Body Modification / Extreme cases

In the world, there are certain cases where individuals have gone to the extreme to stray away from the natural human form and even attempted to resemble animals and other creatures as a form of expression and a way to show who they are. I researched into some famous cases of extreme modification to gain a wider understanding of those who have modified their body in the western world and have gained media attention due to it.


Lizard Man

"Erik "The Lizardman" Sprague is a pioneering figure in body modification & modern sideshow.

For over 20 years he has exhibited his modifications and performed an extensive repertoire of sideshow stunts around the world.

The Lizardman is a Guinness World Record holder and Ripley's Believe or Not has installed statues of him in their museums worldwide." (source)


Stalking Cat

"Dennis Avner (August 27, 1958 - November 5, 2012), was a member of the furry fandom who was widely known as the Catman, though he preferred his Native American name, Stalking Cat. Cat had spent considerable resources to surgically modify his body to resemble that of his totem, a tiger. He claimed that this was due to his traditional Native American beliefs." (source)

Lucky Diamond Rich 

"Lucky Diamond Rich, or just Lucky Rich (born Gregory Paul McLaren in 1971), is a New Zealand man who is "the world's most tattooed person"

Rich was born in New Zealand. As a young boy, he read about and became interested in the most tattooed men and women. It did not go much further than just a thought until he got his first tattoo, which was of a small juggling club on his hip.

He went on to tattoo every part of his body including every crevice and intimate area. He has tattooed some white over his black tattoos and added colour. His tattoos have taken over a thousand hours to ink, and have been worked on by hundreds of tattoo artists" (source)

Isobel Varlery 

"Isobel Varley (1937 – 11 May 2015) was a Guinness World Records-recognized tattooed senior, from Yorkshire, United Kingdom. She was first named "the world's most-tattooed senior woman" in 2000. Varley got her first tattoo in her late 40s at a tattoo convention at the Hammersmith Palais.[1][4] According to Guinness over a ten-year period, Varley had over 200 designs inked, covering at least 76% of her body in tattoos. She reported that "the only areas not completely tattooed is my face, the soles of my feet my ears and some area on my hands." (source)

Mariá Jose Cristerna Mendez 

Known as the "Mexican Vampire Woman," she has 49 body modifications, covering almost her entire body with ink, piercings and implants.

Cristerna told media outlets she first began modifying her body after finding the courage to leave her abusive husband of 10 years.

"All I did was bring what was in me out. It's what I always was beforehand," says Cristerna in the video below. "I could breathe, as many women can breathe when they wake up in the morning and have a coffee without feeling as if someone is going to squeeze their throat."