall how they met and became friends in the A-Plot, while the B-Plot follows a younger Dakota and Cavendish doing likewise. |
| 500 | * ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': "Culture Clash" is a flashback in its entirety, detailing the time when Trini moved to Qyah. |
| 501 | * ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' had two of these: "Help" was about how Bloberta met Clay, the present day scenes are from the end of "Nature: Part 2." "Passing" is about Clay's childhood, the present day scenes are from a scene toward the beginning of "Nature: Part 1." ''Beforel Orel'' could be considered this, although that's more of a prequel. |
| 502 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheMrPeabodyAndShermanShow'' generally has two plots; a time travel story being told as part of a show, and and the misadventures of hosting the show around the time travel segments. Following off of a WhamEpisode season finale, "The Wrath of Hughes" has no show hosting subplot and is entirely focused on the Time Travel story of how the previous season finale cliffhanger was resolved. |
| 503 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 504 | ** Most of "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E10TheSaddleRowReview The Saddle Row Review]]" is spent in a flashback of the Mane Six and other characters getting interviewed for a newspaper review of the opening of Rarity's new boutique, which itself leads to flashbacks-within-a-flashback of the events leading up to it, while the beginning and ending are set in the present with Rarity reading the review. |
| 505 | ** "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS6E23WhereTheAppleLies Where the Apple Lies]]" is mostly spent in a flashback to when Applejack and Big Mac were young, focusing on an incident where a little white lie Applejack told spiraled out of control to disastrous results, leading to her coming to value honesty as she does in the show's present. |
| 506 | ** The final episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS9E26TheLastProblem The Last Problem]]" has the future Twilight Sparkle recall the day of her coronation to her student Luster Dawn, focusing on her move back to Canterlot and the fact she and Spike can't live with their friends in Ponyville anymore, but learning their friendship will never fade. |
| 507 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Ninjago}}'' has featured a few of these: |
| 508 | ** "Never Trust a Human" is a flashback to when Wu was a child. The flashbacks depict his first meeting with Aspheera, [[spoiler:and how he "betrayed" her and led her to be imprisoned]]. |
| 509 | ** "The Last of the Formlings" is dedicated to a flashback that depicts Akita discovering her animal form, [[spoiler:before witnessing the Ice Emperor attack the other Formlings]]. |
| 510 | ** "[[Recap/NinjagoS11E125Corruption Corruption]]" takes place before many of the previous episodes, showing what happened [[spoiler:to Zane after he was banished to the Never-Realm in "Vengeance is Mine!"]] |
| 511 | ** "Dungeon Party!" details how [[spoiler:the Lowly were tricked by King Vangelis into retrieving the Skull of Hazza D'ur for him, before being banished into the mountains]], where Cole and the others meet them in the present. |
| 512 | ** "The Tale of Benthomaar" details Bentho trying to connect with his adopted brother Kalmaar as he was growing up, which ultimately leads to Kalmaar discovering the Temple of Wojira. |
| 513 | * ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall'' begins InMediasRes, with our protagonists already TrappedInAnotherWorld; they don't seem entirely sure themselves how they got there and only vaguely allude to events before they came to Unknown. The ninth and penultimate episode finally explains how they got there, with only the last minute or so taking place in the present. Notably, the flashback ends with Wirt, Greg and the Frog [[spoiler:drowning, implying that they're having a NearDeathExperience and that the Unknown is the afterlife]]. |
| 514 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': |
| 515 | ** The episode "Knock, Knock, Knockin' on Hooty's Door" is mostly a flashback of Hooty trying to help out King, Eda, and Luz with their problems, interspersed with a FramingDevice of him relaying the details to [[spoiler:Lilith]] in a letter after the fact. |
| 516 | ** Most of the episode "Them's the Break, Kid" is a flashback to how Eda met [[spoiler:Raine]]. |
| 517 | * ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' "What'd I Miss" begins with Ferb and Perry returning home from camp, and Phineas and Doofenshmirtz, respectively, tell them about what happened yesterday -- specifically, Phineas and friends trained domesticated squirrels to live in the wild while Doof had to contend with a wholly unprofessional [[AnimalEspionage rhino agent]]. |
| 518 | * ''WesternAnimation/RazzberryJazzberryJam'': “Join The Jam” consists mostly of a flashback to how the Jazzberries met each other and decided to form a band, with a FramingDevice of the Jazzberries considering breaking up due to ConflictBall and RC trying to prevent them from doing so by reminding them of why they decided to play together in the first place. |
| 519 | * The ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' episode "One Stayed Clean" was a flashback in the form of a letter from T.J. being sent to Gus's dad, and "The Girl was Trouble", when Gretchen explains to Sue Bob Murphy about how she got in trouble. |
| 520 | * ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'': The "Skips' Story" episode is Skips tells Mordecai and Rigby the story of how he became immortal. |
| 521 | * ''WesternAnimation/Rugrats1991'': |
| 522 | ** The Season 3 finale, "Moving Away", showed how the babies first met. |
| 523 | ** There's also "Sour Pickles", which flashbacks back to when Stu and Drew were babies — Baby Stu is notably voiced by the same [[Creator/ElizabethDaily voice actress]] as Tommy. |
| 524 | * ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' had "Young Jack in Africa" which takes place during the montage in the first episode and lacks a framing device. "Jack Remembers the Past" does this with the FramingDevice of remembering his original home as he walks through it. |
| 525 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheScoobyDooAndScrappyDooShow'': "{{Scrappy}}'s Birthday" takes place on Scrappy's birthday, which is mostly Shaggy and Scooby reminiscing to Scrappy the day he was born. |
| 526 | * In ''Super Secret WesternAnimation/SecretSquirrel'' episode "Scirocco Mole", Secret and Morocco appear on Series/TheNewlywedGame parody [[HeterosexualLifePartners Platonic Partners]] gameshow (along with WesternAnimation/YogiBear[=/=]Booboo and the WesternAnimation/TwoStupidDogs), where when Morocco is asked where he and Secret met up, he says "at the gelatin store", when they [[MeaningfulName really met in]] Morocco. Secret then uses a machine to knock the two unconscious with a giant mallet to trigger a flashback. In this flashback, Secret mistakes Morocco for his EvilTwin brother Scirocco, who made Morocco dress up as Scirocco to lure Secret into a trap. Secret asks Morocco why his brother is like that, then Morocco goes into a flashback where as babies, Scirocco is beating Morocco with a baby rattle. Morroco asks Scirocco why he's doing it, and Scirocco explains that it's because he's evil, and goes into a flashback to when they were embryos, and embryo Scirocco is beating Morocco with his tail. When Morocco asks why he's evil, Scirocco prepares to go into a flashback "back when our [[ParentalBonus parents met]]". Before the flashback can proceed, Secret says "I think I got the idea" and ends Morocco's flashbacks, and just as well since Morocco lost track. Apparently a flashback within a flashback ''within'' a flashback '''''within''''' a flashback was just too much. [[spoiler: More likely they just couldn't show [[DontExplainTheJoke what happened during their conception]]...]] |
| 527 | * In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretWorldOfBenjaminBear'', Edgar tells Ben and Howie the story about the day he ended up in Abigail's possession when she was young and how she eventually found out teddy bears are alive. |
| 528 | * ''WesternAnimation/ShimmerAndShine'': "My Secret Genies" starts with the genies and their pets browsing through a photo album. Once they spot a photograph of the day they first met Leah, the rest of the episode was a flashback of that day. |
| 529 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has featured episodes about each of the children being born. In addition, a contested episode about how Marge and Homer first met and fell in love was also made. |
| 530 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E5DancinHomer Dancin' Homer]]" is a flashback being told by Homer to the patrons at Moe's Tavern. |
| 531 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS5E1HomersBarbershopQuartet Homer's Barbershop Quartet]]" is about Homer telling his kids about his days as a famous singer with Barney, Skinner and Apu. |
| 532 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS2E12TheWayWeWas The Way We Was]]" shows how Homer and Marge met in high school. |
| 533 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS3E12IMarriedMarge I Married Marge]]" shows the lead-up to Bart's birth and Homer and Marge's wedding. |
| 534 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS4E10LisasFirstWord Lisa's First Word]]" shows Lisa's birth and how Bart reacted to it. |
| 535 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E13AndMaggieMakesThree And Maggie Makes Three]]" takes place before Maggie is born. |
| 536 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS9E3LisasSax Lisa's Sax]]" has Lisa and Bart in kindergarten, showing Bart's first day of school and how Lisa got her saxophone. |
| 537 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS17E13TheSeeminglyNeverEndingStory The Seemingly Never-Ending Story]]" starts as a series of [[NestedStory nested stories]] before it's revealed that the entire episode is Bart's explanation to Principal Skinner why he didn't have time to study for his geography test. |
| 538 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E20TheWayWeWerent The Way We Weren't]]" shows the story of teenage Homer and Marge at summer camp. |
| 539 | ** "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS19E11That90sShow That 90s Show]]" is about Homer and Marge in college, where Homer joins a band. |
| 540 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'' begins with [[TheHero Peter]] already working as Spider-Man. During the episode "Intervention", near the end of the first season, his struggles with TheSymbiote lead to a BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind which reveal the full details of his origin story. |
| 541 | * ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': |
| 542 | ** The episode "Missing Identity" has [=SpongeBob=] sitting in a diner telling about the time he lost his name tag, and how he found it again. |
| 543 | ** The episode "To [=SquarePants=] or Not to [=SquarePants=]" is a flashback to "three days ago" as the narrator recalls the time [=SpongeBob=] "changed" his pants. |
| 544 | ** The Season 8 vacation arc of episodes, "A [=SquarePants=] Family Vacation", "Patrick's Staycation", "Walking the Plankton", "Mooncation", and "Mr. Krabs Takes a Vaction" all start with someone loading up a slideshow of their vacation, and the rest of the episode is what had happened on that vacation. |
| 545 | ** The hour-long episode "Truth or Square" (made in celebration of the show's tenth anniversary) has the characters reminiscing as they try to get out of the vents in time for the Krusty Krab's "eleventy-seventh" anniversary celebration. It avoids going the ClipShow route, as the "clips" are entirely new. |
| 546 | * ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': "[[Recap/StarVsTheForcesOfEvilS3E2MoonTheUndaunted Moon the Undaunted]]" takes place decades before the main series, showing how a young Queen Moon learned her "darkest spell" and used it to defeat [[BigBad Toffee]]. |
| 547 | * ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': |
| 548 | ** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS1E24AnIndirectKiss "An Indirect Kiss"]] opens with a bummed-out Steven having a picnic with Connie. Connie wonders what's bothering Steven, and why the Crystal Gems have built a fence around the cliffside; Steven relates the events of the episode in a flashback. |
| 549 | ** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E5StoryForSteven "Story for Steven"]], [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E12WeNeedToTalk "We Need to Talk"]], and [[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E16GregTheBabysitter "Greg the Babysitter"]] are all stories told by Greg, regarding his relationship with Rose, while [[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E9ThreeGemsAndABaby "Three Gems and a Baby"]] shows him during Steven's early months. |
| 550 | ** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E25TheAnswer "The Answer"]] is a story told by Garnet, about how [[spoiler:Ruby and Sapphire first met nearly 6000 years ago]]. |
| 551 | ** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E29LogDate7152 "Log Date 7 15 2"]] is told through Steven listening to [[spoiler:Peridot's]] logs while she freaks out over her recent [[spoiler:defection to the Crystal Gems]]. |
| 552 | ** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E3BuddysBook "Buddy's Book"]] has Steven and Connie reading the journal of one of the founders of Beach City and imagining what happened to him. |
| 553 | ** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS4E15TheNewCrystalGems "The New Crystal Gems"]] shows what the [[LowerDeckEpisode B-Team]] of Connie, [[spoiler:Lapis]], and [[spoiler:Peridot]] have been doing while the Crystal Gems were away in the previous arc. |
| 554 | ** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E16LettersToLars "Letters to Lars"]] has Lars reading a letter Steven sent to him about what has recently been happening in Beach City. |
| 555 | ** [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E19NowWereOnlyFallingApart "Now We're Only Falling Apart"]] is Pearl explaining Rose Quartz's origins and parts of [[Recap/StevenUniverseS2E25TheAnswer "The Answer"]] OnceMoreWithClarity |
| 556 | * ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld''[='=]s episode "Mama Luigi" featured Luigi retelling how Yoshi was discovered and how he helped the Mario Bros. defeat King Koopa and rescue Princess Toadstool. |
| 557 | * ''WesternAnimation/SymBionicTitan'' has two of these in "Shadows of Youth" and "Escape from Galaluna". Literally the ''whole'' episodes are a flashback, as there's no FramingDevice. |
| 558 | * ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': The episode "Go" showed the five main characters becoming a team. Though it doesn't include a FramingDevice in which one or all of the teammates reminisce. |
| 559 | * Season 4 of ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' started with four flashback episodes centered around Duke, Stuart, and Falcon on their old railway, said railway's decline, and how the three engines came to their new home. |
| 560 | * ''WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa'' has the episode "Once Upon a Timon", which reveals how Timon became an outcast from his meerkat colony and how he first met Pumbaa. [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf This isn't the only version of their backstory, however.]] |
| 561 | ** ''WesternAnimation/TheLionGuard'' has the episode "[[Recap/TheLionGuardS2E12TimonAndPumbaasChristmas Timon and Pumbaa's Christmas]]", which is about the time Timon and Pumbaa introduced Christmas to the Pride Landers. |
| 562 | * The ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' episode "Out Of The Past", which shows how Cliffjumper and Arcee became partners, and is framed by Miko's frustration with Bulkhead's injuries, and Arcee reminiscing about Cliff. |
| 563 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' episode "The Invisible Hand of Fate" details the origin of Phantom Limb, among other things, from the point of view of Master Billy Quizboy. |
| 564 | * ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'': |
| 565 | ** "The Legend Begins" details the story of how the original five paladins joined forces and [[TheFellowshipHasEnded later broke up]] due to [[StartOfDarkness one of them turning evil]]. |
| 566 | ** Downplayed with "Razor's Edge" and "The Colony", which are in large part flashbacks but are primarily set in the present. |
| 567 | * ''WesternAnimation/WeBareBears'' has done several episodes showing the three main characters as cubs and their early adventures. Each of them also gets at least one episode that takes place before they met the others. |
| 568 | ** There's also an episode with Charlie that is set [[spoiler: [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld over a hundred years ago]]]]. |
| 569 | * The ''WesternAnimation/XMenTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Descent" is mainly set in UsefulNotes/VictorianBritain and deals with the origin of Mister Sinister. Said origin is seen via flashbacks, as an aged ancestor of Professor Xavier's explains to law enforcement the threat posed by Sinister and what he himself witnessed. Notably, at the very end, the episode jumps to the present-day and Xavier is seemingly reflecting on events viewers had just seen. |
| 570 | * The Home Media releases of DIC's ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'' series from Season 2 onwards are produced as compilations, where Strawberry showcases the related episodes in her "Big Remembering Book" with Pupcake, Custard and sometimes her other friends, which basically counts as flashbacks. Later episodes ditch the "Big Remembering Book" for proper flashback scenes. |
| 571 | [[/folder]] |
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