Butterball

Butterball is one of the original four Cenobites from the Hellraiser series, and is the the so-called "surgeon" of the group. He is portrayed by Simon Bamford.

## Backstory

According to the Hellraiser comic book series, Butterball was once Laslo; a despeciable, perverted man obsessed with sin, who also suffered from depression due to an eating disorder which left him constantly obese. One day, he discovered the Lament Configuration, and ended up being attracted to it due to how it promised to achieve any desires he wished (obviosuly, he would have wanted to prevent his overeating). Upon solving the Lament Configuration, Laslo was dragged to Hell, and became Butterball (during the transformation process, Laslo's eyes were sewn shut, explaining why he wears sunglasses for much of his time onscreen).

## Biography (in film)

### Hellraiser (1987)

Butterball, alongside Chatterer, Pinhead, and the Female Cenobite, are first summoned by Frank Cotton, after he solves the Lament Configuration while seated within his attic. The Cenobites promptly transform Frank's attic into his own personal Hell, tearing him apart with hooked chains and taking his soul to Leviathan. Some time later, Frank is inadvertedly ressurected by his brother Larry, after Larry cuts his hand on a nail and spills his blood onto the floor where Frank died.

The four cenobites later appear to Larry's daughter, Kirsty, after she solves the Lament Configuration while in hospital. They attempt to take Kirsty to Hell, but Kirsty, having found out about Frank's ressurection, tells the Cenobites that Frank has escaped them, and promises that she'll take him to them if they let her go. The Cenobites agree to take Frank back and, in exchange, say they will consider giving Kirsty her freedom. The catch is that Frank must confess to escaping them. They warn Kirsty against any treachery, threatening to 'tear her soul apart' if she betrays them. Kirsty returns home, where her uncle Frank has killed Larry and taken his identity by stealing his skin. Kirsty's stepmom Julia, who was in on Frank's murder, and also helped Frank further ressurect himself by providing him with sacrificial victims, shows her what she says is Frank's skinned body (which is really Larry's) in the attic, locking the door behind her. Butterball, Chatterer and Pinhead appear and, not fooled by the deception, demand the man who "did this".

Kirsty tries to escape but is held by Julia and Frank. Frank reveals his true identity to Kirsty and, when his sexual advances are rejected, he decides to kill her to complete his rejuvenation. After accidently killing Julia, Frank chases Kirsty to the attic, but when he is about to kill her, the Cenobites appear after hearing him confess to killing her father. Now certain he is the one they are looking for, they ensnare him with chains and tear him to pieces. With Frank dead, Butterball and the other Cenobites decide to take Kirsty as well, but Kirsty banishes Pinhead, FC and Chatterer back to hell by desolving the Lament Configuration. Butterball, meanwhile, is crushed with debris from Frank's collapsing house.

### Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Following the events of the first film, Kirsty winds up in a psychiatric hospital run by Dr. Phillip Channard, with whom she tells her story to. Unfortunatley, Channard is secretly obsessed with the Lament Configuration and the idea of Hell, and ends up ressurecting Kirsty's murderous stepmom Julia through the bloody mattress she died upon. Later on, Julia and Channard kidnap Tiffany, one of Channard's patients with a talent of solving puzzles, and force her to unlock the Lament Configuration. Tiffany does so, and unlocks the gateway to Hell. Butterball, Chatterer and FC emerge from the gateway, preparing to kill Tiffany, but are interupted by Pinhead, who tells them "It is not hands that call us. It is desire." Butterball and the other Cenobites promptly recede, and Julia and Channard enter the gates of Hell, alongside Tiffany, and Kirsty, who follows them in soon after.

While in Hell, Kirsty encounters Pinhead, Butterball and the other Cenobites, who tell her that she is "free to explore" for a while, before they will "experience her flesh". Later on, Kirsty, alongside Tiffany, encounter the Cenobites again, who prepare to kill them both. However, Kirsty shows Pinhead a photograph she had obtained earlier of Elliot Spencer, Pinhead's human form. Up until now, Butterball and the other Cenobites had assumed they were always the way that they were, but now that they all know they were once humans, they end up joining Kirsty's side.

## Death

All of a sudden, Dr. Channard, who has since been transformed into a Cenobite, bursts into the room, preparing to kill Tiffany and Kirsty. Butterball and the other Cenobites attempt to fight Channard, but are easily overpowered and killed, being reverted back to their human forms as they die. Butterball is the second of the four Cenobites to be killed in this scene, getting impaled through the chest.

## Trivia

* The infamous line from the first film, "Perhaps we prefer you", was originally supposed to be said by Butterball. However, the line was given to the Female Cenobite instead, since Butterball's makeup left Simon Bamford unable to speak.