Misuse: Golden Helmet Of Mambrino

The proper definition of this trope, as I understand it, is in the third paragraph: "An object of absolutely no significance that the protagonist mistakes, either through misunderstanding or excited imagining, as something of great importance." But it keeps being used for counterfeit MacGuffins (like The Maltese Falcon), and I think that's not this trope. I think this trope should be about things that the audience can see as negligible in value before some perceptive character takes it for a closer examination.

How does a counterfeit macguffin not fit the definition of "object of absolutely no significance that the protagonist mistakes ... as something of great importance"?

Splitting based on when the audience learns that a macguffin has no monetary value seems like splitting hairs to me.

edited 20th Jun '11 8:24:23 PM by MetaFour

I didn't write any of that.

Well, if it happened at the very end, it might be used as The Twist.

Fight smart, not fair.

Motion to rename. It's got 25 wicks and 38 inbounds, which does not sound like a healthy trope; and while Don Quixote is a classic, this particular reference is so obscure that people are unlikely to understand it.

Rhetorical, eh? ... Eight!

between the definition saying it's an "Item of no significance treated as a McGuffin" and the trope namer, I could see it working as "An item that one character is convinced is of great value and treats as a McGuffin, but the other characters correctly identify it as nothing special." Otherwise it's just "A McGuffin, but it's not valuable after all"

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.

True. A MacGuffin doesn't have to be actually valuable, it just has to be allegedly central to the plot.

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

This name is terrible. Seriously. How about Not Really The Mac Guffin or something that's at least comprehensible?

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Yes, it is a terrible name. It's specifically named after an obscure example that the reader must already be familiar with to make any connection between title and meaning.

It'd be a lot more intuitive to call it something like a MockGuffin.

edited 21st Jun '11 10:23:51 AM by Stratadrake

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

Ooh, I like that.

Liking MockGuffin.

It does not matter who I am. What matters is, who will you become? - motto of Omsk Bird

• 1 for MockGuffin from me.

Rhetorical, eh? ... Eight!

Another vote for MockGuffin.

I didn't write any of that.

MockGuffin sounds great.

Can I beg that we not use a Portmanteau as a title?

Fight smart, not fair.

Would you prefer a malamanteau?

Rhetorical, eh? ... Eight!

It's a pun, not so much a portmanteau.

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

I'll throw in a vote for Mock Guffin.

It seems like, while Prfnoff's right that the correct usage shouldn't include things the audience thinks are as valuable as the character, actually doing so would remove almost all the examples, and we should just combine the two anyway.

We also have Fakin' MacGuffin, which was originally pitched as MockGuffin.

Speaking words of fandom: let it squee, let it squee.

Some suggestions for a rename:

• Fool's MacGuffin (from fool's gold)
• Fool's Grail
• A MacGuffin Full Of Garbage

Edit: I also tried my hand at a laconic. Feedback welcome.

edited 28th Sep '11 10:08:42 AM by LordGro

Let's just say and leave it at that.

The Folly Grail?

An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.

Single Prop crowner added and hooked. Let's go through the motions.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Unanimous at +18 to 0. Swapping with alternate names crowner by request.

I've removed the line that says a GHOM is a kind of MacGuffin. It's not a kind of MacGuffin, that's the point.

Also, I don't think it's really an opposite to Grail in the Garbage, either.

(edit) While we're speaking of Mac Guffins anyway, do you think we should open a TRS (when there's room again) to merge A MacGuffin Full of Money and Zillion-Dollar Bill, because by their description they're exactly the same.

edited 21st Oct '11 8:45:58 AM by Spark9

Rhetorical, eh? ... Eight!

Calling the Alt Names crowner; final tally:

+8 (yeas:9 nays:1) 9.00 : 1 for MockGuffin

+6 (yeas:6 nays:0) for Fools Grail

Next highest score is +1.

Make MockGuffin the new name, make Fools Grail a redirect.

Holler if the discussion needs to be moved.

edited 4th Nov '11 3:46:25 PM by Madrugada

...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.