History Main / EggMacGuffin

* In the ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': episode [[ExactlyWhatItSayOnTheTin "The Egg"]], Mrs. Davis gets a chicken egg from her brother's farm. Mistakenly, he had given her an egg soon to hatch. Miss Brooks and friends try to safely hatch the egg, and keep Mr. Conklin from frightening the chick by flashing a photo as it emerges from its shell.

* ''Manga/XxxHOLiC'':

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite Brood Parasites]]: Some species of birds, such as cowbirds and a few cuckoo species, will lay eggs in other bird species' nests in order to "trick" the host mother into raising their offspring. (Or the parasitic birds [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge may go so far as destroying the host nest]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite#Mafia_hypothesis if the host ejects their egg]], which often looks conspicuously different--yikes).

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite Brood Parasites]]: Some species of birds, such as cowbirds and a few cuckoo species, will lay eggs in other birds species' nests in order to "trick" the host mother into raising their offspring. (Or the parasitic birds [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge may go so far as destroying the host nest]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite#Mafia_hypothesis if the host ejects their egg]], which often looks conspicuously different--yikes).

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite Brood Parasites]]: Some species of birds, such as cowbirds and a few cuckoo species, will lay eggs in other birds species' nests in order to "trick" the host mother into raising their offspring. (Or the parasitic birds [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite#Mafia_hypothesis may go so far as destroying the host nest if the host ejects their egg]], which often looks conspicuously different--yikes).

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_parasite Brood Parasites]]: Some species of birds, such as cowbirds and a few cuckoo species, will lay eggs in other birds species' nests in order to "trick" the nest mother into raising their offspring.

* Some species of birds, such as cowbirds and a few cuckoo species, will lay eggs in other birds species' nests in order to "trick" the nest mother into raising their offspring.

* In ''{{Series/Merlin|2008}}'', Merlin and company go looking for a dragon egg in "Aithusa".

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/USAcres'', Orson the Pig took care of two abandoned eggs, from which hatched Booker and Sheldon.

[[folder:Pinball]]
* In Creator/DataEast's ''Pinball/JurassicPark'', cracking open dinosaur eggs award various bonuses.

* An episode of ''TheWubbulousWorldOfDrSeuss'' involves a girl named Megan and her friend Horton the Elephant trying to retrieve the priceless Zubble-Wump egg which was stolen by the Grinch.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* A major plot point in ''{{Webcomic/Homestuck}}'' is the Matriorb, the egg required to [[spoiler:hatch a Mother Grub and resurrect the troll species.]]
[[/folder]]

* In ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne'', 'gunters (egg hunters), including the protagonist, devote their lives to finding a virtual easter egg (an actual in-game egg) to inherit his fortune.

* The whole plot of ''BillyHatcherAndTheGiantEgg'' revolves around hatching an egg by feeding it fruit. And then there's the eponymous Giant Egg, [[spoiler:which ''does'' get hatched by [[BigBad Dark Raven]]]].

* ''Manga/NatsumesBookOfFriends'': Natsume takes care of a small egg found in a nest -- which hatches into a "dragon". At first, however, it appears to take the form of an extremely ''tiny'' version of whatever creature it sees first -- namely Natsume. It is possibly the [[http://media.photobucket.com/image/natsume%20yuujin%20chou%20tama-chan/looniekat/Natsume%20Yuujin-cho/snapshot20090128191748.jpg cutest thing to ever exist in anime.]]

Despite the trope name, the egg might or might not be a MacGuffin. The trope's name is a silly {{pun}} on Egg [=McMuffin=], the breakfast sandwich.

* She may be the most hardboiled and {{Badass}} of Nintendo's protagonists, but in the closing of ''{{VideoGame/Metroid}} II'' even Samus Aran couldn't bring herself to exterminate the last Metroid, a mere baby that mistook her for its mother. She instead turned it over to scientists, proving to be both a good thing and bad thing when the Space Pirates steal it in the beginning of ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid''.

* In ''[[{{Dragaera}} Taltos]]'', young Vlad takes care of the jhereg egg that he'd obtained from its mother in ''Jhereg''. When Loiosh hatches, he calls Vlad "Mama", although he switches to "Boss" once he's grown some.
* Not an egg, but in ''PerdidoStreetStation'', Isaac rears a caterpillar-like larva to adulthood in a similar manner to this trope, mostly to see what it'll grow up to be. [[spoiler: This backfires spectacularly when the larva grows into a monstrous, mind-devouring slake moth.]]

---> '''Cyborg:'''All this for an [[TitleDrop egg McGuffin]]\\

* A subversion from ''AvatarTheLastAirbender.'' When the episode "The Fire Bending Masters" had a large golden egg feature, many fans speculated that it would hatch into a dragon and be crucial to the plot. It didn't.

* In the ''ShakeItUp'' episode "Heat it Up", Tinka (the comedic relief) enters an egg into a science fair that she genetically engineered. It hatches and proceeds to attack her.
* In ''{{Series/Merlin}}'', Merlin and company go looking for a dragon egg in "Aithusa".
* In the ''TheAquabatsSuperShow'' episode "Mysterious Egg!", Jimmy the Robot finds a giant egg and the team eagerly awaits its hatching with contrived [[ImagineSpot imagine spots]]. The egg hatches and the resulting chicken-thing wreaks havoc and runs off. Jimmy is torn between his attachment for the hatchling and protecting the rest of the band from it.

* Technically speaking, the same thing happens in ''[[{{Temeraire}} His Majesty's Dragon]]''. In an alternate version of Earth where dragons exist, a French ship is captured by the British transporting a ship...forcing the captain to harness and bond with the dragon that comes out. Laurence and Temeraire have another one to deal with two books later in ''The Black Powder War''.