- "I knew you'd say that!"
- —Judge Dredd
Joseph Dredd is the toughest and most stringent Judge in history. One day, he was falsely charged with murder. He was tried and sentenced to life imprisonment because of it. Then, Dredd found out that it was in fact a person who shares his DNA. Former Rico.
History[]
Dredd assists Judge Hershey in responding to a block war. Dredd leads an assault on the block warriors, dispatching several of them rapidly with his pistol, the Lawgiver Mk.II. Dredd kills everyone but the block war leader and charges him with several violations of the Mega-City Municipal Code, before summarily executing him for a Judge's murder. Outside the apartment, he finds Herman Fergsson (Fergee) hiding in a servo-droid and finds him guilty as a repeat offender, giving him five more years in Aspen. Fergee claims he's innocent and was hiding from the block warriors, however, Dredd refuses to be swayed and dismisses Fergee to re-incarceration. Dredd reports to Chief Justice Fargo, who questions Dredd's hardened methods of summary execution. He believes Dredd when the judge tells him that the executions were unavoidable. Fargo assigns Dredd to teaching ethics at the academy two days per week.
At the Aspen Penal Colony, Warden Miller meets with a man named Rico and gives him a small object that contains a copy of Dredd's badge and a picture of a reporter, Vartis Hammond, who has done several unfavorable reports on Dredd. Rico suddenly unlocks a secret compartment in the box, and it becomes a small pistol, which he uses to shoot Miller through the throat. At the Academy, Dredd tells a pool of cadets about the weaponry of a street judge and how little of it matters where knowledge of the Mega-City Municipal Code is concerned. He also tells them that they stand a high chance of being killed on duty and that, if they live to old age, will undertake the Long Walk into the Cursed Earth, where they will teach the savage denizens outside the city walls of the law. Hershey later speaks to Dredd about his obstinate personality and whether he had any friends. Dredd tells her that he did have a friend at the Academy but was forced to judge and sentence him when he broke the law.
In Mega-City One, Rico goes to a pawn shop and retrieves a box set aside for him. In the box is a judge's uniform and a Lawgiver pistol. When Rico reaches for the pistol, the pawnshop owner warns him not to pick it up because all Lawgivers are booby-trapped and will only recognize the grip of a street judge. Rico picks up the pistol, is not harmed by the defense mechanism, and shoots the man dead, revealing that he is a judge himself. Rico finds a giant combat droid, an ABC Warrior, in the shop and reactivates it, giving it the duty of being his personal bodyguard. At Hammond's apartment, an unidentifiable judge bursts in and kills Hammond and his wife. The incident is captured on a security camera and Hammond's final word is "DREDD!!" Dredd is arrested on the street and incarcerated for trial.
Dredd chooses Hershey to defend him due to her expertise in criminal law. At the trial, the recording from the security camera is presented, however, Hershey successfully has the evidence dismissed as circumstantial since Dredd cannot be positively identified. However, new evidence is presented; the Lawgiver 2 pistol has a secret feature that captures the DNA of the wielder and imprints it on every round of ammunition fired. The DNA from the rounds that killed Hammond and his wife are an exact match for Dredd himself. Hershey and Dredd's defense crumbles and Dredd is sentenced to death. Fargo, who is overcome with guilt at seeing Dredd, one of his greatest students, sentenced, decides, with some goading from Judge Griffin, to retire as Chief Justice and leave Mega-City One on his long walk into the Cursed Earth. Before he resigns, Fargo asks the Justice Council to commute Dredd's death sentence and send him to the Aspen Penal Colony for life. The council agrees, Fargo leaves Mega-City One and Griffin becomes Chief Justice.
Later, Griffin returns to his office and is confronted by Rico, who demands access to a project called "Janus". Griffin tells Rico that there must be a demand for the project to be implemented; violent crime must engulf the city for Griffin to convince the Justice Council to re-institute Janus. Rico promises to do just that. Dredd is put on to a shuttle going to Aspen; seated next to him is Fergee. Seated around him are several criminals who were sentenced by Dredd himself. Dredd and Fergee argue briefly about how Dredd unfairly re-convicted Fergee; Dredd claims, "the law doesn't make mistakes" and Fergee asks Dredd to explain how the judge became convicted himself. Just then, another perp on the shuttle attacks Dredd.
On the ground, the Angel Gang, religious fanatics and pirates of the Cursed Earth, blast the shuttle out of the sky with a rocket launcher. In the ensuing chaos, the pilots of the shuttle are killed. Dredd and Fergee are the only survivors and are captured by the Angels. In the Angel Family's lair, Dredd identifies them as pirates and scavengers. Fergee, in an attempt to escape their clutches, suddenly proclaims himself a believer in the Angel's religion and is let go. Dredd then reveals the Angel's darkest secret; they are cannibals and plan to eat Fergee. Dredd frees himself and is immediately attacked by the Angels, whom he takes out one at a time. When Pa Angel attacks Dredd, he is shot dead by one of the salvage team sent by Chief Justice Griffin himself to investigate the shuttle crash nearby. The two salvage men prepare to execute Dredd, but he kills all but one of them, and the last is shot dead by Chief Justice Fargo, who'd found the crash site. Fargo himself is critically wounded by Mean Machine Angel, whom Dredd had knocked out moments before. Dredd fights Angel and electrocutes him. As Fargo dies from his wounds he tells Dredd about Janus, a sophisticated genetics project that tried to clone children with the best traits of the existing judges in an attempt to create the perfect Judge. There were two subjects produced, Rico and Dredd himself. The project was a massive failure with Rico becoming a monster, judged by Dredd and sentenced to Aspen for life. Fargo dies and Dredd vows to return to Mega-City One and stop Rico from starting the Janus project again.
Back in Mega-City One, chaos erupts as Rico, using his ABC robot, declares war on the Street Judges. Many are killed and their numbers reach a critical point. Hershey detects a power surge near the Statue of Liberty and moments later is almost killed when her Lawmaster cycle explodes. The Judges Council meets and discusses the crisis, knowing that they cannot replenish their ranks quickly. Griffin suggests that they unlock the Janus project, which can produce a fully mature judge in mere hours (with the technology being more advanced than 20 years before, it's possible to create adult clones rather than children). Each member of the council gives their authorization, as does Griffin, however they collectively object on the grounds that it's not for the Council to "play God". Just then, Rico enters the room and murders the entire council, leaving Griffin alive.
Outside the city walls, Dredd and Fergee are able to enter the city through a heat vent, barely making it inside. They enter the Halls of Justice, where Dredd steals a judge's uniform. Dredd finds the murdered members of the council and Griffin. He also sees Rico but fails to stop him. Griffin shoots himself in the arm, framing Dredd for it and the murder of the Council. When guards move in to arrest Dredd, he flees on a Lawmaster, flying off with Fergee. After a furious chase, they escape.
Dredd finds Hershey at her apartment and tells her of Rico's plan. She goes with him to the Statue of Liberty where Rico has already started the Janus project. When Griffin objects to Rico replacing the old DNA samples with his own, Rico has the ABC robot dismember him alive. When Dredd, Hershey and Fergee try to enter the lab, Rico has the robot shoot Fergee and capture Hershey. With Rico threatening to have Hershey killed, Dredd agrees to listen to Rico explain his plan to create a super race of judges that will do only their bidding. Dredd naturally refuses to join Rico and they battle hand-to-hand. Fergee distracts the ABC robot long enough to disable it and Hershey fights with Rico's assistant, Dr. Ilsa Hayden, chief scientist of the Janus project. Rico finally corners Dredd where he hangs above the city. Rico tells Dredd that his judgement is death for betraying Rico years before. Dredd is able to distract Rico with a flare from his Lawgiver and pulls Rico over the edge where he falls to his death. Hershey save Dredd from Hayden and helps him to safety.
On the street, Dredd is greeted as a hero after the truth about Griffin and Rico is made known. When asked if he'd like to take the position of Chief Justice, he refuses, saying he would rather remain a Street Judge.
Appearances[]
Films[]
Comics[]
- Judge Dredd: Lawman of the Future
- Judge Dredd Megazine
- Lawmen of the Future (Meg 473)
- 2000 AD
- Trinity (Prog 2262)
Gallery[]
Judge Dredd Characters | |
---|---|
Main Characters | Judge Dredd - Judge Hershey - Herman Ferguson |
Council of Five | Chief Judge Fargo - Judge Griffin - Judge McGruder - Judge Silver - Judge Esposito |
Villains | Rico Dredd - Dr. Ilsa Hayden - ABC Warrior |
Angel Gang | Pa Angel - Link Angel - Mean Machine Angel - Junior Angel |
Other Characters | Vartis Hammond - Geiger - Mr. Souza - Judge Brisco - Judge Monroe - Judge Guthrie - Judge Hunter - Nathan Olmeyer - Miller |