What is a plot device?

12 plot devices in the vocabulary

• MacGuffin

  An object, goal, or piece of information that drives the plot and motivates the characters while mattering little in itself.

  3 works

• Red herring

  A misleading clue or subplot deliberately introduced to divert the audience's suspicion away from the truth.

  1 work

• Chekhov's gun

  The principle that a conspicuous detail introduced early must become significant later; nothing is shown without purpose.

  4 works

• Deus ex machina

  An improbable, external intervention that abruptly resolves the plot's central problem.

  1 work

• The prophecy

  A foretelling within the story that sets characters on a course and shapes expectations of how events must unfold.

  3 works

• Time loop

  A device in which a character relives the same stretch of time repeatedly until some condition is met or lesson learned.

  7 works

• The ticking clock

  A device imposing a hard deadline on the characters to escalate tension and force decisive action.

  7 works

• Amnesia

  A device in which a character's loss of memory conceals information, drives a search for identity, or creates suspense.

  2 works

• The mysterious signal

  A device in which an unexplained transmission, artifact, or message sets the investigation and plot in motion.

  3 works

• The deadly game

  A device organizing the plot around a lethal contest, tournament, or arena the protagonist must survive.

  2 works

• The forbidden knowledge

  A device in which access to dangerous knowledge or a forbidden discovery irreversibly sets the tragedy in motion.

  1 work

• The engineered contagion

  A device in which a disease, plague, or biological agent drives the plot toward collapse, quarantine, or survival.

  4 works