The tattoos of the BLADE movies are some of the most popular for online movie tattoo searches and a frequent e-mail topic for this editor. Wesley Snipes plays Blade, a vampire killer who is himself part-vampire. The Daywalker, as the vampires have nicknamed him, is a Martial arts and weapons bad-ass, who sports some of the best tribal tattoos to hit the movies

In the first installment, we meet Blade and learn of his secret war against vampires. His mother was bitten by a vampire just before Blade’s birth, dying as she gave birth to a half-human, half-vampire child. The designs of Blade’s tattoos are original to the movie adaptations, with a style derived from Polynesian influences. The blackwork designs cover most of his upper chest, arms and shoulders. His partially shaved head reveals more designs that wrap around the back of the head and extend down the neck.

You can see Blade’s neck and shoulder tattoos best during his slower-paced scenes with the female characters when he has his shirt off. His arm and head designs can be seen in most of his fight scenes as he is usually wearing something sleeveless. The bold designs show well even during a fast paced fight with rapidly changing camera angles.

There are also tattoos amongst the vampires, showing which family or clan they belong to. Sometimes these marks are found on humans, servants or “pets” who are loyal to or owned by a vampire. Some perform daylight tasks, some are like kept cattle, providing light snacks and some hope through service to become vampires by being turned by their owners. Blade finds one on the back of a police officer, revealing he is in fact working with the vampires.

Deacon Frost, who became a vampire through being “turned” by another vampire is not a member of one of the great houses of the vampire nation and uses his own symbol to mark humans loyal to him. If you watch the details when he translates the ancient scrolls of Erebus, you will see the symbol he chose for himself, the symbol of La Magra, the Blood God.