Tropescilloscope: MacGuffin

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

Film Frequency (%) Film Frequency (#)

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