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You know what I think? I think that we're all in our private traps, clamped in them, and none of us can ever get out. We scratch and we claw, but only at the air, only at each other, and for all of it, we never budge an inch.

Name: Norman Bates
Canon:Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Entering the Hotel California several days after the murder of Marion Crane
Appearance: A young man of innocuous appearance, Norman is dark-haired and wiry in build. He has dark hair and a handsome, friendly face. He smiles frequently, though often with a nervous energy, and has a tendency to stammer at times.
Age: Norman is about 27 years old.
History: Norman Bates was raised primarily by his mother, Norma Bates, after his father died when he was five years old. They had enough money to live comfortably together in their old house outside of Fairvale, CA, and did so for some years. Their relationship was an intense one, as Norma was (in the words of a psychiatrist who would later evaluate Norman) a "clinging, demanding woman," and Norman had been mentally and emotionally unstable since his father's death. Indeed, Norman spent a period of time in an institution sometime between the deaths of his father and mother, an event that has made him very wary of such places since. Norman loved his mother dearly and would afterward insist that he had a very happy childhood, but when she took up with a new boyfriend sometime in Norman's teens, with whom she built the Bates Motel right in front of the home she and Norman had shared as he grew up, that would all change very quickly. Norman perceived that his mother had chosen this new man over him and became insanely jealous of their relationship. His jealousy eventually drove him to poison both his mother and her beau, but he was so overcome with remorse at his act of matricide that afterward he was unable to accept that his mother was even dead. He stole her corpse before it was buried and hid it in the fruit cellar, later to preserve it as best he could with the same chemicals he used in the taxidermy he did as a hobby. Since then, Norman has gone on believing that his mother is still alive. He keeps her corpse in her old bedroom, carries on conversations with her (to which he provides both sides), and even dresses as her from time to time and walks around the house as if to reassure himself of her presence. He lives like a hermit, and goes on tending the Bates Motel years after the highway is changed and the motel ceases to bring in any but the most lost of travelers.
It is roughly ten years after his mother's death that Norman is brought to the Hotel California, having just killed Marion Crane a few days before in the guise of Mother. Norman assumes that Mother is as jealous of his relationships as he was of hers, which was why his Mother persona felt the need to kill Marion, in whom he had taken an interest. Since her death, which Norman covered up for Mother's sake, Norman has convinced himself that Marion was a wanton woman and that Mother was right to kill her, having no doubt done the same regarding several other young women who have been killed at the Bates Motel over the years.

Inventory:
Tools for taxidermy--sewing equipment, sawdust, chemicals, etc
Several of his stuffed birds, including the large owl
His record player from his room
A small collection of classical music on vinyl records
A photo album from his childhood
His toy rabbit, as seen here.
The quilt from his bed back home
Several paintings from the house and from the parlor behind the office in the motel, including a portrait of his mother from when she was alive
A bag of candy and a magazine (both of which he is carrying upon arrival)



I do not own Norman Bates or the film Psycho. This character journal has been created for use in the game plentyofroom, and is not being used for profit in any way, shape, or form.

My other RP journals:
The Meta-Crisis!Doctor, Doctor Who: bluesuit_handy
Wolf, The Tenth Kingdom: huffs_and_puffs
Papageno, The Magic Flute: der_vogelfanger
Rory Williams, Doctor Who: nursewilliams
Sam Tyler, Life on Mars (BBC): camberwick_sam
Jedediah, Night at the Museum: tinytantrum
Mikhail Poltyev, A Desperate Character: desperate_misha (profile in progress)
Nancy the GPS: naggingnancy