What is Cyberpunk?
Cyberpunk is a sci-fi genre focused on a gritty, dystopian future. It has had many different alterations and has appeared in books, TV, and most recently, the Cyberpunk 2077 game.
Cyberpunk 2077 is an open-world, action-adventure RPG. It is set in the dark future of Night City, obsessed with glamor, power, and body modification. You play as a cyberpunk mercenary fighting for survival. You can customize your character, and the choices you make will shape the world around you.
After the release of the game, Netflix released a show called Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, which has since received critical acclaim.
Let’s take a look at these three categories of cyberpunk tattoos and see what we can find.
General Cyberpunk Tattoos
Fine Line Cyberpunk
I absolutely love this tattoo. It is so textured, dynamic, and full of movement. The cyborg elements in her head and her face are so cool!
The line work is so precise, especially all of the tiny diagonal lines next to each other. I love the dot work and the subtle use of white highlights in the face. The background has movement to it and makes the whole tattoo that much more interesting!
Colour Realism Cyberpunk
This tattoo is an interesting take on the cyberpunk feel. The artist won second place for color realism in a tattoo competition and I can see why!
I love the contrast between the two sides of her face with the choice of red and blue. The artist really understands light sources and shadows, and the use of yellow accents is so clever! I love the texture created with the needles and the liberal use of white ink to make the whole tattoo pop!
Cyberpunk Face
This is an interesting take on a cyberpunk-inspired tattoo. The line work is extremely impressive – circles and concise lines are difficult to get quite this clean! I love the face coming off of the head, revealing another dark face underneath. I love the ear and the angle of the face.
Realism Cyberpunk
Another very cool full-color realism tattoo! This style really leans itself to the cyberpunk style because of how much fun you can have with colors and extra elements.
The horns and black eyes with the upside-down cross coming off of the forehead give this such a creepy feel. I like the addition of the piercings and the circuit board tattoo on her neck. The artist played with light extremely well and I feel like I could reach out and touch her face.
Cyberpunk Punk Tattoo
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I cannot write about cyberpunk tattoos without including an American Traditional punk lady. I love these tattoos – I’ve done quite a few punk girls myself and even have one on my leg!
I love the punk jacket with the spikes and badges on it – it ends the tattoo perfectly. The amount of detail in the cyber section of the portrait is very impressive and concise. I love the bright blue hair and the addition of lip piercings and some dangling earrings which even have a tiny skull on them!
Colour Realism Cyberpunk
As I’ve said before, I’m not the biggest fan of color-realism. However, this artist chose to work with a limited color palette and it works well for the tattoo.
Cyberpunk Inspired Brain
Another cool Cyberpunk-inspired tattoo! I really enjoy these mashups of different style in one tattoo.
The circuit board was designed to match the shape of the realistic brain very well. I like the addition of the circuits coming off of the brain making it look like a spinal cord that has been pulled out. The line work is clean, and the shading in the brain is nice and smooth.
Blackwork Cyberpunk
This tattoo is one of my favorites on the list! I absolutely love all of the tiny details throughout and the composition is extremely cool.
I like the heavy use of black in the hair juxtaposed with the very light shading in the background and the figure. The circuit board details on her face and the wires coming out of her body are super unique. The line work is clean and the white highlights are very subtle. I especially love the dead-pan eyes as they have a cyborg feel.
Cyberpunk Blackwork
This is an extremely unique take on a cyberpunk tattoo due to how bold it is. Circuit boards are usually tattooed with quite thin lines and are smaller much smaller than this one.
I love that the client decided to go so big with the tattoo! It makes a statement and is extremely clean. the black is well-saturated, and the design flows beautifully with the shape of the client’s arm. If you like this tattoo, I would recommend you also check out our list of 21 Stunning Blackout Tattoos.
Traditional Cyberpunk
This is a very unique take on an American Traditional pin-up girl with a cyberpunk feel. I love how the artist chose to end this tattoo with a futuristic body suit.
The line work is nice and bold. I love the simplistic pin-up face and the subtle use of color in her cheeks and lips. The artist achieved really clean whip shading despite the shaded areas being quite small which is difficult to achieve. I love her facial expression and all of the detail in her helmet!
Cyberpunk Portrait
This is such a cool Neo-Traditional portrait of a cyberpunk human. It is bright, bold, and captivating with contrasting colors and an interesting texture in the background.
I love the shading in the face and the extremely well-saturated colors in the helmet. The pink spikey mohawk element really leans towards the cyberpunk feel, and I love the huge amount of tiny details throughout.
Cyberpunk 2077 Game Tattoos
Cyberpunk Woman Sleeve
There are so many interesting characters in the game, and not all of them have to be in the forefront.
The pink and purple tones in this provide some great contrast to the otherwise metallic tone.
Cyberpunk 2077 Samurai Leg Tattoo
Red skin, gold teeth, and a cybernetic eye. What’s not to love about this?
Cyberpunk 2077 Hand Tattoo
When I think of the term cyberpunk, these sort of circuit boards, and futuristic patterns are the first thing to pop into my head. I had to include at least one hand tattoo for women on this list, and this one suits it perfectly.
Half Human Half Robot Face Tattoo
Another standard of the cyberpunk genre is the augmentation of humans with robotic enhancements. This face symbolizes that perfectly.
Cyberpunk Geisha Jorōgumo
This is my top pick on the list. Geishas always make great tattoos, but I love this futuristic take on her classic features.
Robot in Face Tattoo
Imagine seeing someone’s face open up to reveal an Android inside? It’s kind of scary but amazing at the same time. Surprise!
Cyberpunk 2077 Dancing Girl Tattoo
If you’ve played the game, you’ll definitely recognize this character during your first visit to the gentlemen club near the start of the game.
The artist did such a great job depicting the shiny plastic material on her top!
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners TV show tattoos
Rebecca Color Panel
This tattoo is a cool spin on a manga panel because it’s got some color to it! I love the red eyes and the turquoise in her hair. The artist chose to end the panel with Rebecca’s middle finger which is quite unique. I love the way the tongue and the hand are shaded.
Lucy Panel
I love this rendition of Lucy as a manga panel. It fits the client’s arm very well and the composition is great. I especially like the areas that are shaded very lightly and the choice of finer line weights. The black is well-saturated and the liberal use of open skin works so well to illustrate highlights.
Neo-Traditional Rebecca
This tattoo is really big and bold so I can assume that the client REALLY loves Cyberpunk! I enjoy these Neo-Traditional half-sleeves as they leave a lot of room for extra detail and color.
I love Rebecca’s facial expression – it is naughty and mischievous which speaks to her character. The artist chose to do bold areas of well-saturated color and chose their shades extremely well. The line work is very clean, and I like the subtle use of white for highlights. The background is interesting and doesn’t look too cluttered which can sometimes happen with this style of tattooing.
Lucy Anime Panel
These anime panel tattoos have gained a lot of popularity, especially this year. They are usually taken straight from manga books but can also be custom drawn. They capture a moment in time for the character and usually have a meaning to the client.
I like the sketchy lines around the tattoo as I find it looks a bit more interesting than just a straight line. I love the dot work shading throughout the tattoo and the line work is beautiful! The artist chose to leave a lot of open skin which lets the tattoo breathe.
Black and Grey Rebecca
This tattoo gives me a single-needle black and grey vibe. I love this dynamic design and how the artist chose to illustrate Rebecca with so much movement!
The line work is so thin and delicate. I like the heavily textured whip shading and the use of open skin in this tattoo. The folds in the jacket are a super cool addition as is the light burst coming off of the weapon. It also fits the gap on the client’s leg perfectly!
Lucy with a touch of color
Lucy is known for her beautiful hair with pastel coloring and this artist captured it in a subtle and elegant way.
I love the line work in this tattoo – it is so clean and the thin whispy lines in the smoke and her clothing are elegant. I like the texture of the shading in her clothes and the tiny details like her button nose and the blue in her eyes. One of my favorites on the list for sure!
Full Colour Rebecca
Rebecca is a sharp-tongued character with a tendency to be unpredictable, and this artist perfectly captured her essence with the weapon and the raised middle finger!
What instantly drew me to this tattoo was her bright green hair and the choice of a blue-grey for her body. I love the background as it’s something a little bit different! The line work is very clean and all of her proportions are spot-on. I especially enjoy the color palette as pinks and greens work so well together. The tiny details on her face, shoes, and weapon are super clean and easy to read.
Colourful Rebecca
This tattoo has such a cool pop art feel to it. I love that they chose to illustrate Rebecca drinking her drink and brandishing her weapon!
The pink dots around the tattoo speak to the pop art feel, and I like the choice to use her iconic red eyes. The hair is the perfect shade of turquoise green, and I like the little detail of the broken heart.
Custom Lucy
Lucy is quiet and mysterious but won’t hesitate to kill someone in a heartbeat. The artist captured that nature of hers perfectly with the facial expression on this tattoo.
I like the choice to illustrate her hand and head as ripped off of her body – this gives such a cool cyber-feel to her. I love the way her hair has been shaded as it speaks to the rainbow gradient her hair has in the game. The line work is exceptionally clean and the tattoo fits the spot on the client’s leg perfectly!
Lucy Panel Colour
This tattoo immediately caught my attention because of how bright it is! I like that the artist chose to do solid blocks of pastel color in Lucy’s hair and included the play icon with the hearts which show her lives if she was in a game.
I like her facial expression and the tone they chose to shade her face with. The line work is clean and bold, and the liberal use of white really makes this tattoo pop!
Dancing Lucy
I like this tattoo because of the movement created with the pink line and Lucy’s body position. The line work is fairly clean and I like the tiny bits of pink on her face. the black is well-saturated and it fits the gap on the client’s body well.
Tokyo Lucy
This tattoo stood out for me because of all the attention to detail in the design. From the Korean letters, to the “2077” to the individual hair strands, a lot of care was taken to create a really dynamic design!
I love the facial expression that Lucy has and the details on the inside of her jacket. Her earrings and nose ring is easy to read and I like the dot work texture, especially in the jacket. The line work is clean and the use of white highlights is just enough to make this tattoo pop!
Summary
There is so much great art in the Cyberpunk universe, which means there is something for everybody. Hopefully this selection of styles has inspired some ideas for your next piece.
If you like these tattoos, why don’t you browse our list of 20 New Blade Runner Tattoos For Die Hard Fans.
