Has anyone ever noticed this about the whole BTTF series.

[Faceslasher]

Time Travel can affect the timeline. But only for the time travelers.

This means Marty's mom is still a drinker and Marty's dad is still a turbo nerd. And Biff is still a asshole. Jeniffer is well... Jeniffer. And in Part 3. Doc is still dead.

And in the game Doc is still dead. But he never meets Edna. Only in what Marty see's. So if i were to hear Doc is dead. And Marty was to prevent that. Doc would still be dead in my world. Where as in Marty's world he is still alive.

Isn't that freaky?

[Rtboh]

Originally Posted by Faceslasher

Time Travel can affect the timeline. But only for the time travelers.

This means Marty's mom is still a drinker and Marty's dad is still a turbo nerd. And Biff is still a asshole. Jeniffer is well... Jeniffer. And in Part 3. Doc is still dead.

And in the game Doc is still dead. But he never meets Edna. Only in what Marty see's. So if i were to hear Doc is dead. And Marty was to prevent that. Doc would still be dead in my world. Where as in Marty's world he is still alive.

Isn't that freaky?

Dude, your talking in riddles and rhymes

[Falanca]

It may be Marty that jumps through one alternate possibility to another while we may be remaining in that same old one which actually never changes, basically. Freaky idea, why not?

[BlankCanvasDJ]

Yes and no. That idea is generally sound but I think in the fiction of Back to the Future, they have these sort of "time ripples". Though Doc and Marty see many different alternate versions of it, there's only really one timeline and changing an event in the past will ripple forward into the future, also changing that future. There isn't an alternate timeline where Doc died in the 1800s, that timeline was replaced with the new version where he survives. That's why when it looks like Marty's parents aren't going to get together, it doesn't just create an alternate timeline where Marty isn't born, it actually effects Marty's timeline and he starts fading away.

[KaiRubix]

As much as the alternate dimensional timelines seem more plausible, in the BTTF universe there is only one timeline and it can be changed and altered. Doc explains this in the second movie when Marty mentions that they left Jennifer and Einstein in Hell Valley, but Doc explains that the time stream will change around them and they won't have any memories of that timeline.

[Michael J Fox is Canadian]

Originally Posted by Faceslasher

Time Travel can affect the timeline. But only for the time travelers.

This means Marty's mom is still a drinker and Marty's dad is still a turbo nerd. And Biff is still a asshole. Jeniffer is well... Jeniffer. And in Part 3. Doc is still dead.

And in the game Doc is still dead. But he never meets Edna. Only in what Marty see's. So if i were to hear Doc is dead. And Marty was to prevent that. Doc would still be dead in my world. Where as in Marty's world he is still alive.

Isn't that freaky?

No it effects everything; previous timelines dont exist anymore; thats why pictures and newspapers from them change. Look at what Biff did in part II: changed everyones timelines. Mind you that is the one part that is not quite clear and the one and only thing you could argue in the trilogy is a time travel plothole; Doc and Marty are not the time travllers in that case. Only biff went back to 1955, so the timeline should have transformed around doc and marty and they should only remember the biffhoric timeline. And similar to how the time travels in the game up to episode 4 had seemingly erased all previous timelines (hence why it is now called 'clayton ravine again', Biffs time travels should erase all previous time travels since doc doesn't invent a time machine in that time line. But it doesn't, we still see the events from part I happening again in 1955.

[sabata2]

I feel that the way BttF works is that the future doesn't ripple immediately. And the more time travelers there are the longer it takes to correct itself.

Because Biff's going back in time, then forward again to the future WE SEE is a plot/time hole only answerable by saying "Because there are time travelers in that version it is it acting as a linchpin forcing time to not be able to correct itself.


The only problem with that is Jennifer and Einstien NOT acting as linchpins when Doc and Marty stop old Biff in 1955.

[Michael J Fox is Canadian]

Originally Posted by sabata2

The only problem with that is Jennifer and Einstien NOT acting as linchpins when Doc and Marty stop old Biff in 1955.

And furthermore; Jennifer leaves 1985 at around 11 am, spends 3 hours in 2015 and returns at 9 pm so she's still technically in the future.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by Michael J Fox is Canadian

Biffs time travels should erase all previous time travels since doc doesn't invent a time machine in that time line. But it doesn't, we still see the events from part I happening again in 1955.

The way I always saw it was that Doc did his time travel experiment earlier in the Biff Hell Valley timeline (before Marty was sent away to school and before Doc was committed) because he was in a rush due to being threatened by Biff.

[Kyronea]

The general notion of the ripple effect, of changes to a timeline taking time to propagate themselves through said timeline, makes sense in a certain way. (At least it's able to followed easily by the human mind, which is important for fiction.)

The problem is that it isn't used consistently in Back to the Future. Note how, for example, Marty has a week before he erases himself from existence, whilst in BTTF II, the newspaper and Biff's matchbook change instantly before their eyes.

Either it's instant or it's not. Inconsistencies like these annoy me.

[Michael J Fox is Canadian]

Originally Posted by Jennifer

The way I always saw it was that Doc did his time travel experiment earlier in the Biff Hell Valley timeline (before Marty was sent away to school and before Doc was committed) because he was in a rush due to being threatened by Biff.

Yeah you know i thought about it since making that post and concur with you that Doc would have known that marty travels back on October 26th 1985 so he still ensures it happens in that timeline.

Originally Posted by Kyronea

The general notion of the ripple effect, of changes to a timeline taking time to propagate themselves through said timeline, makes sense in a certain way. (At least it's able to followed easily by the human mind, which is important for fiction.)

The problem is that it isn't used consistently in Back to the Future. Note how, for example, Marty has a week before he erases himself from existence, whilst in BTTF II, the newspaper and Biff's matchbook change instantly before their eyes.

Either it's instant or it's not. Inconsistencies like these annoy me.

No because marty still has until the week to repair the damage he caused in part I (he just needs to get them to kiss at the dance which he does). Whereas as soon as he burns the almanac that guarantees the biff timeline doesn't happen . This is also why in part III, the pic of the tombstomb doesn't change instantly when marty tells doc what will happen. First the name is erased, then changed, then the tomb erases; because it remains undetermined until September 7th 1885.

[darkthunder]

Originally Posted by Michael J Fox is Canadian

No because marty still has until the week to repair the damage he caused in part I (he just needs to get them to kiss at the dance which he does). Whereas as soon as he burns the almanac that guarantees the biff timeline doesn't happen . This is also why in part III, the pic of the tombstomb doesn't change instantly when marty tells doc what will happen. First the name is erased, then changed, then the tomb erases; because it remains undetermined until September 7th 1885.

A reasonable explanation.

When Marty first arrived in Hill Valley on November 5th 1955, Marty altered the original "encounter" between George and Lorraine. This alteration is what started the "rippling" of the timeline, beginning with the fade-out of Marty's brother 'Dave'. In the original timeline (as explained by 1985 Lorraine), it was the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance, that ultimately sealed George and Lorraines fate, that they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives.

If Marty would've arrived in Hill Valley during the dance, and prevented their kiss, he most likely would've "faded instantly" as the time for the event would've passed. Fortunately for Marty, he arrived a week before the dance, and managed to fix the original screw-up (which was caused by his presence in Hill Valley 1955).

Remember, Marty tried several times prior to November 12th, to get George and Lorraine to be together, appearing to George as "Darth Vader from Planet Vulcan" for example, as well as trying to hook them up by having George talk into the café to talk with her. For the duration between November 5th and November 12th, Lorraine only had eyes for Marty/Calvin. It wasn't until George decked out Biff, that she realized that George was a guy willing to fight for her, and eventually they kissed on the dance floor, sealing their fate forever.

[PrivateJoker]

No. You should watch Back To The Future Part 2.