Back to the Future Pt. II
Ok, get your thinking cap on, this is where it starts to get really messy. At the end of Pt. 1/ the beginning of Pt. 2, Marty Prime is famously accosted by an outlandishly dressed Doc. (this version is Doc. Prime), who whisks he and Jennifer into the future to deal with yet another McFly family crisis. Using the logic the film dictates to us, Marty Prime essentially leaves a copy of himself behind each time he travels, so that leaves us with Marty II in 1955, an alternate version of Marty I in present day 1985 along with, for a very short time period, a new copy - Marty III - who was essentially Marty Prime until the second the intrepid time team left for the future. And lets not forget that this is Doc. Browns second trip into the future, so theoretically there are already three versions of him strewn about the continuum when BTTF II begins: Doc. Prime whom were following; Doc I who exists from his birth up until 1985 when he took the DeLorian into the future at the end of Pt. 1 (and who aged naturally over those years); Doc. II, created in 2015 after his first departure from the future to the past to collect his partner in time and now a third copy residing in 1985 Doc III - created as he goes into the future once more with Marty Prime and Jennifer Prime in tow. This third Doc. is presumably stuck in an endless time loop repeating the line Where were going, we dont need roads over and over for eternity. Its a good line, I could think of worse fates. To make matters even more apocalyptic we also now have two Jennifers to keep track of; Jennifer I, the copy left in 1985 and Jennifer Prime, who travels into the future with Marty Prime, Doc Prime and of course us.
Running Tally: 4 Martys, 4 Docs and 2 Jennifers.
After Marty Prime impersonates his future son for a while and he and Doc. Prime generally try to save the future of the McFly family name the time travellers decide its probably home time, leaving copies of themselves forever in the future as they depart Marty IV and Doc. IV, along with Jennifer II whos created by the same principal. For the next total, weve really got to count the futures selves that we meet in Pt. II, although this is a plot hole in itself. Who is this Future Marty? It cant be an old Marty Prime as he would essentially have disappeared from 1985 never to be seen again the moment he went forward in time. In that case it has to be an old version of the original Marty I, who, remember, hasnt actually been acknowledged as existing anywhere outside of this article. And the same applies for Future Jennifer too. These future selves must be counted though in theory because they are essentially versions of Marty Prime and Jennifer Prime and do exist in the same time and space as the Prime copies, at least for a while.
Running Tally: 7 Martys, 5 Docs and 3 Jennifers.
Unbeknownst to Marty and Doc. Prime, an elderly Biff Tannen steals the DeLorian, returning to the past to deliver the Sports Almanac, which lists every sporting result over the last few decades, to his younger self. This shapes Marty Primes original 1985 into a world run by Biff, whos made millions betting on sporting events using the Almanac. So throw another copy of Elderly Biff into the mix to make matters worse Elderly Biff II. But this new Dark World version of 1985 also has its own Marty Dark Marty; hes not present and is presumably at one of the boarding schools that the new wealthy Biff, his step father, has sent him to, but he exists. After all thats who Biff invariably mistakes Marty Prime for. And although theres no mention of her, theres presumably a Dark Jennifer here too unless, and again this isnt clarified, she died at some point in this alternate 1985. Theres also a Dark Doc., but hes been committed and so keeps himself well away from this insanity. But he is there. So, to recap the number of copies of the same person scattered through time simultaneously, we have: Marty Prime, Doc. Prime and Jennifer Prime, who are with us at all times (with the exception of Jennifer who stays put from now on). In 1985: Marty I and III; Doc. I and III and Jennifer I. In 1955: Marty II and Doc I (who hasnt travelled in time at all yet, and so from his point of view could technically retain Prime status). In 2015: Marty IV and Future Marty, Doc. II and IV; Future Jennifer and Jennifer II. Weve also got Dark Versions of Marty, Doc, Jennifer and Biff existing for the moment in the alternate 1985 which is created when Butthead himself messes about too much with his former self.
Running Tally: 8 Martys, 5 Docs , 3 Jennifers and 3 Biffs.
Hold onto your Flux Capacitors, theres more. Marty and the Doc. do some time-sleuthing to figure out what has changed the current 1985. They conclude that to restore the timelines they must reclaim the Sports Almanac from Biff in 1948. Of course as they depart, they both leave versions of themselves behind in the alternate 1985 albeit only until they manage to restore the timeline at the climax of Pt. 2 - well dub them Marty VII and Doc. VII, Although truthfully I cant imagine theyd ever really be able to get it back exactly the way it was, this is time were talking about not a messy front room. When they arrive in 1955 surprisingly no further duplicates are created that haven't been factored in, despite the fact that several of the different character copies are all operating so closely to each other. I guess this is the Prime copies reaping what theyve sown. When the Delorian is struck by lightning and sent back to 1895 however, Doc. leaves behind a seventh copy of himself as per the usual arrangement and when Marty eventually follows him to the ol Wild West he too leaves a seventh version of himself in 1955. In the end, timelines are restored and the alternate 1985 is erased from time, being replaced with Marty Primes preferred version; one where Biff is George McFlys bitch. This erases some of the numbers from the totals, ie; the Dark versions of the characters that were products of the alternate timelines as well as the versions of Marty and Doc prime that also only resided in the now erased timeline.
Back to the Future II Totals: 7 Martys, 7 Docs, 2 Jennifers and 2 Biffs.
Click "next" below for Back to the Future Part III