History Main / MacGuffinDeliveryService

* This happens between two villains in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. In the prequel, [[BigBad Master Xehanort]] tells [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] about the other worlds and the seven Princesses of Heart in exchange for a favor. Cut to the first game in the series: after ten years, Maleficent has managed to hunt down the Princesses and get them in one place. Xehanort swans back onto the scene and takes over, with the added sting that he's changed bodies twice in the meantime and might not even remember their meeting.

* A variation in Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''. [[BigBad Jafar]] specifically recruits Aladdin to retreive the lamp from the Cave of Wonders, promising all its other treasures in return. But after he snatches the lamp, he double-crosses Aladdin, tries to kill him, and then shoves him back into the collapsing cave. Later, it is shown that during the chaos, Aladdin's monkey stole the lamp back from Jafar before they were shoved in, and Aladdin manages to summon the Genie from it. The use of this trope is one of the things taken from the Persian folktale the cartoon is based on.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure "The Apocalypse Stone". The first half or so consists of the PC's going on a false mission on behalf of the BigBad to get him the magical ''Stone'' he covets but is under a MagicallyBindingContract not to remove. Unfortunately for everyone (well, except maybe members of the Doomguard), it's not just a MacGuffin; the ''Stone'' was actually [[CosmicKeystone holding the world together]], and removing it from its place has some nasty effects.

** In the Namek arc of ''Dragon Ball Z'', Vegeta leads Gohan and Krillin to his stash of Dragon Balls so they can use the wish before Freeza gets a chance to — only for the Ginyu Force to show up and take them all in one fell swoop.

* In ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', the League is sent by MI6 to recover an anti-gravity substance called "cavorite" which was stolen by Fu Manchu. This they succeed in doing, and return the cavorite to "M", the head of MI6, only to learn that he is none other than [[spoiler:Moriarty]] and plans to use the cavorite to destroy his rival and thus gain uncontested control over the criminal underworld of Britain.

*** The page quote is from a {{Subversion}} that happens during the [[WizardingSchool College of Winterhold]] questline. Estormo ambushes you right after navigating the Labyrinthian ruin and obtaining the Staff of Magnus. In what might otherwise be a scripted cutscene, the game allows you to [[TalkToTheFist attack him at any time]], even during his introductory speech. And the best part is that the very staff he's trying to take from you is [[HoistByHisOwnPetard almost tailor-made to bring him down]]: it inflicts ManaDrain, and he's a [[SquishyWizard squishy]] [[WitchSpecies Altmer]] mage who both relies on and is vulnerable to magic. [[CurbstompBattle You can guess the result.]]

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has an interesting version of this during the Lich King encounter: [[spoiler: After getting him to 10%, he instantly kills the entire raid and reveals his plan to let Fordring assemble the world's greatest warriors (the players), kill them, and resurrect them to form an unstoppable army. The entire fight against him was just a test, to see if they were worthy.]]

** This is pulled off even earlier in ''VideoGame/KirbysAdventure'', where Kirby is happily collecting the pieces of the Star Rod which King [=DeDeDe=] has broken apart. [[spoiler: Nightmare, had been attempting to take over the Dream Land by spreading his nightmares on the Fountain of Dreams, and breaking up the Star Rod was the only way to seal its power. Whoops.]]

* A variation in Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}''. [[BigBad Jafar]] specifically recruits Aladdin to retreive the lamp from the Cave of Wonders, promising all its other treasures in return. But after he snatches the lamp, he double-crosses Aladdin, tries to kill him, and then shoves him back into the collapsing cave. Later, it is shown that during the chaos, Aladdin's monkey stole the lamp back from Jafar before they were shoved in. The use of this trope is one of the things taken from the Persian folktale the cartoon is based on.

*** Something similar happens in the Mages Guild quest where you must retrieve a replacement amulet since the original was stolen. As soon as you grab it, you are confronted by the [[{{Gonk}} butt-ugly]] Nord whom [[ScoobyDoo you knew did it all along]].

-->-- ''LetsPlay/{{Sips}}'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAjOv_7zo6k&feature=youtu.be&t=19m21s Sips Plays Skyrim - Part 37 - Intense Wizardry]], ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''

* ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'':

* In ''VideoGame/TheRiddleOfMasterLu'', [[spoiler: Albert von Seltsam]] is revealed to be a villain who's been after the game's main McGuffin all along (in order to TakeOverTheWorld or... something), when at the last moment he shows up to ask for it at gunpoint right after you've solved the final riddle ot obtain it.

** In the Namek arc of ''Dragon Ball Z'', Vegeta leads Gohan and Krillin to his stash of Dragon Balls so they can use the wish before Freeza gets a chance to — only for the Ginyu Force to show up and take them all in one swoop.

* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', a mission on [[spoiler: the Asari homeworld of Thessia]] has [[PlayerCharacter Commander Shepard]] activate the [[spoiler: Prothean VI in their temple]] only to [[spoiler: lose the fight against Cerberus assasin Kai Leng, and have it taken away by him.]]

* In ''Film/AvengersEndgame'', [[spoiler: Thanos becomes aware that the heroes have traveled back in time to collect the stones before he does. He decides to just wait for the Avengers to gather them all up and then attack them to take the stones for himself and complete his plan ahead of its original schedule.]]

Compare YouCantThwartStageOne, where the villain triumphs due to the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality. These trope may overlap to drive up tension of the villain's success, while still showing the hero as a capable character in their own right. A reminder; this trope can apply to any PlotDevice, not just a MacGuffin.

** In the Namek arc of ''Dragon Ball Z'', Vegeta leads Gohan and Krillin to his stash of Dragon Balls so they can use the wish before Freeza gets a chance to--only for the Ginyu Force to show up and take them all in one swoop.

* In ''Anime/MonsterRancher'' the good guys have the magic stone which they have to keep Moo from getting so he doesn't cause TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt. It isn't until the near the end when Lilim attacks Holy, grabs the stone gives it a long kiss and leaves and the good guys don't ever get it back.

* In ''Manga/KamikazeKaitouJeanne'', in both the anime and the manga version, [[spoiler: the titular character spends a good part of the story unknowingly working for the devil]].

* In ''{{Transformers}}: Kiss Players'', the Sparkbots call upon Marissa Faireborn, Shaoshao Li, and Atari Hitotonari to travel the multiverse and [[GottaCatchThemAll gather fragments of the Allspark]]. When they succeed, [[spoiler: the Sparkbots reveal that the fragments were actually Angolmois, Unicron's lifeforce. They thank the girls for [[UnwittingPawn doing their dirty work for them]] and revive Unicron. Fortunately, [[{{God}} Primus]] appears and defeats the Dark God.]]

** The Riddler also tried it on Catwoman during the "[[ComicBook/CatwomanWhenInRome When In Rome]]" storyline, using her to get a ring that makes the wearer the head of the Mafia. [[spoiler: He ends up with a fake ring and a lungful of Scarecrow's fear gas, giving him visions of everyone around him on the plane as the Joker.]]

* ''[[Film/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief]]'' invokes this. [[spoiler: Percy was used to carry the master bolt to Hades by Luke. After that, he delivers it to Zeus. Of course, some of the gods thought Percy was the original thief from the start, for no adequately explained reason.]]
* In ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', Quill retrieves the Orb of Power at the start, then carries it around for half the movie, only to have it taken away from him by Ronan, the very villain that the heroes were trying to prevent from obtaining it. This happens as a result of [[spoiler:Drax, one of the heroes who has a vendetta against Ronan, drunk-dialling Ronan to finally meet him in battle (He loses).]]

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'': Dumbledore hides the Philosopher's Stone within the Mirror of [[YourHeartsDesire Erised]], with the condition that it will only give the stone to someone who wants to find it but ''not'' use it for themselves. When Quirrel demands Harry look in the mirror and see where the stone is, it's transported to his pocket - unfortunately for Quirrel, he can't so much as touch Harry without ThePowerOfLove burning him.

** Harry actually ''[[RefugeInAudacity suggests this to the villain]]'' in ''Small Favor'', offering to bring the [[SoulJar coins]] holding Nicodemus's defeated allies ''and'' one of the holy swords used by his nemeses. This was the only reason Harry could come up with for Nicodemus to not just take his prisoner and run. (He tried the coins first and threw in the sword when it was clear that wasn't enough.) [[spoiler: He ends up double-crossing Nicodemus, no shock, and absconds with the sword and the prisoner, but is pickpocketed of the coins during the fight.]]

* Happens in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' [[spoiler: but then the MacGuffin was taken back by the heroes after defeating Validar.]]

* Also used in a side quest in ''KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'', on the planet Korriban. [[spoiler:Subverted if you choose to simply kill the student trying to threaten you, or if you give him a fake and let Uthar do your dirty work for you.]]
* There's a reason why the RPG cliche list calls this '[[VideoGame/ChronoCross Way to Go, Serge]]'. The [[UnwittingPawn the plots Serge falls into]] in VideoGame/ChronoCross get so [[GambitPileup mixed up at times]], though, that fans dedicate whole documents on [=GameFAQs=] to just untangling and explaining them all.
* This IS the plot of ''[[KnightsOfTheOldRepublic KOTOR II]]''. If you're dark side, you're killing Jedi Masters. If you're light side, you're gathering Jedi Masters [[spoiler: so that Kreia, the ManipulativeBastard ManBehindTheMan BigBad can kill them all. Either way, you end up with [[MentorOccupationalHazard four dead Jedi Masters]] ]].

* Subverted in Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', Aladdin fetches the lamp and, lo and behold, the BigBad Jafar is waiting at the entrance to the Cave of Wonders and snatches the lamp, double-crossing Aladdin and shoving him back into the collapsing cave. Later, it is shown that during the chaos, Aladdin's monkey stole the lamp back from Jafar before they were shoved in. After this point, the Lamp ceases to be a MacGuffin as its specific powers become central to the plot. The use of this trope is one of the things taken from the Persian folktale the cartoon is based on.

** ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' uses the Chaos Emeralds this way.

* This happens between two villains in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts''. In the prequel, [[BigBad Master Xehanort]] tells [[Disney/SleepingBeauty Maleficent]] about the other worlds and the seven Princesses of Heart in exchange for a favor. Cut to the first game in the series: after ten years, Maleficent has managed to hunt down the Princesses and get them in one place. Xehanort swans back onto the scene and takes over, with the added sting that he's in a different body and might not even remember their meeting.

->''"We don't want anyone to just like sort of all of a sudden turn up and be like 'Ho ho ho, travelers, thanks for getting the Staff of Magnus for me I'll be taking that'. And then we have to like chase him to the end of the Earth and like get the staff back we just want to like- aw shit!"'' (Estormo shows up and tries to do just that)
-->-- '''Sips''', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAjOv_7zo6k&feature=youtu.be&t=19m21s Sips Plays Skyrim - Part 37 - Intense Wizardry]], ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim''

* ''Franchise/CrashBandicoot''
** In ''Videogame/CrashBandicoot2CortexStrikesBack'', the goal of the game is to gather Crystals for Cortex so he can shield the planet from a planetary alignment. [[spoiler:Cortex's actual plans for them, of course, aren't as heroic as Crash's. Instead, he wants to use the crystals to power a massive mind control device.]]