Judge Hopkins



"I believed we were doing what was right. I was wrong. Now this is our punishment. We thought we knew our way in life. But in death, we are lost. Please. Help us." - Judge Hopkins admitting to Norman that what he had done was wrong

Judge Hopkins is the on & off main antagonist in the film ParaNorman. He is responsible for all the events, but lives in regret for what he did in his mortal life. He is the leader of the zombies in the film.

Mortal Life
Judge Hopkins was one of the original townspeople in Bilthe Hollow. In the original settlement, there lived a girl named Agatha "Aggie" Penderghast, who had the ability to talk to the dead. Having been brought up as Puritans, Hopkins and everyone else was afriad of her and condemmed her. They took her from her mother and sentenced her to hang. Angry at everyone's intolerance, Aggie unleashes her aparently hidden powers, swearing to make them suffer.

After their deaths, Hopkins and the other Puritans that condemned Aggie realized their mistakes and spent the next three hundred years in guilt and regret. Aggie's curse was that they would rise from the dead as zombies and suffer like she suffered. The curse was prolonged because members of Aggie's family would read her fairy tales to keep her spirit asleep.

As a Zombie
Three hundred years later, when Norman Babcock, not understanding the whole story, fails to read the fairy tales to Aggie because he was distracted by a bully named Alvin. Aggie's angry spirit and the zombies began to rise, Alvin and Norman make a run for it, eventully catching up to Norman's sister, Courtney, his best friend, Neil, and Neil's older brother, Mitch. Mitch accidently runs over one of the zombies and the kids make a hasty drive to get away from them. Judge Hopkins tries to personally climb aboared Mitch's van but Mitch floors it, leaving Hopkins hanging from the back, screaming.

Hopkins and the other zombies move on into the town, where they are confused by the modern world around them. The people of Bilthe Hollow think they are being attacked and try to fight the zombies, even through the storm Aggie personifies herself as causes more damage. Eventully, Norman and his friends look into the town hall, looking for Aggie's records, to no avail. Eventully, Norman is knocked unconsious when Aggie's storm strikes the building. Norman has a magic-induced flashback of Aggie's trial, he eventuly wakes up sorrunded by the zombies. The Judge (who aparently is the only one who can talk to Norman) walks up to him, but Norman shouts at him, calling him out for what they did to Aggie. The guilt-ridden Judge admits his fears got the better of them and they do deserve their fate, but are trying to make up for what they did, no matter how unforgivable it may be.

Hopkins and the other zombies offer to take Norman to Aggie's grave so he can personally reach out to her, but they are cornered by the angry mob, who threaten to lynch Norman for being "at leauge" with the zombies, but Norman's friends, who realize how important Norman's goal is, calls them out on it. Norman's family decides to drive him to Aggie's grave, with Hopkins joining in to guide them (leading to a very awkward car drive) and the other zombies stay behind.

Around the end of the film, after Norman reaches out to Aggie and she goes back to sleep, Hopkins and the other zombies begin to crumble to dust and their spirits fade away, this time everyone else could see them as they move on. The Judge dissapears in front of Normans family, with a sad and regretful look on his face. It's not clear if they go to Heaven or Hell when they moved on.

Trivia

 * Judge Hopkins is one of many animated villains we can empathize with, along with Rameses, Mr. Waternoose, etc.