History Main / WeWillAllBeHistoryBuffsInTheFuture

The future is a wonderful place, where many things are far improved from their state in our present time: [[IWantMyJetpack Travel]], [[ImAHumanitarian food production]]...memory retention.

* ''Film/DemolitionMan'': {{Justified}}. One of the protagonists is very knowledgeable about the 20th century because he is a FanOfThePast.

* ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'': Everyone who's anyone is an expert on TheEighties, even though the story takes place in 2044. {{Justified}} because the EasterEgg hunt that forms the plot of the novel is organized by a man who grew up in that period and is a big fan of the pop culture from his youth. If you don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of that time, you simply don't have a shot.

See also StupidFuturePeople.

** ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': Notably, WideEyedIdealist Dr. Bashir of isn't a history buff, finding most of it (the twenty-first century especially) "too depressing". This conveniently allowed Sisko to play MrExposition when they time-traveled to 2024.

** ''Series/TheOrville'': The human characters are all very knowledgeable of 20th and 21st-century pop culture to the extent that many of their conversations amount to inside jokes that the alien crew members are understandably befuddled by since the references are not even to Earth culture in their present time.

** ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'':
*** In the episode [[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS2E12TheRoyale "The Royale"]] the away team finds an old astronaut's spacesuit that has the United States flag on it with 52 stars. It is Riker who instantly tells the years when that number of stars was in use, even though Data is accompanying him. The reason is that Riker was born and raised in the United States, so he probably got US history classes at school.
*** In order to be a Starfleet cadet you already have to be the best and brightest the Federation has to offer. Study of various historical periods seems to be something of a hobby amongst Starfleet officers. Picard and Janeway both loved Earth's history and were trained terrestrial and xenoarchaeologists.

** In the episode "The Royale" the away team finds an old astronaut's spacesuit that has the United States flag on it with 52 stars. It is Riker who instantly tells the years when that number of stars was in use, even though Data is accompanying him. The reason is that Riker was born and raised in the United States, so he probably got US history classes at school.
** In order to be a Starfleet cadet you already have to be the best and brightest the Federation has to offer. Study of various historical periods seems to be something of a hobby amongst Starfleet officers. Picard and Janeway both loved Earth's history and were trained terrestrial and xenoarchaeologists.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'': {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in a publication of in-universe conspiracies; one tract is about how crazy it is that so many things reference the 20th Century, which was over 1000 years ago…and there are only a few references to say, the 29th Century, only 200 years before.

* ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'': {{Subverted}} here, of all places. The ''Predacons'' are all history buffs, but due to some Big Brother cover-up HandWave, the ''Maximals'' aren't, instead treating their history as (roughly) Arthurian lore. This proves useful in an earlier episode, when [[OurSoulsAreDifferent the spark of Starscream]] drops by for a visit, and attempts to [[UnusualEuphemism bullslag]] his way into the Predacons' good graces with a false story of his role in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', but falls apart into FridgeLogic when Ravage shows up, reminding us that the Transformer race is ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, and thus are able to have several living witnesses of events that happened millions of years ago to verify the facts for them.

* Various ''Franchise/StarTrek'' series are guilty, justified in that most of the characters spouting off these historical facts are [[TheSpock just that damn smart]].
** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', oddly, is the most convincing of the various series: rather than TheSpock, who knows Earth history better than all the human crewmen, it has Tom Paris, who is interested in 20th-century history and culture. They portray it realistically - he accidentally reveals himself to a 20th-century human by referring to the Soviet Union in the present tense in 1996 (because he was only five years out...). Also, he's more interested in the 1950s than (as you might expect) the 1990s, the decade the show aired.
** In the episode "The Royale" the away team finds an old astronaut's spacesuit that has the United States flag on it with 52 stars. It is ''Riker'' who instantly tells the years when that number of stars was in use, even though Data was also along. Possibly justified by Riker being born and raised in the United States, meaning he probably learned a lot of US history in school.

** Given how easy it is to accidentally time travel in ''Star Trek'', Starfleet Academy goes so far as to make Temporal Mechanics a standard class. One would assume some basic historical knowledge about historical flashpoints is included.
** Notably, WideEyedIdealist Dr. Bashir of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' wasn't a history buff, finding most of it (the twenty-first century especially) "too depressing". This conveniently allowed Sisko to play MrExposition when they time-traveled to 2024.
* ''Series/PhilOfTheFuture'' does this a lot.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'', in particular series 1 and 2, makes many humorous references to 20th-century culture that seem dated 2 decades on, never mind three million years. Rimmer and Lister are from the 22nd century but even then it still makes little sense.
* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Captain John Sheridan is specifically mentioned to be "a bit of a history buff", although his areas of interest primarily seem to be UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. It's somewhat justified for a military commander to be knowledgeable about military history.
** Captain Sheridan is stated to be a direct male-line descendant of Civil War General Philip Sheridan. Most people would take an interest in a famous ancestor's life and times.
* ''Series/TheOrville'' mirrors its source material, ''Star Trek'', in this. The human characters are all very knowledgeable of 20th and 21st Century pop culture to the extent that many of their conversations amount to inside jokes that the alien crew members are understandably befuddled by since the references are not even to Earth culture in their present time.
* ''Series/{{Andromeda}}'' takes place around the year 5167, and after three centuries of war and barbarism in which most of intergalactic civilization has regressed to savagery. They still seem to be familiar with every aspect of our culture, from Pac-Man to garage sales to Richard Wagner. Bear in mind, these things would be as old to them as ''the Trojan War'' is to us.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' is notorious for this, in combination with constant FutureImperfect faux pas. It usually [[RuleOfFunny gets a pass for being a comedy]].
* Subverted in, of all places, ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''; the ''Predacons'' are all history buffs, but due to some Big Brother cover-up HandWave, the ''Maximals'' aren't, instead treating their history as (roughly) Arthurian lore. This proves useful in an earlier episode, when [[OurSoulsAreDifferent the spark of Starscream]] drops by for a visit, and attempts to [[UnusualEuphemism bullslag]] his way into the Predacons' good graces with a false story of his role in ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', but falls apart into FridgeLogic when Ravage shows up, reminding us that the Transformer race is ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, and thus are able to have several living witnesses of events that happened ''millions of years ago'' to verify the facts for them.
* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': In-universe, time itself has become so unstable, that the people of the far future have to worry about being suddenly without important technology to survive life on Earth. So modern society has come to depend on the Time Squad, a time-traveling government agency and police force that recruits primarily history buffs and educates them on how to enforce the past to protect the future.

* Many characters in ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' spout off about all sorts of historical occurrences and books. Justified by the fact that cyberbrains allow people direct connection to the Internet, and provide dramatically enhanced memory.

* Averted with ComicBook/BoosterGold. He's an ex-jock museum janitor from the future who used stolen super-gadgets to travel into the present and become a superhero. He uses a robot helper with the voice of Fry from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' to anticipate crimes, but he doesn't actually ''know'' much about the history. This gets him in trouble a lot... This may be a SeriesContinuityError as in his original origin story he actually studied history in college, specializing in "the Age of Superheroes". Although, it never said he ''passed''...
* ''ComicBook/TheLivingLegendsOfSuperman'': Despite living in the early sixtieth century, Riley Bendix seems to be an expert in early American History, wearing clothes which pay tribute to different USA presidents like Lincoln or Eisenhower.

* Averted by ''[[ComicStrip/RobotmanAndMonty Monty]]'', when Professor Xemit, a time-traveller from the year 2525 stranded in the present, when asked who will win the 2008 US presidential election tell Monty that he has no idea, given the early 21st century is (to him) an extremely long time ago.

* Justified in ''Film/DemolitionMan'', where one of the protagonists is an actual [[FanOfThePast 20th century buff]].

* In Creator/DavidWeber's ''Apocalypse Troll'', the time-traveling fighter jock just ''happens'' to be a history buff, able to spout encyclopedic explanations of events leading up to her time of origin. This extends to technical explanations of future machinery that had already become antiquated by her time.
* In ''[[Literature/CouncilWars There Will Be Dragons]]'', the section of the world the protagonists live in is kept from sliding into total barbarism after the tech supporting the decadence got turned off. {{Justified|Trope}} in that the people who know the most are all ''re-enactors'' who've been living the life (or an idealized version of it, at least).
* Everyone who's anyone in ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'' is an expert on the 1980s, even though the story takes place in 2044. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the EasterEgg hunt that forms the plot of the novel was organized by a man who grew up in TheEighties and was a big fan of the pop culture from his youth. If you don't have encyclopedic knowledge of that time period, you don't have a shot.
* [[Creator/PaulaDanziger Paula Danziger's]] ''This Place Has No Atmosphere'' is set in the year 2057. When it's time to put on a SchoolPlay, the young students are all thoroughly familiar with ''Theatre/OurTown'', which to them would be nearly 120 years old. The protagonist also quotes ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', from 1975, as if it were current.

** In order to be a Starfleet cadet you already have to be the best and brightest the Federation has to offer. Study of various historical periods seems to be something of a hobby amongst Starfleet officers. Picard and Janeway both loved Earth history and were trained terrestrial and xenoarchaeologists.
** Each character seems to know a lot about the history and customs of their race/country of origin. Sisko knew a lot about Africa, Picard was well-versed in French history, Chakotay was from a Native American tribe that were keeping many of their traditions and rituals going, etc.

** Notably, WideEyedIdealist Dr. Bashir of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' wasn't a history buff, finding most of it (the twenty-first century especially) "too depressing". This conveniently allowed Sisko to play MrExposition when they time traveled to 2024.

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in a ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' publication of in-universe conspiracies; one tract is about how crazy it is that so many things reference the 20th Century, which was over 1000 years ago…and there are only a few references to say, the 29th Century, only 200 years before.

* ''ComicBook/TheLivingLegendsOfSuperman'': Despite living in the late sixtieth century, iley Bendix seems to be an expert in early American History, wearing clothes which pay tribute to different USA presidents like Lincoln or Eisenhower.

* For a post-apocalyptic manga set centuries in the future, ''Manga/BattleAngelAlita'' makes some oddly specific references to historical events and people, up to and including Alan Parsons.

* Averted with ComicBook/BoosterGold of Franchise/TheDCU. He's an ex-jock museum janitor from the future who used stolen super-gadgets to travel into the present and become a superhero. He uses a robot helper with the voice of Fry from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' to anticipate crimes, but he doesn't actually ''know'' much about the history. This gets him in trouble a lot... This may be a SeriesContinuityError as in his original origin story he actually studied history in college, specializing in "the Age of Superheroes". Although, it never said he ''passed''...

* Paula Danziger's "This Place Has No Atmosphere" is set in the year 2057. When it's time to put on a SchoolPlay, the young students are all thoroughly familiar with ''Theatre/OurTown'', which to them would be nearly 120 years old. The protagonist also quotes ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', from 1975, as if it were current.

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', oddly, is the most convincing of the various series: rather than TheSpock, who knows Earth history better than all the human crewmen, it has Tom Paris, who is interested in 20th-century history and culture. They portray it realistically - he accidentally reveals himself to a 20th-century human by referring to the Soviet Union in the present tense in 1996 (because he was only five years out...). Also, he's more interested in the 1950s than (as you might expect) the 1990s the decade the show aired.

* Subverted with ComicBook/BoosterGold of Franchise/TheDCU. He's an ex-jock museum janitor from the future who used stolen super-gadgets to travel into the present and become a superhero. He uses a robot helper with the voice of Fry from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' to anticipate crimes, but he doesn't actually ''know'' much about the history. This gets him in trouble a lot... This may be a SeriesContinuityError as in his original origin story he actually studied history in college, specializing in "the Age of Superheroes". Although, it never said he ''passed''...

* Subverted by ''[[ComicStrip/RobotmanAndMonty Monty]]'', when Professor Xemit, a time-traveller from the year 2525 stranded in the present, when asked who will win the 2008 US presidential election tell Monty that he has no idea, given the early 21st century is (to him) an extremely long time ago.

* In Creator/DavidWeber's ''Apocalypse Troll'', the time-traveling fighter jock just ''happens'' to be history buff, able to spout encyclopedic explanations of events leading up to her time of origin. This extends to technical explanations of future machinery that had already become antiquated by her time.

* Everyone who's anyone in ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'' is an expert on the 1980s, even though the story takes place in 2044. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the EasterEgg hunt that forms the plot of the novel was organized by a man who grew up in TheEighties and was a big fan of the pop-culture from his youth. If you don't have encyclopedic knowledge of that time period, you don't have a shot.

** ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', oddly, is the most convincing of the various series: rather than TheSpock, who knows Earth history better than all the human crewmen, it has Tom Paris, who is interested in 20th century history and culture. They portray it realistically - he accidentally reveals himself to a 20th century human by referring to the Soviet Union in the present tense in 1996 (because he was only five years out...). Also, he's more interested in the 1950s than (as you might expect) the 1990s the decade the show aired.
** In the episode "The Royale" the away team finds an old astronaut's space suit that has the United States flag on it with 52 stars. It is ''Riker'' who instantly tells the years when that number of stars was in use, even though Data was also along. Possibly justified by Riker being born and raised in the United States, meaning he probably learned a lot of US history in school.

** Each character seems to know a lot about the history and customs of their race/country of origin. Sisko knew a lot about Africa, Picard was well versed in French history, Chakotay was from a Native American tribe that were keeping many of their traditions and rituals going etc.

* ''Series/RedDwarf'', in particular series 1 and 2, makes many humorous references to 20th century culture that seem dated 2 decades on, never mind three million years. Rimmer and Lister are from the 22nd century but even then it still makes little sense.

* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'': In-universe, time itself has become so unstable, that the people of the far future have to worry about being suddenly without important technology to survive life on Earth. So modern society has come to depend on the Time Squad, a time-traveling government agency and police force that recruits primarily history buffs and educates them in on how to enforce the past to protect the future.

* For a post-apocalyptic manga set centuries in the future, ''Manga/{{Gunnm}}'' makes some oddly specific references to historical events and people, up to and including Alan Parsons.

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* Subverted by ''[[ComicStrip/RobotmanAndMonty Monty]]'', when Professor Xemit, a time-traveller from the year 2525 stranded in the present, when asked who will win the 2008 US presidential election tell Monty that he has no idea, given the early 21st century is (to him) an extremely long time ago.
[[/folder]]

* Subverted in, of all places, ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars''; the ''Predacons'' are all history buffs, but due to some Big Brother cover-up HandWave, the ''Maximals'' aren't, instead treating their history as (roughly) Arthurian lore. This proves useful in an earlier episode, when [[OurSoulsAreDifferent the spark of Starscream]] drops by for a visit, and attempts to [[UnusualEuphemism bullslag]] his way into the Predacons' good graces with a false story of his role in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'', but falls apart into FridgeLogic when Ravage shows up, reminding us that the Transformer race is ReallySevenHundredYearsOld, and thus are able to have several living witnesses of events that happened ''millions of years ago'' to verify the facts for them.

[[folder:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[folder:ComicBooks]]
* Subverted with Comicbook/BoosterGold of Franchise/TheDCU. He's an ex-jock museum janitor from the future who used stolen super-gadgets to travel into the present and become a superhero. He uses a robot helper with the voice of Fry from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' to anticipate crimes, but he doesn't actually ''know'' much about the history. This gets him in trouble a lot... This may be a SeriesContinuityError as in his original origin story he actually studied history in college, specializing in "the Age of Superheroes". Although, it never said he ''passed''...

[[folder:{{Film}}]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* Everyone who's anyone in ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'' is an expert on the 1980s, even though the story takes place in 2044. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that the TreasureHunt that forms the plot of the novel was organized by a man who grew up in TheEighties and was a big fan of the pop-culture from his youth. If you don't have encyclopedic knowledge of that time period, you don't have a shot.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]

[[folder:NewspaperComics]]

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* Paula Danziger's "This Place Has No Atmosphere" is set in the year 2057. When it's time to put on a SchoolPlay, the young students are all thoroughly familiar with ''Theater/OurTown'', which to them would be nearly 120 years old. The protagonist also quotes ''Film/TheRockyHorrorPictureShow'', from 1975, as if it were current.