Marty McFly was born in Hill Valley, California to the McFlys, a family of Irish descent. Little is known about Marty's life prior to the first Back to the Future film, except for the fact that he set fire to the living-room rug when he was 8 years old (in a statement of Marty's to his future parents). He met his friend Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown when he was around fourteen after hearing that Brown was a dangerous lunatic. Marty, being the “red-blooded American teenager” he was, wanted to go see what it was all about for himself. He snuck into Doc's lab and was fascinated by all his inventions. When Doc caught him, he was glad to have someone who liked his work and their friendship started there.
In 1985, Marty plays guitar with his group The Pinheads and likes listening to Huey Lewis and the News, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Van Halen, and Michael Jackson. He is also a talented skateboarder and proves to be an excellent pistol shot, a skill he has honed by endlessly playing shooting games such as Wild Gunman at his local 7-Eleven.
By 2015, Marty's life has spiraled out of control due to long-term pain from a hand injury that left him unable to play guitar. This injury occurs in 1985, after Marty accepts school enemy Douglas J. Needles' challenge to a road race after being labeled a chicken and crashes into a Rolls-Royce. In 1885, Biff Tannen's great-grandfather Buford goads Marty into a showdown, which Marty wins despite refusing to draw a gun against Buford. Once he returns to 1985, he remembers both this event and his great-great grandfather Seamus McFly's advice and drops out of Needles' challenge, avoiding the collision that would have ruined his musical talents.
By 2015, Marty has married his girlfriend Jennifer and has two children, Martin "Marty" Jr. and Marlene.