Humanoid, mechanical men have been popular for centuries. Even in ancient tales and myths, there are stories of inanimate statues that come to life and act upon the orders of their living, human masters. In the 20th century, the literary realm of science fiction was popularized and the mechanical and electrical robots that we know and love today were born.
The most popular and famous robots, along with a few of their lesser known cousins, are now being chosen as tattoo designs. These tattoos represent artificial intelligence; the concept that man can create a semblance of life in a mechanical body that was once just a collection of nuts and bolts. Robot tattoos are also a symbol of humanity, because while robots are unnatural and were built rather than born, they have human characteristics, personalities and at times are depicted as displaying human emotions. Many stories of robots also hold these mechanized men to the highest standards of humanitarianism, in which robots must protect and serve humans even at the cost of their own well-being. Robots are rarely depicted as evil – generally it is only at the whim of a deranged human master that a robot is forced to perform evil acts. However, in many stories, people live in fear of their robot slaves. They are afraid that the more self-aware and human the robots become, the more likely they are to turn on their masters.
Among the most famous robots to be worn on skin are R2-D2 and C-3PO from the legendary Star Wars films, Wall-E from Pixar’s adorable childrens’ film and the intricately detailed alien robots from the Transformers series. But not all robot tattoos are portraits of recognizable robots; many are simply the designs of the client who wanted to wear an image of a personified machine.
This colorful robot tattoo is a portrait of Matthew Bamber’s son’s favorite toy; a stuffed robot. The tattoo is a symbol of a father’s love for his son and a child’s love for an inanimate yet cheerfully humanoid robot. [source]
It’s unclear whether this killer robot destroyed a bird because it was ordered to do so, or if it is exhibiting the very human characteristic of sadism. Either way, this artistic robot tattoo design is humorously sick and twisted and will appeal to those with a dark sense of humor. [source]
This sexy robot pin-up girl tattoo highlights the human femininity of the character not just with female features, but with feminine colors. Between those two design aspects, the robot character has been personified and given a personality of her own. [source]
There are two distinctly human characteristics in Joshua Kahl’s robot tattoo; innocence and love. The helium balloon is a symbol of childhood and therefore innocence, while the heart symbol is universally recognized as a symbol of love, passion and affection. [source]
Like Joshua Kahl’s tattoo, K Turner’s tattoo depicts a robot flying with the help of a helium balloon. It also has a heart on its chest, though in this design, the heart sits on the right of the chest. Both of the balloon-wielding robots exhibit the human dream of flying. The statement is that it doesn’t matter what we look like, because under the surface, we’re all human. [source]
While many robot tattoos are cute, Miles Kanne’s American traditional style tattoo design reflects humanities’ fascination with death and the macabre. [source]
Tattoo artist Jason Vogt has created a highly animated new school tattoo of a robot who is so filled with love that he’s puking hearts. [source]
This robot tattoo by Trent Edwards displays a subtle sense of humor, because the design shows an artificially intelligent being in the pose of Rodin’s famous statue The Thinker. This statue has stood for many years as a testament to the one thing that sets man apart from both animals and artificial intelligence – imagination. [source]
