Norman

Norman (ノーマン) is one of the deuteragonists of The Promised Neverland alongside with Ray.

Norman is a math prodigy and a model student of Grace Field House, with intelligence that surpasses his peers and even adults. He is also known for being a genius strategist and planner, as well as unbeatable at the game of tag.

Being the smartest child living in Grace Field, Norman is considered as one of Grace Field House's three "Premium quality goods" next to Emma and Ray.

When he discovers the truth of the orphanage with Emma, he teams up with her and Ray to devise a plan to escape. Norman is, however, forced to be shipped before his 12th birthday, and he sacrifices himself and accepts his fate of inevitable death to let his family escape.

History
Norman was born on March 21, 2034, and sent to Grace Field House a year later in 2035. When Norman was still a young child, he was known to fall sick easily due to his weak physique and health. Most of the sicknesses he had are colds, which were gotten either during winter or even during downpours.

Under the parental care of Isabella, as well as the happy times he spent with his fellow foster siblings, Norman had a happy childhood. Due to their close age and probably the fact that they are the top students academically, Norman was exceptionally close to Emma and Ray out of all the orphans in Grace Field, and thus interacted with the two often.

During a snowball fight in the winter of January 2039, Norman fainted due to the low temperature and had to be quarantined within the orphanage's sickbay. Emma, who cannot help to be isolated from her dear friend, sought to sneak into the sickbay and accompany him, but failed in every try as she was caught by Isabella consistently, who forbade her to stay near Norman in fear of how his cold might spread to her. In the end, Emma thought of interacting with Norman via a tin can telephone. Norman chatted with Emma and the other orphans merrily throughout the night.

On November 2039, Norman and Emma persuaded Ray to not have his eyes stick to his book all the time. The two invited him to join them to explore the gate that encircles Grace Field House. When the trio reached the gate, they all wondered what lies beyond the walls. Norman grabbed onto the giant door of the gate and wondered why it would never open as he theorized how it might be protecting them from something. The three recalled how Isabella once warned them how they should never go to the gate or beyond the fence due to danger. Norman doubted what their foster mother said. The three went back the orphanage soon after.

Appearance
Norman is a young boy with short, tidy white hair (platinum blonde in the start of the manga) that's worn parted to his left, a prominently longer piece curving upwards on the side of his head, and narrow, inward-tilting blue eyes. The most distinctive physical trait of Norman is his thick eyebrows. He wore the standard orphanage uniform- a white shirt and trousers along with plain shoes. His Grace Field House identification number "22194" is tattooed across the left side of his neck.

In the live-action movie, Norman has been aged up and thus he has the appearance of a 15-year-old teenager. Other than the age increase, the live-action version of Norman still resembles his manga and anime counterparts.

Personality
Norman is a calm, level-headed, kind, and gentle boy who presents himself to have figured things out because he wants to appear as a reliable person to people around him. At the same time, Norman is a complex individual due to his conflicting morality. After being exposed to the truth behind the orphanage, Norman is revealed to be similar to Ray, as in being a realist and wanting to take a limited group of people along in the escape. However, he deems himself as being selfish due to worrying about his own life, as opposed to Emma who selflessly worries about others first before herself. Norman's love for Emma inspires him to follow her idealistic ideals, and as so he becomes determined to escape with all of his siblings despite it seeming impossible. To achieve this, Norman has shown to be manipulative, ruthless and extremely rational, having no issues agreeing to the plan to kill Krone and Isabella that Ray came up with in order to escape.

Norman is the most intelligent child in Grace Field House, consistently getting perfect scores during their daily exams. He likes to apply what he learns to his day-to-day activities, even in a simple game of tag. He is known to be strategic, analytical, rational, and possesses logical deductive skills. He is a planner who can see the entire situation and plan for it ahead of time. Additionally, Norman is very determined and doesn't let other budge him when he has firmly put his mind into a certain decision. He has a strong sense of self-confidence which stems from assuming everything will work out in his favor in the end if he plays his gambles right. He always relies on himself to come up with the answers, and even Norman himself states that he always managed to accomplish what he set out to do. However, he puts intense pressure on himself to achieve their goals, and he also harbors a crushing perfectionism where he is not allowed to lose or make mistakes. When he does make mistakes and suffers, he only blames himself and imagines that a perfect scenario exists out there, and if he only had envisioned and executed that plan, he would not be suffering.

Being an extremely caring individual who is fiercely loyal and protective of his family and friend, he has a tendency to hide his true feelings of worry, fear and hurt projecting instead a calm and collected exterior to calm down and give emotional support to the people around him. For example, Norman assumes it’s logical that he should use himself, and be the only one hurting, rather than place any of that weight on his family. Additionally, after Norman’s shipping date is announced, his first priority is to comfort Emma, even though he was the one whose life was on the line. But when faced with his impending death, he realizes how badly he still wants to live.

An overall strong-willed character, he tends to disregard his own humanity and worth as a person if it means keeping everyone else safe and for the greater good.

Introduction Arc
Taking daily tests, playing a game of tag, eating scrumptious homemade food and having a good time – Norman went through the same routine every day in Grace Field House, an orphanage where he lived since the day he was born. Under the loving parental care of Isabella and the companionship of Emma, Ray, and the other orphans, Norman spent a pleasant childhood in Grace Field.

When the day came for Conny to be sent off to foster parents, Norman, and the other orphans gave a tearful goodbye as they bade farewell to her. Sometime after Conny left with Isabella, Norman accompanied Emma to return Conny's beloved stuffed toy, as the two proceeded to the gates of Grace Field to search for the toddler.

Instead of finding Conny, Norman and Emma found Conny's corpse within a truck instead, as they stared in pure horror upon seeing their friend dead. The two later hid under the truck as they witness two demons inserting Conny's dead body into a jar. Isabella is revealed to be working for the demons, as the two witnesses in shock of how Isabella turned out to be evil. Norman and Emma returned to Grace Field unnoticed, the stuffed toy, Little Bunny, was left behind, which was eventually found by the two demons and Isabella.

Emma collapsed onto the ground in despair, as she recalled the traumatic scene she and Norman just witnessed, which soon led her to break down in tears. Norman consoled Emma and told her not to speak of the incident to anyone. During the next few days, Norman and Emma remained silent and secretive about Conny's death and the existence of demons; put on an innocent and childlike façade whenever they interact with Isabella, who was suspecting the two.

With the introverted yet intelligent Ray's involvement, the three started to devise an escape plan to rescue the orphans from Isabella and the demons' clutches. The three learned and gathered every possible information they could get about the outside world and to aid in their eventual escape. Ray helped in plotting the escape plan.

Isabella eventually got Krone appointed as Grace Field's second caretaker (as the orphans' "Sister"), an additional obstacle for Norman, Emma, and Ray to deal with. Krone tried to get in the way of the trio, much to their dismay.

Jailbreak Arc
Norman, Emma, and Ray eventually recruited Don and Gilda into the team as additional help and told them about the secrets behind Grace Field, Isabella and the existence of demons. Along the way, the five faced obstacles and issues with working together, such as the interference of Isabella and Krone, suspicions of Gilda being on the enemies' side, Ray's double-crossing, and Don's unhappiness towards the limited trust Norman, Emma and Ray had on him and Gilda, whom they did not tell the entirety of their plan and motives to. The trio starts suspecting that there might be a traitor amongst the children, possibly Don or Gilda, who are working for Isabella, and Norman lays a trap to determine who the informant is by telling them the location of their ropes and that night.

The following night, Norman inspects the rope locations with Ray, and by the process of elimination, accuses Ray of being the traitor. Although hesitant at first, Ray eventually confesses that he has been the spy who worked for Isabella behind his friends' back. When Norman questioned his motive, Ray explained how he already knew about the orphanage's secrets a long time ago, and how him serving his mother as her spy is all pre-planning for him and his friends' escape. Following a lengthy discussion about loyalty, Ray eventually agrees to side with Norman, but on one condition: they must give up the intention of saving everyone, but without telling Emma. Norman is torn by this, but ends up hesitantly agreeing.

When Norman and his team finally managed to put Ray's escape plan into work, it was, however, foiled by Isabella, as she fractured Emma's leg and revealed how Norman will be the next to be shipped off to the demons).

Norman took care of Emma and her broken leg during his last few days at Grace Field. When Emma and Ray attempted to rescue Norman by getting him to escape alone, the plan failed, as Norman returned with the news of how steep cliffs lies beyond the walls of the plantations, making his escape impossible. He soon made a tearful goodbye to the two, as he reminisced the happy childhood he had spent with them.

During the day for Norman to depart, a desperate Emma was still keen on rescuing him, as she made her one final attempt to save him by disabling the tracker in his ear, Norman immediately prevented her from doing so, calling her reckless. When Emma explained how she did not want Norman to die, Norman was touched by Emma's words. As he cupped Emma's cheek, Isabella interrupted the two, urging Norman to prepare to depart from the orphanage. However, she allowed Norman to give Emma a proper goodbye, where he encouraged her to stay strong and never give up hope.

After giving Ray a quick goodbye as well, Norman walked to the gates of Grace Field with Isabella and questioned her if she truly is she happy. Isabella was in shock and hesitated for a moment, before replying that she was indeed happy because she was able to meet him. The two reached the gates and though Norman was preparing himself for the demons to appear, Isabella asked him to wait in another room. When Norman looked inside, he was shocked.

Intelligence
Being one of the top-ranked orphan (in other words: premium quality) of the orphanage, Norman possesses a very high level of intelligence for his age. Norman excels in his studies and has even achieved a full score of 300 in Grace Field's series of tests consecutively, never once had he gotten a score less than 300. Norman also has excellent strategic skills and frequently put them into use when playing a game of tag with his friends.

Norman also possesses an incredibly high level of mental calculations, proven when Norman received a heatstroke, Isabella asked the then-unconscious Norman a complex Mathematical equation, which he immediately answered as he recovered from heatstroke.

Norman was also the only person to suspect that Ray was acting as Isabella's spy and as so, he laid a trap to confirm his suspicions. When he was able to corner Ray, even the latter was very shocked since he had been careful and discreet. He can easily plan his actions in advance and he anticipates other's actions. He demonstrates this intellectual prowess and foresight by calculating every plan to the finest detail, which allowed him to formulate the ultimate gambit for escape.

He also discovered that the Promised Pen won't access other pages unless it is opened on the location of that page.

Physical Strength
Unlike his keen intellect, Norman was one of the physically weakest children of the orphanage. Nonetheless, Norman actively plans strategies to win games of tag with the other children. Thus, during a game of tag, Norman could outmaneuver sister Krone, the latter considering him a weak child who she could quickly capture.

Team Work
Despite his own opinions, Norman listens to the ideas of others to increase the group's cohesion. Moreover, when Ray and Emma fielded clashing ideas of how best to escape Grace Field, Norman convinced his friends to work together.

Leadership Skills
Norman has extraordinary leadership skills, and is well-liked by the children in the House. For instance, while training them in escape tactics, Norman bolstered their collective teamwork as he taught the children how to think logically. Gilda also observed that their escape from Grace Field could have been smoother and more coordinated if Norman was with them.

Emma
I want to do the things that'll make Emma happy... because I love her. I won't let her die. If it's for her sake... I'll use myself to do anything... and everything. Being orphans of Grace Field, Norman and Emma have been close throughout their entire lives and often spent time together ever since they were toddlers. Both parties care deeply for the opposite's well-being and do not hesitate to save each other when one is in distress. Norman and Emma are willing to sacrifice much for the other's sake, albeit not always initially, and have risked their lives more than once to help each other out.

Ever since the truth about the "orphanage" was revealed, Norman vowed to support Emma in any way he could. Since Norman deems himself as being selfish and Emma as being selfless, he was inspired to become like her and follow her ideals. Despite his own conflicting morality, many decisions Norman has made are out of consideration to Emma. Norman even confesses to Ray that the reason he's going with Emma's plan of bringing every orphan into the escape plan is because he loves her. He also mentions that he would willingly sacrifice anyone, even himself, if it meant she could live. Norman also originally planned to oust Ray after finding out he was the spy, yet changed his mind thanks to Emma's influence. Emma and Ray were initially the only people in the orphanage he was willing to put his trust on, and Norman is determined to use his own intellect to bring Emma's ideals to life.

Norman is deeply moved by Emma's idealism, and despite her eccentricities and reckless behavior, Norman admires how true she is to herself. Norman adds that because of her feelings to and consideration of him, he was able to smile when he was both scared and when he was being shipped off. Before being shipped off, Norman expressed how confident he is in Emma's abilities and knows that she will succeed with the plan. When Norman sacrificed himself, Emma was left depressed and helpless for a long period of time after his departure. However, Emma states that she will take care of everything Norman requested of her before his shipment, as well as accomplish all of his dreams when she succeeds going to the human world.

In A Letter from Norman, Norman mentions how he has always loved Emma. Norman originally planned to personally confess to her and write down his feelings in the letter, but instead vows to tell Emma his true feelings once he is able to reunite with her as adults.

Ray
Throughout the past 11 years of their lives, Norman has been the closest to Emma and Ray. Despite their contrasting personalities; with Norman being an enthusiastic and sociable person as opposed to Ray's sarcastic and introverted manner, Norman sees Ray as a brother figure and both deeply cared for each other's well-being. Both Norman and Ray acknowledged and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses hence seeing the opposite's skills to be useful in aiding their escape.

Besides Emma, and later Gilda and Don, Ray was the only person Norman was willing to put his trust on during their planning of escaping the orphanage. However, their trust was later limited when Norman suspected Ray to be Isabella's spy, as the two's relationship got restrained for a period of time. Nevertheless, they resumed being friends and helped to aid each other during the escape.

When Norman was shipped out of the orphanage, leaving a well-established plan behind for Emma and the others to use to escape, Ray was utterly shocked and awed by Norman's plan and how it was carried out smoothly as most of the orphans successfully escaped the orphanage.

Don and Gilda
Norman grew up with Don and Gilda as siblings. Norman appears to trust them, which is evident by the fact that he agreed to let them be part of the escape plan. Despite their initial fall-outs regarding Don and Gilda's reckless behavior and Norman's (and Emma's and Ray's) tendency to keep the details to themselves, they were able to work it out and became one another's most trusted allies in the escape plan. Additionally, despite being punched by Don when he was infuriated by the fact that he did not trust him completely, Norman held no grudge and apologized for his behavior as well. Upon his departure from the orphanage, he entrusted them to take care of Emma and Ray.

Isabella
Norman loved Isabella dearly, as she was the only mother-figure he had in his life. He described her as the person who raised him and taught him ever since he was a young boy. This is why, after discovering the truth about the farm, Norman felt very betrayed by Isabella and was devastated. Ever since then, Norman's love for Isabella vanished, viewing her as "monster" akin to the demons, and nothing more than an enemy. Although the two of them can converse normally around the orphans and are 'friendly' with one another, Norman is determined to ruin Isabella's plans in any way he can, such as attempting to poisoning her or killing her in order to escape. This makes their relationship very tense.

When Isabella revealed that she was to ship Norman off, he did seemingly not hold any grudge towards her and understood the reasons behind her actions, which is why he asked her if she was truly happy when she accompanied him to the gates.

Despite everything Isabella put the children trough, she truly loved Norman and the other orphans and later expresses how she wishes she could have loved her children normally.

Trivia

 * Norman's fragility could be shown in several artworks drawn by Demizu, such as a bonus page in Volume 1 showing how Norman was too weak to open a jar.
 * The following are Norman's rankings in some of The Promised Neverland official popularity polls.
 * Announced in Chapter 75, Norman achieved the 1st position in the Color Illustration Character Poll which was held on The Promised Neverland's official LINE account.
 * Norman is ranked 2nd in the Popularity Poll that was announced in Chapter 88 of the manga.
 * In Shounen Jump's 2nd popularity poll results announced in Chapter 102, Norman is in 2nd place with a total of 4763 votes.

Other Wikis

 * Norman on VS Battles Wiki. (Manga spoilers ahead)

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