History Main / MacguffinTitle

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]]'' refers to the six tear-shaped Secret Stones, which are crucial to Ganondorf's campaign and rise to power, though Link himself never seeks to collect those stones himself. It also refers to the falling debris of the Sky Islands, which resemble tears; these debris are important for reaching the Sky Islands throughout the overworld.

** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom Tears of the Kingdom]]'' refers to the six tear-shaped Sacred Stones, which are crucial to Ganondorf's campaign and rise to power, though Link himself never seeks to collect those stones himself. It also refers to the falling debris of the Sky Islands, which resemble tears; these debris are important for reaching the Sky Islands throughout the overworld.

** It's sequel ''Film/TheJewelOfTheNile'', sends its characters off on a new adventure in a fictional African desert, in an effort to find the fabled "Jewel of the Nile".

* ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'' has some of this, since the main character has to capture cards.

* ''Anime/PokemonArceusAndTheJewelOfLife'': The Jewel of Life is a jewel that Arceus forged from his life plates, and which was stolen by Damos. Now Sheena, a descendant of Daros, is planning to return the jewel to Arceus to pass judgement.

* ''ComicBook/{{Tintin}}'' has three titles that refer to stolen [=MacGuffins=]:

* ''WesternAnimation/{{BIONICLE}}: Mask of Light'' follows two friends from the fire-based village of Ta-Koro on a quest to find the owner of the Mask of Light, a mystical artifact that can potentially defeat Makuta, an evil entity threatening the island.

%%* ''Literature/TheDrawingOfTheDark'' by Creator/TimPowers references not one but two [=MacGuffins=].

* ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' and ''Film/IndianaJonesAndteDialOfDestiny'' qualify. ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' was originally going to be ''Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail'', but director Steven Spielberg thought it sounded too much like ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.

* ''Literature/TheSwordOfShannaraTrilogy'' follows the protagonist Shea Ohmsford on his quest to gain the Sword of Shannara and use it to confront the Warlock Lord

* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' includes ''The Black Cauldron'', which the heroes spend much of the book trying to acquire.
* In ''Literature/TheElenium'' trilogy, the heroes spend almost two-thirds of the series attempting to find ''Literature/TheSapphireRose'', which is the name of the third book.
%%* ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' is Quenya for "of the Silmarils," an abbreviation of the full title ''Quenta Silmarillion'', the Story of the Silmarils.
%%* The first book in the ''Literature/ChaosWalking'' trilogy, ''The Knife Of Never Letting Go''.
%%* ''Literature/TheMoonstone''.
* ''Literature/TheMalteseFalcon'' by Dashiell Hammett, in the same vein as the film it inspired; the title makes it clear that whatever the Maltese Falcon is, it's going to be important. Of course, just as with the film, most people [[ItWasHisSled know what it is nowadays]].
* [[UsefulNotes/DichterAndDenker Theodor Fontane's]] novel ''L'Adultera'' doubles as a ForeignLanguageTitle; on the surface it refers to a painting by Tintoretto ("The Adulteress before Christ").
* ''Literature/InterstellarPig'' by William Sleator refers, first, to a fictional board game titled "Interstellar Pig," and second, to an entity called The Piggy which is central to both the board game and the plot as a whole. The board game Interstellar Pig wouldn't seem extremely important when it first appears, but of course the title is something of a giveaway that [[ThisIndexWillBeImportantLater it is important]].
* The ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'' series often has titles of this type; the first three books which have an AnimatedAdaptation are ''The Missing Bicycle Knows'', ''The Egg Hamburg Steak Knows'', and ''The Backyard Knows''.

* ''Literature/TheFiresStone'' is a magic stone keeping a volcano in check that needs to be retrieved by Prince Darvish to save his country from an imminent eruption.
* ''Literature/TheNameJar'': The title comes from a jar full of names that's given to [[TheProtagonist Unhei]] by her classmates at her new school when she says she hasn't picked a new name yet (some kids on the bus couldn't pronounce it, and Unhei didn't want that to happen again).

* {{TabletopGame/Paranoia}}: John M. Ford's adventure ''The Yellow Clearance Black Box Blues''. There is, indeed, a black box.

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%%* ''Theatre/TheGoldenApple''
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* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series has several of these as subtitles, to various extents:
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'', the titular ocarina being a magical instrument required to progress the plot in many areas of the game.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]'' refers to the ArtifactOfDoom stolen by the BigBad, which is inhabited by the FinalBoss.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'', which is also the name of the conductor's wand used to control the winds and travel in the game.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords Four Swords]]'' refers to the sword the main character uses to fight this game's specific antagonist. Well, sort of -- it's actually named the "Four Sword", singular, but it splits the hero and itself into four, so there are in fact four of them.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass Phantom Hourglass]]'' refers to the item that, when filled with the Sands Of Hours recovered from bosses (which, interestingly, includes the BigBad), protects Link from the curse laid on the HubLevel.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap The Minish Cap]]'' refers to Ezlo, who is a Minish turned into a Minish-made cap. He ends up being the reason behind Link's iconic hat.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword Skyward Sword]]'' is an interesting variation, as Link's main weapon, the Goddess Sword, was referred to as "the [[TitleDrop Skyward Sword]]" during development.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' is both the collective name for the franchise and the classification of doomsday weapon that Snake spends most of his life trying to render extinct.
* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' each refer to their respective [[TrickedOutTime time-altering]] artifacts. Neither of them are actually required to get an ending, albeit you won't get their best endings.
* ''Franchise/KingdomHearts,'' strangely, has three separate things referred to by the series title. The MindScrew here is whether the first two examples to be shown are just cases of mistaken identity.
%%* ''[[VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2 Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift]]''

* ''VideoGame/AnotherCode'': "Another" is the name of the device at the heart of the story.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonsCrown'' most of the plot is about the legendary artifact called the Dragon's Crown, which is said to contain immense powers.
* ''VideoGame/TheCabinetsOfDoctorArcana'' crosses this with TheXOfY. The cabinets in question are crucial to solving the game, and the player must find them all.
* ''VideoGame/TheMeteorTheStoneAndALongGlassOfSherbet'': The meteor/stone is a PlotDevice that various people are interested in.
* ''VideoGame/NuclearThrone'': Each playthrough of the game is a dangerous journey through an unforgiving post-nuclear wasteland to reach the titular Nuclear Throne.
* ''VideoGame/NyakorisRabbitDoll'' is what Nyarutoru and Nyakori are trying to find inside the [[HauntedHouse haunted mansion]] after it was stolen from Nyakori.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/{{BIONICLE}}: Mask of Light''.

%%* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp''

* ''Film/DiamondsOnWheels'' is about a cache of stolen diamonds [[HastilyHiddenMacGuffin accidentally hidden in a teenager's sports car]] and the efforts of a gang of StupidCrooks to retrieve them.
* In ''Film/SherlockHolmesAndTheDeadlyNecklace'', the necklace refers to Cleopatra's Necklace, which was stolen from a archaeological dig in Egypt and which turns up in England.
* ''Film/NineQueens'' refers to a block of rare stamps that sits at the heart of the elaborate con being planned by the protagonists.
* ''Film/DeathRing'' takes its title from the ring awarded to the the winner of the HuntingTheMostDangerousGame competition. The prize seems to exist for no other reason than to justify the title.
* ''Film/TheBox2018'' is about a kid finding a box in the woods, and the consequences of opening it.
* ''Film/{{Urn}}'' is about a woman with an urn containing her mother's ashes.
* ''Film/BlueIguana2018'' refers to an expensive diamond the characters are trying to steal.
* ''Film/GhostNote'': The movie is names after the album by [[BigBad Eugene Burn]], which contains his soul, causes anyone who hears it to start raping/killing people, and is virtually [[TonkaTough indestructible]].
* ''Film/{{Harpoon}}'' refers to the HarpoonGun (it's really [[InsistentTerminology a spear gun]]) received by a character for a birthday present. It's actually something of a RedHerring, as it only gets used once and is tossed overboard halfway through.
* ''Film/WhiteFire'' refers to a legendary diamond that the protagonists are trying to keep out of the hands of a gang of criminals.

* Literature/TheRadix, a book about people chasing after a holy plant called Radix (or Radix Ipsius, "the root of itself") that belonged to Jesus.
%%* Phillip Pullman's ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' is a trilogy of MacGuffin titles. ''The Subtle Knife'' is a particularly good case of this. In the UK, however, the first book is titled ''Northern Lights''.
%%* Crops up in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. The first book is definitely one, but the best example is ''A Crown of Swords'' for combining this with ProphecyTwist - even some of the {{Title Drop}}s seem to be symbolic.
%%* Creator/JackVance's ''[[Literature/DyingEarth The Eyes Of The Overworld]]''.

%%* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' has ''Literature/TheSilverChair'', which doesn't turn up until quite late in the book, but still counts.

%%* ''Literature/TheSwordOfShannaraTrilogy''.

* Maggie Furey's ''Artifacts Of Power'' series has titles like "The Harp of Winds" and "The Sword of Flame".
* ''Literature/KeeperOfTheSwords'' by Creator/NickPerumov sounds like a WordSaladTitle at first, but later you learn that the eponymous Swords are the MacGuffin. The first book in this series, ''Literature/DiamondSwordWoodenSword'', plays the trope completely straight.
* ''Literature/TheDarkswordTrilogy'' centers around the forging and use of a powerful AntiMagic sword InAWorld of magic users.
%%* ''Literature/TheEyeOfArgon''.
* In Creator/AlexandreDumas père's ''Literature/TheBlackTulip'', the protagonist is obsessed with winning a prize offered for breeding a perfectly black tulip.
%%* ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' by Emily Rodda.

* ''ComicBook/TheSixthGun'' refers to a sixshooter of unearthly power that ends up in the ends of the heroine, and that many other people want.

* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle'': The Diamond Castle is the desired location of the protagonists.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron'': The Horned King is searching for a mystical relic known as the Black Cauldron, which is capable of creating an invincible army of undead warriors, the "Cauldron-Born".
%%* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTalesTheMovieTreasureOfTheLostLamp''

* ''Film/{{The Maltese Falcon|1941}}'' says almost nothing about the movie, [[ItWasHisSled but we kinda know what it's talking about]].
* ''Film/{{Mandalay}}'': The ferryboat that the main characters board goes to Mandalay city. Tanya hopes to flee from a life of prostitution while Dr. Burton wants to help the Black Fever patients.
* ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' and ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'' qualify. ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' was originally going to be ''Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail'', but director Steven Spielberg thought it sounded too much like ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
%%* ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''
* ''Film/TheHotRock'' The valuable emerald that's stolen six times is the major plot fuel but not really important to any major character.
* ''Franchise/ThePinkPanther'' is named for the valuable gem in the heist, and not for the cartoon feline that appears in the credits, and ''certainly'' not [[IAmNotShazam Inspector Clouseau or any other character]].
%%* ''Film/TheGoldenChild''

%%* ''Film/TheDarkCrystal''

%%* ''Film/TenaciousDInThePickOfDestiny''
%%* ''Film/RomancingTheStone'' and its sequel, ''Film/TheJewelOfTheNile''

* The framing device of ''Film/{{VHS}}'' is centered around a group of criminals trying to find a certain VHS tape.
* ''Film/{{Witchboard}}'' is titled in reference to the Ouija board used in the film.

* ''Film/TheFifthElement'' has the protagonists working to get the titular Fifth Element, [[MacGuffinSuperPerson Leloo]], to the other four elements to [[BarrierMaiden save the universe]].
%%* ''Film/StargateTheArkOfTruth''

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' each refer to their respective [[TrickedOutTime time-altering]] artifacts.

* ''VideoGame/NyakorisRabbitDoll'' is what Nyarutoru and Nyakori are trying to find inside the haunted mansion.

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[[folder: Video Games]]

* The ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series as a whole is a case of this, as the titular object is almost ''always'' a plot-important item in the games; the only time it isn't important to the plot is in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', where it is only mentioned off-hand by a certain character.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' and ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'' each refer to their respective [[TrickedOutTime time-altering]] artifacts. [[Administrivia/HandlingSpoilers And that's all we'll say here.]]
** Interestingly, ''Cross'' [[TitleDrop drops]] ''Trigger'' 's title in how a certain character is addressed at two different points, creating some extra MindScrew when you factor in ''Trigger'' 's own TitleDrop.

* ''Film/{{Mandalay}}: The ferryboat that the main characters board goes to Mandalay city. Tanya hopes to flee from a life of prostitution while Dr. Burton wants to help the Black Fever patients.

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[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

Something of a pet trope for fantasy novels and video games, especially those with {{Mad Lib Fantasy Title}}s, but can occur elsewhere. Sometimes results in an ArtifactTitle if the series moves on. Can involve a CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase title, especially if the Noun Phrase in question is nothing more than a [=MacGuffin=] itself.

A SubTrope of MadLibFantasyTitle and SuperTrope of CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase.

* The eponymous ''Literature/DragonBones'' appear very early in the book, but if you didn't pay attention to the title, or read a translation with a different title, you'll think they are just a dragon skeleton in the basement, sad and embarassing to have there, but not important. It later turns out that [[spoiler: the dragon bones are what the villains were after the whole time, and it is of vital importance to make sure they don't get them.]]

* The ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series as a whole is a case of this, as the titular object is almost ''always'' a plot-important item in the games; the only time it isn't important to the plot is in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral'', where it is only mentioned off-hand by a certain character.

* ''VideoGame/EldenRing'': A RingOfPower that has been [[DismantledMacGuffin scattered into several runes]] found throughout the land.