Movies - Griff Tannen

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	Movies - Griff Tannen

Griff Tannen is a fictional character, an important protaganist in Back to the Future Part II
, played by actor Thomas F. Wilson, who played all of the Tannen family members in different time periods of the Back to the Future trilogy.

Griff Tannen was born in 1996 in Hill Valley, California and is the grandson of Biff Tannen. Based on Griff's surname, it is likely that his father is Biff's son, although he could be the son of Biff's daughter who never married (explaining why Griff has the surname "Tannen"). Either theory could be true, since no mention of Biff's kids is ever mentioned in the trilogy (although both the animated series and a draft script feature a character named "Biff Jr"). The fate of his parents by 2015 is unknown.

Griff is very similar to his grandfather at a younger age. Like most of the Tannen family, Griff is a bully, and bullies people to get what he wants. Unlike Biff though, Griff is a lot more violent and unpredictable. Griff is usually accompanied by his gang of 3, "Data", "Spike" and "Whitey", and is the first Tannen to allow a female into his gang. Not many people stand up to Griff, and he is surprised when Marty McFly, pretending to be his son Marty Jr, does so.

Griff has a car which he gets his grandfather to wax for him, and appears to be an expert hoverboarder, having in his possession a "Pit Bull" hoverboard which is jet powered. He also has bionic implants, which make him taller - these implants still appear to be illegal by 2015, although proposals are around to legalise them.

Pre-Back to the Future

Little is known about Griff's life pre-2015. What is possible though is that he heard stories about his grandfather as a youngster, and how George McFly punched Biff in 1955. Griff may have become even more of a bully just to make sure that that fate never happens to him.

At some point he met Marty Jr (they could have met at school despite Griff being 2 years older than him) and started bullying him.

Back to the Future Part II

On the afternoon of october 21, 2015, Griff and his gang met Marty Jr at the Cafe 80's (formerly Lou's Cafe in 1955 and Lou's Aerobic Fitness Center in 1985). They "persuaded" Marty Jr to join them in the early hours of the following morning to rob the Hill Valley Payroll Substation. Marty Jr relucantly agreed, but accidentally set off the alarm. Marty Jr was caught and sentenced to 15 years, whilst Griff and his gang managed to distance themselves by saying they wouldn't hang out with a "low-res like McFly".

Luckily for Marty Jr, Doc Brown arrives from 1985 in his DeLorean time machine and with the help of Marty from 1985, manages to avoid this. Marty from 1985 (aged 17) manages to pose as his future son (since they look very similar!) and says "no" to Griff. Griff, surprised and angered at this, gets his gang to chase Marty around the Courthouse Square after Marty exits the Cafe 80's and "borrows" a hoverboard. Griff smashes his car headlight after trying to hit Marty with a baseball bat as he hovers past.

Marty ended up above the pond in front of the Hill Valley Couthouse Mall, but his board didn't have the power to float above the water. Griff got out his Pitbull, which allowed his gang to be pulled, and they tried to get Marty. Marty jumped into the water into the last minute, causing Griff to bump on a rock and hurl him and his gang into the courthouse. He was captured and is arrested in the end after crashing into the Hill Valley Courthouse. Griff goes to jail and thus Marty Jr never goes with him on that robbery.

Back to the Future: The Animated Series

Griff makes a brief cameo in the episode "Solar Sailors" (set on December 15, 2091). His grandson Ziff gets sent to jail after trying to sabatage Marta McFly's (Marty's great grand-daughter) space cruiser, and it is revealed that Griff is also in jail. Whether he has been in jail for 76 years following the Courthouse incident with Marty Jr, or is in for a separate offence, is unclear, though even in the world of 2015, 76-plus years would be a rather stiff sentence for the crimes perpetrated at the Courthouse Mall. Therefore it is likely that 2091 Griff is in jail for a separate offense.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Griff Tannen ]

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