Radical: adjective 1.relating to or affecting the fundamental nature of something; far-reaching or thorough. Characterized by departure from tradition; innovative of progressive.

Some people get tattoos because the image bears some significance to their lives.

Others get tattoos to pay tribute to experiences of heavy emotion, like job success or heartbreak. Others seek to remember someone they’ve lost. Some people, however, get tattoos that are downright radical. The value of these tattoos lies inherently in their power. Gertrude Stein wrote, “A rose is a rose is a rose,” but these tats are rad because they are rad because they are rad.

‘Rad,’ the shortened form of ‘radical,’ modified frequently by ‘totally’ may have been used as early as the 19th century, but it was no doubt popularized by the pizza-loving Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

For everyone, the quality of ‘rad’ is a little different. Maybe your version is Cat Batman, or a human ouroboros, or George Washington shredding on the bass, or a cat fireman, or a robot prairie dog, or Mount Rushmore with the cast of Friends, or a ship sailing on a pint of beer, or a satellite image of Hurricane Ike surrounding your belly button, or Sad Keanu Reeves, or Cat Abraham Lincoln, or a surfer riding a massive tongue, or Picachu’s ghost, or two unicorns making love, or Santa Paws (Cat Santa).

Whatever rad tattoo your imagination can think up, you can wear just below your epidermis and show the world.