different place that inspired some myths of Hell) ruled over by a demonic entity called Leviathan, the creator of Cenobites. The film has Kirsty Cotton remind Pinhead and his group of Cenobites of their human origins. This spiritually weakens them and they are then seemingly destroyed. Barker wanted the villain Julia, played by Claire Higgins in both the first and second film, to carry the series as its main antagonist, reducing the Cenobites to a background role. However, Higgins declined to return to the series and fans rallied around Pinhead, portrayed by Doug Bradley, as the breakout character and main villain/anti-hero of the series. Pinhead's nature and past are explored in Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth, where it is revealed he was not killed but simply had his human self freed, resulting in the Cenobite now existing without morality or restraint. The film ends with the human Elliott Spencer merging with Pinhead once more in order to stop the chaos and reintroduce restraint and a respect for rules into the Cenobite. As the films continued, the stories were largely stand alone but Pinhead was a constant presence, though sometimes only briefly appearing. In The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters, David McWilliam writes that the Cenobites "provide continuity across the series, as the stories become increasingly stand-alone in nature". Hellraiser comic book series Following the success of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II, Epic Comics published a Hellraiser spin-off comic series last twenty issues from 1989 to 1992. The comics featured several short stories written by new writers and artists, with Clive Barker acting as a creative consultant. In 2011, Boom! Studios began a new comic book series following the canon of the first three Hellraiser films. The initial premise is that Pinhead is now bored with his existence as a Cenobite and plots a way to return to mortality. The series also involves Kirsty Cotton and Barker's occult detective Harry D'Amour. References Citations Bibliography Hellraiser characters Fictional characters from parallel universes Fictional demons and devils Human-derived fictional species Fictional monsters Fictional torturers Fictional undead Fictional warrior races Slasher film characters