Characters / Back to the Future: McFly Family

For the rest of the Back to the Future cast, see here.

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The McFly Family

First Generation

Seamus McFly

Seamus McFly

"You had him, Mr. Eastwood! You could have just walked away and nobody would've thought the less of you for it. All it would have been was words... hot air from a buffoon. Instead, you let him rile you, rile you into playin' his game, his way, by his rules."

Played by: Michael J. Fox
Dubbed in French by: Luq Hamet

An American settler who immigrated from Ireland, husband to Maggie McFly and brother of Martin McFly with a strong aversion to gun violence.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: Despite his aversion to violence, he clearly enjoyed watching Marty kick Buford's ass. And gets a chuckle out of Buford's nosedive into the manure. Being Irish, he clearly preferred Good Old Fisticuffs to gun violence. It helps that Marty was doing it to defend himself and Doc and after trying to reason first.
• Does Not Like Guns: While he uses a rifle for hunting, Seamus otherwise has no regard for weapons or the idiotic macho attitudes they encourage. When Marty tosses him his gun at the end, Seamus says he plans to trade it for a new hat.
• "Eureka!" Moment: Oddly enough, Marty exclaiming that Buford was "an asshole!" was one for Seamus. He realized that "Clint" finally understood he didn't have to fight everyone who goaded him into it.
• Fighting Irish: Defied. Despite the atrocious accent and bowler hat, this is the one stereotype that Seamus actively seeks to avoid. This stems from his brother Martin, who lost his life after getting into a knife fight.
• Identical Grandson: He strongly resembles his descendant Marty, due to both being played by Fox.
• Nice Guy: He decides to help Marty, a stranger he barely even knows, and helps him move past his need to prove himself.
• Oireland: He's from Ireland, complete with the stereotypical (and non-existent in reality) accent.
• Oppose What You Suffered: He lost his brother to a stupid duel and doesn't want Marty to throw his life away over an idiot like Buford.
• Pacifist: He hates fighting. Though as mentioned above, it seems more that he hates gun fighting and the pain and death that comes from it. Seamus seems perfectly satisfied, pleased even when Marty forgoes the gun in favor of just punching Buford out. He also doesn't seem to have an issue with fighting in self-defense, to protect others or when other options have been exhausted, as Marty was doing with Buford, and only hates seeing people fight solely to prove themselves as tough as such an attitude is what got his brother killed.
• Papa Wolf: Despite his wife's objection, Seamus has a strange feeling that he should help Marty, not knowing that the young man is actually his descendant. He also repeatedly tries to convince Marty not to fight Buford.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He was the Blue to his brother Martin's Red; Seamus is someone who dislikes fighting and prefers talking things through while Martin was a hothead whose repeated attempts to prove he wasn't a coward got him killed.
• So Proud of You: He's clearly proud to see Marty finally realize that Tannen is an "asshole" and that he doesn't need to prove his courage to Tannen or anyone else.
• Stealth Mentor: Seamus is able to change Marty for the better, preventing him from taking reckless actions just because someone calls him a coward such being goaded into a drag race by Needles. Part of it is that he was traumatized by his brother (ironically named Martin) being in exactly the same situation and getting himself killed because of it.

Maggie McFly

Margaret "Maggie" McFly

Played by: Lea Thompson

Mother of William McFly and Seamus's wife.

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• Hereditary Hairstyle: Averted. Maggie is redheaded Irish and curly-haired, unlike her modern-day descendants.
• Identical Ancestor: Bizarrely, Maggie McFly to her in-theory not-descendant Lorraine Baines, leading to fans joking that the McFly family is inbred.
• The Name Is Bond, James Bond: She introduces herself to Marty by saying "The name's McFly, Maggie McFly."
• Oireland: She's from Ireland, complete with the stereotypical (and non-existent in reality) accent.

Martin McFly

Martin McFly

Seamus's brother and Marty's great-great-granduncle.

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• Fatal Flaw: His temper and need to prove himself as tough. He could never back down from a fight or stand anyone thinking him a coward, eventually getting into a fight with the wrong person and dying.
• Oireland: He's from Ireland and unlike his brother, he more fully embodied the Fighting Irish archetype.
• Posthumous Character: He's already dead by the earliest point in the timeline in which the McFly family appears.
• Too Dumb to Live: Like his great-great-grandnephew, he suffered from a Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"! mentality, which got him killed via bowie knife in the stomach.

Second generation:

William McFly

William Sean McFly

Voiced in the Telltale Games series by: Michael J. Fox

Seamus's and Maggie McFly's Irish-American son and Marty's great-grandfather who played a role in Hill Valley's development.

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• Ascended Extra: After only appearing in a picture and as an infant in the third movie, he gets a somewhat bigger role and actual characterization in the final episode of the game.
• Big Damn Heroes: In 1931B, William arrives just in time to help Mary and Doc when Mary Pickford, aka a time displaced Edna Strickland, held the two at gun point.
• Nice Guy: He's nothing but helpful to Marty and Doc when he meets them in 1931B, and in the normal timeline, while initially and not entirely unjustifiably ticked off that his son eloped with a former speakeasy singer, he quickly warms up to his new daughter-in-law upon meeting her.
• Strong Family Resemblance: Greatly resembles his father and descendant, due to all three of them being played by the same actor.
• Uncertain Doom: The fate of the 1931B William is unknown as he is last seen holding off Edna, who has a gun, and allowing Doc and Marty to escape. It's unclear if he managed to disarm and/or subdue her or he got injured or killed. Then again, even if he dies, this timeline is erased at the end of the game.

Third Generation

Arthur McFly

Arthur McFly

Voiced in the Telltale Games series by: Michael X. Sommers

Marty's grandfather and George's father. Almost George's spitting image.

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• All There in the Manual: The novel says that Arthur went to World War I but was discharged for fraudulent enlistment because he lied about his age before he got the chance to see combat. Arthur returned home without even firing a single shot and became a laughing stock. This event destroyed his self-confidence.
• Dating Catwoman: He has a crush on the gangster's girl Trixie Trotter.
• Extreme Doormat: Like George, his future son, but overall, his life is less miserable than George's was. At least after Kid Tannen gets busted.
• Generation Xerox: He looks exactly like George, and his personality isn't far off from him either.
• Happily Married: To Trixie Trotter, who becomes Sylvia McFly.
• Like Father, Unlike Son: While his father William is quite capable of standing up for himself and others, Arthur, like his own son, is initially an Extreme Doormat.
• Punch-Clock Villain: He only goes along with Kid Tannen's "shenanigans" due to death threats against his life.
• Sexy Mentor: For Trixie. Enough for them to even get married.

Trixie Trotter

Trixie Trotter/Sylvia Miskin

Voiced in the Telltale Games series by: Melissa Hutchison

Kid Tannen's singer and girlfriend, who secretly is far more infatuated with his accountant Arthur McFly.

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• The Chanteuse: She serves as the lounge singer at Kid's Speakeasy.
• Dumb Blonde: Though less than she initially seems, she's certainly no genius. For example, she pronounces renaissance as "Ren-nay-sauce".
• Generation Xerox: When Marty is in Beauregard Tannen's saloon in 1876, he sees a painting of a Delores Miskin, who is presumably related to her and seemingly also performed in a drinking establishment.
• Good Bad Girl: Especially when we realize who she is at the end of Episode 5...
• Heel–Face Turn: Thanks to Marty, who managed to trick Trixie into thinking Arthur was killed by Kid Tannen. Granted, she wasn't exactly malicious in the first place and she wanted to get away from Kid for a while.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: She's Marty's paternal grandmother, "Grandma Sylvia".
• Mysterious Past: She's the "Winsome Wench from Winnipeg".

Fourth Generation

George McFly

George Douglas McFly

"If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."^note Left to right: 1955, Twin Pine 1985, Lone Pine 1985.

Played by: Crispin Glover (Back to the Future), Jeffrey Weissman (Back to the Future Part II and III), Hugh Coles (original, London and Broadway musicals), Oliver Nicholas (new casting, London musical)
Dubbed in French by: Dominique Collignon-Maurin (Back to the Future), Philippe Peythieu (Back to the Future Part II and III)
Dubbed in Japanese by: Toshio Furukawa (TV Asahi dub)
Voiced in the Telltale Games series by: Michael X. Sommers

Father of Marty McFly and Lorraine's husband.

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• Actually Pretty Funny: Even he can't help but laugh when Biff's gang makes fun of Marty's jacket, which they think is a life preserver.
• Badass Bookworm: What he becomes after his confrontation with Biff.
• Berserk Button: In issue 3 of the comic book, 1958!George hates it when you call what he writes "sci-fi," which he equates with "cheap junk." He writes "science fiction."
• Beware the Nice Ones: After decking his lifelong tormentor, George becomes one that you do not want to mess with.
• Bumbling Dad: At the beginning of the first film, he is this to a tee. Technically, he's not necessarily stupid, but he's too lacking in confidence to put his intelligence to use, being used to being bullied by Biff and essentially being cared for by Lorraine.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Earlier on in the movie, in 1955, he's spying on Lorraine through the window as she undresses (Marty: "He's a Peeping Tom!"). However, his fire is lit if you try to touch Lorraine inappropriately. It drove him to overcome his insecurities and stand up to the person who has bullied him his whole life by punching him out, saving Lorraine from Attempted Rape in the process. After he has saved her, he asks if she's okay, and helps her up to her feet. His chivalry is what makes him win her heart. When Marty returns to the "new" 1985, George's follow-up to Marty's incredulous observation that Lorraine is "thin" is to pinch her butt, showing he's ultimately still this trope.
• Dead Alternate Counterpart: The 1985-A George, who was murdered by Biff so he could marry Lorraine.
• Determinator: In the improved timeline, he kept trying for almost 30 years to get his first novel published, until he finally succeeds.
• Deuteragonist: For the first film. Marty has to teach George to stand up for himself and others, and the entire third act falls on George's shoulders as his choice to stand up to Biff and Dixon determines whether or not Marty lives or dies. After that, Marty only has to worry about being able to go back to 1985 when the clock tower is stopped.
• Eating Lunch Alone: George sits by himself at the cafeteria during lunch in 1955, writing ideas for his stories.
• Extreme Doormat: He's utterly terrified of and unable to stand up for himself against Biff until he takes a level up in badass towards the end of the first film.
• Fake Shemp: In the sequels, especially Part II, where the audience never gets a clear view of his face, aside from the scenes in 2015, where he's upside down and the actor is wearing old age makeup.
• Flashback with the Other Darrin: It may not be particularly noticeable most of the time due to clever camera work and tech, but the shots with George in Part II that aren't stock footage are played by Jeffrey Weissman.
• Glass Cannon: He's a lanky kid who gets manhandled pretty easily by the much taller and burlier Biff, but when he finally gets serious, he one-shots Biff with a single punch.
• Grew a Spine: Standing up to Biff is a critical moment that fills him with self-confidence and he no longer allows himself to be bullied afterwards. When Dixon tries to muscle in on dancing with Lorraine, George initially is unsure what to do, but when it looks like Marty is done for and is about to cease to exist...
  George: Excuse me! (shoves Dixon down and takes back his girl)
• Happily Married: He and Lorraine are very happy together after Marty fixes the time stream.
• "Kick Me" Prank: George is the victim of a cruel prank when some of Biff's friends tape a sheet of paper with the words "KICK ME" on it on his back.
• Lovable Nerd: A nerd who is more comfortable watching or writing sci-fi than he is with social interaction and who takes notes on what to say to the girl he likes. As he introduces himself to Lorraine as her "density", she seems amused by it. This probably would've succeeded if Biff hadn't shown up.
• Most Writers Are Writers: He writes little sci-fi stories and makes it big in the good timeline.
• Nerds Are Sexy: Even after the big 1955 makeover, he's still a bit of a nerd (he did, after all, write and publish what appears to be a pretty hardcore sci-fi novel). However, unlike before, he's an attractive and self-confident nerd rather than a stereotypical nerd.
  • Even before, Lorraine admitted that George was plenty cute, but his spinelessness and lack of self-confidence turned her off.
• Nice Guy: After going through an Extreme Doormat phase and a somewhat hormonal adolescence, George in the altered timeline has settled into this.
• Non-Standard Character Design: George is the only male McFly who isn't played by Michael J. Fox in the film trilogy.
• The Peeping Tom: The then-teenage George spies on Lorraine undressing from a tree next to her window with a pair of binoculars. This becomes a crucial plot point as this is the point where Marty alters history. When George falls out of the tree, Marty pushes him out of the way of an oncoming car... accidentally preventing his parents' original meeting. For an idea of how it originally happened, imagine Marty's actions that night at the dinner table with George in place of Marty.
• Parents as People: In the original timeline, he is a loving father, but they seem to care for him more than he does for them.
• Rage Breaking Point: When he initially tried to protect Lorraine from Biff, he was fearful and hesitant. When Biff violently shoved her to the ground and laughed, that was enough to lay him out with one hell of a punch.
• Silver Fox: Originally, George in the present day looked painfully nerdy and had greasy dark hair. In the improved present George has much lighter hair, but also dresses more stylishly and appears in better shape.
• Stereotypical Nerd: In the original timeline, George is a meek and introverted office worker who wears Nerd Glasses, has slicked-down, side-parted hair, and wears a button-down and tie with a pocket-protector. When Marty goes back in time, he realizes that his dad has always been this way, on top of being an Extreme Doormat and a Bully Magnet who is picked on by Biff and struggles to talk to his crush Lorraine. This does change though as Marty teaches George to stand up for himself.
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When he KOs Biff with that Haymaker, he recoils in pain briefly. Punching someone in the face can actually be very painful due to hitting the skull, and his incredible fury at Biff might have dampened but not entirely removed the pain.
• Took a Level in Badass: Marty basically helps him rise to this point. As soon as Lorraine is shoved to the ground by drunken Biff, the fire is lit.
• Unskilled, but Strong: He has less combat skill than a street punk. That said, he can throw a haymaker strong enough to knock out the much larger Biff in one hit.
• What You Are in the Dark: George is too meek to stick up for himself, but when he sees Lorraine in trouble, he sheds his fears and decks Biff with a single punch fuelled by years of pent-up rage.
• You Leave Him Alone!: Enforced by Marty, who comes up with a plan to get George on Lorraine's good side. When it turns out to be Biff instead, George still doesn't back down.

Lorraine Baines McFly

Lorraine Baines McFly

"You're safe and sound now, back in good old 1955." ^note Clockwise from top left: 1955, Twin Pines 1985, Lone Pine 1985, and 1985-A

Played by: Lea Thompson, Rosanna Hyland (original, London musical), Amber Davies (new casting, London musical), Liana Hunt (original, Broadway musical)
Dubbed in French By: Céline Monsarrat
Dubbed in Japanese By: Gara Takashima (TV Asahi dub)
Voiced in the Telltale Games series by: Aimee Miles

Mother of Marty McFly and George's wife.

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• The Alcoholic: In the original 1985, she's a bit of a drinker to cope with her not-very-happy marriage, but she's worse in 1985-A to cope with the horror of being stuck with Biff.
• All Girls Want Bad Boys: Averted. She makes it quite clear that she has absolutely no interest in Biff. She's also repulsed when Dixon tries to dance with her.
• All Women Are Lustful: Goes to almost Stalker with a Crush levels in the first film when she grows a lustful interest in Marty.
• Awful Wedded Life: Her marriage to George in the original timeline is more than a bit strained, but her marriage to Biff in 1985-A is much worse.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Inverted. She hasn't aged well in the original 1985, due to her less-than-ideal marriage to George and her alcoholism. In the altered 1985, where Lorraine and George have a much healthier marriage, she's shown to have aged more gracefully. Subverted in 1985-A, where she's still in good shape and tries to do right by her kids, but her garish makeover is a result of being Biff's trophy wife.
• Brick Joke: Teenage Lorraine kisses Marty and is immediately turned off. Sixty years later, she greets her granddaughter with a peck on the cheek, and her daughter is played by Michael J. Fox. And Marty's great-great-grandparents are played by Lea Thompson and Michael J. Fox.
• Broken Bird: The Lorraine of 1985-A is a shattered woman, trapped in an abusive/loveless marriage to Biff, staying with him only so that her children can live in relative comfort.
• Damsel out of Distress: It's revealed in the second movie that she delivered a Groin Attack to Biff when he tried to pressure her into going into the dance with him.
• The Dog Bites Back: Word of God is that in the alternate timeline, Lorraine eventually snaps under the strain of Biff's abuse and shoots him dead in the 1990s (with the same revolver he used on George, no less). Biff to the Future elaborates on this by revealing that while Lorraine did pull a gun on Biff, he survived by wearing kevlar at the time. It wasn't until the Doc of that timeline tricked Biff into traveling back in time to meet Buford and push his Berserk Button that Biff was finally killed off. By setting the timeline right, Marty may have humiliated Biff, but he also saved his life.
• Domestic Abuse: In 1985-A, Biff has her husband killed and threatens her into an abusive marriage. He hits Marty on a regular basis, even when Marty isn't doing anything to antagonize him. It's implied Lorraine knows what he did to George and the only reason she doesn't leave is that Biff threatens to cut off her kids' financial support and make their lives hell. Then presumably she finds out that Biff made Marty jump off the roof of their home at gunpoint, even if it was part of Marty's plan.
• Fan Disservice:
  • Her interactions with Marty in the 1955 portions of the first film. She's a pretty, kindhearted young woman with a desperate crush on a boy... who happens to be her time-displaced son.
  • 1985-A, where Biff made her get plastic surgery and large breast implants, has her wear lots of makeup, and dresses her up in expensive clothing. While other movies might play the Fanservice straight, the context behind it is what makes it unappealing, and only serves to show how horrible and degrading her life in 1985-A is.
• Former Teen Rebel: Has a very prudish attitude toward teenage sexuality as a parent, looking down on Jennifer calling Marty twice in one evening. However, Marty discovers firsthand that as a teenager, his mother smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol, and fooled around with boys in parked cars. And basically semi-stalked the boy she liked, following him home. Then again considering how it worked out for her in that timeline it does make sense why she would be so prudish.
• Got Over Rape Instantly: George ends Biff's sexual assault against Lorraine after which point she immediately appears infatuated with George and the assault is never again mentioned or addressed.
• Guess Who I'm Marrying?: Biff in 1985-A. Much to Marty's horror. Subverted in that the marriage was obviously forced, and Biff is abusive to the McFlys.
• Happily Married: In the altered timeline, her marriage with George is much, much healthier.
• Has a Type: Lorraine says outright that she prefers men who have a spine and can stand up for themselves and others. She's unhappy with George being a doormat in the original timeline, is attracted to "Calvin Klein" because of his boldness in standing up to Biff, and finally falls in love with George when he saves her from Biff and Dixon.
• High-School Sweethearts: With George, even in the unaltered timeline where their marriage is rocky.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Very much. She's somewhat plain and a bit drunk and prudish at the start of the first film, so Marty is shocked by Lorraine's real attractiveness when he meets her in 1955. She ages much more gracefully in the "improved" 1985 that Marty returns to in the first film.
  Lorraine: My name's Lorraine, Lorraine Baines.
  Marty: Yeah... but you're ho... you're so h... you're so... thin!
• Lady Drunk: In the original 1985. Even more so in 1985-A. And in the Citizen Brown timeline in the game.
• Longing Look: Throws them at Marty hard after they met.
• Mama Bear: A deleted scene from the second movie shows Old Biff collapsing and disappearing shortly after coming back to 2015. It is heavily implied (and later said by the producers) that by 1996, Lorraine just had enough of Biff and his threatening her children and shot him with the revolver Biff used to kill George.
• Ms. Exposition: In Part I, she tells the story of how she and George first met, which later influences most of the plot. In Part II, her 2015 self talks about Marty's problem with being called "chicken" and how it led to a car accident in the past (which comes into play in Part III).
• Ms. Fanservice: At least in 1955 during her rebellious days as wild girl. While she dressed conservatively most of the time, her prom dress was quite revealing.
• Neutral Female:
  • Averted, more or less, during the final confrontation with Biff. After pleading with Biff to leave George alone, she does make an effort to rescue him, but Biff responds by simply pushing her onto the ground. It's not particularly spectacular or feminist, but she probably did all she could without having Waif-Fu.
  • In the ruined present, Lorraine is completely helpless against Biff, who murdered her husband, forced her to marry him, treated her like an object, and held her own children for ransom.
• Nice Girl: Aside from her prudish attitude in the original timeline, Lorraine is generally sweet and kind-hearted. She's also a much more caring, loving mother in the altered timeline.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: The 1985-A Lorraine was modeled after various female televangelists from The '80s, particularly Tammy Faye Meissner (AKA Bakker).
• No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me: The difference between the Lorraine of 1973-A and 1985-A is downright jarring.
• Parental Incest: Has a crush on Marty in the first film, much to his horror. Becomes a major problem as her obliviousness to George's very existence threatens to unmake Marty. However, she doesn't know that Marty is her future son and she seems to back off after she kisses him, describing it like her feeling like she's kissing her brother (kissing her father in the novelization, which was based off an earlier script).
• Practically Different Generations: Lorraine is 16 years older than her youngest sibling Joey, plus another unnamed Baines sibling born in 1956.
• Quick Nip: Has a flask with her when she and Marty are "parking" before the High-School Dance. Marty is concerned as he sees her future Lady Drunk persona emerging.
• Seemingly-Wholesome '50s Girl: Played this trope straight to a tee in her youth. At 17, she drinks, smokes, and "parks" with boys casually. In the original, unaltered 1985, she falsely insists to her kids that she was a genuinely wholesome 50s girl.
• Tuckerization: The original script called her Eileen. Her name was changed at the insistence of Universal boss Sidney Sheinberg, who wanted her named after his wife, actress Lorraine Gary of Jaws fame.

Fifth Generation

Marty McFly

Martin Seamus "Marty" McFly

"This is heavy!"

Played by: Michael J. Fox, Olly Dobson (original cast, London), Will Haswell (understudy, London), Ben Joyce (new casting, London), Casey Likes (original cast, Broadway musical)
Dubbed in French by: Luq Hamet
Dubbed in Japanese by: Kōichi Yamadera (home video dub), Yūji Mitsuya (TV Asahi dub), Yuji Oda (Fuji TV dub), Ichirota Miyakawa (TV Tokyo dub)
Dubbed in Latin American Spanish by: Roberto Carrillo (Mexican dub of BOTF I), Victor Mares Jr. (Los Angeles dub of BOTF II & III and the L.A redub of BOTF I)
Voiced in the animated series by: David Kaufman
Voiced in the Telltale Games series by: AJ LoCascio (young), Michael J. Fox (alternate versions)

The youngest teenage child of George and Lorraine McFly, who aspires to become a musician. He is best friends with Doc Brown, the inventor of the DeLorean time machine, but when the latter gets gunned down, he accidentally travels to 1955, where he inadvertently changes his parents' fated meeting, forcing him to fix it. After returning to 1985, he and Doc go on more time-travelling adventures to restore the space-time continuum.

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• Action Survivor: Doc seems to have this impression of him, at least after the first movie. It should tell you something that, in Part II, Doc's plans for Griff and 1955 basically boil down to "tell Marty what to do and let him handle it".
• AM/FM Characterization: He's a fan of Huey Lewis and the News, listening to them at various points in the first film. He's also a Michael Jackson fan, as he sings "Billie Jean" in the third film while dancing.
• Anti-Hero: The Telltale game turns him into one, given all the morally ambiguous things he ends up doing in order to set the timeline straight, including (but not limited to) nearly suffocating young Doc to death.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Marty is the youngest of three kids, having an older brother and older sister.
• Badass Driver: For a 17-year-old kid, he actually does very well during the brief car chase and the clocktower run. In fact, he displays driving skills that are not taught in Driver's Ed or by his father George.
  • During the chase, he avoids driving in a straight line and keeps shifting from one side of the road to the other. This causes the terrorist to keep shifting from side to side and prevents him from hitting him to the point that he almost loses his gun.
  • Leading up to the clocktower run, Marty is able to pull a pretty nice 180 and come to a stop right at the start point. He's also able to bring the car more-or-less safely to a stop afterward with little damage.
  • Near the end of Part III, he also does a reverse-180 as an F-U to Needles.
• Been There, Shaped History: Downplayed. Marty encounters the future mayor of hill Valley back when he was a busboy and lets slip his eventual success, inspiring the busboy. His cover of "Johnny B. Goode" also gets noticed by the cousin of Chuck Berry who convinces the latter to take influence from it. In both instances, these figures were already destined for success, but Marty sped things up.
• Berserk Button: Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"! This ends up getting him into an accident the day he returns from 1885. May also qualify as a Noodle Incident, since it didn't appear in the first movie. Though that may just be a coincidence, or alternate parenting from the "new", self-confident George, who took Marty's lessons a bit too much to heart when passing them on.
  • Hurting his mother is also a huge one as seen when he tries to fight Biff for hitting her.
  • Hurting or threatening Doc. Marty was perfectly willing to just run and not care if everyone thought he was a coward until Buford threatened Doc, forcing Marty to face and beat the crap out of him.
• Beware the Nice Ones: He's very sweet and friendly, but throughout the movie he's shown to be very adept at fist-fighting, only losing when he's either outnumbered, sucker-punched, or up against a cybernetically-enhanced Griff. Furthermore, his skill at the Wild Gunman arcade game translates perfectly to the Wild West, and it's likely he could've won his duel with Buford had he actually been willing to kill the man.
• Big Brother Instinct: He forms one over his own father in 1955, protecting him whenever he needs help. Thanks to that and Character Development on George's part, the latter becomes a better, more assertive person. He also plays this role towards his mother, such as when Biff harassed her in the cafeteria.
• Book Dumb: Seems to actually need the exposition Doc gives... but it seems to have been him that hooked that 1985 video recorder up to Doc's 1955 TV. Maybe Doc's been teaching him?
  • The IDW comic's take on how he met Doc in the first place emphasizes his intelligence by showing that he easily bypassed Doc's security system by figuring out his clues. Doc was impressed enough to hire him on the spot.
  • And despite being implied to be a fairly average student in school, Marty is repeatedly shown as very cunning, quick on his feet and able to get out of situations using his wits, wearing a piece of metal as body armor when facing Buford in a duel, using his radiation suit and walkman to intimidate George into asking Lorraine out and turning things against Biff and his gang when they try to ram him into a manure truck. He is also able to at least understand the general principles of the sciences Doc uses and has a decent amount of technical knowledge.
• Boxing Battler: Marty's preferred fighting style is to simply pummel his opponents with powerful boxing blows.
• Buffy Speak:
  • In the Telltale game:
    Marty: [looking at a bathysphere] It's some kind of... deep-sea diving thingy.
  • "Time circuits on, flux capacitor...fluxing..."
• Bully Hunter: Granted, since he's grown up seeing Biff as his father's tormentor, it's not too big a surprise that he doesn't like bullies.
• Butt-Monkey: At times. He always comes into conflicts out of his hands.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: In his case, Refusal of the Call means he disappears from existence or is stuck in the past, so he doesn't have much choice but to comply. Come Part III, he finally has the opportunity to choose without being so railroaded by the plot, and he goes with... Guile Hero.
• Character Catchphrase:
  • "Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!".
  • "This is heavy!"
  • "Holy [censored]!"
  • [Every time he tries to distract his enemies] "Hey, what the hell is that?!" or "Hey, what's that?!"
  • "Here goes nothing." (In the video game)
  • He also tends to mutter "perfect..." when things aren't going well for him.
  • "Wait a minute..."
• Character Development:
  • His self-confidence seems to have improved after the events of Part I.
  • In the first film, when he's a newbie to time travel, he's very naive and impulsive, and for the first half of the second film he remains the same. After an unsuspecting trip to the year 2015 goes horribly wrong and Marty accidentally gets his dad shot by Biff, he finally starts to take the dangers of time travel seriously and he grows significantly more cynical about the adventures in time he and Doc have by the third and final film.
    Marty: Why do we always have to cut these things so damn close?!
  • In Part III, Marty finally overcomes his Fatal Flaw/Berserk Button, saving himself from getting killed by Buford Tannen and saving himself from becoming a Future Loser by never agreeing to the street race with Needles.
• Character Exaggeration:
  • Into The Ditz in The Animated Series. In the film trilogy, Marty was a bit Book Dumb and sometimes did stupid things because of his impulsiveness, but he was a quick-witted and capable assistant to Doc. In the series, he's much more of a dope and continually needs the Browns (including Jules and Verne) to help him out. Lampshaded in "The Money Tree", where Jules laments that his intelligence has always made it tough for him to make friends. Marty remarks that that's never been a problem for him, right around the time he hits himself in the face with a ball he's tossing around.
  • He used his "What's that?" trick once in Part I and three times in Part II. In Back to the Future: The Game, he uses this trick constantly on everyone when it comes to the task at hand or when he's in dire situations.
• Chekhov's Skill: Skateboarding, guitar shredding, and (later) arcade shooters.
• Clone Angst: In the comics, his inability to remember the events of the Lone Pines timeline leaves him terrified that he's stolen the life of another version of himself.
• Combat Pragmatist: Kind of necessary when facing guns and men twice your size (sometimes both at once).
• Compressed Vice: Again, his dislike of being called a chicken. In the second movie, his parents reflect on how this was always his Fatal Flaw. Would be normal if it weren't for the fact that he isn't shown to have this trait in the first movie; he has a quick temper and some Determinator aspects, but no one calls him out on anything directly. Although the fact that he takes a sip from the liquor after Lorraine tells him he's being a square might be a subtle sign of it. It's also very possible that this is a trait that was specific to the "Lone Pine" version of Marty, that was internalized (or got amplified) via Delayed Ripple Effect.
  • The comics give him two in a row to fuel two subsequent arcs: see "So What Do We Do Now?" and "Clone Angst".
• Cool Board: Apparently to make up for the fact that he doesn't have a car, originally. Due to this, and how skateboarding wasn't quite as popular in 1985, we never see him doing any tricks on it.
• Cruelty Is the Only Option: In the game, to save the future, Marty pretty much obliterates Emmett's life in the span of two minutes.
• Dead Guy Junior:
  • 'Seamus' is the name of one of his ancestors, whom he meets in Part III.
  • As is 'Martin', the late brother of Seamus.
• Deadpan Snarker: At times. But not to the highest levels of snarkiness.
• Determinator: Particularly in Part II, and especially during his second time in 1955. Dude just will not quit in trying to get the Almanac back.
• Distracted by the Sexy:
  • Marty gets distracted by sexy women... while his girlfriend Jennifer is right next to him. She doesn't seem too bothered, though, simply turning his face back towards her.
  • Marty's not even immune to his own mother's appearance, though it's based on surprise rather than attraction. He came very close to calling her teenage self "hot", and in 1985-A, he's gobsmacked by her breast implants.
• Drives Like Crazy: He constantly crashes or at least sideswipes with whatever vehicle he's driving — including his three future selves.
• Dork Knight: To the extent that a high schooler could be reasonably expected to be, anyway.
• Family of Choice: In the animated series, the Browns seem to treat him as an adoptive member of the family, even though it's not official. He's continually dropping in on them, one episode shows him in a photo with the official family, and all the members have a friendly relationship with him. It couldn't have hurt that he and Doc have been best friends for years by the time Doc met Clara and had Jules and Verne.
• Fanservice: A split-second shot of him in purple Calvin Klein underwear (which also shows quite an impressive bulge for his age). Plus in the third movie, you get a nice shot of his butt. (Word of God said there was much squeeing from girls at every screening they went to at the latter.)
• Fatal Flaw: Insecurity. Thanks to seeing his father give up on his dreams as a writer and constantly getting bullied by Biff, Marty has a strong fear of rejection and being seen as a failure. His poor self-esteem also means he's very quick to anger whenever someone implies he's afraid, which leads to him taking unnecessary and poorly-calculated risks simply to avoid looking like a coward. In II, the audience is clued in that his future was forever altered in a negative way by a car accident. At the end of III, through Character Development, he has overcome his insecurity and ends up turning down a car race, which ends up being the same race that was mentioned in II, altering his future for the better.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Takes an unusually long time to get fully acclimated to being in 1955.
• Fragile Speedster: Necessary considering that McFly men are just not too solidly built by nature. He combines this with Combat Pragmatist to outsmart the various villains (e.g., incarnations of Biff, his relatives, and his cronies) that he encounters throughout his adventures. If he ever allows himself to be drawn into a fight due to calling a chicken, he tends to go down after a really good punch or two.
• Future Badass: If the ending to the Telltale game can be trusted.
• Future Loser: Part II reveals that Future Marty gave up guitaring and ended up a lowly salaryman, stuck working for his high school enemy (à la George). Luckily in Part III, Marty manages to avert the event that led to this timeline, with the implication that he has a better future.
• Genius Bruiser: Marty is good at thinking on his feet and solving problems with his wits and is a surprisingly tough fighter who can take down much larger men with nothing but brute force.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: Whenever Marty gets dragged into a fight, he tends to just pummel his opponents with his fists.
• Guile Hero: He uses his wits as much as his physical ability to solve his problems.
• The Gunslinger: Thanks to an arcade light gun game, he is an accomplished Quick Draw artist. Though, he does refuse to kill Buford, partly so as not to mess up the timeline.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Lampshaded by being called a "hothead" by many throughout the trilogy. This is especially true if you call him a chicken, which will make hell break loose and cause him to try to punch you out. He seems to have grown out of this by the game, however, after his Character Development in the third movie.
• Hand Behind Head: Does this gesture whenever he is nervous. Shares this tic with his father.
• Hard Head: It's something of a Running Gag that Marty loses consciousness this way.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: The second time Marty goes back to 1955, he dons a leather jacket.
• Heroic BSoD: Hit hard with this in the comics during the "Who Is Marty McFly?" arc.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Doc. In the first film, Doc sacrifices himself to save Marty from the Libyans, and Marty returns the favor by ensuring that he gets the news of his impending death. Throughout the entire trilogy, they're by each others' sides, protecting each other and providing the fandom with many crowning moments of heartwarming.
• Hidden Depths: He's a lot smarter than he seems.
• High-School Hustler: Downplayed. He's not really a trickster as usually seen in this trope, but he's no less lucky and helpful. Played straighter in the early drafts for the movie, however.
• I Coulda Been a Contender!: Prior to the third film's events, Marty's music career was tragically cut short by an ill-fated drag race that broke his hand. Jennifer catches Future Marty ruefully strumming his guitar.
• I Know Mortal Kombat: Learned how to sharpshoot from playing an arcade game.
• Indy Ploy: Marty proves himself quite capable of coming up with ways to get himself out of a bind.
  • In Part I, when Biff and his cronies tried to run Marty into the back of a manure truck, Marty leaped off of his skateboard and ran through Biff's car.
  • He managed to save his past self and stop a temporal paradox that could destroy all of space-time with a few well-placed sandbags to the heads of Biff's goons in Part II.
  • Unable to avoid a gunfight, he uses the door of a conveniently placed stove as a bulletproof vest in Part III.
  • Also from Part III, after seeing Clara about to fall from the train with Doc barely hanging on, Marty slipped Doc the hoverboard to help catch her.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: He seems to have this reaction to "parking" with his future mother — right after he takes the liquor bottle off of her, he takes a swig of it himself (leading to the Spit Take described below).
• Inferiority Superiority Complex: Marty is way too eager to prove himself when challenged out of fear of being weak-willed like George.
• In Harm's Way: The first two movies end with a clear indication that his time-traveling adventures are not quite over, and "Part III"'s destruction of the DeLorean is negated by the Animated Adaptation (which represents an Alternate Continuity, according to Bob Gale). By the IDW comic series, Marty has begun to rely on regular time-travel shenanigans just to keep his life interesting and grows depressed when new adventures fail to materialize.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Not really innocent, per se — but his big blue eyes do give off the vibe of "Flabbergasted Fish out of Temporal Water".
• In-Series Nickname: He's got a couple:
  • 1955 Doc calls him "Future Boy" when he thinks Marty is just some kid playing a joke on him. He briefly reverts to this nickname at the start of part 3 when he thinks that Marty is a hallucination.
  • Needles addresses him as "The Big M" in both of his appearances.
• Intergenerational Friendship:
  • With Doc throughout the trilogy. It's clear that they've been friends for some time by the beginning of the first film, and the comics show how they met (Needles goaded him, setting off a chain of events that led him to break into Doc's lab in 1982).
  • With his parents in Part I, and his great-great-grandparents in Part III, although biologically speaking they're all his age or close to it at the time that these friendships form.
  • In the animated series, he has quite a friendly relationship with Doc's preadolescent sons, Jules and Verne. Verne in particular seems to like hanging around with him, but even Jules feels comfortable enough with him to vent about his problems with other kids.
• It's All My Fault: In the comics, when he believes he's ruined the lives of his alternate selves by interfering with the timeline.
• Kid from the Future: In Part I. Although his parents know nothing of who he really is. Lorraine is enamored with him due to his cavalier attitude (and the "Florence Nightingale effect") and George initially thinks he's a pushy pest who keeps following him around.
  • Technically a "Great-Great-Grandkid from the Future" in Part III.
• Lead Singer Plays Lead Guitar: Marty takes up vocal duties in Marvin Berry's band when Marvin gets his arm busted. Marty sings "Johnny B. Goode" and then plays a mind-melting guitar solo afterwards.
• Look Behind You: Not only does Marty love this, but it almost always works! It's a Running Gag in the 2010 game for Marty to quickly distract someone by pointing behind them and shouting, "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
• Loser Son of Loser Dad: In the first film, Strickland sneers that no McFly has ever amounted to anything. (Which is unfair, as he's clearly more outgoing than George ever was in the original timeline.)
• Love at First Sight: Says that this happened with him and Jennifer when Doc scoffs at the idea.
• Mr. Vice Guy: Marty has his flaws, most notably his temper and need to prove himself even to people he hates, but he's a good guy overall.
• Nice Guy: There's never once a moment where he does anything mean-spirited in the series.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero:
  • In Part II, it's his plan to use the almanac that older Biff overhears and goes back in time to tell his 50's self. Leading into the conflict for the rest of the film.
  • In the game, his plan to get Kid Tannen arrested, and his interactions with Edna Strickland and young Emmett makes them fall in love with each other. This little error throws the timeline into jeopardy and prevents the events of the movies from ever happening, creating the Alt!1986 Citizen Brown timeline.
• Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: His Fatal Flaw in the second and third movies. Calling him chicken or otherwise suggesting he's a coward causes him, in various timelines, to challenge a gang of bullies, his clearly corrupt friend from high school, and a known Wild West outlaw. In Lone Pine 2015, this is shown to have ruined his life by getting into a car accident that broke Marty's hand and got him sued by the other driver. Thankfully, after some self-reflection, Marty gets over it.
  • Becomes a Running Gag in the animated series, as he gets called a chicken once per episode, especially when an ancestor of Biff is involved.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: His actual name is Martin, but everyone (barring Jules) calls him Marty.
• Only Sane Man: More or less the voice of reason to everybody else's craziness.
• Ordinary High-School Student: For a skateboarding rockstar wannabe, he's surprisingly down to earth.
• Papa Wolf: In the second movie, Marty poses as his future son Martin to protect him from Griff Tannen's gang.
• The Paragon: The first movie has him inspire others in the 50s to do what's right. All except Biff and his bully gang of course.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Marty's only 5'4", but is able to knock out the 6'3" Biff and Buford with a few punches. He's also able to to carry Doc's unconscious body home despite Doc being almost a foot taller than himself.
• Playing Cyrano: Marty gives his father George love advice to win Lorraine's heart.
• Pride: The proper name for his Fatal Flaw. He feels he can't back down from a challenge when called "chicken", but as the series goes on this turns out to have serious and by Part III, near-fatal consequences. Eventually he learns to overcome it after some sound advice from his ancestors, which inadvertently saves his future in the process.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Marty's hot pink hoverboard, which originally belonged to a little girl. For added laughs the little girl favours Griff's more intimidating model.
• Red Is Heroic: Marty's signature wardrobe, his future disguise and the cowboy costume he initially wore all have red elements.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Red to Doc's and George's Blue, though this isn't so much in regards to Marty's temperament as it is to his sense of romance. Both Doc and George aren't that experienced at courting women, so Marty has to prod them along.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: He's the only one (aside from Doc, of course) to remember the events of the Twin Pines timeline after settling down in the Lone Pine timeline, in which his actions in the past dramatically improved the lives of himself and his family. While the films don't dwell on the ramifications of this, the comics deal with his eventual existential crisis as a result of the shift.
• Scars Are Forever: In the game, when trying to prove to his parents that he really is their son in an alternate timeline (as the Marty in that timeline has been run out of town) it's revealed that he has a scar on his left knee that he got in a skateboarding accident when he was twelve.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: He's notably much more foul-mouthed than any other character, yelling "holy shit!" a few times, and having "damn" and "hell" as regular words in his vocabulary.
• So What Do We Do Now?: In the comics, after the events of the film trilogy leave life feeling unlivably dull in comparison.
• Spit Take:
  • After confiscating Lorraine's liquor bottle, he sees her lighting a cigarette — just as he takes a swig...
  • A Real Life example happened in a blooper of the same scene — as a prank, the prop bottle was replaced with an identical one with real alcohol in it, causing Michael J. Fox to spray it all over himself and hilarity to ensue.
• Supporting Protagonist: Word of God views him as this in the first and third movies, with George and Lorraine getting the most development in Part I, and Doc getting it in Part III. invoked
• This Is Wrong on So Many Levels!: Marty often reacts like this when stuff happens with his young mother and grandmother too in the game, for similar reasons.
• Took a Level in Dumbass: In the animated series, Marty is more impulsive and short-sighted than his counterpart in the original movies.
• Trademark Favorite Food: His drink of choice is a Pepsi Free (though he'll drink any sugar-free alternative if it's not available). In Part II, it extends to his entire family drinking it at dinner.
• Tragic Hero: Narrowly subverted; his Fatal Flaw nearly causes him to break his hand and ruin his rock star dreams in a race with Needles or get shot by Buford, but he learns to overcome those flaws and therefore doesn't fall into tragedy.
• Tragic Time Traveler: During II, him accidentally giving 2015 Biff the idea to use a Sports Almanac from the future in the past create the 1985-A timeline, where his father's dead, his mother's in an abusive marriage with Biff, and the Doc is stuck in an insane asylum. Marty eventually manages to undo the damage, but this still ends up with 2015 Biff being erased from existence.
• True Companions: Marty and Doc have a very strange but very strong bond. They are separated by interests and age, but they would sacrifice themselves for each other without a second thought. That's during the films. It gets more flagrant after the video game. This trope being more flagrant in the video game could be justified by the fact that Marty befriended a teenage Emmett Brown in 1931 like he did in 1955 with his parents and in 1885 with his great-great-grandparents.
• Undying Loyalty: Shows this towards anyone he cares about:
  • No matter how much his parents' actions in both the past and present annoy or upset him, he will never let anyone get away with hurting George or Lorraine in the long run.
  • Shows this towards Doc as well. In the first movie, he tried everything he could think of to make sure that Doc found out about his death in the future, and in the third movie, he refused to go straight home to the future once he found out that Doc was killed in 1885, insisting on going back to rescue him despite Doc's explicit directions to the contrary and saving Doc repeatedly from Buford once he got there.
• The Watson: Marty is bright and has several useful skills, but when it comes to time travel, Doc has to explain everything.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gets called out on by Doc for trying to bring back a Sports Almanac listing all the winners from 1950-2000 in the sequel so he can win money and become a billionaire.
• Young Gun: Subversion in Part III. While he proves to be a skilled gunslinger thanks to playing video games, he is outmatched by experienced killers like Buford Tannen. Thus, Marty resorts to something else up his sleeve in the form of a worn-over stove door.

Dave McFly

David Tiberius "Dave" McFly

Played by: Marc McClure, Will Haswell (original, London musical), Glen Facey (understudy, London musical)

Dubbed in French By: Éric Baugin

The oldest McFly kid and Marty's older brother.

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• Burger Fool: His job in the original timeline.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: When Marty shows 1955 Doc the photo of his family, Doc points out that Dave's head is missing its upper half. When Doc connects the dots later, he realizes that Marty and his sibling are in danger of being being erased from existence.
• Married to the Job: Dave's character is defined entirely by his occupation.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: In the improved timeline, he's always seen wearing a suit.
  Dave: I always wear a suit to the office.
• Small Role, Big Impact: While he himself has little screen time, Dave's fading from existence gives Marty enough forewarning that his parent's future is in jeopardy, driving the main conflict for the first movie.

Linda McFly

Linda McFly

Played by: Wendie Jo Sperber, Emma Lloyd (original, London musical)
Dubbed in French By: Françoise Dasque

The McFly family's middle child and Marty's only sister.

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• Bespectacled Cutie: She wore glasses in the original timeline and was fairly attractive despite her trouble getting dates.
• Deadpan Snarker: As this dialogue demonstrate.
  Marty: [seeing his improved home and family] What the hell is this?!
  Linda: [looking at the table] Breakfast.
• Really Gets Around: In the new timeline, Linda seems to have a lot of boyfriends.
  Dave: First of all, I'm not your answering service. Second, some guy called for you, Greg or Craig.
  Linda: Well, which one was it, Greg or Craig?
  Dave: I don't know! I can't keep up with all your boyfriends!

Jennifer McFly (née Parker)

See the main character page.

Sixth Generation

Marty McFly Jr.

Marty McFly Jr.

Played by: Michael J. Fox

Son of Marty and Jennifer in the year 2015.

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• Butt-Monkey: In his regard, he's like teenage George but worse. Whereas George only got bullied and occasionally beaten up by Biff, Marty Jr. is browbeaten into going along with the criminal activities of Griff and his gang.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: His left sleeve is noticeably longer than his right due to a broken wrist cuff preventing the size adjust from working properly. In general he doesn't appear to really mind this, indicating he gives little thought to his appearance.
• Generation Xerox: While he physically looks exactly like his father did at his age, personality-wise he's far more akin to the 17-year-old version of George.
• Oh, Crap!: He has this reaction in the roughly three seconds between him suggesting that he ask his father whether to get involved in the robbery, and Griff beating him to a pulp.
• Rule of Three: As Part III reveals, he's the third Martin McFly.
• The Scapegoat: Almost certainly the reason why Griff and his gang enlist him for their robbery, as he's such a klutz that he gets caught when things go wrong.
• Smarter Than You Look: He somehow recognizes the younger Jennifer as his mother.
  "Nice pants, mom."
• Strong Family Resemblance: He looks virtually identical to his father, which comes in handy when the 1985 version of Marty Sr. needs to impersonate him.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: His getting arrested and then handed a lengthy prison sentence, along with his sister's getting an even longer sentence for trying to bust him out — and presumably also Marty Sr. getting fired from his job — ends up tearing the McFly family apart. This in turn causes Doc taking Marty into the future, which in turn indirectly causes all the conflicts in the sequels.

Marlene McFly

Marlene McFly

Played by: Michael J. Fox

Daughter of Marty and Jennifer in the year 2015 and Marty Jr.'s sister.

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• Big Brother Instinct: Sister, really — according to Doc, after her brother got arrested, she reacted by trying to break him out of jail (it didn't work, but it's the thought that counts).
• Death by Adaptation: In the novelization, instead of trying to break Martin Jr. out of jail, she succumbs to depression and commits suicide.
• Flat Character: She has little characterization.
• Strong Family Resemblance: She resembles her father.

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