Everybody loves animals, but some people love animals so much, they try to become them, transforming their bodies in shocking ways. Body modification is the altering of human anatomy through tattoos, piercings and implants. For centuries, people have done it to perform a rite of passage, display their membership with a group, express their true self, or just shock the hell out of people. Here are five people who transformed into animals through body modification.

1. Tom Woodbridge, Leopard Man

Tom Woolbridge wanted to be a leopard so much he legally changed his name to Tom Leppard. But the name change was nothing, compared to how he altered his body. The armed forces veteran spent over $7,000 to cover 99.9% of his body with that distinctive spotted pattern. (And you thought just getting one tattoo hurt.) In an interview, Tom described it as "a leopard-skin design, with all the skin between the dark spots tattooed saffron yellow." The Guinness Book of World Records named him the world's most tattooed man - and a few years later, the most tattooed senior citizen. In 1987, Tom retired to the Isle of Skye, which by Scotland. He lived in a small, self-made stone hut without any electricity or furniture. Every week, he canoed three miles to the mainland to re-stock on supplies. In 2008, he finally abandoned his crude shelter, moving to a one-bedroom house on the mainland with more comforts. However, he said he "loved every minute." "When you're covered in leopard tattoos, you certainly get noticed," said Tom, reflecting on his life in a newspaper interview. "I became a bit of a tourist attraction on Skye." Tom died in a nursing home in Inverness in 2016.

2. Erik Sprague, The Lizardman

It isn't easy being green, and it certainly isn't easy becoming a lizard. Erik Sprague has a surgically bifurcated tongue. His teeth are filed into points. He has subdermal implants in his eyebrows. His earlobes are stretched. His skin is covered with green, scale-like tattoos. And he's in a rock band called Lizard Skynyrd because of course he is. As you might suspect, Erik doesn't work as a barista at Starbucks. He's a performer. In his one-man show, he does incredible stunts, like  swallowing swords, suspending weights from his piercings and pushing a giant corkscrew through his head. In fact, he has a Guinness World Record for the heaviest weight lifted and spun with pierced ears: a 35 pound beer keg. (Ouch.) While growing up, Erik was always fascinated by such performances."It does play into my personal egomania," said Erik in an interview. "When you do what I’ve done, you become a powerful symbol. I am essentially a mythological creature that exists in cultures around the world: I am a reptilian humanoid." Erik currently lives in Austin, Texas, which is perfect, because the motto there is "Keep Austin Weird." And yes, he is married. Despite his shocking appearance, he's never had problems with the ladies: "I don’t want to boast too much," said Erik. "But a split tongue can be a heck of a draw."

3. Katzen Hobbes, Catwoman

Forget Selina Kyle - Katzen Hobbes is the real Catwoman. ("Katzen" is German for cat, and Hobbes is reference to the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes). As a child, she dreamed of herself as a tiger. Now she's 40, and tiger stripes cover 90 percent of her body. "I still need a little bit of work under the right armpit and right ear," said Katzen. "But I’m pretty close to completion." It took 160 tattoo artists to complete the stripes. At one point, 23 people were inking her at once. Due to the pain, she fainted several times. For fourteen years, Katzen wore genuine tiger whiskers, which were sent to her by zoos and held into place on her face by piercing rings. However, they obstructed her eyesight, so she had them removed. Now she has "whiskers" scratched permanently into her cheeks through scarification. Like The Lizardman, Katzen lives in Austin, Texas, a safe haven for all kinds of self-expression. By day, she works as a tattoo artist. By night, she performs in a variety show, doing acts ranging from musical performance to the flaming human pincushion. She's a mother-of-tw-, married to the male performer The Enigma, and has no regrets her transformation. "Most of us are more than skin deep," says Katzen. "I feel more beautiful this way."

2. Dennis Avner, Stalking Cat

Dennis Avner, aka Stalking Cat, was one of the most famous faces of the body modification community. A conversation with a Native American chief sparked his desire to transform into a "feline-like creature." The chief advised him to "follow the ways of the tiger." So he did. He spent the rest of his life trying to complete that transformation. In 2005, he explained that he descended from Native America heritage. "I’m Huron and Lakota," said Stalking Cat. "I’m just taking a very old tradition, that to my knowledge is not practiced anymore." To morph into a female tiger, Dennis spent an "uncalculated amount." The operations included tattoos, tooth filing, facial piercings, pointing of the ears, and the bifurcation of his upper lip. He also overgrew his fingernails, and had a mechanical tail. The Guinness Book Of World Records honored him with the title of "most permanent transformations to look like an animal." He went on to appear on many television shows, such as, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, VH1's Totally Obsessed and Animal Planet's Weird, True & Freaky. In 2012, Stalking Cat took his own life at the age of 54. He was a veteran of the U.S. Navy.

1. Ted Richards, Parrot Man

Ted Richards, 56, describes body modification as his "oxygen," and has transformed into a parrot. He has a split tongue, two horns in his forehead, several dermal implants, 50 piercings and 110 tattoos, two inked eyeballs and he had his ears removed. After that operation, he discovered an unforeseen problem: his glasses wouldn't stay on. So, he fixed the problem by implanting two synthetic lumps. Currently he is looking for a surgeon who can transform his nose into a beak. Like Tom Leppard, Ted also changed his name - to Ted Parrotman. "Because I walk around the streets with my parrots so much, around here I’ve been known as Ted Parrotman for years," said the retired shoe factory worker. "So it only seems natural for me to change my name." At his home in Bristol, England, Ted lives with his pet parrots, and considers them more than feathered friends. They're his family: "I’ve not had any contact with my mother and father for years because we didn’t really get on. I don’t even know if they’re dead or alive, and I also don’t talk to my siblings anymore – so I felt no connection to having a family name. For me, my real family are my parrots – so it only seems fitting for my surname to reflect this... "This is just what I love doing, modifying my appearance. But when I look in the mirror I do think 'who am I?'" You may not agree with any of their choices, but you don't have to. We're all trying to express ourselves and find happiness in life. It just means different things to different people.

In this day and age, body modification is becoming more and more popular among people, and the ubiquity of plastic surgery means that, if you've got the money, you can look like anything you could possibly imagine... and I do mean anything.

If you want an example of what some really extreme body modification procedures look like, then look no further than Anthony Loffredo; a man who has had his tongue split, his nose removed, and has covered his skin with tattoos and piercings in a bid to look like a real-life alien.

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The French native has become obsessed with the idea of transforming his appearance into something weird and terrifying - and visited the Barcelona-based modifier Oscar Marquez for help, since many of the operations he has undergone are considered illegal in France.

Anthony underwent a 'rhinotomy', which left him with a gaping hole in his face and no nose.

Reflecting on his latest bizarre procedure, Anthony wrote on Instagram: "Thank you to you @oscarmarquezbodymod you will have marked my life ... now I can walk with my head high thanks to you I am proud of what we did together."

In addition to this, Anthony has had his eyeballs tattooed (in a risky procedure that could have blinded him) and has had dermal implants in his face to give his skin a bumpy texture.

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In a 2017 interview with French newspaper Midi Libre, Anthony opened up about why he decided to change his appearance so drastically, stating:

"From a very young age, I have been passionate about mutations and transformations of the human body. I had a click when I was a security guard."

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He continued:

"I realized that I was not living my life the way I wanted.

"I stopped everything at 24 and left for Australia. It has become normal, even unconscious, to constantly think about my plans for the next few months. I love getting into the shoes of a scary character."

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"I often settle down somewhere and play a role, especially at night in the dark streets, [my character] has fun. I explore the contrast between the role I play and myself," Anthony added.

Anthony has now started an Instagram page called 'The Black Alien Project,' to document his body modification journey. So check it out if you're interested in seeing what he might look like next.

An ex-banker who became a "genderless reptilian" says their son has rejected them following their jaw-dropping transformation.

The body modification enthusiast from Texas - who was born Richard Hernandez and refers to themselves as "it" in their Instagram bio - has garnered quite a social media following over the years due to their reptilian appearance.

Now going by the name Tiamat Legion Medusa, they have spent upwards of $75,000 on modification surgeries - including tongue splitting, ear removal, and even 18 small horn implants. Tiamat is also covered almost completely in tattoos designed to look like scales.

That isn't all, though, as they revealed that they're planning further modifications - including teeth removal, penis removal, and even more tattoos to fully transform from human to reptile, per News.com.au.

Tiamat - who was once the vice president of a bank - appeared on YouTuber Anthony Padilla's channel for an interview, where they proudly called themselves "a freak."

"I was in my late 40s, prior to me living my life as the freak that I am, proudly a freak here," they stated. "I already had 79 piercings and most of them were hidden. The ones that weren't I could take out every day and put them back in, which is what I used to do as a banker."

Sadly, Tiamat revealed that their son has rejected them amid their controversial lifestyle changes. "The relationship or the connection with my son has also changed. At that time when I started my transformation, my son had already turned 16, and he rejected me at that point in my life," Tiamat recalled.

They added: "[It was] through no fault of his own, it was all the father's fault. My son hasn't been in my life for seven years, I'm hoping that he is at least watching me on the internet because the reason I'm out there in such a big way is for him. So that he can see what his dad's doing, his weird, strange, used to be a man, is now a woman, is now reptilian, dad."

Padilla then asked Tiamat if they had a message they wanted to share with their son, to which they replied: "I would like to say first of all, 'son, I'm sorry for the mistakes that I've made in life. I own up to all of them, I don't make excuses for any of them, but it's those very mistakes that have made me the awesome person that I am now. I'm hoping that you'll give me the chance at some point in your life, and know that I'm always here waiting with wings open for you.'"

What are you thoughts on the extreme body modifications? Let us know in the comments!

Featured image credit: Lesley Johnson / Alamy

In this weird, modern world we live in, it seems that pretty much any sort of body modification can be achieved if you've got the money for it. A lot of people who seek out cosmetic surgery go down the more conventional routes (if it is possible for plastic surgery to be "conventional" in any way), enhancing their breasts, butts or whatever else they think will up their attractiveness - but there are a few who opt for the stranger side of bodily transformations.

Eva Tiamat Medusa, a woman from Bruni, Texas, quit her job as the vice president of a bank several years ago in order to pursue her dream of living her life as a dragon. She made the decision after being diagnosed with HIV, which for her was a wake-up call that she wasn't living her life in the way she wanted to.

Now, after $60,000, she looks completely different - and she's so much happier for it.

Describing all the procedures she's had done, Eva said: "I have eight horns on my forehead; I have had my ears removed; my nose reshaped; most of my teeth removed; I’ve had the white-part of my eyes stained; my tongue bifurcated; my whole face is tattooed and I’ve had some scarification and branding on my chest and wrist."

But her decision to become a dragon was not at all sudden. In fact, she claims that she's felt connected to the reptilian form ever since she was abandoned by her parents at the age of five, and was subsequently "born again" into a family of western diamondback rattlesnakes.

"I have two mothers: One is my original birth mother and my second birth is to my reptilian parents, which are the rattlesnakes," she said.

And, despite what others might say, the so-called Dragon Lady is committed to her lizardlike looks.

"For me, my transformation is the greatest journey of my life," Eva said. "There are profound reasons and deep meanings about my transformation and why I’m doing it."

In an emotional statement, she said:

"I hope that my story will help other people – not only those who have gone through hard times, but also people who have lost hope.

"I myself know what it’s like to be at that point. Before my transformation I was vice president of one of the largest banks in the U.S. and I left when because I became HIV positive and feared I was going to die. My big thing though was I didn’t want to die in this world looking like a human."

But Eva doesn't just look like a dragon - she truly believes that she is one.

"As much awesomeness and goodness there is in humans, compared to other species they are the most destructive and hateful. I decided at that time, that it was time for a change in my life, so I wanted to look like something that wasn’t human."

Despite how different she may look to other people, Eva is still just about as "normal" as a person can get. She has three dogs and a cat, whom she shares her home with, enjoys cooking, and posts loads of selfies to Instagram. Sure, she might also have a forked tongue and horns - but everyone's got their quirks, right?

A man who calls himself the "Black Alien" after having several body modifications has revealed his latest transformation.

Anthony Loffredo, a 33-year-old from France, has been on a mission to alter himself into an extra-terrestrial being with his many extreme changes.

Since the age of 27, Loffredo has removed some of his fingers, upper lip, eyeballs, and parts of his nose, and has a split tongue to replicate a snake-like figure.

He has gone to the extreme length to tattoo himself from head to toe - eyeballs included - as well as having reptilian-style implants all over his head and arms.

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The plastic surgery aficionado recently took to his Instagram page - where he has amassed 1.4 million followers - to share the news about his latest operations, and it is safe to say that it is his ghastliest one yet.

He teased the procedure on Instagram, writing: "New scar coming soon. Evolution," and it shows a "Z" carved out of his right cheek. He most likely did not find the procedure discomforting as he's no stranger to going under the knife.

News of Loffredo's latest operation comes after he was recently spotlighted in a Channel 4 documentary titled I Transformed Myself Into An Alien, which explores the extreme surgeries he has undergone in his pursuit to look like an alien.

The doc starts off with interviewer Arthur Bruel talking about his curiosity when it came to Loffredo's appearance stating that he was "open-minded," but he "couldn't understand why anyone would want to look like that".

The surgery fanatic then told the filmmaker that he is pleased with his current look, revealing that he did not feel comfortable enough in his old "sexy" body.

He then showed Bruel old photos of himself and said: "Happy, but not in the right body," to which the interviewer interjected: "But you were a very good-looking guy."

"[A] very sexy guy," Loffredo responded, before re-emphasizing the importance of his transformation. "But I’m the same person! Same heart," he says, also adding: "But it’s not my body, my real body."

Elsewhere in the documentary, we see that while some people in Mexico - where Loffredo resides now - may react to his extra-terrestrial obsession negatively, he still gets attention from women.

During a segment, two women fascinated by his look ask about his tongue, with one requesting him to show him before questioning why it's green. "It’s tattooed, it’s ink," Loffredo responded, appearing to be unfazed by the woman's infatuation with him.

"Do you think Anthony is sexy?", Bruel also asked the woman. "Yes," she replies, before doubling down on her views and saying she finds his look attractive.

Featured image credit: Xiu Huo / Getty