Biff's gang

Biff's gang surrounds the McFlys in 1955.

"Four young fellows of about seventeen were moving from the entrance of the shop towards the nerdy boy several stools away. The face of the leader looked vaguely familiar. The beady eyes, lips into a sneer and beefy jaw presented tantalizing clues but Marty couldn't solve the puzzle. The other three gave him problems, being nondescript types of the period. One chewed a wooden matchstick and obviously thought it made him appear cool or tough or both; the second wore his hair in a crewcut that was just this side of being bald; the third peered out at the world through red/green 3-D glasses."

—From Back to the Future by George Gipe (quote, page 88)

Biff Tannen's gang was a gang led by Biff Tannen in 1955 and 1985A. The gang was comprised of three members: Match, Skinhead and 3-D.

1955

The three were first seen with Biff when he showed up to bully George McFly about doing his homework at Lou's Cafe. They were also present when Biff nearly started a fight with George's son Marty McFly from 1985 (who passed himself off as a new student named Calvin Klein) and then later when Marty did manage to start a fight with Biff at Lou's Cafe. After punching Biff, Marty ran outside, knocking Match, Skinhead and 3-D down on the way. When Marty tried to escape on a makeshift skateboard made from a soapbox scooter borrowed from a young boy, the gang chased after him in Biff's car. A brief chase ensued, ending with Biff's car crashing into a manure truck, causing the car (and the bullies) to end up covered in manure.

The three later showed up with Biff at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance to get back at Marty, who had brought Lorraine Baines as a "date". While Biff tried to have his way with Lorraine, he told them to take Marty around back so he could deal with him later. The three carried Marty over to a car and locked him in the trunk. Unfortunately for them, the car happened to belong to the band playing at the dance, Marvin Berry and the Starlighters, who promptly chased the bullies off.

3-D, Skinhead and Match spotting Marty's "other" self on stage at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance.

Match, Skinhead and 3-D also managed to cause trouble for Marty when he returned to 1955 to get the almanac back and restore the timeline. After Marty managed to take the almanac off Biff at the dance, the bullies chased him through the school. Although Marty managed to lose them, the gang spotted Marty's "other" self performing onstage at the dance. Assuming it was the same person (though they were puzzled as to how Marty had changed his clothes so fast), they got ready to jump him when he got offstage. To protect his other self, Marty climbed up into the rafters and dropped a set of sandbags on the bullies, knocking them out. He dropped the sandbags on the gang again after they started to get up, laying them out a second time.

1985A

Biff's gang catches Marty in the Biff Tannen Museum in 1985A.

In the alternate timeline created when Biff became rich making bets using a sports almanac he received from his older self from the future, the gang is still working for Biff in 1985A, apparently serving as his security. This was the only timeline in which they were seen after 1955. The three knocked out Marty when they found him in the Biff Tannen Museum and took him upstairs. They later chased Marty through the hotel after he confronted Biff about the almanac, though he managed to lose them. In this timeline, Match still had a match in his mouth in addition to wearing a cowboy hat, while 3-D had traded his 3D glasses for a pair of tacky novelty sunglasses, albeit with red and blue lenses, similar to 3D glasses.

Behind the scenes

• They did not appear in Back to the Future Part III (Buford Tannen had his own set of cronies in 1885, as did Griff in 2015) or Back to the Future: The Ride, although J.J. Cohen would play one of Needles' gang towards the end of Part III, who may possibly have been Skinhead's son.

Appearances

• Back to the Future
• Back to the Future Part II
• Back to the Future: The Game
  • Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 1: It's About Time (One of Edna's newspapers describes them as juveniles crashing into a manure truck.)