“I believe in everything until it’s disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it’s in your mind. Who’s to say that dreams and nightmares aren’t as real as the here and now?”

– John Lennon

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Fairies manifest magic and wonder, dreams, and sometimes even nightmares. Old wives’ tales, the Brothers Grimm, and modern takes by Disney show fairy stories are as old as time, nuanced, and never ending.

Fantastic fables of fairies, elves, and mythical creatures with magical powers are taught to children from the crib, staying on with people as they grow up in a world all too often lacking the innocence and wonder felt as a child listening to bedtime stories. These creatures are supposed to live in the closet, under your bed, in the forest, or at the bottom of your garden.

Fairies are favorites in the tattoo world, representing magic, freedom, and the carefree spirit people look for in body art and wider self-expression. They can be colorful, careful, crazy, or cool, but they’re individual symbols of wonder depicted in a wide variety of styles and themes.

Read on to take a closer look at 101 examples you can sprinkle into your tattoo ideas as you plan the perfect fairy tattoo design.

1. Black and Gray Fairy Tattoos for Women

This classic fairy does well balancing a simple fine line black outline with flatter black fill in the strawberry she’s holding and her butterfly wings. The concept is cool but some of the patterns and shading in the wings look a little cramped and hurried. The fairy‘s dress is a highlight, utilizing strong short lines for ruffles and pleats.

An effective small tattoo of a forlorn fairy. The shades are spare dotwork accents smartly placed into the tattoo, and the use of white ink dots and runnels in the main image adds quality. The white ink on the outside, however, gets lost by itself; if the tattoo artist added black to help color the small crosses, it would look more visible on the skin and fashion the framing more effectively.