Tropescilloscope: MacGuffin

An object that, while not relevant to the main narrative, is frequently pursued throughout it. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Twist Ending You Killed My Father Animal Title Index The '70s Deus ex Machina Better to Die than Be Killed Conspicuous CG Manic Pixie Dream Girl Fun with Acronyms The Quiet One Nothing Is Scarier Babies Ever After Easily Forgiven Butt-Monkey Adaptational Badass Beware the Nice Ones All for Nothing Creator Cameo Logo Joke Race Lift Major Injury Underreaction Department of Redundancy Department Get Out! Dark Is Not Evil Extremely Short Timespan Big Damn Heroes Damsel in Distress 20 Minutes into the Future Hero Antagonist Those Two Bad Guys The '60s Take That! Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Sports Stories Names to Run Away from Really Fast Ambiguously Gay Friend to All Children Sinister Minister The Ghost Early-Bird Cameo Hollywood Law Big Fancy House The Dog Bites Back Vomit Indiscretion Shot Exact Words Smug Snake Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique BFG Frame-Up Unresolved Sexual Tension Arc Words Parental Substitute Suddenly SHOUTING! Disguised in Drag Reality Ensues Cool Shades Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Tempting Fate Unreliable Narrator Suspiciously Specific Denial No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Put on a Bus Drill Sergeant Nasty Narrator Tap on the Head Wicked Cultured Knight Templar Beta Couple Death by Irony Authority Equals Asskicking Riddle for the Ages Adaptational Villainy Ungrateful Bastard The End... Or Is It? The Lost Lenore Fanservice Refuge in Audacity The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Rule of Symbolism The Lancer Title Drop Defrosting Ice Queen The Cavalry Ship Tease Worthy Opponent Whole Plot Reference Sir Swears-a-Lot Diabolus ex Machina Small Name, Big Ego Trailers Always Spoil Setting Update Mooks A Father to His Men The Reveal Apocalypse How Bloody Hilarious Protagonist Title Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Drives Like Crazy Manipulative Bastard Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Artistic License – Military Informed Ability Award-Bait Song Death by Sex Insane Troll Logic Gory Discretion Shot Video Credits From Nobody to Nightmare Dirty Cop Reality Has No Subtitles It's Personal Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Sexy Discretion Shot Novelization Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Karmic Death Ambiguous Ending Face–Heel Turn Naked People Are Funny Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism No OSHA Compliance Awesome, but Impractical Never Trust a Trailer No Antagonist She's Got Legs Didn't Think This Through Knife Nut Bunny-Ears Lawyer Combat Pragmatist Covers Always Lie Karma Houdini Pretty in Mink The Alcoholic Amoral Attorney Adaptation Dye-Job Deliberately Monochrome Brainless Beauty Hypocritical Humor Grievous Bottley Harm Gratuitous English Daylight Horror The Voiceless Revenge Really Gets Around Bi the Way Jerk Jock Retired Badass Dramatic Gun Cock Danny Peary Cult Movies List Psycho for Hire Dwindling Party Your Head A-Splode Fatal Family Photo Manly Tears Only One Name Villainous Breakdown All There in the Script The Smart Guy Victoria's Secret Compartment Bloodless Carnage Big Bad Real Life Writes the Plot Fantasy Films Annoying Younger Sibling Horror Comedy Undying Loyalty Take a Third Option Cat Fight Market-Based Title I Did What I Had to Do Bond Villain Stupidity I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Foil She Cleans Up Nicely "Well Done, Son!" Guy Artistic License – History The Power of Love Rich Bitch Anti-Villain Black Comedy Animal Motifs Artistic License – Physics Accidental Murder Super Strength Catch-Phrase Totally Radical Large Ham Married to the Job The Big Guy Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Fiery Redhead Canadian Movies Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Morality Pet Eureka Moment Adorkable Artistic License – Biology The Chick It Can Think Anyone Can Die Bait-and-Switch Anachronic Order My Beloved Smother Dual Wielding Shell-Shocked Veteran Big Eater Scare Chord Affably Evil Villain Song Chase Scene Peek-a-Boo Corpse Dogged Nice Guy Captain Obvious You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Leave the Camera Running Intrepid Reporter Make It Look Like an Accident Ambiguous Disorder Nice Hat Dutch Angle Evil Sounds Deep A.I. Is a Crapshoot Bound and Gagged The Sociopath There Is No Kill Like Overkill Public Domain Feature Films Male Gaze Adaptational Heroism Thriller I'm a Humanitarian Fan Disservice Nice Guy The Load For Want of a Nail Recycled IN SPACE! A Minor Kidroduction Blatant Lies And Starring Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Abhorrent Admirer Biopic Eagleland Funny Foreigner Punch-Clock Villain The Oner Character Development Framing Device Have a Gay Old Time The Bad Guy Wins Neck Lift Not So Different Not Quite Dead Improvised Weapon Bottomless Magazines Woman in White Rule of Cool The Brute Fake Shemp Neck Snap Obviously Evil Foreshadowing Composite Character Meaningful Background Event Chewing the Scenery Evil-Detecting Dog Expy Blood from the Mouth Spiritual Successor Retirony Animated Credits Opening Curb-Stomp Battle German Films Happily Married Epic Movie Not Even Bothering with the Accent Central Theme Cat Scare Daddy's Girl In the Back Madness Mantra Adaptation Expansion Downer Ending "Awesome McCool" Name Stepford Smiler One-Man Army Wham Shot Match Cut Improbable Aiming Skills The '50s Breaking the Fourth Wall Bad Boss Roaring Rampage of Revenge Self-Deprecation Politically Incorrect Villain Eye Scream Romantic False Lead Pre-Mortem One-Liner Your Cheating Heart Smoking Is Cool Cool Old Lady Rousing Speech Fanservice Extra Handicapped Badass Casting Gag Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Redemption Equals Death Heel Realization Killed Mid-Sentence Gender Flip Sequel Hook Loads and Loads of Characters Contrived Coincidence Rule of Three Leaning on the Fourth Wall Aluminum Christmas Trees Shoot the Shaggy Dog It's All About Me Show Within a Show The Dragon Celebrity Paradox Stock Footage Translation Convention Epic Fail Card-Carrying Villain Genre Shift Scenery Gorn Woman Scorned Villain Protagonist No Ending Our Vampires Are Different The Vamp Dark Reprise Taking the Bullet Crucified Hero Shot Overly Long Gag Scary Black Man As Long as It Sounds Foreign Based on a True Story Straight Gay All Girls Want Bad Boys Male Frontal Nudity Faux Affably Evil As You Know Jerk with a Heart of Gold The Hero O.O.C. Is Serious Business The Stoic Rasputinian Death How We Got Here Action Prologue Russian Films The Mafia Blood Knight Big "NO!" Brutal Honesty Big Applesauce Asshole Victim Reasonable Authority Figure Comically Missing the Point Cruel and Unusual Death Calling the Old Man Out Cassandra Truth The Stinger Book-Ends Meaningful Echo Kill It with Fire Shown Their Work Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Gilligan Cut Anachronism Stew Off with His Head! Took a Level in Jerkass Crazy Jealous Guy Evil Is Hammy Corrupt Corporate Executive The Atoner Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome The Un-Reveal Random Events Plot Badass Longcoat Historical Villain Upgrade Jump Scare Pyrrhic Victory Race Against the Clock Getting Crap Past the Radar Immune to Bullets A Date with Rosie Palms One-Word Title The Casanova '80s Hair Dumb Blonde Unspoken Plan Guarantee Dark and Troubled Past Never My Fault Back from the Dead Alliterative Name Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Cowboy Cop Age Lift Star-Crossed Lovers An Axe to Grind Adults Are Useless A God Am I Cain and Abel Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Cool Old Guy Works Set in World War II Be Careful What You Wish For Brick Joke Mexican Standoff Insult Backfire Fate Worse than Death Distracted by the Sexy Insistent Terminology The X of Y Hate Sink Storming the Castle Expository Hairstyle Change Toplessness from the Back Captain Ersatz Sealed Evil in a Can Vomit Discretion Shot Everyone Has Standards Sequel Escalation Cluster F-Bomb "The Reason You Suck" Speech Moment Killer Truth in Television Stealth Hi/Bye Heel–Face Turn Action Girl Failed a Spot Check Too Dumb to Live Not So Stoic Unwitting Instigator of Doom The Great Depression Defiant to the End Fainting The Faceless What the Hell, Hero? Only a Flesh Wound La Résistance Only in It for the Money Antagonist Title Taking You with Me Yandere Psychological Thriller Hair-Trigger Temper Spared by the Adaptation The Film of the Book Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Rule of Funny Gone Horribly Right Mugging the Monster Faking the Dead Slashed Throat Belligerent Sexual Tension Exactly What It Says on the Tin Bloodier and Gorier Vitriolic Best Buds Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer Kids Are Cruel Offscreen Moment of Awesome Did Not Get the Girl Historical In-Joke What Happened to the Mouse? The Musical Manchild Ax-Crazy Redshirt Army Horror Films Australian Movies Shut Up, Hannibal! Facial Horror Spanner in the Works Paper-Thin Disguise Evil Brit Jerkass Establishing Character Moment Kill 'em All Black Best Friend Batman Gambit Jitter Cam Children Are Innocent Film Noir Index Red Right Hand Punny Name Dirty Old Man Corpsing The Ace Big Bad Duumvirate Motor Mouth Broken Aesop Would Hit a Girl "Shaggy Dog" Story Badass Bookworm Mystery and Detective Films Superhero Depraved Bisexual Earn Your Happy Ending No Name Given Guns Akimbo Pet the Dog Pay Evil unto Evil Overprotective Dad Femme Fatale Henpecked Husband For the Evulz Documentary Beauty Is Never Tarnished The Smurfette Principle I Need a Freaking Drink Determinator Deliberate Values Dissonance Bar Brawl Badass Boast Man on Fire Dies Wide Open I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Historical-Domain Character The Starscream Broken Bird Affectionate Parody Body Horror This Is Gonna Suck Destination Defenestration Anti-Hero Darkest Hour Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Dropped a Bridge on Him Alpha Bitch MacGuffin Villain Ball Kick the Son of a Bitch Idiot Ball May–December Romance Evil Counterpart Rated M for Manly Driven to Suicide Made of Iron Cold-Blooded Torture Laser-Guided Karma Eldritch Abomination Missing Mom Disney Death Ugly Guy, Hot Wife Action Survivor Chekhov's Gunman Soundtrack Dissonance Chekhov's Gun Death Seeker Military and Warfare Films No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Enemy Mine folderlabel Bilingual Bonus Police Brutality Christmas Movies Index Unusually Uninteresting Sight Non-Indicative Name Action Genre Men Are the Expendable Gender Dull Surprise Vacation Films Slap-Slap-Kiss Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Up to Eleven Fat Bastard Bowdlerise Famous Last Words The Ditz Pragmatic Adaptation Naïve Newcomer Token Minority Hollywood Darkness Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Italian Films Lock and Load Montage Plot Hole Shout-Out Slasher Movie Japanese Films Despair Event Horizon Four-Temperament Ensemble Adaptation Name Change Due to the Dead The '80s Arranged Marriage Jerkass Has a Point Fatal Flaw You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Domestic Abuse Ironic Echo Evil vs. Evil Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Leitmotif Beard of Evil Artistic License – Geography Greater-Scope Villain He Who Fights Monsters Death Glare Parental Abandonment Boom, Headshot! Time Skip And the Adventure Continues Author Appeal Flashback Does Not Like Shoes An Arm and a Leg Zombie Stories Real Life Took a Level in Badass The '90s Continuity Nod Crazy-Prepared Homage Left the Background Music On Dressing as the Enemy Car Fu Throwing Your Sword Always Works Betty and Veronica Implacable Man Mercy Kill Death by Adaptation Creepy Child Fourth Date Marriage Hope Spot Romantic Comedy No Celebrities Were Harmed Parental Neglect Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Villain Opening Scene Psychopathic Manchild Eyepatch of Power Sole Survivor Bad "Bad Acting" Country Matters Amusing Injuries Shirtless Scene Our Zombies Are Different Evil Laugh Almost Kiss Rape as Drama Does This Remind You of Anything? As the Good Book Says... Unusual Euphemism No-Sell Laughing Mad Martial Arts Movie Bald of Evil Last-Name Basis All Just a Dream The Hero Dies Stealth Pun Film Noir Early Installment Weirdness Silence Is Golden Poor Communication Kills Humiliation Conga Music Stories Chekhov's Skill Mad Scientist Intergenerational Friendship More Dakka Dissonant Serenity Historical Hero Upgrade Running Gag Never Found the Body Vampire Fiction Re-Cut Mundane Made Awesome Dirty Coward Good Is Not Nice Call-Back Hypocrite The Bully Together in Death Kick the Dog Gold Digger Heroes Want Redheads Obstructive Bureaucrat Even Evil Has Loved Ones Ascended Extra Once More, with Clarity! Berserk Button Groin Attack Maybe Ever After Mighty Whitey Spell My Name with an "S" Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Malevolent Masked Men Disappeared Dad Villain with Good Publicity Gorn Costume Porn Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Suspiciously Similar Substitute Monumental Damage British Films Alas, Poor Villain Freudian Excuse Mood Whiplash Line-of-Sight Name He Knows Too Much Not What It Looks Like Gainax Ending Bland-Name Product It Will Never Catch On Determinator aka: The Determinator Actually Pretty Funny Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Deadpan Snarker True Companions Curse Cut Short Improbable Weapon User Big Brother Instinct Artistic License – Law The Remake Product Placement Creative Closing Credits Camera Abuse Tranquil Fury Loophole Abuse Actor Allusion Red Shirt The Chessmaster Not Using the "Z" Word Funny Background Event Anguished Declaration of Love Instant Death Bullet Love Triangle Scenery Porn Very Loosely Based on a True Story Death of a Child Index of Film Westerns Darker and Edgier Artistic License – Gun Safety Room Full of Crazy timeperiod Lighter and Softer Closed Circle Dramedy Author Avatar Bolivian Army Ending Genre Throwback Bavarian Fire Drill Wham Line Disney Villain Death Freeze-Frame Bonus Canon Foreigner Pimped-Out Dress Hooker with a Heart of Gold Empathic Environment Interrupted Suicide Guile Hero B-Movie Abusive Parents Dark Action Girl Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Pragmatic Villainy Irony Green-Eyed Monster Soft Glass Arch-Enemy Sassy Black Woman Bare Your Midriff Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! Mistaken for Gay Same Language Dub Lampshade Hanging Love at First Sight Off-into-the-Distance Ending Half the Man He Used to Be My God, What Have I Done? Cool Car Here We Go Again! Red Oni, Blue Oni Screw the Money, I Have Rules! Noodle Incident Bring My Brown Pants Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Sanity Slippage Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Genre Savvy Evil Plan Badass Grandpa Bullying a Dragon Double-Meaning Title Foregone Conclusion Shower Scene Heroic Sacrifice Eiffel Tower Effect Demonic Possession And I Must Scream Adaptational Attractiveness Oh, Crap! Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Break the Cutie Sadistic Choice Black Dude Dies First Black Comedy Rape Hong Kong Films Meet Cute Police are Useless Skewed Priorities Silent Movie Film Series World of Ham N-Word Privileges Say My Name Chiaroscuro Mama Bear Coming-of-Age Story Posthumous Character Training Montage Mind Screw Decoy Protagonist Rewatch Bonus Badass in a Nice Suit Deal with the Devil Mr. Fanservice Would Hurt a Child Playing Gertrude Catapult Nightmare Reckless Gun Usage Ghost Fiction Agony of the Feet Outrun the Fireball Stalker with a Crush Older Than They Look Only Sane Man Brother–Sister Incest From Bad to Worse The Stoner Visual Pun Advertised Extra Adapted Out Hero of Another Story Drugs Are Bad All Men Are Perverts Red Eyes, Take Warning Sacrificial Lion Bittersweet Ending One Steve Limit Even Evil Has Standards Pretty Little Headshots Only Known by Their Nickname Disproportionate Retribution NO INDOOR VOICE Needs Wiki Magic Love In Medias Res You Have Failed Me Adult Fear "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue The Alleged Car Cloudcuckoolander Serial Killer Fire-Forged Friends Grey and Gray Morality Sci-Fi Horror Five-Man Band Well-Intentioned Extremist Properly Paranoid Parental Incest Crapsack World Let's Get Dangerous! Broken Pedestal The Dreaded Developing Doomed Characters Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Fantastic Racism Blackmail Dying Moment of Awesome Bond One-Liner Humans Are Bastards Hidden Depths Retcon Ominous Latin Chanting Extreme Doormat French Films Demoted to Extra Cool Guns Fingore Stuff Blowing Up Deconstruction Made of Explodium Stylistic Suck What You Are in the Dark Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Papa Wolf Mythology Gag Ms. Fanservice An Aesop Red Herring Those Wacky Nazis Dramatic Irony Slasher Smile Double Entendre Imagine Spot As Himself Auto Erotica Credits Gag Flipping the Bird Badass Normal Television Movie Index Mr. Exposition After the End Spiteful Spit Hoist by His Own Petard Every Car Is a Pinto Word of God Air-Vent Passageway Ripped from the Headlines Aside Glance Offscreen Teleportation Black and Gray Morality Call-Forward Light Is Not Good In Name Only Science Fiction Films Final Girl Heterosexual Life-Partners Bury Your Gays The Cameo Obfuscating Stupidity Accidental Misnaming Kubrick Stare The Place Hell Is That Noise Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Attempted Rape Drowning My Sorrows All There in the Manual Armor-Piercing Question I Have Your Wife Wrong Genre Savvy Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Meaningful Name The Mole Camp Gay Honor Before Reason Wounded Gazelle Gambit Precision F-Strike Adaptation Distillation Face Death with Dignity Those Two Guys Serious Business Fish out of Water Becoming the Mask Shipper on Deck Reality Is Unrealistic War Is Hell Ass Shove Big-Bad Ensemble Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Heroic BSoD Plucky Comic Relief Tagline Important Haircut Break the Haughty Wretched Hive Not So Above It All Evil Is Petty My Greatest Failure