English word senses marked with topical category "Plot devices"

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Parent categories: Fiction, Narratology, Artistic works, Drama, Literature, Art, Theater, Culture, Entertainment, Writing, Society, Human behaviour, Language, Human, Communication
Subcategories: Magic words

Total 61 word senses

• Avada Kedavra (Verb) To use the Killing Curse from the Harry Potter series on (someone), causing immediate death.
• Belly of the Whale (Noun) A story element which represents the final separation from a hero's known world and self.
• Chekhov's gun (Proper name) An element that is introduced early in the story whose significance to the plot does not become clear until later.
• MacGuffin (Noun) A plot element or other device used to catch the audience's attention and maintain suspense, but whose exact nature has fairly little influence over the storyline.
• Mary Sue (Noun) A fictional character, usually female, whose implausible talents and likeability weaken the story.
• Truck-kun (Proper name) In the isekai genre, a truck that sets off the plot by hitting the protagonist, transporting them into the fantastical setting (typically by killing them in the real world).
• abracadabra (Noun) A use of the mystical term ‘abracadabra’, supposed to work as part of a healing charm or a magical spell; any spell or incantation making use of the word.
• abracadabra (Noun) Mumbo jumbo; obscure language or technicalities; jargon.
• abracadabra (Interjection) Used to indicate that a magic trick or other illusion has been performed.
• abracadabrangle (Noun) A representation of the word "abracadabra" in the visual form of a triangle, used as an amulet or charm.
• alakazam (Interjection) A magic word used in conjuring; presto, shazaam.
• alien space bats (Noun) An implausible point of divergence from reality, used as a plot device in alternate history.
• analepsis (Noun) A form of flashback in which earlier parts of a narrative are related to others that have already been narrated
• balonium (Noun) A fictional chemical element.
• bed trick (Noun) A plot device in traditional literature and theatre where a character begins sexual activity with someone else, then steals away after the lights are off, allowing another character to continue instead.
• bibbidi-bobbidi-boo (Interjection) A light-hearted magical incantation.
• big red button (Noun) A real, fictional, or figurative button that controls a function of critical importance and that is usually large and red, ensuring quick identification.
• bury your gays (Noun) A fiction trope where gay characters tend to die or generally meet an untimely demise.
• cliffhanger (Noun) An outcome which is awaited with keen anticipation, especially one which is delayed for a period of time or which is not known until the last minute.
• dangler (Noun) A dangling modifier, especially a dangling participle.
• deathtrap (Noun) A plot device where a villain in a story puts a hero in an elaborate dangerous situation for the purposes of attempting a sadistic murder.
• deus ex machina (Noun) A deity in Greek and Roman drama who was brought in by stage machinery to intervene in a difficult situation (i.e., to resolve a crisis, or untangle issues surrounding it, a character logically expected to do so).
• dreamworld (Noun) An imaginary world, such as experienced while dreaming.
• eucatastrophe (Noun) A catastrophe (dramatic event leading to plot resolution) that results in the protagonist's well-being.
• flashback (Noun) A dramatic device in which an earlier event is inserted into the normal chronological flow of a narrative.
• hamartia (Noun) The tragic flaw of the protagonist in a literary tragedy.
• handwavium (Noun) Any hypothetical but unobtainable material with desirable engineering properties.
• happily ever after (Noun) A story with such a happy ending, such as a romance novel or fairy tale.
• happy ending (Noun) A clichéd conclusion in which all loose ends are tied up and all main characters are content.
• hey pass (Interjection) A conjurer's exclamation on performing a magic trick; hey presto.
• hey presto (Interjection) Used by stage magicians, when performing a magic trick.
• hocus pocus (Interjection) Alternative spelling of hocus-pocus
• hocus-pocus (Interjection) A phrase used (by a stage magician, etc.) as a magical incantation to bring about some change: abracadabra, hey presto.
• horse and hattock (Interjection) A call that invokes the fairies to transport someone or something.
• love polygon (Noun) A situation in which at least two people vie for the love of another individual.
• love quadrangle (Noun) A situation in which three people vie for the love of a fourth person.
• love rectangle (Noun) Synonym of love quadrangle
• love triangle (Noun) A situation in which two suitors vie or compete for the love of the same person.
• magic carpet (Noun) A carpet capable either of magical flight, or instantaneous transport from one place to another, used as a means of travel.
• magic wand (Noun) A wand, usually made of wood, that is used to perform magic.
• meet cute (Noun) A situation in a film, television series, etc., in which a potential romantic couple meet for the first time in a way that is considered adorable, amusing, or cute.
• once upon a time (Adverb) A long time ago; at some time in the past (a traditional beginning of children's stories, especially fairy tales).
• open sesame (Phrase) open up (especially referring to doors)
• pay-off (Noun) A payment in full; the state of having been paid in full.
• phlebotinum (Noun) A fictional material used by authors to develop a plot requiring a material with properties not possessed by any real material.
• plot coupon (Noun) An object sought by a character in a story in order to achieve some objective, having little purpose beyond advancing the plot.
• plot device (Noun) An element introduced into a story, film, etc. to advance its plot.
• presto change-o (Interjection) Alternative form of presto chango
• quest (Noun) A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.
• quest (Noun) A journey or effort in pursuit of a goal (often lengthy, ambitious, or fervent); a mission.; A task that a player may complete in order to gain a reward or advance the story.
• quest (Noun) The act of seeking, or looking after anything; attempt to find or obtain; search; pursuit.
• quest (Verb) To search for something; to seek.
• red herring (Noun) A red herring prospectus.
• reset button (Noun) A plot device that interrupts continuity in works of fiction, by returning characters and situations to the status quo they held before certain changes were introduced.
• retcon (Noun) A situation, in a soap opera or other fiction, in which a new storyline explains or changes a previous event or attaches a new significance to it.
• shazaam (Interjection) Alternative spelling of shazam
• shoulder angel (Noun) An angel representing a person's conscience in works of fiction, portrayed as sitting on one shoulder while a shoulder devil occupies the other.
• shoulder devil (Noun) A devil representing a person's temptations in works of fiction, portrayed as sitting on one shoulder while a shoulder angel occupies the other.
• time bomb (Noun) A situation that threatens to have disastrous consequences at some future time.
• tragic flaw (Noun) A personality trait or other characteristic of a real or fictional individual which is immoral, destructive, or otherwise faulty and which leads to the ruin or profound suffering of that individual.
• unobtainium (Noun) A fictional material or component which, if it existed, would enable one to easily solve a hard problem.

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