Norman Bates

plural Norman Bateses

1. A male serial killer or villain, especially one with a problematic relationship with his mother and who seems superficially calm, pleasant or shy.

   I don’t know why but Mr Martin Harris gives me Norman Bates vibe.

   2021 August 4, anonymous author, “I don’t know why but Mr Martin Harris gives me Norman Bates vibe.”, in reddit.com, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2026

   3 more examples

   I, of course, felt like I was the Norman Bates of talk show hosts, throwing my mother under the show biz bus and never looking back. But my guests snapped me back into why we were here.

   2025, Bruce Vilanch, It Seemed Like a Bad Idea at the Time: The Worst TV Shows in History and Other Things I Wrote, Chicago Review Press, page 187

   Munis are the Norman Bates of Wall Street: They seem mild-mannered on the surface, but when you get to know them—-well, they can sure be surprising! Munis lack the glamour of hedge funds, but they bring out the mischievous streak in even the most staid Wall Street firms-and Bear is anything but staid.

   2007, Gary Weiss, Wall Street Versus America: A Muckraking Look at the Thieves, Fakers, and Charlatans Who Are Ripping You Off, Portfolio, page 149

   Less prevalent, thankfully, was a category of guys who didn't so much turn me off as just give me the creeps-the Norman Bates of match.com. Exhibit No. 1 was Jim555: "You sound like my dream girl. I'm 57, 5'5", ex-Air Force. I am living in Fallon, Nevada, with my mother of seventy-four on what used to be a farm."

   2004, Suzanne Schlosberg, The Curse of the Singles Table: A True Story of 1001 Nights Without Sex, Grand Central Publishing