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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | All is death, woman. All is pain. Love breeds loss. Isolation breeds resentment. No matter which way we turn, we are beaten. Our only true inheritance is death. And our only legacy, dust. | „ |
| ~ The Hell Priest to Norma, in Scarlet Gospels. |
The Hell Priest (or Pinhead) is the main antagonist of the literary canon of Hellraiser, by writer and director Clive Barker, formed from the original script of the first Hellraiser film - collected, in the 1990s, in an illustrated volume sold as an attachment to the film's laserdisc and titled Hellraiser: A Film By Clive Barker - and the novels Scarlet Gospels (written by Clive Barker) and Hellraiser: The Toll (written by Mark Alan Miller under the supervision of Barker). He is the leader of the Order of Gash, the sect of demons known as the Cenobites. He appears as the minor antagonist of the screenplay book and as the main antagonist of the next two novels. In the volume of the script the role of the Hell Priest is the same as in the film, but in Scarlet Gospels and The Toll (which do not take into account the events of the following films) his story takes a totally different turn: the demon in fact plans to conquer Hell and unseat Lucifer from the throne of king of Hell and, to achieve this, he acquires the mastery of numerous magical arts, killing the most powerful wizards in the world. To announce his rise to power, the Hell Priest chooses as witnesses his old enemy Kirsty and the investigator of the paranormal Harry D'Amour (another character who has appeared in several works by Barker), and for this purpose he kidnaps Norma Paine, a medium friend. man, taking her to Hell and forcing D'Amour to chase him to save her.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
- Although he negotiates with Kirsty Cotton to exchange his life with that of Frank Cotton, at the end of the volume he goes back on the word trying to kill Kirsty after killing Frank. It should be noted, in fact, that when he negotiates with the girl, he tells her that "maybe" he would not have killed her.
- He forces Kirsty Cotton into a life of constant escaping for surviving his attempt to kill her, revealing that he wants to make her his witness to his rise to power from Earth, while Harry D'Amore will witness her exploits from Hell.
- Although the Hell Priest is described as suffering from his very long life, that quality is not enough to disqualify him, as his crimes are completely inexcusable and far too sadistic.
- He beats Kirsty Cotton for her refusal to witness his rise to power and promises her that, after he becomes king of the Underworld, he will return to kill her (which he will not do with her because he will die defeated by Lucifer) .
- He hates being called "Pinhead" and, when someone calls him that, he punishes him horribly, torturing and killing him.
- He wishes to become king of Hell by ousting Lucifer from his throne.
- He kills all the most powerful wizards in the world to learn their magical arts and gain ever greater power.
- He horribly kills almost all members of a group of wizards -- formed by Elizabeth Kottlove, Lili Saffro, Yashar Heyadat, Arnold Poltash, and Theodore Felixson -- who had resurrected with a magical rite the magician Joseph Ragowski, previously killed by Priest himself: he kills Poltash with his hook chains for trying to escape, Heyadat similarly refuses his offer of services in exchange for his life, he causes Lili Saffro to die from a heart attack by showing her Heyadat's death.
- He rapes Elizabeth Kottlove, making her fertile and giving birth. a demonic child who, growing instantly, will destroy her mother's body from within (in Hellraiser: The Toll, it is implied that the little girl will follow in the footsteps of her father, leading Kirsty Cotton to hunt her down to stop her).
- He kills Ragowski again, who insulted him by calling him "Pinhead," by making a hole in his head and inserting a worm extracted from his mouth, which will multiply excessively, devouring the magician's body.
- He humiliates Theodore Felixson by forcing him to undress, crawl and rape the agonizing Elizabeth Kottlove, only to transform him into a canine-looking Cenobite.
- He does not show great concern for his daughter, whom he leaves alone to feed on the corpses of the group of wizards. Even though the creature is able to grow to adulthood in twelve hours, it still doesn't change the fact that he neglected her.
- He exterminates the entire Order of Gash using a terrible spell based on the use of sheets - called Warrant of Execution - containing a spell that causes excruciating death in those who come in contact with them (causing blood and entrails to escape from their bodies).
- During the extermination of the Order of Gash he shows cold indifference to see Female Cenobite die (snatching her dress from her hands, which she had grabbed in the spasms of agony) and Butterball (whose fingers he breaks after being grabbed by him ).
- He kidnaps Norma Paine to push Harry D'Amore to follow him to Hell.
- He violently beats Norma.
- He lets Felixson die without any remorse and, when Norma asks him if there is something he cares about, he coldly responds with a nihilistic speech about the implacability of death and pain and the uselessness of love.
- He humiliates another Cenobite - called Abbot Lizard because of the metal scales that cover his face - by stripping several scales from his face and not killing him just because the Abbot knows magic like him, and could use a spell powerful enough to to kill both.
- He exterminates several inhabitants of Hell (including many high-ranking demons) thanks to his magical arts.
- He strips Lucifer of his armor by tearing pieces of flesh from his body to fit the armor.
- He humiliates Lucifer - in a state of apparent death - by rending his body in front of a crowd of inhabitants of Hell to announce his accession to the throne.
- After being reduced to death by Lucifer, he manages to blind Harry D ’Amour and rape Norma to death, who then dies in his friend's arms.
- He indirectly causes the total destruction of Hell (after being awakened by him, Lucifer decides to destroy Hell).
Trivia[]
- This version of Pinhead turns out to be morally far worse than its cinematic counterpart. Unlike the latter who, both in the canon established by Clive Barker (the first two films and the comic works he wrote or supervised) and in the films disavowed by Barker, had redeeming qualities or in any case attenuated the wickedness (protecting Kirsty and Tiffany against Philip Channard after remembering his past as a human being, falling in love with the cenobite woman Merkova and avenging her death, desiring spiritual salvation and, in the sixth non-canonical film, respecting a later pact with Kirsty), the Hell Priest is utterly evil, unscrupulous or remorseful, guilty of far superior crimes (such as rape, the desire to conquer the whole of Hell and - albeit indirectly - its utter destruction) and exhibits more heinous standards, surpassing even Lucifer (who , due to his condition as an immortal, he is in a depression so strong that it makes him want to commit suicide). It should be noted that the Hell Priest is not the demonic incarnation of Captain Elliott Spencer (his true identity is unknown, but it is confirmed that he became a man in a much older period than the early 1900s), and this is further proof of his greatest wickedness.
- In Hellbound Heart the version of Hell Priest is not the head of the Order of Gash (this role is filled by a Cenobite who in the novels, films and comics is replaced by Butterball). In fact it has a minor role even if only compared to the character of the novels, the film and comics canon and non-canon films, and cannot be qualified as Pure Evil as it does not interact with the characters of the book and respects the pact with Kirsty Cotton, letting her escape. after delivering Frank Cotton to the Cenobites.
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 Pure Evils
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