Of all the pieces of fandom art in the world, fandom tattoos are some of the most beautiful. It is also a testament to how much affect fandom can have on a person’s life. Fandom is more than a tv show, movie or book – it is a family and a piece of identity.
Here is a collection of beautiful fandom tattoos – thanks to submissions through Facebook. First, though, I wanted to highlight one tattoo that was submitted by Kelsey Warren. She writes:
These are symbols from the 1993 Genesis game “Gunstar Heroes.” It was my older brother and my FAVORITE game to play, but we couldn’t afford to buy it, so we just rented it 1000 times.
I wanted to get this tattoo in college, but when I told Brett he was all, “No! You can’t get a tattoo like that unless I die tragically or something!” When he died a few years ago, I got this tattoo almost immediately.
Check out the gallery below if you need a little inspiration and to see some beautiful art. Thank you to all who submitted!
Photo courtesy of Ashley Bougher.
Meaghan Klebold: It’s my only fandom tattoo right now. It also represents my mom, my sister and I, since it was just the 3 of us after my parents divorced.
Freya Mattheyses: First one I got as a memorial for my parents, my father died in 2011 when I was 17 and my mother died in 2015 when I was 21. The second one I got because I survived all that stuff happening to me. It’s “the girl who lived” in Rowling’s handwriting.
Photo courtesy of Allison Hope Lesniak.
Finley Collins: this one is from The Song of the Lioness quartet’s second book: In the Hand of the Goddess. That quote is the last line in the book.
Kelly Schwing: Some of the fondest memories I have from my childhood revolve around Star Wars. My favorite early mornings were spent watching the entire series on VHS with my brother. When the real world let me down, I always had somewhere to escape to.
Photo courtesy of Khai Krumbhaar
Samantha Clarke: Here’s my Smaug 💖
Amy Roberts: Freshly done!!
Jenny Mehan: Damask Vader.
Sarah Harless: It’s not fandom, but it is nerdy. You can find every letter and number in this image. I love books, so I thought it’d be an appropriate first tattoo.
Photo courtesy of Mary Beer.
Kathy Fulop Chamberlain: This is my winter soldier tattoo from the captain America movies.
Kristin Riske: My HP tattoo with the house colors in the background.
Tara L Hall: Death to normalcy (normality) in German! ❤️
Theis Deschain: My Tim Burton tattoo
Photo courtesy of Alina Engel.
Michelle Dee: Winter Hogwarts. ❤
Photo courtesy of Katie Hathaway.
Photo courtesy of Jennifer R Heuertz.
Kristi Hollenbeck: I have a Supernatural half sleeve that is in progress. It’s comprised of the autographs of the shows actors whom I have met. It currently has 13 autographs. Right now I am saving up to have the 8 more that I have gotten tattooed on, and will also be getting more gathered this year. I think it’ll probably end up being two half sleeves as my upper arms are already tattooed and they are not all going to fit on one arm lol. Eventually I will be pulling them all together by taking symbols from the show and tattooing them in the background most likely in shades of grey.
Photo courtesy of Castiel Rachael Bridges.
Michelle Jones: Mine is an Eleventh Doctor tattoo. The book that says Spoilers is River Song’s diary that details the Doctor’s story, and the other two are the stories of his companions, Amy and Rory. I’m a single mother working on my MA in English, so this tattoo is also significant to my own life.
Janelle Reinhardt: This one is a lyric from the Louden Swain song, “Downtown Letdown.” My life motto for the last 20+ years has literally been, if you want to judge and dislike me without getting to know me first, that’s your loss, not mine. This lyric is basically the most perfect way to say that that I have ever come across. A friend of mine asked Rob Benedict to write the lyric out for me during autographs at DCcon, so it is actually in his handwriting. I included the heart he drew with it and his signature as a reminder of something he said during SNS at that same con. “If you are loved by no one else, you are loved by me.” So it kind of harkens back to that same not alone message as well.
Janelle Reinhardt: So, I deal with bipolar disorder and depression, amongst other things. As a result, Jared, Jensen, and Misha’s mental health awareness campaigns are a huge deal to me. I got this one to remind me to keep fighting and I am not alone. The anti-possession symbol reminds me that I can fight my own demons and win. The hearts represent my husband and my kids, the reasons I need to keep going even when I think I am not enough reason to do so. Just kind of a tangible visual reminder to keep with me when things get bad.
Tiffany J Sjogren: It’s Fandom related, but also not.. It’s my suicide awareness tattoo, Always Keep Fighting (AKF) telling me that suicide isn’t worth it. I’ve always been suicidal, and it gets worse constantly, but I have high hopes I’ll live up to my tattoo.
