"A single piece of anachronistic technology can have drastic effects on the timeline. For example, do you realise what would've happened if you'd taken that replicator from the automatic repair station?"
"Yes, we could've stopped recycling our plots."
— Farce Contact, a Star Trek: Enterprise Parody Fic
Films — Live-Action
Emmett "Doc" Brown: Obviously the time continuum has been disrupted, creating a new temporal event sequence resulting in this alternate reality.
Marty McFly: English, Doc!
Doc Brown: Here. Here, let me demonstrate. Let's say that this line represents time. [draws straight line and points to places] Here's the present 1985, the future and the past. Obviously, somewhere in the past the timeline skewed down into this tangent [draws new line and writes 1985A] creating an alternate 1985. Alternate to you, me, and Einstein, but reality for everyone else. Recognize this? It’s the bag the sports book came in; I know because the receipt was still inside. I found them in the time machine...along with this!
Marty: It's the top of Biff's cane. I mean, old Biff, from the future.
Doc Brown: Correct. They were in the time machine because Biff was in the time machine...with the sports almanac!
Marty: Holy shit.
Doc Brown: You see, while we were in the future, Biff got the sports book, stole the time machine, went back in time and gave the book to himself somewhere in the past. Look, it says right here that Biff made his first million betting on a horse race in 1958. He wasn't just lucky, he knew, because he had all the race results in the sports almanac! That's how he made his entire fortune!
Marty McFly: English, Doc!
Doc Brown: Here. Here, let me demonstrate. Let's say that this line represents time. [draws straight line and points to places] Here's the present 1985, the future and the past. Obviously, somewhere in the past the timeline skewed down into this tangent [draws new line and writes 1985A] creating an alternate 1985. Alternate to you, me, and Einstein, but reality for everyone else. Recognize this? It’s the bag the sports book came in; I know because the receipt was still inside. I found them in the time machine...along with this!
Marty: It's the top of Biff's cane. I mean, old Biff, from the future.
Doc Brown: Correct. They were in the time machine because Biff was in the time machine...with the sports almanac!
Marty: Holy shit.
Doc Brown: You see, while we were in the future, Biff got the sports book, stole the time machine, went back in time and gave the book to himself somewhere in the past. Look, it says right here that Biff made his first million betting on a horse race in 1958. He wasn't just lucky, he knew, because he had all the race results in the sports almanac! That's how he made his entire fortune!
Western Animation
Dinobot: When reality alters, the future alters with it! With the Golden Disk, Megatron's power is limitless!
—"Code of Hero", Beast Wars
