Remember back in 2013 when One Direction launched a video clip competition offering die-hard fans with real 1D tattoos a chance to appear in the band’s movie? Well, One Direction ended up canceling the contest after receiving criticism for “encouraging ten- to sixteen-year-old girls to get One Direction fan tattoos.” It seemed ridiculous at the time that a silly competition would spur a One Direction tattoo frenzy, but based on this collection of our top five favorite 1D-inspired fan tattoos, that may have actually been the case. Keep in mind that just because these One Direction fan tattoos are our favorites doesn’t mean we consider them all to be good tattoos. Sometimes we like to have some fun with WTF fan tattoos too!
Cartoon One Direction Band Tattoo
Okay, we’ll start off with a One Direction fan tattoo that we actually kind of love. This bad boy looks like it was inked on the lower part of the leg and features a cartoon version of the British boy banders, Zayn Malik’s skunk stripe and all. The fan tat is inked in black and white and for some reason shows Zayn, Harry, Louis, Niall and Liam in a sort of whirlwind with expressions of panic on their faces. This One Direction tattoo is pretty random and a little weird we’ll admit, but at least it’s unique. We have a feeling Zayn Malik would probably love this comic-style 1D tattoo!
British Heart “1D” Wrist Tattoo
This One Direction tattoo started off okay, but as they say, the devil’s in the details. First off, the wobbly heart in this person’s wrist tattoo looks like it was drawn by a five-year-old, and even though 1D is technically a British band, Niall Horan actually hails from Ireland, 
so the British flag inside the heart kind of leaves him out, doesn’t it? Moving on to the two small black hearts below the larger heart, which don’t seem to serve much purpose, and the absolute best part of this One Direction fan tattoo: the backwards “D” in 1D. Either this person was drunk when they allowed this terrible 1D tattoo to be inked on their arm, or they haven’t yet mastered the alphabet. It’s a toss up.
“Little Things” Lyrics Arm Tattoo
One of the most popular ways to honor your favorite band is to get a tattoo of their song lyrics. That must have been what this person was thinking when they got the lyrics to the One Direction song 
“Little Things” inked on their forearm. The fan tat reads: “You can’t go to bed without a cup of tea and maybe that’s the reason that you talk in your sleep.” Cute, right? Well, it would have been if the tattoo artist responsible for this 1D tattoo had ever picked up a needle gun before. Not only is the tattoo messy and uneven, but it’s inked in three completely different handwriting styles, which makes it look downright horrible.
Detailed Portrait Tat of Harry Styles
We would never have the guts to get a permanent tattoo of someone else’s portrait, so we have to give this lady credit for the large Harry Styles tattoo she recently had inked on her forearm. According to the One Direction superfan, she loved the shot of a dirty, bandana-wearing Harry from a recent Fabulous magazine photo shoot so much, that she decided to have a black and white version of the singer’s likeness inked on the inside of her forearm. 
She debuted the portrait tattoo on Twitter, and we have to admit, it’s pretty well done.
“For You I’d be Superhuman” 1D Lyrics Tat
Here’s another One Direction lyrics tattoo, but this one is much better than the “Little Things” tat, don’t you think? The fan tattoo is inked on this person’s forearm and features lyrics from the 1D song “Save You Tonight.” It reads “For you I’d be Superhuman” in black ink, with a red and yellow Superman symbol in the center, surrounded by some blue shading. Even though we’re not big fans of “Save You Tonight,” this One Direction fan tattoo is pretty well done, and the lyrics probably hold an important meaning for the wearer, so we give it two thumbs up!
