Tattoo
A Tattoo is a form of body modification, made by inserting indelible ink into the dermis layer of the skin to change the pigment.
The purpose and use can vary from religious and ceremonial to branding and marking for punishment. Other characters have used tattoos as general body art to express their personality.
Decorative Tattoos
Some characters have tattoos for the simple sake of aesthetic, identification to a group and remembrance of people:
- Colossus had tattoed in the middle of his chest a heart with "Katya" written across it.[1]
- Frank Simpson, severely tortured by Wolverine and carved into his face the American flag, had those scarification covered by a tattoo of the American flag.[2]
Membership Branding
- The Clan Akkaba (composed of Apocalypse and his blood descendants) branded their members at birth or during their early childhood. The amount of Apocalypse's blood found in the child, or the strength of the bloodline, determines the size of the tattoo that one receives.[3]
- In a similar manner, the Neo also displayed distinctive tattoos, regarding their clans.[4]
- The Spider Society give their hunters the ritual spider shaped tattoo imbuing them with spider-like powers.[5]
- Many Hydra operatives have the "Hydra Symbol" tattooed on their body.[6]
Forced Branding
Some groups used the branding as an administrative or identification means towards individuals, ethnic or racial groups:
- During Holocaust of World War II, the Nazis branded the prisoners in their death camps.[7][8]
- In some alternate futures such as Earth-1191, the mutants are forcibly branded by the tattooed "M" on their face.
- On other futures, some mutants are branded as "Hounds", and forced to hunt down other mutants. Rachel is known to use her telepathy to hide her heavily tattooed face.[9]
- Rachel Summers was later branded by the Shi'ar Death Commandos with the image of a large Phoenix.[10]
- On Earth-295, prisoners in the Breeding Pens are sometimes branded with facial tattoos.[11][12]
Powers
Superhumans, and especially mutants, have powers related to the creation or manipulation of tattoos:
- Paint was a young mutant who possessed the power to "paint" tattoos by touch alone.[13]
- Irezumi, whose name is Japanese for "tattoo," is covered with tattoos of all kinds. He can change the images of the tattoos on his chest into a likeness of an opponent, and once formed, it will hurl back (at an amplified intensity) any forced used against him by his opponent. The full extent of this ability is unknown, although he has only shown creating two images of opponents at a time. Also, it takes several seconds for his tattoos to change, and would have to stalk his opponents to form an image or wait if replacing images.[14]
- The Tattooed Man, once touching someone, could raid their minds for their secrets. The ink from his tattoos will rearrange itself in a picture of those secrets.[15]
- Tudo Sokuto was covered with tattoos which he could transform into three dimensional solid forms, and then animated them.[16]
- Mutant tattoo artist, Leon Nunez could grant superhuman powers to others through drawing iconic symbols. The tattoo gave the power Leon believed it to bestow, draining a little bit of Leon's will as each tattoo, the power being an extension of his will. These superpowered tattoos included Super Strength,[17] Telepathy[18] Self-Propelled Flight,[19] Healing,[20] Protective Force Field,[20] Optic Blast,[20] Enhanced Agility,[20] and Breathing Fire[20] among others.
Vibranium Tattoo
The Wakandan Mutant Gentle had Vibranium tattoos and practice meditation to keep his limitless power, which is triggered by his emotions, in check. Without the Vibranium he be overwhelmed by his own power.[21]
(See Also: Wikipedia article)
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #507
- ↑ Daredevil #232
- ↑ X-Men: Apocalypse vs. Dracula #1
- ↑ X-Men (Vol. 2) #100
- ↑ Amazing Fantasy (Vol. 2) #1–6
- ↑ Captain America: Steve Rogers #1
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #161
- ↑ Excalibur (Vol. 3) #2
- ↑ Days of Future Present crossover.
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #468
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: X-Men - Age of Apocalypse 2005 #1 ; Jean Grey's entry
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: X-Men - Age of Apocalypse 2005 #1 ; Blink's entry
- ↑ X-Treme X-Pose #1
- ↑ Avengers: West Coast #72
- ↑ Uncanny X-Men #504
- ↑ Genetix #5
- ↑ Young X-Men #2
- ↑ Young X-Men #4
- ↑ Young X-Men #5
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Young X-Men #9
- ↑ X-Men Divided We Stand #1
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