Norma Bates

Norma Bates (, also known simply as Mrs. Bates) is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho. She is the deceased mother and victim of serial killer Norman Bates, who had recreated her in his mind as a murderous alternate personality. Although an important character to the Psycho story, Norma is deceased from the beginning of the films. She is not depicted as a living character until the prequel Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990), where she is portrayed by Olivia Hussey. Vera Farmiga later portrayed Norma in the television series Bates Motel (2013–2017). Character overview Both the 1959 novel, and its 1960 film adaptation explain that after the death of her husband, Norma (whose maiden name is never revealed in the novels) raises her son Norman with cruelty: she forbids him to have a life away from her, and teaches him that sexual intercourse is sinful and that all women (except herself) are whores. The novel also suggests that their relationship may have been incestuous. For many years, Norma and Norman live together in the (fictional) small town of Fairvale, California "as if there is no one else in the world". When Norman is a teenager, his mother meets Joe Considine (Chet Rudolph in Psycho IV: The Beginning) and plans to marry. Considine convinces Norma to open a motel. Norman grows furiously jealous, believing that Norma has abandoned him for her fiancé, and murders them both with strychnine. He then stages it like murder-suicide, making it look as if Norma had killed Considine and then herself.