Norman

''This article is about the Manga version of Norman. For alternate pages referred to by this name, please click any of the icons above.''

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

Norman is a math prodigy and a model student at Grace Field House Plant 3, 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 orphan living in Grace Field House Plant 3, Norman is considered as one of the House's three "Premium quality goods" next to Emma and Ray.

When he discovers the truth about 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.

In reality, Norman was transferred to an experimentation plantation called Λ7214. In February 2047, he managed to escape and destroy Λ7214 along with his new-found comrades. Witnessing the true horrors of the farm system, Norman hoped to completely annihilate all demons and create a sanctuary for all humans in the Demon World.

History
Norman was born at Grace Field on March 21, 2034, and sent to Plantation 3 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 at 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 infirmary. Emma, who cannot help to be isolated from her dear friend, sought to sneak into the infirmary 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. He was also isolated from the other children by Isabella. 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 that lurks around it. 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 at the start of the manga) that's worn parted to his left, a prominently longer piece curving upwards on the side of his head, resembling a horn of sorts, and narrow, inward-tilting blue eyes. The most distinctive physical trait of Norman is his thick eyebrows. He wore the standard Grace Field uniform- a plain white long sleeved button-up shirt and white pants along with brown boots. His Grace Field House identification number "22194" is tattooed across the left side of his neck. During his stay at Lambda 7214, Norman was made to wear a plain white long sleeved button-up shirt with ruffles on the chest underneath a white v-neck sweater vest and white pants along with black shoes. He also had the plantation's identifier tattooed onto the left side of his chest, with bruises surrounding the identifier. In the year 2047, now at the age of thirteen, Norman has grown to be the tallest among the trio. Standing at a height of around 170 cm, Norman towers over Emma and is slightly taller than Ray. Norman's hair has become slightly longer and noticeably messier. His current physical appearance mirrors that of the deceased William Minerva.

Whenever Norman is outside of the Paradise Hideout, he wears a short hooded cape with lacy ends that has three vertically aligned diamond-shaped patterns on the back which he most likely acquired from Smee. When he is at the hideout, Norman dons a plain white long sleeved button-up dress shirt and a light blue waistcoat with a light blue tie, light blue pants and black dress shoes.

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. Like the rest of his siblings, he enjoys playing games such as tag and hide-and-seek. 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 at Grace Field House Plant 3, 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 of 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.

Due to being completely isolated and jailed within Lambda 7214— far away from Emma, Ray, and his family— as well as being treated as an experiment who was drugged and could at any time be shipped-off and die, Norman's psyche was heavily damaged. He grew increasingly afraid of the demons and the unknown human world. As a defense mechanism, Norman forced himself to forget that he was a child and continually told himself he needed to be strong. In addition, he eventually took upon the mantle of "William Minerva", and presented himself as a strong leader whom everyone could rely and depend on. However, this often caused him to neglect himself to the point of misery, but he deems this as a necessary step to find happiness for everyone, including himself.

After running the Paradise Hideout for some time, Norman has turned into a shadow of his eleven-year-old self, and his bright and cheerful demeanor is replaced with a more serious one, as his usual smile is diminished into a frown. Although he has good intentions behind his actions, he has become very isolated and prefers to work alone without consulting anyone. Norman also developed the mentality that although kindness is valuable, it will never be able to bring victory into the world. As Barbara, Cislo and Vincent describes, they view the current Norman as a "serious", "emperor" and "winter" person, and the fact that they have never seen him smile before genuinely surprised them when they discovered how warm and cheerful Norman was during his reunion with Emma and the others.

After witnessing the true horrors of the demons and the human farming, Norman became fully convinced that the only way to stop the demons is to kill them all, even adding that Emma's plan for a new promise that involves no bloodshed is too optimistic and naïve. He even admits to himself that he'd gladly become both a God or a Devil if it meant he could keep his family and friends safe. This is demonstrated further when he hears that Mujika is alive; he immediately suggests to kill her rather than ally with her; and he kills Ayshe's adoptive demon father despite their loving family life. This shows that he has abandoned all hopes and opportunities for peace between the humans and demons.

However, Norman soon comes to acknowledge that he had been acting the way he did because he was scared. He chose the reliable path and only relied on himself because he was scared of making mistakes, which could potentially lead to the deaths of the people he cares. When Emma and Ray accept Norman for the person he is and reassures him that he is not alone anymore, and will walk alongside him facing the painful and scary things, he accepts their support. As he shows vulnerability and vows to never bear his burdens alone, he reverts back to his former self; Norman decides to do what he himself wants to do, not what others expect him to do. He allows himself to embrace friendship and discard solitude, and to show his desire to live on. Norman also realizes the pain he had inflicted on several people and feels guilty, but vows to atone for his mistakes.

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 at 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 at 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 disturbed by whatever he had just seen...

Search For Minerva Arc
What lay behind the doors turned out to be Peter Ratri, who warmly greeted the much surprised Norman. Isabella introduced Ratri as Norman's new foster father, though Ratri had Norman address him by his name instead. Ratri later asked Norman to help him with his research at Λ7214, to which he agreed.

In the subsequent months, Norman lived in Λ7214 in an enclosed room as he went through daily tasks, which includes solving a Professor's Cube and taking IQ tests. During his time there, Norman plotted to escape and reunite with Emma, Ray, and his other friends who were left at Grace Field.

Pre-Cuvitidala Arc
Norman continued to spend his days at the facility, completely enclosed from the outside world, and guarded at every turn. His motivation to escape stemmed from wanting to reunite with Emma, Ray, and his family. Eventually, he found an accomplice (presumably Vincent), and together, they communicated via Professor's Cubes. Norman also got into contact with another Minerva supporter called Smee, and borrowed help from him. After unknown events, Norman destroyed the Lamba facility and escaped it, taking all of the experimented children with him. However, Smee was unable to escape, as Peter Ratri had ordered a purge to wipe out the supporters lurking behind the scenes. Before Smee's death, Norman inherited some information, as well his network, which turned out to be a hideout. Norman and his large group eventually settled down in the secret hideout.

Pre-King of Paradise Arc
Around February 2047, Norman collected as much data on the demons from Lambda as he could. However, as the information about them was severely lacking, he took dozens of them into their custody to the basement of the hideout. Norman performed experiments on them to learn more about their abilities, diet, appearances, and such. Eventually, Norman came to the conclusion that demons degenerate if they do not eat human meat. During the time period where he researched about demons and their characteristics, Norman also learned the Demon Language. Eventually, Norman came to the conclusion that to free the cattle children, they had to annihilate all the demons. He proceeded to initiate a plan for several months, and according to Vincent, the went without sleep at some nights. His leader-like personality and will to free all the cattle children made him the primary "Boss" of the Paradise Hideout, being terribly respected and well-looked up to. His main confidants became Vincent, Barbara, Cislo and Zazie.

At an unknown point, Norman and his closest confidants went to explore one of the forbidden forests. They raided a home, which was inhabited by Ayshe and her adoptive father, who was a demon. Thinking Ayshe was in danger, Zazie killed the demon through slashing his face with his sword. When they arrived at Ayshe, she was devastated and she began telling them, in the Demon Language, that she would never forgive them and that she would kill them all. Norman understood her words, yet took her into the Paradise Hideout.

King of Paradise Arc
On October 2047, Norman, who took up William Minerva's name, successfully raided a factory farm together with his confidants, Zazie, Vincent, Cislo and Barbara. The five made it to the room where all the orphans were held. Unable to save them, Norman pitied the orphans before ordering his confidants to burn the factory farm to the ground. Norman and his group stared at the burning farm, the former explained how he will bring an end to the farms, free the children within and bring an end to the "neverland". Sometime later, Norman and his same group of confidants stood on top of a balcony as he claimed how he will build them a "paradise".

Norman somehow heard the news of how Emma and his friends from Grace Field House had escaped from the orphanage and made it to the paradise hideout. Hayato brought Emma to Norman's office. Seeing Emma for the first time in two years, Norman said how it has been a while since they met, as he smiled at Emma, who began to cry upon seeing her long lost friend. Norman and Emma soon shared a loving embrace before Norman reunites with Ray and his other friends soon after. Norman started to discuss about his breakout from Λ7214, as well as how he inherited Minerva's name to gather all the orphans from different farms in the paradise hideout, which was once a network belonging to an already deceased ally of Norman called Smee.

Norman disclosed to them the origins of the demons, as well as how Λ7214 and the orphans born in the farm and other mass-production farms, came to be. Norman concluded by saying how he will purge all the demons, end the neverland where orphans could never become adults, and build a paradise for all the humans to live in once and for all. As Norman bore a villainous expression on his face whilst saying it, Emma stared at him worriedly. Norman asked the orphans to join him in his plan, to which all of them agreed, with the exception of Emma and Ray, who are visibly hesitant with Norman's plan. After some time, Norman guided the group of orphans to the hideout's dormitory and had dinner with them. Norman, Emma, and Ray bonded over a game of chess before falling asleep to one another.

Norman woke up when Emma and Ray were still sleeping as he exited the dormitory and went back to his office. During the morning of the subsequent day, Vincent entered Norman's office and asked about his reunion with the Grace Field orphans. Vincent rebuked his caring and happy demeanor he had displayed the previous night and explained how the other inhabitants of the paradise hideout were shocked to see this side of him. Norman soon switched the topic and started to talk about his plan to raid the farms. Norman prepared a letter and ordered Vincent to send it to Lord Geelan and his group to seek their alliance.

After Geelan and his group received Norman's letter, Norman went to visit them with Zazie under William Minerva's name once again. Norman looked at Geelan's underlings, as he soon was greeted by the Lord himself. Norman wanted to form an alliance with him, he presented to Geelan a bag of severed demon heads they got from a mass production farm he and his confidants massacred a couple of days ago. Geelan was satisfied with the present Norman gave because of how they had massacred something which belonged to the royal family and the five regent houses, a group of demons who are rivals of his. Norman eventually managed to form an alliance with Geelan, as he promised the lord that he will bring an end to the royal family and the regent houses' reign and gave him the Ratri Clan, in exchange for freeing the orphans that reside the farms. Geelan asked Norman what would he do if he is unable to fulfill the promise, to which he replied he would let him eat him and the other freed orphans. Norman soon left Geelan's territory with Zazie, as he explained to the latter how all that he had explained to Geelan were lies, and how he will stab them in the back and not let him benefit from the promise the two made.

A flashback scene of him with Vincent, Barbara and Cislo appeared as he used a Queen chess piece (which represents him) to knock down the Pawn (which represents his enemies), a scene which juxtaposed and serves as a parallel of how he viewed Geelan and his group as nothing more than actual pawns for him to eventually knock down.

Norman and Zazie returned back to the hideout. Emma and Ray soon confronted Norman and wished to talk to him. Norman went back to his office and asked the two about their situation. Ray asked him about his strategy, to which Norman revealed his plan to them as a way to explain his strategy. When Norman was explaining his plan, Emma and Ray thought of Heathens like Mujika and Sonju, and told Norman about the existence of demons like the two said Heathens. Norman was shocked upon hearing the two's revelation of the Heathens' existence, particularly the existence of Mujika, whom Norman referred to as the "Evil-blooded Girl".

Norman proceeded on to explain the history of Mujika and her clan of Heathens, and how they're all now endangered thanks to the royal family and the Five Regent Families who had exterminated them so to operate the farms they own without the Heathens' disturbance. Now knowing the existence of Mujika and the Heathens, Norman proposed on getting rid of the last remaining members of this clan so they would not threaten the safety of him and his fellow orphans. Emma violently disagreed Norman's plan and sought to change his mind, believing how Mujika and her kind are good. Norman rebutted her claim, saying how if they do not exterminate all the demons, she and all the orphans could not live a happy life.

Norman managed to know Emma and Ray's plan on venturing to the Seven Walls. Back in his office, Vincent asked Norman when are the two going to the Seven Walls. Norman stood by the world map behind his desk, a shadow loomed over a proportion of his face as he stared dourly towards a distance. He soon replied how the two will be going when the moon comes out early than night.

Seven Walls Arc
Norman's ally, Jin, was spying on queen Legravalima and her army and sent a message back to the hideout via a messenger owl. The owl gave Jin's note to Vincent, who reported to Norman on how the demons have moved. Norman said how the report showed how their plan had progressed successfully. Norman foresees the plan to sabotage the royal family and the five regent houses' control over their citizens by raiding their farms and manipulate them into fighting one another. He grabbed some of the Pawn pieces off the chessboard, dumping them onto the board to show how he will divide the demon army. Norman explained to his confidants on how he will massacre the royalty and the houses in the middle of the upcoming Tifari, a major event for the demons, in a period of eight days. Vincent brought up the topic of Mujika and her kind, as he and Cislo asked him how he will deal with them. Norman replied how it has been thought out. Moments later, Norman got Hayato to call Don and Gilda to go and visit him.

Imperial Capital Battle Arc
After going through with his annihilation plan, Norman and his group are able to kill the majority of the demons residing in the Royal Capital. However, as Emma and Ray come to help Norman, he acknowledges that he, in reality, didn't want to do any of the deeds he committed, yet that he did not regret anything. He admits he wants to continue living on with his friends and if he could, not kill anyone anymore.

Return to Grace Field Arc
After defeating Queen Legravalima, Norman and his team make their way to Grace Field House to save their family and friends who were kidnapped by Peter Ratri. He, Ray and Emma decided to take over Grace Field farm. Then, they caught up on Peter Ratri and held their guns at him. After Peter's suicide, Norman joined Emma and the others to go get Phil, only to witness Isabella's death.

Human World Arc
Upon arriving in the Human World, Norman is seen to be visibly worried and shocked about Emma's disappearance. Norman, along with the other children, agrees to search for Emma so they can reunite with her again. Over the next two years spent in the Human World, Norman began attending school. During spring 2049, he finally reunites with Emma again and cries tears of joy, even though she lost her memories. In the special epilogue chapter, Dreams Come True, Norman became a CEO and lived out his dream of being with Emma and Ray.

Intelligence
Being one of the top-ranked orphans (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 received nothing but a perfect score in Grace Field's series of tests since he started taking the tests at age four. Norman also has excellent strategic skills and frequently put them into use when playing a game of tag with his friends.

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.

Norman also possesses an incredibly high level of mental calculations. For example, while suffering heatstroke, Isabella asked the then-unconscious Norman a complex mathematical equation upon which he immediately solved.

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

The extent of Norman's intelligence is shown as instead of being shipped for slaughter, he's taken to a special facility where he's given tests that are much harder than the ones at Grace Field − and he aces them all effortlessly.

When he begins coordinating his plan of genocide towards the demons, Norman knows his army can't defeat the royals in a fight, and also he allies with Geelan and his clan and has both sides wear each other out so that his troops can take down the survivors. He also made a special poison which makes most demons devolve, weakening their abilities even more and making them easier to kill.

Physical Strength
Unlike his keen intellect, Norman was one of the physically-weakest children of the orphanage. Nonetheless, Norman actively plans strategies in order 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.

Norman later planned a successful escape to evade Peter Ratri and the allies of the Ratri clan. He adopted the alias "William Minerva" to liberate and lead all the captive children of the demon world. Using his unmatched genius intellect, Norman clandestinely led his team of freed children to destroy many farms. While hiding his presence, Norman manipulated the demon nobility into believing other demons destroyed those farms to encourage infighting among the demons. And despite her moral objections, even Emma agreed that Norman's plan has the highest probability of success.

Demon Language
During the one and a half year where Norman spent his time studying about Demons and their nature, he learned their language. It is seen that he can both understand it, and flawlessly speak it as well. This was shown when he was speaking to Ayshe.

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 wellbeing 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 to them, 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. For example, he originally planned to oust Ray after finding out he was the spy, yet changed his mind thanks to Emma's influence. Norman even confesses to Ray that the reason he's going with Emma's plan of bringing every orphan into the escape plan is that he loves her. He also mentions that he would willingly sacrifice anyone, even himself, if it meant she could live. Emma and Ray were initially the only people in the orphanage Norman was willing to put his trust on, and he 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 Emma's feelings and her consideration of him, he was able to smile even when he was essentially meeting his end. 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, as well as accomplish all of his dreams when she succeeds going to the human world.

When they are reunited two years later, it is proved that there was no rift created between them despite the long time they didn't see each other, and it is clear that Norman and Emma still love and care deeply about each other. Norman also reveals that his plan to exterminate the demons and create a future where all cattle children can live happily, was inspired by Emma's words back to their time in Grace Field; as in, "to change the world". However, Emma begins feeling deeply uncomfortable by this plan, but when she decides to confess her feelings about these matters, Norman is against Emma's plans to avoid extermination. As Emma and Norman have grown independent from each other compared to their time in Grace Field House, they do not reach an agreement as their world-views and ideals are completely different. Although Norman harshly calls Emma out on her naïvety and kindness, as the world is not as kind as her, it is all to protect Emma and their family and secure them with a peaceful future.

While Norman is initially hesitant to accept Emma's support and care due to his own duties, Emma understands the burden Norman carries by taking up the mantle of a "god" and "William Minerva". Even after Norman carried out his genocide plan, Emma was able to see through him and his actions, and reassures him that he is not alone anymore. Emma mentions that she wants to walk alongside Norman, facing and sharing the painful and scary things. After a while, Norman, who realizes he had made an error in judgment and was being dishonest with himself, is finally able to accept Emma and Ray's support and the three reconciles, vowing to never let anyone out of them to bear their burdens alone. After reverting back to his "former" self, Norman is once again ready to always be by Emma's side. He is also seen to be endeared by her optimism and recklessness; mentioning that Emma's words make him feel like he can do anything.

In A Letter from Norman, Norman mentions how he has always loved Emma, ever since they were toddlers. When asked by Emma what he wanted to become when he grew up, a future in which he could be with Emma was the first thing that came to his mind. Norman also originally planned to personally confess to Emma and even wrote down his feelings in the letter before scrapping the idea, but instead vows to tell Emma his true feelings once he is able to reunite with her as adults.

Ray
Growing up together for their entire lives, Norman has been best friends and brotherly figures with Ray. Despite their contrasting personalities; with Norman being an enthusiastic and sociable person as opposed to Ray's sarcastic and introverted manner, both deeply care for each other's well-being. Norman respects Ray and is deeply confident in his abilities, and vice versa. At the same time, he acknowledges and understands Ray'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.

The two, however, do have opposing views on various situations, like when Ray wanted to leave the others behind to heighten the chance of their survival, while Norman, believing in Emma, wants to help find a way to help everyone escape. Their trust was later limited when Ray was revealed to be Isabella's spy, and the two's relationship got restrained for a period of time. Nevertheless, Norman eventually came to the conclusion that he still didn't want to give up on him, and the two were once again able to work on their differences and help each other out.

You can die anywhere, but this isn't the place. I'll show you something cool, so just shut up and come.

Norman cares about Ray deeply and puts his well-being above his own. Norman also gives his thanks to Ray and Emma for making his life such a happy one. Because of this, Norman is very protective of Ray; his desire to sacrifice himself, despite letting Ray's six years of hard work go to vain, stems from his unwillingness of either letting Ray or Emma getting sacrificed in his stead. Norman is also very observant of Ray and was well aware of his intention to commit suicide. As Norman mentioned in his letter to Emma, he would never let Ray die, and instead wished for him to live a life where he could experience the outside world. Because of this, he coordinated a plan two months prior to the escape where Ray was included and where he would survive. And Ray, after witnessing their plan come to fruition and hallucinating Norman telling him to not give up, it inspires him to keep living, discard his previous cynical ideals, and finally dream for a hopeful future that Norman would be proud of.

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.

When Norman is reunited with them two years later, all of them are overjoyed, especially from Don and Gilda's side since they found out that Norman was alive the whole time. Norman also trusts them a whole lot and seemingly has faith in their abilities, as he entrusted them to embark on a trip to find Sonju and Mujika. When they bid farewell to Norman, the three shared a tearful hug. However, Don and Gilda are seen to be suspicious of Norman and his true intentions, and likewise, Norman does not completely trust his two siblings.

However, Norman later comes to realize his mistakes and opts to make amends. Don and Gilda, however, understands and accepts him, and holds no ill feelings towards him. During their reunion from the battle at the demon capital, the three share a tearful hug, once again signifying their strong friendship.

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.

Smee
Norman met Smee in Λ7214 and introduced himself as a supporter of William Minerva, the two eventually became allies as Smee sought to help Norman escape the plantation. To protect his real identity, Smee did not reveal his real name to Norman, implying how there was a possibility that he did not fully trust the boy. Nonetheless, Smee's trust for Norman was enough for him to reveal a few of his networks which can act as a shelter and a home for him after he escaped from the plantation.

The escape plan was eventually found out by Peter Ratri, who orchestrated a purge in Λ7214. A flashback of Norman's showed how he was desperately reaching out to Smee to rescue him but to no avail, as Smee was soon killed. Norman managed to escape the plantation and later inherited one of Smee's network.

Vincent
Norman has known Vincent ever since his time at Lambda. They communicated through professor cubes since both had a desire to escape the plantation. After escaping Lambda, the two have formed strong mutual trust between them. Vincent is Norman's right-hand man and supports him in any way he can. Vincent also worships Norman as a "god" due to being their leader who saved him from the horrors from the Lambda facility. Although Norman treasures Vincent and is deeply confident in his abilities as well, he is not comfortable showing his "true" personality such as the way he did in Grace Field.

Nonetheless, they work very well together and care deeply about one another. However, a temporary strain occurred between the two when Norman changed his mind about their plan of annihilating the demons, something that Vincent had hoped they could achieve ever since they escaped from Lambda. However, Vincent was able to put his own feelings aside and acknowledge Norman's suffering caused by the plan. After this, Vincent comes to terms that he does still care about and respect Norman as his leader despite everything, which Norman appreciates.

Barbara, Cislo and Zazie
Barbara, Cislo, and Zazie are companions of Norman's as well as his main confidants along with Vincent. All three, particularly Barbara and Cislo (since Zazie is non-verbal and only five years old), respects and loves Norman deeply, even worshipping him as a "god" who can do nothing wrong. The two of them are deeply grateful towards Norman for saving them from the Lamda plantation and having them escape with him. Because he took them out from such poor living conditions, they support him in anything he does, even more so in his plan to annihilate the demons. Norman cares about their well-beings deeply and trusts them above all else, and entrusts them with many tasks as well as accompanying him to liberate farms and forming pacts with demons. Despite their limited time left due to the after-effects of the experimentation from Lamda, Norman swears to not let his friends die and wishes to fight until the end to save them all.

Even after Norman changed his mind about wanting to annihilate the demons, all of them were supportive of Norman, in contrast to Vincent. Cislo especially, who declared that Norman mattered more to him than anything else. He also realized how heavily the plan had weighed on him, and now only wishes for his happiness. Cislo's loyalty is further showcased when he protected Norman from Legravlaima's attack, losing his leg in the process. Norman feels appreciative to have the support from his friends despite his mistakes.

Ayshe
Norman and his group "rescued" Ayshe from demon captivity, a deed which Ayshe was implied to have been grateful for. Norman also seems to trust Ayshe and has faith in her abilities, as he chose her as the escort of his dear friends. However, it is later revealed that Ayshe hates Norman for killing her adoptive father and sees him and his group as nothing but her enemy. She also vowed to kill them all in revenge.

From Norman's side, he does not trust Ayshe completely either, as she was not the true escort for her friends to search for Mujika and Sonju. Since it is known that Norman understands the demon language, it is assumed that he knew about Ayshe's situation and her father, and heard Ayshe's threats to kill them in the demon language after going through with killing her father. Nonetheless, he took Ayshe in under his wing, and unintentionally tricked the other children into believing that he liberated her.

After changing his minds about the demons, Norman seems to show remorse over his actions and tells Ayshe a few things in the demon language upon their reunion after the battle at the capital. His words shocked Ayshe.

Legravalima
Norman shared a rather complex connection to Legravalima. Legravalima desired to devour Norman; a premium quality "product" with the best mind and the best brain, since he was exactly what she had craved in her otherwise luxurious life. She also claimed that Norman was hers alone. Because of this, she sent him to Lambda 7214 in hopes of having him all to herself and not being offered to. While she indirectly "saved" Norman which enabled him to escape from both Grace Field and Lambda, Norman does not share the slightest bit of obsession over her as Legravalima does for him. While standing guilt-free in front of dying body, Norman swore that he, or any other cattle child, would never be food for the demons again.

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.
 * In The Promised Neverland's official LINE account's Best Color Illustration Character Poll results announced in Chapter 75, Norman is in 1st place.
 * In Shounen Jump's popularity poll results released in May 2018 in Chapter 88 of the Manga, Norman is in 2nd place.
 * In Shounen Jump's 2nd popularity poll results announced in Chapter 102, Norman is in 2nd place with a total of 4763 votes.
 * Norman learned the demon language from Smee's information and the relics in the hideout.
 * He was the last child from Grace Field Plantation 3 to be shipped out.
 * Although Norman's shipment was in Shirai's original draft of the story, there was no hint of his survival. He was swiftly shipped out, and Ray was swiftly killed. However, Sugita wanted both of them to survive due to how popular both characters were; and suggested a clear mislead of Norman's possible survival. Sugita jokingly teased Shirai for wanting to kill off Norman after being so desperate to keep Krone alive. He started suggesting to decide his rescue based on the reader's response. Shirai remembers saying "If Ray can't die, then let me ship Norman out!". The two came to negotiation and a small hint to Norman's survival was added. Shirai insisted it wouldn't be necessary, but Sugita demanded, "At least put in a [huh?] so people can speculate whether he's alive or not!".
 * When asked who wins more at chess - Norman or Ray, Shirai responded, "Until the night of October 17, 2045, the winning count was almost a tie."
 * Norman learned lockpicking as an extension of machine disassembling with Ray. Ray also knows it and did it with him.
 * According to Shirai, Norman was the character who changed the most personality-wise, but that change was set from the very start.
 * When designing Norman two years later in 2047, Demizu wanted to make sure that Norman looked older than thirteen to symbolize his growth and change. Originally, in early drafts, Demizu had designed him to look more like his actual age, but Shirai wanted to mislead people into thinking he was William Minerva, so he requested that Demizu draw him to look a little bit older.
 * When asked "What was the embarrassing thing that Norman did as a kid to cure his cold implied in volume 18 (offscene)?" Shirai responded, "It’s a secret, like the story of the Red washbasin man."
 * Before starting the serialization, Shirai once wondered which one between Ray and Norman would be a girl if he had to make Emma a boy (to meet the editorial dept.'s requests). He decided Norman might be the girl in such case. Shirai thinks maybe Norman would've looked like the white-haired ancestor lady if he were a girl.

Etymology

 * Norman as a given name is of mostly English origin. It is a Germanic name and is composed of the elements nord ("north") + man ("man"). The name can be found in England before the Norman Invasion of 1066, but gained popularity by its use by Norman settlers in England after the invasion.

Other Wikis

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

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