Cenobite is a real-life term (antonym to hermite). It means servants of a higher power who live cloistered together in strict obeisance of rules designed to maximise the service done to the higher power, often with an appearance and apparel designed to create a distance between their current life of devotion and a previous life; sometimes engaging in mortification of the flesh both as punishment and a trigger for mystic unification with the higher power.
In real life, we call these people monks and nuns (when the higher power is God), and generally think well of them, or at least respect their intentions.
For the Hellraiser Cenobites, we can appreciate that the Torture Technician trope is not just applicable, but the founding principle of the characters.
Cenobite is a real-life term (antonym to hermite). It means servants of a higher power who live cloistered together in strict obeisance of rules designed to maximise the service done to the higher power, often with an appearance and apparel designed to create a distance between their current life of devotion and a previous life; sometimes engaging in mortification of the flesh both as punishment and a trigger for mystic unification with the higher power.
In real life, we call these people monks and nuns (when the higher power is God), and generally think well of them, or at least respect their intentions.
For the Hellraiser Cenobites, we can appreciate that the Torture Technician trope is not just applicable, but the founding principle of the characters.