Is Norman Dead or Alive in The Promised Neverland?

Fan-favorite character, Norman, meets a gut-wrenching end in the final episode of season one. The children at the Orphanage finally decide to escape following their findings of the reason for their existence and Norman is resigned to his fate that he has to sacrifice himself for the other children to be able to escape. Norman, being one of the smartest and one who looks out for the other children, is one of the favorites for the fans of the show and the thought of his death is sure to be devastating. But with no real evidence in the anime about his death, the question now is, is Norman Dead?

Norman is alive and is in fact doing great. The series is an adaptation of the manga of the same name and as they are following the same story, Norman is alive. He does not die in the manga and with the revelation in season two of the anime, it is clear that we are not done yet with Norman’s character.

Also, there is no direct evidence of his death in the series as the turn of events seems to be different from how other children were killed. He entered the room expecting to be killed by a demon but that didn’t seem to happen as he just looked confused like it wasn’t what he expected. He also does make a comeback in season two of the series in one of the massive revelations for fans of the show.

Does Norman die in The Promised Neverland (season one)?

According to how the episode ends for Norman, it is quite hard to predict what happened to him in the room Isabella took him into. The Promised Neverland anime is built around the story of an orphanage, Grace Field House, where kids are under the supervision of a caretaker, Isabella, who acts as the mother figure to the children. The children soon find out about the reason for their stay in the Orphanage after Norman and Emma find out about Conny’s death and as expected, they plan to escape. Things don’t go well according to plan and Norman decides to face his death to let the other children escape.

Norman doesn’t die according to the story in the manga. And since it’s not unfamiliar for anime adaptations to follow the path of the manga, it can be expected that we will still get to see Norman in the future episodes of The Promised Neverland.

In the series, Isabella takes Norman, who has accepted his fate to die, into a room where Norman is asked to wait. As he is inside, he has a quite confusing look as if he doesn’t get what he expected, which is being eaten by a demon. Following that, there is no further proof as to what happened to Norman in the room until a further explanation in season two. However, he returns to the manga after that moment, but as an older version of himself after going with research scientist, Peter Ratri, to the research facility where children are being experimented on.

Does Norman Come Back in Season Two?

After season one of The Promised Neverland where Norman is left with his fate of dying after he tries to escape with the other children following the discovery that they are only being kept in the Orphanage for meat to be eaten by the demons, many fans believed he had met his unfortunate end at the hands of the demons just like the other children who had been killed but it certainly didn’t turn out that way.

Norman returns to the Promised Neverland in Season Two Episode six where he reunites with the children at the orphanage and tells them about his experience and why he didn’t die. Norman told them that he was not killed by the demons, rather he was sent to a research facility, Lambda 7214, where children were being experimented on to produce quality meat.

He then told them that some of the children developed abnormalities in the course of experimenting on them and he’s only fine because he only took tests. He also mentioned how he planned and formed an escape team to leave the place, including how he used his experience there to form a new drug that degenerates the demons as he plans to fully eradicate them.

The way it goes in the episode is exactly how it was predicted as the same thing can be seen in the manga though there is more context to his journey at the research facility and how he managed to survive while the anime series just seems to rush through that part.

What Happened to Norman?

When one of the orphans at Grace Field House, Conny, was sent out for adoption, she forgets her stuffed top which prompts Norman and another child at the orphanage, Emma, to look for her to hand it over to her. To their surprise, they find out that Conny has been killed which makes them question the reason for being in the Orphanage and it soon dawns on them that they are being raised to be slaughtered for meat for the demons. Norman leads the plot for an escape though it doesn’t come easy as he has to stay behind to sacrifice himself while the other children can run away.

He is sent to a room by Isabella and later to research scientist, Peter Ratri, in a research facility where children are being experimented on to produce meat for the demons. Even though he is no longer at Grace Field House, Norman cannot seem to forget about the orphanage as he keeps thinking about the children and their safety in the orphanage. 

He doesn’t stop at that as he also plots another escape to leave the research facility. Norman, who has now changed a lot having been experimented on, looks different and much older than he was before he joined the research facility.

This is how it goes in the Manga and since the storyline of the anime adaptation has closely followed the Manga so far, it can be predicted that this is what the fate of Norman will be in the Promised Neverland. Also, he makes a return in season two of the series and his story looks much like what is in the manga. Further, into the story, Norman eventually becomes a strong force against the demons as he manages to manipulate them into fighting for the throne as he aims to create a safe place for himself and the kids free from demons.

How Does Norman Survive in The Anime?

Norman was already resigned to his fate of dying to sacrifice himself for the other children at the orphanage until it doesn’t happen that way and he is instead shopped away to another place, a facility where children are being experimented on for meat, to be as part of the test subjects. He took tests while he was there though he did say other children were faced with abnormalities as a result of the experiments carried out on them. Since he was ready to give up his life to save the other children it is quite clear that Norman was willing to do anything as long as it meant the safety of everyone and meant that they would be free from demons.

Norman is motivated to get back to the orphanage to save the children and as such he can survive and withstand all the pressure he got as he was subjected to intense monitoring. Right from when he got to the research facility, he was more interested in finding a way to escape and deal with the demons. In the series, he returns having escaped with a group of other escapees and also with the knowledge of a drug he could use to degenerate the demons and fully eradicate them.

In the manga, Norman doesn’t just stop at trying to escape and developing a way to deal with the demons, he also meddles with their politics and manipulates them into turning against each other and fighting for the throne. He also continues working tirelessly to achieve his aim of getting rid of demons and keeping the children safe.

Does Norman become a demon?

The anime has not really shown much regarding what happened to Norman during his stay in the research facility or after he managed to escape from there but in the manga, there is quite a much wider illustration of the turn of events there. Norman remains focused on his aim and keeps thinking of the children at the orphanage despite being far from there or them not knowing he was alive. 

He returns much older and gets to be involved with them as he tries to devise his ways to eliminate them. Even in the anime, he is known to develop a drug that could degenerate the demons and he wants to make use of it in executing his plan.

Even though he might have gotten closer to them to try to manipulate or get in between them to achieve his aim of eliminating every demon there is, Norman is not a demon and he will never be one. And this is probably one of the easiest predictions I’ll ever have to make regarding Norman’s fate in The Promised Neverland.

Right from season one when they had only just found out about the reason for their existence in the orphanage, Norman has always wanted to protect the children that he even went a step further to attempt going face to face with a demon to meet his death even though that didn’t quite work out. During his stay in the research facility and among them in the manga, he only is concerned about eliminating them and also stopping them from eating children or using them for meat.

Norman becoming a demon would entirely be against his whole agenda or mission against the demons and it would only be like he joined those he was trying to fight off or he is joining those who he has labeled the enemy. And considering he has a close relationship with Emma and Ray, for instance, children at the orphanage, then it is unrealistic to see him as a demon.

Why did Norman Turn Evil?

Norman does not become a demon both in the manga and the anime so far. He might have gotten close to them but it was only as a part of his plan which had been in the works since before he got sent to the research facility. He has always been one to look out for others, something that makes him one of the top favorite characters in the anime, and he has also shown that on several occasions. That Norman turns evil is based on context. 

Norman did not turn evil as he is only fighting for the right thing, which is to stop the use of children for experiments or mass production of meat and to also keep the children safe. The demons have been using the children for meat as they did with some of the children at the orphanage including Conny. When Norman is sent to Lambda, he also sees children being used for experiments, something that eventually led to abnormalities in them.

However, by context, some people might also call Norman evil or taking the mission a bit too far considering that he is on a mission to eliminate every demon he can. He used his knowledge at Lambda to develop a drug and make it a big part of his plan to mass eliminate the demons for their crimes against human existence. Norman wants to see an end to the death of children and also ensure their safety but with the presence of the demons, it makes his wish much more difficult and that is the main reason why simply taking them out completely is what Norman plans to do.