Gamers spend hundreds (or thousands) of hours with characters on PCs and consoles. But some turn that dedication into a lifetime commitment with a tattoo. How many? Protect Your Bubble did some digging on Instagram to chart the most popular gaming tattoos on the social network.
The “Gotta catch ’em all!” mentality is pervasive with Pokémon enthusiasts, and it puts the franchise at the top of the list, with 250,457 tattoo posts. The adorable electric mouse Pikachu leads the pack (26,059 posts), followed by Bulbasaur and Gengar (about 6,300 posts each).
Most popular doesn’t mean most prominent, though. One of the top pop stars in the world, Ariana Grande, is a huge Eevee fan, and after playing Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee for endless hours on her Nintendo Switch, she made her love permanent with a tattoo of the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed Eevee on her arm.
The Legend of Zelda has far fewer characters than Pokémon does, but it still comes in second on the list with 75,776 posts. Most fans favor the character Link as a tattoo, with 8,897 posts. His companion Navi is the next most popular choice, possibly because of her simple shape. The striking Twilight Realm resident Midna is third.
Super Mario has some of the most recognizable characters in gaming—and 34,415 Instagram posts to show for it. Mario (21,947), Toad (8,512), and Yoshi (4,112) top the list. But some fans go for something more niche: Justin Bieber, for example, has Boo tattooed on the back of his right arm.
The next gaming franchise on the list is not a top-selling game, though it does have a Netflix show: The Witcher has lots of fans who want to keep the game with them at all times and 12,511 posts to show for it. That’s followed by Final Fantasy (11,990), Kingdom Hearts (11,374), God of War (8,466), The Elder Scrolls (7,474), BioShock (6,502), and Fallout (6,367).
