Things said by or about Judge Joseph Dredd

Carlos Ezquerra: "For Dredd there is only one thing in his life — the law." Judge Dredd Annual 1984.

John Wagner: "Pat always wanted Dredd to be the hero. I saw him as partly the hero, but more so the villain. That was the original conception of Dredd — that he shouldn't be a nice guy, that he shouldn't be a hero. Some things he does will be heroic, but overall — no." Thrill-Power Overload by David Bishop.

Al Ewing: "The main secret to writing Dredd is that he's a protagonist, not a hero. He's very tough, he can take an extraordinary amount of punishment, but that doesn't make him good, and it definitely doesn't make his system the right one." Thrill-Power Overload, extended edition.

Michael Molcher (2000 AD PR): "He is a war criminal, by any definition of war crimes. He slaughtered a civilian population when there was an alternative... that's a hell of a thing to do." 2000 AD Thrill-Cast 18 Feb 2015.

Chris Sims: "Judge Dredd is not built to have regrets. His superpower is 100% conviction in what he's doing." Ibid.

Unnamed criminal: "I hope it's Judge Dredd you blast, Whitey — he's the toughest of the Judges!" First mention of Judge Dredd in 2000 AD prog 2.

Chief Judge Goodman: "Sometimes I think we're all going to die like Alvin, Dredd."

Dredd: "Maybe, but in my book, that's the only way to go... in defence of the law!" 2000 AD prog 2.

Dredd: "The law can show mercy, too!" 2000 AD, prog 3.

Dredd: "When will lawbreakers learn... in the 21st century — no one can escape justice!" 2000 AD, prog 3.

Child: "Why does the Judge never smile, ma?"

Mother: "It's his job, child, it's tough upholding the law in Mega-City One!" 2000 AD prog 6.

Dredd: "Yes, lawbreaker Krilz! I ordered the walk-eezee to be put in reverse! Something that must never happen to the law!" 2000 AD, prog 8. (NB: if there is ever a prize for the most unintentionally silly thing Judge Dredd has ever said, this quote would be a strong contender.)

Criminal: "I'll get 40 years for this. Reduce my sentence, Dredd, and I'll tell you where you can find our leader Mr Buzzz! He's holed up in a cheap hotel in oldtown—"

Dredd: "Many thanks. In recognition of your co-operation I sentence you to 39 years, 364 days in an isolation cube!" 2000 AD prog 22.

Dredd: "Only dead men walk out of doors, lawbreaker — smart ones use the window!" 2000 AD prog 23.

Dredd: "I am the law and you'd better believe it!" 2000 AD prog 40.

Dredd: "The penalty for littering is six months' penal servitude. Merry Christmas, citizen." 2000 AD prog 44.

Dredd: "Sometimes war is necessary — but don't ever let creeps like this tell you it's fun. War is pointless. War is evil. WAR IS HELL!" 2000 AD prog 51.

Dredd (thinking): "Mega-City 1... 800 million people and every one of them a potential criminal. The most violent, evil city on earth... but, God help me, I love it." 2000 AD prog 59.

Dredd: "A man like President Booth who causes the blood of millions to be spilt — he's a vampire who puts even Count Dracula in the shade!" 2000 AD prog 68 (during the story of The Cursed Earth).

Dredd: "When someone calls on the law for help... be he mutie... alien... cyborg... or human... The law cannot turn a blind eye! AND I AM THE LAW!" 2000 AD prog 69 (during the story of The Cursed Earth).

Narrator: "Maybe at that moment, Dredd was crazy! For only the superhuman strength of madness could have snapped that chain--"

Dredd: "YAAAAH!" 2000 AD prog 87.

Dredd: "STORM THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE!" 2000 AD prog 221.

Judge Fear: "Gaze into the FACE OF FEAR!"

Narrator: "For a moment the icy chill of terror courses down Dredd's spine. The shock of this gaze can kill an ordinary man — but Dredd is a Judge — and Judges are not ordinary men!"

Dredd: "GAZE INTO THE FIST OF DREDD!" 2000 AD prog 227.

Dredd (affected by 'block mania'): "I'm with Rowdy Yates block! Who you fighting with?" 2000 AD prog 244.

Dredd: "Chief Judge Griffin, I find you guilty of treason. The sentence is DEATH." 2000 AD prog 261.

Dredd: "Half my city is burnt to ash by East-Meg missiles — and you're begging me for mercy? Request denied!" 2000 AD prog 266.

Chief Judge McGruder: "Find the game show hosts — and, if possible, bring them back."

Dredd: "Dead or alive?" 2000 AD prog 278.

Would-be superhero: "I'm cleaning up this city for you, Judge. Gonna wipe out every criminal there is!"

Dredd: "Meathead! You're doing thirty!" 2000 AD prog 293.

Dredd: "Drokk! The rad-beast's been sucked into the fancy dress parade!" 2000 AD prog 297.

Dredd (infected by alien parasite): "I'm... going to have... a baby!" 2000 AD prog 313.

Dredd: "If by some chance you manage to survive this, return to the city. Tell them what has happened. Tell them I died doing my duty." 2000 AD prog 327.

Happy Duff: "B-b-but you said you'd let me go free!"

Dredd: "I asked you how you'd like to go free. The idea of actually lettin' you go never crossed my mind!"

Happy Duff: "You dirty stinkin' rat! I'll get you for this when my nine's done!"

Dredd: "Correction, creep — your twelve. Threatening a Judge is an offence." 2000 AD prog 333.

Citizen: "B-b-but we're innocent, Judge!"

Dredd: "Nobody's innocent, citizen. We're just here to determine the level of your guilt." 2000 AD prog 338.

Judge Lyall: "You're too valuable to risk, Dredd!"

Dredd: "When a Judge gets too valuable to risk, he's no longer a Judge!" 2000 AD prog 339.

Dredd: "What Justice dept giveth, Justice dept can just as easily taketh away." 2000 AD prog 355.

Dredd: "Damned if I'll let some jumped-up spook kick us out of our own sector house! WE'RE the law in this city!" 2000 AD prog 361.

Psi-Judge Omar: Whatever's in there, Dredd — it's dangerous."

Dredd: "So am I." 2000 AD prog 363.

Med-Judge (injecting Dredd with multibiotic): "No alcohol for 36 hours, and lay off the romance for a week."

Dredd: "You trying to be funny?" 2000 AD prog 385.

Reinhart (psychiatrist): "You have just entered the Academy of Law. How do you feel?"

Dredd: "Strange... I'm with others, but I feel alone... confused... What am I doing here? Who am I?"

Reinhart: "Don't you know?"

Dredd: "All I know is... My name is Dredd. I am a cadet Judge. Before that... ...it's clouded..."

Reinhart: "Dig deep! Go back. Try to remember. What do you see?"

Dredd: "I'm... floating. It's warm — bubbling warm... friendly. I live here and... and..."

Reinhart: "And...?"

Dredd: "Nothing. There's nothing else." 2000 AD prog 389.

Reinhart: "You are eight. How do you feel now about your origins — about being a clone?"

Dredd: "At first I was... hurt. Then proud. To be of the same blood as Fargo, the father of justice — it was a great honour."

Reinhart: "Do you still feel pride?"

Dredd: "No. I am a cadet Judge. There must be no place in my life for petty self-congratulation."

Reinhart: "Do you enjoy being a cadet?"

Dredd: "Yes. It's my life — what I was cloned for. It's all there is." Ibid.

Reinhart: "You're twelve now. Your clone-brother Rico is also excelling at the Academy."

Dredd: "I'm glad he's doing well. There is a strong bond between us. We are one and the same. I must strive to overcome this feeling. Personal affections impair efficiency." Ibid.

Reinhart: "No matter how hard we try to control it, sooner or later the human being behind the mask always starts to come out. Even in a street-hard Judge like Dredd." Ibid.

Dredd: "All right, citizen. Get your clothes on — you're clean. Take my advice. Next time, don't look so shifty." 2000 AD prog 390.

Judge Benson: "You... killed a Judge to... to save a Judge-killer! It... ain't right..."

Dredd: "Gotta be right. It's the law." 2000 AD prog 392.

Dredd (thinking): "My city is destroyed — and without it, I have no reason for living!" 2000 AD prog 400.

Psi-Judge Anderson: "But you can't change the future! It's impossible!"

Dredd: "Yeah? Show me the rule book."

Anderson: "But, Dredd, we've been there! We've seen it! It's happened!"

Dredd: "Then I'll UNhappen it!" 2000 AD prog 406.

Dredd: "Any cadet that can put his mother away for eighteen has got the makings of a damned fine Judge." 2000 AD prog 421.

Bella Bagley: "I'll be everything you always wanted in a wife!"

Dredd: "Wife? Get off me, woman! Get this straight — I don't love you! I'll never love you! I am incapable of loving you! I'm a Judge and the only thing I love is the law — which right now you happen to be breaking!" 2000 AD prog 444.

Shojan: "Are you eager for death?"

Dredd: "I can take it or leave it." 2000 AD prog 452.

Dredd: "Twenty years on Titan. Was love worth that, Sladek?"

Sladek: "Oh, yes. It was worth it. That and more. But I guess that's something you'll never understand." 2000 AD prog 463.

Dredd: "I'm a Judge, loudmouth. Harassment's my job. Want some?" 2000 AD prog 483.

Edison: "You're not going to do it, Dredd? A Judge's life is worth more than some crummy hostages!"

Dredd: "We start thinking that way and we're not worth a damn thing, Edison. Our prime duty is to protect the citizens. If anybody shoots them, it's going to be me." 2000 AD prog 520.

Dredd: "Democracy is a cancer eating at the heart of our society. Any action we have to take to stamp it out — however regrettable — is justified." 2000 AD prog 532.

Judda: "Curse you, Dredd—!"

Dredd: "That's what they all say!" 2000 AD prog 558.

Morton Judd: "You should treat me with more respect, Joe Dredd. After all, I am, in a way, your father."

Dredd: "Bull!"

Morton Judd: "You scoff, but remember — these are the hands that created you."

Dredd: "Any monkey can shake a test tube, Judd. I'm glad to say there's none of you in me." 2000 AD prog 561.

Mrs Deever: "It's this city, you know... pressing in on us all the time, trapping us... like rats in a cage. Driving us crazy! Never gave him a chance... never gave any of us a chance... It's our full mental jacket."

Dredd: "Yes, I know, citizen. I know." 2000 AD prog 582.

Dredd: "Wilbur Yess was a, uh, good citizen and, uh, a first rate trouser designer. I didn't know him personally but we, uh... we all wear his trousers. Mine seem to fit okay." 2000 AD prog 593.

Dredd: "In this city, pal, there are no good guys." 2000 AD prog 601.

Dredd: "Control, we have an attempted break-in, basement apartment, Rowdy Yates."

Control: "You're joking!"

Dredd: "I've got 'em on monitor now. Can you send a unit?"

Control: "What the heck for? Can't you deal with it?"

Dredd: "Negative. I'm in the bath." 2000 AD prog 626.

Narrator: "It felt too good just to lie back, soak the old bones, let some of the weariness slip away... This body... a patchwork of scars. Once he could recall where each one came from, but now... just too many... And there were the ones you couldn't see — the twists and sprains and fractures. A body that had been tortured, forced to the limit of its endurance too many times. Still a good machine but — getting on..." Ibid.

Dredd: "Lazarus Kohlrabi, for premeditated murder against the people of this city — my people — I hereby sentence you to death. Standard execution!" 2000 AD prog 630.

Dredd: "Ours not to reason why... Ours just to pick up the pieces — and do our best to get this city back on its feet again." 2000 AD prog 701.

Dominic: "Big fella. Face on him like a block of ice." 2000 AD prog 729.

Judge-Sergeant Joyce: "That Dredd's the quare fella!" 2000 AD prog 730.

Pan-African Judge Kamun: "Sorry I had to betray you in this fashion but I doubt if you would have come otherwise. I hope you can forgive me."

Dredd: "Come a little closer, Kamun, and I'll forgive you with my boot." 2000 AD prog 863.

Narrator: "Deep beneath the Great Pyramid of Egypt, Dredd struggles for his life, clawing vainly at the shifting tide of sand which rises by the second... He pounds on ancient walls which remain solid, immovable. He searches methodically for any means of escape and finds none. And finally, he prepares to die. Like a Judge." 2000 AD prog 864.

Judge Castillo (narrating): "Dredd's got a voice like a saw scraping on bones — your bones. When he speaks, you obey." Judge Dredd Megazine 2.58.

Inquisitor Cesare: "Prepare to meet thy God, sinner. Any last words?"

Dredd: "Yeah. Pax vobiscum, creep." (Translation: "Peace be with you, creep.") 2000 AD prog 936.

Dredd: "I know of no greater honour than to serve as a Judge of Mega-City One. It is a privilege granted only to a few. But it is a privilege we must earn and continue to earn." 2000 AD prog 970.

Galen DeMarco: "He's very impressive. I've never met anyone with such a strong will — it's like an aura around him. He's going to clean up the Pit and nothing but nothing is going to stand in his way." 2000 AD prog 988.

Narrator: "One sector is much the same as any other. Same problems — too much crime, too few Judges. Same solution... work harder. No time to pause for calm reflection. Take the call, deal with it, move on. One arrest swims into another. Day turns into night and you're still out there busting a gut. Crime never stops, why should you? And hey — be grateful. If you had time to think, the unending flood of crime might make you depressed. Terribly, terribly depressed. So don't think. Just keep on judging." 2000 AD prog 1103.

Dredd: "You break the law, you pay the price. I am that price!" 2000 AD prog 1125.

Dredd: "At this point we like to sum up with a little homespun homily. We don't have courts any more — the right choice of words can lend proceedings a proper sense of formality. Think you can handle it, son?"

Cadet Kray: "I'd like to try, sir."

Dredd: "Fine. All yours."

Cadet Kray: "Maybe it's not fair, creep-- but if it saves one innocent life, it's worth it. Take this murdering scum away!"

Dredd: "Good. Very good, Kray. I like that." 2000 AD prog 2000 (published December 1999).

Parallel universe Judge Caligula: "Can't you just imagine the look on his face? Jaw tightening... teeth grinding... eyes behind that soulless visor that you somehow know are worse... all of it a promise. An oath of monstrous retribution about to descend." 2000 AD prog 1257.

Dredd: "You called the Judges a privileged elite, Kenzie. You were right. We are an elite. There is a privilege. I've told you what it is twice now."

Darien Kenzie: "‘You're a citizen of Mega-City One...’"

Dredd: "And I'm sworn to protect you." 2000 AD prog 1261.

Judge Rico: "You've got a bath."

Dredd: "Here when I moved in."

Rico: "Ever use it?"

Dredd: "Now and then. Man's got to have a few pleasures." 2000 AD prog 1280.

First Judge: "Should have left him to us. You didn't have to go up against him again."

Dredd: "I don't have to put on this uniform in the morning either. Just goes with the job."

Second Judge: " I never knew he took it off... " 2000 AD prog 1349.

Dredd (euthanising clone): "Maybe I should've taken a little more interest in you, Nimrod. I'm sorry. They sure dealt you one helluva hand. I'm sorry for that too. By the powers vested in me, I grant you mercy." 2000 AD prog 1419.

Jack Point (narrating): "Credit where it's due: If I'm a thorn in the guts of crime, Joe's a nuclear-barbed heatseeking harpoon." Judge Dredd Megazine #237.

Dredd (dreaming): "Rico's dead, sir. He went bad. I had to kill him."

Chief Judge Fargo: "This true, Rico? He killed you?"

Rico: "Yes, sir. Didn't leave him any choice, sir."

Fargo: "Your own clone brother, Joe. You don't think you take things a little too... seriously?"

Dredd: "Law's a serious business, sir." 2000 AD prog 1500.

Judge Dan Francisco: "It's.. this mutant thing. Can't you see you've got it wrong?"

Dredd: "It's not wrong. It's hard. There's a difference. What's wrong is injustice, and I can see a big wave of it coming." 2000 AD prog 1632.

Narrator: "The time remaining to him he spends on the slab, barely stopping even for the sleep machine — as if trying to soak it up, absorb it through his pores, this dangerous, violent, mysterious city that he loves so much — storing it like a battery for the long, endless days out in that desolation... for he knows he may never patrol these streets again." 2000 AD prog 1650.

Narrator: "A Judge had been abducted. Doesn't matter that Munn is a grade-A foul-up. Until you have answers you never quit. You owe that much, to the badge if nothing else." 2000 AD prog 1664.

Dredd: "Nurse and childminder in attendance at the arrest."

Beeny: "They didn't like that either? Creep was eight months pregnant — wouldn't you?"

Dredd: "Doubt it would have occurred to me. Sagar would probably have gone into labour in the catch wagon. You laugh — it's happened. At times you might say I lack a certain... sensitivity." Judge Dredd Megazine #300.

Dredd: "I'm no expert on religion, Wattle, but I know a craze when I see one. And sooner or later, crazes equal trouble." Judge Dredd Megazine #303.

Carolyn Bachmann: "The man's got a mind like a clenched fist." 2000 AD prog 1807.

Narrator: "Think about the bigger picture — blocks full of bodies, anarchy in the streets, the city rotting down like a corpse left out for the dog vultures — and you might start to lose hope. Lose your focus. He'd seen forty-year men weeping openly in the squad room, unable to move. Not something he could condone — but he understood. The black pit, yawning beneath everything... The knowledge that the situation was no longer sustainable, that all that was left for his city was the slow, unstoppable decline... So don't think about it. Break it down. Smaller tasks. Little jobs. Cube this creep. Chase down that one. Wave that daystick. One job at a time." 2000 AD prog 1808.

Chief Judge Hershey: "We nearly suffered a coup because you didn't trust me, Dredd. I wouldn't call that a win at all." 2000 AD prog 1812.

Judge Caterina Pax (duty-log): "Dredd is a stern man with a strong sense of duty, and although he is not wholly devoid of mercy or compromise, he is seen by his peers — and by the citizens — to be ruthless and inflexible." 2000 AD prog 1850.

Ticket droid: "I'm sorry, that is an invalid Justice Department zoom pass. But our records do indicate that you'd be eligible for a senior citizen discount! Apply at your nearest mega-zoom office. You have been fined one hundred and fifty credits. Have a great journey!" 2000 AD Sci-Fi Special 2014.

Judge Giant, Jnr.: "Dredd."

Dredd: "Mm."

Judge Giant, Jnr.: "There's a Klegg over there waving at you. Enthusiastically." 2000 AD prog 1888.

Indira Knight: "So you Judges are the police, the military, the judiciary and the government? How does that work?"

Dredd: "Efficiently." 2000 AD prog 1895.

Dredd: "I'm taking you in for questioning."

James Agar: "That a fact? What about?"

Dredd: "Information received."

Agar: "Oh yeah? What information?"

Dredd: "I'll let you know when I receive it." 2000 AD prog 1905.

Narrator: "He reacts to the Vipe onslaught with his own — automatic now after so many years. His hand a blur. Select target. Fire! Select target. Fire! Aim unerring. Twenty to one and he's got them outnumbered." 2000 AD prog 1908.

Judge Death: "We will EXXECUTE you and then your cccityy will be at our mercccy!"

Dredd: "You give me too much credit. You won't win, whether I'm there or not." 2000 AD prog 1917.

Dredd: "The crime is mass murder! The sentence is — corn mash!" *throws Judge Fire into aforementioned agricultural machine* 2000 AD prog 1919.

Dredd: "Drokk! It's raining mutant piranha!" 2000 AD prog 1923.

Dirty Frank: "Dirty Frank always wants to go toilet when Judge Dredd is in immediate proximity. But he feels safe too. And look, he gets a cuddle! Oops. Said all that out loud... " 2000 AD prog 1943.

Galen DeMarco: "The way we do things... it can't continue forever. Dredd? You hear me?"

Dredd: "Yeah. I heard." 2000 AD prog 1968.

Klegg ambassador: "This is why we insist at Dredd being present at our negotiations, Chief Judge. We Kleggs admire strength! He is your alpha, your silverback. Mmmm... silverbacks. Such a mouth-watering appetiser..."

Dredd: " I want to hurt you. " 2000 AD prog 1969.

Sensitive Klegg: "Our friendship is a rare and fragile flower indeed, Judge Dredd, but I will not let you sacrifice yourself for me!" 2000 AD prog 1970.

Sensitive Klegg: "♪♫ He's not heavy, he's my heroic, Judicial brother... ♫♪" 2000 AD prog 1971.

Judge Corden: "He's a tough old sod, I'll give him that... ...Had half his intestines ripped out, got almost torn apart by that damn teleporter, then just about fried when it destroyed his med-wagon. And he's still got a better resting heart-rate than I do." 2000 AD prog 1982.

Armitage: "So... I was under the impression that you were dead."

Dredd: "Reckon I'm gonna be hearing that a lot." 2000 AD prog 1985.

Dolman: "Glad to see you're still... ...alive. "

Judge Fintan Joyce: "Yeah, he's starting to hate that." 2000 AD prog 1988.

Psi-Judge Lewis: "Dredd has almost no ego... and no ambitions other than to keep doing his duty. Everyone else — and I mean everyone, Judge or otherwise — is a complex mess of distractions and hopes and regrets and dreams. But Dredd just focuses on what needs to be done. He's not without flaws, of course — he's only human — but Dredd simply accepts his flaws and moves on. He doesn't dwell on them the way the rest of us do." Judge Dredd Megazine #374.

Narrator: "He is by nature an obsessive man." 2000 AD prog 1991.

PJ Maybe: "I'm going to hurt him so bad he's going to wish he'd never been born! Not that he was. If we're being pedantic." 2000 AD prog 1995.

Dr Carousel: "The pain must be excruciating — he shouldn’t even be able to stand, let alone walk!" Judge Dredd Megazine #375.

Narrator: "He hated this psychic stuff. Nothing he could do. But he could shoot Sovs. That he could do." 2000 AD prog 2002 (published October 2016).

Judge Giant, Jnr.: "Always five layers of ‘don't approve’ coming offa you, but this time I smell at least six or seven." 2000 AD prog 2011 (published January 2017).

Dredd: "Duke, I'm not known for doling out advice, so consider this a one-off. You Texans pride yourselves on being tough — so suck in your gut and damn well grow a pair." 2000 AD prog 2019.

Nikolai Dante: "They're hardly going to throw me out when there's po-faced party-poopers like him around. That guy never takes his helmet off, though to be fair, I am pretty tough competition in the looks department." 2000 AD 40th Anniversary Special.

Judge Serota: "Anywhere they see a Justice Department seal with a star as well as an eagle, they believe it to be a lunar outpost, and so moon law applies. Other beliefs include bearing arms to resist 'government tyranny'."

Dredd: "They know that we've got manta tanks and nukes, right? We can tyrannise them whenever we want." 2000 AD prog 2022.