The A-Z Of Judge Dredd

is for Zoo

The Mega-City Zoo. It’s now home to the Ape Gang, a horde of suit-wearing apes who have the ability to speak thanks to modified brain cells. They attempt to take out the East Side Mob, but are caught by Judge Dredd and condemned to the zoo.

is for the Year 2099

This is the year in which the first Dredd comics are set. Time passes in the Dredd comics in real time, meaning that stories published in 2012 are set in the year 2134. That makes Judge Dredd, the man himself, over 70 years old. Not bad.

is for Xenomorphs

Forget Alien Vs Predator , 2000 AD was where the best franchise clash occurred when, in 2003, Judge Dredd went jaw-to-jaw with the most famous movie ET ever. In mini-series Judge Dredd Vs. Aliens , Dredd’s called in when a xenomorph emerges in Mega-City One…

is for Weapons

A Judge has a massive artillery at his disposal, ranging from the Lawgiver – a semi-automatic or fully automatic with heat seeking capabilities – to beam guns and napalm throwers, which sort of resemble flame throwers.

is for Vienna

Judge Dredd’s niece, who’s unaware for a long time that Dredd killed her corrupt father – his brother – Rico. Vienna is the one thing that Dredd cares about as much as keeping law and order, which naturally means she’s been used by various villains who want to take Dredd down.

is for Unit, Public Surveillance Unit

The PSU is a branch of the Justice Department that watches and monitors the general population of Mega-City One. The headquarters were once located in the Statue of Judgement, which was destroyed by East Meg Agents in the Day Of Chaos storyline.

is for Tweak

A super-intelligent alien being, Tweak looks a little like an ant eater, equipped with pincers that help him eat rocks. A psychic leader, he was brought back to Earth by human explorers, where Judge Dredd took pity on his plight.

is for Spikes Harvey Rotten

Aside from having an awesome name, Rotten is also a skilled biker – which is exactly why Judge Dredd recruits him on a mission to reach Mega-City Two. Though technically a criminal, Rotten proves loyal to Dredd right to the bitter end.

is for Resyk

In Mega-City One, everything gets recycled – including the dead. Only the very rich are privileged enough to get buried, meaning the majority of corpses end up in Resyk centres, where they’re broken down for parts and reused where needed.

is for Quality

Some of the most prolific comic-book writers and artists have contributed to the Dredd-verse, including Dredd creator John Wagner alone Garth Ennis and Andy Diggle. Wagner alonec has written the majority of the comics, and has delivered an astonishing pedigree of fantastic stories over the years.

is for Para-Medics

Not unlike in modern day, the Para-Medics are the workers who are charged with looking after the ill in the Mega Cities. They’re so esteemed that they use a ranking system not unlike that used in the army.

is for One

That’s Mega-City One, a megalopolis on the east coast of North America that’s surrounded by an inhospitable desert branded the Cursed Earth. Mass unemployment is rife in Mega-City One, with 400 million people crammed into City Blocks that each house at least 50,000 people.

is for the Neon Knights

Hooded bad guys who are resolutely anti-robot, the Neon Knights go up against Dredd when they steal his robot, Walter. In the end, Dredd reveals the Knights own corruption when their leader, the Grand Master, is revealed to be a cyborg himself.

is for Max Normal

Dredd’s most trustworthy of informers. Max never looks anything less than a million dollars and was pivotal in helping Dredd track down the engineer who created the Robot Dredd and framed our anti-hero for murder.

is for Legion Of The Damned

A collection of robots that were programmed by Robert L Booth – the last US president – to destroy all existing Judges. During the Battle of Armageddon, they killed over a thousand Judges and Mega Troopers.

is for the Kleggs

The Kleggs appear in The Day The Law Died, which follows on from The Cursed Earth. Dredd rests after the Cursed Earth mission and is framed for murder. Meanwhile, Judge Cal hires the Kleggs, alien mercenaries to stop an uprising in Mega-City One. They look like enormous crocodiles and are paid in meat.

is for Joseph Dredd

Cloned from the DNA of Chief Judge Eustace Fargo in 2066, Judge Joseph Dredd is the most famous of the Judges in Mega-City One. He was enrolled at the Academy of Law aged just five (thanks to accelerated growth) and his face has never been glimpsed in the comics – something Sly ruined with his film version in 1995.

is for Inferno

A nine-issue arc penned by Grant Morrison, Inferno sees villain Grice attacking Mega-City One by letting loose the Meat Virus and driving ships into buildings. Dredd nearly died during a botched rescue attempt, while Grice proclaimed himself Chief Judge and began passing nutso laws.

is for Hall Of Justice

The headquarters for the Judges, the Great Hall Of Justice contains an artillery, living quarters for senior Judges and two public museums – including the Hall Of Heroes, where Mega-City One’s most esteemed champions are honoured.

is for the Germ Wars

They form the central plot of The Cursed Earth , the first Judge Dredd Epic storyline, in which the 2T(FRU)T virus turns the population of Mega-City Two into cannibals. Dredd goes on a mission across the Cursed Earth where he encounters everything from dinosaurs and mutants to alien slaves.

is for Fergee

A former scavenger who once lived off rats and had a throne fashioned out of a toilet, Fergee helped Judge Dredd escape and condemn Judge Cal, which earned him a promotion to Judge. His weapon of choice? A baseball bat. (Rob Schneider played him in the ’95 Judge Dredd film…)

is for Exo-Men

The Exo-Men are a band of looters who wear exoskeletons that were meant to aid them in demolition work.

is for the Dark Judges

What happens when undead spirits possess cadavers in order to go about their ghoulish work – which generally involves spiking people on their enormous claws. There’s Judge Death, Judge Fire, Judge Fear and others. Expect them to turn up in any sequels to this year’s Dredd , according to writer Alex Garland.

is for Call Me Kenneth

Not Branagh (or Williams), but the first ever robot to become sentient. Call Me Kenneth proved a right royal pain in Judge Dredd’s behind when he went berserk not once, but twice, rising against and enslaving much of Mega-City One’s population – alongside a number of its Judges.

is for Byron Ambrose

Mega-City One’s mayor, who’s murdered by dangerous serial killer PJ Maybe (see above). Maybe’s MO usually involves using face-changing machines to alter his identity, or gaining power over people by using drugs like SLD 88 and 89 against them. He was a child genius.

is for the Angel family

Camping out in a lair in the Cursed Earth (a radioactive terrain once known as America), this violent crew is led by its father, Pa. Most impressive of the clan is ‘Mean Machine’ Angel, a cyborg with a dial in his head that dictates his mood.

Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.