“The crime is life, the sentence is death” – Judge Death.
We are going to take you into a world that is a million miles away from the law and order and human rights you are used to! This is the Judge Dredd universe’s twisted, dystopian planet, which is a post-apocalyptic police state. Judge Dredd is a clone of the Father of Justice, Eustace Fargo, who founded the Judge System and was the first Chief Judge of the United States of America.
These are not your typical judges, and the best way to think of them is as a more advanced version of the police force. When society’s basic mechanisms of government fail, these judges step in to serve as judge, jury, and executioner all in one! Judge Dredd’s goal is to restore order in a crumbling society, sometimes via sheer force, and other times through defiance of the authorities.
In the Judge Dredd universe, there is a terrifying adversary in the form of Judge Death. Because only the living may commit crimes, he commands a group known as the Dark Judges, who regard any form of life as a crime. Judge Death’s severe actions earned him the appellation “Dark Judge” from the Deadworld realm. They take on Mega-City One, the future of North American cities, after concluding life in their world.
They face opposition from characters such as Judge Dredd, and their brutality is depicted in some highly entertaining comic books. The most disturbing aspect of this twisted cosmos is how the modern world is gradually crumbling to look like this! It is more relatable today because the prospect of such a twisted future world does not seem so far-fetched! In this video, we will examine the origins of the Dark Judges, as well as all of their heinous members in the not-so-distant future.
All about The Deadworld and Dark Judges?
In order to understand the Dark Judges better, you have to understand their realm first. They come from the Deadworld, a world where the Judges realized that only the living committed crimes. Thus, they declared life itself as illegal, and the people were judged without any mercy. It did not take them long to wipe out the curse of life in their world, and they moved their attention to other worlds. The Deadworld was like a future Earth, but even though they had advanced technology it wasn’t like Mega-City One.
However, the Judges here had greater power than in Mega-City One, and any sentence was completely at their discretion. They all came together as a federal force and their unmatched firepower left them unchallenged. It all started after a major war in the US, coupled with an environmental collapse that left the society in shambles. The Judges took up more power than it was assigned to them from the middle of the 21st century, and it is from this chaos that Judge Death arose! He and his closest acolytes were transformed into undead ghouls, and this is how the Dark Judges began their destruction.
They were undead entities and their true form was that of an incorporeal spirit. The Dark Judges had to inhabit a recently deceased corpse in order to have a form, and we usually see them as zombie-like humanoids with some special powers. They used the technology of Weather Control to unleash mayhem and spread the infection. As more and more people died, this murderous cult reanimated the corpses as deadheads. Since the number of Judges was decreasing as well, the deadheads served as deputies.
Any form of resistance was crushed, and the survivors were taken to a new base for mass execution. Once the living entities of an entire planet were killed off, the Dark Judges constructed several monuments to mark their achievement, such as a mile-high statue of Judge Death made up of human teeth to mark the spot where he killed the last human. After this was accomplished, they had very little to do and nothing new to kill. Observing the decay and lethargy among his followers, Judge Death arranged a great cull, where only three of his original lieutenants survived. He then tried to look for new sinners in a new world who could be judged next. When the dimension-traveling aliens arrived in Deadworld, they were slaughtered and Judge Death used their technology to depart for MegaCity One.
The Sisters of Death: the reason behind Judge Death’s transformation
The Sisters of Death were originally two young insane girls named Phobia and Nausea. They became the undead priestesses of Deadworld, and they were responsible for transforming the Dark Judges into undead entities. Initially, Phobia and Nausea were the only two Sisters of Death, but later their cousins Pustula, Dementia, and Ephemera were also included. Back when Phobia and Nausea used to be insane humans, they had a fascination with death. They killed several people and went into hiding.
Judge Death, who was Judge Sidney back then, found them inside a cave, and he made love to the twisted sisters. He even made them perform a ritual, which changed him into the undead supernatural force that he is. The Sisters of Death also performed similar rituals on Judge Fire, Mortis, and Fear, and they probably performed it on themselves as well. They used their powers to corrupt many of the other Judges, and they blacked out the sky to plunge the city into darkness. The Sisters of Death were also responsible for several attacks on Mega-City One, and some attempts to take down Judge Dredd as well.
Cornerstones of The Dark Judge Council – Explored
We have already mentioned how the Dark Judges were formed from human judges who followed the sociopathic Judge Sidney Death. They murdered thousands legally, and after gaining superpowers the killing spree continued. After a few years of continued genocide, all forms of life were finally extinguished in their homeworld. There are four active Dark Judges, and they have been joined by many related entities over the years. The four Dark Judges are also indicative of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Judge Death
He is the leader of the Dark Judges, and one of the main villains that Judge Dredd has to deal with. Judge Death was born as Sidney Death, and his twisted philosophy of justice put him at odds against the judges of other realms. Even as a young boy, Sidney was evil by nature and he showed signs of his sadistic nature when he tortured his pet dog, and shot down birds with a gun. He got his demented personality from his father, who was a serial killer posing as a dentist.
His father used to believe that people are much better off dead, and he would torture his victims before killing them. Sidney eventually killed his dog and he also murdered three of his bullies in cold blood. He also reported his father to the Deadworld Judges and he himself pressed the switch as his father was sentenced to the electric chair.
Finally, he joined the Judges only to uphold his homicidal psychosis on those who were too weak to challenge him. He used his powers to execute people over random excuses, and he got the name Judge Death. Even for the twisted minds of his fellow judges, his ways seemed a bit extreme, but that did not stop him from aiming for absolute supremacy. He came to the conclusion that all the crimes were committed by the living, and thus, all forms of life had to be eliminated. He slipped further into the dark side of his personality and he even killed his mother and sister.
After encountering the Sisters of Death, he was drawn towards them and joined them in doing some unspeakable things such as cannibalism. He even allowed them to perform a ritual on him, which changed him into the undead monstrosity that he is. After his transformation, he became even more ruthless and he killed the Chief Judge of the Deadwood Judges. Now, he was the authoritative figure, and he changed many of the other Judges into Dark Judges like himself.
Judge Death had a sickening personality and he loved to taunt and terrorize others for his pleasure. He did not break a sweat while killing children, and from torture to cannibalism, he did everything despicable. He appears in a modified Judge’s helmet, and instead of the Judge’s Eagle, he has a Pterosaur on his right shoulder. His elbow pads and shoulder pads are decorated with bones, and his belt buckle and badge are shaped like a human skull. He is basically a spirit within a corpse, and he is not susceptible to much damage. No conventional methods can kill him, and even if the host body is destroyed he will simply possess another body. Apart from his superhuman strength, he has the power of invading the minds of others and manipulating them. He was a fierce adversary, known for some gruesome methods of killing his victims, and Judge Death was the ideal villain to add to the dark and grim theme of the narrative.
Judge Fear
Judge Fear had an iconic catchphrase – Gaze into the face of Fear! He would open the faceplate of his helmet in front of the victim, who would be scared to death at whatever sight he witnessed. The very thought of how hideous and mutilated his face must have been to scare people to their deaths was terrifying. Only on two occasions was his face revealed and it was only a glimpse of a mass of eyeballs and disgusting mandibles. Judge Fear had an overall imposing figure and he wore a black helmet fitted with bat-like wings.
His vicious nature was revealed when he took part in a contest with Judge Fire to see who could destroy a city quicker. He was left shaken after a child did not fear him, and after the fall of Deadworld, he lived in fear of being killed by the other Dark Judges. However, he soon joined the ranks to save Judge Death when he was trapped in Psi-Judge Anderson’s body. Together, they slaughtered thousands of Mega-City victims, and there were some memorable fights with Judge Dredd and Anderson. Judge Fear had several tools in his belt, and these were used to immobilize the enemy. He also used a giant padlock to seal the escape routes of the victims. In some instances, he has been shown to kill victims just like Judge Death, by stabbing them using his hands!
Judge Fire
He used to work as a Judge in Deadworld before Judge Death took over. He got his name after his notorious act of burning down a school that also caused 1800 students to burn alive. Eventually, Judge Death recruited him as one of the members of the Dark Judges, and he was transformed into an undead version of himself. Their collective goal was to eliminate all forms of life, and they successfully killed the entire living population of Deadworld. After traveling to Judge Dredd’s realm, they continued their slaughter and during the event of Necropolis, they murdered sixty million citizens of Mega-City One.
Judge Fire has the power to control fire and even generate fire if required. This fire could work underwater as well, and he often used it to further his destructive trail. Like the other Dark Judges, he was also a disembodied spirit and he had to possess a host body to gain a corporeal form. He used chemicals called Dead Fluids to kill the host, and the most common form of Judge Fire resembles a burning skeleton. He had no other distinct facial features and no eyes or hair. He had some sort of an attachment with a woman from Deadworld, whom he later nominated to become one of the Sisters of Death. The woman despised him, and she erased her existence instead of being possessed by Judge Fire. The creators claimed that drawing this character was quite a challenging task, but they certainly made the efforts worthwhile!
Judge Mortis
Judge Mortis was stranger and more distorted than the other Dark Judges, and that is saying something! He found pleasure in some of his disgusting experiments with the dead, and he used to manipulate corpses for fun. However, he is quite serious during the missions and performs the tasks assigned. Like the other Dark Judges, he doesn’t shy away from killing children, and he has delivered horrible deaths to many citizens of Deadworld and Mega-City One. His appearance was unique, and he stood taller than most humans.
His body was made up of rotten bones, and he had a sheep’s skull in place of his head. The long twisted fingers looked creepy, and he also had a short tail. He wore the Judge’s uniform, but it was in a tattered form. Above his left shoulder, there was a skeletal bat instead of the Judge’s eagle. He did not have a helmet like the other judges, and there was a rack of bones on his right shoulder.
After being transformed into an undead form by the Sisters of Death, Judge Mortis gleefully participated in the killings to extinguish all life forms on Deadworld. However, once the job was done he was depressed due to a lack of purpose in life. He made a garden of corpses and tried to distract himself with various activities. Finally, the arrival of the dimension-traveling aliens gave him a new purpose. He had the key to travel to other dimensions and continue his killing spree, and he also happily killed the alien species. He had a special power of causing things to rot and decay rapidly once he touched them!
Nausea
We have already told you about the Sisters of Death, and Nausea is one of them. Before transforming into a haglike, rotting humanoid entity with tentacles and claws, she used to be a deranged young woman just like her sister Phobia. Together, they killed countless people, and Judge Death, who was then Judge Sidney, had a fascination for them. Their ritual changed him into his monstrous form, and the sisters changed themselves as well. In her transformed appearance, Nausea had eyeballs on her right shoulder and elbows, and two live human heads sat on her left shoulder. She was a master of supernatural and psychic powers. Nausea could possess individuals, and also control their bodies. She also had the power to increase the decaying process, and she could blacken certain areas of the sun, thus darkening the skies. Since she is a spectral being, there is no normal way of causing her damage. Only a psychic anchor in Mega-City One can be used to attack her.
Phobia
She is the elder sister of Nausea, and one of the Sisters of Death. Just like her sister, she was also a part of the rituals that created the Dark Judges, and she was often seen attacking Mega-City One with her sister Nausea. Her skeletal face had some unkempt hair on the head, and her multiple arms extended into tentacle-like fingers. She has several magical abilities like her sister, and her claws can be deadly weapons apart from her supernatural powers.
Dementia
She is one of the cousins of the Sisters of Death and once they found their way to Mega-City One, they started creating chaos. The origins of Dementia aren’t clearly mentioned, but she can toy with the minds of people. She has a sultry appearance and has a voluptuous physique, where her bosom and genitalia are covered with bats. Her hands are coated with some kind of magical mud-like substance. This can be used to cause widespread depression and drive people to commit suicide in masses.
Ephemera
Ephemera is portrayed as a ghostly figure and she appears to be a frail young woman with pale white skin. She did not have any clothes on her body and her sickening physical body was indicative of her evil nature. She has hair that runs longer than her body, and this member of the Sisters of Death created quite a stir with her antics in Mega-City One. Her special power was the ability to summon or create specters and poltergeists to be used against the opponent.
Pustula
Pustula is the third cousin of the Sisters of Death and her obese body is covered in disgusting boils. Most of her skin is blistered and she wears a red cape to cover her body. She fought alongside the other Sisters of Death against Judge Anderson. Her special ability was to spread a fatal, contagious disease among the masses. This disease was called Blisteria 101, and it could cause horrifying blisters in people, finally killing them.
When Is Judge Dredd 2 Releasing?
We usually love to end on an optimistic note regarding the possibilities of a sequel, but we don’t have much good news here. You will probably not see a Judge Dredd sequel for a long time now, possibly never! It has been almost ten years since Dredd was released, and the fans would love the idea of the whole team coming back for a sequel. The story was comprehensive and self-contained, but there could always be more events in that universe to extend the franchise. However, Alex Garland, the writer of the movie has not been too optimistic about a sequel.
It is reported that he had a terrible experience while working on the project after director Pete Travis was locked out of the editing room over creative differences with the producers. Alex Garland virtually directed the movie to some extent and received no credit for his work. While there is no news of a possible sequel, a TV series titled Judge Dredd: Mega-City One is in the works. It can explore the vast lore surrounding these characters set in the futuristic society, and the fans will surely get to see Judge Dredd in action once again. As for the movies, the wait may be long, but given how popular the franchise is, you might just end up with some good news about a sequel in the future.