The face is a person’s foremost marker of identity. It harbors four of our five senses, and it is a crucial tool of communication. What goes on in the brain is performed on the stage that is the face, which can be read to a certain extent. It reveals but also conceals.

When the face is disfigured, all of its major capacities are affected. Moreover, because it is visible (in most cultures) and deviates from the norm, it often evokes shock, disgust, shunning, and ridicule in people. This is emphasized by the fact that facial disfigurements have had a long history of mostly negative associations: disfigured equals evil, villainous, or criminal; it may be the result of God’s punishment; it is a medical curiosity and challenge; it marks the ultimate other. From Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Birthmark,” to The Dark Knight’s Joker and Two-Face, to The Hound in Game of Thrones, it is no wonder that the disfigured face has attracted writers, filmmakers, and showrunners alike.