Due to many liberties taken with the original material, this character page is distinct from that of Psycho. BEWARE OF SPOILERS.
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Jiao
Jiao
Played By: Diana Bang
A young Asian woman chained in a basement. She's kept as a sex slave by Zach Shelby.
- All There in the Manual: Her back-story is more thoroughly explored in extra material.
- Butt-Monkey: She doesn't have a single moment of happiness in her entire appearance.
- The Cameo: After never being seen or mentioned since her presumed death midway through season 1, she turns up in one of the final scenes of the fifth and final season in which she is seen selling the Bates Motel.
- Never Found the Body: It's assumed that Shelby killed her, but we haven't seen a body and nobody seems interested in finding her.
- Sex Slave: She was a 'product' who Jake Abernathy sold to Shelby as part of the deal to keep the sex slave industry running through White Pine Bay.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She's never seen after she escapes from Shelby. The characters presume he killed her.
- She turns up at the very end of season 5.
Abernathy
Jake Abernathy / Joe Fioretti
"You wanna play? We'll play!"
Played By: Jere Burns
"I'm not some moron like Keith Summers. He was the bottom rung, I'm on the top. You understand?"
A mysterious guest at the motel who appears to be looking for Keith Summers.
- Big Bad: Of Season 1. He's the man behind Summers and Shelby.
- Character Death: Romero meets with him, apparently to make a new shady deal. When Abernathy relaxes, Romero shoots him four times in the chest, killing him outright.
- Danger Takes a Backseat: Pops up right behind Norma to deliver his ultimatum.
- Deadpan Snarker: As per usual for a Jere Burns character, he has a talent for sarcasm.
- Disney Villain Death: After getting shot multiple times in the chest, Abernathy falls off a bridge into a river.
- Faux Affably Evil: He can only keep up his polite facade for so long and quickly loses his patience.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Behind those thick, nerdy glasses beats the heart of a true psychopath.
- I Have Many Names: He says this almost word-for-word while speaking with Romero. Jake Abernathy and Joe Fioretti are both implied to be aliases.
- The Man Behind the Man: The real power behind Keith Summers and Zach Shelby.
- Multiple Gunshot Death: Romero kills him with 4 shots to the chest.
- No Kill like Overkill: Romero shoots him four times, sending him into the water.
- Lean and Mean: He's very thin with sharp, sinister features.
- Obviously Evil: He pays only in cash, acts very sketchy and generally creeps everybody out.
- Soft-Spoken Sadist: He has a very gentle, slow voice that's at fierce contrast to what type of person he truly is.
- Would Hit a Girl: He beats the absolute hell out of Keith Summers' sister off-screen.
Annika
Annika Johnson
"Sex is sex. We all need it."
Played By: Tracy Spiridakos
A young woman who checked into the Bates Motel for a few days and was given Room 4.
- Abusive Parents: She vaguely alludes to her father not being a nice guy.
- Character Death: Annika dies of a gunshot in the motel driveway.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: She's shot in the stomach and dies in Norma's arms.
- Hooker with a Heart of Gold: She's a prostitute, but she's friendly and affable.
- Ms. Fanservice: She has a tendency toward revealing outfits and gets a bra and panties scene. Of course, Norman is spying on her at the time so any sexiness kind of evaporates.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Her death kickstarts Norma and Romero's storyline in Season 3.
- Small Role, Big Impact: She has less than two episodes in the series, but she indirectly causes drama at the Bates Motel and contributes to Paris' fall from power over the town.
- We Hardly Knew Ye: Annika disappears after her first episode, only turning up at the last second in the third episode to die.
Marion Crane
Marion Crane
Played By: Rihanna
A young woman who comes into conflict with the law, only to seek shelter at the Bates Motel.
- Adaptation Expansion: Marion is set to star in multiple episodes to build on her character before her eventual fate. However, she doesn't die in this version. See Spared by the Adaptation below.
- Adaptational Villainy: To an extent. In the original film she planned on returning and face the consequences of her actions for stealing the money (before she ended up being murdered), however here she goes on the run and decides to keep the money, with no intention on returning it.
- Advertised Extra: Despite being one of the most important characters in the final season, Marion only appears in three episodes before departing the show. One episode is solely a cameo making love to Sam and two episodes are all about her carrying on her film role. While she does survive in this version, she still leaves the show pretty abruptly.
- Anti-Hero: She steals $400,000 from her Mean Boss so she can finally marry Sam and live a happy life. She also displays a very brash side to her when dealing with others.
- Asshole Victim:
- She robs $400,000 from her mean boss and a perverted investor who checked her out.
- She later vandalizes her unfaithful boyfriend Sam's car when she learns that he's already a married man who lied to her.
- Bait-and-Switch: She eventually takes a shower in the Bates Motel as the camera closes up on the curtain and nothing happens. Instead she avoids her original counterpart's fate and is Spared by the Adaptation.
- Beleaguered Assistant: She's worked hard all her life as a secretary for a mean boss, but she has yet to finally be happy with her life. This is what leads her to steal from her employer and run off to live with Sam Loomis.
- Book Dumb: She reveals that she doesn't have a college degree.
- Broken Bird: By "Marion" she begins to question who she is anymore since she threw her old life away for a man who lied to her and has nothing left for her. Norman copes her out of this thinking.
- Broken Pedestal: Sam becomes this for her when she sees him for what he truly is and breaks up with him.
- A Day in the Limelight: "Marion" is appropriately focused all on her character development and her getting Spared by the Adaptation.
- Dead Star Walking: Rihanna plays the infamous shower scene victim. Subverted, she doesn't die in this version.
- Doomed by Canon: Considering the character's most well-known role, it's pretty much a Foregone Conclusion.
- Surprisingly averted. She lives in this version.
- Dude Magnet: Sam states that a number of men are attracted to her and we do see that a client at her boss' office checks her out.
- Fiery Redhead: She has red hair in this version and is a strong independent woman.
- Go-Getter Girl: She desires to earn enough money to live a good life with her lover Sam.
- Heel–Face Turn: After learning that Sam lied about loving her she has a change of heart and makes peace with Norman.
- Karma Houdini: Receives absolutely no punishment at all for stealing $400,000, never regrets her immoral actions, and gets away completely scot-free.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: It seemed like she was going to die in the shower like her movie counterpart, but she suddenly gets out the shower muttering "Screw this shit".
- Locked Out of the Loop: She has no clue that her lover Sam is already married. Norman eventually tells her.
- Ms. Fanservice: She gets a number of sex scenes with Sam and wears beautiful outfits when fully clothed. She also gets a shower scene where she appears naked from her backside.
- The Mistress: She's Sam's mistress given the fact he's married to Madeleine. However, she isn't aware that Sam is married. That changes when Norman tells her.
- Odd Friendship: She and Norman instantly become good friends in their first encounter.
- Race Lift: Being played by Rihanna, this was inevitable.
- Redemption Equals Life: When she realizes that her actions were meaningless in the end and Norman gives her a pep talk, she makes peace with Norman and departs the show alive and well, avoiding her film counterpart's fate.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Not only does she survive her Shower Scene, Norman gets her to leave the motel to start a new life.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After learning about Sam's lies, she departs from White Pine Bay alive and well to start a new life in parts unknown.
- Ship Tease: She and Norman hug a lot since she sees him as a caring person.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Her boss denies her a big promotion since she doesn't have a college degree.
- Toplessness from the Back: Norman spots her naked from her backside as she enters the shower.
- Walking Spoiler: She immediately becomes this when it's revealed that she actually survives in this story and doesn't get killed instead.
- Woman Scorned: Upon learning that Sam is married, she thrashes his car.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Norman tells her that she still has the chance to escape from her own personal trap and helps her rebuild confidence in herself so she can go out to restart her life as a new woman.
Sam Loomis
Sam Loomis
Played By: Austin Nichols
A young man just visiting the Bates Motel with his lover.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: The show's version of Sam Loomis is more of a Pretty Boy than his film counterpart.
- Adaptational Villainy: It turns out that he's an already married man cheating on his wife with Marion Crane instead of being divorced already like in the original film. When Norman learns of this, Loomis threatens to attack him if he tells Madeleine.
- Adaptational Wimp: In the original movie, Sam is the one who beats up Norman in a one-sided fight and exposes his insanity. In the show, Norman kills him almost effortlessly.
- Asshole Victim: Given that he's cheated on two women without caring about their feelings and broke into the Bates Motel at night without paying, nobody was sad when he gets killed in the shower instead of Marion.
- Bad Liar:
- When Norman requests his name, he clearly makes one up on the spot.
- He also tries lying to Marion about her moving in with him by saying a whole bunch on nonsense that she clearly doesn't believe.
- And again when he tries to lie to his wife about being faithful only to her. She's the first to call him out on his bull.
- Blatant Lies: Most of his dialogue about how he truly loves both Marion and Madeleine is this since he's cheating on both. This is especially apparent when he tells Norman that deep down he's a good guy while nonchalantly threatening him under the same breath.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's an already married man having an affair and he threatens to assault Norman if he tells anyone about his true colors. He even keeps up the phony nice guy act around both his lovers since neither of them are aware of what kind of a man he really is.
- Consummate Liar: This guy can never just stop lying through his teeth and always makes himself look like he's in the right.
- Deadly Bath: Well, a deadly shower since he ends up being the shower scene victim.
- Death by Adaptation: He gets Marion's death in this version.
- Dies Wide Open: His eyes are staring blankly into space as he lays dying on the bathroom floor.
- Fatal Flaw: His Bad Liar tendencies come back to bite him when he gets caught in his affair.
- Hate Sink: He lies, cheats on women, refuses to accept his faults, and acts like he's a noble person when really he's not. As you can guess, he's not the same likable character he was in the film.
- Humiliation Conga: When his affair is exposed, Marion thrashes his car and dumps him, Madeleine throws her wine at him and kicks him out of her house, and Norman murders him in the motel shower.
- Hypocrite: He tells Norman that he's a nice guy while he's secretly having a love affair behind both his wife and his mistress. Later, he promises Madeleine that he loves her and only her, but when she kicks him out he goes crawling back to Marion immediately.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: He gets stabbed to death in the shower.
- In the Back: Norman stabs him in the back as he showers.
- Intended Audience Reaction: Sam being an antagonist instead of hero was done entirely on purpose so we wouldn't feel sorry when he's killed in the shower instead of Marion.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: He tells Norman that he's a good guy deep down, but nonchalantly threatens to attack him if he ever told his wife about his love affair. He tells Marion that she's the love of his life and promises her a better life together, but when she throws away her own life stealing $400,000 to start a clean slate with him he immediately backtracks on what he told her and tries weaseling out of it. He tells his wife that he truly loves her when she catches on to his affair, but when she throws him out of the house he immediately goes crawling back to Marion.
- Karmic Death: He ends up stabbed to death in the shower of the motel he cheated on his wife with Marion by the man he threatened to kill if he told anyone of his affair.
- Laser-Guided Karma: In "Marion," all the people he wronged get even with him.
- Mr. Fanservice: He gets a Shirtless Scene to show off his muscles as he makes sweet love to his unseen lover.
- Never My Fault: Acts like he's the real victim when both Marion and Madeleine take out their rage on him for lying to them.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Has this reaction upon encountering Norman again talking with his wife Madeleine.
- He has this reaction again when Marion tells him that she's coming to be with him and Madeleine finally calls him out on his affair.
- Pet the Dog: Despite his icy encounters with Norman, he offers his condolences when hearing of the death of his mother.
- Sex Signals Death: He ends up ironically killed in the same motel he had frequent love affairs in.
- Shirtless Scene: Norman sees him strip off his shirt as he prepares to make love to his lover.
- Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer: He got absolutely no publicity in the final season trailers at all before appearing in the show.
- Slimeball: He's a truly disgusting human being behind his phony smiles since he cheats on his wife and lies to his mistress.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Turns out that cheating on two women at the same time didn't result in a happy ending for him.
- Too Dumb to Live: He barges into the Bates Motel at night without paying Norman at all, goes into a room that was obviously abandoned with no hope of ever seeing Marion again, and decides to take a shower, thinking that Norman won't do anything to stop him from his actions. He ends up being the shower scene victim.
- Undignified Death: He ends up stabbed to death while taking a shower by Norman, a man who is much scrawnier than he is.
