Editing MacGuffin (section)

{{Short description|Story plot device}}
{{About||the cipher|MacGuffin (cipher)|the surname|McGuffin}}

In [[fiction]], a '''MacGuffin''' (sometimes '''McGuffin''') is an object, device, or event that is necessary to the plot and the motivation of the characters, but insignificant, unimportant, or irrelevant in itself.<ref name=brewers>{{harvtxt|Brewer's|1992}}</ref><ref name=harmon>{{harvtxt|Harmon|2012}}</ref><ref name=knowles>{{harvtxt|Knowles|2000}}</ref><ref name=room>{{harvtxt|Room|2000}}</ref><ref name=skillion>{{harvtxt|Skillion|2001}}</ref> The term was originated by [[Angus MacPhail]] for film,<ref name=harmon/> adopted by [[Alfred Hitchcock]],<ref name=brewers/><ref name=harmon/><ref name=knowles/><ref name=room/><ref name=skillion/> and later extended to a similar device in other fiction.<ref name=room/>

The MacGuffin technique is common in films, especially [[Thriller film|thrillers]]. Usually, the MacGuffin is revealed in the first [[Act (theater)|act]], and thereafter declines in importance. It can reappear at the climax of the story but may actually be forgotten by the end of the story. Multiple MacGuffins are sometimes derisively identified as [[wikt:plot coupon|plot coupons]]<ref name=ansible>{{harvtxt|Lowe|1986}}</ref><ref name="sfwa">{{cite web |url=http://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/turkey-city-lexicon-a-primer-for-sf-workshops/ |title=Turkey City Lexicon – A Primer for SF Workshops |last=Sterling |first=Bruce |author-link=Bruce Sterling |publisher=Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America |access-date=January 2, 2014 |date=June 18, 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140107203654/http://www.sfwa.org/2009/06/turkey-city-lexicon-a-primer-for-sf-workshops/ |archive-date=January 7, 2014 }}</ref>&mdash;the characters "collect" the coupons to trade in for an ending.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}