History Main / FakinMacGuffin

* In ''Film/{{Leprechaun 2}}'', the protagonist tricks the evil leprechaun by giving him a chocolate coin wrapped in gold foil instead of his gold coin.

* In ''Film/TheScore'', Nick Wells (anticipating a double-cross) swaps out the scepter he was hired to steal for the axle they used as a stand-in during their trial runs, meaning that Teller ends up with nothing when he does betray him.
** Worse, Teller is the one who ends up being the main (and only) suspect. Nick gets away scott free.

* In the old UsefulNotes/{{Mac}} game ''VideoGame/TheDungeonRevealed'', your quest is to recover [[CosmicKeystone the Orb of Carnos]] from the 40th and lowest floor of the Dark Wizard's lair. Many players made it all the way there and back, only to learn that they'd neglected to perform an Identify spell and were holding a cheap plastic ball he set out as a decoy.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'': EVA seduces Snake, steals the microfilm you've been chasing for the whole plot and reveals herself as a Chinese double agent. Then it's revealed that Ocelot was a CIA double agent, switched Snake's microfilm with a fake, and took the real one back to the CIA himself.

* ''Manga/TimeStopBrave'': Kuzuno Sekai and his party are racing King Nazar's goons in a labyrinth to find a sacred treasure. Sekai's party finds it first, a jeweled mirror in a treasure chest. Before leaving, Sekai leaves behind a replica of the mirror for the goons to find. [[spoiler:It turns out the mirror in the chest was fake too.]]

* In ''Film/AppointmentWithVenus'', Nicola gets her artist cousin Leslie to paint another cow to resemble Venus, so thhey can swap her with Venus and sneak the real Venus away from the Nazis.

* The ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' villain Lord Zedd sought the Lightning Diamond, the power source for the Bookala's ship, in order to provide his powerful mega-Zord, Serpentera, which curbstomped the Rangers the first few times they battled it, with an infinite power source to make it invincible. The Rangers, however, tricked the bad guys into bringing a decoy diamond back to Serpentera, while the real diamond was used to restore power to the Bookala's ship so that they could escape.

* ''Manga/TimeStopBrave'': Kuzuno Sekai and his party are racing King Nazar's goons in a labyrinth to find a sacred treasure. Sekai's party finds it first, a jeweled mirror. Before leaving, Sekai leaves behind a replica of the mirror for the goons to find.

* One of the eggs in ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheAzranLegacy'' is mysteriously swapped out when it is time to use them. Naturally, the antagonists took it and use it to lure the heroes to their Nest.

* ''Film/CloakAndDagger'': When Davey's friend is kidnapped by the villains, and they demand the game cartridge (which has government secrets hidden on an extra chip), Jack Flack advises Davey to steal ("Requisition necessary mission equipment") a cartridge of the same title from the video game store, and use that in the exchange. It works, and Kim is released, but when Rice sees the sticker for the store on the back of the cartridge, the chase is on.

[[folder:Fan Fics]]

** In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', the orb Quill hands to Yondu in the end does not contain the Infinity Stone but a troll figure. [[StolenMacGuffinReveal Quill later reveals the real orb to his team mates]]. Yondu finds this ActuallyPrettyFunny.

* In ''Film/SuperMarioBros'', Mario holds some shoelaces in a way that suggests that he has the meteorite piece pendant, and taunts Koopa with it. Only when Lena attempts to merge the worlds with the real rock does Koopa realize Mario was tricking him.

** Also happens in ''National Treasure 2''.