Zzzzzzzzzz
You didn't really state the difference correctly:
- MacGuffin Girl: The MacGuffin has been hidden by transforming it into a living being, almost always a girl. The girl must usually be destroyed or killed to get the MacGuffin.
- Living MacGuffin: The MacGuffin is a character who is quite free, in little to no danger, desperately sought after, and out of the hero's reach. It is not a thing disguised as a person.
edited 21st Aug '11 9:52:24 PM by Madrugada
...if you don’t love you’re dead, and if you do, they’ll kill you for it.
Dragon Writer
Oversimplifying, right....
Now some links (such as the citations for The Legend Of Dragoon and Withholding the Cure) are cases where the MacGuffin is stored/hidden inside a (pre-existing) living being, which is also not an example of a MacGuffin Girl because they aren't literally the MacGuffin.
I added this pair to the Canonical List of Subtle Trope Distinctions, but you may want to double-check it because that was before I checked back on the topic.
And BTW, we have a new YKTTW somewhat related, the "Plot Girl"
supertrope.
edited 21st Aug '11 10:12:44 PM by Stratadrake
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.
Cure Candy
The issue is that it says the real girl ones are
That is not always the case and thats leading to misuse with Barrier Maiden also We have Phlebotinum Girl and Powered by a Forsaken Child.
Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!
Rabid Fujoshi
I think both are inappropriately named tropes. Living MacGuffin sounds like any MacGuffin that's alive when apparently there's also a requirement that they aren't in danger or something.
And the MacGuffin Girl sounds like any MacGuffin that is also a girl, when it's not. It's a MacGuffin that wasn't a girl previously, that was transformed into a girl.
SPATULA, Supporters of Page Altering To Urgently Lead to Amelioration (supports not going through TRS for tweaks and minor improvements.)
Dragon Writer
One alternative is to make Living MacGuffin a Super-Trope for any case where the MacGuffin, for whatever reason, is a living being.
As for MacGuffin Girl, I'm leaning towards a title such as Mac Guffin Made Flesh.
edited 22nd Aug '11 5:52:21 PM by Stratadrake
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.
I see the Awesomeness.
I'm in favor of 6.
Fight smart, not fair.
Cure Candy
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
He is in favour of the proposal made in post six. As am I.
Cure Candy
Oh... here I am looking though the thread for a sixth option and crap...
Yeah I agree although "flesh" seems a little off... Makes me think the Macguffin is a Zombie. Mac Guffin Made Human or something to that effect would be better.
Sparkling and glittering! Jan-Ken-Pon!
Jupiterian Local
He's in favor of the suggestion in post #6 (making Living MacGuffin a supertrope).
I support that too. Living MacGuffin as the supertrope, maybe Humanized Mac Guffin for MacGuffin Girl and Person As Mac Guffin for the current definition of Living MacGuffin? Not very clever, maybe, but at least it's clear.
Really from Jupiter, but not an alien.
Jupiterian Local
I really had to resist the urge to suggest naming "MacGuffin that is a person" Mac Guffin Man.
Mac Guffin Made Flesh would cover a metal robot in the shape of a girl?
I originally created MacGuffin Girl and I did intend it to include that. Plots which contain it have many similar elements—girl is treated by the villains as not really human, used as a component or in a way which requires eradicating her humanity, etc. Perhaps it should better be "a metal weapon in the shape of a girl"; at least the examples that readily come to mind are weapons.
I do agree that the references to Barrier Maiden and Spaceship Girl should go. And probably the list of plot elements, since that's too narrow and too broad at the same time.
The trope also seems to attract misuse. So many people kept adding Fifth Element that I had to put the aversion in just to prevent that.
Rabid Fujoshi
I think Living MacGuffin, seems like it's trying to be something like Intangible Mac Guffin. When the goal isn't an object, but something like "approval" or "love".
SPATULA, Supporters of Page Altering To Urgently Lead to Amelioration (supports not going through TRS for tweaks and minor improvements.)
Cure Candy
Like the she must say yes before midnight or something bad will happen type thing?
Rabid Fujoshi
Yeah, I think that would probably count.
edited 22nd Aug '11 3:49:20 PM by NoirGrimoir
SPATULA, Supporters of Page Altering To Urgently Lead to Amelioration (supports not going through TRS for tweaks and minor improvements.)
Starting to sound a lot like Key Not In The Form Of A Key to me.
"Show us the Galaxy Warp."
I don't really like Mac Guffin Made Flesh or Mac Guffin Made Human. They sound rather clunky, but given the competition for names, I'm hard-pressed to do better.
Maybe Maltese Person, Transformed Mac Guffin, My Name Is Mac Guffin, Mac Guffin Made Mortal (maybe the Added Alliterative Appeal will sound less clunky), Mac Guffin Brought To Life, Mac Occhio (that one's reaaaally bad), Newly Living Mac Guffin, Mac Guffin Has Joined The Party, or... Mac Jennifer.
That myriad of horrible title suggestions is living proof (probably shouldn't use that expression) of how closely these tropes are tied.
Living Key: "Lady, there's a lock out there somewhere with your outline on it."
"Show us the Galaxy Warp."
Dragon Writer
^ For which one? It misses the point that the person was a literal, inanimate MacGuffin to begin with.
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.
Rabid Fujoshi
How about Mac Guffin To Girl Transformation or Mac Guffin To Girl Metamorphosis?
I think the whole Key Not In The Form Of A Key (when not talking about something turned into a human), is a related sister-trope, not part of this trope as it stands, we'd have to expand it beyond the original description. (You guys should YKTTW it!)
edited 26th Aug '11 10:54:32 PM by NoirGrimoir
SPATULA, Supporters of Page Altering To Urgently Lead to Amelioration (supports not going through TRS for tweaks and minor improvements.)
Death By Mac Guffin or Dying To Be Your Key?
Sneaks off to write the story of Unobtainium Girl. It's not that she plays hard to get, but...
edited 26th Aug '11 11:04:14 PM by hcobb
"Show us the Galaxy Warp."
Dragon Writer
Isn't this the reverse: Character to Key. You don't get your magical girlfriend back in most cases.
Living Offkey?
"Show us the Galaxy Warp."
Crown Description:
What would be the best way to fix the page?
Stop me if you've heard this one before, because I haven't
Subtle name distinctions
Can we get a misuse check?
Outright misuse
Debatable
No idea, familiarity required
Little to no context
Looks (at least mostly) correct
Sample results: Minimum 7 of these 29 (24%) are misuse. Many others are questionable, even if they're actually correct and just need better writing to reflect it.
We should also cut the redirect Lady Mac Guffin.
edited 21st Aug '11 10:07:49 PM by Stratadrake
An Ear Worm is like a Rickroll: It is never going to give you up.