As the big screen superhero Aquaman, Jason Momoa is covered in tattoos—and in real life, he has his fair share of ink too.
The actor has acquired a lot of ink over the years, including the words “etre toujours ivre” on his right forearm (“to be always drunk” in French), his children’s signatures on his chest, “pride of gypsies” on his right arm (which also happens to be the name of his production company and his Instagram handle), and the name “Diablo” on his middle finger in memory of a friend who died in 2013.
On his left forearm, Momoa sports a half sleeve of connecting triangles which represent his aumakua, a kind of ancestral guardian in Hawaiian tradition, which takes the form of a shark and is depicted in the tattoo by triangular shark teeth. In fact, his Aquaman tattoos were originally inspired by his arm tattoo, a series of connecting triangles, which were extended to cover the majority of his body for the Aquaman and Justice League movies.
In September 2022, Momoa revealed that he has a similar tattoo etched onto the side of his scalp after partially shaving his head. The triangular pattern extends from the left side of Momoa’s head around his ear and down his neck. In his new Men’s Health cover story, Momoa confirms that it is another representation of the shark aumakua. He also adds that this is his “favorite” of all his tattoos, as it symbolizes “protection for his family.”
Momoa’s Hawaiian heritage is an important part of his next role, a Hawaiian chief in the 1700s, in the factually-inspired historical drama Chief of War. In addition to starring in the nine-part series, Momoa is also co-writing and directing, and he promises Men’s Health that it will be his most action-packed project yet.
“It’s a beautiful wonder we pulled it off and no-one got hurt,” he says. “I’m pretty high off that. All I got was a bruised lip… It’s like a prison riot, people hanging, people falling from the ceiling. There’s musket shots and fires everywhere, just burning chaos.”
To read the rest of Momoa’s Men’s Health cover story, click here.
Philip Ellis is a freelance writer and journalist from the United Kingdom covering pop culture, relationships and LGBTQ+ issues. His work has appeared in GQ, Teen Vogue, Man Repeller and MTV.
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