Edward Mordake | The truth about the Two-Faced Man

When a event incredible becomes known, the voices that commonly transmit it tend to distort the fact, especially when it is a complicated anecdote and difficult to explain. Much of the information found on the Internet has been viewed modified with details that make it more attractive and interesting, such was the case of the young man Edward Mordake, who over time has taken on a different meaning for everyone who encounters his legend. This crosses the stories of a “adorable monster” until he became the gallant collector of souls in a famous series in presentHowever, his story is a little different from what we have been told. Today at we bring you the story of the man with two faces. Come with us to get to know it.

Edward Mordake, the man with two faces

1. Mysteries of nature

Our story begins with birth of a little one in a family bourgeoisie and well placed in the society of XIX century, in the United Kingdom. Son of the Countess of Darlington at the time, Edward begins his life as someone hated for his social positionhis wealth and for the famous disease that gave rise to the myth of its origin “demonic”.

Mordake is born with a syndrome congenital called «Diprosopia” or Craniofacial duplication, a malformation which is said to be related to the duplication of the notochord or notochord, important part of the embryo that maintains axial support in the body and is subsequently replaced by the spine, this duplication can be caused by an abnormal activity of the SHH protein (Sonic Hedgehog – Yes, just like the one in video games). This detachment can lead to two ridges nervous which in turn give rise to two cranial formations.

Edward Mordake had a cranial duplication that apparently could gesticulate slightly given that I had muscles and nerves malformed, although his dominant face was healthy. On the other hand, although the second face of the two-faced man could not speak, Mordake claimed that he could.

2. The legend of the man tormented by the “demon”

From the premise that assured that the face malformed Mordake possessed the ability of gesturing. Speculation began about the abilities cognitive of that strangermonster«, since the legend says that the second face of Edward could speak and even used torment him by nights with a voice soft and almost imperceptible, except to the unfortunate bearer, saying things terrible and giving orders inhuman and else curses.

There are rumors about the existence of a 1990 file in the Almanac of Medicine: “Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine” by George M. Gould in which there was supposedly a comment from Edward Mordake himself where he expressed his feelings about this “other me”:

“The imagination cannot conceive the temptations frightening in which it surrounds me. By some unforgivable evil of my ancestors I am sewn to this devil, because I’m sure he’s a demon. I beg and plead for it delete of the world, although I die

However, it has been confirmed that Edward Mordake never said this, so this saying is fakeas well as some others assertions which made reference to the fact that the malformed face really belonged to that of a women, because Diprosopia occurs with the characteristics of an already defined sex. However, the word spread, revealing Mordrake as a being disgusting what was it Influenced for him devil same.

3. The psychological impact

Can you imagine the unbearable pressure of being constantly observed, judged and criticized(a) by something you can’t see, but you know is behind you and makes you different to others? The man with two faces, Edward Mordake suffered the ignorance of the time in which he grew up, the constant insistence of people to impose a value «evil one” to the things they could not understand and that caused this man to really live Tormented, more because of what was said about him than because of that malformation. The young man remained isolated of the world, he remained in his room developing a deep depression which led, according to what history has revealed, in a suicide at 23 years old.

The way in which the man with two faces would have committed suicide is also subject to multiple speculations, embezzlements and inventions of all kinds; There are those who say that she hung herself from the balcony of his apartment, others say that he poisoned himself and there are others who say that he shot himself between the eyes so that the bullet would hit him. alter ego. Whatever the case, this exposes another case that, beyond the absurdity created from this character, teaches us what human stupidity and little tolerance to those who are not part of the so-famous “normality”.

4. Other truths

Currently there is no reliable evidence to even prove the existence of this mythical man with two faces. One of the first facts that raises doubt is that, as has been said, diprosopia is a very strange condition and In the history of medicine, less than 50 cases have been recorded.among which, except on two occasions, those who suffer from it cannot live more than a couple of days.

The first mention of Edward Mordake is in the newspaper Boston Post on December 8, 1895 in an article titled «Some half-human monsters that could be children of the Devil» by the science fiction writer Charles Lotin Hildreth where, in addition to our unfortunate character, others appear such as a man with the body of a spider, a half-fish woman and many others.

Hildreth stated that he took the testimonies of the specimens that he exposed in his texts from old reports of the Royal Scientific Society, society that, by the way, there is no certainty of its existence either. Her stories gained popularity and several newspapers replicated and published them, which strengthened his verisimilitude. But what would have caused the trigger for it to be considered true, would be the testimony that was previously exposed in the Encyclopedia of Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine.

Finally, it should be noted that the popular images that are usually found on the internet (including those posted here) are false, none of them are photographs of the mythical Edward Mordake, the man with two faces. The photograph that circulates the most is where the alleged unfortunate man is seen in black and white, but no, that is a snapshot of the 20th century of a wax figure in the Panopticon Museum in Hamburg, Germany. Likewise, the photographs that are usually found consist of wax figures that recreate the legend.

You have to assume that this is what the internet is like. What did you think of this case? Have you heard another story about Edward Mordake? Tell us your opinion about it.