History Franchise / BackToTheFuture

** In ''Part III'', Marty chuckles at seeing the pie he's eating comes from the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisbie_Pie_Company]], which is a real and extant brand. This doubles up as a ShoutOut to modern Frisbees.

** Plenty from Pepsi, to the point it's amazing they didn't try to work it into Part 3 (other than a Pepsi-Cola logo being seen on the [=DeLorean's=] 1955 hood box, as well as a Pepsi billboard in the drive-in scene). For a really good example, watch the scene between Marty and George just after the "Darth Vader" scene... notice that Michael J. Fox ''never'' completely covers the logo of his Pepsi bottle. Also, the writers had to fight to keep the "give me a Tab" gag in the first movie, because Pepsi didn't want Marty mentioning another company's soda. The futuristic Pepsi glass in ''Part II'' makes it look awfully good, though

** Creator/{{Mattel}} and Nike get mentions in ''Part II''.
*** Mattel hasn't gotten around to making hover-boards... [[http://gizmodo.com/5965031/you-can-pre+order-the-back-to-the-future-hoverboard-right-now until they did]], '''[[{{Defictionalization}} just to mess with us]]'''.
*** Not to be outdone, [[http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392678,00.asp Nike introduced the same shoes]] that were worn by Marty.
** Doc Brown's JVC camcorder. Also, if you look closely, Marty Jr. and Marlene's phone visors have a JVC logo on the arms.
** An interesting case for Frisbee in ''Part III''; modern audiences will notice the ShoutOut to modern Frisbees with the pie tin, but [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisbie_Pie_Company Frisbie brand pies]] are still around as well.
** "Boy, oh boy, Mom, you sure can hydrate a pizza." Yes, Lorraine, hydrate that Pizza Hut pizza in the Black & Decker hydrator. On a side note, Pizza Hut (at the time of production) was owned by Pepsi.
** Mr. Fusion is a riff on Mr. Coffee, one of those ubiquitous Eighties/Nineties appliances that nobody owns anymore (the prop for Mr. Fusion was even made from a Krups coffee machine). Alternatively, it could reference Mr. Transmission, an auto repair chain primarily in the South, but with franchises in California.
*** BlandNameProduct: In early concept art, Mr. Fusion was a [[http://logok.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Westinghouse-Electric-logo.png Westinghouse]] product. When Westinghouse declined, the logo was [[http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mrfusion.jpg modified]], and the company became "Fusion Industries."
** A copy of ''USA Today'' is featured prominently as a RippleEffectIndicator in ''Part II''.
*** On October 22, 2015, ''USA Today'' reproduced the first version of the front page from ''Part II'' and wrapped it around the actual edition. The entire section "below the fold" is made up, as this was not visible in the movie; otherwise there were three changes: the price of the newspaper is the actual price (2 dollars) rather than 6 dollars as in the movie, and two references to "Queen Diana" were removed and replaced with other headlines, due to the RealLife death of Princess Diana in 1997 (not to mention the fact that Queen Elizabeth II was still the queen in 2015, as in both 1955 and 1985). The impossible headline "Cubs Sweep Series in 5" (a sweep would be four wins and no losses, which was what the Mets had just done to the Cubs the day before for the pennant), was retained, however.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Creator/MichaelJFox's [[CanadaEh Canadian accent]] sometimes slips in as Marty.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'' (1985) - The first film.

* ''Doc Brown Saves the World'' (2015) - [[/index]]A ShortFilm for the 2015 Blu-ray and DVD release of the film trilogy commemorating the franchise's 30th anniversary.[[index]]

* ''Back to the Future'' (1991-1992)
* ''Back to the Future: Forward to the Future'' (1992-1993)
* ''ComicBook/BackToTheFuture'' (2015-2017), the Creator/IDWPublishing comic that serves as an interquel for the series.

** ''Back To The Future: Tales From the Time Train'' (2017-2018)
** ''ComicBook/TransformersBackToTheFuture'' (2020) - A non-canon IntercontinuityCrossover with [[Franchise/{{Transformers}} the Robots in Disguise]].

* ''Literature/BackToTheFuture'' (1985) - George Gipe's novelization of the first film,[[note]]Done ''before'' it was released.[[/note]] which ''Literature/BToTheFTheNovelizationOfTheFeatureFilm'' dissected.
* ''Back to the Future: The Story'' (1985) - An abridged version of ''Back to the Future'' for children.

* ''Theatre/BackToTheFutureTheMusical'' (2020) - [[/index]]the ScreenToStageAdaptation of the first film.[[index]]

* ''Back to the Future'' (1985) - [[/index]]A video game released by Electric Dreams Software for the Platform/ZXSpectrum, Platform/Commodore64 and Platform/AmstradCPC.[[index]]
* ''[[VideoGame/BackToTheFuture1986 Back to the Future]]'' (1986) - A highly obscure game for Japanese computers.
* ''[[VideoGame/BackToTheFuture1989 Back to the Future]]'' (1989) - A video game for the Platform/NintendoEntertainmentSystem based on the first film.

* ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1990) - [[/index]]A Platform/SegaMasterSystem game created by Image Works.[[index]]
* ''Back to the Future Part III'' (1991) - [[/index]]A game for Platform/SegaGenesis[=/=]Platform/SegaMasterSystem developed by Probe Software and released by Arena Entertainment.[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/SuperBackToTheFuturePartII'' (1993) - [[/index]]a side-scroller for Platform/SuperFamicom only released in Japan.[[index]]
* ''Back to the Future: Blitz Through Time'' (2010) - [[/index]]A MatchThreeGame for Facebook.[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/BackToTheFutureTheGame'' (2010-2011) - The Creator/TelltaleGames PointAndClick game which takes place after ''Part III'' and acts as an unofficial fourth movie. According to Telltale Games, they even had enough to fill up a fifth movie.
* ''VideoGame/LegoDimensions'' (2015) - Marty and Doc Brown are playable characters, with Creator/MichaelJFox and Creator/ChristopherLloyd [[RoleReprise reprising their roles]].

* ''WebVideo/BackForTheFuture'' (2011) - [[/index]]An {{interquel}} WebVideo directed by Frank Marshall and produced by Gale and Zemeckis, made to promote an auction to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation.[[index]]

[[folder:Tropes A-D]]

** To a lesser extent, the Tannens and the Stricklands. Buford and Marshall Strickland were enemies in 1885 [[spoiler: which ended with Buford murdering the Marshall.]] In 1955, Principal Strickland made no secret of his disdain for Biff.

* BerserkButton
** "''[[NobodyCallsMeChicken Nobody''... calls me chicken.]]" (With a variation in ''Part III'', where the equivalent word is "yellow") This particular berserk button appears to be subject to sequel retconning, as it is nowhere in evidence in ''Part I''. He did seem more willing to get into a fight than was sensible, but not directly from being called names.

'''Marty:''' Yeah; [[CharacterDevelopment you think I was stupid enough to race that asshole?]]

** Several set pieces (such as a Tannen and his gang chasing Marty in front of the ClockTower) are reused throughout the trilogy, to show that history repeats. {{Lampshaded}} by 2015 Biff: "There's something very familiar about all this."

** In ''Part II'' Marty demonstrates his skill with a gun-based arcade game. This becomes important in ''Part III'', giving him a sporting chance in an [[IKnowMortalKombat actual duel]]. [[spoiler: This is subverted when he removes his gun-belt and lets Buford shoot him in the boilerplate he wears under his poncho -- [[CurbstompBattle then beats the shit out of him]]. Also deconstructed by the reason he needs to pull this off- the gravestone photograph shows it would not be enough to save him from an experienced killer like Buford Tannen]].

** A deleted scene from II shows future Terry - The mechanic who originally cleaned and fixed Biff's car in 1955 - complaining to future Biff about the money that Biff never paid him for cleaning it. Terry specifically mentioned the day that he returned the car to Biff - November 12th, 1955. Biff could have easily picked another day to come back to, but it's possible that future Biff chose that specific day because it was fresh in his mind, not to mention it was the day that George punched him out, which changed his life forever, and didn't anticipate that Marty would just directly ask alternate-timeline Biff what day it was.

** Other examples: Biff's '46 Ford Super [=DeLuxe=] convertible, Marty's tricked-out 1985 Toyota 4x4, and Doc Brown's 1948 Packard Victoria convertible (of course, to a car buff, almost ''every'' car you see in the 1950's segments would qualify).

[[folder:Tropes E-N]]
* TheEighties: The primary setting of the story -- the one considered the "present day" -- is October 1985. Even 2015 in ''Part II'' was explicitly designed with what people on the 80's thought the future was going to be.

* EveryoneWentToSchoolTogether: George, Lorraine and Biff. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by Hill Valley being a small enough town for this to be likely.

* TheFifties: The scenes in 1955 make use of a lot of tropes from the decade, but just enough that they don't get in the way of the story.

-->'''Marty:''' The Doc can ''dance''??

** "...you will receive this letter immediately after you saw the [=DeLorean=] struck by lightning"
* IKnowMortalKombat: Marty is a crack shot, thanks to whiling away his youth playing ''Wild Gunman''. Established and mocked in the second, used straight in the third.
** Though "used straight" applies only to the fairground shooting gallery- [[spoiler: as the changing gravestone picture shows, it would ''not'' have been enough to save Marty in a straight-up duel with Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, a hardened killer]].

* IntergenerationalFriendship: Marty and Doc. {{Word of God}} explains that the friendship started when Marty was around 13-14 years old. After being told for years that Doc Brown was a dangerous, crackpot, lunatic, he snuck into Doc's lab to see for himself and instead was fascinated by what he saw in there and thought Doc's inventions were cool. Doc found him and was happy Marty thought he was "cool and accepted him for what he was". Doc then gave Marty a part-time job helping out with experiments, helping in the lab, and feeding Einstein. [[http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/97285 Read for yourself]].
** In Part III Marty befriends his Great-Great Grandfather Seamus. Seamus isn't much older than Marty during the time period though.

** It's also never explained why, in a future where such a compact and effective power source exists, 2015 technology couldn't simply modify the [=DeLorean=] to operate entirely on Mr. Fusion's energy along with the hover conversion and eliminate the need for gasoline (not to mention other cars--why were there even gas stations in 2015 when Mr. Fusion devices were readily available?).

-->'''Marty''': What did you bring her for?!\\
'''Doc''': I had to do something, she saw the time machine, I couldn't leave her with that information! Don't worry, she's not essential to my plan.
* LookBehindYou: Works on most Tannens, although Griff's gang in part 2 has some really neat cybernetic implants. He almost seems a bit surprised when he looks back and finds that his hand has caught Marty's fist. Also doubles as SchmuckBait.

** In the Italian version, for some reason unknown to mankind the Flux Capacitor got mistranslated as "flusso canalizzatore", which roughly means "channeling flux" and has almost nothing to do with the original name; however, in the third movie, Doc's letter talks about the broken "condensatore di flusso", which is an exact translation of "flux capacitor"; the Italian audience was never able to understand what this "condensatore di flusso" was and why would it be of any importance.
* MadScientist: Emmett Brown is the poster child for this trope, but only when he's inventing or planning; because of great writing it's just one facet of his character. He can also be quite lucid and/or calm.

-->'''Buford:''' (''to Marty'') Eight o'clock Monday, runt! If you ain't here, I'll hunt you and shoot you down like a duck!\\

[[folder:Tropes O-Z]]

* OncePerEpisode: All films have Marty being chased by a Tannen, a Tannen covered in manure, Marty thinking it was AllJustADream, Marty being woken up by his mother (or a matriarchal ancestor) from an unfamiliar time period, Doc experiencing a DisneyDeath near the end, an establishing shot of Hill Valley...

** Doc has the closing line for each film. In Part I, he tells Marty [[QuipToBlack "Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads."]], in Part II, the 1955 Doc says "Great Scott!" when he encounters Marty ''just'' after sending the Marty from the first film back to 1985, and in Part III, he says "Nope, already been there." when Marty asks whether he's going [[TitleDrop back to the future]].
* OneSteveLimit: There are three guys named "Joey" in the trilogy: [[http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Joey_Baines Marty's uncle]], [[http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Skinhead one of Biff's cronies]] (nicknamed Skinhead), and [[http://backtothefuture.wikia.com/wiki/Joey_%281885%29 the bartender's assistant]] in Part III.

* OurTimeMachineIsDifferent: Because it is a car, and a cool one at that.
** The time-traveling steam locomotive at the end of Part III, ''which also flies''!

-->'''Marty''': I dreamed that I went back in time.
* ThePowerOfLove: Powerful enough to defeat {{Temporal Paradox}}es, apparently.

*** Mattel hasn't gotten around to making hover-boards...[[http://gizmodo.com/5965031/you-can-pre+order-the-back-to-the-future-hoverboard-right-now until they did]], '''[[{{Defictionalization}} just to mess with us]]'''.

** "Boy oh boy, Mom, you sure can hydrate a pizza." Yes, Lorraine, hydrate that Pizza Hut pizza in the Black & Decker hydrator. On a side note, Pizza Hut (at the time of production) was owned by Pepsi.

* RecurringLocation: Courthouse Square

* RemovedAchillesHeel: Initially, the first version of the [=DeLorean=] required literal plutonium to generate enough electricity to power the time circuits while the [[TheAllegedCar car stalls on Marty at very inopportune times]]. A later trip to 2015 where Doc got the hover conversion for the [=DeLorean=] also had him buy a Mr. Fusion energy converter, allowing him to simply use trash instead of plutonium, the stalling issue is apparently fixed (as Marty or Doc seem to have no more problems revving it up to life) and the hover circuits allows it to travel anywhere without road issues ([[BagOfSpilling At least until the third movie, where the hover circuits got fried and brought back the road issue]]). Eventually the [[CoolTrain Time Train]] simply used steam.

* RubeGoldbergDevice: Used by Doc in both ''Part I'' and ''Part III''.

* ScrewDestiny: Prevalent throughout the series as Marty and Doc change reality by time-traveling, but comes to a head two times. [[spoiler: First, Doc, despite his misgivings, has his life saved - ''twice'' - by knowing how and when he is going to die, and Marty narrowly avoids a crippling accident that would change his life forever, thus changing the future they had just worked to save to the one we have now. At the very end of the trilogy, Doc says that it proves that there's no such thing as fate]]. Although the point about [[spoiler:Marty avoiding his accident]] is less Screw Destiny and more learning a lesson while in the past/future and avoiding the situation on his own.

* TheSociopath: Biff is likely this, desiring to have Lorraine for himself while being very egoistical about it at the same time. In ''Part II'' he's abusive to her and the younger [=McFlys=] in the alternate 1985.

* WritersCannotDoMath: A stock DMC [=DeLorean=] only got about 130 horsepower. It would go 0-60 in about a day and a half. That, of course, is before you dump a fission reactor in the back seat, with the requisite lead shielding to keep everyone inside from dying of a radiation overdose, easily doubling the weight of the car. So the notion that the car ''ever'' got up to 88 mph is hilarious.

-->'''Doc''': "What on Earth is that thing I'm wearing?" (referring to the radiation suit he was wearing in the 1980s film to protect him from the Flux Capacitor.)\\
'''Marty''': "A radiation suit"\\
'''Doc''': "Of course! Because of all the fallout from the atomic wars!"\\
'''Doc''': "I'm sure that in 1985, plutonium is available in every corner drugstore, but in 1955, it's a little hard to come by."

* ''VideoGame/SuperBackToTheFutureII'' (1993) - [[/index]]a side-scroller for Platform/SuperFamicom only released in Japan.[[index]]

* ForWantOfANail: Most of the series lends itself to Doc falling off his toilet while hanging a clock and banging his head on the sink. That gave him his EurekaMoment that led to him coming up with the idea for the flux capacitor, which is what makes time travel possible. If not for that, Marty and Doc would be unable to travel in time.

* ''Back to the Future'' (1985) - [[/index]]A video game released by Electric Dreams Software for the UsefulNotes/ZXSpectrum, UsefulNotes/Commodore64 and UsefulNotes/AmstradCPC.[[index]]

* ''[[VideoGame/BackToTheFuture1989 Back to the Future]]'' (1989) - A video game for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem based on the first film.
* ''VideoGame/BackToTheFuturePartIIAndIII'' (1990), the video game sequel to the above game, also for the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem.
* ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1990) - [[/index]]A UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem game created by Image Works.[[index]]
* ''Back to the Future Part III'' (1991) - [[/index]]A game for UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis[=/=]UsefulNotes/SegaMasterSystem developed by Probe Software and released by Arena Entertainment.[[index]]
* ''VideoGame/SuperBackToTheFutureII'' (1993) - [[/index]]a side-scroller for UsefulNotes/SuperFamicom only released in Japan.[[index]]

*** Not to be outdone, [[http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2392678,00.asp Nike introduced the same shoes]] that were worn or...uh, ''will'' be worn by Marty [[Film/AustinPowers OH NO I'VE GONE CROSSEYED]]

** Forget West Point. To master firearms, visit your local 7-Eleven. Foreign dubs reference [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Disneyland]] instead.

** Tannens of all ages are dimwitted thugs who get their kicks picking on someone named [=McFly=]. They invariably use {{Malaproper}} and eventually wind up crashing into piles of manure (in fact, that's the page image for the trope!)

* ExtremelyShortTimespan: The first movie has Marty spend a week scrambling around 1955 trying to get his parents to hook up. Then he spends an afternoon in 2015 and an evening in 1955. Then he spends a few days in 1885. All told, the entire franchise is a week and a half to two weeks out of Marty's life.