Chances are you already know this underwater sea monster has eight sucker-bearing arms, but did you know it can camouflage itself for defense?

When it comes to the octopus, Greek mythology has often viewed it as a symbol of Medusa’s severed head.

It’s break, the tongue, while its tentacles the snakes. Yet, it makes sense, when you consider that the octopus also has two eyes like humans too.

However, what makes the octopus truly unique aside form it’s suction cup like tentacles is it’s highly adaptive CNS which can mimic surroundings and camouflage itself. Not to mention, when injured or under attack, it will detach a limb in order to misdirect its predators.

In a sense, you can say this represents how we must cut loose excessive baggage from our lives in order to move forward.

Another unique characteristic of the legendary sea monster is that it also has a soft saclike body which makes it extremely flexible and agile. It symbolizes the idea of grace even in times without structure or order.

To help you come up with some ink ideas, I’m going to share with you a collection of the top 60 best octopus tattoos for men. From the giants the Kraken once depicted off the coast of Norway and Greenland to the ancient sailor tales of ships being attacked.

See more about – The Top 50 Best Ultimate Tattoo Ideas

Octopus Tattoo Ideas

This octopus arm sleeve is a brilliant example of classical black and gray tattooing. The detail sketching is tremendous, allowing the piece to create and depict numerous black line and gray scale applications. The realism of bumps, tentacles, siphon and suckers is clean and effective. The patches of negative space help add nuance to both the head of the beast and shade elements of the impressively etched galleon above it. 

Love this neo traditional take on an American classic tattoo. The bright, vivid use of blue and red color is epic, working well in opposition to the stylized graffiti like script. Again, the clever use of negative space fashions balance and subtly expand the shading effects throughout the body art, while the eye itself is a cool color effect.