Ville Valo's tattoos

The heart (1994)

"I think if you use different tattoo artists to do a sleeve it just ends up looking crap.My idea came after I met this dude and we were drinking a alot.He told me he was a tattooist, as well as guitar player-he actually played in HIM for a while.We got completely wasted and I told him to do this littleheart, here on my right wrist,that was my first on.e.I got it to see how it felt."

Sleeve Tattoo (1994)

"We got drunk again a week later and we got the ideea to do the sleeve,it just came to us.The ornaments were designed by the friend, and all off my tattoos are done by him but he's moved to Amsterdam.When I get a couple of days off I'll go and see him 'cos I want a few more things done''
"What I wanted to do was one thingwith the whole arm.Originally we planned to do both sleeves and the back but it took such a long time and we were doing our first tour around Europe."

Pecker Heartagram (1996)

"It was around the time that I'd first designed it.I was half drunk,the tattooist was fully drunk and we went for it.I wanted to be a rocker and rockers need tattoos.The tip of it goes fairly close to the pecker,but not onto it."

Video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq0nKKuqvc8&feature=player_embedded

Chest "S" (deleted) (1999)

"I did it as a birthday present of my girlfriend Suzanna,but,when we fall out of love,as we do every now and then, I claim it's for satan or whatever stars with an "s"."

Neck Heartagram

A simple heartagram on his neck.

Cosmic Pope (2002)

Situated on the right calf,the cosmic pope came to attention first in "Dope Danny" by Daniel Lioneye with the line:"I had become a cosmic pope".The figure came up with the booklet of HIM's "Deep shadows and brillint hightlights", where you can see the head of the cosmic pope on the body of a spider, printed on the inside of the rear case inlay.HIM did a special "Cosmic Pope Jam Version" of "Pretending", whichcan be found on some of their single CD's.Ville also has a tattoo of the complete figure.

Egyptian "Wedja" Symbol (2002)

The egyptian symbol "Wejda", meaning "prosperity" or "well-being", on his left calf, it's a symbol also contained in Deep Shadows And Brilliant Hightlights.

The "J" (deleted) (2005)

"One drunken night back in the day, I had my then-fiancee's first initial tattooed on my ring finger."

"I later removed it with cigarettes by using my finger as an ashtray for a while.We were on tour and it got infected really easily,but it's nearly gone."

Nidiot Tattoo (2005)

"We got tattoos on our ass cheeks saying "Nidiot".It's an old inside oke, and the guy put the pictures on his internet site and some of the tabloids in Finland got them, so they had a spread of my ass in some tabloid.I was laughing my ass off,literally,but you know, everybody's got an ass."

Heartagram Nipple (2005)

Used for coveringhe "S" tattoo,it's a simple heartagram.

May tattoo (deleted) (2005)

It's the secret name of his ex-girlfriend Jonna Nygren's intimate places.

EA Poe's Eyes (2005)

This tattoo appears for the first time in the "Killing Loneliness"(American Version) it seems that Kat Von D did the job.

Poets Right Arm

"I wae going to have a fll sleeve of authors done but it's never happened.There's Charles Baudelaire and Charles Bukowsky and this is the Finnish author Timo Mukka.

Dilligaf

Ville Valo,Kat Von D,Bam Margera and Jonna Nygren has this tattoo,it was made during Ville's and Jonna engagement.

Venus Doom Tattoo (2007)

This is the only tattoo dedicated to an HIM album.It's also the cover of the Venus Doom special edition.

Maya Deren (2009)

"She's a surrealistic film-maker and director from the 1940s.There's this picture of her from movie "Meshes Of The Afternoon"and I love the ethereal beauty of it."

Klaus Kinki (2009)

It's a beautiful random picture that explains the insanity of the artist very well.

Unicursal Hexagram (2009)

The unicursal hexagram is a hexagram or six-pointed star that can be traced or drawn unicursally,in one continuous line rather than by two overlaid triangles.This is maybe the second symbol invented by Ville,after the Heartagram.

Hermit/Anchorite Tattoo (2009)

It's something Kat improvised when I was in LA.It's just a,it's a combination of an hourglass with wings and uh and uh,it says hermit in french... since I've turned into a ahermit.It's just uh,it's just a combination of a lot,not necessarily inside jokes but um stuff only close friends know.So uh it's like a little puzzle type of things,more or less."

Tears On Tape/Malachim Tattoo (2013)

The symbols are of the malachim language used on the Tears on Tape Album Cover.The shape recalls the symbol of Baphtomet.The whole simbology of Tears On Tape recalls heavily Anton Lavey and Ville has been a big fan of him since a very long time.The name HIM means also His Infernal Majesty,which is a chapter of the Lavey's book "The Satanic Bible".