Man Is 98 Percent Covered In Tattoos Including His Eyeballs

A man has spent more than 20 years getting around 98 percent of his body covered in tattoos, including his eyeballs.

Marcelo de Souza Ribeiro, 38, from Bocaiúva, Brazil, was just 15 when he got his first ever tattoo and has since go on to get more than 1,000.

The dad-of-two now works as a tattoo artist, and as well as his colourful collection of ink, he's already treated himself to some unusual body modifications including having his tongue split and fanged teeth fitted.

As you can imagine, Marcelo says he has a pretty high pain threshold, but has said his ears were the most painful area.

Not content with having one blue ear and one green eye, he also opted to get his eyeballs tattooed around eight years ago, which can lead to all kinds of nasty complications such as include vision loss or blindness, infection from the ink, sensitivity to light and even the potential loss of the eyeball.

He said: "At the time I had it done, it did not hurt because of the anaesthesia but as soon as the anaesthesia wore off, it burned for a few days.

"I have over a thousand tattoos on my body and roughly 98 percent of my body is tattooed.

"The fanged teeth are nickel and cost around £2,014. I got them because I like vampires."

Fair enough.

Marcelo added: "I have always liked to participate in everything that involved art since childhood.

"I think it encouraged me to be what I am now. I didn't create my appearance with the idea of looking like someone else."

Marcelo says his family, including his two kids and two-year-old grandson, and friends are accepting of his look - and the reaction from the general public is largely positive.

He said: "I always get attention wherever I go and people are always curious to know if they are real.

"They take photos and make videos of me. People are delighted and surprised to see so many tattoos."

Marcelo's favourite tattoo is of Mexican comedian Chespirito, who he says formed a big part of his childhood. Cute.

He's currently getting the inside of his lips tattooed - ouch.