#121.
In fiction, X is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation. The X technique is common in films, especially thrillers. Usually the X is the central focus of the film in the first act, and thereafter declines in importance. It may re-appear at the climax of the story, but sometimes is actually forgotten by the end of the story. Multiple Xs are sometimes derisively identified as plot coupons. The name "X" appears to originate in 20th-century film-making, and was popularized by Alfred Hitchcock in the 1930s; but the concept pre-dates the term.
ID X.
In fiction, X is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist pursues, often with little or no narrative explanation. The X technique is common in films, especially thrillers. Usually the X is the central focus of the film in the first act, and thereafter declines in importance. It may re-appear at the climax of the story, but sometimes is actually forgotten by the end of the story. Multiple Xs are sometimes derisively identified as plot coupons. The name "X" appears to originate in 20th-century film-making, and was popularized by Alfred Hitchcock in the 1930s; but the concept pre-dates the term.
ID X.
ANS: Macguffin
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