Cenobite (Hellraiser)

Etymologically the definition of the term "cenobite" represents the member of a religious order, who lives in a monastic community.[1] Cenobite in the Hellraiser franchise represents a member of a masochistic religious community, priest of Leviathan.[2]

The Hellbound Heart says the Cenobites are also known as "The Order of the Gash".[3] Cenobites were once human, having transformed to their current state in their pursuit of gratification.[4] Cenobites are so removed from their former humanity and so dedicated to exploring physical experience that they no longer distinguish between sensations of pleasure and pain. Humans who summon the Cenobites, either by accident or in hopes of experiencing pleasures unknown on Earth, are often taken to their home dimension and become "experiments" in discovering the limits of physical experience, resulting in torture for eternity.

The Cenobites vary in number, appearance, and motivations depending on the medium (film, comic book, etc.) in which they appear. The involvement of multiple parties in the production of Hellraiser films and comics (many eschewing the creative supervision of Clive Barker) has led to varying levels of consistency with respect to their philosophies and abilities; for instance, their powers were much reduced in the 1992 film Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth compared with the first two films.[5] The original novella and first two films indicate they are morally ambiguous ("demons to some, angels to others") but later films and comics depict them as often malicious and taking delight in causing harm. The only constants are that they take the form of ritually mutilated people with varying degrees of human characteristics, and that they can only reach Earth's reality when summoned through a schism in time and space, which is opened and closed using a puzzle box known as the Lament Configuration or, as described in the original story, the Lemarchand Configuration.

After being disappointed with the way his material had been treated by producers in Underworld, Barker wrote The Hellbound Heart as his first step in directing a film by himself. The book describes a group of sadomasochistic entities who live in an extra-dimensional realm, where they perform "experiments" on humans in extreme sexual experiences. Although antagonist Frank Cotton believes they will take the form of beautiful women, they appear instead as monsters:

Why then was he so distressed to set eyes upon them? Was it the scars that covered every inch of their bodies, the flesh cosmetically punctured and sliced and infibulated, then dusted down with ash? ... No women, no sighs. Only these sexless things, with their corrugated flesh.[6]

Author David McWilliam notes that the Cenobites are described in more explicitly sexual terms in the book compared with their depictions in the film adaptations.[3] The four Cenobites described in the book each present unique mutilations and modifications: one Cenobite has stitches through its eyelids and a system of chains with bells hooked into various parts of its body; another has a grid tattooed to its head with jeweled pins driven into its skull at the intersections; the eyes of yet another are swollen shut and its mouth heavily disfigured; finally, a female Cenobite has undergone elaborate scarification to her pubis. The fifth, lead Cenobite, referred to as "The Engineer", appears briefly in the book's climax as an average human being whose body glows with intense light when he travels between realms.

After securing funding for a motion picture adaptation in early 1986, Barker and his producer Chris Figg assembled a team to design the cenobites. Among the team was Bob Keen and Geoff Portass at Image Animation and Jane Wildgoose, a costume designer who was requested to make a series of costumes for four or five "super-butchers" while refining the scarification designs with Image Animation.[7]

My notes say that he wanted "1. areas of revealed flesh where some kind of torture has, or is occurring. 2. something associated with butchery involved" and then here we have a very Clive turn of phrase, I've written down, "repulsive glamour". And the other notes that I made about what he wanted was that they should be "magnificent super-butchers". There would be one or two of them with some "hangers on" as he put it, and that there would be four or five altogether.

— Jane Wildgoose on Resurrection, Documentary on the Anchor Bay Hellraiser DVD, 2000[7]

Barker drew inspiration for the Cenobite designs from punk fashion, Catholicism, and by the visits he took to BDSM clubs in New York City and Amsterdam.[7] Each of the four primary Cenobites from The Hellbound Heart were featured in the film, with appearances based upon their descriptions in the book. The first Cenobite became Butterball, the second Pinhead, the third Chatterer, and the fourth The Female. The Engineer was drastically altered for the film, taking the form of a giant creature with characteristics of different predatory animals.