History Main / Backstory

* Each hero in ''VideoGame/DefenseOfTheAncients'' has some kind of backstory. Many of them are [[SureWhyNot created by fans and put in the game]].

* Both ''HighlanderTheSeries'' and ''Series/ForeverKnight'' were full of backstory; flashbacks where the events recalled served to illustrate present events. Being veeery long-lived characters, both Duncan [=MacLeod=] and Nick Knight had plenty of backstory to film.

* The ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "Fragments" flashes back to show how each of the current FiveManBand came to be part of Torchwood and the events that drove them to that point.

* Taken up to eleven in ShakuganNoShana which has a backstory for the characters in the backstory. To elaborate, Shana's remembering her past and three other characters are remembering their collective past in the backstory.

* For being such an obscure character until his movies, Film/{{Blade}} had some history. Marvel did a pretty good job about taking from the movies without messing up his back story or character development in the comics he appeared in, until Marc Guggenheim ignored existing continuity and then [[RetCon rewrote past events]] to cover his mistakes. To be fair, Blade's history ''was'' complex for an obscure character and Marc didn't want to write about him. Still could have done better for being paid.

* Shonen anime such as ''{{Naruto}}'' or ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' will often spend entire episodes - [[InactionSequence occasionally right in the middle of a major battle]] - delving into the backstory of a character as they gather their energy for a 'second wind' to get back into the fight. It most often takes place while they are (apparently) critically wounded... perhaps a nod to the old cliche of one's life passing before one's eyes.

* The ''StarWars'' prequel films had existed in brief notes just to get things together for the original movie. GeorgeLucas wanted the original StarWars to have the episode 4 title to resemble the ''BuckRogers'' and ''[[Film/FlashGordonSerial Flash Gordon]]'' serials, but only used "Part IV" in the opening expository crawl. ''ANewHope'' has a lot of imagery that is intended to make you think you're seeing something familiar, such as the first appearance of [[TheObiWan Obi-Wan]].

* This is a pretty common staple of FightingGame characters. Some series have more detailed stories than others, but it's usually given to them in order to make them more charismatic. The most prominent examples would be ''StreetFighter'', ''MortalKombat'', ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', the ''SoulSeries'', ''VirtuaFighter'', ''{{Tekken}}'' and ''DeadOrAlive''.

** One classmate of Harry's got a disproportionately large backstory: [[http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=2 Dean Thomas]]. Rowling has written "I think Chris [[note]]ChrisColumbus, director of the first two films[[/note]] was slightly taken aback by the amount of information I had on this peripheral character."

* In ''PhineasAndFerb'', Dr. Doofenshmirtz has a backstory portion or something similar (That may have happened last week) for why he builds almost everyone of his -inators. Sometimes they're even animated.

* K'nuckles has bouts of this in a couple of episodes in ''TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack''. These are always brief, and rarely have anything to do with the plot.
* ''AlvinAndTheChipmunks'' had the first season episode "The Chipmunks Story", showing how Alvin, Simon, and Theodore were discovered by David Seville. The third season followed this up with, appropriately enough, "The Chipette Story", which explored the backstory of the {{Distaff Counterpart}}s.

* WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse: In the 80s cartoon, episodes give us back-stories to show us how Man-at-Arms became Teela's father, how Cringer first became Battle-Cat, how Orko first came to live at the Royal Palace, and how the Sorceress became the Sorceress.
** In the 2002 series, we're given back-stories on the Sword of Power and King Greyskull, the same backstory for Orko as we saw in the 80s series (although he lost a wand this time instead of the original medallion), how Man-At-Arms became Teela's father (different to the 80s series) and how the Sorceress was able to become a mother in the first place.

* In Anime/{{Pokemon}}, Jessie, James and Meowth have the most elaborate (and someone sad) backstories.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} [=ThunderCats (2011)=]]]'', the episode "Old Friends" delves into the [[WeUsedToBeFriends past friendship]] between OldSoldier Panthro and EvilFormerFriend Grune, while "Into the Astral Plane" explores the childhoods of Cheetara and Tygra, including how the former became a Cleric.

* KamenRider has this in KamenRiderDragonKnight. Eubulon was sent to Ventara by his general, General Xaviax from their homeworld to make an invasion possible so that their homeworld will be repaired or rebuilt. However, the Eubulon became ill along the way in Ventara and then a family of Ventarans came into his aid and made him think otherwise. He created a [[HeroesAreUs group of warriors to protect]] Ventara from his general's plot and thus the war for Ventara came to be. The group defeated Xaviax but then lost their Advent Master Eubulon in the process. They have to take turns once in every 12 years and then Xaviax came back and tricked the hero Adam who was in duty. This was where the plot kicked in and the majority of the Ventaran Kameen Riders were vented into the Advent Void and thus, one remaining Rider kept on fighting for his life, Kamen Rider Wing Knight Len thus starting Ep 1.

** Buffy and Series/{{Angel}} were both quite good at this- this (admittedly Buffy-lovin') troper can name the Buffy episodes "Amends" and "Lie to Me" and the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episodes "Darla," "Dear Boy," "Orpheus"... heck, a LOT of Angel is backstory contributing to various season arcs (Darla in Season 2, Holtz in season 3, etc.) as well as one or two "one-shot" backstory episodes such as "Why We Fight," the mentions of Angel's past in Vegas in "The House Always Wins," and "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been." Well, a guy does accumulate a lot of backstory in 240+ years of living...

* Every competition show on TV (especially the cooking challenges I watch) insists on going into the back stories of the contestants. Their drug addictions, homelessness, sick kids. Has nothing to do with their winning or losing (I hope), it just makes you glad if one guy wins and sad when another loses.

* ''DetectiveConan'' have most of its backstories concentrated to the RedHerringShirt Akemi. Although she's been killed off ''very'' early in the series, she was first written as [[spoiler:Ai Haibara's]] dead older sister]], and then our former [[TheMole mole]] CIA agent is revealed to be her boyfriend when he's still in TheSyndicate.

* ''Videogame/{{Halo}}'' has a surprisingly substantive backstory told through a multitude of novels, comics, [[AlternateRealityGame Alternate Reality Games]], guidebooks, online exclusives, live-action commercials, and even an [[HaloLegends anime series]]. Hell, one book trilogy is even set ''100,000 years'' before the start of the games.

** One classmate of Harry's got a disproportionately large backstory: [[http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=2 Dean Thomas]]. Rowling has written "I think Chris [[hottip:*:ChrisColumbus, director of the first two films]] was slightly taken aback by the amount of information I had on this peripheral character."

* BioWare uses player-party member dialogue to reveal backstory in ''NeverwinterNights,'' ''JadeEmpire'', ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', ''Franchise/DragonAge'', ''MassEffect'', and probably more.

* The ''entire'' main plot of ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'' is rooted in the incredibly twisted tragic backstory of Harry's parents, their friends, and the events that led to their death. The other plot threads are a) an IronicEcho of the backstory plot, and b) metaphors for overcoming your personal demons of the past (i.e., another echo of the plot).
** ''HarryPotter/{{Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince}}'' establishes in detail a lot of the back story of Lord Voldemort, the principal villain, as well as the school life of Snape and Harry's parents.
** ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows'' does the same with Dumbledore, including [[spoiler:a dead sister, a father who died in Azkaban and a school-days crypto-gay friendship with Gellert Grindelwald, a Dark Wizard only slightly less evil than BigBad Voldemort.]]

* In ''{{Webcomic/Skins}}'', Vinnie and Rabbit were recruited from [[spoiler: prison]] by Jordan when they were all still teenagers. [[http://lj-phillips.deviantart.com/art/Skins-2-Preview-Doing-Hard-Time-378611792]]

Many {{Fanfic}}s exist to explore {{Backstory}} (i.e. how [[Franchise/StarTrek Spock]]'s parents got together).