The MacGuffin/Maguffin/McGuffin

The MacGuffin/Maguffin/McGuffin (it can be referred to as either one of those) is the thing that drives a story's plot. The MacGuffin tends to be something that the main characters in the story desire to obtain, and will do whatever they can to do so. The MacGuffin may vary from story to story, and some examples can be money, love, and power; sometimes the MacGuffin won't be fully revealed and will be open to what the audience's interpretation of it is.

The MacGuffin is prominent in all films, especially thrillers. Usually, the MacGuffin is centred on during the first few scenes, with the audience's interest in it decreasing as the film goes on. It may be reintroduced at the end of the story (just to patch things up), although in some cases the MacGuffin is completely forgotten by the end.

Hitchcock defined the MacGuffin as, "The object around which the plot revolves. But as to what that object specifically is, the audience don't care".

There can be more than multiple MacGuffins in every story, and they sometimes referred to as 'plot coupons'.