For decades, Richard Hernandez appeared to live a conventional life.

There was a career in banking, family responsibilities, and an appearance that would not have attracted unusual attention on the street. But beneath that ordinary exterior was a fascination with reptiles, mythology, and physical transformation that had existed since childhood.

Years later, Richard would become known to the world as Tiamat Legion Medusa—an unforgettable figure covered in scale-like tattoos, piercings, horn implants, and some of the most extreme body modifications ever seen.

Reports have estimated that the transformation has cost close to $80,000.

But the photographs taken before the procedures reveal a person almost impossible to recognize today.

A Conventional Life Before the Transformation

Tiamat was born Richard Hernandez in 1961 and spent part of childhood in Arizona and Texas.

Before becoming internationally known for extreme body modification, Tiamat reportedly worked in banking and built a stable professional career. There was also a son and a life that, from the outside, seemed far removed from the mythical creature Tiamat would later seek to become.

Although the dramatic transformation did not become visible until later in life, Tiamat has said the desire to change had existed for many years.

Social expectations and professional requirements made it difficult to express that side openly. Tattoos and piercings could be hidden beneath business clothing, allowing the two very different identities to exist at the same time.

By the time Tiamat was in their forties, there were reportedly already 79 piercings, most of which remained concealed from colleagues and the public.

Eventually, hiding no longer felt acceptable.

Tiamat decided it was time for the outside appearance to reflect the identity and imagination that had remained private for so long.

The First Steps Toward Becoming a Dragon

The transformation did not happen through one operation.

It developed gradually over many years, with each new procedure designed to make Tiamat appear less conventionally human and more reptilian.

One of the earliest major changes involved implants beneath the skin of the forehead. These created raised shapes resembling horns and helped produce the stronger, more pronounced structure Tiamat associated with a dragon’s face.

Additional implants were later placed around the eyebrows.

Tattoo artists then began covering the face, scalp, and body with patterns inspired by reptile scales. Tiamat has specifically connected some of the designs to the Western diamondback rattlesnake, an animal that carried deep personal meaning from childhood.

As the tattoo work expanded, the transformation became impossible to hide.

The former banker seen in older photographs slowly disappeared beneath an elaborate living artwork.

Tattoos, Horns and a Split Tongue

The scale tattoos may be the first feature people notice, but they represent only one part of Tiamat’s transformation.

The tongue was surgically split to create a forked, snake-like appearance. The ears were removed, and extensive work was performed on the nose to create narrower, slit-like openings.

Tiamat also had the whites of the eyes stained, producing a striking color that added to the reptilian appearance. Multiple horn and dome-shaped implants were inserted beneath the skin of the forehead and eyebrow area.

These procedures were not performed all at once.

The changes accumulated over years, with long periods of healing between some of the more serious modifications. Tiamat has explained that body-modification specialists were trusted with many of the procedures, while hospital treatment was used when a modification required conventional medical care.

The risks involved in such work can be significant. Infection, nerve damage, scarring, and complications from implants are all possible when the body is modified this extensively.

For Tiamat, however, the pain and risk were viewed as part of a much larger personal and artistic process.

More Than an Attempt to Look Shocking

To strangers, the transformation may appear designed only to attract attention.

Tiamat describes it differently.

In interviews, Tiamat has referred to the body as a living canvas and the transformation as a form of conceptual art. Each tattoo, implant, and surgical change contributes to a character that exists somewhere between human, reptile, and mythological creature.

The dragon identity also has roots in a difficult childhood.

Tiamat has spoken publicly about being abandoned near a wooded area as a young child and later developing a strong emotional connection with snakes and reptiles. Over time, these animals became associated with survival, protection, and an imagined alternative family.

That history gives the transformation a more complicated meaning.

It is not simply about appearing unusual. For Tiamat, becoming a dragon represents freedom from an earlier identity, control over the body, and the ability to turn painful experiences into something deliberately chosen.

How Much Did the Transformation Cost?

The exact cost is difficult to confirm because the transformation has continued for many years.

A 2016 television profile reported that Tiamat had already spent approximately $60,000 on body modifications at that point. Later media reports placed the figure closer to $80,000 as more tattoos, implants, piercings, and procedures were added.

The total reportedly includes extensive tattoo work, dozens of piercings, subdermal implants, tongue splitting, ear removal, nasal modification, eye staining, and other procedures.

For many people, spending that amount to alter the body so dramatically would be impossible to understand.

Tiamat does not see the money as having been spent on a temporary trend.

The transformation is viewed as a lifelong project—one that has reshaped not only physical appearance but also identity, relationships, and the way the outside world responds.

The Before Photos Reveal a Different Person

Older photographs of Richard Hernandez create one of the most striking before-and-after comparisons found anywhere in the body-modification world.

In the images, Richard appears with an ordinary human face, conventional hair, and none of the tattoos or implants that now define Tiamat’s appearance.

There are no horns.

No scale patterns.

No altered eyes or forked tongue.

Without being told that the photographs show the same person, many viewers would never make the connection.

The contrast demonstrates how extensive the transformation has been. It also shows that the process was not simply a change of hairstyle or the addition of several tattoos.

Nearly every visible part of Tiamat’s appearance has been reconsidered and redesigned.

The Personal Cost Behind the Public Attention

The transformation brought international recognition, television appearances, interviews, and a large amount of attention online.

It also affected Tiamat’s private life.

Media interviews have described a strained relationship with Tiamat’s son, who reportedly struggled to accept the transformation. Tiamat has spoken about hoping that the relationship might one day be repaired.

Public reactions have also been mixed.

Some people respond with curiosity and admiration, viewing Tiamat as someone willing to live without fear of social judgment. Others react with discomfort, criticism, or disbelief.

Tiamat has said that many in-person encounters are positive, even though harsh reactions remain common online. The attention is sometimes welcoming and sometimes deeply isolating.

That contrast is now part of everyday life.

A Living Work of Art

Today, Tiamat Legion Medusa is recognized as one of the world’s best-known extreme body-modification figures.

The transformation has appeared in interviews, documentaries, art projects, television reports, and online discussions about identity and personal freedom. In 2022, Tiamat collaborated with artist Carlos Motta on a project that explored transformation, physical endurance, mythology, gender, and the body as art.

Tiamat has made it clear that the process is not necessarily finished.

The goal has never been to complete one procedure and return to an ordinary life. The ongoing transformation is the life Tiamat chose.

Whether viewers find the appearance inspiring, unsettling, or difficult to understand, the before-and-after photographs tell an undeniable story.

A former banker who once blended easily into professional society made the extraordinary decision to rebuild nearly every visible part of their appearance.

The result is no longer Richard Hernandez as the world once knew him.

It is Tiamat Legion Medusa—a self-created dragon and a living work of art.