Judge Dredd
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I AM THE LAW!
Judge Dredd is character from the same-named comic that has been printed in the British comic magazine 2000 AD since 1977. Set 122 years into the future where most of the world has been blown to fuck and the remains of humanity have packed into massive "mega-cities" where all law enforcement and justice is carried out by "Judges:" supercops who act as judge, jury and, oh yes, executioner. Over the years Dredd has dealt with robot uprisings, mile-tall habitation blocks trying to kill each other, dirty commies, rampaging fatties, interdimensional horrors, mutants, psychics, aliens, zombies and other crazy shit.
The series is simultaneously grimdark, silly and just plain awesome.
Hence, /tg/ fucking LOVES Judge Dredd.
If you're trying to present an oppressive, dystopian science fiction setting, but you don't want to get too serious, read some Judge Dredd.
Two movies have been made. The first came out in 1995 and starred Sylvester Stallone and Rob fucking Schneider. While it got a lot of the visuals right and even featured an ABC robot (from ABC Warriors, another 2000 AD title), the rest was just plain awful. Judge Dredd's creator John Wagner fucking hated it. The second came out in 2012 and is better. While the visuals have been towned-down and is a lot more grimier then in the comics, the feel and spirit is much more true to the source. Go see it. GO FUCKING SEE IT!!!!
In Gaming
Judge Dredd and its fellow 2000 AD titles have been a huge influence on British science fiction and gaming over the last 30 years. Warhammer 40,000 owes much of its background to 2000 AD, just look at the Adeptus Arbites for one of the more obvious influences (to drive the point home, Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain series mentions an Imperial holo-vid character by the name of "Arbitrator Foreboding"). In fact, Games Workshop put out a Judge Dredd board game in 1982, a RPG in 1985, and the skirmish game Block Mania in 1987. The rules for Block Mania can be found here.
Years later, Mongoose Publishing picked up the license and put out a d20 RPG in 2002 and then another in 2009, this time using their version of the Traveller system. They've also produced a miniatures game and have released the rules for free. Check it out.
WizKids made a few Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD minis for the HeroClix "Indie" expansion.
In the grand tradition of getting shit done, /tg/ has begun work on a homebrew system called Judgement Time. In true Judge Dredd spirit, Frowning is a mechanic. The thread can be found here.
And finally, in the many years of Alignment discussion and bickering, Dredd himself has been declared the absolute embodiment of Lawful Neutral. If he catches someone breaking the law for ANY reason, they're going down. No exceptions. Stealing to feed your kids? Theft. Digging your way out of the undercity to escape a monster? Destruction of city property. Organizing a children's choir to sing "Happy Birthday" for Judge Dredd? Noise violation. Off to the iso-cubes, lawbreaker.
Gallery
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I wupped Batman's ass.
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Keith Urban demonstrates proper frowning technique.
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Your sentence will never end, it's Judgement Time!
