History Main / TattooedCrook

* The real life {{Yakuza}} sport irezumi, full-back to ''full-body'' tattoos depicting traditional symbolism. This is a major reason why visiting tourists are advised to cover up tattoos in places like public baths, since tattoos carry ''major'' UnfortunateImplications in Japan.

** In the Expanded Universe for BuffyTheVampireSlayer we find out that Faith's was entirely against her will, as it was put there by being possessed by a dead Greek Slayer. It's the Mark of Kakistos, the very mutated vamp that killed her Watcher.

* Nami from ''OnePiece'' first had the Arlong pirate's crest on her shoulder, but after breaking ties with them, changed it into a homage to her mother and surrogate father figure. Also, Luffy's brother Ace has A[[strike:S]]CE on his bicep and the Whitebeard Pirate's crest on his back, which in the manga contained a Maji, but was changed [[NoSwastikas into a cross in the Anime]] and retconned into the manga.
** ''OnePiece'' seems to like this trope. In more recent chapters, Boa Hancock and her sisters were revealed to have a tattoo on their backs [[spoiler: called the "Hoof of the Soaring Dragon", the crest of [[AristocratsAreEvil 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]].
** Speaking of that, [[spoiler: after Fisher Tiger freed a whole lot of slaves of the Celestial Dragons' (Hancock and her sisters included), he took most of the Fishmen slaves, and re-branded their tattoos into what resembled sun tattoos, effectively making it the symbol of the Pirates of the Sun, which he and Jinbei captained, until Tiger died and Jinbei became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.]]

* Mion has a large yakuza tattoo on her back in ''HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi''. It's also a major plot point.

* Inverted example in ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh}}'': while Marik Ishtar is a BigBad 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. This reception of the tattoo augmented Marik's hatred toward Atem as well as created his SuperPoweredEvilSide, which he would harbor until he would actually become an active BigBad.

* Horada from ''{{Durarara}}!!'' sports a butterfly tattoo on his left wrist. The butterfly logo also can be found on his shirt and the hood of his car. [[spoiler:He is also one of the more ruthless gang members, also being a former Blue Square higher-up that was involved in the kidnapping and crippling of Kida's girlfriend]].

* The Jinn (a creature that the genie was bast off of) in ''{{Supernatural}}'' look like heavily tattooed people with blue flames coming out of their hands.

* A bizarre inversion in China Mieville's Literature/{{Kraken}}, where the crook ''[[AndIMustScream is]]'' the tattoo.

* Ivan Vanko from ''Film/IronMan 2''

* [[TheMafiya The Russian Mafia]] has its own codes. Some tattoos work as a sort of permanent resume, revealing lenghts of time spent in prison, what services one offers, what position one holds (including also symbols for "prison bitch" and "snitch/ex member"). "Lying in a resume" may cause punishments, as well as a non-member taking a member tattoo. It also can warrant the offending tattoos being forcibly removed. [[CaptainObvious Painfully.]]

* Casteless Dwarves in ''DragonAge'' ''Origins''.

* In a pre-mission cutscene in ''ModernWarfare2'' we get a glimpse of the tattoos the Russian ultra-nationalist that attack the airport sport. This includes a church on the abdomen, a popular Russiaan prison tattoo ("Church is the home of God, the prison is the home of the criminal")

* When amnesiac Peter Petrelli from ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' joins TheIrishMob for a few episodes in Season 2, he gets the gang tattoo (a cetlic knot) which in one point transforms into the [[SigilSpam RNA helix]] and back.

* Prisoners in ancient China are often tattooed with their sentences. This is a sore point for a character in ''Heroes of the Water Margin'' and he takes pains to get it removed.

* The Ha'la'tha gang in ''{{Caprica}}'' is made up of these. The elaborate tattoos all have [http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/show-patrol/2010/02/exclusive-caprica-producer-jane-espenson-explains-sam-adamas-tattoos.html meanings], by the way.

* One of Nozomu's co-teachers, Jinroku in ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' has a large Yakuza tattoo, which scares the titular protagonist.

** Speaking of that, [[spoiler: after Fisher Tiger freed a whole lot of slaves of the Celestial Dragons' (Hancock and her sisters included), he took most of the Fishmen slaves, and re-branded their tattoos into what resembled sun tattoos, effectively making it the symbol of the Pirates of the Sun, which he and Jinbei captained, until Tiger died and Jinbei became one of the Shichibukai.]]

Still the stigma with the past backgrounds makes tattoos also popular with rebel types. Even the RuleAbidingRebel -- or especially the RuleAbidingRebel, since it does not actually require commiting illegal acts to look rebellious. There is still extreme stigma related to tattoos in Japan, as they are still closely associated with Yakuza to this day. A tattoo is still a common visual cue in Japanese media for a character of dubious morals or simply a {{Delinquent}}.

* Inverted example in {{Yu-Gi-Oh}}: while Marik Ishtar is a BigBad 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. This reception of the tattoo augmented Marik's hatred toward Atem as well as created his SuperPoweredEvilSide, which he would harbor until he would actually become an active BigBad.

* In ''DoctorWho'', the third Doctor had a snake tattoo on his arm, due to the actor having one. Because it first appeared on screen after he was exiled to Earth, {{Fanon}} says it was a prison tattoo.