Plot device

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A plot device is a person or an object introduced to a story to affect or advance the plot. In the hands of a skilled writer, the reader or viewer will not notice that the device is a construction of the author—it will seem to follow naturally from the setting or characters in the story. A poorly-written story, on the other hand, may have such awkward or contrived plot devices that the reader has serious trouble maintaining suspension of disbelief; indeed, the devices may even leave plot holes.

Some plot devices include:

In humor-themed forms of entertainment, particularly those that break the fourth wall in pursuit of comedy, plot devices or the concept itself may be deliberately pointed out to the audience for a joke. For example, in the one-shot DC comic book Blasters, written by Peter David, one of the protagonists is shown installing a device, made by an alien race known as the "Plaht", into her spacecraft that will allow herself and her companion to locate the other protagonists, which was required to forward the plot of the story. Her companion then seemingly turned to face the reader and said, "Oh, I get it. It's a Plaht device." (In this case, the "Plaht device" would be considered a deus ex machina.) The animated series Sheep in the Big City even featured a robot character actually named "Plot Device", who apparently worked for the antagonists and served no other purpose than to advance the plot when it arrived at an apparent standstill (usually by coming up with ridiculous plans to capture Sheep).