Doc Brown

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Emmett Brown is a white-haired scientist who is called "Doc" by his teenage friend Marty McFly. He was created as a mad scientist archetype. Despite his many failed inventions, he successfully makes time travel possible, by building a time machine out of a DMC DeLorean. Gale stated that Doc Brown met Marty when the teenager was about 14 years old. Marty sneaked into Doc's lab after learning that he was considered a lunatic and was discovered there by Doc. Marty considered Doc to be cool and this resulted in Doc hiring Marty as his part-time lab assistant. Doc was born into a wealthy family and in 1955 lives in a mansion, but spends thirty years burning through his wealth to realise his vision of time travel. By 1985, his mansion has been destroyed by fire, so he subsequently resides in the mansion's garage. Doc's garage is packed with gadgets and he has an impressive clock collection. Although he is American and a baseball fan, Doc's father was German and his family name was Von Braun. Doc Brown tells Marty that he invented time travel in November 1955 by accident. While trying to hang a clock in his bathroom by standing on the toilet, he slipped, banged his head and while he was knocked out had a vision of the flux capacitor, the component that makes time travel possible. In 1985, he uses stolen plutonium to create a "nuclear reaction to generate 1.21 gigawatts of electricity" to power the DeLorean and enable it to time travel. Upon realising that plutonium is impossible to obtain in 1955, the younger Doc decides that the only other way to power the DeLorean is with a bolt of lightning. When conducting his science experiments, Doc Brown often uses his pet dogs as test subjects. In 1985, he tests the DeLorean by sending his dog Einstein one minute into the future. When Marty meets up with the younger Doc Brown in 1955, his dog is named Copernicus and is used as a test subject for Doc's "brain wave analyzer".

In Their Own Story

In Back to the Future, Doc Brown introduces Marty McFly to the DeLorean time machine that he invented, which results in Marty being accidentally transported back to the year 1955. He returned alongside Marty in Back to the Future Part II, in which they travel into the future to 2015. In Back to the Future Part III, he is accidentally transported back to 1885 and there builds another time machine using a steam engine locomotive. In Back to the Future Part III, Doc Brown develops a relationship with Clara Clayton in 1885, a character portrayed by Mary Steenburgen. Zemeckis explained that the third film illustrates the character's growth from an eccentric to a man capable of falling in love: "he gets in touch with that boyish, romantic, innocent part of himself".

Reader's Guide

Doc Brown's friendship with Marty is a central aspect of the film trilogy. Marty typically seeks out his friend each time he finds himself in a perilous situation, knowing that Doc will provide a solution. Doc not only takes the role of Marty's sidekick, but also provides much of the comic relief. He is shown to be selfless by nature, often putting his life in danger to help his friend because he believes in doing what is right. Whenever he makes a new discovery, he typically expresses his astonishment by exclaiming the catchphrase "Great Scott!". Lloyd described Doc Brown as a positive character who is inventive and energetic. He said that he loved the character's passion and excitement in discovering new things. Doc's positive influence on Marty encourages him to mentor his father George in 1955 and influence him into becoming a novelist, which in turn results in the success of the McFly family in 1985. This positivity is articulated in Doc's line, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything", which Marty later repeats to George. Gale said that Doc's friendship with Marty is based on mutual respect, as both characters find a connection with each other being rebellious by nature. He explained, "Doc thinks, 'Hey, Marty is a kid who maybe I can give him something, he's the son I never had. He's inquisitive, he doesn't judge me'."

Did You Know?

• Christopher Lloyd was 46 years old at the time of filming Back to the Future, but makeup artists made him look older to match the character's age.
• The Back to the Future novels state that Emmett Brown was born in 1920, placing him at the age of 65 in 1985.
• Doc Brown's signature exclamation "Great Scott!" was suggested by Robert Zemeckis; Bob Gale initially thought the character would use "Great Caesar's Ghost!" from a Superman TV series.
• Doc Brown's father was German and his family name was Von Braun.
• Christopher Lloyd speaks at length about his experiences portraying Doc Brown in his memoir In My Own Time releasing October 2026.