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- "What you lookin' at, butthead?"
- —Biff's famous catchphrase
- "Hello! Anybody home?"
- —When beating someone's head with his knuckles or, in 2015, the top of his cane
Biff (possibly Buford) Howard Tannen was born on March 26, 1937 in Hill Valley, California. He was the great-grandson of Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen and the son of Irving "Kid" Tannen,[1] and the grandfather of Griff Tannen. He was not very bright and only got through high school by bullying George McFly to do his homework for him. Biff often took plesure in calling George McFly an "Irish bug". He was feared by most of his schoolmates. In 1955, he surrounded himself with a gang consisting of (Match, Skinhead, and 3-D). He also had a crush on Lorraine Baines and referred to her as "my girl", and continued to take an interest in her even 30 and 60 years later. Lorraine did not return the sentiments.
By 1985, Biff's marital status is unknown, although Biff had a grandson Griff by 2015, indicating that Biff had at least one child by 1985. According to some sources, Biff had a son, Biff Jr., who, it is suggested, owned the Cafe 80's). He might have had a daughter named Tiff Tannen, short for Tiffany. [2]
Biff was noted for mixed metaphors. For example, he said "make like a tree and get out of here" instead of "make like a tree and leave" on more than one occasion. He also once said "That's about as funny as a screen door on a battleship" instead of submarine. During his theft of the DeLorean in 1991, he said "Have a nice trip, see you next winter!" His insult of choice was "butthead", or — usually when addressing George McFly — (Irish) "bug." One of his routines was to knock on someone's head and say "Hello? Hello? Anybody home?" He liked cars and ended up with a career waxing and cleaning them with his auto detailing business. Biff was still a jerk and more passive-aggressive than a bully, but could be nice when necessary, usually to get out of trouble.
Pre-1955
Although there are vague details of Biff's life before 1955, exact details are not known. What is known is that he had been living with his grandmother, Gertrude Tannen, at 1809 Mason Street for in November 1955, rather than with either parent. Biff as a youngster was known to bully other children from around the age of five. As he went through high school, he repeated a year (explaining why, despite being a year older than George and Lorraine, he was in the same grade as them). His documentary in 1985A explained that he did it in order to help out the high school football team.[3]
Confronting Biff
Biff has at least two younger siblings, Clifford and Riff. Their father's relationship with their mother (assuming they all have the same one) would have to have lasted at least three years even if the boys were conceived right after the other. The only thing for certain is that Biff's mother was no longer a part of his life by 1955 — either via death or simply abandoning the Tannen boys to live with their grandmother, and leaving town.
Biff also owned his own car, a powerful black Ford Super De Luxe Convertible, in which Skinhead, Match and 3-D occasionally traveled with him as passengers. The car could not be started by anyone except Biff, as he mentioned to Terry — who had believed it to be fitted with a kill-switch — when collecting the vehicle from the repair shop. In 1985A, the car (having been newly restored) was one of the main exhibits in the Biff Tannen Museum.
The late 20th century
Biff, age 47, before history changed.
In the original timeline, Biff started bullying George McFly when they were kids and never stopped. Over the next 30 years, Biff would continue to bully and intimidate George, and they both ended up working for the same company, where Biff became George's supervisor (due to George doing all Biff's work for him to get promoted). Biff's crush on Lorraine never died either, even after she had married George.
Biff, age 18, in 1955.
However, things changed when the McFlys' youngest son Marty McFly accidentally traveled back through time to 1955 using his friend Doc Brown's DeLorean time machine, interfering with his parents' first meeting. Marty, using the anachronistic name "Calvin Klein," also managed to get on the wrong side of Biff by standing up to him, something which Biff was not used to.
Biff's car crashes into a manure truck.
Marty was also indirectly responsible for causing Biff to crash his car into a manure truck, and this led to Biff finding Marty and Lorraine on the night of the school dance (November 12, 1955). Biff's gang trapped Marty in the trunk of another car and Biff tried to get his way with Lorraine. George came along, as part of the plan he and Marty had made where George would find Marty "parking" with Lorraine, but soon realized that the pretend rescue was now a real one. For the first time, George stood up to Biff to stop him from a sexual assault on Lorraine. Biff responded by attempting to break George's arm. Lorraine, trying to pull Biff away from George, was knocked to the ground. This enraged George, who suddenly broke free of Biff's grip and knocked him out with one punch. As a result, George became much more confident, and was no longer one of Biff's victims. Lorraine and George fell in love, and went on to marry.
It is unclear whether Biff found someone else to bully or whether being knocked out by the supposed weakest kid in school had ended Biff's days of bullying people and also installed at least a rudimentary notion of humility in him. Since Biff no longer had George to do his work for him, he now had to do things for himself. He started up his auto-detailing business, which he owned and ran himself, and by 1985, the McFlys were among his most loyal customers, and Biff's subservient attitude was demonstrated by his addressing George as "Mr. McFly". George seemed amused at Biff's efforts to get away with as little work as possible (although Biff's comment about already doing two coats of wax on the car may have been a personal good-natured joke between him and George) though he and Lorraine privately credited him with unwittingly helping them get together. George and Biff appeared to have become friends, or were at least on amicable terms.
2015
Biff, aged 77, in 2015
Marty, Doc and Marty's girlfriend Jennifer Parker traveled forward in time from 1985 to 2015 – unaware that their departure had been witnessed by Biff. Over the next 30 years, he remembered seeing the flying DeLorean taking off.
At the age of 77, Biff was still mean, and was still waxing cars in 2015 (although he had a better grasp of mixed metaphors than he did 60 years before). The fact that he still owned and managed Biff's Auto Detailing may suggest that he has fallen upon hard times and still needs to keep working to earn a living. However, it may have also been the case that he was working more as a way to keep active, as some retirees make a practice of. It is clear that Biff is quite bitter and resentful as a senior citizen. Formerly the bully, Biff was himself being bullied by his grandson Griff.
Old Biff thinks he's talking to Marty Jr., and tells how Marty McFly Sr. had his own life completely flushed down the tubes back in 1985.
Biff still seemed to like harassing people, including Marty (who he thinks is Marty's future son Martin McFly Jr.), and the handle on his cane was in the shape of a closed fist which he used to rap people on the head (his own hands now being too feeble to hit anyone hard) — although he remained cautious and apprehensive around George McFly. Biff's crush on Lorraine still lingered, as he told the young man, "Say hi to your grandma for me". On October 21, 2015, Biff overhears Marty and Doc Brown talking, and realized that Doc had invented a time machine. Biff picked up a sports almanac that Doc had thrown in the trash, followed the DeLorean to the Hilldale neighborhood, then stole the DeLorean and took it back to November 12, 1955, so that he could alter his life by handing the almanac to give to his younger self.
Biff gets the almanac
Just before Marty and Doc return with Jennifer, Biff goes back to 2015 and gets out of the DeLorean with difficulty, then suddenly clutched his chest in pain, causing the top of his cane to break off and fall inside the car. He staggered away and then slumped behind a parked car. Doc discovered the top of Biff's cane and the receipt for the sports almanac in the DeLorean, from which he deduced Biff's theft of the time machine. It is unclear what happened to Biff, as in the deleted scenes Biff falls sideways to the ground behind the car and fades away due to him changing history. It's possible that he might have been murdered after 1985 and before 2015, due to corruptive law.
The alternate present, 1955-1985
"Did you get kicked out of another boarding school?!"
Young Biff used the sports almanac to bet on the results of sporting events, since he knew the outcomes in advance, giving him the ability to cheat. In 1958, starting at age 21, Biff soon became very rich and powerful, spending, eventually starting up his toxic waste company Biffco and a casino hotel in Hill Valley (at least 27 stories high), named "Biff's Pleasure Palace", changing the laws of California to legalize casino gambling in 1979. Biff had apparently used his money to influence American politics as well as California politics. In addition to his lobbying of legalization of gambling before the California Legislature Biff also spearheaded a constitutional amendment to repeal the 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Biff was apparently an admirer of Richard Nixon, whom by repealing presidential term limits he had helped get elected to at least four terms as President of the United States. Biff had presumably altered the timeline by either bribing to cover up the Watergate investigations or resorting to outright murder. President Nixon had plans (at least as of 1983 (while seeking a fifth consecutive term), and leaving the Vietnam War unresolved as of 1983, which meant Biff's ways has effected the entire world as well. Though he was promoted (at least by himself) as "America's greatest living folk hero", Hill Valley in 1985A had become a center of crime, corruption, and gang warfare — which was not surprising really, since Biff also owned the Hill Valley Police Department.
Biff's casino
Biff and Lorraine got married after 1973.
Despite Biff's great wealth and many female admirers, Biff did not have the woman he always wanted, and would still have to wait decades before his time had come. In this version of history, he had been married three times. Not much is known about Biff's earlier marriages. His first wife was unnamed and may have also been the woman he had married in the original timeline. That marriage may have been dissolved either by divorce or her death (as it may have also been intended in the proper timeline). Biff's second wife was Marilyn Monroe, who had still been destined to die in 1962. The death of Biff's second wife arguably renewed Biff's feelings for Lorraine. On March 15, 1973, Biff shot and murdered George McFly, though Lorraine had not yet learned the truth by 1985A. Biff married her later that year, giving her financial support and offering to help the widowed Lorraine through her tragedy, but he apparently did not adopt her three young children as his own. Biff's power and wealth had gone up to his head, and he was very abusive towards Lorraine. He also paid doctors to drastically increase Lorraine's bustline, and gave only marginal support to his three stepchildren. He may have used his power to keep Dave McFly out of jail, but had no qualms about using his power to revoke Dave's probation, presumably by bribing the probation officer. Biff may have also been allowing Linda McFly to live the carefree life of a playgirl, but threatened that he would stop paying off her credit card bills. Biff paid for Marty's tuition at a boarding school in Switzerland, but this may be more likely he wanted at least one of his stepchildren away from him as far as possible since Marty was still a high school student, moreso than trying to get Marty the best education he could provide. At some point, perhaps in 1996, Lorraine had enough of Biff's abuse (or possibly because she discovered that Biff murdered her ex-husband) and shot him. For whatever reason, Biff was apparently no longer alive by 2015 after having altered the timeline.
Biff, provoked beyond his endurance, prepares to ram Marty into the manure truck before hitting it for the second time.
This version of reality was erased when Marty and Doc went back to 1955 and got the almanac from Biff before he could use it, while causing Biff to crash into the very same manure truck a second time. The timeline went back to how it was at the end of the first film, where Biff was running his auto detailing business.
The improved 1985
After Marty had gone to 1885, there was some question about whether the arrest (and possible hanging) of Buford Tannen would negate the existence of some of Buford's descendants, including Biff. Once Marty had returned to 1985 for the second time, however, Biff was spending a second day working as an auto-detailer - but now, he has a red jacket, not a green. His existence might lead one to believe that Buford had sired his son prior to being arrested.
Whle normally maintaining an appearance of being obsequious, Biff's original bad attitude still lurked beneath the surface and emerges occasionally, like his reaction to seeing the DeLorean take off and when he snapped at Marty when Marty approached his truck after his adventure in 1885. To be fair, he did think Marty, still in his "Clint Eastwood" disguise, was some punk trying to steal the truck and once he realized who the "punk" was, Biff immediately apologized, dipping again into his submissive demeanor.
1986
The less antagonistic Biff, rummaging through Doc's lab equipment in 1986.
During the estate sale of Doc's garage, Biff was present and was quite apt to picking up or taking things that were originally Doc's. Here Biff's aggressiveness took on a more passive element as Marty argued with him over Doc's notebook that was hidden inside a demonstration model of the Hill Valley Courthouse. Biff, however would refuse to comply with Marty's requests. To efficiently rid Biff of the notebook, Marty grabbed his guitar and turned on the CRM-114 amplifier. Biff bearishly bumped Marty aside after Marty cranked the settings up to max. Marty stood back as the inevitable concussive force blasted out of the speaker, sending Biff to the back wall, and allowing him to grab the notebook from Biff's possession.[1]
1986A
Biff, just as mean as he was in 1955, now a ruthless enforcer for the Tannen Crime Family in alternate 1986.
Biff was encountered again upon Marty's return to 1986, albeit this time as an enforcer and member of the Tannen crime family, the fifth largest in California. Thanks to changes in the past, his father Kid Tannen never went to prison, and as such remained leader of the local mob, turning it into the powerful Tannen family crime syndicate. He is shown for the first time to have two brothers, Cliff and Riff Tannen. Both supported him as they enforced the Tannens' rule over the Hill Valley townsfolk, including George and Lorraine McFly. In this reality, Biff is even meaner and more violent than ever. After he was slugged by George in 1955, he and his brothers viciously retaliated and broke his legs, making him a crippled paraplegic. He and Lorraine suffered intimidation and paid protection money, while Marty was run out of town for causing an "incident with a manure truck" to befall Biff.[4]
1986B
Biff, even more docile than normal, asks Marty not to swear, as it makes him "uncomfortable"
In an alternate timeline where Doc becomes a tyrannical despot by the name of "Citizen Brown", Biff was a broken man who lived in fear of Citizen Brown and his merciless regime of order and control. When Marty swore in front of him, Biff reacted with fear and nervousness, as apparently any infractions in Citizen Brown's state of order were dealt with harshly. Here he was still the Hellion at one point, only to be brought before Citizen Brown and "brainwashed" into becoming the first of Citizen Brown's newest campaign of enforcing order known as "Citizen Plus". Now, if even the thought of wrongdoing crosses his mind, he gets physically ill, even to the point of nausea and vomiting. Biff would spend most of his day promoting the "Citizen Plus" campaign in front of the courthouse to passers-by. Later he was used as Edna Strickland's puppet to assault George McFly.
The programming's hold over him was finally broken when Biff wound up in a room filled with all the magazines, videos and booze that had been confiscated from him and other citizens. Overwhelmed by the close proximity to items he had been conditioned against, Biff returned to his original mindset. Although he was most angry with Edna for brainwashing him, Biff also remembered that Marty made him do embarrassing stunts and threatened to deal with who was in his immediate line of sight, in this case being Marty. Biff angrily tried to clobber Marty, only to in turn get hit over the head from his father's old transforming speakeasy table and knocked out cold. Biff's rampage would not last long, as he was soon captured and remanded to the Citizen Plus Ward under heavy guard. Marty sees an enraged Biff inside a soundproof room, who is recalcitrant to take medication. This largely goes unnoticed by the guards, as Edna has demanded the guards' top priority be focused on reconditioning First Citizen Brown.
1986C
In the third alternate timeline created by Doc Brown and Marty McFly preventing Edna Strickland from accidentally burning down Hill Valley, the end result was Edna being arrested for drunk driving, arson, and resisting arrest. This led to her and Kid Tannen winding up in the same jail cell, which in turn led to Edna and Kid getting married after Biff and his brothers were conceived, making Edna Biff's stepmother. She often took Einstein, Doc's dog, for exercise daily.
This seemed to have mellowed out his personality a bit.
Back to the Future: The Ride
1955 Biff Tannen on the time machine from Back to the Future: The Ride
In 1991, Doc established the Institute of Future Technology (IFT). On May 2, 1991, time travel volunteers from the IFT went back to 1955 to make sure that the timeline was back to normal following the events of the films. In 1955, 17-year old Biff stowed away in the time machine and once in 1991, stole it and blasted through time. Doc followed Biff through time in the new 8-seater DeLorean. Biff visited October 25, 2015 (almost the 30th anniversary of the first time travel experiment), an active volcano, and the Ice Age before heading back to 1991. Biff was then taken back to 1955, where he belonged, by Doc.
Of course because of this experience, Biff should be aware of Doc's time travel experiments as far back as 1955. Yet is still surprised at seeing the DeLorean fly in 1985, even though he flew one himself. Why he never hassled Doc during the preceding 30 years is also not explained.
Back to the Future: The Animated Series
Biff Tannen in Back to the future Animated series
1992 Biff was shown to act like a milder version of his original "asshole-ish" 1985 incarnation. It would appear his obsequious act in front of George and Lorraine was simply that, an act. Biff was generally difficult to get along with (Though not impossible) and sometimes causing trouble. He had returned to wearing a crew-cut like he did in 1955.
Since one of his numerous ancestors or descendants were encountered, Marty rhetorically questioned if there was a "Tannen" in every time and place they visited when they went to ancient Rome. Biff was once shown driving a tow truck, indicating he still had his automotive detailing business.
In 1967, he saw the Comet Kablooey and thought it was an alien ship. In 1992, he tried claiming Jennifer Parker's grandparents' ranch after finding a deed saying the Tannen family owned it. However, Marty, Jules and Verne went back to 1875 to make sure that the Tannens never got the deed.
Behind the scenes
- Biff Tannen had been named in the original, 1980 draft of the script for Back to the Future, and in earlier drafts, "Biff H. Tannen" was referred to, along with a mention that the H. stood for "Howard". While this might suggest that Biff is a nickname, the original script included a sequence where Biff ruins an electric drill and then says to George, "Oh--and one more thing: my kid's selling Girl Scout cookies. I told her you were good for 4 boxes. Don't make me a liar!". This unused line may well be the basis for Tiffany Tannen. A similar scene was filmed for Back to the Future, with a pushy neighbor and his daughter getting George to buy a case of peanut brittle. The neighbor, whose scenes were cut from the film, was named Howard. The middle name Howard was actually spoken for the first time in the Telltale game.
- J.J. Cohen who later played Skinhead, one of Biff's gang was considered to play Biff but did not appear physically imposing next to Eric Stoltz, who was originally cast as Marty. He did appear more imposing next to the shorter Michael J. Fox who had been the first choice to play Marty and who would later replace Stoltz in the role. On the DVD commentary for the first film, producer Bob Gale noted that Cohen may very well have won the role had Fox been cast from the beginning.
- By the time he reaches age 78, Biff is a lot smarter than he had been at 47 or at 17, Besides the more obvious point, where he is with the 1955 Biff, he is very exasperated with Biff's penchant for mixing up metaphors and corrects him and blasts him for sounding "like a damn fool" when he says "make like a tree and leave" wrong. He also quickly recognizes an opportunity to borrow a Sports Almanac and a time machine, and even readily figures out how to operate the machine without any prior instructions. In addition to stealing the car, he has to (a) put fuel in Mr. Fusion (b) input an appropriate destination time (c) turn the time circuits on, and (d) reaching the proper speed (88 mph) for time displacement. After locating his younger self, he has to repeat the sequence and set a return time immediately after his moment of departure so that nobody would realize the car had ever been gone. It is possible that old Biff might have needed more than one try before he successfully traveled to November 12, 1955. (He could, indeed, have experimented for weeks or months before he figured out how to operate the machine, but on returning from 1955 to 2015 he would have made sure to return to a point in time immediately after he stole it, so that it would not be missed.) It is also possible that the camcorder with the videotape of Doc's instructions was still in the car.
- According to the readout on the time machine controls, Biff spent several hours in 1955 before giving his younger self the Almanac. Popular opinion speculates he may simply have done some nostalgic sightseeing.
- In the Back to the Future Part II novelization, at the Cafe 80's, old Biff comes to regret being such a jerk and realizes he wasted his life. Of course this epiphany is quickly forgotten upon his discovery of the Almanac and the DeLorean. Ironically, in his attempt to make his life better he ends up making himself a much bigger jerk. As a result of this, he ends up actually guaranteeing his demise.
- Biff appeared in Back to the Future: The Animated Series, though not in every episode. Thomas F. Wilson provided the voice for Biff, who always wore a red bowling shirt. In the first season, Biff often would appear after the closing credits and would tell a lame (intentionally) joke. He was often seen as a character in the second season episodes. Wilson supplied the voice for many, if not all, of the Tannen relatives encountered in other eras.
- In an interview in the official BttF Club magazine, Thomas Wilson speculates that Biff's grandmother was probably the primary reason Biff grew up to be such a jerk. He also claims Biff's signature "Butt-Head" and "Hello McFly" quotes were mostly his ideas.
- At the Biff Tannen Museum, a sign can be seen saying "Smoking required".
- Though they know a lot about each other, Biff and Doc Brown are never seen interacting in the films, only in the animated series. Doc, however, has tangled with several of Biff's ancestors, such as Buford Tannen.
- It has been said that "Biff" is a nickname for the name "Buford".[citation needed] It wouldn't be a surprise if the Tannens had more family traditions besides orneriness.
Appearances
- Back to the Future (First appearance)
- Back to the Future Part II
- Back to the Future Part III
- Back to the Future novelizations
- Back to the Future: The Story
- Back to the Future: The Ride
- Back to the Future: The Pinball
- Back to the Future: The Animated Series
- Universal Studios: Theme Park Adventure
- Back to the Future: The Card Game (Mentioned only)
- Back to the Future: The Game
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 1: It's About Time
- ↑ Referred to in an early draft script for Part II, and in the animated series
- ↑ Full video from Biff Tannen Museum
- ↑ Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 2: Get Tannen!
| Individuals | ||
| The McFly Family Marty McFly | George McFly | Lorraine Baines McFly | Jennifer Parker | Seamus McFly | Maggie McFly Dave McFly | Linda McFly | Martin McFly, Jr. | Marlene McFly | Arthur McFly | ||
| The Brown Family Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown | Clara Clayton-Brown | Jules Brown | Verne Brown | Einstein | ||
| The Tannen Family Biff Tannen | Buford Tannen | Griff Tannen | Irving "Kid" Tannen | ||
| The Strickland Family James Strickland | Roger Strickland | Irene Strickland | Edna Strickland | Gerald Strickland | ||
| Other Individuals Match, Skinhead & 3-D | Goldie Wilson | Douglas J. Needles | Marcus Irving |