History Main / MacguffinEscortMission

Compare LiveActionEscortMission. Not to be confused with MacGuffinDeliveryService, where the villain uses the hero to obtain the item. Contrast KeepAway.

If the MacGuffin is a fake, compare DecoyConvoy.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** The Orange Islands saga started with the heroes being sent by Professor Oak to Valencia Island to collect the mysterious GS Ball, and then taking it to Kurt the Pokéball expert in Azalea Town, Johto.
** Professor Oak entrusts an egg to Ash for him to deliver to Samson Oak in Melemele Island in the Alola region.

[[folder:Live Action Televison]]

* {{Cattle Drive}}s are merely a job in RealLife, but are typically this trope in fiction.
** ''Film/CitySlickers''
** ''Film/RedRiver''

* The bible in ''Film/TheBookOfEli''.
* The plot of ''Film/ChildrenOfMen'' revolves around Theo escorting Kee to a meeting point with the [[SafeZoneHopeSpot Human Project]].
* The plot for ''Film/ChildrensPartyAtThePalace'' revolves around several characters from British children’s literature going on a quest to find the [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII Queen]]’s lost handbag so they can deliver it back to her in time for the finale.

* The Enigma Device in U-571. The writer/director even [[WordOfGod calls it]] "The MacGuffin" in the DVD commentary.

* Literature/TheRadix: Brynstone steals the eponymous Radix in the very beginning of the book. Finding the Scintilla (the recipe to use it properly), however, takes the whole book. Thus, TwoHalvesMakeAPlot.
* Jasmine has no trouble acquiring ''Literature/TheWellOfMoments'' early on. Holding onto it long enough to turn a profit is the hard part, because a lot of highly motivated people want it too. Some of the potential buyers are happy to simply steal it if they can, from her or [[MacGuffinMelee from each other]].

* ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'' Device. This is a thing. It does stuff. Which leads to "All hail the Device! For it is a thing! And it does stuff! \o/" It is used in a multi-part mission to activate gate.

* The plot for ''Film/ChildrensPartyAtThePalace'' revolves around several characters from British children’s literature going on a quest to find the [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen]]’s lost handbag so they can deliver it back to her in time for the finale.

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this with its Rainmaker mode: Once a team arrives at the Rainmaker's initial position, they must get it to a certain point deep in enemy territory without either dropping it from being splatted or [[MadeOfExplodium having it self-destruct after being carried far too long]].

[[folder:Theatre]]
* The plot for ''Film/ChildrensPartyAtThePalace'' revolves around several characters from British children’s literature going on a quest to find the [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen]]’s lost handbag so they can deliver it back to her in time for the finale.
[[/folder]]

* ''Film/ChillFactor'': Arlo and Mason have to take a super-weapon to a military base while being chased by terrorists who want it.
* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'': The plot revolves around Jen getting the Shard to the Dark Crystal before the Three Suns meet to end the reign of the Skeksis.

* ''Film/TheTransporter'' has the title character doing this as a job.
* The Enigma Device in U-571. The writer/director even [[WordOfGod calls it]] "The MacGuffin" in the DVD commentary.

* The ''Big Fat Kill'' sequence in the anthology movie ''Film/SinCity'' involves the transportation of a dead body to be properly disposed of. Later, it involves simply keeping the head out of the mob's clutches.
* The plot of ''Film/TheHiddenFortress'' is about taking [[LiveActionEscortMission Princess Yuki]] and her gold across enemy territory to an ally's territory.
* In ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'', Bond acquires the Soviet decoding device early on. The rest of the film is about trying to get in back to England while SPECTRE tries to steal it back.

* ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', which involves Frodo Baggins having to take [[ArtifactOfDoom the One Ring]], the source of [[BigBad Sauron's]] power, into the land of {{Mordor}} to cast it into the fires of Mount Doom to destroy it.

* ''VideoGame/EVEOnline'' Device. This is a thing. It does stuff. Which leads to "All hail the Device! For it is a thing! And it does stuff! \o/" It is used in a multi-part mission to activate gate.
* Done occasionally in the ''Zelda'' series:

* Protecting the hyperdrive generator from Darth Maul in the game of ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ThePhantomMenace''.

* For the first half of ''VideoGame/GoldenSun: The Lost Age'', you're taking the [[CosmicKeystone Jupiter Star]] to the Jupiter Lighthouse in order to light it.

* Red Puckett's story in ''WesternAnimation/{{Hoodwinked}}!'': Upon discovering a break-in at her Granny's store, Red fears that the mysterious Goodie Bandit is trying to steal Granny's secret recipe book, so she removes the book from its safe and decides to take it in person to Granny for safekeeping.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', "The Other Tarts", had Finn & Jake transporting legendary level tarts to a meeting of various royalty.

* The plot for ''Film/ChildrensPartyAtThePalace'' revolves around several characters from British children’s literature going on a quest to find the [[UsefulNotes/HMTheQueen Queen]]’s lost handbag, which has her glasses, so she can deliver her closing speech.

* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal'', which borrowed heavily from ''Literature/LordOfTheRings''.

Compare LiveActionEscortMission. Not to be confused with MacguffinDeliveryService, where the villain uses the hero to obtain the item. Contrast KeepAway.

* The plot of ''Film/TheHiddenFortress'' is about taking [[LiveActionEscortMission Princess Yuki]] and her gold across enemy territory back to her homeland.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': The Orange Islands saga started with the heroes being sent by Professor Oak to Valencia Island to collect the mysterious GS Ball, and then taking it to Kurt the Pokéball expert in Azalea Town, Johto.

* Red Puckett's story in ''{{Hoodwinked}}!'': Upon discovering a break-in at her Granny's store, Red fears that the mysterious Goodie Bandit is trying to steal Granny's secret recipe book, so she removes the book from its safe and decides to take it in person to Granny for safekeeping.

* In VideoGame/''SonicUnleashed'' the titular hero has all seven Chaos Emeralds from the start, but he has to take each one to an ancient temple on each continent in order to repower them and restore the fractured planet.

* ''EVEOnline'' Device. This is a thing. It does stuff. Which leads to "All hail the Device! For it is a thing! And it does stuff! \o/" It is used in a multi-part mission to activate gate.

* In ''SonicUnleashed'' the titular hero has all seven Chaos Emeralds from the start, but he has to take each one to an ancient temple on each continent in order to repower them and restore the fractured planet.

* VideoGame/{{Splatoon}} [[DownplayedTrope downplays]] this with its Rainmaker mode: Once a team arrives at the Rainmaker's initial position, they must get it to a certain point deep in enemy territory without either dropping it from being splatted or [[MadeOfExplodium having it self-destruct after being carried far too long]].

While many important-item stories are about finding or recovering it, this trope is about when it's in {{The Protagonist}}s' hands either from the beginning or by the end of the first act. The rest of the story involves getting it from one place to another.

Compare LiveActionEscortMission, only that involves people and could just be a few scenes, while this trope could include anything that is one of the main points of the story. Despite the trope name, the item might or might not be a MacGuffin.

Not to be confused with MacguffinDeliveryService, where the villain uses the hero to obtain the item. Contrast KeepAway.