Douglas J. Needles

The ultimate provocateur, Needles wields a single word—'chicken'—to shatter pride and steer lives toward disaster.

Douglas J. Needles, portrayed by Flea in Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III, is the rival of Marty McFly at Hill Valley High School. Like the school's alumnus Biff Tannen, Needles has his own gang and develops a rivalry with Marty, although he does not outright bully him the way Biff did George and has no relation to the Tannens. He often goads Marty into doing reckless things by playing on Marty's abhorrence of being called "chicken".

Quick Facts

First appears:: Back to the Future Part II

Lore & Background

Needles challenges Marty to an illegal road race in which Marty hits a Rolls-Royce, breaks his hand in the collision and is sued by the car's driver, after which Marty's life begins spiraling downwards. In 2015 Needles, by then a co-worker of Marty's, pressures him into a shady business deal at their workplace, and their supervisor fires Marty when he finds out. At the end of Back to the Future Part III, Marty avoids the street race with Needles and with it the accident Doc warned him about.