History Toys / CliveBarkersTorturedSouls

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Arguably, Lucidique's transformation. While she does go through horrific mutilations, they're not as immediately obvious as Scythe-Meister's. Her (very attractive) face is nearly unscathed, and she gets a new {{Stripperiffic}} outfit [[BareYourMidriff that shows off]] [[ShowSomeLeg her shapely body]]. She even gets to keep her hair.

After the popularity of the first series, Barker and [=McFarlane=] released a second set of figures, titled [[{{Sequelitis}} Tortured Souls 2:]] The Fallen. However, the new figures went for a much more raw, visceral look (less BDSM, more surgical mutilation), and weren't written with any kind of backstory.

* CrapsackWorld

* PayEvilUntoEvil

* UrbanFantasy

* Literature/TheBible: Among Agonistes's past supplicants were Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot (who was also the only supplicant Agonistes ever stopped work on - he whined so much that [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Agonistes finally hanged him to shut him up]].)

After the popularity of the first series, Barker and [=McFarlane=] released a second set of figures, titled [[{{Sequelitis}} Tortured Souls 2:]] [[StockSubtitle The Fallen]]. However, the new figures went for a much more raw, visceral look (less BDSM, more surgical mutilation), and weren't written with any kind of backstory.

* Literature/TheBible: Among Agonistes's past supplicants were Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot (who was also the only supplicant Agonistes ever stopped work on - he whined so much that [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Agonistes finally hanged him to shut him up]].)

* DarkIsNotEvil: Scythe-Meister and Lucidique are antiheroes who are out for revenge and Agonistes, despite looking like a cenobite expy, turns people into monsters in a gruesome eight day process to grant them power and he is a neutral character.

* {{Expy}}: Dr. Talisac and Venal Anatomica share many similarities with {{Literature/Frankenstein}} and [[Main/FrankensteinsMonster his creation]].

* DarkIsNotEvil

The original six figures - Agonistes, the Scythe-Meister, Lucidique, Talisac]], Venal Anatomica, and Mongroid - were all imagined as characters in the same story, and each toy was sold with a chapter of the short novella that Barker wrote to explain how they were all connected. The tale begins with the [[{{Backstory}} backstory]] of Agonistes, "The Secret Face of Genesis", and goes on to tell about his two newest supplicants: an assassin named Zarles Krieger, and Lucidique, the daughter of Krieger's latest victim.

The original six figures - [[http://spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=1452 Agonistes]], [[http://spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=1988 the Scythe-Meister]], [[http://spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=1784 Lucidique]], [[http://spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=2066 Talisac]], [[http://spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=2114 Venal Anatomica]], and [[http://spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=1840 Mongroid]] - were all imagined as characters in the same story, and each toy was sold with a chapter of the short novella that Barker wrote to explain how they were all connected. The tale begins with the [[{{Backstory}} backstory]] of Agonistes, "The Secret Face of Genesis", and goes on to tell about his two newest supplicants: an assassin named Zarles Krieger, and Lucidique, the daughter of Krieger's latest victim.

A line of action figures designed by horror master Creator/CliveBarker, released by McFarlane Toys in 2001. Despite being distributed by a toy line, these figures were most definitely ''NOT'' for children; they featured all of the NightmareFuel, BodyHorror, and BDSM themes Barker's other works are famous for. In particular, they emphasized what he described as "the use of flesh as canvas".

(So be warned before you click any links!)

After the popularity of the first series, Barker and McFarlane released a second set of figures, titled [[{{Sequelitis}} Tortured Souls 2:]] [[StockSubtitle The Fallen]]. However, the new figures went for a much more raw, visceral look (less BDSM, more surgical mutilation), and weren't written with any kind of backstory.

* TheBible: Among Agonistes's past supplicants were Pontius Pilate and Judas Iscariot (who was also the only supplicant Agonistes ever stopped work on - he whined so much that [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Agonistes finally hanged him to shut him up]].)

* TheCaligula: Emperor Perfetto IX, who spends on decadent luxuries while his people starve, and has anyone who dares to criticize him assassinated. Most of his predecessors were like this, too.

A line of action figures designed by horror master CliveBarker, released by McFarlane Toys in 2001. Despite being distributed by a toy line, these figures were most definitely ''NOT'' for children; they featured all of the NightmareFuel, BodyHorror, and BDSM themes Barker's other works are famous for. In particular, they emphasized what he described as "the use of flesh as canvas".

* BodyHorror: What Agonistes does to his supplicants, and Dr. Talisac does to [[ProfessorGuineaPig himself]]. Since the series was created by CliveBarker, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

* ActionGirl: Lucidique, especially after her transformation.

* SlasherSmile: Agonistes, the Scythe-Meister, and Venal Anatomica all sport one. To be fair, they're not really capable of making any other expression.

* NightmareFuel: An InUniverse example; Agonistes deliberately makes his creations as terrifying as possible, tthe better to destroy their enemies.

->''O Agonistes, dark deliverer, make me in the image of my enemies' nightmares. Let my flesh be the stuff from which you carve their terrors; let my skull be a bell which sounds their death-knell. Give me a song to sing, which will be the song of their despair, and let them wake and find me singing it at the bottom of their beds.\\

* LittlePeopleAreSurreal: Camille, Dr. Talisac's dwarf assistant. She's fairly sane compared to Talisac, though, and ends up pulling a ScrewThisImOuttaHere.

* KingBobTheNth: Emperor Perfetto XI.

* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: Agonistes only transforms people who come to him willingly, who want him to give them the strength and power to take revenge on their enemies. Once he agrees to help them, however, there's no going back: he ''will'' transform them, in an eight-day process of nightmarishly painful surgeries, and they'll be irreversibly turned into monstrous living weapons.

* FridgeLogic: After Krieger and Lucidique become lovers, they're often described as kissing - at one point, she explicitly kisses his lips. But, on the toy figure, you can see that Scythe-Meister's lips are stretched back from his mouth, held in place by straps and bolts, leaving his teeth bare. So, ''how'' does Lucidique kiss him?

The original novella has been transcribed [[http://spawn.com/toys/product.aspx?product=1840 here]]. It's typo-heavy, but at least you don't have to buy all six action figures to read it.