Bulgasari Tattoo Meaning

Invincibility, protection, and the iron-eating monster no weapon can kill.

The Bulgasari is the iron-eating monster that cannot be killed — the Korean creature made from a handful of rice that devours iron weapons and grows mightier with each one it consumes, the protection that is fed by every attack against it. To carry the Bulgasari is to carry invincibility, protection, and the iron-eating monster no weapon can kill — the creature 'that cannot be killed' which eats the weapons sent to destroy it, the defense that grows stronger the more it is attacked, the unkillable that becomes uncontainable.

In Korean legend the bulgasari is a strange and formidable creature: the bulgasari — 'cannot be killed' — is a creature created by a monk from a handful of rice that eats iron weapons; it grows larger with every weapon consumed and protects its creator from all military threat. Its very name means 'cannot be killed.' In the tale, a monk (or a captive, in some versions) fashions a tiny creature from a handful of rice; this little being begins to eat iron, devouring needles, then tools, then weapons, and with every piece of iron it consumes it grows larger and stronger.

The bulgasari's diet of iron makes it the perfect anti-weapon: since it eats iron and grows from it, every sword, spear, and arrow sent against it is simply more food, making it bigger and more powerful. It cannot be killed by weapons, because weapons only feed it. In this way it protected its creator from all military threat — for no army's iron arms could harm it; they could only make it grow. The Korean bulgasari is thus the creature that eats iron weapons — the being 'that cannot be killed,' made from rice, which devours iron and grows with every weapon consumed, protecting its creator from all military threat. The bulgasari — 'cannot be killed' — is a rice-made creature that eats iron weapons, growing larger with every weapon consumed and protecting its creator from all military threat. The Korean bulgasari is the creature that eats iron weapons — the bulgasari, 'cannot be killed,' is a creature created by a monk from a handful of rice that eats iron weapons, growing larger with every weapon consumed and protecting its creator from all military threat; its very name meaning 'cannot be killed,' in the tale a monk fashioning a tiny creature from a handful of rice, this little being beginning to eat iron (devouring needles, then tools, then weapons) and with every piece of iron consumed growing larger and stronger — its diet of iron making it the perfect anti-weapon, since every sword, spear, and arrow sent against it is simply more food, making it bigger and more powerful, unable to be killed by weapons because weapons only feed it, protecting its creator from all military threat for no army's iron arms could harm it but only make it grow.

The bulgasari is one of the most distinctive creatures in Korean mythology — a small monster made from a handful of rice by a Buddhist monk, with a bear's body, tiger's paws, an elephant's nose, a cow's tail, and scales like a carp. It eats iron, which means it eats weapons, which means every sword and spear sent against its creator becomes food for its guardian. The more enemies attack, the larger and stronger the bulgasari grows. In tattoo symbolism, the bulgasari represents the protection that is nourished by threats — the defense that cannot be overcome because it converts every attack into strength.

Bulgasari across cultures

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