History Main / JudgeJuryAndExecutioner

** ''Heavily'' [[AvertedTrope averted]]. Dredd not only follows the letter of the law to the very last split hair, he also clashes with corrupt judges who are this trope many times. In fact, as part of his character growth, he comes to a deeper understanding of just what law is and how it holds even when the head judge wishes to frame people for reasons of state security. Which, in a way, might make Dredd the incarnation of the positive aspects of this trope.

** To be fair to Dredd, he usually doesn't kill those who don't resist arrest (though unfortunately for [[spoiler:Kraken]], the emphasis is on "usually.")

* [[TheEmpire The Imperium]] of ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'', perhaps unsurprisingly, includes several organisations and individuals with this power. The Adeptus Arbites (who [[CaptainErsatz rather resemble]] the [[JudgeDredd Judges of Mega City]]) who govern the populace, the [[InSovietRussiaTropeMocksYou Commissars]] of the [[RedshirtArmy Imperial Guard]], the [[ChurchMilitant Ecclesiarchy]] (who tend to favour [[FateWorseThanDeath unusual punishments]] and, of course, the Inquisition.
** To be more specific the Inquisition, they have killed millions of people, they be guilty or innocent for what ever crime they were accused by the Inquisition.

* The Lensmen (especially the Gray Lensmen) from Doc E.E. Smith's ''{{Lensman}} Series''.

----
<<|CharactersAsDevice|>>

--->'''Katarra:''' Community service! ''Please'' stop on community service!

** The Samurai could be this ''to themselves'' in cases of extreme dishonour.

** The Samurai would also perform this ''on themselves'' in cases of extreme dishonour.

-->'''Nicolas:''' ''"It's [[spoiler: Frank]]! He's appointed himself [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner Judge, Jury and Executioner]]!"''\\
'''Danny:''' ''"He is not JudgeJudy and Executioner!"''\\
'''Nicolas:''' "''He is!''"
-->-- '''HotFuzz'''

-->''Our logical Mikado, seeing no moral difference between the dignified judge who condemns a criminal to die, and the industrious mechanic who carries out the sentence, has rolled the two offices into one, and every judge is now his own executioner.''
-->-- '''Pooh-Bah''', ''[[GilbertAndSullivan The Mikado]]''

[[caption-width-right:250:[[CatchPhrase I]] ''[[IAmTheTrope am]]'' [[CatchPhrase the Law.]][[hottip:* :[[MemeticMutation You are the]] ''[[SylvesterStallone log??]]'']]]]

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Medieval knights and Feudal Samurai had pretty much absolute power over those living in their lands (technically you could complain to the person above them, but in practice even getting a word to that person could be impossible), and in case of Samurai, were legally entitled to kill anybody for pretty much any reason, such as showing disrespect.
** The Samurai would also perform this ''on themselves'' in cases of extreme dishonour.

* MarvelComics has The Living Tribunal, who can destroy planets or whole realities to maintain the BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil.

-->-- "HotFuzz"

** Although to be fair, whilst Judges are allowed to potentially use lethal force to stop criminals resisting arrest, there is only one crime that you can be executed for in Mega City One, and then only in war time.
*** Uh... really? So, to grab an example at random, when Dredd shot dead the unarmed and surrendering Kraken, who were they at war with?
*** The Dark Judges , you know after they ''murder 60 million people''
*** ''MarshalLaw'' is... similar. In the purview of people with superpowers, he basically has unlimited jurisdiction and is licensed to kill in any situation he feels necessary. And he feels it's necessary ''a lot''. He's a hero hunter, after all. He hunts heroes, but hasn't found any yet. This... ''frustrates'' him.

* Neal Stephenson's postcyberpunk novel ''TheDiamondAge'' has the neo-Confucian Judge Fang, who has the powers (and the robes and beard) of a judge from when China was an empire. He himself says that he combines the roles of detective, judge, jury and executioner. The accused is not allowed to speak in his own defense. (The author has been accused of making errors in his portrayal of Confucianism.)
** He made some errors in his portrayal of Victorianism, too. Really, accurate and fair portrayal of historical culture was [[{{Understatement}} not a big selling point of that book.]]

* Yahweh, the god of the bible, who is, additionally to that, the lawmaker.

* The Power Rangers in ''PowerRangersSPD'' use their Delta Morphers to judge a criminal on the spot (usually an guilty verdict), instead of destroying the criminal monster, alien, mutant, etc. they are then miniaturized into an prison cell within an small card (implied to be filed away). Considering the sentence, Death seems like a more humane option.

* Real life example: the Medieval knights and Feudal Samurais had pretty much absolute power over those living in their lands (technically you could complain to the person above them, but in practice even getting a word to that person could be impossible), and in case of Samurai, were legally entitled to kill anybody for pretty much any reason, such as showing disrespect.

** Also in FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance. They're not quite as bad in this version, though. While the "laws" they enforce are ludicrously arbitrary, at least they never kill anybody.
*** Not directly, at least.

* ''MegaManBattleNetwork 4'' has Duo, a sort of super-Navi created by an ancient civilization and written onto a satellite computer to basically go around erasing planets as he sees fit. Too bad he happens to fly by Earth during TheSyndicate's main operation: spreading the PsychoSerum all over the place, creating a sudden influx of ''EVIL''? all over the world. Good thing we've got [[TheMessiah Lan and MegaMan]] to kick his ass and [[DefeatMeansFriendship make him spare us]]! Along with the ''entire world at once'' yelling at him to stop, that is.
* ''MegaManZero 3'' gives us the Eight Gentle Judges, who rule [[TheEmpire Neo Arcadia]] alongside X (both the [[MegaManX real one]] and his EvilKnockoff). They were as much of [[KnightTemplar Knighs Templar]] as the rest of the series' antagonists, until they were turned BrainwashedAndCrazy by [[BigBad Dr. Weil]] to become his QuirkyMinibossSquad. Glacier le Cactank, in particular, provides us with this quote:
-->Has the legendary hero stooped to thievery? How deplorable. As king of the Snow Plains, I do hereby judge your crime.

-->I, Glacier Le Cactank, of Weil's Numbers, have reached a verdict. The punishment for thievery is death!

* Walker the Ghost warden in ''DannyPhantom'', where the quote at the top came from.

* In an episode of ''Garfield and Friends'', Jon is stopped by a CorruptHick for driving faster than the (hidden by a leaf) posted limit of 8 mph. The selfsame sheriff that arrests him proceeds to prosecute him, defend him, judge him, and act as several different members of the jury.

** Although to be fair whilst Judges are allowed to potentially use lethal force to stop criminals there is only one crime that you can be executed for in Mega City One, and then only in war time.

[[caption-width-right:250:[[CatchPhrase I]] ''[[IAmTheTrope am]]'' [[CatchPhrase the Law.]][[hottip:* :[[TheNostalgiaCritic You are the]] ''[[SylvesterStallone log??]]'']]]]

* ''Pathologic'' features an Inquisitor who is the very embodiment of this trope.

-->--"HotFuzz"

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''HotFuzz''. Nicholas: "It's [[spoiler: Frank]]! He's appointed himself [[JudgeJuryAndExecutioner Judge, Jury and Executioner]]." Danny: "He is not JudgeJudy and Executioner."

[[caption-width-right:250:[[CatchPhrase I]] ''[[IAmTheTrope am]]'' [[CatchPhrase the Law.]][[hottip:*:[[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses You are the]] ''[[SylvesterStallone log??]]'']]]]