Norman Bates

Norman Bates is a fictional character created by American author Robert Bloch as the main antagonist in his 1959 thriller novel Psycho; portrayed by Anthony Perkins in the 1960 version of Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock and the Psycho franchise. Vince Vaughn also portrays him in the 1998 version of Psycho, and by Freddie Highmore in the television series Bates Motel (2013–2017). Unlike the franchise produced by Universal Studios, Norman is not the principal antagonist in Bloch’s subsequent novels and is succeeded by copycat killers who assume Norman’s identity after his death in 1982’s Psycho II. Despite wide-ranging assumptions, the character was not inspired by Wisconsin murderer Ed Gein. Bloch later revealed that he was nearly finished writing Psycho when he first became aware of Gein and was struck by “how closely the imaginary character I’d created resembled the real Ed Gein both in the overt act and apparent motivation.” (Wikipedia)