Joe Manganiello Reveals Massive Dragon Tattoos in NSFW Pics
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Joe Manganiello turned his health nightmare into fairytale body art.
As the Magic Mike star continues his comeback era following a seven-year battle with a mysterious autoimmune disease, he released up-close and personal snaps documenting the process of his first-ever tattoo.
"The idea to cover my surgery scars with my first tattoo," Manganiello captioned the NSFW slideshow on Instagram, showing off the sleeve stretching from his lower abdomen to his knee, "a three foot dragon down my right side, was my effort to take back what little agency I felt that I had."
According to Manganiello, the fierce green and orange monster is a metaphor for his body's internal conflict which he noted is explained in his memoir Bloodlines, released Oct. 13.
"In chapter four, I related my struggle with the illness to my body sending out knights to fight a (western) dragon that didn’t exist," he added. "The soldiers would then punch holes throughout my body when they couldn’t find an enemy."
The 49-year-old also hoped the tattoo would act as a symbol to his body "to stop attacking the dragon"—in other words, himself.
And Manganiello—who was married Sofía Vergara for nine years before their split in 2023—is grateful to have overcome the debilitating condition today.
"For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week," he told People in an interview published Oct. 7. "The world has opened back up to me."
Indeed, Manganiello says the new beginning allowed him to connect with now-fiancée Caitlin O’Connor.
Joe Manganiello/Instagram
"Caitlin came into my life at this point," he said, "where it was obvious to me that [she] was the direction to go."
In his recovery—which included a visit with a shaman—he’s found he has the strength of a thousand dragons.
"Whatever chains there were to the past suffering of my ancestors, they were completely broken," he said. "There’s not an ounce of fear in me about moving forward with my life."
Read on for more celebrity tattoos…
prideofgypsies / Instagram
Jason Momoa
After shaving off some of his hair, the Aquaman star revealed a new head tattoo in September 2022 that he said has been "20 years in the making."
JoJo Siwa/Instagram
JoJo Siwa
The "Karma" singer unveiled a bicep tattoo of a teddy bear with angel wings in June 2024. The design was a nod to the cover art of her Guilty Pleasure album.
Elle King/Instagram
Elle King
In April 2024, the "Ex's and Oh's" singer debuted a new tattoo—located on her rear—that paid tribute to some very important men in her life.
"I always said I'd get my baby daddys name tattooed on my butt…so I did," Elle, who is the daughter of Rob Schneider, wrote on Instagram. "I got 'brethren' for the men helping me raise my son. I love you guys so much, I wouldn't want to do life without yall."
Instagram/Grimes
Grimes
The "Genesis" singer unveiled her large face tattoo in October 2022, sharing that she spent 10 years "emotionally working up" to it.
Instagram/Travis Barker
Travis Barker
The Blink-182 drummer got a tattoo reading "Time Flies" in August 2023 after taking his 30th flight since surviving his 2008 plane crash.
Taylor Lautner & Tay Lautner
In March 2023, the Twilight actor and his wife got matching tattoos honoring their wedding date.
Amanza Smith
The Selling Sunset star debuted a face tattoo, which read "invincible" in script and sits beneath her jawline, in April 2022.
Instagram / Shawn Mendes
Shawn Mendes
The "Stitches" singer debuted a tattoo on the back of his neck in March 2022.
Maisie Williams
After filming Game of Thrones' final season, the actress added some symbolic ink to her tattoo collection in loving memory of her character Arya Stark.
Emilia Clarke
Forever MOD! The Game Of Thrones star permanently inked a dragon tattoo on her wrist after wrapping the final season of the show.
Joe Jonas & Sophie Turner
While celebrating their engagement in 2018, the Jonas Brothers singer and the Game of Thrones alum got matching Toy Story tattoos. The pair broke up in 2023 after four years of marriage.
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