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The Internet Time Travel Database

Fix Your Own Past!

Time Travel Tropes

Hindsight

by Jack Williamson
Years ago, engineer Bill Webster abandoned Earth for the employ of the piratical Astrarch far beyond the orbit of Mars; now the Astrarch is aiming the final blow at a defeated Earth, and Bill wonders whether the gun sights he invented can spot—and change!—events in the past.
— Michael Main
The tracer fields are following all the world lines that intersected at the battle, back across the months and years. The analyzers will isolate the smallest—hence most easily altered—essential factor.
“Hindsight” by Jack Williamson, Astounding, May 1940.

It’s Sad to Belong

by Randy Goodrum, performed by England Dan and John Ford Coley
♫I wish I had a time machine, I could make myself go back until' the day I was born ♫
“It’s Sad to Belong” by Randy Goodrum, performed by England Dan and John Ford Coley, A-side single release (Big Tree Records, April 1977).

A Touch of Petulance

by Ray Bradbury
On his way home on the train, Jonathan Hughes meets Jonathan Hughes + 20 years and receives a warning that his marriage to a lovely young bride will end in murder.
— Michael Main
Me, thought the young man. Why, that old man is . . . me.
“A Touch of Petulance” by Ray Bradbury, in Dark Forces, edited by Kirby McCauley (The Viking Press, August 1980).

Unsound Variations

by George R. R. Martin
Peter Norten and his wife Kathy already had a rocky marriage before heading up to Bruce Bunnish’s Colorado mansion for a ten-year reunion with Bruce and two other members of the Northwestern University B Team that Peter captained to a near-win at the North American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship. But will Peter and Kathy’s marriage survive the trip, and just how did Bruce end up as the only member of the team to go on to success?
— Michael Main
Time is said to be the fourth dimension, but it differs from the other three in one conspicuous way—our consciousness moves along it. From past to present only, alas. Time itselfdoes not flow, no more than, say, width can flow. Our minds flicker from one instant of time to the next. This analogy was my starting point. I reasoned that if consciousness can move in one direction, it can move in the other direction as well. It took me fifty years to work out the details, however, and make what I call a flashback possible.
“Unsound Variations” by George R. R. Martin, in Amazing Science Fiction Stories, January 1982.

Non ci resta che piangere

Literal: We just have to cry

by Roberto Benigni, Giuseppe Bertolucci, and Massimo Troisi, directed by Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi
While stranded in a thunderstorm in Tuscany, lifelong friends Mario and Saverrio find themselves unexpectedly in 1492, whereupon they fall in love a few times, pretend to be the composer of “Yesterday” and other modern-day hits, and come to the conclusion that they must stop Columbus from discovering America (either to prevent the genocide of the Native Americans or to prevent Mario’s sister from having her heart broken, depending on who you believe), and try rather pitifully to explain trains and other modern marvels to da Vinci, including a proposal to split the proceeds “thirty-three, thirty-three, and thirty-three!”

An extended director’s cut also expands the story of one of their heartthrob-esse, an Amazon named Astriaha[/ex], but we don’t know the details of its release or whether an English-subtitled release of the film exists.

— based on Wikipedia
Trentatré, trentatré e trentatré!
Thirty-three, thirty-three, and thirty-three.
English
Non ci resta che piangere by Roberto Benigni, Giuseppe Bertolucci, and Massimo Troisi, directed by Roberto Benigni and Massimo Troisi (at movie theaters, Italy, 20 December 1984).

The Turning Point

by Isaac Asimov
In exactly 100 words, Madison goes back in time to meet himself at the turning point of his young life.

Thanks to Marc Richardson for sending this one to me.

— Michael Main
He was a clerk.
“The Turning Point” by Isaac Asimov, in The Drabble Project, edited by Rob Meades and David B. Wake (Beccon Publications, April 1988).

The Ray Bradbury Theater (s04e06)

Touch of Petulance

by Ray Bradbury, directed by John Laing
A faithful adaptation of Bradbury’s 1980 story of a man who returns to his warn his younger self about the future course of his marriage.
— Michael Main
We are one, the same person: Jonathan Hughes.
The Ray Bradbury Theater (s04e06), “Touch of Petulance” by Ray Bradbury, directed by John Laing (USA Network, USA, 12 October 1990).

Artemis Fowl, Book #6

Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox

by Eoin Colfer
When fourteen-year-old genius Artemis Fowl realizes that the only cure for his mother’s case of Spelltropy lies in a species of lemur that Artemis made extinct eight years ago, there is only one solution: Grab your 80-year-old, elfin-police-captain-friend Holly Short and trick her into traveling back in time to stop your formerly evil, ten-year-old self from killing off the last of the all-cure lemurs.

Author Eoin Colfer does a masterful job presenting a single nonbranching, static timeline, complete with three consistent causal loops (further described in our tag notes for this story). But really, Eoin, you missed the shuttle on “the kiss”! With the help of N°1, Artemis can time travel, so if you're intent on his first romantic kiss coming from Holly Short, couldn’t N°1 have brought Holly’s actual fourteen-year-old self into the story? Might have even presented an opportunity for a fourth causal loop: Fourteen-year-old Holly kissees fourteen-year-old Artemis, but only because fifteen-year-old Artemis had already told thirteen-year-old Holly that they would enjoy it.

— Michael Main
Oh, bless my bum-flap. You’re time travelers.
The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer (Hyperion Books for Children, July 2008).

When You Reach Me

by Rebecca Stead
Miranda has an odd friend named Marcus who knows a lot about time machines, another friend named Sal who has stopped hanging out with her, and a man—not really a friend—who sleeps under the mailbox out front. And then there are those mysterious notes from someone who seems to know quite a lot, but also needs her to write about everything that’s happening in her twelve-year-old life.
— Michael Main
So if they had gotten home five minutes before they left, like those ladies promised they would, then they would have seen themselves get back. Before they left.
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, July 2009).

Dating Rules [.s1]

Dating Rules from My Future Self I: Lucy

by Wendy Weiner and Sallie Patrick, directed by Elizabeth Allen
Nice and nerdy Lucy gets romantic advice from her future self via text messages.

Fellow ITTDB indexer Janet found this one on the web, and we watched a daily installment with tea during my first September up in the ITTDB Citadel.

— Michael Main
Lucy: tell me who this is.
Unknown: I’m u 10 years in the future.
Dating Rules from My Future Self I: Lucy by Wendy Weiner and Sallie Patrick, directed by Elizabeth Allen (Youtube: Alloy Channel, 9 January 2012 to 27 January 2012 [9 parts]).

My Wife Hates Time Travel

by Adam-Troy Castro
When a not-so-brilliant man and his similarly equipped wife find out that one of them is destined to invent time travel, they end up continuously fighting, not the least cause of which is their future selves popping in all the time, intent on informing them that they should do this and not that.
— Michael Main
Being the future inventors of time travel wasn’t all bad, of course. It was great to know that we’d never lose anything, never go to a movie that turned out to be a stinker, never buy a book we wouldn’t want to finish, never go out to a restaurant where the service was lousy, and never get stuck in a traffic jam, because we’d always be warned away, beforehand. It was terrific to have some future version of myself pop in just as I was about to irritate my wife with some inconsiderate comment and tell me, “It would be a really bad idea to say that.”
“My Wife Hates Time Travel” by Adam-Troy Castro, in Lightspeed, September 2012.

Todd Family 1

Life after Life

by Kate Atkinson
In one instantiation of her life, Ursula Todd dies just moments after her birth in 1910. Fortunately (for the sake of the novel), time seems to be cyclic, so she and the rest of the world get many chances at life. At times, she partially recalls her other lives, resulting in many consequences to history and her personal development.
— Michael Main
So much hot air rising above the tables in the Café Heck or the Osteria Bavaria, like smoke from the ovens. It was difficult to believe from this perspective that Hitler was going to lay waste to the world in a few years’ time.

“Time isn’t circular,” she said to Dr. Kellet. “It’s like a palimpsest.”
“Oh, dear,” he said. “That sounds very vexing.”
“And memories are sometimes in the future.”

Life after Life by Kate Atkinson (Doubleday, March 2013).

Arthur (s20e01a)

Buster’s Second Chance

by Ken Scarborough and Cilbur Rocha, directed by Greg Bailey
According to Brain, the past cannot be changed, but Buster still tries to do so when he’s thrown back to preschool by a time vortex.
— Tony Carr
Buster: What’s the square root of 49? [Buster thinks] I don’t know. I don’t know! . . . I’m baaaaack!
Arthur (s20e01a), “Buster’s Second Chance” by Ken Scarborough and Cilbur Rocha, directed by Greg Bailey (PBS-TV, USA, 10 October 2016).

1989

by Shakir Ameed, directed by Shakir Ameed and Rifat Mohammed
What are you to do when you fail your high school final exams? In Shakir’s case, he decides to get his friend’s friend to send him back in time a few months to give himself a copy of the exam papers, which seems like a good plan if only he would listen to the warnings about not returning before he leaves.
— Michael Main
What do we do now? Your exams are already over, right?
1989 by Shakir Ameed, directed by Shakir Ameed and Rifat Mohammed (Youtube: Shakir Ameer Channel, 29 June 2017).

Il était une seconde fois

English release: Twice Upon a Time Literal: It was a second time

by Nathalie Leuthreau and Guillaume Nicloux, directed by Giillaume Nicloux
At first, Vincent’s only plan for the mysterious 600mm wooden cube that provides a tunnel to the past is to make sure that Louise doesn’t break up with him four months in the past, but new circumstances soon raise the stakes. Then it gets weird in this four-part miniseries.
— Michael Main
En fait, je suis passé dans un cube, et ça . . .
I actually went through this cube, and it . . .
English
[ex=bare]Il était une seconde fois | It was a second time[/ex] by Nathalie Leuthreau and Guillaume Nicloux, directed by Giillaume Nicloux, at the Berlin International Film Festival, 12 February 2019.

Again, but Better

by Christine Riccio
Shy Shane Primaveri heads to London for a semester abroad for a semester abroad program in creative writing where she hopes to become more outgoing, kiss a boy that she likes, and convince her parents after-the-fact that her decision to explore paths outside of a pre-med major was the right one. But things don’t go exactly as planned the first time through the semester.
— Michael Main
Could the elevator have been, like, a time machine?
Again, but Better by Christine Riccio (Wednesday Books, May 2019).

Miniseries

시지프스: The Myth

Sisyphus: The Myth English release: Sisyphus: The Myth Literal: Sisyphus: The myth

by 전찬호 and 이제인, directed by 진혁
Young genius Han Tae-sul is the focus of dangerous people and a mysterious woman—Gang Seo-hae—from a war-torn near future.

Sadly, the story comes close to being a slick static timeline, but alas, the writers could not follow through.

— Michael Main
The Downloader is a real piece of work. There’s only a ten percent chance of success, eh? And even if they make it, half of them get caught by the Control Bureau.
[ex=bare]시지프스: The Myth | Sisyphus: The myth | Sijipeuseu: The myth[/ex] by 전찬호 and 이제인, directed by 진혁, 16 untitled episodes (JTBC-TV, Korea, 17 February to 8 April 2021).

Solos [s1.e01]

Leah

by David Weil, directed by Zach Braff
While talking to her mother, who suffers from Alzheimer’s, brilliant scientist Leah Salavara’s subconscious brings up just the idea that’s needed to video chat with herself in other times and eventually complete the final step that leads to actual time travel with a surprisingly complex set of motives.
— Michael Main
Okay, so in order to run a reverse dimensional location search, I need to know what the interdimensional VIN is on your computer.
Solos (s01e01), “Leah” by David Weil, directed by Zach Braff (Amazon Prime, 21 May 2021).

What If . . . ? [s1e04]

What If . . . Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?

by A. C. Bradley, directed by Bryan Andrews
As we all know, when the world’s formost surgeon, Doctor Strange, lost the use of his hands in a car wreck, it prompted him to search out mystic treatments and eventually become the Master of the Mystic Arts. But what if he had lost something else in that wreck?
— Michael Main
The Ancient One: Her death is an Absolute Point in time.
Dr. Strange: Absolute?
A.O.: Unchangable. Unmovable. Without her death, you would never have defeated Dormamu and become the Sorcerer Supreme—and the guardian of the Eye of Agamotto. If you erase her death, you never start your journey.
“What If . . . Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead of His Hands?” by A. C. Bradley, directed by Bryan Andrews, What If . . . ? [s01e04] (Disney+, worldwide, 1 September 2021).

This Time Tomorrow

by Emma Straub
After turning forty in a snit because of her career decisions, her unexciting boyfriend, and her dying father, Alice Stern wakes up on her 16th birthday in her teen body.
— Michael Main
“I know it’s your birthday,” Leonard said. “You’ve made me watch Sixteen Candles enough times to ensure that I wouldn’t let this one slide.”
This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub (Riverhead Books, May 2022.
as of 11:21 p.m. MDT, 16 May 2024
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