Mena's Mark

Mena Suvari, star of American Beauty, is featured on a website devoted to celebrities and their various dermatological conditions. Okay, now that's weird. We're only concerned with nipples here, thank you very much.

American bombshell Mena Suvari has more than just a beauty mark on her face. She also has this brown lesion on her right trunk. Though this may be a mole, its appearance and location are also consistent with an extra nipple.

Sorry, but to me it looks like a mole. Still, not a bad excuse to put a photo of her up here...

Nipple Twister

Actor Bill Paxton, star of Twister (the hero guy), Aliens (the scared guy), Stripes (the stupid guy), and True Lies (the slimy guy), as well as the star and director of one of the greatest videos ever made, Fish Heads by Barnes and Barnes, is another celebrity with three nipples.

From an interview with David Bradley (see link in Title):

He breaks into several refrains of whooping, "yeah-ing" and "right on, man-ning", and then, when pressed to tell me something that no one's ever heard about the great, the extremely famous cult icon Bill Paxton, he thinks carefully and volunteers, "I've got three nipples. Three. No one knows about that, but no one's ever asked me before. I guess it's about time I got it off my chest."

Nice one about getting it off your chest.

The Devil's Mark

Imagine - a mere 300 years ago a person could have been flayed alive, pressed by stones, or, the old stand-by, burned at the stake for having a supernumerary nipple. Not exactly the conversation-starter it is today. Why, you might ask, was this?

During the great witch craze of about 1100 to 1700 (wow, trends sure lasted a long time back then) it was commonly believed (by the same kind of morons you might find today in, oh, Dover PA) that an extra nipple was the mark of the devil. Witches were supposed to nurse their familiars through the extra milk spigot.

It was widely believed that most witches sported a mark on their body which was placed there by the Devil. The Witches' mark, Devil's Mark, or Witches' teat was the seal of the Devil, given to witches upon initiation. This mark could be a scar, a mole, a birthmark, or superfluous nipple. The Devil's Mark was a nipple through which the witch nourished her or his familiar.

The popular saying "cold as a witch's tit" appears to refer to superfluous nipples too. I don't know about you, but mine is toasty warm right now. No doubt from bathing in the eternal fiery pits of hell.

More history of The Devil's Mark here and here.

The Scaramanga Gene

Third nipples can cure cancer! Well, not really, but this article By Ainsley Newson from The Times Online (UK) certainly adds to the mystique and prestige of the extra endowed. That is, of course, unless the researchers start rounding us up to use in their mad experiments.

By Ainsley Newson

A GENE that triggers the development of breasts has been identified by British scientists, who have named it Scaramanga after the Bond villain with three nipples.

The gene appears to influence the growth of extra nipples, but is also thought to be involved in breast cancer. Its identification promises to bring new insights into the causes and treatment of the disease.

Researchers at the Breakthrough Breast Cancer Centre at the Institute of Cancer Research have called the gene after the fiendish character Scaramanga, played by Christopher Lee in the 1974 James Bond film The Man with the Golden Gun. Bond’s adversary was identifiable only by his third nipple.

Professor Alan Ashworth and his team had wanted to understand the trigger for breast development, including what controls the number of mammary glands. They found that Scaramanga helps to determine how and where breast tissue is laid down while the embryo is developing, in addition to the number of breasts that form. They report their finding in Genes and Development.

In embryo development the formation of all organs and tissues is tightly controlled by different genes. In humans the process normally results in two breasts, but the process sometimes goes awry.

“Identifying the Scaramanga gene is a real advance in our understanding of the early steps in breast formation,” Professor Ashworth said. “By learning more about this gene and the protein it produces, it will allow us to determine how normal breast development is initiated, and, importantly, examine how this is connected with breast cancer.

Scaramanga was identified in mice strains known to have abnormal breast development and is one of several genes involved in the pathway to breast formation. The gene product, a protein called Neuregulin3 (NRG3), is a growth-stimulating substance which signals cells to become breast cells. Although the link with extra nipples has been made only in mice at this stage, “it is likely to be involved in humans”, Professor Ashworth says.

The protein is very similar to proteins found in breast cancer, suggesting a direct link between the two. NRG3 activates cells that have a protein very similar to one over-expressed in about 20 per cent of breast cancers and which can be targeted by the drug Herceptin.

“While proteins carefully control the development of breast cells in the embryo, inappropriate signals to breast cells during adulthood by these same molecules may cause breast cancer,” Professor Ashworth said.

Third nipples are not very rare: one in eighteen people has one. They can range in appearance from a small mole-like structure to a full breast, which may lactate, even in men. Third nipples are more common in men than in women.

Men have nipples because their physiological structure is laid down during embryo development before the genetic “male” signal is switched on.

The occurrence of third nipples has been observed since Roman times and are often attributed to increased femininity and fertility. In Salem, however, women with third nipples were condemned as witches and burnt at the stake, as they were thought to use them to suckle the Devil. Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, was victimised because of her third nipple.

These days, self-help websites provide tips on how to use third nipples advantageously in dating, socialising and, bizarrely, career advancement. There are even websites devoted to people’s third nipple piercings.

People who have third nipples are not thought to be at greater risk of contracting breast cancer, although the tissue area should regularly be checked for lumps.

Meenakshi

The Legend of Meenakshi (sometimes spelled Minakshi)

Long ago in Madurai, India, there lived a King and Queen. The couple was childless and the King was in need of an heir. He prayed and performed a sacrifice in order to obtain a son but out of the sacrificial fire came a young girl with three nipples. She was Meenakshi, the Fish-Eyed incarnation of Parvati. The King was dismayed at not getting a son and further dismayed at getting a daughter with an abnormality. But a divine voice said, "Consider this girl to be your heir and train her like you would your son. As for her third breast, it will disappear when she meets her future husband."

In due course Meenakshi was crowned ruler of Madurai and she embarked on a program of expansion, conquering many kingdoms in her northward advance. When she reached Kailash Mountain, the home of Shiva, she destroyed Shiva's army so quickly that Shiva was compelled to enter the fray himself. For a moment the adversaries stood face to face and then Meenakshi's third breast disappeared. She threw down her weapons and surrendered to her husband to be.

Links to other versions:
Here, here, and here. There is also the Wikipedia entry on Meenakshi.

Her Royal Threeness

In my search for famous people with three nipples, I present for your edification the curious case of Anne Boleyn, former Queen of England.



First of all, I should address the case of Elizabeth I. Although at least one report attributes an extra nipple to this queen, I think someone has got their facts confused. They were no doubt thinking of the beheaded wife of Henry VIII.

As for Anne, numerous sources say she had not only an extra nipple, but an extra finger too. If you devoured The Book of Lists as I did as a fascinated seven year old, then you remember that fact. However, this seems to me a fabrication too. Apparently, she was beheaded for incest and adultery (generally seen as excuses for Henry to marry Anne's maid, Jane Seymour) and it wasn't until about 50 years later that a biographer first made the claims about the nipple and the finger. The rumours persist and frankly, they make a good story.

Too bad about the nipple, though. I bet if she had one, she wouldn't have lost her head.

Three And Proud

I think this is now the official T-Shirt of this webpage.

These Days

Although I haven't found any photos, it appears that Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Jackson Browne also has three nipples. My sister met him at a bar in Havana and I've been meaning to ask her if he was wearing a shirt at the time...

Third Nipple Piercings

Let's say an old friend comes to town for New Years Eve in, say, 1994. You go out, have a few drinks, and he breaks out a 2-for-1 nipple piercing coupon while telling you he's always wanted to get it done. Let's say you had three nipples and some lowered inhibitions. What do you do? What do you do?

If you're me, you do the deed. Even if said friend pulls his out two weeks later. As for these people, I don't know what their story is. But I don't blame them one little bit.



See? Even Texans can have three nipples...

The Source Of All My Power

Wow, this is a pretty exhaustive summary of Chandler's Nubbin. It's amazing what people publish on the internet these days...

Chandler Bing's Nipples - Data processing executive Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry) on the sitcom Friends (NBC, 1994-2004) was endowed with not two, but three nipples. Because his "nubbin" (what he called it) was such a curiosity, when people learned of the third nipple, they asked questions like "What's it shaped like?", "Is there a hair on it?" and "Can you flick it?" Tired of such questions, Chandler got creative and told them "Pressure on the third nipple opens the delivery entrance to Narnia." Chandler finally had his birth anomaly removed [a "nubbinectomy"] in his late twenties, and is now "without nubbin." On the episode "The One With Phoebe's Ex Partner" Chandler dated an ex-girlfriend of Joey Tribianni named Ginger who had a wooden leg. After some soul searching, Chandler decided it didn't matter about her leg. Unfortunately, when the girl felt Chandler's "nubbin" beneath his shirt, she immediately freaked and pulled away from him him. An excerpt of the scene follows:
Ginger: Do you have three nipples?
Chandler: Well, y'know, two regulars ... [clears throat] and, uh, one that barely qualifies as a ... [CHANDLER resumes kissing, but GINGER pulls away and gets up from the chair] Uh, what?
Ginger: [gathering her belongings and putting on her coat) Nothing, y'know, I - I just remembered I have to leave.
Chandler: You, uh, you have [laughs] you have to leave, now? How come?
Ginger: Oh, well, it's nubbin [correcting herself] NOTHING, um ... y'know what, I'm, I'm, I'll see you later, okay. [GINGER leaves the apartment and shuts the door on CHANDLER, and as soon as the door is shut, she quivers and gets grossed out at the thought of CHANDLER's nubbin).

Actually, I thought the scene was much funnier than it sounds since the one-legged girlfriend is played by Sherilyn Fenn. (Audrey from Twin Peaks will always have a place in my heart.) And they don't mention the ending of the show, where Chandler belatedly "realizes" that his nubbin was the source of his powers of sarcasm.

Nipples In The Crowd

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an announcement to make. I have received my first photo submission to this blog ever. Another Robert (he goes by Rob, sans the Dread Pirate) in the U.K. has boldly mailed me pictures of his very own extra-special friend. Cheers, Rob! And good luck to Chelsea, if that's your team!

Oh Fee...

Big ups to Mike, Jon, Page, and Trey - better known as Phish. One of my favourite bands, Phish has written a poem/song about three nipples, in response to a fan letter.

Mike and Trey and Page and Jon:
I have three nipples and seeing as you seem to like nipples and haven't written a nipple song lately would you write a song about me?
Brett


Dear Brett:
YES, here it is:

The best nipple is always the third
Like the triple nipple of the Coriander bird
Two's company; three's a crowd
But I bet that third one makes you proud
Where's that nipple, by the way?
Up top, below, or can't you say?
If I had three, know what I'd do?
I'd pierce it through to the other two.

Hooray for Brett! Hooray for Phish!

"Millie took the paper and sliced him on the nipple"
Fee, from the album Junta by Phish

Precious

Mark Wahlberg has decided not to go under-the-knife to remove his third nipple - because he has grown to love it.

The rapper-turned-actor star of Four Brothers considered having an operation to lose the extra nipple after all the media attention it attracted but he has revealed to Rolling Stone magazine: "I've come to embrace it. That thing's my prized possession."

Defending John Edwards

"Neither a man's nipples nor the number of them should have any bearing on a presidential election."
-John Kerry

Arnie's Army

And just so I don't have to do it later, here's the woman from Total Recall. (Psst... they're fake. No, not silicon, I think it's latex and spirit gum.)

The Third Nipple Society?

Is your interest in superfluous nipples more than a passing fancy? Do you long to find a society of like-nippled individuals (or at least one indidvidual - the society doesn't look that large to me...) and communicate on some deep level that only those possessing that somewhat-misplaced "third eye" can? If this page isn't enough for you, there is a club you can join. Here it is. A sample from their website:

"It is, at the end of the day discrimination to laugh at our genetic defect or whatever it is that gives us an extra nipple and Human Rights comes in to play. Yes its serious stuff."

Personally, I disagree with this poorly punctuated statement on at least two levels. Firstly, I don't consider it a defect at all. I prefer "exceptionality." Secondly, it's a load of codswallop. (Did I spell codswallop correctly? I really don't use that word too often but hey, this is a family page.) I mean, if a three-nippled person can make it as an underwear model, then there aren't too many other occupations that really call for only two nipples.

People, it is not discrimination to laugh. Get a sense of humour. In the words of that legendary three-nippled clown, "Now kids, let's go and see Sideshow Mel for some more of his legal, over the counter wake-up drugs!"


UPDATE: Sadly, the Third Nipple Society is now nothing more than a 404 File Not Found Error. If you're still looking for something to join, try one of the Facebook groups for people with superfluous nipples.

The Third Nipple

A few years ago I registered the domain superfluousnipple.com, intending to make a shrine to that misunderstood phenomenon. I quickly realized that these guys beat me to it. This, combined with Wikipedia's page pretty much cover all the basic informetion you could ever need.

Anyway, in the other links, there is The Diaper Pail, which has nothing to do with superfluous nipples, oh no. It's all about using a fully functional pair of them for their intended purpose: feeding the cutest damn baby on the planet.

I better link to my other page too. Dread Pirate Robert has almost nothing to do with nipples, other than the writer has three.

So people, mail me some photos of third nipples! How about sending them to pics at superfluousnipple.com and I'll put them up here. Don't worry, Marky Mark makes me look bad too.

Everyday People

Here's Marcus, auditioning for a reality show. Three nipples? He's a lock!

How Funky Is The Funky Bunch?

Looking for famous people with extra nipples...

Actor and singer Mark Wahlberg is seen to have a third nipple below his left breast in his modelling photographs.

There Are Others

John Kerry's running mate, Senator John Edwards, is reported to have two extras.


Fictional characters said to have 'a third nipple' include:

- The assassin Francisco Scaramanga from the book and movie The Man with the Golden Gun
- Chandler Bing from the Friends television show (he refers to it as his "nubbin" but eventually has it removed).
- Dr. Noah Faulkner in the film Biodome
- Miss Ivannah from the movie Mallrats (although this is a fake – after the protagonists leave her shop, she peels the fake third nipple from her breast and eats it.)
- Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons television show
- Malcolm's classmate in Malcolm in the Middle episode 314 "Cynthia's Back" which aired 17 February 2002. Line: "I wonder if my third nipple can get me out of wrestling?

The Superfluous Nipple

The supernumerary nipple, or superfluous nipple as it is referred to on The Simpsons, is a wondrously entertaining, if essentially useless thing. Especially on a man. Perhaps this humble blog will live up to those low standards.

From Wikipedia:
A supernumerary nipple (also known as a third nipple, accessory nipple, polythelia or polymastia) is an additional nipple occurring in mammals including humans. Often mistaken for moles, supernumerary nipples are diagnosed at a rate of 2% in females, less in males. The nipples appear along the two vertical "milk lines" which start in the armpit on each side, run down through the typical nipples and end at the groin. They are classified into eight levels of completeness from a simple patch of hair to a milk-bearing breast in miniature. Polythelia refers to the nipple alone while polymastia denotes the presence of glandular tissue.


The List (Last updated July 13, 2007)

The following list is the working copy of my life's work: finding people with three (or more) nipples. I know - it's a weird life.

Lily Allen - Singer
Anne Boleyn - Queen of England
Jackson Browne - Musician
Chuck Cleaver - Musician (The Ass Ponys)
Scatman Crothers - Actor, Singer
John Edwards - U.S. Senator
Brian Jones - Musician (The Rolling Stones)
Frank Langella - Actor
Moms Mabley - Comedienne
Bill Paxton - Actor, Director
Mena Suvari - Actor
Mark Wahlberg - Actor
Tilda Swinton - Actor

Moirob - Blogger
Marcus - Game Show Applicant
Daniel Loew - Movie Producer
Me

Fictional Characters:

Francisco Scaramanga (from the movie The Man With The Golden Gun)
Chandler Bing (from the TV series Friends)
Krusty the Klown (from the TV show The Simpsons)
Noah Falkner (from the movie Biodome)

** Note: Some people in the list (Anne Boleyn, Mena Suvari...) may not have extra nipples but are included here because I commented on their cases in my blog. I welcome confirmations, denials, and random photos. Please send photos of your own superfluous nipple to pics [at] superfluousnipple.com and I will add you to my roll of honour.