Judge Dredd

Gallery

Real Name

Joseph Dredd

Current Alias

Judge Dredd

Aliases

Joe Dredd; The Dead Man

Alignment

Good

Affiliation

Justice Department

Relatives

Fargo (clone 'father'); Rico Dredd (brother, deceased); Vienna Dredd (niece); Rico (clone); Judge Kraken (clone brother, deceased)

Universe

2000AD

Base Of Operations

Mega City One

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Unusual Features

Dredd's true face has never been revealed as he never takes off his helmet

Status

Citizenship

Mega City One

Marital Status

Single

Occupation

Judge

Origin

Place of Birth

Mega City One

Creators

Pat Mills, Carlos Ezquerra

First appearance

2000AD #2 (1977)

HistoryEdit

Joe Dredd was 'born' in 2066AD, the clone of Chief Judge Eustace Fargo, the founder of the Judge system. Like his clone brother Rico, Joe was effectively born aged five years old thanks to accelerated aging techniques, and immediately inducted into the Academy of Law. The brothers graduated the Academy in 2079 (Joe graduated second in his class; Rico was first), but Joe was forced to arrest his brother for murder and corruption shortly afterward. Rico was sentenced to the Judge's penal colony on Titan, while Joe Dredd became known as the most respected and feared of the street Judges, his name synonymous with the law in Mega City One (Rico later returned for revenge, and Dredd was forced to kill him). Dredd has been instrumental in saving the city many times over the decades, facing foes such as the extradimensional superfiend Judge Death, the Fink, the Mean Machine and the rest of the notorious Angel Gang, and the serial killer PJ Maybe and meeting bizarre characters like Otto Sump and Dave the Orangutan among many others. He led the rebellion against the insane Chief Judge Cal, defeated the robot revolutionary Call-Me-Kenneth and deposed the corrupt Chief Judge Sinfield, embarking upon the Cursed Earth saga as well as stopping The Apocalypse War and undertaking The Judge Child Quest. Dredd has now been active as a Judge for over fifty years, and has been elevated to a position on the City's ruling Council of Five, though he has repeatedly turned down attempts to appoint him Chief Judge as he believes he belongs on the streets, dispensing justice.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Weaknesses

Dredd's eyes are bionic implants which can be rendered useless by an electromagnetic pulse. He lost his natural eyes some years ago fighting zombies.

ParaphernaliaEdit

Transportation

Weapons

Lawgiver handgun

NotesEdit

Dredd once kept an apartment in Rowdy Yates Block, though he has since dispensed with any such trappings of a normal civilian life. He does, however, maintain a familial attachment of sorts to his niece Vienna Dredd, the illegitimate daughter of his late brother Rico, and also to his own clone, Judge Rico.

TriviaEdit

• Dredd's face is never shown, as he represents faceless authority. It was originally intended that he might be non white (a rarity for British comics heroes back in 1977), so artist Mick McMahon drew him as a black man for some months but, since other artists were not following suit and the strip was in black & white at the time anyway, the idea was soon dropped.
• Dredd also starred in a long running newspaper strip in the Daily Star.

LinksEdit

• Appearances of Judge Dredd
• Character Gallery: Judge Dredd
• Images that feature Judge Dredd
• Fan-Art Gallery: Judge Dredd
• Quotations by Judge Dredd

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