Tropescilloscope: MacGuffin

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

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