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Norman Babcock
Norman Babcock
Information
Name: Norman Babcock
Gender Male
Ethnicity {{{ethnicity}}}
Likes Talking to Ghost
Dislikes Alvin (sometimes), lies, getting grounded, being bullied
Age 11

Birthday: 2001

Hometown Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts, USA
Family: {{{relatives}}}
Status Alive
Portrayal Kodi Smit-McPhee
Appeared in ParaNorman

Perry Norman “Norman” Babcock III (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) is the main protagonist of the movie ParaNorman.

Norman is a 11 year old boy who has the ability to see and speak to the dead, inherited from his mother's side of the family, the Prenderghasts. Everyone else doesn't believe him, including his parents, and some people bully him for it. He tries not to let it bug him, but he later reveals it bothers him.

Appearance[]

Norman is a young boy with pale skin, blue eyes, thick eyebrows and spiky brown hair. Throughout the movie, he is seen wearing either a red hoodie with a grey sweater underneath or a grey shirt with long, red sleeves, a pair of blue jeans, and red sneakers.

History[]

As he stews in his room his father talks to his mother about Norman's granduncle, the town's local bum, Mr. Prenderghast. Prenderghast approaches him, telling him he's the only one who can stop the witch's curse as the Prenderghasts, who can see and talk to the dead as well, have done. Neil Downe, Norman's new living friend, scares Prenderghast off after Norman refuses to take up the Prenderghast's cause.

Later, after being approached by the spirit of the recently deceased Mr. Prenderghast, Norman reluctantly agrees to do it. This leads on a wild night with Norman first getting the book at Prenderghast's ramshackle house, off the corpse of his uncle, escaping the cursed seven judges with Neil, the school bully Alvin, Neil's brother Mitch and his older sister Courtney.

During the quest to find where the witch was buried, the witch's spirit attacks Norman directly, sending him back to the trial in 1712, revealing the truth. The witch was just a small girl of around eleven who could also speak to the dead, named Agatha (an indirectly related ancestor). Agatha's ability was considered witchcraft by the seven who sentenced her to be hanged. After the revealing of this, Norman, sent back to the present, is confronted by the seven zombie judges, who he verbally shames for their fearful reaction to her abilities. The leader of the zombies, Judge Hopkins, admits their wrong doings and wishes to repent, however unknowing to the seven and Norman's group, the town's people have gathered to destroy the zombies.

Norman first speaks up in the defense of the zombies, but is almost lynched by the angry mob, some who believes it may be his work. It is only when Courtney steps up, and the rest of his group stands beside him do the people believe him. After a secondary attack by Agatha's spirit, Norman goes to find Agatha's grave along with his family, with Judge Hopkins as his guide. This leads him into the heart of the forest at the tree Agatha was buried under, where he is forced to confront Agatha alone, after being separated from the others. Agatha's angry spirit rages against Norman, who tries repeatedly to calm her by sympathy, she even attempts to kill him, but he holds firm. When she finally calms down, Norman is shown a bit of a flashback; she then passes on to the other side, leaving Norman to be found by his family. Norman's family, even his skeptical father, accepts his ability to see the dead,even asking him if his mother is still with him

Powers and Abilities[]

Mediumship: Norman was born with the ability to see and speak with the dead.

  • Clairvoyance: Norman has the ability to receive visions from the dead.

Quotes[]

  • "I didn't ask to be born this way..."
  • (as one of the pilgrims) "THE DEAD ARE COMING!!!"
  • "He's my dad. He shouldn't be afraid of me..."
  • "That's, uh... not his chin."
  • "I'm Norman... Norman Babcock... you don't actually know me, but I know you."
  • "Is everyone alright? No one got bitten?" 
  • "Everyone in the real world thinks I'm a freak! And you know what? Maybe they're right. Maybe I am a freak, but I never ask for your help. Just go! GET OUT!"
  • "You're just like them, Agatha, you're a bully!"
  • "You think just because there's bad people out there that there's no good ones either? I thought the same thing for a while. But there's always someone out there for you. Somewhere."
  • "How could you? She was just a little kid... she was no different than me!"
  • "I keep telling you, Neil... I like to be alone."
  • "So whenever you wake up, you play this mean game, but you don't play fair!"
  • "Sex and violence."
  • "Well, the zombie is eating her head, grandma."
  • (to Alvin) "I think you'll be safe..."
  • "Hey dad, Grandma said, 'can you turn up the heating?', her feet are cold."
  • "Mom, you're embarrassing me!"

Trivia[]

  • Norman was born in 2001.

Movie[]

  • Norman has actually called himself a freak before.
  • Norman was told to never talk to his uncle Mr. Prenderghast.
  • Norman enjoys watching zombie movies with his deceased Grandma, who wishes to act as his guardian, and talks to his ghost friends.
  • Norman also plays baseball, as shown in one of the pictures in the movies intro.
  • Norman is constantly bullied by Alvin and his friends. However, by the end of the film, Norman and Alvin are friends.
  • Norman has a bedroom that is zombie-themed.
  • Norman was originally going to be aged 13, but changed to 11 for no copying ages.
  • His hair is spiked enough so that it does not lay flat. In two scenes, his hair was pushed flat, but sprung back into place moments later.
  • Her sister Courtney claims to be about to start college. Which means she is in 12th grade, making her age between 17 or 18 years old. This also means she was born between 1993 and 1994.

Book[]

  • According to the book, three strange events happened on the day of Norman's birth. The lights in the maternity blew their fuses when they announced that he was a boy, the dogs across the street set up a strange chorus of howling around the same time, and two men finishing their shifts at Witchy Wieners saw a question mark shaped rainbow in the sky, even though it was one in the morning.
  • He (along with Neil, Salma, and Alvin) have the same science teacher named Mr. Feynman.

Gallery[]

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