MacGuffins

[goldenboy]

Has there been a MacGuffin thread?

A MacGuffin (sometimes McGuffin) is a plot device that motivates the characters or advances the story, but has little or no actual relevance to the story.

The director and producer Alfred Hitchcock popularized both the term "MacGuffin" and the technique. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Hitchcock explained the term in a 1939 lecture at Columbia University: "[We] have a name in the studio, and we call it the 'MacGuffin.' It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is most always the necklace and in spy stories it is most always the papers."

MacGuffin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A MacGuffin (also spelled McGuffin or Maguffin) is a plot device which advances the story but which is itself secondary to the development of the plot. It can be a person, a quest or an object. A MacGuffin is distinguished from other plot devices in that, by definition, the actual item which a MacGuffin is could be interchangeable with other, similar plot devices.

MacGuffin - The TV IV



Haven't given it much thought, but there must be some MacGuffins hiding in all those Buffy, Angel eps. I've got a few that may be sort of borderline MacGuffins. Maybe full-fledged MacGuffins, not sure.


The Glove of Myneghon, from "Revelations". Gwendolyn Post and everyone else wanted it - for different reasons. Almost didn't even matter what was, in the end.

The Gem of Amarra, from "Harsh Light of Day" and "In the Dark". Spike's driving motivation. In the end, it mattered squat. Angel dashed it to pieces.

Axis of Pythia, from "Ground State". Angel wanted it to locate, retrieve Cordy. Gwen wanted it for the cash. It drove the story. Never technically helped Angel get Cordy back though.

You could argue that Dawn/The Key was a MacGuffin - at first anyway.

 

[nerd4hire]

David Greenwalt invented a term that better describes the Dawn/Key thing, I think. Phlebotnum. In fantasy/sci fi it's the device or magic that adjusts the mythology to advance the plot.

There's also Deux Ex Machina which would apply to something like the scythe. It's the device that appears to offer instant resolution to a tricky plot.

 

[Lyri]

what about The Cup of Perpetual Torment? surely that counts? lol

 

[goldenboy]

Oh yeah. Phlebotnum. Why didn't I remember that. Dawn's definitely phlebotnumous.

The Cup of Perpetual Torment...MacGuffiny for sure.

 

[Randy Giles]

Phlebotnum?

What the hell? Talk about random words.

I guess Dawn would be though.

 

[white avenger]

Would that make the things in Spike's lower chamber in "As You Were".....egg Mcguffins? (I'm sorry, folks, it's been a loooooong haaaaard day)

 

[VisionGuy]

Are these McMuffins?

The Master's Bones
The Order of Taraka
The Codex
Mr. Pointy (The stake not the Mod. LOL)
That Glove on Angel that kills the Senior Partner
The Box of Gavrok
The Mark of Eyghon
The talisman Balthazar is after

 

[goldenboy]

Those seem pretty solid VG. The one I'm iffy on is Mr. Pointy. I can't think of where it actually drove the plot, or came up as a conflict creator.

Almost wanna change my handle to "Egg MacGuffin" now...