Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Early on in the novel a minor character is described as a former buccaneer from the Caribbean during a lapse of sanity from the narrator, who then refutes his last paragraph claiming that pirates and the Caribbean are just pieces of fantasy. The story goes crazy for about a paragraph as the narrator mentions random details until finally the narrator yells "Oh gods—poison, I need poison", just like Pilate did during the Master's novel. Most of the novel is written in the third-person omniscient style, the narrator rarely appearing, and never so rambunctiously. Also the pirate detail has exactly nothing to do with anything, but the story keeps on calling him "the pirate" for the rest of the novel.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Ensemble Black Cat, in this case. Behemoth is a secondary character, yet he's everyone's darling, to the point that depictions of him appear on the cover◊ of most editions◊ of the book.
Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory: Lots and lots; way too much for it to not be at least partly intentional. There is a large Russian-language site dedicated entirely to tracking down all possible allusions and metaphors in this and other works by Bulgakov. It is huge.
I Am Not Shazam: The Devil in Disguise who is the focus for much of the book is not "the Master", but professor Woland. The Master is a different character who only appears more than 150 pages into the book.
Memetic Mutation: many, many catchphrases, but the most famous one is this gem regarding sturgeon delicacy in the theater buffet. Ever since, the expression was used everywhere regarding anything perishable.
The sturgeon was second grade fresh.
The second grade of freshness is nonsense! The only possible grade of freshness is the first, also the last. If the sturgeon is second grade fresh, that means tainted.
Signature Line: "Manuscripts don't burn". An iconic line uttered by professor Woland that's often used in ex-USSR to convey indestructibility of true art and knowledge, especially in discussions around censorship and erasure of history.
The Catchphrase Catches On: The buffet manager at the theatre describes his rotten wares as "second-grade fresh," which became a popular phrase in Russia after the novel was published.
◊ of most editions
