MacGuffin

A MacGuffin is a narrative device, usually an object (occasionally a character or concept) which helps motivate events but has no intrinsic importance. In some cases, the MacGuffin will turn out not to actually exist, and often they're forgotten or ignored by the end. A classic example is the titular statue in The Maltese Falcon (which turns out to be a fake). Stolen or coveted items in mystery stories (or P. G. Wodehouse farces), secret papers in spy narratives, and mystical objects in fantasy are among the most common MacGuffins. 
While the concept is an old one (the Holy Grail fits the definition), the term "MacGuffin" was popularized by Alfred Hitchcock when describing his frequent use of it in his films (the coning is attributed to screenwriter Angus MacPhail). Hitchcock himself always stressed that while the characters may be frantic about it, the audience doesn't care about the MacGuffin itself.
==References==
* Charlene Sinclair in the Dinosaurs episode "Scent of a Reptile" learns from Ethyl Phillips about a legendary flower known as the MacGuffin lily, which can alter a female's scent. She takes a treacherous journey to find it, only to discover they were all destroyed to make way for a Foto-Fast hut. In true MacGuffin fashion, it has no actual impact.
* The Great MacGuffin in Muppets Haunted Mansion is named after the concept. While at first he seems to fill that plot function (the reason Gonzo is interested in staying at the mansion), the ending reveals he actually orchestrated the events in the special and so was significant in himself. Thus the Great MacGuffin is not in fact a MacGuffin.
==See also==
*Red herrings
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Category:Literary References
Category:Movie References