History Main / ExpansionPackPast

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. Justified with Angel and Spike, since they are centuries-old vampires.

'''Jamie:''' I was a hitman. I wasn't the money counter.\\
--''Series/{{Mythbusters}}''

* In ''Literature/ArtemisFowl'', Domovoi Butler has been hinted to have had an. . . ''interesting'' job history before taking up as Artemis's bodyguard.

* In the ''VideoGame/AceAttorney'' series, this happens with just about every flashback case. Through them, we learn about Mia's first case, how she and Phoenix met, [[spoiler:her and Phoenix's lovers (who showed up in present-day cases),]] Edgeworth's first prosecution case (against Mia, no less), Edgeworth's meeting of Kay and Detective Gumshoe, and his initial involvement in the KG-8 case.

* Jamie and Adam from ''MythBusters'' love playing with this. For an example, see the above quote. A lot of it is for humor, but much is also true- for instance, Jamie once ran a pet shop, used to give diving lessons, and turns out to be qualified for many odd tasks that crop up in the course of mythbusting work.

'''Jamie:''' I was a hitman. I wasn't the money counter.
-->-- ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}''

* Elim Garak from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' fits this trope. Played with in that you can never know for sure if '''any''' of his supposed backstory is true, since ThatLiarLies. His backstory was finally revealed in a ''thick'' book, ''[[StarTrekDeepSpaceNineAStitchInTime A Stitch in Time]]'', written by the actor who portrayed him.

->'''Sasako:''' I thought you told me the other day that you quit your job at the construction company to open up the café.\\
'' [[LettingTheAirOutOfTheBand Dramatic music stops]]. {{Beat}} ''
->'''Polar Bear:''' Ah... There's that version, too.
-->-- '' [[Manga/ShirokumaCafe Polar Bear's Cafe]] ''

** Thought it does answer the continuity error of why Sasuke's [[EvilEye Sharingan]] was activated by fighting Haku and not [[MindRape Tsukuyomi]] (namely that it ''was'', he just didn't realize it for several years).

* ''LawAndOrderCriminalIntent'': Robert Goren knows everything.

* The Pokemon writers like introducing new elements into Team Rocket's past in any episode centered around them. After 16 years of this, their backstory has become extremely convoluted. One of the characters lived in 4 different regions, flunked out of medical school, was trained in the art of ninjitsu, held a position as a weather forecaster, worked as a professional model, and was in a biker gang at some point. All this was BEFORE becoming an internationally wanted criminal.

* The "somewhat eponymous" main character of ''NewAmsterdam'', as a consequence of his immortality. In the last 400 years he's been a cop, a lawyer, a soldier, a sailor, a hobo, a conman, a carriage rider, etc.

* Jamie and Adam from ''MythBusters'' love playing with this. For an example, see the above quote.

* {{Batman}} in all of his versions (but mainly the comics) has this for the time between the death of his parents (and sometimes even before) and the first time he put on the cape and cowl.

* In Marvel's ''GIJoe'' comics it got ridiculous how one by one it was revealed that Snake-Eyes had connections to almost every major villain in his past. Trying very hard to make this brief: He served with Storm Shadow in Vietnam. Baroness' brother was also killed in Vietnam while Snake-Eyes was nearby, and she ended up falsely believing he had killed her brother. Destro and his father come to the scene shortly afterwards just as Baroness is leaving, and note that her brother was wearing a bulletproof vest which would have stopped the bullets from Snake-Eyes' pistol. When he returned home, he learned that his family had all perished in a head-on collision with a drunk driver. The person driving the other car was the brother of the man who would later become Cobra Commander. Next, Snake-Eyes heads to Japan to join the Arashikage clan. His time there comes to an end when Zartan murders the clan head and frames Storm Shadow for it. Finally, it was later revealed that Firefly was with the Arashikage clan as well under the persona of "Faceless Master". Out of all the most enduring villains that only leaves Major Bludd with no ties to Snake-Eyes.

*** A number of these overlap plausibly: it's not such a stretch that a man with an Italian surname would be able to speak Italian and have learned how to cook (particularly if he was caring for a mentally-challenged younger sister, which is also stated in-universe). To be a Navy pilot, one must also be an officer, which requires a college education--hence MIT. Al could have picked up boxing either in college or in the military. The murder acquittal happened early in Al's military career and came about when Sam during one of his leaps revealed that Al had been framed by another officer. It's shown in-universe that Al became a POW after being shot down over Vietnam; the photo was taken as a result of one of Sam's leaps just after Al was captured. And a Navy fighter pilot would have been an ideal astronaut candidate in the Vietnam era, when astronauts were almost exclusively military pilots. Such an assignment, along with his combat experience and heading up a major black-box project like Quantum Leap, would have put Al on a track for flag rank. And five marriages could happen to anyone sufficiently unlucky or careless in his relationships (Al also noted that he had an alcohol problem, which most certainly would have contributed). Of the things listed above, only running away from home and joining the circus (before or after traveling with a pool master) don't fit with the rest...and it's possible that Al encountered a role model (maybe even Sam on a leap we didn't see) who encouraged him to return to school and pursue his career as shown.

*** A number of these overlap plausibly: it's not such a stretch that a man with an Italian surname would be able to speak Italian and have learned how to cook (particularly if he was caring for a mentally-challenged younger sister, which is also stated in-universe). To be a Navy pilot, one must also be an officer, which requires a college education--hence MIT. Al could have picked up boxing either in college or in the military. It's shown in-universe that Al became a POW after being shot down over Vietnam; the photo was taken as a result of one of Sam's leaps just after Al was captured. And a Navy fighter pilot would have been an ideal astronaut candidate in the Vietnam era, when astronauts were almost exclusively military pilots. Such an assignment, along with his combat experience and heading up a major black-box project like Quantum Leap, would have put Al on a track for flag rank. And five marriages could happen to anyone sufficiently unlucky or careless in his relationships (Al also noted that he had an alcohol problem, which most certainly would have contributed). Of the things listed above, only running away from home and joining the circus (before or after traveling with a pool master) don't fit with the rest...and it's possible that Al encountered a role model (maybe even Sam on a leap we didn't see) who encouraged him to return to school and pursue his career as shown.

* Wilson W. Wilson, on ''HomeImprovement'', speaks multiple languages, has been to dozens of countries, has studied several esoteric religions and philosophies, and engages in such myriad hobbies as wine-tasting, ant farming, and fire walking.

*** A number of these overlap plausibly: it's not such a stretch that a man with an Italian surname would be able to speak Italian and have learned how to cook (particularly if he was caring for a mentally-challenged younger sister, which is also stated in-universe). To be a Navy pilot, one must also be an officer, which requires a college education--hence MIT. Al could have picked up boxing either in college or in the military. It's shown in-universe that Al became a POW after being shot down over Vietnam; the photo was taken as a result of one of Sam's leaps just after Al was captured. And a Navy fighter pilot would have been an ideal astronaut candidate in the Vietnam era, when astronauts were almost exclusively military pilots. Such an assignment, along with his combat experience and heading up a major black-box project like Quantum Leap, would have put Al on a track for flag rank. And five marriages could happen to anyone sufficiently unlucky or careless in his relationships (Al also noted that he had an alcohol problem, which most certainly would have contributed). Of the things listed above, only running away from home and joining the circus (before or after traveling with a pool master) don't fit with the rest...and it's possible that Al encountered a role model (possibly a Navy officer himself--possibly even Sam on a leap we didn't see) who encouraged him to return to school and pursue his career as shown.

*** A number of these overlap plausibly: it's shown in-universe that Al became a POW after being shot down over Vietnam; the photo was taken as a result of one of Sam's leaps just after Al was captured. And a Navy fighter pilot (who had attended MIT) would have been an ideal astronaut candidate in the Vietnam era, when astronauts were almost exclusively military pilots. Such an assignment, along with his combat experience and heading up a major black-box project like Quantum Leap, would have put Al on a track for flag rank. Boxing was then and is now fairly popular amongst military men for recreation and fitness. And it's not such a stretch that a man with an Italian surname would be able to speak Italian and have learned how to cook (particularly if he was caring for a mentally-challenged younger sister, which is also stated in-universe). And five marriages could happen to anyone sufficiently unlucky or careless in his relationships (Al also noted that he had an alcohol problem, which most certainly would have contributed). Of the things listed above, only running away from home and joining the circus (before or after travelling with a pool master) don't fit with the rest...and it's possible that Al encountered a role model (possibly a Navy officer himself) who encouraged him to return to school and pursue his career as shown.

*** A number of these overlap plausibly: it's shown in-universe that Al became a POW after being shot down over Vietnam; the photo was taken as a result of one of Sam's leaps just after Al was captured. And a Navy fighter pilot (who had attended MIT) would have been an ideal astronaut candidate in the Vietnam era, when astronauts were almost exclusively military pilots. Such an assignment, along with his combat experience and heading up a major black-box project like Quantum Leap, would have put Al on a track for flag rank. And it's not such a stretch that a man with an Italian surname would be able to speak Italian and have learned how to cook (particularly if he was caring for a mentally-challenged younger sister, which is also stated in-universe). And five marriages could happen to anyone sufficiently unlucky or careless in his relationships (Al also noted that he had an alcohol problem, which most certainly would have contributed). Of the things listed above, only running away from home and joining the circus (before or after travelling with a pool master) don't fit with the rest...and it's possible that Al encountered a role model (possibly a Navy officer himself) who encouraged him to return to school and pursue his career as shown.

*** He also forgets some of the things that he learns during the leap and from his own life including [[spoiler:that he has a daughter that is working at project Quantum Leap that was born when he leaped into the body of a Souther man while he and his fiancée were uh,]][[spoiler: imitating rabbits]] and only Al knows this after the leap. [[AbortedArc Not that it matters afterward...]]
** Supposedly, a number of these are the result of RippleEffectProofMemory - every time Sam leaps, he changes his ''own'' past as well as whatever he changes in-leap.