Griff overpowers Marty with his bionically enhanced arm.
- "Oh, Marty, be careful around that Griff character. He's got a few short circuits in his bionic implants."
- —Doc
A bionic implant was the term to describe a modification to the human body by replacing certain body parts with robotic pieces by 2015.
History[]
Some implants had the capability of enhanced strength, height modification, and an automatic system to block punches despite the implantee not knowing, though they were less adept at blocking attacks below the belt. Griff Tannen had such implants — resulting in mechanical sounds every time he moved — and, according to Dr. Emmett Brown, these had "a few short circuits"; whether this was true or just a figure of speech is unclear.
A newspaper from 2015 implied these implants were illegal, although proposals were around to legalize them. Some posters in 2015 urged voters to "Vote Yes on Proposition 237" in order to "Legalize Bionics".
According to the Newsline column on the front page of the October 22, 2015 issue of USA Today, a pitcher had been suspended for the use of a bionic arm "without calibration", while the photo that accompanied the story GANG JAILED — Hoverboard Rampage Destroys Courthouse bore the caption "Gang Leader had Bionic Overloads".
By 2035, Proposition 237 had apparently been passed, as a bank teller called Doc a "back-to-nature clown" when a scan showed he had no implants.
Behind the scenes[]
- The bionic implants were a reference to Universal Studios' TV show The Six Million Dollar Man (1974-78) and its spin-off, The Bionic Woman (1977-78).
Actuality[]
- At the moment, bionic implants are still in very early stages, and not as advanced as those which Griff is shown to have in Back to the Future Part II.
