Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main antagonist in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho. He was portrayed by Anthony Perkins in the 1960 version of Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock and the Psycho franchise. He was also portrayed by Vince Vaughn in the 1998 version of Psycho, and by Freddie Highmore in the television series Bates Motel (2013–2017).

Unlike the franchise produced by Universal Studios, Norman is not the principal antagonist in Bloch's subsequent novels and is succeeded by copycat killers who assume Norman's identity after his death in Psycho II (1982). There is a wide-ranging assumption that the character was inspired by the Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein. Bloch later revealed that he had already started writing Psycho when he first became aware of Gein, and was struck by "how closely the imaginary character I'd created resembled the real Ed Gein both in overt act and apparent motivation.

Character overview

Both the 1959 novel, and its 1960 film adaptation explain that Norman suffered severe emotional abuse as a child at the hands of his mother, Norma, who preached to him that sexual intercourse was sinful and that all women (except herself) were whores. The novel also suggests that their relationship may have been incestuous.

After Norman's father died, Norman and his mother lived alone together "as if there was no one else in the world" until Norman reached adolescence, when his mother met Joe Considine (Chet Rudolph in Psycho IV: The Beginning) and planned to marry. Considine eventually convinced Norma to open a motel. Driven over the edge with jealousy, Norman murdered both of them with strychnine. After committing the murders, Norman staged it like murder–suicide, making it look as if Norma had killed her fiancé and then herself. After a brief hospitalization for shock, he developed a split personality, assuming his mother's personality to repress his awareness of her death and to escape the guilt of murdering her. He inherited his mother's house—where he kept her corpse in the fruit cellar—and the family motel in the fictional small town of Fairvale, California. As "Mother", he kills women that Norman feels attracted to, and anyone else who threatens the illusion of her existence. Norman passes out when "Mother" takes control; after "Mother" commits a murder, Norman awakens and destroys the evidence, convinced that "she" alone is responsible for the crime.

Bloch sums up Norman's multiple personalities in his stylistic form of puns: "Norman", a child needing his mother; "Norma", a possessive, controlling parent figure; and "Normal", a functional adult who goes through the motions of day-to-day life. "Norma" dominates and belittles "Norman" much as she had when she was alive, forbidding him to have a life outside of her and flying into violent rages whenever he feels attracted to a woman. "Norma" and "Norman" carry on conversations through Norman talking to himself and to her corpse in his mother's voice, and Norman dresses in his mother's clothes whenever "Norma" takes hold completely.