Tony Stark is made of flesh and blood like you and I. He also happens to be the founder and CEO of Stark Enterprises and the person who engineered a fully robotic suit that allows for flight and intense combat using magnetic weapons.

Iron Man represents the crowning achievement of human ingenuity, the potential of the imagination, and the belief that, above all else, we can change and improve whenever we decide to.

Tony Stark was a childhood genius who didn’t give a second thought to anything besides getting his kicks. He attended MIT at 15 and graduated with two Masters degrees four years later. When his parents died at 21, he took over Stark Enterprises in name only.

But when he attended a field test of Stark weapons, was captured by terrorists, triggered a land mine, and took a piece of shrapnel to the chest that lodged millimeters away from his heart, he obtained a new perspective on life. To appease the terrorists who held him captive, he created the first Iron Man suit. Inside the suit, he escaped from the terrorists and returned to the U.S.

Those who bear an Iron Man tattoo know that life is too complicated to believe in a given set of values. They realize that, at any moment, a life-altering event may take place that completely realigns their existence. No matter the turbulence, they rely on their own intelligence and imagination to overcome the obstacles that fall in their path.