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Mock Guffin: Difference between revisions

Mock Guffin (view source)

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(Import from TV Tropes TVT:Main.MockGuffin 2012-07-01, editor history TVTH:Main.MockGuffin, CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported license)
 
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An object of absolutely no significance that the protagonist mistakes, either through misunderstanding or excited imagining, as something of great importance, be it a magic sword or mysterious briefcase. Its importance to the overall plot is usually negligible, though an entire side plot can crop up because of it. All it turns out to be is completely worthless, and not plot-relevant like a real [[MacGuffin]] would be.
 
Compare with [[ItsIt's All Junk]], [[Worthless Yellow Rocks]]. Not to be confused with [[All That Glitters]] or [[Its the Journey That Counts]], which are often materially worthless but at least impart [[An Aesop|a valuable lesson]]. See [[A MacGuffin Full of Money]] for a plot device that can end in this.
 
Its opposite is [[Grail in The Garbage]], where a seemingly worthless object is in fact worth a king's ransom.
 
{{examples|Examples:}}
 
== Comic Books ==
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== Live Action TV ==
 
* ''[[GilligansGilligan's Island (TV)|Gilligans Island]]'' once had a plot where the castaways find a suitcase which, at a glance, appears to contain top-secret spy documents, leaving them in danger of being chased by enemy spies. One [[Dream Sequence]] later, the documents fall out and they turn out to be spy documents from the second World War, which had ended twenty years prior and nobody was after.
* While ''[[Antiques Roadshow (TV)|Antiques Roadshow]]'' mostly shows the inverse, occasionally a guest has something he believes to be a priceless artifact that turns out to be a cheap knockoff or common as dirt.
* Similarly, many Mock Guffins come through Rick's door on ''[[Pawn Stars]]''.
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== Web Comic ==
 
* ''[[Eight 8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' had the armoire of invincibility, which is just regular old heavy furniture.
** Technically, the armoire ''itself'' is invincible, in that it cannot be destroyed. However, the invincibility does ''not'' extend beyond the armoire, so it's pretty worthless.
** Also, the bottom is made of cheap cardboard.
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