Douglas J. Needles

"How's it hanging, McFly?"

—Needles

Douglas Needles Needles Biographical information Date of birth August 6, 1968 Age (1885) Not yet born Age (1955) Not yet born Age (1985) 17 Age (2015) 47 Physical description Gender Male Hair color Black Eye color Blue Behind-the-scenes information Played by Michael Peter Balzary Voiced by Michael Peter Balzary
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Douglas J. Needles (typically referred to as just Needles) was an acquaintance of Marty McFly and his girlfriend Jennifer Parker though likely not a friend. Unlike Biff Tannen who typically bullied Marty's father George into getting what he wanted, Needles appeared more of a rival to Marty who could goad Marty into doing foolish things by calling him "chicken".

According to Needles' video telephone datafile in 2015, he lived at 88 Oriole Road A6TB-9 with his family.

Biography

The race with Needles.

Needles was indirectly responsible for ruining Marty's life by talking him into racing their trucks. Marty ended up crashing into a Rolls-Royce. The Rolls-Royce driver ended up pressing charges against Marty, who broke his hand in the accident and would later give up on his music. It was not known to Jennifer until they returned to 1985, however, that the race had been Needles' idea.

Needles with Marty in the future.

In 2015, Needles and Marty were working together at a plant, with Needles being in a higher position than Marty (similar to George and Biff in the first film). Needles was attempting to convince Marty to join in on an illegal scam to make more money. Marty was hesitant at first but went along with it when Needles called him "chicken". Unfortunately, their boss, Ito Fujitsu, was monitoring the entire transaction and fired Marty on the spot. Whether Needles himself faced any consequences is unknown, however he seemed to be smirking as he hung up, so many think that he set Marty up. However, others have speculated that Needles was smirking because of his supreme confidence in pulling off the scam, which may lead that Needles got his comeuppance by Mr. Fujitsu or the plant upper management.

Just after Marty's return from 1885 to 1985, Needles (seen at age 17) met up with Marty and Jennifer at the point where he proposed the race along with his friends. This time, however, Marty had learned not to lose his judgment because of name-calling and avoided the drag race, thereby preventing the accident and changing the future. Needles and his gang took off and were nearly the ones to hit the Rolls Royce, but they barely evaded an accident themselves through evasive steering. What this meant for Needles is unclear, although the future seen in 2015 (in Back to the Future Part II) may not come to pass.

Behind the scenes

Michael Peter Balzary (better known as Flea, lead bassist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers) played the part of Needles in Back to the Future Part II, and reprised the role at the close of Back to the Future Part III – being billed in the closing credits on both occasions as Flea.

Appearances

• Back to the Future Part II (First appearance)
• Back to the Future Part III
• Back to the Future: The Game
  • Back to the Future: The Game - Episode 3: Citizen Brown (Mentioned only)