User blog comment:LoveWaffle/We Didn't See It Coming - Iron Man 3 and the Future of the MCU/@comment-5977347-20130513205536/@comment-3317214-20130515050010

The Mandarin character is all about symbolism. The dragons come into that. I don't assume that the tattoos are the deciding factor between Killian being the Mandarin or not. He was the Mandarin either way. But the fact that he had them, meant that he felt strongly enough about the all of the symbolism that went into creating the Mandarin, to have it permanently across his body. It's not like the tattoos have nothing to do with the Mandarin. Well, it's that, or he just likes dragons. Yes, there was also some Mallen in the mix. Anyway, the decoy wasn't just to cover up the failed experiments. It also had a part in his vision for the future. His search for power. Unless him going off and killing the President was another failed Extremis experiment.