# Devil/Angel on the Shoulders

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/devil-angel-on-the-shoulders/228165
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 8, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/devil-angel-on-the-shoulders/228165 "2004-02-08T20:11:59Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![DaPuj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DaPuj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaPuj)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2004, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/devil-angel-on-the-shoulders/228165/1 "2004-02-08T20:11:59Z")

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I was just discussing a gag from a cartoon that dealt with the devil and the angel on opposite shoulders, and it struck me that the premise is so engrained in our culture that we don’t even question where it came from. Does anyone know of the first instance where a character received advice from a devil and an angel?

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### Author: ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/devil-angel-on-the-shoulders/228165/2 "2004-02-08T20:46:24Z")

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Here’s an earlier thread on the subject with some good info:

> **[Shoulder Angels/Devils](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=148914)**
>
> I need to know about that staple of Saturday morning cartoons; the representation of the eternal battle of good and evil that lives in our heads: The Shoulder Angel and Shoulder Devil. When and where did they first appear?

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### Author: ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [February 8, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/devil-angel-on-the-shoulders/228165/3 "2004-02-08T21:10:38Z")

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[HERE’S](http://beta.sluggy.com/d/001119.html) what the devils & angel do in their free time.

Love that girl in red! 😃 :o