Minor Characters in ‘Back to the Future’, Ranked
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Marty. Doc. Biff. The stars of Back to the Future are so iconic that they’re on a first-name basis in movie history. But what about the rest of Hill Valley? The wonderful world created by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale has so many other colorful characters that deserve some recognition too.
Here’s how I’d rank them from least to most consequential in Marty & Doc’s spacetime adventures.
7. Red the Bum
Played By: George Buck Flower
Key Line: “Crazy drunk driver…”
Continuum Contribution: Not much, honestly. His presence helps Marty confirm he made it back to 1985, but otherwise he’s just minding his own business on the town square bench when the DeLorean crashes into view. I share his distaste for reckless teenage drivers.
6. Milton Baines
Played By: Jason Hervey
Key Line: “What do you mean you’ve seen this? It’s brand new.”
Continuum Contribution: Milton’s confusion about how Marty has already seen a brand-new episode of The Honeymooners really just piles onto his future nephew’s bewilderment and unease. In Marty’s defense, dinner with your extended family can often be tricky, especially when they don’t understand the concept of a rerun or even know who John F. Kennedy is.
5. Otis Peabody
Played By: Will Hare
Key Line: “You space bastard, you killed my pine!”
Continuum Connection: Most of these characters had some effect on Marty, but Otis is actually one of his victims. How else would you characterize being visited by a mysterious spaceman who crashes his wingless airplane into your barn and then during his escape destroys one of the namesake trees of your pine-breeding business? I don’t blame him for busting out the shotgun.
4. Audition Judge
Played By: Huey Lewis
Key Line: “I’m afraid you’re just too darn loud.”
Continuum Connection: While “too loud” seems like an innocuous criticism, it cuts deep for Marty as someone already sensitive to rejection (an unhealed generational trauma) yet eager to prove his artistic abilities. If the judges had been more accommodating, The Pinheads could have earned a spot in Hill Valley High’s Battle of the Bands and completely reinvigorated Marty’s psychological state.
3. Lou Carruthers
Played By: Norman Alden
Key Line: “You want a Pepsi, pal, you’re gonna pay for it.”
Continuum Contribution: His titular cafe hosts several crucial moments throughout the movie: Marty first meeting his teenaged dad, George declaring Lorraine his density, Marty standing up to Biff, and Marty writing the letter to Doc. Third places FTW!
2. Mark Dixon
Played By: Courtney Gains
Key Line: “Scram, McFly, I’m cuttin’ in!”
Continuum Contribution: As one of the students bullying George earlier in the movie with the “Kick Me” sign, Dixon cutting in to “dance” with Lorraine at the Enchantment Under the Sea rhythmic ceremonial ritual lets George give this creep his comeuppance, prove his Biff knockoff was no fluke, and rescue Marty from being erased from existence.
1. Clock Tower Lady
Played By: Elsa Raven
Key Line: “Don’t forget to take a flyer!”
Continuum Contribution: If this kindly yet persistent advocate from the Hill Valley Preservation Society doesn’t pester Marty and Jennifer for a donation and then give them a flyer with the date and time lightning struck the clock tower, Marty and Doc don’t have the information they need in 1955 to get Marty back to the future. Let’s give it up for history nerds getting out there and doing the work for their community!