Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Norman Bates

Norman is the obvious antagonist; he's a murdering psychopath.

But at the same time, the antagonist isn't quite Norman—it's his mother. For most of the film, you think the mother is the murderer; it's only at the end that you realize that Norman and his mother are the same. So there are two antagonists—or none. The real antagonist is Norman's illness; the fact that he isn't himself. And if the antagonist is Norman's madness, it makes sense that the final protagonist is Dr. Richman—the psychiatrist.