Biff Tannen

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Biff Tannen
Back to the Future character
BiffTannenBackToTheFuture1985.jpg
Thomas F. Wilson as Biff in Back to the Future (1985)
First appearance Back to the Future (1985)
Last appearance Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Created by Robert Zemeckis
Bob Gale
Portrayed by Thomas F. Wilson
Voiced by
  • Kid Beyond (The Game)
  • Thomas F. Wilson
    (The Animated series; The Game, 2015-re-release)
In-universe information
Full nameBiff Tannen
Family Irving "Kid" Tannen (father)
Children Biff Tannen, Jr.
Relatives
Time travel
Original time1955, 1985, 1985A, 2015
Years visited1955 (from 2015)

Biff Tannen is a fictional character in the Back to the Future trilogy. Thomas F. Wilson plays Biff in all three films as well as the Universal Studios ride, and voiced the character in the animated series. Aidan Cutler played him in the original West End production of the first film's stage musical adaptation, and Nathaniel Hackmann plays him in the Broadway production. [1] Biff is the main antagonist of the first and second films, while his great-grandfather, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (also played by Wilson), is the main antagonist of the third.

Contents

Biff is portrayed as a hulking, belligerent, dim-witted bully who obtains what he wants by intimidating others into doing his work for him, or by cheating. He and his family members are shown to misuse idioms in ways that make them appear foolish and comical, despite their intention to insult or intimidate. He frequently calls others "butthead".

Role in the Back to the Future franchise

Biff was born in Hill Valley, California in 1937. He is the great-grandson of Old West outlaw Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, son of gangster Irving "Kid" Tannen and grandfather of Griff Tannen. As a vigorously hotheaded teenager in 1955, Biff is known for bullying George McFly into doing his homework for him while he drinks and hangs out with his friends. Feared by most of his schoolmates, his only friends are his gang (Match, Skinhead, and 3-D). The one person at Hill Valley High School that Biff fears is Mr. Strickland. He lives with his grandmother, Gertrude Tannen (voiced by Wilson), at 1809 Mason Street and proudly owns a black 1946 Ford Deluxe convertible. A running gag is his particular dislike for manure, displayed when he is shoved into large quantities of it at multiple points during the films.

In 1985, the still abusive adult Biff is George's supervisor at an unknown company who forces George to do his job for him until George's son, Marty McFly, changes history through his interactions with his teenage father, giving him the confidence to defeat Biff in a fight to save Lorraine Baines, his future wife and Marty's mother. Afterwards, the new 1985 Biff is a servile auto detailer in George's employ.

In Back to the Future: Part II , an aged and physically decrepit Biff steals Emmett "Doc" Brown's time machine in 2015 and travels back to 1955 to give his teenage self a sports almanac chronicling victories from 1950-2000, then heads home to 2015, hoping to gain a happier life as a result of his actions. Consequently, on his 21st birthday in 1958, Biff's younger self wagers money on a horse race listed in the almanac with the victorious steed's name revealed, winning his first million dollars and giving himself prestige and increasingly arrogant confidence. Despite his progressively gaining vast wealth and power through this "fixed" sports-event betting, Biff is still unable to convince Lorraine to marry him; as before, she marries George and starts a family with him. At last, Biff resorts to murdering George in 1973, and uses his money and political influence to cover up any evidence. Without George's supporting her and her family financially, Lorraine reluctantly accepts the well-to-do Biff as her new husband, thus creating a dystopian alternate 1985. The petulant and arrogantly tempestuous Biff never feels content in the marriage since he treats Lorraine as a prize to be won and possessed, and often lashes out verbally and physically; in a deleted scene, Lorraine eventually gets so fed up with Biff's overbearing hostility and abuse, along with finding out that Biff murdered George, that she shoots him dead some time in the late 1990s. This incident explains why the elderly Biff's actions have no visible effect on the Hill Valley of the future and, after returning to 2015, he clutches his chest in pain, sinks to the pavement, and fades from existence. Marty returns to 1955, carefully avoiding disturbing the events from his previous visit, and battles against the teenage Biff, ultimately recovering the almanac and undoing Biff's alternate timeline by burning it.

Biff's relationships

In 1955, Biff covets Lorraine Baines, who does not return the sentiments. In the original 1985, Biff's marital status is unknown as no mention of a wife is ever made in the trilogy.

The alternate 1985 reveals that Lorraine, widowed after the murder of George, ended up marrying Biff in 1973. In a video clip after their wedding, Biff is asked, "How does it feel?", to which he replies, "Third time's the charm", implying that he had two previous wives in this continuity.

Tannen Family

Throughout the Back to the Future franchise, Tannen is shown to have various ancestors or descendants in various timeline who share Biff's character traits, and in the films, are also played by Thomas F. Wilson.

Ancestors

Back to the Future Part III shows Biff's great-grandfather, Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, was a vicious Outlaw in the Wild West of 1885, Hill Valley.

Biff's children

By 2015, Biff has a teenage grandson, Griff, suggesting that Biff had at least one child by 1985. The animated series reveals that Biff has a son, Biff Jr, while the 2011 video game alludes to him having a daughter, Tiff.

Character creation

The character is named for studio executive Ned Tanen following an incident years earlier where Tanen reacted aggressively to a script being pitched by the film's writers Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis. Tanen accused the two of attempting to produce an antisemitic work with their 1978 film, I Wanna Hold Your Hand . [2] [3] Drafts of Back to the Future show the character with the middle initial of "H", but this detail was omitted in further revisions.

As the October 2015 date featured in the films approached, media outlets began noting the similarities between the alternate 1985 version of the character and Donald Trump, who at the time Part II was produced had just purchased the Plaza Hotel in New York City and, by 2015, was in the midst of an ultimately successful run for President of the United States. [4] When the comparison was brought to Gale's attention in an interview, he said, "Yeah. That's what we were thinking about". [5] Both The Daily Beast and Rolling Stone note the similarities of Biff's casino penthouse to Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino; [5] [6] additionally, The Beast points out that in Back to the Future Part II :

Biff uses the profits from his 27-story casino... to help shake up the Republican Party, before eventually assuming political power himself, helping transform Hill Valley, California, into a lawless, dystopian wasteland, where hooliganism reigns, dissent is quashed, and wherein Biff encourages every citizen to call him "America's greatest living folk hero". [5]

The fact checking website Snopes, however, doubts this claim, noting that neither Gale nor Zemeckis mentioned anything about Trump being the inspiration for the character until after comparisons began appearing in social media, and saying that it "appeared to be retrofitted to 2015's current events, not prescience on the part of the filmmakers". [7]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas F. Wilson</span> American actor (born 1959)

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References

  1. ↑ "See the full cast for Broadway's 'Back to the Future: The Musical'". Entertainment Weekly .
  2. ↑ Freer, Ian. "The making of Back to the Future", Empire , January 2003.
  3. ↑ "Q&A with Director Robert Zemeckis & Producer Bob Gale", "Back to the Future" DVD, Bonus Materials
  4. ↑ Lee, Benjamin (October 23, 2015). "Back to the Future writer: bad guy Biff was based on Donald Trump". The Guardian . Retrieved July 19, 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Collins, Ben (October 21, 2015). "'Back to the Future' Writer: Biff Tannen Is Based on Donald Trump". The Daily Beast . Archived from the original on May 8, 2017. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  6. ↑ Stuart, Tessa (October 21, 2015). "'Back to the Future' Writer: Biff Is Donald Trump". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  7. ↑ LaCapria, Kim (October 22, 2015). "Back to the Future Rumors and Predictions". Snopes. Snopes Media Group Inc. Retrieved June 3, 2021.
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