Flashback (trope): Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:permission.jpg|link=Hayate Cross Blade|frame|You don't ''have'' to ask for permission.]]

{{quote|''"I think I'll try extra hard to remember today's events and conversations, [[Crazy Prepared|in case I someday want to]] recall them verbatim."''|'''Gordon Frohman''', ''[[Concerned]]''}}

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== Anime and Manga ==

* In ''[[Digimon]]'', after [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|Impmon]] does his [[Heel Face Turn]] after {{spoiler|killing leomon}}, there are constant flashbacks by Jeri and Impmon of him (As Beelzemon) {{spoiler|killing him}} over and over again. Impmon and Jeri have other flashbacks to show how they became what they are. Jeri's mother died when she was little, her father became distant and she could never really connect with her step-mom, and Impmon gained a hatred of humans because of his abuse at the hands of his young Tamers.

** Series one and two also had flashbacks. Most of the Digidestined have flashbacks of family deaths, such as Izzy and Cody, who have flashbacks about their parents' deaths, Ken has his brother Sam's death, and Tai has the time that he almost was responsible for his sister Kari's demise. Owikowa also had flashbacks, to show how and Hiroki (Cody's dad) were friends, and how alone he felt after Hiroki died. TK often has flashbacks about Angemon's sacrifice to stop Devimon, and Ken has flashbacks of his time as the Digimon Emperor.

* [[Axis Powers Hetalia]]: America admits to always getting these when he begins to clean his storage room, and never being able to finish or throw anything out. Might overlap with [[It Was a Gift]] since two of the three objects he gets flashbacks over (a house with a set of wooden soldiers and a 3-piece suit) were in fact presents from England. Might overlap with [[Troubled Backstory Flashback]] several times- both the soldiers and the suit bring back bittersweet memories, which he lampshades by exclaiming there HAS to be something cool that doesn't bring bad memories with itself. Cue him finding a scratched musket from the Revolutionary War, bringing one of the biggest [[Tear Jerker]] moments in the entire series.

* Flashbacks were abused in early issues of the Marvel ''[[Transformers Generation 1]]'' comic, with a page or more of some issues used to recreate scenes from previous issues an an apparent [[Padding|attempt to fill space]].

* The ''[[Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater]]'' [[Fanfic]] ''[[The Joy of Battle]]'' uses flashbacks in the same way that ''[[Lost]]'' does to tell [[How We Got Here|how the characters ended up at the point of the story's beginning]] and also to reveal [[Backstory]] through characterizing scenes.

* [[Flash Back]]: Several in [[The Tainted Grimoire]]:

* True to the series, the ''[[Calvin at Camp]]'' [[Lost]] parody features some...troubling...flashbacks for the kids.

* Used to death in the B-movie ''[[Boggy Creek 2 The Legend Continues|Boggy Creek 2: The Legend Continues]]''.

* In another ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'' alumnus, ''[[Future War]]'', a character in a jail cell flashbacks while exercising, covering all the fight scenes in the film thus far, ''[[Viewers Are Goldfish|including one that happened before the cut to the cell]]''. "Soon he'll be flashing back to the start of his ''flashbacks''."

* ''[[Blue Thunder]]'' uses these as a vehicle to illustrate hero Frank Murphy's [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]] [[Backstory]], and also to [[Foreshadowing|foreshadow]] a key plot point regarding his relationship with Cochrane.

* Jay in ''[[Sky Blue]]'' has a flashback to when Shua showed her the blue sky; Shua later has one to a few minutes later, showing why he was exiled. Later still, Cade has a flashback to the same event, where it turns out he framed Shua for his own action.

* In ''[[Jaws the Revenge]]'' Ellen has several flashbacks throughout the movie, although there is no way the majority of the scenes could be in her memories as she wasn't present for many of the events.

* In ''[[Silent Night, Deadly Night|Silent Night Deadly Night]] 2'' the whole beginning is a flashback to the first movie even though there is no way that Ricky could've remembered any of the events depicted except for the last one because he was either a baby or wasn't present.

* ''[[Mission to Mars]]'' ends with [[Gary Sinise]]'s character having rapid flashbacks of his late wife and all his friends, as he is preparing to {{spoiler|leave for another galaxy to meet the progenitors of humans}}.

* In ''[[The Dark Tower]], Book One: The Gunslinger'', the first quarter of the novel is devoted to flashbacks to events just prior to the beginning of the novel, and flashbacks to Roland's childhood within those. In ''Book Four: Wizard and Glass'', [[Whole-Episode Flashback|the bulk of the story]] is a flashback to a formative event in Roland's early adulthood.

* Like the index down there says, this is [[Older Than Feudalism]]: Odysseus has a long flashback in ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]''.

* K.J Parker's ''[[The Scavenger Trilogy|Scavenger Trilogy]]''. In places there's more flashback than straight narrative.

* ''[[Angel]]'': The series makes extensive use of this trope, often to detail events in Angel's past and sometimes other characters too. Many episodes have at least a few minutes of flashbacks and many episodes will feature extensive use of flashbacks that alternate with events of the present time that are somehow connected to what the flashback is detailing. Examples of episodes include "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been", "The Prodigal", "Five by Five", "Darla", "Lullaby", "The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco", "Destiny", "Why We Fight", and "The Girl in Question".

* Virtually every episode of ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]'' has an extensive flashback; since the series protagonist is four centuries old, there's plenty of available plotlines to choose from. Usually, the flashback shows the hero's first meeting with the guest Immortal of the week.

* The short-lived show ''[[New Amsterdam]]'' has John do flashbacks occasionally, starting with the pilot, where he remembers how he was mortally wounded defending a [[Magical Native American]] woman, who repaid him by making him immortal until he found his soulmate. Oftentimes, he remembers past lovers (each time, he thought she was "the one"), children, and dogs.

* ''[[Sally Forth]]:'' In an arc for Feb. 12, 2010, Sally remembered the first time she met her boss, Ralph. She eventually snaps out of it.

{{quote| '''Ted:''' You seemed zoned out for days! I almost called the hospital.<br />

'''Sally:''' Don't worry. [[Lampshade Hanging|No one's ever died from a flashback.]] }}

* The first act of ''Nine'' ends with a series of flashbacks to Guido's youth.

* ''[[Miss Saigon]]'' goes back to "The Fall of Saigon" midway through the second act

* ''[[The Phantom of the Opera]]'' is told in one giant flashback, as the show's opening scene is of the aged Raoul attending an auction selling off items from the opera house.

* ''[[Flashback|Flashback: The Quest for Identity]]''. In-game flashbacks.

* In Minori's route in ''[[Brass Restoration]]'', flashbacks are used much more frequently than needed, often to recap something that happened half a scene ago. Thankfully not as prevalent in other routes.

* All of the interludes in ''[[The Reconstruction]]''. Subverted in that all but one of them are flashbacks to [[And Now for Someone Completely Different|the prologue's cast]].

* ''[[Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!|Maji De Watashi Ni Koi Shinasai]]'' has flashbacks interspersed between routes as necessary; no single path gives a complete background on the family, with each person's pertinent set of flashbacks happening in their own storyline.

* Lampshaded in [http://bukucomics.com/loserz/index.php?comicID=134 this] ''[[Loserz]]'' strip.

* [[Van Von Hunter]] plays with this. [http://www.vanvonhunter.com/vvh8.html "You have exceeded the maximum number of flashbacks allowed by the courtroom."]

* [http://wapsisquare.com/comic/10232002/ This] ''[[Wapsi Square]]'' strip uses a single panel flashback to show what happened last time Fermented Banana played at a wedding.

* In ''[[The Gamers Alliance]]'', various characters have flashbacks which often explain their past and their relationship with other characters.

* Unusually for the series, ''[[Lonelygirl15]]'' episode "Comfort Food" included flashbacks to Daniel's grandmother's funeral. Flashbacks were again used in the series 3 episode "I Miss Her".

'''Samson''' (after half a minute of Trigger staring vacantly into space): ... how long does it take? }}

* ''[[Invader Zim]]'' also lampshades a common problem with this trope: In "The Fry Cook What Came From All That Space", Zim recalls a flashback of being demoted to fry cook under fry lord Sizz-Lorr, and then escaping. After Zim escapes, it shows Sizz-Lorr alone, shouting at the top of his lungs:

{{quote| '''Sizz-Lorr:''' I will find you Zim, so help me, I will search the entire universe, and I! WILL! FIND YOOOOOOOOU!<br />

''(Cut back to present time with Zim and Sizz-Lorr)''<br />

'''Sizz-Lorr:''' How did you remember what I said if you weren't there?<br />

* On ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', there have been a few flashbacks about Lucius' life under [[Royally Screwed-Up|his father]], including the one that made him a [[Self-Made Orphan]].

* Used a lot in ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' by the character Dr. Doofenshmirtz, since almost all of his inventions have a backstory and he uses flashbacks to let Perry and the audience know the purpose for it. However, there have been some occasions where he'll skip over a flashback since Perry already knows the story, and on one occasion he had a horrible headache and said it hurt too much to do a flashback.

[[Category:Fate and Prophecy Tropes]]

[[Category:Flash Back]]