In spending my Saturday night gorging on a LOST/Star Wars diet geeky enough to make the Comic Book guy cringe, an important question was raised in my mind. Recently I began seriously considering getting a tattoo on the inside of my left arm. Only after experiencing a dream in which I was told NOT to get one by a tattoo artist, did my desire subside a bit. But the thought process recalled an old discussion topic amongst my friends: how awesome would it be to have a replica tattoo of the Dark Mark from the Harry Potter world? Don’t get me wrong, when the chips fall I’m right next to the Weasleys fighting Fenrir Greyback off of 2nd year potions students in the battle for Hogwarts, but the ability to replicate something so authentic from the stories is pretty cool. But what a betrayal of all things good and decent in this world it would be! In my nerdness, the logical subsequent step in my thinking was this: what could be worse than a tattoo of the Dark Mark from Harry Potter? I concluded that the Galactic Empire symbol from Star Wars is capable of giving it a pretty good run for its money. Here’s how I see it breaking down…
The Dark Mark
The Dark Mark from HP carries a pretty heavy connotation. As far as my knowledge goes, it works two fold: as a summoning device used by Voldemort to assemble Death Eaters to his location, and also in the reverse way of summoning Voldemort to a Death Eater, typically only to be used if Harry Potter had been captured (Harry Potter Wiki). The mark itself is a brand given only to the Dark Lord’s most trusted followers. AKA, if you’ve got the Mark, you are sipping tea with the fallen one on the REG: not something to be taken lightly. The Dark Mark is something possessed by a much much much smaller group of individuals (somewhere in the 15-ish range) making it even more despicable. Any 3rd year student can’t simply get trashed on Firewhiskey shots down at The Three Broomsticks and give himself the Dark Mark to piss off his parents: the Mark comes with a responsibility, a devotion to the dark arts that must be earned. That’s pretty f’ed up, brah. And even on a surface level interpretation of the Mark, it’s pretty badass. A snake crawling out of the mouth of a skull? Something tells me J.K. Rowling used to ride with the Hells Angels to come up with something as dark as that…
Galactic Empire insignia
But now let’s consider some ink that is not visually represented in the body of work it hails from. The symbol for the Galactic Empire is known by geeks of the world to be universally despised. Sure, you’ve got the geeks that think they can appropriate the symbol and try to act like the Empire is cooler than the Rebellion (these are also the types of people that have Vader’s Theme as their ringtone), but these people are dead wrong. The Empire is responsible for some of the most heinous acts of aggression and failed humanity in the history of the geek universe. By sporting some Empire ink, you’d be condoning things like entire planet destruction, slaughtering of innocents (and younglings), and choking the life out of dudes who are one week away from their pension (to name just a few). Anyone can get an Empire tattoo though, which makes it slightly less hard. I equate getting this tattoo to the moment when a bunch of newly enlisted Marines get loaded before basic training and get bulldog tattoos on their backs, only in the Star Wars universe, it would be more like getting it done the day you became a self-aware clone… tomato/tomahto, right? Likewise, the tattoo would not be visible for anyone to see if you were enlisted. Unlike the Dark Mark which turns black when shit is going down or you can use to summon people, the Empire tattoo would be buried beneath layers and layers of plastic armor: a sad reminder right before you die that you were just a number on Vader’s list, dieing by the hands of a Wookie before anyone even knew you had been stupid enough to get the ink work done.
Based on these facts, I think it’s clear that Dark Mark is without a doubt more badass. If you’ve got a Dark Mark, you are into some dark-ass shit, no question. If you’ve got a symbol for the Galactic Empire on your ass, you’re either the pawn in someone’s game or just a poser. So when you go to get your next tattoo to prove that you’re a bigger geek than your friend, make sure you go Dark Mark, otherwise when the Galactic Empire is finally formed, you’ll have no choice but to join.
Tags: Dark Mark, Death Eater, Galactic Empire, Geek Culture
Lifting Fog 
August 23, 2009 at 4:07 pm |
A tattoo more evil than the Dark Mark, more evil than the Galactic Empire’s mandala or whatever it is, would be a tattoo of…
[one beat, two beats]
…Eric Cartman’s face.
August 23, 2009 at 7:49 pm |
The Dark Mark is clearly more badass- but is it the sweetest “geeky” tattoo out there?
August 25, 2009 at 12:44 pm |
A Dark Mark tattoo: the one sure-fire way to ward off pesky Muggles of the opposite sex. PROTEGO!
August 28, 2009 at 9:54 am |
The. Dark. Mark. MOVES.
March 6, 2011 at 5:23 pm |
Only in the movie, in the books it changes color. The symbol in the sky is made up of green stars that also do not move, unlike the smoke in the movies.
September 1, 2009 at 1:08 am |
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November 10, 2009 at 8:48 pm |
im getting both!!!
November 26, 2009 at 4:19 pm |
Wow… Insightful… Now I know what my first tattoo is going to be!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
DAAAARK MAAAAAAAAAAAARK ALL TEH WAAAAAAYZ!
February 17, 2010 at 12:18 pm |
The Dark mark is definitely worse. You have to be personally committed to torture, you can’t just, say, man the computers or be in it for money. Also, as you said, the Galactic Empire tattoo is hidden… you’re not brandishing your evil. In addition, the Dark Mark carries with it the eminent threat of your total destruction.
However, either one, if recognized, will definitely get you kicked out of the Hells Angels for “frivolity”… although the Galactic mark may be seen as “deeply interesting” if it’s not recognized since the obvious symbol of occult power is so dark that you won’t even tell anybody what it represents.
March 17, 2010 at 4:32 pm |
The dark mark is definately more badass. I still think Voldemort should have been a little more creative with where his followers carry the mark though. Anyone can see it on your arm. The Death Eaters should be able to choose where the tattoo goes. If you want it to be a tramp stamp, you should be able to have it as one.
March 25, 2010 at 11:48 am |
So many tattoos to choose from. I search the net looking for the best pictures! Great site!
April 25, 2010 at 4:25 pm |
I really like this one. Well done, nice concept. Fits the body curve quite well. Who did the work?
April 25, 2010 at 4:26 pm |
not bad, not bad at all – I just get this weird entered desire to flip you.. – “just to see the other side” – lol
April 25, 2010 at 4:33 pm |
That’s awesome. I’m getting a big colorful one next summer. Any colors I should keep away from? :)
March 14, 2012 at 1:39 pm |
pink :D
May 9, 2010 at 1:54 pm |
It’s OBVIOUSLY the Galactic Empire mark. I’d die before having a sissy Voldemort mark on me. What did HE ever manage to do? He got beat by a baby! The Empire enslaved WORLDS, man. It destroyed PLANETS.
And you want to be marked with something symbolising an inept guy who couldn’t even defeat “love”.
Boo, I say. The Empire lives!
/Darth Awesome.
June 30, 2012 at 8:27 pm |
Voldemort killed untold amounts of people, he is the most feared among all
Wizards, and is the basic devil/hitler of his world. Besides he never was defeated by a baby, he was defeated by a spell layed upon Harry when his mother Lily sacrificed herself for her son, making him immune to Voldemort’s killing curse. The curse backfired on Voldemort and he was left without a body.
June 29, 2010 at 9:27 am |
A well written story. I’m an online gamer and I’m always looking for information like this.
August 17, 2010 at 1:20 am |
thanks, for this nice article. I found it through google and i found it very interesting. i will look for more interesting articles at this blog. (=
November 17, 2010 at 3:24 pm |
The Horde from World of Warcraft!!
November 28, 2010 at 11:04 am |
the more badass geeky tatto?
the Bantha skull, a.k.a.: the bobba fett’s symbol
the abstracted representation of a bantha skull, and forever symbol of bounty hunter who are responsible of nothing but themselves, and follow orthers of only the one who they choose
forget any and tom, if you are someone by yourself: Bantha skull.
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June 16, 2013 at 12:56 pm |
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October 27, 2013 at 11:08 pm |
How bout a 3rd option? I think I would favor a tattoo of the Mandalorian skull. I just think they’re BAMFs and I respect their honor and pride in who they are and what they represent and any race can join. Since everyone is required to be battle trained how awesome would it be if everyone in your area from bar tender to bag boy turned Rambo to take down a threat? I would like to see granny take down a couple of tangos. “…We need no lords or leaders—so you can’t destroy our command… We’re more than just a people or an army, aruetii. We’re a culture. We’re an idea. And you can’t kill ideas—but we can certainly kill you.” – Mandalore the Destroyer
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May 18, 2015 at 10:34 pm |
I’m getting The Dark Mark as my next tattoo. I’ve colorized it, though, and, personally, I think it looks pretty badass;
check it out:
November 13, 2015 at 9:24 am |
Путь круто! Некоторые очень действительные пункты!
Я ценю, что вы пишу это статья плюс Остальная часть сайт действительно хорошо.
March 23, 2016 at 11:21 am |
I have both now as a matter of fact.
December 22, 2016 at 10:24 am |
I have the Dark Mark combined with the Cloak, Stone, and Wand. The snake takes place of the wand. Lol I was actually thinking about getting a Star Wars Tat on my right forearm to counter my Harry Potter one :P
March 24, 2021 at 1:04 pm |
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