Skip to content

Top Navigation

EW.com EW.com
    • All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Winter TV
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
    • All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
    • All Music
    • Music Reviews
    • All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
    • All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • Survivor
    • This is Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • Stranger Things
    • The Boys
    • The Blacklist
    • The Walking Dead
    • Better Call Saul
    • All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
    • All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
    • All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
    • All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Subscribe

Explore EW.com

EW.com EW.com
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The 10 best songs of 2022

      The 10 best songs of 2022

      From disco-trap to deconstructed techno to Dolly-style country, we rank our favorite tracks this year. Read More
    • The 10 best movies of 2022 (and 5 worst)

      The 10 best movies of 2022 (and 5 worst)

      Let there be Mavericks, Bollywood magic, and a Cate Blanchett maestro on the loose. Read More
    • The true story of the g-strings and murders behind Welcome to Chippendales

      The true story of the g-strings and murders behind Welcome to Chippendales

      A look back at the crazy true story of Chippendales founder Somen "Steve" Banerjee and the murder and murder-for-hire plots at the center of the Hulu series. Read More
  • TV

    TV

    See All TV
    • TV Reviews
    • TV Reunions
    • Recaps
    • What to Watch
    • Winter TV
    • Comedy
    • Crime
    • Drama
    • Family
    • Horror
    • Reality
    • Sci-fi
    • Thriller
  • Movies

    Movies

    See All Movies
    • Movie Reviews
    • Trailers
    • Film Festivals
    • Movie Reunions
    • Movie Previews
  • Music

    Music

    See All Music
    • Music Reviews
  • What to Watch

    What to Watch

    See All What to Watch
    • What to Watch Podcast Episodes
    • TV Reviews
    • Movie Reviews
  • BINGE

    BINGE

    See All BINGE
    • EW's Binge Podcast Episodes
    • Recaps
    • Survivor
    • This is Us
    • RuPaul's Drag Race
    • Stranger Things
    • The Boys
    • The Blacklist
    • The Walking Dead
    • Better Call Saul
  • The Awardist

    The Awardist

    See All The Awardist
    • The Awardist Podcast Episodes
    • Oscars
    • Emmys
    • Golden Globes
    • SAG Awards
    • Grammys
    • Tony Awards
  • Books

    Books

    See All Books
    • Book Reviews
    • Author Interviews
  • Theater

    Theater

    See All Theater
    • Theater Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • Gaming
  • Events

    Events

    See All Events
    • Comic-Con
  • Celebrity
  • Streaming

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Profile

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletter
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. Gallery
  3. 21 Ink-redible Movie Tattoos

21 Ink-redible Movie Tattoos

Theo James shows 'em in ''Divergent''; eye body art from ''Cape Fear,'' ''Memento,'' more
By EW Staff Updated March 21, 2014 at 07:00 PM EDT
Skip gallery slides
FB

1 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Four, Divergent

Like his fellow Dauntless denizens, Four is emphatic about ink. The most significant of his many tats are the five running down his spine. EachÂ…

Like his fellow Dauntless denizens, Four is emphatic about ink. The most significant of his many tats are the five running down his spine. Each one symbolizes a faction and, by extension, that faction's chief virtue. By permanently marking himself with all of them, Four reminds himself to aspire to possess all five traits: ''I want to be brave, and selfless, and smart, and kind, and honest,'' he tells Divergent's heroine Tris. —Lanford Beard

1 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Luke, The Place Beyond the Pines

''Those are all tattoos that Ryan says he wants, but can't have them as an actor,'' director Derek Cianfrance told EW . ''He thought heÂ…
Credit: Focus Features

''Those are all tattoos that Ryan says he wants, but can't have them as an actor,'' director Derek Cianfrance told EW. ''He thought he should have the most tattoos in movie history. He really wanted a face tattoo. I asked, 'Are you sure?' He said, 'Face tattoos are the best.' He said, 'It should be a dagger dripping blood. It's so tough.' First day we're shooting, Ryan pulls me over and says, 'I think we should lose the face tattoo. It's too much.' And I said, 'That's what happens with a face tattoo. You regret it. Now you're stuck with it.' Every choice has a consequence.'' —Solvej Schou

2 of 21

3 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Leonard Shelby, Memento

Say you're out to avenge your wife's rape and murder, but your memory's not so good. You can't depend on yourself to keep around notebooksÂ…

Say you're out to avenge your wife's rape and murder, but your memory's not so good. You can't depend on yourself to keep around notebooks or voice memos, so you do what you have to, right? In the case of Leonard Shelby, that means covering your body with indelible notes to self. The only catch: Those things are painful, so the painful nature of tatting himself up concisely led to a lot of confusion for Leonard. We mentioned his memory is bad, yes? Like, terrible. —Lanford Beard

3 of 21

Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

4 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Lisbeth Salander's titular tattoo gets surprisingly little emphasis in the books and films (maybe because Stieg Larsson's original title was Men Who Hate Women ).Â…
Credit: (Left) Merrick Morton

Lisbeth Salander's titular tattoo gets surprisingly little emphasis in the books and films (maybe because Stieg Larsson's original title was Men Who Hate Women). Far more in the spotlight is the tattoo on her neck inspired by her hacker nickname, a wasp. —Emily Rome

4 of 21

Advertisement

5 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Stu, The Hangover II

What happened in Vegas may have stayed in Vegas for docile dentist Stu, but what happened in Thailand came home with the newlywed. After yetÂ…
Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon

What happened in Vegas may have stayed in Vegas for docile dentist Stu, but what happened in Thailand came home with the newlywed. After yet another bachelor party gone awry, Stu woke up with a Mike Tyson-inspired face tattoo, which he must have subconsciously coveted since meeting Tyson while searching for Doug in Sin City. —Lanford Beard

5 of 21

6 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Carl, The Illustrated Man

The film, based on a set of Ray Bradbury stories, may have been a failure, but it was a cinematic first, making tattoos — whichÂ…

The film, based on a set of Ray Bradbury stories, may have been a failure, but it was a cinematic first, making tattoos — which visually marked Carl's travels through space and time — a driving narrative device. For your commitment to full-coverage body art, we salute you! —Lanford Beard

6 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

7 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Xander Cage, xXx

In this 007 wannabe, Vin's badass secret agent Xander Cage is tatted up from head to toe, but let's give a special shout-out to theÂ…

In this 007 wannabe, Vin's badass secret agent Xander Cage is tatted up from head to toe, but let's give a special shout-out to the triple X's on his neck that lend this movie its name. (Honorable mention goes to ''Melkor,'' the name of Diesel's real-life Dungeons & Dragons character, which is inked across Cage's stomach.) —Tara Fowler

7 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement

8 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Reverend Harry Powell, The Night of the Hunter

No one knows about the struggle between good and evil better than preacher-cum-serial killer Harry, whose two-fisted ''LOVE/HATE'' punch was used to bring home theÂ…

No one knows about the struggle between good and evil better than preacher-cum-serial killer Harry, whose two-fisted ''LOVE/HATE'' punch was used to bring home the point of a sermon on the topic. —Lanford Beard

8 of 21

Advertisement

9 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Sirius Black, Harry Potter series

Spend 12 years in any prison — even Azkaban — and you're bound to rack up a few tats, wrongfully imprisoned Marauder or not. Happily,Â…

Spend 12 years in any prison — even Azkaban — and you're bound to rack up a few tats, wrongfully imprisoned Marauder or not. Happily, the tattoos that covered his arms and chest didn't transfer to his animagus, Padfoot. —Erin Strecker

9 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

10 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Enola, Waterworld

In a world...completely covered by water...a Sharpie just wouldn't do! So an orphan girl was permanently marked with a map to the mythical Dryland. ItÂ…

In a world...completely covered by water...a Sharpie just wouldn't do! So an orphan girl was permanently marked with a map to the mythical Dryland. It was a crazy plan, but it worked out in the end — unlike this for-the-books belly flop of a film. —Lanford Beard

10 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

11 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Max Cady, Cape Fear

An outward symbol of his vengeance quest against Sam Bowden, the lawyer who put him away for years, the Max Cady played by Robert DeÂ…
Credit: Everett Collection

An outward symbol of his vengeance quest against Sam Bowden, the lawyer who put him away for years, the Max Cady played by Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's 1991 remake sports a rippling body covered in Biblical quotations and ominous imagery. The fingers of his fists are etched with the words ''LOVE'' and ''HATE'' — an homage to Mitchum, who played Cady in the 1962 original. —Lanford Beard

11 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement

12 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Francis Dolarhyde, Red Dragon

Psycho killer Dolarhyde (played by Ralph Fiennes above but also inkily immortalized by Tom Noonan in 1986's Manhunter ) may have been known as theÂ…

Psycho killer Dolarhyde (played by Ralph Fiennes above but also inkily immortalized by Tom Noonan in 1986's Manhunter) may have been known as the Tooth Fairy for his taste for human flesh, but The Tat Fairy would have been another suitable moniker thanks to a gigantic dragon that spread from his neck to his lower back. —Lanford Beard

12 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

13 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The MacManus Brothers, The Boondock Saints

The MacManus brothers don black gloves for most of their vigilante missions. Saved for the final scene is the striking image of their tattooed handsÂ…

The MacManus brothers don black gloves for most of their vigilante missions. Saved for the final scene is the striking image of their tattooed hands pressing guns against the head of an Italian Mafioso — Connor's left index finger bearing the Latin word for ''truth,'' and Murphy's right index finger the Latin word for ''justice.'' They weren't the hired hitmen's only ink, but the identical tattoos signaled the fraternal twins' indelible bond. —Emily Rome

13 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

14 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Capt. Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean series

What's a pirate without some ink? Johnny Depp liked Jack Sparrow's tattoo so much that he got the design tattooed on his right arm forÂ…

What's a pirate without some ink? Johnny Depp liked Jack Sparrow's tattoo so much that he got the design tattooed on his right arm for real, with a few personal touches: The sparrow flies toward him instead, and below the setting sun is inscribed his son's name, Jack. —Emily Rome

14 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement

15 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

The Medjai, The Mummy

The Medjai's body and facial tattoos are fairly straightforward: they literally read ''Imhotep,'' ''hidden city'' and ''desert'' — which is really subtle for a secretÂ…

The Medjai's body and facial tattoos are fairly straightforward: they literally read ''Imhotep,'' ''hidden city'' and ''desert'' — which is really subtle for a secret society trying to conceal an all-powerful mummy. Next time, maybe stick to word of mouth? —Tara Fowler

15 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

16 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Fox, Wanted

With a sexy tattoo-filled back (filled in part by tats from ink-loving Angelina Jolie's personal collection), Fox knew that no killing machine was complete withoutÂ…
Credit: Universal (2)

With a sexy tattoo-filled back (filled in part by tats from ink-loving Angelina Jolie's personal collection), Fox knew that no killing machine was complete without tattoos that read ''Toil'' and ''Tears.'' —Samantha Highfill

16 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

17 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Nikolai, Eastern Promises

The Russian mafia cleaner's jacked-up, Cyrillic art-laden body was on full display several times during Eastern Promises . We'd tell you about them if weÂ…

The Russian mafia cleaner's jacked-up, Cyrillic art-laden body was on full display several times during Eastern Promises. We'd tell you about them if we weren't still thinking about that naked sauna fight... —Lanford Beard

17 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement

18 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Seth Gecko, From Dusk till Dawn

Deliciously distinctive neck tats that snaked down from neck to his wrists probably weren't advisable for the fugitive as he and his brother unknowingly enteredÂ…

Deliciously distinctive neck tats that snaked down from neck to his wrists probably weren't advisable for the fugitive as he and his brother unknowingly entered a vampire bordello on his flight to Mexico, but who are we to argue when otherwise clean-cut George Clooney offers up a glimpse of his bad-boy side? —Lanford Beard

18 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Continued on next slide.
Advertisement

19 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

John Constantine, Constantine

Diagnosed with terminal cancer and spiritually damned after a semi-unsuccessful suicide attempt, the action-hero exorcist had nothing to lose as his angelic antithesis Gabriel unleashedÂ…

Diagnosed with terminal cancer and spiritually damned after a semi-unsuccessful suicide attempt, the action-hero exorcist had nothing to lose as his angelic antithesis Gabriel unleashed Hell on Earth. He clicked his tats together and summoned Gabriel, proving that body designs can be both fashionable and functional. —Lanford Beard

19 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

20 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Frankie Ballenbacher, Alpha Dog

The apprehensive abductor wanted to look tough with his mishmash of tattoos. Indeed, a giant crucifix on Frankie's left arm was star Justin Timberlake's own,Â…

The apprehensive abductor wanted to look tough with his mishmash of tattoos. Indeed, a giant crucifix on Frankie's left arm was star Justin Timberlake's own, but a pair of unfortunately paired Chinese symbols actually declare his love for ice skating. That's probably not the kind of cold and hard he was hoping to portray. —Lanford Beard

20 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement

21 of 21

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message

Michael, Legion

The encrypted Biblical passages criss-crossing across the archangel Michael's torso and arms communicated his marching orders in a holy war to save humanity. Unfortunately forÂ…

The encrypted Biblical passages criss-crossing across the archangel Michael's torso and arms communicated his marching orders in a holy war to save humanity. Unfortunately for humanity, those tattoos didn't warn Michael to prevent this critical and commercial clunker from ever being made in the first place. —Lanford Beard

21 of 21

Advertisement
Advertisement
Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By EW Staff

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 21 Four, Divergent
    2 of 21 Luke, The Place Beyond the Pines
    3 of 21 Leonard Shelby, Memento
    4 of 21 Lisbeth Salander, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
    5 of 21 Stu, The Hangover II
    6 of 21 Carl, The Illustrated Man
    7 of 21 Xander Cage, xXx
    8 of 21 Reverend Harry Powell, The Night of the Hunter
    9 of 21 Sirius Black, Harry Potter series
    10 of 21 Enola, Waterworld
    11 of 21 Max Cady, Cape Fear
    12 of 21 Francis Dolarhyde, Red Dragon
    13 of 21 The MacManus Brothers, The Boondock Saints
    14 of 21 Capt. Jack Sparrow, Pirates of the Caribbean series
    15 of 21 The Medjai, The Mummy
    16 of 21 Fox, Wanted
    17 of 21 Nikolai, Eastern Promises
    18 of 21 Seth Gecko, From Dusk till Dawn
    19 of 21 John Constantine, Constantine
    20 of 21 Frankie Ballenbacher, Alpha Dog
    21 of 21 Michael, Legion

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message
    EW.com

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Meredith© Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved. Entertainment Weekly may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright EW.com. All rights reserved. Printed from https://ew.com

    View image

    21 Ink-redible Movie Tattoos
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.