Norman Babcock

Norman Babcock is the main protagonist of the 2012 film ParaNorman. He is the son of Perry and Sandra Babcock and younger brother of Courtney Babcock. He has the ability to speak to the dead.

ParaNorman
Norman Babcock was a young boy living in Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts, and possessed the ability to speak to the dead. While this enabled him to speak to his dead grandmother and the many ghosts residing in Blithe Hollow, Norman was emotionally distanced from his parents Perry and Sandra and his teenage sister Courtney, while at school he was constantly bullied by Alvin and his friends. However, near the 300th anniversary of the Blithe Hollow witch's execution, Norman began experiencing strange visions.

During a practice school play, Norman endured another vision, humiliating him and two of his classmates, Neil Downe and Salma Ramsay. Despite this, Neil attempted to befriend Norman after school, despite Norman's attempts to ignore him. While passing by the Town Hall, Norman and Neil were confronted by Norman's uncle, Mr. Prenderghast, who revealed he shared Norman's ability to speak to ghosts and warned him that the Blithe Hollow witch's infamous curse over the town is, in fact, real and will happen in the anniversary of her death. Neil scared Mr. Prenderghast away and Norman decided to ignore Prenderghast's warning. Norman and Neil later played fetch at Neil's house, where the two gradually became friends.

Norman partook in the school play commemorating the witch's curse and execution when he experienced another vision, this time imagining himself in the forest being pursued by Judge Hopkins, the judge who tried the witch centuries ago. The vision caused Norman to panic and humiliated himself and his family in front of the whole town. Angered, Perry grounded Norman for his actions, though Sandra attempted to excuse Perry's words by stating he is simply scared for Norman. At school, Norman was ridiculed by the other kids until he retreated into the bathroom, embittered.

While in the bathroom, Norman was confronted by the ghost of the recently deceased Mr. Prenderghast, who once again warned Norman that the anniversary of the witch's death was tonight and that her ghost would awaken and raise the dead to terrorize the town. Mr. Prenderghast then told Norman to read his book at the witch's grave to prevent the curse from unfolding. Norman agreed and Mr. Prenderghast's ghost passed on to the afterlife. Norman abandoned the school and returned home to prepare to stop the witch's curse. Norman briefly received encouragement from his grandmother and then set off towards the forest. However, he was unknowingly followed by Alvin.

Norman soon found Mr. Prenderghast's book and arrived at the local graveyard, where he read the book at the graves of the witch's seven accusers. However, Norman discovered the book to simply be a series of fairy tales before he was interrupted by Alvin. While distracted, Norman was unable to finish reading the book and the witch's ghost awoke and revived her seven deceased accusers. The accusers rose from the grave as zombies, terrifying Alvin. Norman retrieved the book and read it to the zombified Judge Hopkins, but he was unaffected. Norman and Alvin then opted to flee, pursued by the zombies.

Norman and Alvin briefly hid in Mr. Prenderghast's cabin, where Norman determined that he had read the book in the wrong area which is why it didn't work. The cabin was invaded by the zombies, forcing Norman and Alvin to flee once more, where they met Courtney, Neil, and his brother Mitch on the road. As the zombies approached, the five fled in Mitch's van as Judge Hopkins clung to it, attempting to reach Norman. Norman called Salma via phone, asking for information on the whereabouts of the witch's grave. He was advised to go to the Town Hall to find the information, but Mitch accidentally ran the van off the road and crashed it, forcing the group to continue on foot.

The five successfully made it to the Town Hall, but were unable to find the information needed. Frustrated, Norman got into an argument with Courtney and then ordered the others to leave. However, the group was trapped in the Town Hall as an angry mob, assembled by Norman's teacher Margot Henscher, began to burn the Town Hall down in an attempt to find the zombies, who had entered the building in search of Norman. The zombies confronted Norman in the archives, forcing him to flee to the roof of the building, where Norman saw the witch's ghost descend in the sky. Norman climbed the tower of the Town Hall and read the book aloud to the witch, but was struck down by a bolt of lightning which destroyed the book and knocked Norman unconscious.

While unconscious, Norman had a dream where he learned that the witch was Agatha Prenderghast, a young girl prosecuted as a witch due to her sharing Norman's ability to speak to the dead. Upon awakening, Norman encountered the zombies and angrily admonishes them for their actions. A guilt-ridden Judge Hopkins admitted to wanting to help Norman find the witch's grave to atone for executing Agatha. Norman, realizing the curse wouldn't go away even if he read the book, opts to instead talk to Agatha and redeem her. However, Norman and the zombies were confronted by the angry mob, who blamed Norman for the curse and attempted to attack him. However, the rest of the group, having a change of heart, stood up for Norman and forced the mob to back down.

Norman and his family drove to Agatha' burial site, directed by Judge Hopkins, where Norman was separated from his family. Nevertheless, he confronted Agatha alone and called her out for her actions. Agatha, in response, took Norman into the spirit dimension, where the two continued their confrontation. Agatha's supernatural powers nearly killed Norman, but Norman managed to show Agatha the error of her ways and she calmed down. Norman and Agatha talked to each other, during which Norman showed Agatha how similar they were. Agatha empathized with Norman and, having found someone who understood her, passed onto the afterlife, along with the zombies.

Norman was reunited with his family afterwards and returned to Blithe Hollow, where he met with Neil and thanked him for standing by him. Norman was later able to adjust to life in Blithe Hollow, realizing that there were people who cared for him.