In fiction, a MacGuffin is an object, detail, or event in the story that is important to the plot or the motivation of the story's characters. The term was first used by filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock. He was not the first to use or discover the trope, but he is given credit for coming up with the name. Other filmmakers like George Lucas used the term MacGuffin as well, but their definition was somewhat different from Hitchcock's. Nevertheless, details about MacGuffins below will describe Hitchcock's point of view.