Meet the world’s most tattooed people – and see what they looked like before taking their body-mod to the extreme
- Before-and-after pictures show how much these people have changed
- These individuals from the UK to New Zealand all have stories behind their ink
People get tattoos for many reasons, whether it is aesthetic, religious beliefs, or for symbolic reasons, just to name a few.
However, these colourful individuals have taken their love for ink to a whole new level, covering themsevles from head to toe in artwork.
Meet the world’s most bizarre and impressive tattooed people… and read the stories behind their body art.
Individuals have taken their love for tattoos to the extreme and are covered from head to toe
These body modification enthusiasts have spent hundreds of thousands in a bid to change their entire appearance with extreme tattoos
Here are some of the most crazy and impressive tattooed people from all over the globe
United Kingdom: King of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-Ite
Otherwise known as Britain’s most tattooed man, the 42-year-old from Birmingham has a staggering 1000 hours in the tattoo chair and counting since he began aged 16.
King Body Art, formerly known as Matthew Whelan, has over 90 per cent of his body covered in tattoos. But while he never set out on being fully covered, he knew he had found a love for body art from a young age as he ‘loved how you could put pictures on the body.’
He became inspired after a family trip to Australia where he became immersed in the culture and was ‘amazed’ by the Māori people and their tattoo art.
However, being a walking work of art comes with its downfalls. In the past, King Body Art has been attacked and considers himself ‘lucky to be alive’.
The tattoo fanatic also says he has been treated differently to his colleagues while in employment, being ‘the only person’ removed from the office when managers would come to visit.
King Body Art has over 90 per cent of his body covered in tattoos. Pictured: The tattoo fanatic with Ayanna Williams displaying her 23 inch nails during the launch of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not 2015 Annual in London
The 42-year-old has plans for further modifications, but his current mission is to undergo blackout tattooing – when a major portion of the tatted area is fully filled in with solid black ink.
Sharing his current favourite additions, he said: ‘ [I] would have to say my eyeballs inked on my arm, though I’m quite fond of my sclera stained ones which is more a dangerous surgical procedure.
‘Also my skulls on my upper lower left arm because underneath we are all the same no matter what we look like’.
Now and then: King Body Art (pictured left now and right before his body transformation) got his first tattoo at 16
Germany: Wolfgang Kirsch
73-year-old Wolfgang Kirsch, who likes to call himself Magneto, has covered a staggering 98 per cent of his body with tattoos, with only the soles of his feet remaining un-inked.
He has been declared as Germany’s most tattooed man after finding a passion for ink following the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989.
The tattoo fanatic could not start his journey while working in the post office in the GDR and had to wait until the reunification of Germany to get his first body ink.
He told Bild: ‘It wasn’t until I was 46 years old that I got my first tattoo, a tear under my eye.’
He now has 86 large tattoos completed in the past two decades and also has 17 implants under his skin including in his throat and in his fingers – some of which are magnetic and can pick up paper clips.
In total, his passion for body art has costed him a total of 25,000 Euros and 720 hours in the chair.
The German tattoo lover, otherwise known as Magneto (pictured right now and left before his body transformation)
Wolfgang Kirsch pictured in a chair adding another tattoo to his extensive collection
Philippines: DeeDee Villegas
Deedee Villegas, 30, from Cebu, Philippines, claims that her first tattoos were down to peer pressure during her undergraduate degree at the University of San Carlos.
‘I got my first tattoo during my emo goth college phase, mainly due to peer pressure,’ DeeDee told The Mirror.
Starting with her first tattoo, which was a tribal design, she then got drawn in to the cultural significance of tattoos in the Philippines.
Since she began 12 years ago, the 30-year-old has spent over £20,000 on her body art which covers 60-70% of her body.
In addition to her ink, DeeDee has 12 facial piercings which adds to her look
Although the everyday comes with its challenges, she believes that the Philippines is slowly developing in accepting heavily modified as well as LGBTQ members
In addition to her ink, which have taken over 200 hours to complete, DeeDee has 12 facial piercings.
She claims that her tattoos became a form of comfort and used them as a coping mechanism when she would suffer from anxiety and depression.
Deedee added: ‘Being a heavily modified, gay, non-binary person in the Philippines comes with undeniable challenges.’
Whilst many with modified bodies receive a varied response from the public, DeeDee was once exorcised of the devil on the bus by a priest which ’caused quite a scene’.
Although the everyday comes with its challenges, she believes that the Philippines is slowly developing in accepting heavily modified as well as LGBTQ members.
She attributes this shift to social down to social media and the acceptance people encourage online.
Tattoo advocate DeeDee Villegas from Cebu, Philippines first got into tattoo culture due to peer pressure
DeeDee once endured exorcism of the devil by a priest because of her ‘daemonic ‘ tattoos
New Zealand: Lucky Diamond Rich
Lucky Diamond Rich, 52, holds the Guinness World Records title for the most tattooed person.
Born Greg Paul McLaren, the man from New Zealand claims to have every inch of his body tattooed.
Afraid that his mother would disapprove, his first tattoo at 16-years-old in 1987 was a small juggling club hidden on his hip, somewhere that was easy to hide.
‘Just one tattoo at a time I guess, that’s how everyone does it,’ Lucky told Guinness World Records.
Lucky has spent more than 1,000 hours having his body modified by tattoo artists, leaving no area uncovered
Just two years later, he wanted to get tattooed as much as he possibly could and the rest is history.
Overall, Lucky has spent more than 1,000 hours having his body modified by tattoo artists, leaving no area uncovered.
He now supports over 200 per cent coverage from tattoos, including his eyelids, between his toes, his gums, and even his genitals.
Lucky Diamond Rich, 52, holds the Guinness World Records title for the most tattooed person (pictured left now and right before his body transformation)
The man from New Zealand claims to have every inch of his body inked
United Kingdom: Becky Holt
Becky Holt, 34, from Poynton, Cheshire, is the self-proclaimed most tattooed woman in Britain.
With 95 per cent of her skin covered in tattoos, which include her face, arm pits and ‘intimate area’, the end result amounts to a staggering £35,000.
Speaking on This Morning last year, Becky detailed how strangers are ‘really rude’ about her appearance and how she is forced to ignore cruel comments form passersby who think she is ‘thuggish’.
Speaking to Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield on the ITV television show, she said her first tattoo was her boyfriend’s name on her crotch when she was only 15.
Until she was 22 all of her body art was hidden, however, as time progressed she wanted to be more confident with her ink.
Over a decade later, and the model-turned-interior designer now has hundreds of tattoos.
In an attempt to respond to social media users who put down her appearance, Becky revealed what she would look like without her tattoos by applying a full coverage of foundation on one side of her face and chest to cover them up.
However, Becky has no intention of getting rid of her tattoos anytime soon and embraces her looks on her social media pages.
The UK’s ‘most tattooed woman’ covered half her skin in thick make-up, to show what she’d look like without ink
Until she was 22 all of her body art was hidden, however, as time progressed she wanted to be more confident with her ink
France: Sylvain Helaine
Sylvain Helaine, 33, from Paris has covering his body, genitals, gums, feet and even has a snake travelling down his skull.
He got his first tattoo when he was 27-years-old after moving to London and seeing so many people with them.
Over the past six years, Sylvian has embraced his new obsession and doesn’t want to stop until he is tattooed black all over his body – even though he has spent over £35,000 already.
Sylvain said: ‘I will never stop getting tattoos because I am passionate about it. One day I will end up fully covered in black ink.’
The 33-year-old has worked as a teacher for over 10 years, and was a martial arts coach beforehand
Over the past six years, Sylvian has embraced his new obsession and doesn’t want to stop until he is tattooed black all over his body
He added: ‘When I started getting tattooed, I wanted half of body a mix between old school and rock n roll style and other half of my body drawing in Japanese inspiration.’
The 33-year-old has worked as a teacher for over 10 years, and was a martial arts coach beforehand. However, his unconventional appearance doesn’t always go down well when meeting new people.
The teacher said: ‘When parents don’t recognise me, they are sceptical because they’d see me – a male teacher covered in tattoos on the playground – and it’s weird for them.’
But thankfully, most parents are accepting once they get to know Sylvian and learn that he is an enthusiastic and intelligent teacher.
Despite the surprised reactions to his appearance, teaching gives Sylvain a deep sense of fulfilment.
He said: ‘What I like most about it is you can mould these young minds; you can try to make them a better person and help them to make the world a better place.’
Sylvain got his first tattoo when he was 27 year old whilst living in London having moved to the UK from France (pictured left now and right before his transformation)
Germany: Tobias Müller
Tobias Müller, 33, a zookeeper from Dortmund, Germany began his tattoo journey around 15 years ago at the age of 18 and his entire body is covered in over 300 ‘extreme’ tattoos.
In addition to his variety of inkings, he also has a split tongue, four subdermal silicone implants, one permanent branding and an implanted magnet and chip.
Looking back, he wishes he had embraced his love sooner, he told Mail Online: ‘I was fascinated of pics of extremely inked and modified people as I was a kid, I think I wish I started at the age of 16.
‘If you really want to get a tattoo, get it, its your body, your choice and your life, don’t let some others do this choice for you.’
Speaking of the mixed reviews his appearance often faces, Tobias believes the best way forward is to embrace himself as he is.
He said: ‘The positive reactions makes me happy and I ignore the negative, my look doesn’t hurt anyone, so it’s my decision and if someone doesn’t like it it’s their problem, not mine.
‘I really love my tattooed eye and one of my favourites of my normal tattoos is my ‘Destroy Everything’ over my eye’.
When asked if he regrets any of his tattoos, the 33-year-old said he regrets nothing and they are all a part of his life and what makes him who he is.
Luckily for Tobias, his love for tattoos have been completely free since he fell in love with artist, Lena-Marie Duhn, 24, in 2018.
Tobias Müller, 33, regularly hits the headlines with his controversial look, which has seen his entire body covered in over 300 ‘extreme’ tattoos (pictured right now and left before his transformation)
Lena-Marie Duhn, 24, and Tobias Müller, 33 have a combined 360 tattoos between them and 54 body piercings
USA: Matt Gone
Matt Gone, 53, from the USA holds the world record of the most squares tattooed on the body since 2014 with a whopping total of 848.
His fascination with squares began from a young age when he realised as a child that they were absolutely everywhere- from children’s toys, to bathroom floors, even in ancient cave paintings.
Matt told Guinness World Records: ‘It was an original idea and in tattooing, that’s the hardest thing to do.
‘I’m asymmetrical – I have birth defects on one side of my body – so I like the symmetry of the checker that camouflages the asymmetry on my body.’
For Matt, the tattoos hold a deeper significance as they have helped him to reshape his body following rare birth defects
Matt told Guinness World Records : ‘It was an original idea and in tattooing, that’s the hardest thing to do’
His fascination with squares began from a young age when he realised as a child that they were absolutely everywhere
For Matt, the tattoos hold a deeper significance as they have helped him to reshape his body following rare birth defects.
The tattoo enthusiast has Poland syndrome, a condition where a child is born with missing or underdeveloped chest muscles. So, Matt used the art of tattooing to create the illusion of an even chest.
The squares feature all over Matt’s body, with 201 squares on his head, 190 on his shoulders, 251 on his torso and arms, 180 on his legs, and 26 on his genitalia.
The American also has numerous other tattoos besides his squares which have been done by 155 different artists.
He claims that although he can’t feel the pain of tattoos very often anymore, his most painful experience was getting his nose done – he claims he even sneezed black ink for around 20 minutes afterwards.
His passion for the artwork began at the young age of 14 where he tattooed himself using a needle and India ink.
As time went on, he decided to have a bodysuit tattooed, which is described as an extensive tattoo, usually of a similar pattern, style or theme that covers the entire torso or the entire body.
One of his favoruite parts of being covered in art is that he loves to spread joy and sharing his unique look with others.
Matt Gone (pictured), 53, from the USA holds the world record of the most squares tattooed on the body since
One of his favoruite parts of being covered in art is that he loves to spread joy and sharing his unique look with others
France: Anthony Loffredo
Anthony Leffredo, 33, from France has become a social media sensation for documenting his dramatic physical alterations for his 1.2 million Instagram followers.
The Frenchman has covered his entire body, including his eyeballs, in ink and has removed both his upper lip and his nose in a bid to look like a ‘black alien’.
Although he has gone through several surgical procedures, he revealed that he is still only ’44 per cent’ of the way to his goal.
The extremist has also had a number of implants placed under his tattooed skin
Loffredo said that he wants to change his face further before he focuses on amputating his leg. He said: ‘My next modification is my face, that’s the next one.’
The extremist has also had a number of implants placed under his tattooed skin and has also had surgery in Mexico to cut off his two fingers so that his hand looks like a claw.
Speaking to French newspaper Midi Libre in 2017, he said when he was working as a security guard in his twenties, he came to the realisation he was not living in the way that he wanted to.
And so, he dropped everything and left France for Australia where he began his journey.
Anthony Loffredo, 33, has covered his body in tattoos and had his tongue split in his bid to look like a ‘black alien’ (pictured right now and left before his transformation)
Although he has gone through several surgical procedures, he is only ’44 per cent’ of the way to his goal
Us Showman Erik Sprague Also Known As ‘The Lizardman’ thanks to his tattoo scales
Guinness World Record-holder Julia Gnuse, otherwise know as the ‘most tattooed woman’ in the world – she has even used the same artist for all of her designs
Stalking Cat, or Dennis Anver, was an American man known for his extensive body modifications, which were intended to increase his resemblance to a tiger
Dennis Avner shows his tiger teeth after removed all of his teeth to install tigerlike dentures
Briton Isobel Varley, 69, the world’s eldest tattooed woman according to the Guinness Book of Records
Isobel claims to be particularly fond of penises and has a bunch of them tattooed on her body
People enjoying themselves at the Internationale Tattoo Convention in der Arena in Berlin, Treptow
Guinness Rishi is the multiple world record holder for having the most flags tattooed on his body
He is most renowned for having over 200 world flags tattooed on his body, including 49 flags on his face and head
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