In Leviathan's war, a war we have defined within the 
     parameters of its goal of the restructuring chaos; 
     the very essence of flesh; toward a single uniformed
     whole, there are those who are conscripted to its cause.
     Many arrive in Hell to find, as I did in my tenure,
     that they only qualify as fodder for Leviathan's pleasure.
     But there is a second rank found in those brought through
     their own actions, into Hell's dark hallways.

     In certain individuals, Leviathan sees the potential for
     agents to carry his war further. These individuals are 
     enlisted as soldiers in a Legion of the Damned, and know
     themselves as Cenobites.Cenobites are often individuals who,
     through their own twisted psyches and distorted perceptions
     have perceived themselves as separate, even above humanity.

     In their transformation, their perceptions are made real, 
     as they are refashioned in chambers,the interiors of which I
     was never privileged -or damned- enough to view. Once 
     combined or "steeped" in the dankness of Leviathan, these 
     individuals emerge from the creation chambers with powers and
     abilities seemingly manifested from attributes possessed prior
     to the individuals; arrival in Hell. it also appears that the
     more twisted, the more demented or guilt-ridden the "source 
     material", the "better" or more insidious the finished Cenobite.

     In Leviathan's War on flesh, if Leviathan is the field General,
     the Cenobites are It's shock troops, a dark SS carrying out 
     Leviathan's commands. Theirs is the duty of gaining new ground 
     and souls and recapturing those souls which have managed to slip
     through the cracks in Hell and escape.Poor, lost damned souls, 
     like myself.

     Through an obvious logic we may infer that Leviathan's true power
     is defined and thus confined by the halls of Hell. Why else would
     it content itself with the meager morsels that trickle into Hell
     through complex and convoluted pathways. Without the power to take
     what it wants by force,Leviathan must rely solely on the curiosity
     of the flesh to desire and to seek. But what animal would attempt 
     to take bait from what it knew to be a trap? Thus, secrecy becomes
     Hell's highest priority and explains the importance of the Hunters.

     Unfortunately, we know little about these monstrosities. They stalk
     those who have escaped,trapping them, dragging them back before their
     "stories" fall on ears that are not so deaf. Their jet-black, armored
     exterior makes them seemingly indestructible as they pursue their prey
     with the single minded purpose of a machine. Perhaps they can exist 
     on this plane because , like the puzzles,they are carved from Leviathan.
     However it is allowed access to this world, it apparently remains "blind"
     to any flesh that has not been tainted by the presence of Leviathan.

     What I write now, I write for those who bear the marks, who wear the scars 
     that testify to the truths within this book. For you, there can be no 
     peace. You need only pause to rest, to catch your breath and the Hunter 
     will be upon you. I have watched their ebony cables snaking, hissing through
     the air, behind barbed hooks fired from housings within their armor. I have 
     seen their prey, men and women, caught on those hooked like fish, thrashing
     and flailing, coughing thick pieces of blood, trying to tear themselves free.
     And I have listened to the screaming suddenly stop, snapped off as if with a
     switch, followed b a terrible silence marked only by the sharp and distinct 
     sound of the breaking and cracking of bone.

     Understand that what I say, I say not out of despair or desperation. It is 
     only through meticulous examination and resourceful investigation that we 
     will identify our enemy. Our after fully dissecting the strengths and 
     weakness of our enemy may we begin to assemble a strategy towards its 
     destruction.

               --- (Clive Barker's Book of the Damned, Epic Comics, October 1991)