Dr. Decker

"Murder is very, very real. It might start in the mind, but then it changes to flesh and blood."

- Dr. Decker

"Decker: I'm not one of them. I'm here to destroy them. See, i've cleaned up a lot of breeders. Families like cesspools. Filth making filth, making filth. And i did it over, and over, and over again. But it was all leading me here. I was born to destroy Boone and the breed together. Man: Y..y..you're crazy!. Decker: No, i'm death. Plain and simple."

- Decker killing the unnamed victim, also his most famous quote

Philip K. Decker, simply known as Dr. Decker and better known for his book alias Button Face, is the main villain of Clive Barker's horror dark fantasy novel Cabal, and also his 1990 film adaptation Nightbreed whom he is mostly known. He is Boone's (main protagonist) psychiatrist, seeking to help him with his horrible nightmares regarding monsters and an infernal place called Midian, where monsters live. However, in reality, Decker is a heartless, merciless serial killer known as Button Face who seeks to frame Boone from his killings. As the story progresses, it also wishes the complete eradication of Midian and everyone living on it, evolving from a simply serial killer to a genocidal maniac. It was portrayed by the acclaimed David Cronenberg on the film version, mostly known for his work as a director, being this one of his few appearences as an actor.

Biography
Both Decker's version from the film and book are pretty similar, but also have some differences on it:

Decker is a psychiatrist that works to help Boone, a young man with mental disorder suffering from horrible nightmares regarding him being tortured by monsters, and an horrible place called Midian, where monsters live. However, behind the looks, he is also a reknown family annihilator serial killer known as The Mask, however, this name is never mentioned on the film. On the film, he gets obsessed with Midian to the point of commiting horrible acts to discover it's location. On the book, he doesn't mind about Midian that much, and only seeks to frame Boone in order to move to other place and continue his killing spree without raising suspicion.

His book version is most mentally unstable however, as he is drived by his psychotic and schizoid tendencies: He projects a second personality on his mask, The Mask of Ol' Button Face, that speaks to him and orders him to massacre people. Seniors, adults, children, Decker looks everyone with murderous eyes when looking through The Mask, and sexually enjoys whenever his blade pierces in their flesh, both of them, actually, as The Mask had a personality in the mind of Decker.

The film, however, takes his malevolence on a different way and expands it to the infinite. He shares his murderous tendencies against everyone from the book, but his schizoid persona is gone. He is now driven by the pure urge of murder and feeling superiority by taking a life. He is completely conscious of what he is doing with no other personalities taking control of him, making him more heinous than his book conterpart. He even goes so far as  commiting genocide by exterminating entire Midian, because he thinks it is his reason of existing in the world.

Personality
Decker shares some qualities on both version: he is very sharp, quiet, charming, charismatic, educated and sophisticated, reason why he is a man of prestige and most of the people believe on him. This, however, is also his most dangerous trait, as most people would not think something bad against him, most of all, he makes people to believe in him despite his  lies.

On his 'mask' personality, Decker is a murderous and sadistic being who sexually enjoys the sole fact of painfully murder people, specially children. He does so in order to please 'their' urges, both his mask and himself, but apparently, this personality seems to take complete domination of him, not doing anything out of Ol' Button Face orders and always following everything he makes him to do. He doesn't go for the straight kill, nor for fully torture, instead, Button Face goes more for slow, painful deaths inflicted by sharp weapons, mutilating and deforming their victims so horribly they're barely recognizable.

The Decker from the film shares every sadistic and murderous traits from the book one, but with The Mask personality completely erased. He relies on his 'man of prestige' persona to trick people and getting away with murder as many times as he wants, making him a perfect psychopath who doesn't feel remorse, but rather pleasure on taking a life.

He is extremely treacherous and manipulative, falling on his hands on a weakness moment is sign of falling into insanity, as he takes the opportunity of take advantage of someone weak mind state to mold his mind at his will. With this, he can make you believe that you were capable of things you didn't think you could, until you finally descent into madness.

Decker is also shown to be a somewhat xenophobe and a genocidal mastermind, his grudge against the monster from Midian goes from simply believe he has been put in the world to destroy them, and uses his manipulative abilities to lead a complete battallion against Midian and kill every monster man, woman and children until there is nothing but ashes behind.

At the end, Decker is made to be an exact same character: A remorseless monster with no sympathy that will destroy anyone until he is finally put down.