Tropescilloscope: MacGuffin

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

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