Weird6 min(s) read
Published 11:56 26 Jun 2026 GMT
Anthony Loffredo has become one of the most recognisable people on the internet - but old photos of the man behind the 'Black Alien' project have left people stunned at just how different he used to look.
The Frenchman, who has spent the best part of a decade surgically transforming his body into something he describes as 'alien', was once a clean-cut, conventionally attractive security guard from Montpellier.
You would not know it now.
Loffredo, now 35, has undergone one of the most extreme body modification projects ever documented.
He has tattooed the majority of his body in black ink - including his eyeballs. He has had his nose partially removed and his tongue split to create a forked, snake-like appearance.
He has also had his ears removed, his upper lip modified, several fingers amputated, and reptilian-style implants placed across his head and arms.
More recently, he had the word 'Alien' carved into the skin on the side of his head through scarification.
In short, he looks nothing like the person he used to be.
In a Channel 4 documentary titled I Transformed Myself Into An Alien, filmmaker Arthur Bruel followed Loffredo and explored the reality behind the Black Alien persona.
During filming, Loffredo showed Bruel a photograph of himself from before the transformation began.
In the image, he appeared muscular, clean-shaven, and wearing a fitted red polo shirt with his arms crossed.
Bruel's reaction was immediate.
"But you were a very good-looking guy," the filmmaker said.
Loffredo agreed.
"Very sexy guy," he replied.
But he went on to explain that although he may have looked good to other people, he did not feel he was in the right body. He said he had been happy, but not fully himself.
"But I'm the same person," he added. "Same heart."
Loffredo has said the project began when he was working as a security guard in his mid-twenties.
He has described having a moment of realisation that he was not living the life he wanted.
"I had a click when I was a security guard," he told French paper Midi Libre back in 2017.
"I realised that I was not living my life the way I wanted. I stopped everything at 24 and left for Australia."
What followed was the beginning of what he calls The Black Alien Project - a full-body artistic and personal transformation that he has documented on Instagram to his 1.4 million followers.
He has previously described his body as a work in progress and has spoken about wanting his outward appearance to reflect how he feels on the inside.
Significantly - Loffredo has been open about the fact that his appearance has made it extremely difficult to find work.
In an appearance on the Spanish podcast Club 113, he said: "I can't find a job. There's lots of negative stuff."
He has also described strangers screaming, staring, or running away when they see him in public.
Despite this, he has consistently maintained that people should speak to him rather than judge him based on how he looks.
His appearance has also strained relationships with some family members. He has said that only his mother, brother, and sister remain supportive of his choices.
He has also acknowledged the physical risks involved. "Yeah, I play with my health," he said.
"I usually treat my own body really hard."
In late 2023, Loffredo announced on Instagram that he was pausing the project.
He said it had 'lost its meaning' and that the global attention it attracted had become difficult to manage.
He wrote that he no longer wanted to remove, add, or alter anything on his body, and planned to simply finish covering himself in black ink.
That did not last.
He has since returned with new facial scarification work, and recent updates suggest his relationship with body modification remains complicated.
He has even discussed the possibility of having a leg amputated from the knee down, though he acknowledged that removing a healthy limb is 'something really hard'.
More recently still, he confirmed he would stop modifying his body for good - but would continue tattooing his entire body black.
Whether that holds remains to be seen, given how many times he has made similar statements before.
As you would expect, it is divided.
Some people praise Loffredo for pushing the boundaries of self-expression.
Others find the transformation impossible to understand, particularly when before photos surface and show just how dramatically different he once looked.
When the Channel 4 documentary aired, one viewer wrote that by the end, they no longer noticed his appearance because they felt they had 'seen his heart'.
Another said that while they could not imagine making the same choices, Loffredo seemed kind and comfortable with who he is.
Others were less generous. Comments under his Instagram posts frequently range from fascination to outright hostility.
Loffredo himself has been consistent in his response to the criticism.
"You can't judge someone," he said in the documentary.
"No one knows what's inside someone's head, why they're doing that."
He is not the only person to have pursued extreme transformation.
'Dr Evil' body modification artist Brendan McCarthy made headlines in the UK after being prosecuted for carrying out procedures including ear and nipple removal, while one man who covered 90% of his body in black ink went as far as having his genitals removed because they interfered with his 'look'.
But Loffredo's case remains the most high-profile example of someone who was, by his own admission, a 'very good-looking guy' choosing to leave that behind entirely.
Whether you see that as freedom or something else probably says more about you than it does about him.
