During a 2013 Q&A session at Armageddon Expo in New Zealand, the actor talked about his tribal forearm tattoo, explaining that the unique triangle ink is a tribute to ‘aumakua', or his family god or crest. In Hawaiian mythology, the ‘aumakua is a benevolent ancestral guardian spirit or protector who has died and come back in a different form to protect the family and, in Momoa’s case, his family’s guardian spirit is a shark: “It’s supposed to take the darkness out of your heart and bring the light in,” Momoa said of the arm tattoo, which features repeating rows of light and dark triangles representing sharks’ teeth, “but we’re still working on that.”