Agatha Prenderghast

Agatha Prenderghast is the central antagonist of Laika's 2nd full-length animated feature film ParaNorman. She is the infamous Blithe Hollow witch whose curse has haunted Blithe Hollow for three centuries.

ParaNorman
Agatha Prenderghast was a girl who lived in Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts, with her mother, and possessed the ability to communicate with the dead. However, the pilgrim townspeople accused Agatha of witchcraft and her six primary accusers put Agatha on trial before Judge Hopkins. Within the Town Hall, Agatha was found guilty of witchcraft and sentenced to execution. Agatha was then hanged, but her ghost, embittered at having been unjustly prosecuted, cursed Judge Hopkins and the other accusers to die a horrible death and rise as the living dead as punishment. To prolong the curse, other members of Agatha's family had to read her mother's fairy tale stories at Agatha's grave to keep her at rest.

Agatha's ghost awoke three hundred years later when Norman Babcock failed to read the book at the correct location. Taking the form of a magical storm, Agatha rose the seven accusers as the undead. As Agatha's ghost descended over the town, the zombies pursed Norman through the forest and the town in an attempt to communicate with him. Norman, along with his sister Courtney, his friend Neil, his brother Mitch, and classmate Alvin entered the Town Hall in an attempt to find Agatha's records to locate her burial site. At the same time, the zombies were attacked by the townspeople and fled to the Town Hall as Agatha overlooked the chaos from above.

Norman, after being chased to the roof of the Town Hall by the zombies, saw Agatha's storm descending over the Town Hall. In an attempt to quell Agatha, Norman climbed the Hall's tower and struggled to read the book to Agatha. However, Agatha was unaffected and fired a bolt of lightning at Norman, causing him to crash into the archives. While unconscious, Norman had a dream where he witnessed Agatha's trial and condemnation by the townspeople. Upon awakening, Norman admonished the guilt-ridden zombies for their actions. The zombies pleaded with Norman to help stop the curse by reading the book to Agatha, but Norman realized that reading the book would simply prolong the curse and decided to talk to Agatha to end the curse permanently.

Agatha bore witness to Norman and the others reasoning with the townspeople and convincing them to cease their attack on the zombies. Enraged at her plan having been foiled, Agatha went on a rampage, damaging the Town Hall and other landmarks of the town. Amidst the chaos, Norman and his family were directed towards Agatha's burial site by Judge Hopkins. Upon reaching the forest, Norman's family was separated from Norman when Agatha bent and twisted the trees to block them. Nevertheless, Norman continued to the tree Agatha had been buried under, which had become distorted as a result of Agatha's magic.

Norman, upon reaching Agatha's grave, made an attempt to communicate with her enraged ghost, but Agatha refused to listen and attempted to force Norman to leave by causing spiked roots to rise from the ground and nearly impale him. Agatha then created a barrier around her grave, but Norman managed to break through. At that point, Agatha appeared to Norman in the form of a yellow poltergeist and attacked him with volts of lightning. When Norman persisted, an increasingly unstable Agatha transported herself and Norman into the spirit world, which began to collapse as a result of Agatha's supernatural powers.

Norman told Agatha her origins and told her she was becoming just like her executioners, which enraged Agatha to the point that she nearly killed Norman by smashing him repeatedly into a tree. However, Norman survived Agatha's assault and reminded Agatha of the people who did love her. At that point, Agatha opted to flee, but Norman grabbed her hand. Agatha managed to restrain herself and regained her appearance before her death. Remembering her past, Agatha managed to gain some happiness and Norman managed to communicate with her and revealed how similar the two were. Agatha voiced her opinions of enacting revenge upon her enemies, but Norman pointed out that it would do little good. Agatha recognized her burial site and Norman reassured her that she could pass on and reunite with her mother. With that in mind, Agatha fell asleep on Norman's shoulder and ascended into the afterlife to reunite with her mother. Agatha's storm dissipated at daybreak and the zombies faded away, leaving the town to repair itself.