20 Famous Movie Tattoos (And What They Actually Mean)
9. Papillon (1973)
Role: Steve McQueen as Henri Papillon
Charrière Papillon's butterfly chest-tattoo which gives him his nickname is representative of the struggle we see him go through over the many years covered in Franklin J. Schaffner's classic prison flick.
Like the butterfly displayed on his chest, Papillon wants to fly away from the prison where he has been incarcerated for too long and to see the world. The butterfly symbolises the freedom he yearns for with aplomb free to fly like a bird but uncagable.
In the final iconic scene of the film we see Steve McQueen's character embrace the freedom represented by the butterfly as he leaps off the cliff of the remote Devils Island where he has been imprisoned. Though he cannot fly like the winged-insect he's named after, from weeks spent observing the coast he knows that every seventh wave that comes into the harbour is powerful enough to carry him out to sea.
Papillon doesn't let his old age get in the way of his freedom either, a narrator at the close of the film tells us that Steve McQueens character lived out the rest of his days in freedom and outlasted the prison, which has become abandoned and overgrown.