All of us grow up hearing that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Nonetheless, when a person’s “cover” is crazy enough, that can be very hard to do!
Perhaps the best example of this is Richard Huff. This man has hundreds of tattoos on his body, including tattoos that cover the entirety of his face. Because of this, he has developed a fearsome reputation online and even in his neighborhood, and many can’t help but speculate about whether all these tattoos mean this fearsome figure is a bad father.
But is Huff a bad dad? And what’s the story behind his hundreds of tattoos? Keep reading to discover the answers!
Meet Richard Huff
Plenty of people have a tattoo, and some have more than a few. In fact, we bet you know some people with a killer sleeve (or two) of ink that they keep discreetly hidden. However, none of them can hold a candle to Richard Huff.
For Huff, tattoos are more of a way of life than anything else. In fact, he estimates that approximately 85 percent of his body is covered by ink. This has dramatically changed his appearance and, as we noted before, made many people (including those in his own neighborhood) fear that Huff is just as scary as he looks.
How many tattoos does Huff have?
When people first see Richard Huff, they all have the same question: just how many tattoos does he have? It’s a natural question, of course: when every part of someone’s exposed body is covered in ink, including their face, people can’t help but wonder how many more tattoos might be hidden underneath his clothing.
Well, you can stop wondering: Huff is the proud owner of a whopping 240 tattoos. Considering how many people have to work up the nerve to get a single tattoo etched on their body, it’s downright crazy to imagine Huff putting up with the pain necessary to get this much ink. But to hear him tell the story, he might not have had much of a choice when it came to covering his body with hundreds of tattoos.
Why did he get so many tattoos?
When Richard Huff first got a tattoo, he started with his leg. This is a popular area for ink: it can always be hidden with a pair of jeans and effectively hidden whenever someone wants to cover up their ink (for example, showing up to a job interview or working a corporate gig).
However, Huff is the first to admit that getting tattoos became a kind of addiction for him. He couldn’t stop at just one tattoo on his leg, and after getting many more tattoos on his legs, he began working upward and covering the rest of his body with ink.
Is Huff done getting tattoos?
When you have as many tattoos as Richard Huff does, people often ask (sometimes sarcastically, sometimes very earnestly) whether he is done getting tattoos. His answer may surprise you: Huff is very much not done covering his body in these exotic designs!
As we noted before, Huff has currently covered about 85 percent of his body in tattoos. While that might be enough to make many people want to tap out, Huff simply wants more. In fact, he has said that within the next four years, he’s hoping to have one hundred percent of his body covered in ink!
The tattoos lead to a bad reputation
This probably won’t come as a shock, but Richard Huff transforming his appearance so dramatically soon began to negatively affect his reputation. For example, the kids at his daughter’s school have commented on how frightening he appears, and his daughter has had to explain to her fellow students that her dad isn’t a scary guy. He has also faced extreme fear and criticism online, especially from those who think his scary face somehow means that he must be a bad father.
To make matters worse, his own wife was frightened by his appearance the first time they met. Like most people, she was guilty of judging a book by its cover and got a bit wigged out. But she soon discovered what a big heart Huff had, and after they fell in love and got married, she began setting the record straight when it came to her husband and what an awesome father he has always been to his children.
The truth: Richard Huff is a great father and neighbor
Once you get past how scary Richard Huff looks, you’ll find a surprising truth: he’s actually a great father, husband, and neighbor. For example, he never misses a school function when his kids are involved. He’s even an active member in the PTA because he thinks it’s an important way to be both a great dad and a great neighbor.
When it comes to how his three children feel about his abundant ink, Huff believes he is teaching his children a very valuable lesson. Specifically, they will encounter many different kinds of people in their lives, and understanding the different perspectives that others bring to the table should help his children grow to have a healthier outlook on and relationship with the other people in their lives.