The Promised Neverland is a hugely popular series currently being serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. The story is about children growing up in an orphanage who discover that they are being raised to feed demons, and so they try to escape to the human world. Among the main characters, we would like to introduce you to Norman, who shows his genius.
About the genius Norman
Source: The Promised Neverland © Kaiu Shirai/Posuka Demizu/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Emma, Norman, and Ray all got perfect scores on the GF Farm tests. Among them, Norman is the smartest. He is 11 years old when the story begins. He has a kind personality and is envious of Emma's personality. Norman has an identification number, 22194, on his neck. Norman also seems to have been looking forward to being picked up from the outside world at the orphanage until the incident with Connie.
Genius Norman and Emma
Source: The Promised Neverland ©Shirai Kaiu/Demizu Posuka/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman declares that he loves Emma. It's unclear whether it's familial love or romantic feelings, but it seems that he cares for Emma. Emma says she wants to take everyone and escape, so he says that he wants to build a sinking ship, even though it's a bit risky, out of consideration for Emma. By the way, it's unclear how Emma feels about Norman, and although she cares for him as family, it remains to be seen whether she has any special feelings for him.
Norman's genius①
Source: The Promised Neverland © Kaiu Shirai/Posuka Demizu/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman and Emma disobeyed their mother's orders and came to the gate to return Connie's stuffed animal. In fact, this was Ray's plan, who had known about the workings of this farm for a long time. In this way, they tried to move the pieces together toward their escape. The two of them understood everything after hearing the story of the demon there. Meanwhile, the ogre holds up a score sheet and says, "Finally, we've managed to harvest something better than fine quality." The score sheet shows the scores of the top performers. Norman, who is marked with 22194, seems to have all achieved a full score. Incidentally, 81194 is Ray, 63194 is Emma, and 65194 is Gilda.
Norman's genius②
Source: The Promised Neverland © Kaiu Shirai/Posuka Demizu/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman was the one who suggested escaping. Norman has a genius way of understanding things. The layout of the buildings, the order in which they are shipped out in order for everyone to escape, why they are called special, and why there are tests. Thinking about their daily lives, he realizes that the demons' target is the human brain. It seems that he also knew that the human brain grows 90% by age 6 and 100% by age 12. He is truly a genius.
Norman's genius③
Source: The Promised Neverland ©Shirai Kaiu/Demizu Posuka/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman and his friends, who are planning to escape, feel something strange about Mama's behavior and are convinced that there is a traitor among the children. That alone is amazing, but when they tell him that the rope is in a different place for each of them, he realizes that Ray is the informant for Mama. He also realizes that Ray has been controlling the family together with Mama for many years as an informant.
Norman's genius ④
Source: The Promised Neverland © Kaiu Shirai/Posuka Demizu/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman, who knew Ray was a traitor, tried to recruit him into his team. At that time, he felt something strange about Ray's words, "I won't let you two get killed." He then finds out that Ray is hiding the oil and is secretly planning to let Emma and Norman escape in exchange for Ray's life. Unfortunately, on the day of the escape, Norman has already been shipped out, but by following Norman's instructions, Ray is able to escape safely with him.
Genius Norman's Weakness
Source: The Promised Neverland ©Shirai Kaiu/Demizu Posuka/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman's weakness is that he has always been weak, and he doesn't have much stamina. This is something that was written in the documents that Krone was shown by her mother, Isabella, when she came to be a nun. Krone proudly tells Emma about this when she participated in a game of tag as the Oni, but she was unable to catch Norman and Ray afterwards. It seems that their strategy is different after all.
Genius Norman and Mama
Source: The Promised Neverland ©Shirai Kaiu/Demizu Posuka/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman is competing with Mama in a battle of wits to escape. When Sister Krone was called, Norman blamed himself for what Mama had done to him. But when Norman and Emma confront Mama while inspecting the site, they realize that they are special and cannot be shipped out immediately. That is why they can be so forceful in their inspection. Then Mama tells Norman that his shipment has been decided. When Norman hears this, he is unable to inspect the site.
The shipment of the genius Norman
Source: The Promised Neverland © Kaiu Shirai/Posuka Demizu/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman, who is considered a genius, has the best of the best meat. It was unusual for such a man to be shipped out before he turned 12. Emma and Ray somehow managed to stop Norman's shipment and persuaded him to escape and go into hiding. However, on the day of shipment, Norman disappeared and it seemed as if he had gone into hiding, but in fact he had gone to scout the wall for Emma and the others. The information that Norman risked his life to provide was essential for their escape. After completing his scouting, Norman quietly returned and asked, "Is Mommy happy?" before being shipped out.
The truth behind the shipment of the genius Norman
Source: The Promised Neverland © Kaiu Shirai/Posuka Demizu/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman was shipped out, but he wasn't actually used as food. He's living a different life in a different facility. He's probably at the new farm of the Lambda 7214 project. However, there are still no details about what this project is or what they're researching at the new farm. Anyway, Norman, who was taken in by Peter Rathory, is helping him with his research.
The genius Norman, the end
Source: The Promised Neverland ©Kaiu Shirai/Posuka Demizu/Shueisha/CloverWorks
Norman agreed with Emma's idea that they should all be saved because he loves Emma and wants it to be that way, but in a deal with Ray, he decides to abandon some of them. I'm really looking forward to seeing how Norman, who has gone to the new farm, will be involved in the story going forward!
