When you ask yourself why people choose to wear ink on their skin, the answer often spirals into a tapestry of rituals, identity, and sheer curiosity. In this roundup we unveil ten distinct tattoo pieces and the cultural customs that birthed them, each a vivid snapshot of humanity’s love affair with permanent pigment – the very essence of the 10 unique tattoo phenomenon.

10 Olive Oatman And The Mojave Tribe

Native American societies have long embraced tattooing, yet each nation cultivated its own set of rites, symbols, and techniques. Variables such as geography, available natural resources, and spiritual narratives all shaped the way ink was applied and what it signified.

Take the Mojave people, for instance. Spanish chroniclers first mentioned them in the 1500s. Their territory stretched across present‑day California and Arizona along the Colorado River, and they harvested a blue‑hued cactus to create a distinctive pigment. Adolescents received these blue‑cactus markings as a passage‑of‑age ceremony, while warriors bore tattoos for luck and protection in battle, and ceremonial occasions also called for ink.

Photographic evidence of the Mojave is scarce, yet a famous set of portraits of Olive Oatman displays her unmistakable chin tattoos. Oatman’s tale is unusual because she herself was not Mojave; she was a white captive.

As a child, Olive and her sister Mary Ann fell victim to a raid by a group believed to be the Tolkepayas/Western Yavapai, who killed their family and seized the girls as slaves. Their brother Lorenzo escaped, though badly wounded.

The sisters endured harsh treatment until a year later they were traded to a Mojave band in California. Tribal chief Espianola welcomed them, and his wife Aespaneo, together with their daughter Topeka, granted the girls land for cultivation.

The Mojave then applied their signature blue‑cactus tattoos to the girls’ chins, a rite intended to secure a favorable afterlife. Olive and Mary Ann lived among the tribe for several years; tragically, Mary Ann perished during a drought that claimed many lives.

Olive eventually left after the U.S. Army bribed and threatened the Mojave. Reunited with Lorenzo, she initially spoke fondly of her time, but later accounts suggest her feelings grew more ambivalent. The true depth of her sentiment remains an enigma.

9 Dulong Tattoos

The Dulong are a tiny ethnic group tucked away in Yunnan Province, China, who remained isolated until a highway finally cut through their mountains in late 1999. Their tradition, known as “Hua Lian” (literally “painting the face”) or “Wen Mian” (“tattooing the face”), called for girls to receive a facial tattoo at the onset of puberty.

Artists would first sketch the design using soot mixed with water, then pierce the skin with a needle or sharpened stick. Once the pattern was complete, they rubbed soot or grass juice into the fresh wound, turning the resulting scar a deep blue hue.

In the upper and middle reaches of the Dulong River, the designs formed intricate diamond chains that stretched across the bridge of the nose, cheeks, and mouth. Further downstream, the motifs simplified, yet every pattern resembled a butterfly—reflecting the belief that the deceased transformed into butterflies after death.

Scholars argue that the tattoos served a defensive purpose: they rendered Dulong women less appealing to Lisu and Tibetan slavers, who demanded women as tribute when families could not meet tax obligations. By marking themselves with bold, unremovable symbols, the women hoped to deter capture.

In a subtle act of resistance, Dulong women dyed their faces black and blue with soot, ensuring the markings could not be washed away and would frighten potential abductors.

The practice persisted until the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. Today, fewer than thirty women still bear the traditional Dulong tattoos.

8 R.H. Macy

At fifteen, Rowland Hussey Macy signed on as a crew member of the whaling vessel Emily Morgan. During his four‑year stint at sea, he commissioned a red star on his forearm, a symbol of the celestial bodies that guided sailors through night‑time tempests.

Returning to shore, Macy opened several ill‑fated stores before joining his brother‑in‑law’s shop in Boston. He also tried his luck in the 1849 California Gold Rush, an endeavor that ended in disappointment.

Undeterred, Macy partnered with his brother to launch a dry‑goods shop in Haverhill, finally tasting success. Buoyed by this triumph, he moved to New York in 1858 and opened R.H. Macy & Co. The inaugural day brought in a modest $11.06; by year’s end, revenue swelled to $85,000.

R.H. Macy & Co. expanded to eleven buildings, evolving into a retail behemoth. Its iconic logo—a red star—echoes Macy’s original tattoo, a lasting tribute to his maritime roots.

7 William Lithgow

William Lithgow, a 17th‑century Scotsman, traveled the globe and chronicled his adventures in numerous works. While in Jerusalem, he and his companions received pilgrimage tattoos. Lithgow’s own ink bore a proud declaration of loyalty to his native monarchy:

In the last night of my staying at Jerusalem… I caused one Elias Bethleete… to engrave on the flesh of my right arm, The never‑conquered Crown of Scotland, and the now inconquerable Crown of England… Vivat Jacobus Rex.

Most pilgrimage tattoos of the era featured Christian symbols or verses, yet Lithgow’s piece also included a regal statement. He later acquired additional pilgrimage markings, mentioned only in marginal notes.

Lithgow’s life was far from ordinary. He was frequently labeled a spy, and in 1620, while in Spain, he was captured and tortured for allegedly sharing intelligence with an English vessel. Spanish inquisitors excised his tattoo, cutting away flesh and sinew until only bone remained.

He recounted the ordeal: “The Corrigidor … gave direction, to tear a sunder, the name, and Crown … cutting the Crown, sinews and flesh to the bare bones.” Though he survived, the injury left lasting scars, and he narrowly escaped execution by burning. He eventually returned to Britain.

6 Otzi The Iceman

Otzi, a naturally mummified corpse discovered in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, dates back more than five millennia. The preservation is so extraordinary that researchers have identified 61 distinct tattoos etched into his skin.

Scientists have debated his cause of death, dietary habits, and even potential modern relatives. Regarding his tattoos, they surmise that a needle or sharp implement first pricked the skin, after which soot was rubbed in to create the permanent marks.

Because Otzi’s skin is heavily pigmented, many of his designs are faint to the naked eye. Advanced multispectral imaging has revealed additional tattoos by separating light wavelengths, making hidden patterns visible.

One prevailing theory suggests the tattoos served a therapeutic purpose akin to acupuncture. Numerous markings align with areas of injury—his Achilles tendon, lower back, wrists, and ankles—hinting at a medical rationale.

If this interpretation holds, it would push the origins of acupuncture back nearly two thousand years earlier than previously believed. Nonetheless, researchers acknowledge uncertainty: “It’s possible Otzi’s people believed those regions of the body were spiritually significant.”

Other tattoos, such as those on his chest, do not correspond to any obvious ailment, leaving their true intent ambiguous. Whether decorative, ritualistic, or therapeutic, Otzi’s ink offers an unparalleled glimpse into a prehistoric culture.

5 Mai

Mai hailed from Raiatea, an island in French Polynesia. In the 1700s, his homeland faced invasion by Boroboro warriors, prompting him to flee to Tahiti. The first Europeans to encounter Tahiti were Captain Wallis and his crew aboard HMS Dolphin around 1767, who attempted to claim the island for Britain and suppress native resistance.

As European vessels continued to arrive, the islanders suffered from dwindling resources and ongoing conflict. Some were even taken to England as “specimens,” where many perished during the journey.

When Captain Cook returned in 1773, Mai—mistakenly recorded as Omai—requested to accompany the expedition back to Europe. His goal: acquire firearms and other weaponry to reclaim Raiatea from the Boroboro.

During his stay in England, Mai was presented to high society by Sir Joseph Banks. He met King George III and, before returning to Tahiti in 1776, sat for a portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds.

The painting, titled Portrait of Omai, depicts a barefoot figure in white robes, with hands and wrists adorned by a series of dots. These tattoos signaled his exotic origins to European audiences, embodying the era’s “noble savage” ideal.

4 People Of The Arctic And The Inuit

Arctic peoples may have shared a common tattoo tradition, as suggested by an ivory mask recovered on Devon Island that dates back over 3,500 years. The mask bears parallel lines extending from forehead to lips and chin, motifs later identified in various northern communities worldwide.

The earliest European record comes from Sir Martin Frobisher in 1576, who observed: The women are marked on the face with blewe streekes down the cheekes and round about the eies… they race … the wristes of their hands, whereupon they lay a colour, which continueth dark azurine.

For many decades, Inuit facial tattoos were stigmatized after missionaries introduced Christianity, prompting the suppression of shamanic practices and associated markings. Some tattoos also functioned as pain‑relief methods akin to acupuncture, but European medical advances rendered those techniques obsolete.

Today, artists like Holly Mititquq Nordlum and Maya Sialuk Jacobsen are reviving traditional methods—hand‑poking and skin‑stitching—through apprenticeship programs, gradually restoring pride in Inuit tattoo heritage.

3 Bert Grimm And The US Criminal Underworld

Bert Grimm fled home at fifteen to become a traveling tattooist, joining the itinerant sideshow circuit. Along the way, he crossed paths with fellow artists such as Shorty Schultz, Percy Waters, and Long Andy Libarry, honing his craft and expanding his repertoire.

Grimm eventually established tattoo parlors in Chicago, Las Vegas, Long Beach, and St. Louis. A charismatic raconteur, he would weave tales of his exploits into each session, bolstering his reputation.

Among his most sensational alleged clients were the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde, though details of their tattoos remain murky. He also claimed to have inked Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd, the notorious bank robber, with a “Rose of No Man’s Land”—a design originally honoring World War I Red Cross nurses.

Floyd’s wanted poster referenced the rose tattoo, and Grimm asserted he applied it during an unnamed visit to his St. Louis shop. The story took an unexpected turn when a U.S. marshal, intrigued by the design, visited Grimm, received the same tattoo, and left with it on his own skin.

Grimm’s gift of gab and his willingness to share colorful anecdotes cemented his moniker as “the greatest tattoo artist in the world.” He practiced for roughly seventy years before passing away in 1985.

2 Irezumi

Irezumi, which translates to “inserting ink,” denotes the Japanese tattoo tradition that dates back to the Jōmon period. Archaeological finds, including clay figurines with facial markings, suggest early societies used tattoos to denote rank or ward off malevolent spirits.

The full‑body tattoo, known as horimono, evolved into an intricate art form that displayed wealth and status—particularly during eras when tattooing was outlawed in Japan.

In modern times, tattoos have become entwined with the Yakuza, Japan’s organized crime syndicate, which regards the painful process as a testament to bravery.

Negative perceptions also stem from 17th‑century Chinese influence. In China, criminals received facial branding to mark offenses, and this practice was adopted in Japan, where each region assigned specific designs to denote particular crimes.

Although tattoos are now legal throughout Japan, lingering stigma persists in certain locales, a cultural echo of historic criminal association.

1 Tattooed Ladies And Circus Freaks

The human fascination with the bizarre has endured for centuries, giving rise to “freak shows” that peaked in popularity during the late 1800s and early 1900s. These exhibitions highlighted individuals with extraordinary physical or mental conditions—people like Schlitzie (“The Last of the Aztecs”), Frank Lentini (“The Three‑Legged Man”), and Joseph Merrick (“The Elephant Man”).

Among the attractions were tattooed performers, especially women, whose elaborate ink sparked curiosity. Many concocted sensational backstories about receiving tattoos from “savage natives” or tribal peoples.

George Contentenus, billed as “The Tattooed Man,” boasted over 300 tattoos and claimed he was a prince raised in a Turkish harem, his skin covered by markings allegedly forced upon him by Burmese natives. He even published a book detailing this narrative before later admitting it was a fabricated tale meant to boost his fame and fortune.

Similarly, numerous tattooed ladies spun fictitious stories about Native American origins for their ink, though some, like Artoria Gibbons, earned genuine fame through skillful performances. Gibbons, the highest‑paid tattooed lady of her era, received all of her markings from her partner “Red” Gibbons and maintained a devoted male following well into her eighties.

Although freak shows have faded, their legacy endures. By showcasing tattooed bodies on stage, they helped normalize ink in Western culture, turning what was once a curiosity into a mainstream form of self‑expression.

Tattoos and regrets aren’t a new combination. When you get new ink, you’re excited about it—you want to show it off. But what if your body art didn’t turn out the way you planned? Maybe the idea you had in your head didn’t match what your tattoo artist had in mind. Or maybe that design seemed like a great idea at the time, but it didn’t age well. Tattoos are permanent, so there’s not much you can do about it… is there?

In all the regret, confusion, and anger of a bad tattoo, cover-ups have always offered relief. While these can be more satisfying than getting it removed and dealing with scarring, sometimes the cover-ups have been worse than the tattoos. Here are the top 10 worst cover-ups where the results could have been better.

10 Put a Little Hair on Her Chest

Gorilla tattoos like this one can be cool. But not all cover-ups are quite this lucky. This was the case for this man who had his girlfriend’s face tattooed on his upper arm. But when things went south, he wasn’t exactly interested in staring at his ex’s face all day.

In order to cover up that (poorly done) tattoo of his ex-girlfriend, he decided to have it replaced with a tattooed gorilla. And if we’re being honest, the cover-up wasn’t that great. Let’s just say Jane Goodall wouldn’t have been thrilled. The man paid more money and received a lot more ink than he probably would have liked.

9 One Grande Cover Up

Anyone who actively follows American pop music and knows Ariana Grande is aware of the musician’s controversial relationship with Pete Davidson. It wasn’t the best, but somehow they made it work for quite some time.

When the two were deeply in love, Davidson got a tattoo with Ariana’s name. Sweet, right? But, like most Hollywood relationships, things did not go as planned. After the pair broke up in October 2018, Davidson wanted to strike her name from the record—literally. He soon covered her name with the word “cursed.” It’s unclear what exactly Davidson was referring to, but we get the general idea. Thank you, next!

8 The Devil Is in the Details

Okay, can we please stop getting other people’s faces tattooed on our bodies? One way or another, it rarely ends well. This person had their girlfriend’s face tattooed onto their arm (here we go again). And while the original inked portrait wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t really attractive either. She kind of looks like a puppet Jeff Dunham would have in his act.

So when the ink’s owner was ready to move on, they decided to get this beauty covered up. And it only got worse from there. The tattoo artist turned her face into a devil, complete with horns, a red face, and sharp teeth. Everything that could have gone wrong with this tattoo did so. The cover-up is worse than the original. I guess if you want to see people at their absolute lowest, watch them after a breakup.

7 Ink Happens

It seems that broken hearts cause the most body art regrets. In a bid to cover up their “bad decisions,” couples end up making the problem worse. This was the case of this internet user who summed up their breakup with a photo online, explaining that “sh*t happens.” Olivia is a name that obviously meant something to them, but it looks like the magic is gone now.

It’s okay to regret a decision. But it’s how you handle the situation moving forward that matters. This user crossed out the name Olivia, but it was still pretty visible. Instead of a creative new design, they’ll have to live with crappy break-up memories for the rest of their life.

6 Tramp Stamp Coverups

Whoever Edwin is, he managed to get himself “covered up” in ink and exposed on the internet in record time. In this picture shared by an anonymous user, the first slide shows that they were madly in love to the extent of getting ink with their significant other’s name. The name “Edwin” was engraved in between two stars on what appears to be the lower back.

In the second slide, we can see more stars with a heavily inked “X” crossing where the name “Edwin” used to be. Apart from being located just above the buttocks, the initial tattoo looked much better than the cover-up. But we get it—the name had to go.

Aside from increasing the number of stars, this tattoo coverup is regrettable in every sense of the word. But as they say, “X marks the spot.”

5 And They Called It Bunny Love

If there is one thing Pete Davidson thrives on, it’s getting and covering tattoos. His rocky relationship with Ariana Grande was the most artistically “challenging” as he had to update his ink several times.

Davidson originally had a “bunny ears” tattoo behind his ear that mimicked the symbol on the cover of Grande’s album Dangerous Woman. But close to the time of their breakup, he had the bunny ears swapped out to a heart. You might think it was a sign that he was cutting ties with the singer, but he also had the letter “A” inked next to the heart (supposedly for Ariana, also rumored to have a heart tattoo).

But honestly, the real crime here is the heart shape itself. It looks funky, more like something from a Bugs Bunny cartoon than a symbol of love. And as for Pete and Ariana? That’s all, folks.

4 Hyundai: New Tattoos, New Possibilities

As we’ve seen, break-up tattoo coverups are a terrible idea. But getting tattoos of things we love is much safer… right? This anonymous internet user was so in love with his Hyundai that he got the brand’s official logo inked on his arm. The original tattoo wasn’t exactly appealing, but anyone with half a brain about cars could tell what it meant.

When the tattoo’s owner got fed up, he decided to cover the original with something else. But it didn’t turn out so well. Thanks to the Hyundai logo’s awkward shape, the cover-up tattoo wound up as a strange blob that only the owner could decipher (we hope). We don’t know what happened between the subject and Hyundai, but whatever it was, we doubt it was bad enough to deserve such a lousy coverup.

3 Nas vs. The Lion

Hip Hop stars Nas and Kelis were probably the genre’s most famous couple between 2002 and 2009. Her milkshakes definitely brought him to the yard, and the bond was so strong that Nas got Kelis’s tattoo on his forearm. But after their wedding in 2005, the marriage ended on a rocky path. Nas was accused of infidelity in 2008, and they both decided their love life needed a break from the public.

Just before the birth of the couple’s firstborn in 2009, Kelis filed for a divorce. In response, Nas covered up Kelis’s tattoo. Rather than edit the whole image, Nas only replaced her head with a lion, leaving the torso as it was.

In the end, Nas had a tattoo of a woman’s body with the head of a lion. Frankly, it looks like something out of American Horror Story. But maybe he wanted a tattoo he regretted as much as the way their relationship ended.

2 Slim to Scum: Johnny Depp’s Ink Nightmare

Most of the world supported Johnny Depp through his recent court case struggle (that he won, by the way). But his history with tattoos hasn’t been the best. Famously known for the “Winona Forever” tattoo, the renowned actor had the word “Slim” inked on his knuckles to represent his then-wife, Amber Heard.

However, following their bitter divorce, Depp changed the word to “scum.” Now the celebrity has plenty of tattoos on his body, most of which have required cover-up services at some point. But we doubt that most of them would be as regrettable as the one he got with his ex-wife’s name.

The coverup in itself is not bad. But we all know that if it were up to him, he would want that part of his life to disappear altogether.

1 Back Together: The Big Sean Tattoo

Jhene Aiko is an American musician who made a name for herself with her unique voice. She is even more popular because of her on-and-off romantic relationship with Big Sean. Shortly after they released their album Twenty88 in 2016, Jhene got a tattoo of Big Sean’s face on her arm. But it didn’t take long before fans realized she had covered up the initial ink with a monster dragon. It was later discovered that the two had split. Jhene also followed up with a cryptic tweet that has since been deleted.

While the cover-up tattoo is cool, Jhene later reconciled with Big Sean and even had a kid together. We can only imagine how weird it is for her. First, she was in love, then she wasn’t, and now she is again. But maybe she’ll think twice before tattooing his face on her arm again.