History Main / HelpYourselfInTheFuture

Contrast NeverTheSelvesShallMeet. Compare RetroactivePreparation. Depending on whether or not it's a BadFuture, related to FutureMeScaresMe. If while helping yourself, you get a little ''too'' friendly with yourself you may end up [[ScrewYourself Screwing Yourself]]. Compare MyOwnGrampa. In that trope, you help your present self (in that you preserve your existence) by doin' the nasty in the past-y.

->'''Kevyn Andreyasn:''' Hey, when you want something done right, do it yourself.\\

* ''Anime/StandByMeDoraemon'' have Nobita, after seeing an adult Shizuka in the future getting caught in a blizzard and his future self unable to help due to suffering cold, aging himself to adulthood and traveling to the future (without [[DidntThinkThisTHrough a proper fail-safe plan]], being ''typical Nobita'') to help Shizuka only to get caught in the same blizzard himself. In the DarkestHour, Nobita instead makes a promise to himself that when he grows up, he will do everything to save himself when the time comes... cue an adult Nobita arriving in a snowcat to save Shizuka and his younger equivalent.

[[folder:Films — Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' movie ''WesternAnimation/ChannelChasers'', Older Timmy comes back in time to help stop Vicky before she takes over the world. He doesn't remember his fairies, but is far more mature, and imparts some wisdom to himself.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheLegoMovie2TheSecondPart,'' [[spoiler: Rex Dangervest]] turns out to be the future version of [[spoiler: Emmet]], who's come back to help the present version develop into the future one. Unfortunately, after that reveal, it quickly becomes a case of FutureMeScaresMe. Though it should be noted [[spoiler: Rex truly does genuinely believe he's helping Emmet by ridding him of his naivety and helping him take care of himself]].

[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]

* In ''Animation/TimeMasters'', Piel is trapped on the surface of the hostile planet, Perdide. Silbad, a technical wizard who once lived on Perdide, is consulted for advice. Near the end of the film, Perdide is transported sixty years into the past before Piel can be saved by Jaffar, and it's revealed that he takes the name of Silbad...

** In the original ''Film/BackToTheFuture'', you can see the "future" Doc Brown (wearing the hat and pushing the bike) departing off screen, just before the 1955 Doc bribes the cop, with his "permit" (a $50 bill).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures episode'' "J2: Revisited" Jade ends up in the future and runs into her future self, who had just been demoted from an agent to an office job. Through the course of the episode present-day Jade at first helps future Jade get fired from Section 13 before building up her confidence and reminding her of who she once was, which helps to get her old office job back.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', the immortal Vandal Savage sent his past self detailed instructions on how to win World War 2 on behalf of the Nazis, forcing the League (minus Batman), to travel back in time and defeat Savage thus restoring the timeline.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2021}}'': Parodied in "Lost in Time", in which Quinn and Stormy are repeatedly sent back in time by a freak explosion, repeatedly try (and fail) to warn their past selves about the danger, and repeatedly get thrown in the brig. When they finally break the loop, Quinn proposes using his army of genius time duplicates to solve all the world's problems. Captain Murphy vetoes that in favor of his own plan - putting all the time clones through gladiatorial combat.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Yesteryear," Spock realizes that his "distant cousin" that helped him in the past was, in fact, himself.
** In a subversion of the trope, however, he fails to accomplish everything he remembers his "distant cousin" doing, leading to a 'present' that's slightly worse than he remembers it. [[spoiler:His childhood pet is fatally injured in the attack he saved himself from.]]

[[/folder]]