History Main / MacguffinTitle

* ''[[IndianaJones Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' and ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' qualify. ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' doesn't.

* The ''HarryPotter'' series includes the titular Philosopher's Stone, Goblet of Fire, and Deathly Hallows, though the Goblet is a plot starter, not a PlotCoupon. The Chamber of Secrets also counts, as it is a MacGuffinLocation.

* ''Manga/DragonBall''

* The ''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 [[FireEmblemJugdral]], where it is only mentioned off-hand by a certain character.

* The ''FireEmblem'' series as a whole is a case of this, as the titular object is almost ''always'' a plot-important item in the games.

[[quoteright:250:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/macguffintitle_9315.jpg]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* ''OnePiece''
* ''DragonBall''

[[folder: Film ]]

* ''TheMalteseFalcon'' says almost nothing about the movie, [[ItWasHisSled but we kinda know what it's talking about]].
* ''[[IndianaJones Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', ''IndianaJones and the Temple of Doom'' and ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' qualify. ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' doesn't.
** The title was going to be ''Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail'' but director Steven Spielberg didn't want people to confuse it with ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
* Speaking of, ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' fits this trope to a T.

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The ''HarryPotter'' series includes the titular Philosopher's Stone, Goblet of Fire and Deathly Hallows, though the middle one is a plot starter, not a PlotCoupon.
** The Chamber of Secrets also counts as it is a MacGuffinLocation

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''TheLegendOfZelda'' is full of this trope: ''OcarinaOfTime'', ''MajorasMask'', ''TheWindWaker'', ''PhantomHourglass'', ''TheMinishCap'' and ''FourSwords'', to various extents.

* ''ChronoTrigger'' and ''[[ChronoCross Cross]]''

* Several titles in the ''ProfessorLayton'' series, such as ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheDiabolicalBox'', ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheSpectersFlute'', and ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheMaskOfMiracle''

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

** [[ArtifactTitle Averted]] in the fourth and fifth games of the series, the Fire Emblem only gets a brief mention at the end of the fourth game but bears no significance to the plot or game

* Seriously, no one put ''MassEffect'' on here until I came along?

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Animation ]]

* ''The Sword in the Stone''.
* ''BarbieAndTheDiamondCastle''

[[/folder]]

* ''[[IndianaJones Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'', ''Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'' and ''Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull'' qualify. ''Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'' doesn't.

* ''TheLegendOfZelda'' is full of this trope: ''Ocarina of Time'', ''Majora's Mask'', ''Wind Waker'', ''Phantom Hourglass'', ''The Minish Cap'' and ''Four Swords'', to various extents.

A work has a title that refers to a specific object. Because the object is so specific in the title, you know without knowing anything else about the story, that, obviously, the heroes will have to quest to find this object, or protect it from the bad guys, or recover it from the forces of evil, or destroy it somehow. This often leads to a TitleDrop.

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.

[[AC:Anime and Manga]]

[[AC:{{Animation}}]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* ''TheMalteseFalcon'' says almost nothing about the movie, [[ItWasHisSled but we kinda know what it's talking about]].

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* Crops up in ''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.
* Jack Vance's ''TheEyesOfTheOverworld''.

* ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' has ''The Silver Chair'', which doesn't turn up until quite late in the book, but still counts.

* Maggie Furey's ''ArtifactsOfPower'' series has titles like "The Harp of Winds" and "The Sword of Flame".

* The ''DarkSwordTrilogy'' centers around the forging and use of a powerful anti-magic sword InAWorld of magic users.

[[AC:{{Video Games}}]]
* ''TheLegendOfZelda'' is full of this trope: ''Ocarina of Time'', ''Majora's Mask'', ''Wind Waker'', ''Phantom Hourglass'', ''The Minish Cap'' and ''Four Swords'', to various extents.

[[AC: Western Animation]]

----

* ''The Maltese Falcon'' says almost nothing about the movie, [[ItWasHisSled but we kinda know what it's talking about]].

** [[Artifact Title Averted]] in the fourth and fifth games of the series, the Fire Emblem only gets a brief mention at the end of the fourth game but bears no significance to the plot or game

* DeltoraQuest by Emily Rodda.

** The original title was going to be ''Indiana Jones and the Holy Grail'' but director Steven Spielberg didn't want people to confuse it with ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.