Editing Plot device (section)

=== Shoulder angel ===
{{main|Shoulder angel}}
A shoulder angel is a plot device<ref>{{Cite journal | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iyYGbs_QLioC&q=%22Shoulder+angel%22+fiction&pg=PT47 | title = Hatch's Plotbank | date = 2007-11-01| last1 = Hatch | first1 = Laurence C. }}</ref> used for either dramatic or humorous effect in animation and comic strips (and occasionally in live-action television). The angel represents conscience and is often accompanied by a shoulder devil representing temptation. They are handy for easily showing inner conflict of a character. Usually, the angel is depicted on or hovering near the right shoulder and the devil or demon on the left, as the left side traditionally represents dishonesty or impurity (see [[Left-handedness#Negative associations of language|Negative associations of left-handedness in language]]). 

The idea of a shoulder angel and devil consulting the person in the center of the dispute is a tripartite view of the divided soul, that contributes to a rich tradition involving Plato's [[Chariot Allegory]] as well as [[id, ego and super-ego]] from Freudian [[psychoanalysis]]. The difference with other views is that the shoulder angel and devil emphasize the universal ideas of good and bad.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Black |first1=Robert E. G. |title=From Charioteer Myth to Shoulder Angel: A Rhetorical Look at Our Divided Soul |journal=Colloquy |date=Fall 2014 |volume=10 |pages=36–49 |url=http://training.calstatela.edu/sites/default/files/groups/Colloquy/black_essay3.final_.pdf}}</ref> 

This device was humorously used in ''[[The Emperor's New Groove]]'' (2000) and its sequel, ''[[Kronk's New Groove]]'': the Kronk consults his shoulder angel and devil in order to determine whether to follow Yzma's orders or not.