The Right Side of the Scoreboard

[WatcherMark]

I've been going through old episodes recently and noticed something... whenever there's a league battle/contest/competition in the show, the character we're rooting for is almost always placed on the right hand side.

I'm not kidding, go back and check. Satoshi, Haruka, Hikari, Dent, Takeshi etc., each of them get placed on the right side in pretty much every instance of a scoreboard being needed (except of course if main characters are facing each other). What gives? Are people naturally predisposed to look at the right side of a monitor or something?

 

[SatoshiKun]

You just noticed this? That's just how they've always put the protagonist.

 

[Karpi]

This thread would be more interesting if we posted scoreboards with unseen pokemon and tried to figure out their silhouettes
FOR INSTANCE:

The guy on the right got second place in the Sinnoh league. I think he used Granbull, Heracross, ???, Zangoose/Pikachu, Infernape/Drapion, ???.

 

[garrison-san]

This thread would be more interesting if we posted scoreboards with unseen pokemon and tried to figure out their silhouettes
FOR INSTANCE:

The guy on the right got second place in the Sinnoh league. I think he used Granbull, Heracross, ???, Zangoose/Pikachu, Infernape/Drapion, ???.

This doesn't really have anything to do with the OP's question. If you like, you can start a separate thread in Games and Contests about it.

 

[WatcherMark]

The guy on the right got second place in the Sinnoh league. I think he used Granbull, Heracross, ???, Zangoose/Pikachu, Infernape/Drapion, ???.

As stated, this has nothing to do with my question... but since you asked, it's Abomasnow, Empoleon, Magneezone, Zangoose, Mismagius and Magmortar (I can't believe you missed Magmortar - we SAW it in the battle).

 

[YamiiDenryuu]

There's apparently a psychological bias that causes people to prefer things on the right to things on the left. It's why "right" means both the opposite of left and the opposite of wrong, and why the old French word for left, "sinistra", is the basis for words like "sinister". It may be related somehow to right-handedness being much more common than left-handedness in humans. So, by placing the hero on the right side of the scoreboard, you make the audience feel more like rooting for them.

The more you know~

 

[SatoshiKun]

There's apparently a psychological bias that causes people to prefer things on the right to things on the left. It's why "right" means both the opposite of left and the opposite of wrong, and why the old French word for left, "sinistra", is the basis for words like "sinister". It may be related somehow to right-handedness being much more common than left-handedness in humans. So, by placing the hero on the right side of the scoreboard, you make the audience feel more like rooting for them.


The more you know~

It may not be psychological rather than cultural influence, though I have no idea either way. Either way, it's pretty clear what the purpose is.

 

[YamiiDenryuu]

It may not be psychological rather than cultural influence, though I have no idea either way. Either way, it's pretty clear what the purpose is.

Well, I was close enough, right?

Also interesting to note it cuts both ways- in that shot Karpi posted, Tobias is on the left, while Nobody Mc Noone is on the right. Obviously we aren't supposed to care about the generic-looking guy with the bunch of silhouetted Pokemon, but it subtly reinforces a dislike of Tobias. not that he needed any help there

I'd be interested to see who tends to end up on which side in hero vs hero battles. Anyone collected shots of those?

 

[Karamazov]

I'd be interested to see who tends to end up on which side in hero vs hero battles. Anyone collected shots of those?

I don't have pics of it, but Ash was on the right side of the scoreboard when facing Cameron. In Cameron's next fight, Virgil was the one on the right.

 

[Thingamajig]

It's not just league battles. Ash is more-or-less always to the right of camera in battles.