Every hidden message in Michael Scofield’s tattoos

The depth of each hidden message in Michael Scofield’s tattoos in Jail break is one of the smartest details of the show. Michael’s tattoos are a focal point right from the first frame of Season 1’s “Pilot,” as it features his preparations for the final stages of his plan to infiltrate Fox River Penitentiary while finishing touches are applied to his tattoos. An amalgamation of 24 tattoo designs come together to create Michael’s signature body art, which is essentially a decoy for hiding an escape plan for his brother, Lincoln.

Michael’s tattoos in Jail break are the plan for his master escape plan. His back is etched with the outline of the prison, and the tattoos on his torso reveal a map of underground escape passages. It is revealed in “Brother’s Keeper”, episode 16 of the first season, that the idea of ​​hiding an escape plan in plain sight came from a tattoo-clad pizza delivery man, whom Michael noticed. Being a talented structural engineer who designed the layout of the prison himself, Michael disguises his plans through gothic-styled tattoos that perfectly hide their true purpose.

Alan Schweitzer 11121147

A cleverly hidden numeric code

One of the most visible of Michael’s tattoos is also one of the smartest. A key part of Michael’s plan to escape in Jail break Requires unscrewing the toilet bowl from his cell. This seemingly simple task presented what could have been a progress-stopping obstacle, however. Michael needed to make sure that the tools he had access to would work on the specific model of the latrine, so he hid the details in one of his tattoos.

Located on his forearm, this tattoo served Michael as a reminder of the model of a screw required to unscrew the toilet of the cellIn order to facilitate access to the internal layout of Fox River. The model is an improvised Allen key, while Schweitzer is the sort of toilet in Cell 40. The numbers 11121147 represent the bolt that Michael grinds in an Allen wrench to reveal the passage.. Besides that, the dot of the “i” in “Swiss” has a small hexagon, which serves the purpose of checking whether the end of the screw has been properly filed down to fit the bolt.

Cute poison

A deadly symbol: cute poison

Another one of Michael’s tattoos in Jail break What is incredibly well hidden is the cute poison tattoo on his forearm. This Jail break Tattoo is smart on two levels – both because of the information it contains, and because of how closely it resembles a generic tattoo that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow even on closer inspection. The words ‘cute poison’ are etched in block letters on Michael’s forearm, nestled inside what appears to be a cauldron, with potion spilling out of it.

As potions are mythologically rooted in the creation of chemical mixtures, this phrase is a mnemonic for copper sulfate (CUSO) and phosphoric acid (PO). When mixed together at 42.35 °C, the elements react violently and the resulting compound, phosphoric acid, is used by Michael to corrode the metal pipes leading to the illness. however, The plan fails, as the sewer pipe is replaced at the last minute.

English, Fitz and Percy

Literary references and historical figures

Michael’s “English Fits Percy” tattoo is perhaps one of the simplest on his body, but it’s yet another example of his borderline genius plan to ensure he never forgets the key details that will enable his escape. In episode 5 of season 1 of Jail break“English, Fitz, or Percy”, A random cell check occurs, which finds Michael missing. As the police vehicles zoom away, Michael notices the three choices of streets that can act as escape routes – English Street, Fitz Street and Percy Avenue.

The tattoo allows Michael to have an idea of ​​which streets he has to avoid during his actual escape. It’s not as intricate or pre-planned as the cute sm or Allen Schweitzer 11121147 tattoos, but is still important to the design overall. However, if the tattoo was inspected more closely, it is entirely possible that one of the guards or wardens would want to know why Michael has the names of three streets connecting to Fox River State Penitentiary on his forearm.

The face of a devil

A diabolical plan

Perhaps one of the most ingenious of all Michael’s tattoos in Jail break The face of the devil is placed in the crook of his left arm. Unlike the “English Fits Percy” tattoo, there is nothing to recognize the ink from any of the dozens of similar designs many of the other Fox River inmates have. However, this is actually one of the most basic tattoos that Michael has, and contains all the information he needs to bring down one of the walls of the prison.

in Jail break Season 1, Episode 6, “Roots, Drills and the Devil Part 1”, Michael copies the devil tattoo onto a piece of paper and projects it onto a concrete wall, Helping him plot drilling holes at key points, with the help of his cellmate, Fernando Sucre. Using Hooke’s law of elasticity (F=-kx), Michael was able to measure the key stress points in the wall, Making it easier to top up when needed.

Playing cards

A gambling game

Michael’s playing card tattoo in Jail break is one that would be obvious if his body art was done by someone who knew its true purpose, but would be completely innocent to anyone who simply thought he was an inmate covered in prison ink. Once the purpose of this particular tattoo is revealed, it is obvious what the specific and deliberate set of playing cards are hiding – a phone number.

The playing cards tattoo features the series of numbers 1 312 909 3529, which is the phone number of Nika Volk, a Czech immigrant who married Michael the day before he was arrested for bank robbery. In exchange for Nika’s help in his escape plan, Michael promises to arrange a green card for her, so that she can reunite with her family in Kladno.

Coffin with a cross

A morbid message

Tattoos aren’t the only way Michael modifies his body to prepare for his grand plan to rescue Lincoln from prison. He also hides a small but incredibly significant tool in his own flesh, and the coffin tattoo on his left bicep ensures that he will know the exact location of the hidden object the moment he needs it. The coffin and cross tattoo was a reminder for Michael to dig a small, black pill embedded in his skin.Which he pulls out with the help of a heated razor to slide inside a hollow crucifix along with the note ‘Eat 8:10’.

The plan was that Lincoln should swallow the pill and get sick, that he would be driven into the disease due to food poisoning. Although this may not be the most complex tattoo on Michael’s body when compared to the likes of the cute poison tattoo and its true meaning, it still demonstrates just how forward-thinking and prepared he was before he deliberately got incarcerated.

Ripe Chance Woods

A hidden place

Michael’s plan to escape from Fox River may have been a stroke of criminal genius, but Michael was not foolish enough to believe that his complex planning guaranteed success. He had a backup plan, and he also cemented that in his memory with a tattoo. Tattooed on his wrist, this is a reference to RIP E. Chance Woods, Meant as a backup escape plan in case the original plan to absend fell through.

In a cemetery in Oswego, Illinois, Michael buried clothes, car keys, and a fake passport in the grave of E. Chance Woods. This was the first tattoo to be deciphered by agent Alexander Mahone in Jail break Season 2, Episode 1, “Manhunt.” The fact that this tattoo was among the first to be decoded is of little surprise, however, as it is clearly a reference to a location when analyzed by anyone who knows that Michael’s ink is actually a detailed blueprint for an escape plan. .

barcode

A digital secret

Michael’s barcode tattoo is among the smartest uses of his ink hiding his escape plan in the entirety of prison break, And in many ways defied audience expectations. The obvious use for this tattoo would be as a barcode that Michael could have scanned for some reason, but that was not the case. It is the numbers on the barcode tattoo that are important, and it is never intended to be scanned.

Barcode 38 12 1037 has several hermeneutical layers38 refers to the Illinois route, 12 indicates the miles they need to reach the bridge, and 1037 signifies the radio frequency 103.7, which is required to trigger a bomb for facing the brothers’ death at the bridge. Its meaning would make sense to no one but Michael, even if closely scrutinized by someone who knew how to analyze his inked skin as a source of clues for an escape plan.

Christ in a rose / 617

A divine image

One of the most subtle tattoos in Michael Jail break Is his Christ in a rose design (which is also, from an aesthetic perspective, one of the best works of art on his body). Like some other tattoos, this one is especially clever due to the fact that many inmates would have similar ones. There is nothing about it to suggest it hides some sort of deeper meaning – except for the three digits on the rose’s stem.

Although the number 617 on the rose stem means that something is quite obvious to viewers, the whole tattoo is important when it comes to how Michael escapes in Jail break. Michael’s Christ in a Rose tattoo is a pictogram-of-sorts to remind him of an escape boat killed in Panama, named after his mother, Christina Rose. 617 is the combination lock for opening the boat, and the tattoo also features the Greek letter Omega, which signifies it as the last step before the escape.

Bolshoi boos

A Russian connection

Stemming from Michael’s tattoo of a hand of cards that carefully hide the phone number of Nika Volk is a scroll with the phrase ‘Bolshoi Booze’. Bolshoi is a Russian word meaning large or large, so to the casual observer it would simply seem like Michael has some kind of historical connection to Russia (or simply appreciates vodka). However, Michael’s Bolshoi Booze tattoo is, of course, another layer of genius to the blueprints he has covered his body.

The term ‘Bolshoi booze’ is a mirror image, and the letters take on a completely different meaning when you look in a mirror. When reflected, the Bolshoi Buz letters form numbers that are actually the coordinates 32°0′09″N, 104°57′09″W, located along the Texas-Mexico border. The location is essential to Michael’s great escape plan, as both he and Lincoln need to escape the United States after leaving Fox River, as remaining in the country would more or less guarantee that they find their way back behind bars eventually.

Bloom (Apache Desert Ghost)

A Native American tribute

In exchange for an escape to Mexico, Pedro Ramos (Coyote) asks for a box of nitroglycerin, which Michael has hidden in the botanical gardens in the Apache Desert Ghost exhibit. The flower is a reminder of the same.

Apart from the hidden messages, Michael’s sports new tattoos in Season 5, which assume centerpieces as opposed to Seasons 3 and 4. Although the attached interpretations are not clear, it is speculated that some tattoos are coded in Arabic, including references to online message boards such as hunterspycamporn.com, which contains images of Harlan Gaines’ murder.

One can also see a coded quote from Napoleon, which says: “Never interrupt your enemy when he makes a mistake.“Perhaps the most conspicuous tattoos are those on Michael’s palms: the face of Jacob Anton Ness, leader of 21 Void. Will we get the chance to decipher more of Michael’s tattoos if Jail break Gets a new season, only time can tell.