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The human body is a wonderful thing, but some people just aren’t satisfied walking around in what God gave them. Instead, they’re undergoing a wide variety of procedures to transform themselves into the figures of myth and legend — or, in the case of these people, pop culture. From superheroes to cartoon characters to children’s toys, these eleven individuals won’t stop until they’ve gone beyond humanity.
The Incredible Hulk
The incredibly overinflated muscles we see in superhero comics just aren’t attainable by ordinary human beings, no matter how much you can squat. Bodybuilders have been turning to human growth hormone and other less-than-savory solutions for a while, but Brazilian Roberto Dos Santos Alves took it to a whole new level. Inspired by the Incredible Hulk, Roberto injected a mixture of oil and alcohol into his biceps to increase their size to gamma-irradiated levels. The end result is absolutely horrifying, and thankfully Dos Santos Alves has decided to move away from such extreme measures in his quest for a superhero body.
Barbie
The way the media portrays the ideal female body can really screw up your brain. Case in point: Sarah Burge, a fifty-something mother of three who has had over a hundred different operations to look like Mattel’s blonde fashion doll Barbie. The wasp-waisted Barbie has long been criticized for perpetrating unrealistic expectations, but Burge doesn’t care about all that. She had her first surgery at the age of seven and recently came under some criticism for giving her eight-year-old daughter a voucher for breast augmentation.
Jessica Rabbit
A whole generation of impressionable young minds had their view of human sexuality warped by the impossible pulchritude of Jessica Rabbit in 1988’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Easily the most sensual animated character ever created, the buxom Jessica was an over-the-top chunk of woman with a bad streak a mile wide. Penny Brown, an Australian-born model now living in Japan, has made it her life goal to emulate the character, getting titanic O-cup breast implants and cinching her waist in with a corset. Some worry about her health, but her husband has nothing but praise for her efforts.
An elf
The fantasy world of JRR Tolkien is one of the touchstones of geek culture, so it’s not surprising that fans want to live in it, but model Melynda Moon took things a little farther than most. Inspired by the regal and powerful elves in The Lord of the Rings books, Moon went to a plastic surgeon and asked him to give her ears their signature point. The surgeon removed a triangular piece from the top of her ear and sutured the two sides together, creating an unmistakably elfin look. Apparently it was pretty itchy afterwards, but that’s a small price to pay to look like Legolas.
A caricature
This one bends the rules a little bit, but it’s so bizarre that we had to let her through. Have you ever had a caricature of yourself drawn by some itinerant artist on a beach boardwalk or at an amusement park? The final product typically doesn’t look much like you, and it sure isn’t flattering. Kryistina Butel got a caricature drawn while on vacation in Ibiza and thought, “Yep, that’s it.” She then embarked on a campaign of plastic surgery to look more like the drawing, getting multiple boob jobs, lip injections and even having her nipples reshaped. Judging from the pictures, it hasn’t been terribly successful.
Michelangelo’s David
It’s not just low culture that inspires plastic surgery freaks to reshape their bodies. Michelangelo’s statue of David is one of the most famous sculptures in human history, so when a 20-year-old Japanese man known only as “Alan” decided to remake himself into a perfect example of male beauty, David was his model. The dude got $150,000 worth of surgery in just under a year, all paid for by a group of cougars who want to help him achieve his dreams of being a classical prettyboy. He’s actually paying for future surgeries with a crowdfunding campaign!
Superman
When you’re thinking about a fictional character who represents the best humanity has to offer, Superman should be at the top of the list — even though he’s an alien. The iconic crime-fighter stands for truth, justice, and the American way, and his message resonated with Filipino man Herbert Chavez, who has undergone a staggering number of surgeries and other procedures to look like the Last Son of Krypton. Chavez has bleached his skin, thinned his nose, liposuctioned his lips, and had implants all over his body to emulate Superman’s solar-powered physique. His surgeon does most of the work for free in exchange for Chavez promoting him to the media.
An anime character
It’s not just Western pop culture that inspires people to transform their bodies. The cartoons of Japan have an equally powerful influence, as the case of Anastasiya Shpagina demonstrates. The Ukranian teenager doesn’t use any permanent methods to change her face into that of an anime character — just a lot of makeup and a ton of patience. Shpagina takes two hours every morning to prepare her face, with each massive eye requiring 30 solid minutes. She eventually wants to have surgery to permanently reshape her eyes, as well as reduce the circumference of her waist.
Ken
Well, we already had a Barbie, so why not a Ken too? Roberto Alves is a Brazilian flight attendant who wants nothing more from life than to look like Mattel’s curiously groinless male fashion doll. Alves has spent almost $170,000 on surgeries over the last few years, including jaw liposuction, calf shaping, and pec implants. His obsession with looking like a living doll nearly killed him in 2014, when a gel injected into his arms became infected and he almost lost the limb. He’s in therapy for his obsession, but readily admits he’ll probably have more surgeries.
A porcelain doll
Here’s another person who turned to the surgeon’s knife to look like an inanimate object. The Japanese entertainer known as Vanilla Chamu has blown over $100,000 on myriad surgical procedures to look like a French porcelain doll, which have been popular in Japan for decades. Over there, it’s called “character surgery,” and proponents go to insane ends to replicate their ideal bodies. Chamu has had eyelash implants, a nose job, breast enlargement, and dozens of other surgeries, and as of press time was contemplating an expensive and painful leg lengthening.
The Red Skull
Most of the people on this list get surgeries to look like their heroes, but Henry Damon just had to be contrary. The terrifying Venezuelan man’s personal icon is Captain America villain the Red Skull, that deformed Nazi maniac responsible for acts of horrific genocide. To look more like the fascist supercriminal, Damon has had dermal implants in his forehead and scleral tattooing to make his eyes featureless black pits. The big thing, though, is the nose: our new Skull had the front section removed, leaving two ragged, vertical nostrils. Throw in red skin tattooing all over his face and you’ve got a guy seriously committed to villainy.
So there’s eleven seriously disturbing transformations. Who’s got money on the first person to go full Jared Leto Joker in real life? It’s only a matter of time at this point.
