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Human Notepad (view source)

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{{trope}}
[[File:memento.jpg|link=Memento (Film)|frame|He [[Couldn't Find a Pen|Couldn't Find A Pen]], but luckily the tattoo parlor was right next door.]]
 
 
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* Miharu suffers from this in ''[[Nabari no Ou]]'' when the Shinrabanshou sealed inside him is used. This "secret art" is described as being more like an immense library of powerful information, though not in a readable form and thus impossible to control. Inside his mental space, it appears as a stormfront of floating Kanji.
* ''[[Those Who Hunt Elves]]''.
* ''[[Kenichi: theThe Mightiest Disciple]]'' has music-obsessed Siegfried writing one of his compositions on his unconscious opponent.
* {{spoiler|Riza Hawkeye}} in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' has a tattoo on her back that contains {{spoiler|her father's research into flame alchemy}}, which she shows to {{spoiler|Roy Mustang}} before asking him to destroy it.
** {{spoiler|Scar's brother}} did this to himself in the first anime in an effort to {{spoiler|create a true Philosopher's Stone}}.
* A rather disturbing example occurs in [[Shigofumi (Anime)|Shigofumi]]. {{spoiler|Fumika, the protagonist}} suffered from a form of child abuse wherein her [[Mad Artist]] father would etch his rough drafts into her body with glass pens.
 
 
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* Indirect example: Brian had Dave and Bob tattoo his spellbook on their characters in ''[[Knights of the Dinner Table]]''.
* ''[[Le Scorpion]]'': In ''The Treasure of the Templars'', it is revealed that Rochnan was punished for pretending to convert to Islam by having the 99 names of Allah tattooed over his body.
* One of the villains in Matt Fraction's ''[[Casanova (Comic Bookcomics)|Casanova]]'' hid the map to his money in invisible ink on the nubile flesh of a band of pop-singer asssassins.
 
 
== Film ==
 
* ''[[The Pillow Book (Literature)|The Pillow Book]]''
* The Tattoo in ''[[Bullet ProofBulletproof Monk]]'' magically {{spoiler|transfers to Jade and Car when they take over the magic duties}}.
* Dan, the son of ''[[Yellowbeard (Film)|Yellowbeard]]'', has a treasure-map tattood on his head.
** This was also done in ''[[Cutthroat Island]]'', where one-third of a treasure map is tattooed on the scalp of the heroine's father. After he gets killed at the beginning of the movie, she cuts it off of him and takes it with her, as he'd instructed while dying.
* In ''[[Waterworld]]'', {{spoiler|the little girl who serves as the heroine's [[Morality Pet]]}} has a treasure map tattoo that {{spoiler|leads to the surviving last dry land on the planet.}}
* Leonard Shelby of ''[[Memento (Film)|Memento]]'' uses tattoos as a [[Note to Self:]] to make up for his inability to form new memories.
* Happens in the film version of ''[[Harriet the Spy]]'' in the form of "foot tattoos" shared between friends.
 
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* The fantasy novel ''The Warded Man'' revolves around this--the title character discovered symbols that can kill demons, then trained as a [[Bare-Fisted Monk]] and got the appropriate tattoos.
* ''[[The Death Gate Cycle]]'': Two races of rune-wielding demigods exists: The Sartans, who inscribe [[Instant Runes]] by moving their hands and feet - essentially 'dancing' the magic out; and the Patryns who follow this trope. They tattoo magical runes across their entire body (except the head, where it would disturb the process of free thought) and can thus call out their power at will.
* In ''[[InkheartThe (Literature)Inkworld Trilogy|Inkheart]]'', many of the [[Big Bad]]'s conjured creatures end up with lines of text in awkward places on their skin (like diagonally across their faces) due to a [[Malfunction Malady]] of sorts. This carries over to the film version
* In Bolesław Leśmian's book version of ''[[Sinbad the Sailor]]'', the protagonist's poet uncle laments that his poems always get destroyed one way or another, no matter on what media he records them. Eventually, he tattooes all his poems on his body.
* Given the unpredictable nature of his [[Cursed Withwith Awesome|visions]] Talos will often scrawl portions of prophecy on his [[Powered Armor|warplate]], since it may be the only way for him to remember what the heck he just saw. Unfortunately, it makes him distinctly distinguishable as a much coveted prophet of the [[Night Lords|VIII Legion]].
 
== Live Action TV ==
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* Something to this effect appears to be happening to {{spoiler|Max}} in ''[[Dark Angel]]''.
* Short, dramatic example: On ''[[Lost]]'', {{spoiler|Charlie}} writes {{spoiler|"NOT PENNY'S BOAT"}} on his hand as {{spoiler|the room he's in fills with water}} to tell {{spoiler|Desmond}}.
* In season 4 of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' the season's [[Big Bad]] is a man with terrakinesis. He uses his ability to leave messages in ink on his mooks (and form a strangling hand if they anger him)
* In ''[[Red Dwarf (TV)|Red Dwarf]]'', Rimmer attempts to cheat his way through an exam by covering his entire body (save his hands and face - and buttocks) with written notes. On trying to look at the ones on his forearm, he finds his sweat has smudged them into complete illegibility. This doesn't stop him from wrapping his hand around his forearm and slapping it down on the exam paper, in an insane hope that the words would somehow form themselves. (He then stands up, salutes his examining officer and faints in the middle of the classroom.)
* ''[[Brimstone (TV series)|Brimstone]]'' : Zeke Stone has the names of the 113 damned souls he's hunting tattooed on his body, 'penned in [the Devil's] native tongue'. When he sends a damned soul back, their name is removed, painfully.
* In ''[[MASH]]'', Klinger does this to cheat on a test, requiring him to perform some rather odd gymnastics in order to see the answers.
* ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'' did this in Angel's dream sequence in "Release". The shaman who removed Angel's soul had writing all over his body and the team had to decipher it.
* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. In "Restless" Willow's dream begins with an erotic scene in which she paints Sappho's ''Hymn to Aphrodite'' in Greek letters on the back of a naked Tara. And in "Villains" she absorbs several [[Tome of Eldritch Lore]] -- the text is seen flowing across her skin until its reaches her face and gives Willow [[Black Eyes of Evil]].
* ''[[Chouriki Sentai Ohranger]]'': Gorou gets the code Red Puncher needs to combine with Ohranger Robo printed on his back by the memory pack containing it when said pack is destroyed.
 
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== Video Games ==
 
* The Nameless One in ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', put there by a previous incarnation as a [[Note to Self:]].
{{quote| "''No wonder my back hurts; there's a damn novel inscribed there!''"}}
* In ''[[Rift]]'', the Defiant faction's resident [[Five Races|stouts]] canonically have this as a cultural trait:
{{quote| "The [[Proud Warrior Race|Bahmi]] cover themselves in very intricate and magical tattoos called "sefir". The application of sefir is all that remains of the Bahmi's elemental heritage, and they [[Storyboard Body|recognize great accomplishments in a Bahmi's life]]. The tattoos recount the personal histories of each Bahmi, while also [[Power Tattoo|providing a sizable source of imbued elemental power]]."}}
* In ''[[The Curse of Monkey Island (Video Game)|The Curse of Monkey Island]]'', one character has the only map to a certain island -- tattooed on his back. Yes, you do have to get it off. No, we won't say how. [[You Do NOT Want to Know|You don't want to know]].
* In ''[[Call of Duty: Black Ops (Video Game)|Call of Duty Black Ops]]'', the German who invented the Nova 6 chemical is covered in tattoos of mathematical and scientific formulas.
 
== Webcomics ==
 
* Mnemosyne in ''[[Zeus and Sons (Webcomic)|Zeus and Sons]]'' has tattoos of things she should try to remember. Including one that urges her to "find a solution in case writing space runs out".
 
 
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== Western Animation ==
* Used for humorous effect in ''[[Family Guy (Animation)|Family Guy]]'': When the Griffins go to a prison, they have to write a lengthy contract on a prisoner's buttocks with a shard of glass as he screams in pain. Peter makes a mistake and proceeds to 'erase' it causing the man to collapse, presumably dead.
* A squicky variation shows up in ''[[Aqua Teen Hunger Force (Animation)|Aqua Teen Hunger Force]]'', when Carl and Master Shake anger a forest of talking trees. The trees hang Carl up by his feet and tear off pieces of his skin to write notes on during his "trial".
* ''[[Mulan]]'' writes notes to herself on her arm before heading to the matchmaker, although they are washed off during the scrubdown she is administered by her mother and grandmother making the script non-legible.
* In an episode of ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'', when Fry becomes the emperor of a race of liquid people after [[You Kill It, You Bought It|accidentally drinking the previous one]], he is required at his coronation to recite the oath of office (a [[Long List]] of how [[Klingon Promotion|each emperor dispatched the last]]) by memory, and gets by by writing it on the inside of his arm.
* In an episode of ''[[Camp Lazlo]]'', some insects bit Raj in order to make him into a treasure map.
* ''[[The Simpsons]]'': Homer has written notes on himself in some episodes.
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