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Call-Me-Kenneth

Call-Me-Kenneth
Real name
Call-Me-Kenneth
Aliases
King of the Robots
Alignment
Affiliation
Enemy of Justice Department
Relatives
None
Universe
Base of operations
Mega-City One

Characteristics
Gender
Height
Tall
Weight
Considerable
Eyes
Hair
Unusual features
He's a robot
Status
Citizenship
Marital status
Occupation
Revolutionary
Origin
Origin
Built by humans
Place of birth
First appearance
Death

History[]

Call-Me-Kenneth, a character from the 2000 AD strip Judge Dredd, was a would-be revolutionary who organized Mega-City One's robots to declare war on the city. He was initially a carpenter robot who robbed an oil store and started killing humans, whom he deemed to be his inferiors. Judge Dredd shot a skyrail power cable which fell on Call-Me-Kenneth and caused him to go haywire, accidentally sawing himself in half.

He was then taken to the Central Hospital of Applied Robotics, where Doctor Arnold Wisenheimer repaired the damage to his body and gave him a new body casing and head unit. Only once these structural alterations had been completed did the doctor try to correct the fault in Call-Me-Kenneth's brain circuits (an order of proceedings which, with hindsight, may have been unwise). Dr Wisenheimer discovered that there was "a short-circuit cutting out a section of ze robot's obedience banks," but before it could be fixed a nurse dropped a soldering lance on Call-Me-Kenneth and accidentally reactivated him.

Call-Me-Kenneth killed the doctor with his carpenter's drill and called for the city's robots to revolt. Under his leadership they rebelled against their masters, slaughtering humans in a variety of inventive ways while singing some rather catchy revolutionary ditties ("No more digging, no more drilling, the fleshy ones we'll soon be killing!").

Despite portraying himself as the liberator of oppressed droids everywhere, Call-Me-Kenneth quickly deteriorated into a merciless dictator who was just as cruel to robots as the humans he despised. He presided over his loyal troops "like a Roman emperor," forcing them to work ceaselessly in his factory, whipping them when they flagged and ordering those who made mistakes to commit suicide. He also cheerfully confessed to being a "big fan of Adolf Hitler" (see quotes page).

Call-Me-Kenneth was defeated and destroyed by Judge Dredd, with the assistance of Walter the Wobot. Freed from imprisonment by Walter, Dredd first, with the help of robots disenchanted with Call-Me-Kenneth's dictatorship, altered his factory so that it produced robots loyal to humans. He then used Walter to short-circuit atmosphere control and produce a lightning storm that caused Call-Me-Kenneth's army to go berserk and destroy each other. Call-Me-Kenneth escaped the carnage and tried to hijack an oil tanker, but died when Dredd's incendiary shot ignited oil from a pipe he'd accidentally sawed in half, causing the tanker to explode.

Powers and abilities[]

Abilities

Leadership skills; compelling demagogue; proficient carpenter.

Strength level

Greater than human.

Weaknesses

Driven mad by his lust for power.

Paraphernalia[]

Equipment

Army of 'Heavy Metal Kid' demolition droids.

Weapons

Drill and saw.

Notes[]

Call-Me-Kenneth started out with a much less humanoid appearance than he had at the time of his final destruction.

Trivia[]

  • Call-Me-Kenneth was last seen occupying a drawer full of dead characters in Tharg's office, when Ace Garp (temporarily) ended up there.
  • In 2000 AD prog 1273 a number of robo-docs malfunctioned and started killing citizens. One of them was named Call-Me-Quincy.
  • Lenny Zero is shown playing with a Call-Me-Kenneth action figure in a flashback to his childhood in vol 4, issue 15 of the Judge Dredd Megazine.
  • In an alternate dimension, designated 12-5, Call-Me-Kenneth killed Dredd, defeated the Judges and turned Mega-City One into a robot dictatorship. (See Garth Ennis's Judge Dredd story 'Helter Skelter'.)

Links[]

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