Theophanes the Branded was an 8th-century Byzantine monk and iconophile from Palestine. Alongside his brother Theodore, he was a dedicated disciple of Michael the Synkellos. During the second Iconoclastic controversy, he actively defended the veneration of icons in Constantinople. Because of the physical punishments he endured under Emperor Leo V, he earned the nickname Graptos, which refers to the tattoos or markings on his skin. He eventually served as the Metropolitan of Nicaea before his death in 845.