History[]
Judge Giant is a character from the 2000 AD strip Judge Dredd. The son of John 'Giant' Clay, team captain of the Harlem Heroes, Giant entered the Academy of Law as a young boy and was awarded full Judge status by Chief Judge Goodman after being put through his final street test by Judge Joseph Dredd himself. He dropped the surname Clay in order to become simply 'Judge Giant', and served with distinction through several major crises in Mega-City One. During the reign of the insane Chief Judge Cal he saved Dredd's life, was a key member of the anti-Cal resistance (alongside Judge Griffin and Judge Pepper), and worked out that Cal had used the daily crime briefings to hypnotise the Judges into obeying him.
Eventually Giant was murdered by Orlok, an assassin from East-Meg One, just before the the Apocalypse War. Giant had apprehended Orlok and was about to arrest him when he was distracted by a threat from the assassin's satellat (an armed floating sentient robot) and Orlok shot him in the back.
Judge Giant was later revealed to have fathered a son during an illegal liaison with a female citizen (which rather disappointed Dredd, who had always considered him an exemplary Judge). This son grew up to also serve under the name Judge Giant.
Powers and abilities[]
Abilities
Good at catching perps; inherited lightning reactions from his father; is both brave and intelligent.
Strength level
Peak human male.
Weaknesses
Women, apparently.
Paraphernalia[]
Equipment
Accessory pouch containing three heatseeker shells; helmet containing internal visor display (including infra-red) and respirator; uniform made from plasti-steel reinforced material.
Transportation
Lawmaster bike.
Weapons
Lawgiver handgun which can fire six types of shell: heatseeker, rubber ricochet, incendiary, armour-piercing, high explosive and standard execution. Also daystick and bootknife.
Notes[]
- Giant's death provoked complaints from readers since it was felt that being gunned down with no opportunity to defend himself was not a suitably heroic death for a popular and long-established supporting character (see quotes).
- Decades after Giant's death, Dredd remembered him as a 'friend'. Dredd is extremely reluctant to think of people as friends, so they number in the single digits (and two of them are his clones).
Trivia[]
Judge Giant died on Booker T. Parkway, named after the African American musician Booker T. Jones.
Links[]
- Appearances of Judge Giant, Snr.
- Character Gallery: Judge Giant, Snr.
- Images that feature Judge Giant, Snr.
- Fan-Art Gallery: Judge Giant, Snr.
- Judge Giant, Snr. quotations
Discover and Discuss[]
- Search News for: Judge Giant · Giant Clay · Judge Giant, Snr.