Markup View

Author: Kernigh

Dec 10th 2012 at 7:10:44 PM

Bisected8 wrote:

> MGDS only covers cases where someone specifically maneuvers the hero into recovering something so they can steal it.

I disagree. MacGuffinDeliveryService is a subtrope of UnwittingPawn, and UnwittingPawn states, "These guys are not always being manipulated by the villain; sometimes they blunder their way into helping him of their own accord." So MGDS also covers the case where the villain does ''not'' maneuver the hero into recovering the treasure. If the hero still gets it, and the villain still steals it, then the hero is still an UnwittingPawn, and the theft is still a case of MacGuffinDeliveryService.

If there is room for a new trope, it might come from these three examples:
* ''TheBeano'' and other British children's humour comics often had stories which involved the local bully (or the protagonist) getting someone else to do a chore or odd job and claiming the reward for it.
*In ''[[{{Discworld/SmallGods}} Small Gods,]]'' Brutha leads a catatonic Vorbis through the desert back to Omnia so he can stand trial for his crimes. When they've nearly made it back, Vorbis regains his senses, knocks Brutha unconscious and carries him back to Omnia, claiming it was he who led Brutha.
*The folk tale that Chabal2 mentioned.

These examples might not be MacGuffinDeliveryService, because the thief didn't steal the reward from the victim. Instead, the thief is a FakeUltimateHero who stole ''credit'' for an accomplishment, and the reward goes to the wrong person.