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- "Hey, dollface, it's past time for our three-thirty!"
- —Irving "Kid" Tannen" to Edna Strickland Tannen
- "Oh, SHIIIIIIT!"
- —Irving running into the manure truck
Irving Thomas[1] "Kid" Tannen[2] was a gang boss in the 1930s in Hill Valley. He was Biff Tannen's father.[3] He was also the great-grandson of Beauregard Tannen, the grandson of Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen, the son of Gertrude Tannen, possible brother of Frank Tannen, the grandfather of Tiff Tannen and Biff Tannen, Jr., and the great-grandfather of Griff Tannen.
Biography[]
Pre-1931[]
Kid Tannen was born in 1909 to Gertrude Tannen and the unknown son of Buford Tannen in Hill Valley, California, it's implied that Kid learned how to greedy from his mother Gertrude Tannen.
In 1928, Arthur McFly started working for him and he became a mobboss and got number of his gang to his dirty work for him.
Original 1931[]
Tannen in 1931
Kid Tannen ran a speakeasy business that was destroyed in an explosion in May or June of 1931 by Edna Strickland.[3]
Kid Tannen harasses Arthur McFly
Two months later, Tannen opened his underground speakeasy, El Kid, beneath the Sisters of Mercy Soup Kitchen. His girlfriend, Trixie Trotter would sing on the stage in the speakeasy, with Cue Ball at the piano, Matches guarding the door, Zane working the bar, and a croupier running gambling. Business was smooth, until the reappearance of Marty in disguise as a gang member of the Sacramento Mob. Matches came to Kid with a stick of dynamite that he had found along with many others around the speakeasy. Kid opened a secret passageway by turning the knob of the roulette wheel. Marty under his alias convinced Trixie to turn on Tannen by revealing unpaid taxes in records, that she in turn handed to Officer Danny Parker. Parker made arrests of Kid's accomplices, but not before Kid located the individual who had been burning down speakeasies: Edna Strickland. The situation quickly turned heated, with Kid revealing a Tommy gun and opening fire on both Marty and Officer Parker.[2] Kid was arrested, and was imprisoned for several years.[2]
Later Life[]
Kid broke out of prison several times. By 1936, after escaping from prison, Kid went by the name Thomas Tannen, possibly to keep unwanted police attention off him, or because he wanted to put his life as a Prohibition gangster behind him. During this period, he became involved with a woman named Myra Benson, who gave birth to a child, Biff Tannen, the same year.
"Tom" Tannen and Myra Benson's wedding
On December 6, 1936, Kid had once again escaped from prison. As Thomas Tannen, he married Myra Benson, simply for the purpose of making it seem like Biff wasn't born out of wedlock, with Biff being watched by a babysitter during the ceremony. The two parted ways immediately after the wedding and, since neither parent wanted the child, Tannen's mother, Gertrude Tannen, took custody of Biff. Before Kid left his son, he gave Gertrude a forged birth certificate that stated that Biff was born in 1937.
Some time after the wedding, Kid was captured and placed behind bars again. In 1937, he broke out again for a period of three hours. Doc speculated that this was the time of Biff's conception, due to Biff's fraudulent birth certificate.
At some point after he had returned to prison, Edna and Kid had come to love each other, and eventually got married. By 1986, he had seemingly given up his criminal acts, has a more upbeat attitude, and is present in his son's life. This is presumably a result of Edna's more ethical influence and can be taken as another reason of why the Grown-Up Biff from the Alternate, Good 1985 Timeline is less of a Bully against George Mcfly and his family.
Notes[]
- Kid takes many influences from the Prohibition era gangster Al Capone — such cases being running a speakeasy, running a soup kitchen and later getting arrested for tax evasion.
- In the 1986H Timeline, Kid get's Married to Edna (as stated earlier) and he calls her ''Dollface'' as an opposite to Biff Tannen's iconic insult, ''Butthead''.
Appearances[]
- Back to the Future: The Game
- Episode 1: "It's About Time" (First appearance)
- Episode 2: "Get Tannen!"
- Episode 3: "Citizen Brown" (Photograph)
- Episode 4: "Double Visions"
- Episode 5: "OUTATIME"
- Back to the Future (IDW Publishing)
- Back to the Future: Citizen Brown
- Issue 1: "It's About Time"
- Issue 2: "Get Tannen!"
- Issue 3: "Citizen Brown" (Photograph)
- Issue 4: "Double Visions" (Mentioned only)
- Issue 5: "OUTATIME" (Mentioned only)
- Back to the Future: Biff to the Future
- Issue 1: Biff to the Future Part 1" (Mentioned only)
- Issue 5: "Biff to the Future Part 5"
- Issue 6: "Biff to the Future Part 6" (Photograph)
- Back to the Future: Citizen Brown