Tattooed Crook: Difference between revisions

[[File:MS13.jpg|frame|Eh, he looks trustworthy.]]

 

 

Tattoos have a long history, and have over the millenia been signs of different social classes, from royalty to the rags. In more recent times, they have become associated with criminals, sailors and [[Bread, Eggs, Breaded Eggs|criminal]] [[Pirates|sailors]]. In fiction, a tattoo can act as a shorthand for "criminal", and at times [[Truth in Television|it's not that far off]]. Organised crime from The [[Yakuza]] to [[Gang-Bangers]] have their own codes, and prisoners tell their life stories in pictures.

The attitudes towards tattoos has during the past decades softened, and many old pirate and prisoner tattoos have been adopted into the general lexicon of tattoos, prime example being the spider web, which depending on the bearer might have meant drug addiction, incarceration or killing a minority, but is now a fashion accessory.

 

 

May be [[Embarrassing Tattoo]] when a crook goes straight. In futuristic settings, a [[Bar Code Tattoo]] may be an Orwellian variety.

 

{{examples}}

* Revy from ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' has a large shoulder piece. Also, Yakuza muscleman Ginji from the "Fujiyama Gangsta Paradise" arc sports a large traditional Yakuza tattoo.

* Nami from ''[[One Piece]]'' first had the Arlong pirate's crest on her shoulder, but after breaking ties with them, changed it into a homage to her adoptive mother Bellemere and surrogate father figure Genzo. (Her adoptive older sister Nojiko, despite not being a crook, also got a tattoo to show her sympathy for her.) Also, Luffy's brother Ace has A<s>S</s>CE on his bicep and the Whitebeard Pirate's crest on his back, which in the manga contained a Maji, but was changed [[No Swastikas|into a cross in the Anime]] and retconned into the manga.

** ''[[One Piece]]'' seems to like this trope. In more recent chapters, Boa Hancock and her sisters Marigold and Sandersonia were revealed to have a tattoo on their backs {{spoiler|called the "Hoof of the Soaring Dragon", the crest of [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Celestial Dragons]]. It is a mark that is burned into people who are slaves to the nobles, and signifies that they are "less than human", which explains why they invented the story of the Gorgon so nobody would look at their backs}}.

*** {{spoiler|Arlong and much of his crew all sport these tattoos because they were once members of the Pirates of the Sun.}}

** Trafalgar Law has a number of tattoos, including "Smile" tattoos on his arms, tiny cross-shapes on the backs of his hands, and "DEATH" on his fingers.

* In ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]'', Train has a tattoo of the number XIII on his chest. It signifies that he belonged to [[Nebulous Evil Organization|Chronos]], and is generally viewed by people as being fearsome. He doesn't seem to mind showing it though.

* Many characters in ''[[Gokusen]]'' like to let their jacket fall open to reveal a heavily tattooed shoulder, for intimidation purposes. Kumiko sometimes does this unconsciously while yelling at her students (although she doesn't seem to have any tattoos).

* In ''[[King of Thorn]]'', Marco Owen is identified by the other survivors as a criminal due to his prominent prison tattoos.

* Inverted example in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'': while Marik Ishtar is a [[Big Bad]] and the leader of his own criminal organization, what caused him to become a crook in the first place was the painful coming of age ritual where he received his large tattoo covering his back. This tattoo is merely associated with becoming Pharaoh Atem's tombkeeper and not with crime; however, this reception of the tattoo augmented Marik's hatred toward Atem as well as created his [[Super-Powered Evil Side]], which he would harbor until he would actually become an active [[Big Bad]].

*** Played straight in 5D's, criminals are given facial scar-like tattoos when incarcerated, even for seemingly minor crimes.

* Cabbage from ''[[Rainbow Nisha Rokubou no Shichinin]]'' has a tattoo on his bicep. His criminal activities are just an act of violence while drunk, but it's possible he had the crime pinned on him because the suspicious tattoo.

 

 

* [[Wolverine]]'s [[Magnificent Bastard]] son Daken sports a very prominent tribal tattoo on his left pectoral, trapezius, and arm, despite having inherited his dad's [[Healing Factor]].

* In ''[[Love and Rockets]]'', Izzy Ortiz has a tattoo on her arm of the logo of the Widows, the female street gang she was a member of in her youth.

* ''[[Sin City]]'' has the occaisional tattooed criminal with the most obvious example actually comoing from a corrupt federal agent who had a big black tattoo of an eagle across his face.

* El Diablo from the 2011 ''[[Suicide Squad]]'' series, a slumlord turned holy man with tats all over his upper body; the ones on his head in particular make it look like a skull.

 

* ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]'' has Tsuruya's father [[Large and In Charge|Kenshiro]] and her bodyguard Kasai. Both of them belong to [[Yakuza]].

 

* The skinheads in ''This Is England'' have home made tattoos. At one point, they give a Shaun one too, a cross on [[Knuckle Tattoos|his left middle finger]].

* The Finglerling in ''[[The Number 23]]''.

* Lester has an Ace of Spades tattooed on his arm in ''[[Rounders]]'', calling it the ace up his sleeve.

* [[Bar Code Tattoo|Barcode Tattoos]] are marks of prisoners in ''Alien 3''. This is one of the few remaining elements of [[William Gibson]]'s version of the script.

* Darth Maul from ''[[Star Wars]]''. See also the Expanded Universe entry below.

* Tran, the 10-year-old drug kingpin from ''[[Tropic Thunder]]''.

* Corky from ''[[Bound]]''.

* Nig in ''Once Were Warriors''. In an unusual but in-setting variation, his tattoos are a mixture of criminal gang markings and traditional Māori face markings, or ta moko.

* Toorop, the mercenary protagonist played by Vin Diesel in ''[[Babylon A.D.]]''

* In Disney's ''[[Peter Pan]]'', Hook sings:

* Cole from ''[[12 Monkeys|Twelve Monkeys]]'' has two barcodes tattooed on his neck, that reveal that he was convicted for violent crimes.

* Ivan Vanko from ''[[Iron Man (film)|Iron Man]] 2'' is covered in Russian prison tattoos.

* The bikers in ''[[Hell Ride]]''. Small plot point comes from villain Billy Wings who has different colour wings tattooed on him to mark sexual transgressions, including purple wings for "licking dead pussy".

* ''[[Curse of the Zodiac]]'' features a killer with unexplained tattoos printed on the left side of his neck.

* ''[[Teen Wolf (film)|Teen Wolf]]'': The basketball coach, who apparently has a very sordid personal life, advises Michael J. Fox to never get involved with a woman with a tattoo of a dagger on her body.

* ''[[Faster]]''. Driver has a tattoo on his forearm marking those people he killed in prison over the past ten years. A [[Badass]] Samoan takes one look and backs off, knowing full well the reputation of the man wearing it.

* ''[[The Transporter|Transporter 2]]''. [[The Dragon|Lola]] has a tattoo on her [[Zettai Ryouiki|inner thigh]] labelled "[[Killer Rabbit|Death by Rabbit]]" with a snarling rabbit wielding six[[Guns Akimbo]].

 

== Literature ==

** [[All Trolls Are Different|Trolls being living rock]], their equivalent is gang grafitti, or carvings if they're ''really'' tough.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s ''[[Gaunt's Ghosts]]'' novel, the Ghosts have tattoos. [[Blue Blood|Aristocratic]] Guardsmen [[Moral Myopia|regard]] them as visual proof of the Ghosts' general uncouthness, along with their [[Wild Hair]]. But new Vergast Ghosts desperately want tattoos to show they are part of the regiment.

* When amnesiac Peter Petrelli from ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]'' joins [[The Irish Mob]] for a few episodes in Season 2, he gets the gang tattoo (a Celtic knot) which at one point transforms into the [[Sigil Spam|RNA helix]] and back.

* Everpresent with the bikers in ''[[Sons of Anarchy]]'', including the intro sequence, and a plot point, when an ex-member hasn't covered up the gang name in his large back piece, and it's burned off by the members. Samcro hitman Happy also has several smily faces tattoos around his abdomen marking his victims.

* The Jinn in ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' look like heavily tattooed people with blue flames coming out of their hands.

* Subverted in an episode of ''[[Luther]]'', where an American kidnapper with a tattoo covering his entire face is seen wiping it off in the next scene, as it's meant to distract attention from his real features.

 

== Music ==

* The song "Blue Wing" has a convict getting the title tattoo in prison, possibly as a symbol of the freedom he's never found in life.

* The song "Lydia the Tattooed Lady", made famous by [[Marx Brothers|Groucho Marx]], is based on the association between tattoos and "loose" women.

You can learn a lot from Lydia! }}

 

* The Tsoo in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' gain their [[Demonic Spiders|ever so annoying powers]] from magical ink in their tattoos.

* All the members of the Mizo gang in ''[[Jak and Daxter|Jak X]]'' have the same flame tattoo on their right wrists.

* In a pre-mission cutscene in ''[[Modern Warfare 2]]'' we get a glimpse of the tattoos the Russian ultra-nationalists that attack the airport sport. This includes a church on the abdomen, a popular Russian prison tattoo ("Church is the home of God, the prison is the home of the criminal")

* Casteless Dwarves in ''[[Dragon Age]] Origins''.

* Francis of [[Left 4 Dead]] seems to enjoy stealing things, and also pretending to be "The cops".

 

== Webcomics ==

* The Monarch, in a direct reference to ''Red Dragon'', has a full back tattoo of a minotaur at one point in ''[[The Venture Brothers]]''. It turns out he was just trying to get his villain on again and used it to intimidate a prostitute; it late came off in the shower.

* The assasin Combustion Man from ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has a Third Eye tattoo.

* Lockdown from ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' has large black decals on both his robot and car mode that resemble tattoos.

** This is also true with [[Transformers (film)|Movie]] [[The Starscream|Starscream.]]

 

== Real Life ==

** Trope relevant to most criminal affiliations in Eastern and Central Europe. For example in Poland exist similar code, however not as strictly abided by. Such tattoos, made usually on hands and around eyes, indicate kind of crime inmate was incarcerated for. Markings of length of a sentence (with eventual paroles) and particular prison are usually made on arms, back and chest.

* Probably the most recognizable real-life example is Danny Trejo, the incredibly menacing Mexican thug in numerous films by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. Before he was an actor, Mr. Trejo was a convicted felon.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Criminals]]

[[Category:Personal Appearance Tropes]]