History Main / TattooedCrook

** Speaking of that, [[spoiler: after Fisher Tiger freed a whole lot of slaves of the Celestial Dragons' (the Boa 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.]]

* Cabbage from ''[[Manga/RainbowNishaRokubouNoShichinin 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}}.

* After Hun was brought into the [[Comicbook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMirage Mirage comics]] from the [[TMNT2003 second cartoon]], his stylized Dragon tattoo was made exponentially more elaborate, full of scales and covering his entire arm.

* In ''LittleOdessa'' TimRoth plays a hitman for the Russian mob with his tattoos occasionally on display. The Russian mob is known for its use of meaningful tattoos.
* In ''Captives'', TimRoth plays a prisoner with tats.

* Operates as a ChekhovsGun for [[strike:Aragorn]] Viggo Mortensen's character in ''EasternPromises''. It says something that while taking a break, he accidentally scared several Russian Immigrants into thinking he was the real [=McCoy=].

* Max Cady in ''{{Cape Fear}}'' has his torso completely covered with tattoos of Bible verses, a broken heart, and a cross, among other things. To quote an officer seeing him shirtless, "I don't know whether to look at him or read him."

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

* ''{{Film/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.
* ''[[TheTransporter Transporter 2]]''. [[TheDragon Lola]] has a tattoo on her [[ZettaiRyouiki inner thigh]] labelled "[[KillerRabbit Death by Rabbit]]" with a snarling rabbit wielding six{{guns akimbo}}.
* Johnny 23 in ''ConAir'' has an elaborate series of heart symbols tattooed on his right arm -- one for each of the 23 counts of rape for which he was convicted.

* Many characters in TerryPratchett's ''{{Discworld}}''. Put to use in {{Bar Brawl}}s, an organised sport in Ankh Morpork, where contestants tattoo their names to all their limbs so TheIgor knows to reattach them later.

** [[SpaceRomans Turian]] society inverts this - most turians you meet wear facepaint to identify what colony they're from. "Barefaced" turians are considered untrustworthy and, true to form, the one barefaced guy you meet is a PrisonShip-running slave trader trying to pass himself off as a hero.

** Also subverted with the Boulder, who makes a HeelFaceTurn.
** Averted with Jun, the [[ChaoticNeutral morally ambiguous]] bounty hunter.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (2003), several members of the Purple Dragons gang sport the gang's trademark dragon as a tattoo. Their leader, Hun, sports the dragon tattoo along his left arm, and wore a tattoo of the Foot insignia on his left.

** This is also true with [[{{Film/Transformers}} Movie]] [[TheStarscream Starscream.]]

----

* Subject Zero in ''MassEffect 2''.
** Kidnapping, murder, arson, theft of military craft ("Parades are boring. I helped."), destruction of a space station, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking vandalism]].
*** Of a moon. ''With the space station''.

* 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 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[[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 Marigold and Sandersonia 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]].

** Recently two of his tattoos, Kabuki Dan (a samurai) and Altara (a succubus) have been coming to life outside of his power and committing crimes of their own volition, making them the most literal possible expression of this trope: criminals who ''are'' tattoos.

* The Deacon from ''Ghost Rider'' has religious symbols and iconography tattooed all over his entire body, and true to form he is a very devout... uh... Christianity-derived murderous evil cult member.

* El Diablo from the 2011 ''SuicideSquad'' 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.

* In ''KingOfThorn'', Marco Owen is identified by the other survivors as a criminal due to his prominent prison tattoos.

----

** 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 (and eventual paroles) and particular prison are usually made on arms, back and chest.

* The leader of the clown gang in ''{{Akira}}'' has a clown face tattooed on both his arms.

* Delinquent Jacuzzi Splot from ''{{Baccano}}!'' has a scimitar tattooed on his face, as a symbol of solidarity to Nice, who got her face scarred in an accident.

* In the episode "Cape Feare" in ''TheSimpsons'' we see Sideshow Bob's prison tattoos, including "DIE BART DIE" ("Oh, it's German, 'The Bart, The'"), as well as his KnuckleTattoos LUV and HĀT, referencing ''TheNightOfTheHunter''.

* Most of the gang members in Sin Nombre are heavily tattooed. L'il Mago, the leader of the gang, takes this trope UpToEleven, [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/__BqlxfEVGSg/S0OMM6iiZpI/AAAAAAAABpA/IiEIVivImsU/s400/sin+nombre+1.jpg as seen here.]]

* ''PrisonBreak'', Michael's whole-body blueprint tattoo.

** 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. You'd think she'd want something with such connections to one of the biggest losses of her life to be removed. Then again, she might see it as a "taking it from you and using it against you" thing.
** In {{Angel}}, the villainous [[spoiler:lawyer Lindsey]] returns in season 5 with a set of tattoos that serve a plot purpose: they [[spoiler:ward him from all forms of magical detection, thus protecting him from the wrath of the Senior Partners, who don't approve of his extracurricular activities]].

** Trafalgar Law has a number of tattoos, including "Smile" tattoos on his arms, tiny cross-shapes on the backs of his hands, and "DETH" on his fingers (presumably he didn't want to use his thumbs to spell it right)

* In ''BlackCat'', Train has a tattoo of the number XIII on his chest. It signifies that he belonged to [[NebulousEvilOrganization Chronos]], and is generally viewed by people as being fearsome. He doesn't seem to mind showing it though.

* In the episode "Cape Feare" in ''TheSimpsons'' we see Sideshow Bob's prison tattoos, including "DIE BART DIE" ("Oh, it's German, 'The Bart, The'"), as well as his KnuckleTattoos LUV and HĀT, referencing the Night of the Hunter.

* Prisoners in ancient China were 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.

** In the [[Comicbook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Mirage comics]], Hun has a more elaborate version in which his whole arm is covered in scales. It doesn't work as well it might, since in a black-and-white comic it's hard to tell that it's a tattoo and not a mutation or somesuch.

* Joker in the [[FrankMiller Dark Knight Universe]] has a large Red Dragon tattooed on his back, suggesting possible Yakuza ties.

* A bizarre inversion in [[{{Ptitlen9ir3dhv}} China Miéville's]] Literature/{{Kraken}}, where the crook ''[[AndIMustScream is]]'' the tattoo.

** Some prison systems identify tattoos for peacekeeping reasons. By identifying a criminal's affiliation, the COs can ensure the inmate is incarcerated with members of the same gang. These 'gang blocks' are easier to control as they can be cut off from rivals. For example, by keeping Aryan Brotherhood members in one block and MS13s in another, exercise shifts can be coordinated to prevent the two gangs from sharing the same yard, avoiding inter-gang violence.

* Toroop, the mercenary protagonist played by Vin Diesel in ''BabylonAD''

* The Finglerling in ''Number 23''.

* Toroop, the mercenary protagonist played by Vin Diesel in ''Babylon A.D.''

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

* Joker in TheDarkKnight continuity has a large Red Dragon tattooed on his back, suggesting possible Yakuza ties.