Ben Affleck’s Back Tattoo Might Actually Be a Pokemon in Disguise

Ben Affleck’s much talked about back tattoo may be a Pokemon in disguise.

Earlier this month, pictures of Ben Affleck’s back tattoo emerged on the Internet after years of speculation. The tattoo is several years old, but Affleck’s friends and representatives have denied its existence for years, probably because it looks so horrifically awful.

The tattoo is supposed to be a phoenix, but one Pokemon fan pointed out that it bares a strong resemblence to Archeops, a Fossil Pokemon that resembles a mix between an Archaeopteryx (an ancient bird-like dinosaur) and a Mesoamerican feathered serpent.

Here’s a look at the Batfleck’s back tattoo:

And here’s Archeops:

And here’s Archeops’ on Ben Affleck’s back:

Yeah, we can’t tell the difference.

Phoenixes are typically depicted as fiery birds emerging from the ashes, so we’re pretty confused as to why Affleck chose a rainbow colored version of the bird to guard his back for all eternity. We can’t find any really relevant “rainbow phoenix” references, so I guess that Affleck just really had the money to splurge on multiple ink colors, or he really liked Archeops, which is definitely a Pokemon that Affleck would know about and love.

Archeops is a Rock/Flying-type Pokemon that’s actually pretty terrible at flying. Its Pokedex entry notes that Archeops is actually better at running than flying, with the ability to reach a top speed of about 25 miles per hour when running on the ground.

Archeops is the fully evolved form of Archen, which looks like a runty little bird with scales on its head. We should all be grateful that Affleck didn’t choose to stick that on his back instead.

Personally, if we were going to get a giant back tattoo of a Pokemon, we’d probably pick a cool Pokemon like a Bulbasaur, or a Mewtwo, or a Charizard. Still, there are worse Pokemon that Affleck could have chosen. Affleck probably would have gotten a lot more questions had he picked a Pokemon like Jynx or a Pikachu on his back. At least by disguising his Archeops tattoo as a phoenix, Affleck can keep his Pokemon fandom on the DL….at least until other people start to connect the dots.