Good Angel, Bad Angel: Difference between revisions

* ''[[Johnny the Homicidal Maniac]]'' takes this to a strange place, as there are three major voices talking to him, that comprise about half the supporting cast. These are Psychodoughboy, voice of depression and self-destruction, Mr. Fuck, voice of violence and destruction, and Nail Bunny, voice of reason (or something approximating it). This seems more a metaphor for horrible, horrible, manic depression as much as anything else, although it just keeps getting weirder.

** And then there's Reverend Meat, to whom Johnny plays the voice of opposition himself.

* In a ''[[Pearls Before Swine]]'' Sunday strip, we see all four main characters (Rat, Pig, Goat and Zebra) go through this... {{spoiler|except Rat, who has ''two'' shoulder devils}}.

** Another Sunday strip has Zebra talking with one of the crocodiles, and explaining that he'd never be able to go through with eating Zebra because his conscience wouldn't let him. When the croc asks, "What is dis conshuss?" his Good Angel appears... and the croc pops it in his mouth and eats it.

* The ''[[National Lampoon]]'' did a number of comic-book stories based on Doug Kenney's high school/college life. One of them is the basis for the ''[[Animal House]]'' reference below - his shoulder angel probably doesn't help his case by calling Doug by his nickname "Four-Eyes".

* In [[Deadpool]]'s Team-Up with Machine Man, Deadpool experiences this with the angel being represented by his current partner (Machine Man) and the devil is being represented by the Puppet Master, who they were currently fighting. [[Cloudcuckoolander|True to his character]] (as well as Machine Man's partially) Deadpool pictured the angel as a drunk spouting off boring robot logic which quickly devolved to binary code speak.

* The DC Thomson strip "Jimmy Jinx (And What He Thinks)" (originally in ''Buzz'', then ''The Topper'', then ''[[The Dandy (comics)|The Dandy]]''). His angels were called Goodie and Baddie, and appeared in red-outlined thought bubbles.

* Once in German comic ''[[Rudi]]'', they're fighting whether he should take up smoking again or not. (His buddy Freddy started it again, we see, because his five or so shoulder devils mashed up his shoulder angel.)

* ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' has an episode where Lister's two internal voices (his Confidence and his Paranoia) becomes actual people thanks to a mutated disease.

** And Rimmer got to do the rare, full-on "all virtues vs. all vices" version on a moon where [[Your Mind Makes It Real]].

* Neatly used in [http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=212888&title=Provinces-in-Peril this] clip from ''[[The Daily Show]]'', in which the 'live on location' screens are gradually used to turn Samantha Bee's report on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision to dissolve the Canadian Parliament rather than face a vote of no-confidence into a battle between John Oliver (who is English) as the pro-Monarchy "angel" and Aasif Mandvi (who is Indian) as the pro-Independence "angel" over whether Queen Elizabeth II should remain Canada's Head Of State, with Bee the confused and indecisive Canadian trying to decide which argument to pick. {{spoiler|Oliver wins by promising a Royal Visit.}}

* Played for laughs in the ''[[Beetleborgs]]'' episode Buggin Out.

** Later, [http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1867 Vamp Sarah] and [http://www.egscomics.com/?id=1869 Flying Purple Unicorn Riding Catgirl Sarah], arguing over a [[Collectible Card Game]]. And here we thought ''Susan's'' mind was a strange place.

* ''[http://www.wanderingchaos.com/uc/043007.html UC: Deviating from Normality]'' started playing with this trope, and twisted it in a side story.

* ''[[Fanboys (webcomic)|Fanboys]]'': Done a couple of times.

* Shows up in [http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=137 this episode] of ''[[VG Cats]]'' where crazy old homeless guy Dr. Hobo has, instead of a Bad Angel and a Good Angel, a Hobo Angel who encourages him to do bad stuff, and an Inner Clown who [[Talkative Loon|rants incoherently]]. ("Woof! I'm a cow!")

* ''[[Unicornography]]'' [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] this in one strip by having one character tell both the angel and the demon of the other character "you know, since this is the astral plane, i can heard both of you"

** Although the good angel is definitely sneakier than the bad angel, and may be less worried about consequences.

* Played for laughs in ''[[The Last Days of Foxhound]]'', when Ocelot, a frequent double and triple agent from ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' has an attack of "[[Chronic Backstabbing Disorder]]", (which is a medical disorder in the comic) and his shoulder angel and devil [http://www.gigaville.com/comic.php?id=64 argue against/for going through with it]. A bit of a subversion of the usual outcome, since the devil makes far better points and wins so easily that even he feels disappointed.

* Jamie Kingston's shoulder angels in ''[[Kismetropolis]]'' occasionally agree with each other.

* Played with in [http://www.galactanet.com/comic/view.php?strip=377 this] ''[[Casey and Andy]]'' strip: Andy wants to talk with a hot girl but his good angel disapproves, and, because Andy is going out with Satan, who has control over all "shoulder demons", she appears instead of Andy's bad angel and threatens him.

* Jennie Breeden's [[Author Avatar]] in ''[http://www.thedevilspanties.com/ The Devil's Panties]'' often features her Good Angel and Bad Angel, though occasionally the two concur. The Good Angel is dressed traditionally, while the Bad Angel wears a black and red corset, a micromini skirt with platform boots, horns and little bat wings. Both otherwise look like Jennie herself (or like her Avatar, which other strips show as no longer resembling the real artist). Later, they're joined by a Princess representing Jennie's [http://www.thedevilspanties.com/d/20070327.html latent girlie side].

* ''[[Penny and Aggie]]'' is fond of this one. Aggie's shoulder angel scolds her for thinking of pursuing Karen's boyfriend Marshal—until Marshal tells Aggie that Karen went from a frumpy nerd to an ultra-popular sex goddess purely on her own initiative (when in fact Aggie assisted in the transformation). Then the angel says, "I got nothin'. Go get him." Aggie has no corresponding shoulder devil "You don't get one! You ARE one! Shaaaaaame!"

*** Also when it is discovered that Tabitha has no good angel.

** Its spinoff ''[[Friendly Hostility]]'' likes to use this one occasionally. There is one sequence where a good angel is attracted to the classic hooker dressed bad angel. She says they can't be together because they are on opposite sides so he gets a transfer to the bad side just to learn that she's transferred to the good side.

* Tony from ''[[Charby the Vampirate]]'': His angel just [http://www.drunkduck.com/Charby_the_Vampirate/4786659/ agrees with the devil].

* ''[[Filthy Lies]]'':

** Later it is demonstrated that, in the absence of a conscience, humans really don't need bad angels to turn into monsters.

* Sarah from ''[[Weregeek]]'' does it with her RPG characters in [http://www.weregeek.com/2008/02/01/ this strip]: Her ''[[Dungeons & Dragons|D&D]]'' [[White Mage|cleric]] and her ''[[The World of Darkness|Vampire]]'' [[The Vamp|character]]. Then her ''[[Shadowrun]]'' assassin character intervenes, and the discussion sort of falls apart.

* In ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky]]'', when Joyce is finally about to lose her virginity, she has illusions of her slutty alternate "evil" self and the hyper-puritanical "good" person she used to be. The slutty version eggs her on, the puritan castigates her. Their bickering is then interrupted by an illusion of Joyce as the more balanced, mature individual that she is now, who tells them both to shut up as she wants to watch.

* ''[[And Shine Heaven Now]]'', with both Integra and Timothy. Played with in that Integra's angel and devil appear in full-size versions during a storyline taking place in Hell. Timothy's shoulder devil is [http://hellsing.comicgenesis.com/d/20091231.html cross-dressing].

** Gary's shoulder angel is unsure how to handle the [[Attractive Bent Gender]] Dillon, while his [http://www.menagea3.net/d/20090630.html devil makes out with Dillon's].

** When Didi's devil shows up, she's actually surprised: "Wow! I don't think you called for me since the third grade... [[She's All Grown Up|HOLY CRAP! Check out the]] [[Gag Boobs|rack]] on me!" This is quickly followed by DiDi's shoulder angel showing up—except DiDi is such a nice person, her "little shoulder angel" is [http://www.menagea3.net/d/20100213.html more than twice as tall] as the real DiDi.

* Subverted in ''[[Gorgeous Princess Creamy Beamy]]'':

{{quote|"W-where's the angel? The one that tells me to be good?"

"So who's supposed to tell me what the right thing to do is?"

"If you can't figure that out without an angel, then you kind of suck." }}

* Zoe of ''[[Venus Envy]]'' has these fairly often, most notably with an entire chapter centering around the two arguing over [[A Date with Rosie Palms|whether to masturbate.]]

* Used in [http://www.mezzacotta.net/postcard/?comic=3 this] ''[[Mezzacotta|Comments on a Postcard]]'' strip. Apparently.

* Done in a ''[[Mac Hall]]'' [http://machall.com/view.php?date=2002-12-27 comic] with the devil replaced by Cthulhu.

* ''[[Ctrl+Alt+Del]]'': Ethan has a pair... [http://www.cad-comic.com/cad/20100101 but the angel appears on the toilet, and then gives Ethan some not-so-good advice].

* At a critical point in Volume Four of ''[[Sam and Fuzzy]]'', Gretchen gets caught in an argument between her inner child (playing the role of bad angel) and her... Conscience Cat. When Gretchen asks why her good side is represented by a ''cat'', it simply replies that "cats are neat!"

** Later, another pair:

* ''[[Bob the Angry Flower]]'' has a good conscience and an evil conscience. Or rather, he has one that gives less-belligerent advice than the other. [http://angryflower.com/thatin.gif He's not entirely sure which one is which].

* Played with in ''[[Snowflakes]]''. Enzo has ''two'' shoulder devils, and no angel. When he asks why, one of the devils tells him: "You're a [[Kids Are Cruel|five year old]]."

* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[Rusty and Co.]]'' The Mimic's shoulder... er... corner devil (judging by resembling [[Rebellious Princess|The Princess]] and the "Anarchy" sign, [[Chaotic Evil]]) and angel (looking like [http://rustyandco.com/frequently-asked-questions/cast-page/ Madeline the Paladin], presumably [[Lawful Good]]) are [http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-3-15/ disagreeing]... on how to phrase exactly the same course of action.

** Sir Malevolus eventually acquired [http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-8-13/ tiny evil version of a paladin and perpetually drunk fairy] in this role. Kind of fitting, between his usual luck and the comic's general style.

* These appear in ''[[Squid Row]]'' [http://squidrowcomics.com/?p=538 as Randie heads in cherub form], with [[Good Wings, Evil Wings]].

* ''[[Whubble]]'' has both, shame about the advice...

=== Web Original ===

* In the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'', Jade gives Ayla a literal pair of them as a prank... and thereby inspires other students to come up with their own more or less successful versions in turn. The whole thing escalates until the headmistress ends up banning them.

* Kawaii RanChan on livejournal has an odd habit of adding in her own twist on what she calls her shoulder angels assigned to her by a division of angels in Heaven called Angels Inc., which is a company that assigns guardian angels to people in need. The angels themselves always take the form of characters she likes, OOC or not, that way to actually get her response. It is hinted in a few entries from her good angel that "we're less guardian angels, more invisible friends" — which is all just her own satire about herself. Doesn't make her less crazy.

* Subverted on the "Give In" episode of [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/loadingreadyrun/3606-Give-In\]''loadingreadyrun'', when the main character is trying to decide if he should shoot someone, and {{spoiler|he goes ahead and shoots the guy before his good angel has a chance to give his point of view. The good angel is quite annoyed by this.}}

* ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'' has a pair [http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=1015 for Ganondorf], who has a shoulder devil, and a second, more satanic shoulder devil. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in [[The Rant]] the accompanying newspost as the "shoulder angel gag".

** The [[Alt Text]] claims that conversely, Peach lacks a bad side.

* ''[[Nedroid]]'' gives us [http://nedroid.com/2011/01/conscience/ Conscience Bear]

* ''Absurd Notions'' [http://www.absurdnotions.org/page60.html presents] "the dueling consciences of the sysadmin: 'Lazy' and 'Bastard'."

* ''[[The Japanese Beetle]]'' has a villain called The Enabler, whose entire shtick is that he's a [[Career Killers|Contract Killer]] using [[Incredible Shrinking Man]] and [[Telepathy]] powers to pose as someone's Bad Angel and drive them into self-destruction. When he attempts this on the titular hero, Ken's first response is to ask, "Where's the guy for my other shoulder?" He finally realizes something is up when his pre-teen fan Katie asks "Who's that mean little man on your shoulder?"

* [http://www.clv-comic.com/view.php?pic=2855 Cest La Vie]. In which Donna's demon on the shoulder takes the form of her cynical and caustic best friend, Mona, berating an angel who is a small helpless version of Donna.

* Guy from ''[[Two Guys and Guy]]'' takes all the "no good conscience" characters above and [http://www.twogag.com/archives/1284 shows 'em how it's done].

* ''[[Juvenile Diversion]]'' initially [http://jdcomic.com/comic/the-obvious-choice/ plays it straight]... until next page where the two angels get quite intimate.