Human oddity

A human oddity is someone who was born with a physical abnormality that sets them apart from normal human beings. Others may be altered in certain ways, usually through surgical procedure, to separate themselves from everyday people. People with such birth defects have often been saddled with the derogatory app appellation of "Freaks".

In speculative fiction, human oddities are often presented as carnival sideshow attractions. The most well-known of such presentations is Tod Browning's disturbing 1932 film Freaks. Human oddities also played a major role in season four of American Horror Story, which was billed under the heading of "Freak Show".

Human oddities have also been presented in other media including comic books such as the DC Comics/Vertigo limited series American Freak: A Tale of the Un-Men from 1994.