Tattoos with a purely humorous focus that may be encountered in forensic cases vary greatly in style and may be polychromatic and well-executed or monochromatic and unsophisticated. Not uncommon ones have included ‘I’m tired’ in letters across the backs of the toes or a previous partner’s name on the buttocks. Sexual themes are not unusual including arrows pointing to the genitalia with sometimes explicit instructions/messages. Internet websites have further examples.

A selection of images taken from the Pathology Archive at Forensic Science South Australia demonstrate the range and content of images that may be found. These tattoos often utilize natural body features such as the umbilicus (Fig. 1), natal cleft (Fig. 2), genitalia, breasts (Fig. 3) or scars (Fig. 4). They may be in locations that can only be seen if someone is lying down (Fig. 5) or may contain simple but explicit messages (Fig. 6), or be tinged with dark humor suggesting possible underlying mental disturbance (Fig. 7). All but one of the depicted tattoos were from male decedents.

A primitive monochromatic tattoo with ‘Press for Service‘ above the umbilicus

A cartoon character appearing to be trapped in the upper part of the natal cleft

A cartoon character with ‘sweet’ and ‘sour’ on alternate breasts

A well-executed polychromatic image of a zipper added to the upper part of a healed sternotomy scar

A fading indistinct tattoo with ‘Made in Australia’ written on the sole of a foot was a humorous way to record the country of origin of the decedent

A primitive tattoo on the arm stating ‘I love sex’

This instruction for suicidal wrist cutting with ‘Cut Here’ may give an indication of underlying psychological illness through dark humour

The reason for tattoos with a humorous theme or message in recent years is unclear but may be a reflection of a general relaxation in what may have been previously perceived as unacceptable or offensive, or of a greater willingness to expose such designs/texts. Although it would be informative to have psychological profiles of those who opt for such decoration, as permanently marking the body with comical images seems to form a specific subset of contemporary Western tattooing, there has been minimal study of this phenomenon.

As analyses of subgroups of individuals having specific types of tattoos has shown that there may be differences in the cause and manner of death, further study of cases with humorous tattoos may be informative. Unfortunately the numbers of cases in the present study (N = 7) are too small to draw any meaningful conclusions, however, larger population-based studies may identify sociological or forensic features of interest. Pertinent features to be evaluated in larger studies would be the age and sex of the decedents, drug usage or gang membership, the cause and manner of deaths, and the association with any other types of tattoos.