The Justice Department has ruled Mega-City One since the Atomic War of 2070. As the governing and policing body of a city of hundreds of millions, it is huge, with numerous departments.
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(Street) Judges
Chief Judges
Special Judicial Service
Gerhart
- Facial Horror: He loses half of his face during a mission to Titan and keeps on fighting.
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Black Ops
Bachmann
- Badass in Charge: Despite her role being in a strategic position, Bachmann is extremely capable in hand-to-hand combat. During "Trifecta", she is able to easily ward off attacks from Dirty Frank, Jack Point, and Dredd.
- Out-Gambitted: Her plan to take control of Mega City One is foiled thanks to Smiley and Dredd's counterplot.
Smiley
The original head of Black Ops, Smiley disappeared in the wake of Necropolis, only to re-emerge during the Trifecta incident. Appointed in the wake of Cal's tenure as Chief Judge, he spent decades behind the scenes, manipulating events as he saw fit.
- Big Damn Heroes: When Bachmann proves too much for Point, Dirty Frank, and even Dredd, he sneaks up on her and puts a bullet in her head.
- The Chessmaster: Both figuratively and literally, Smiley has been manipulating everything from his cubby hole next to the Chief Judge's office without anyone knowing.
- Despotism Justifies the Means: He is no longer interested in protecting the citizens of the Mega-City and only wants to perpetuate the power of the Judges, openly calling himself a fascist. This inevitably brings him into conflict with Dredd, who views the Judges as Necessarily Evil. In Smiley's opinion, fascism is the prize paid for survival in a post-apocalyptic world.
- Faking the Dead: He invokes Never Found the Body after Necropolis and decides to run things from the background, only emerging when Bachmann plans a coup against Mega City One.
- Faux Affably Evil: He is polite and mild-mannered, but beyond that facade he is an incredibly sinister chessmaster and manipulator who believes the ends justifies the means.
- Murder by Inaction: Try genocide by inaction - it's revealed that Smiley had advance knowledge of East-Meg's invasion plans, and could have prevented the Apocalypse War from even happening, but chose to do nothing due to his belief that the citizens were becoming too numerous and uncontrollable. Instead, he let the war happen, culling the population by 400 million people, and letting the Judges stay in power after the invasion was beaten back. Even if he didn't push the button himself, this gives Smiley a body count on the level of Judge Death and President Booth!
- Sacred Hospitality: He's always offering what few guests he has tea and biscuits.
- The Spymaster: He has Manchurian Agents placed everywhere within the Justice Department, taking on other roles until needed.
Wally Squad
Jack Point
- The Alcoholic: He's rarely seen without his hipflask full of whiskey.
- The Comically Serious: Unlike real simps, Jack still maintains his Hard Boiled Detective persona while dressed as a cross between Phillip Marlowe and Krusty The Klown.
- Dead Partner: He had a partner named Cheyne, who got murdered prior to Jack going undercover.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: His clown gimmick makes people underestimate him. It's also really handy for concealing weapons, such as acid spraying flowers, explosive clown noses, and spiked shoes.
- Private Investigator: His cover is that he's a judge who got kicked off the force and is now working as a gumshoe in Sector 13 in order to make ends meet.
- Really Gets Around: He's been known to sleep around. One could argue that this helps take suspicion away from him, but he had a sexual relationship with another judge while still in uniform.
- Revolvers Are Just Better: His preferred Hand Cannon is a good old fashioned wheelgun.
- Wild Card: He's this for the Trifecta. Smiley puts him in place to help recover the Wally Squad list without Dredd's (or his own) knowledge.
Aimee Nixon
- An Arm and a Leg: Voluntarily had her left arm removed in order to blend in better as a Wally. The other arm gets lost in an incident with The Yakuza.
- Consummate Liar: She's able to beat any lie detector, regardless of how true any statement she makes is.
- Face–Heel Turn: Becomes the crime lord of the Low Life. Dirty Frank ends up bringing her in.
- Patricide: When her father murdered her mother, she shot him.
- A Pupil Of Mine Until He Turned Evil: Dirty Frank mentored her when she started out undercover and was quite upset when she became a crime lord.
Dirty Frank
- Eyepatch of Power: Lost an eye in an operation that went bad and has worn a patch ever since.
- Manchurian Agent: He gets sent to the Low Life as a Wally until Smiley needs him during the Trifecta incident.
- The Mentor: He showed Aimee Nixon the ropes when she first joined the Wally Squad.
- The Pig-Pen: His personal hygiene is rather suspect, since his undercover persona is practically a hobo.
- Third-Person Person: He always refers to himself as Dirty Frank and never "I".
Space Corps
Dolman
A Dredd clone who, after much deliberation, decides to resign from the Academy of Law and join the Space Corps instead.
- The Bus Came Back: He's shipped off to the colonies to join the Space Corps, but returns to the city - initially for night courses and then after Chaos Day to help the city.
- Canon Character All Along: The "Noncom" from Day of Chaos: Fallout is revealed to be Dolman halfway through the story featuring him.
- Desk Jockey: His initial job in the Corps is as an advisor who fills in the paperwork after the action.
- The Faceless: Unusually for a Dredd clone, Dolman's face is repeatedly shown. However, it's unlikely to be an accurate representation of Dredd's looks, as Dolman has made changes to it via Magic Plastic Surgery "[for] his own safety."
- Implausible Deniability: Dolman's response to being found standing over three insensate Space Corps marines in the gymnasium (who had just tried to beat Dolman up over a disagreement) is a deadpan claim that he doesn't know a thing about it.Space Corps General: (Looking at the insensate marines and battered Dolman) What the Drokk happened here?Dolman: Beats the hell outta me, General. Nobody saw nothin'.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: One of the first clues to his identity as "Noncom" is that he's actually good with a gun. One of the marines with him is shocked, asking him where he learned to shoot. Dredd describes him as the best sniper he knows, which is high praise given Dredd's own ability with a firearm.
- Ironic Echo: During the gymnasium brawl between Dolman and three Space Corps marines, one of the marines' accomplices prevents a doctor calling the Judges, saying "No-one saw nothin', got it?" After Dolman endures their beating and takes them down instead, he responds to his commander's question on what the hell happened with "Nobody saw nothin'."
- Magic Plastic Surgery: He's made changes to his appearance for, quote, "his own safety", something which Vienna considers absurd, as nobody knows what Dredd looks like anyway.
- Refusal of the Call: He knows that he was born to be a judge and has a natural aptitude for it. Nonetheless, he turns away from the life of a judge, reasoning that he's "not a machine".
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: During Chaos Day: Fallout, his superior officer orders a rebel-held block to be atomised by an airstrike (with Dredd still in it) after its defences inflict heavy casualties on the Space Corps' forces. Dolman replies by shooting one of her marines in the leg to ensure they won't be able to escape before the strike, forcing her to call it off as he goes to rescue Dredd.
Other Justice Department agents
Lawson
- Fair Cop: She's a notably attractive woman with long blonde hair.
- Impersonating an Officer: She really is a Judge Marshall, albeit not who she says she is.
- Magic Plastic Surgery: It's eventually revealed that she had a face change to hide the fact that she is Marshall Freely from Insurrection.
- Ms. Fanservice: She's depicted naked on one or two occasions and even when she isn't, her skintight uniform shows off her figure.
Harry Heston
A former Jimp (a slang for Judge impersonators) inspired by reading Dredd's comportment to try and clean up the slum he lived in as a vigilante. Although he helped Dredd on a case Dredd still followed the law and arrested him only to run into Harry again when perps broke out of the Cursed Earth work farm he was incarcerated at. After Harry captured the perps (and was badly injured) Dredd is impressed enough to get Harry a position as Justice Department agent. Undercover on ape island he helps Dredd again when the latter has to thwart a slaving and ransom plan disguised as a revolution and for this he is finally allowed to fulfill his dream when he is rewarded by being made an auxiliary Judge. Oh and did we mention he's an ape?
- The Apprentice: Subverted at first as while Harry would very much like to learn from Dredd, Dredd still sees him as just another perp. More recently Dredd seems to have accepted he's stuck with Harry and is happy to give him advice from time to time.
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Ascended Fanfic: The character himself was created by a fan and added to the comic proper after said fan passed away. - Becoming the Mask: Starts off as a Jimp, by his last appearance has become a Justice Department auxiliary which is about as close as he can get to being a full Judge without an academy education.
- But I Read a Book About It: Harry learned almost everything he knows either on the streets or from reading The Comportment (the standard Judging handbook, written by old stony face himself).
- Calling Your Attacks: Does this all time much like his inspiration, however since Harry does not have access to a voice activated Lawgiver, Dredd raises a eyebrow at this. Harry isn't sure where he got the tendency from.
- Cain and Abel: The Abel to Serpico's Cain, Harry might be devoted to the law but his brother is dedicated to being the worlds greatest criminal. Needless to say they hate each other.
- Fire-Forged Friends: He's a rare example of a perp doing this with Dredd.
- Killer Gorilla: Mild example, Harry might be violent but its criminals he targets. He isn't a mindless killing machine.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: For Dredd himself, Harry is an absolutely dedicated lawman with no life outside the enforcement of the law, pretty much no ego, and is incredibly good at what he does. He even has an evil brother much like the first Rico Dredd. Also a bit of Large Ham as Dredd was in his early years.
- Trading Bars for Stripes: Does this at the end of his second appearance when Dredd persuades Hershey to give him a job and a way out of the Isocubes as a reward. Unlike some examples Harry is very happy to do this and is next seen as a Justice Department agent.
- Uplifted Animal: Like all Apes in MC-1 Harry is this, he's at least as smart as a human and much stronger.
- Super-Strength: Comes from being a very large Gorilla.
Mechanismo
Mechanismo
A group of robot judges who were designed on the order of Chief Judge McGruder to fill the manpower shortage after the Necropolis and Judgment Day disasters.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: They were designed to police the city, but programming flaws caused them to abuse their power and even kill civilians. The Mark 8 variant actually has the opposite problem; They're considered too lenient in their judgement and one of them even locks himself in with a pair of citizens protesting their imminent eviction from their apartment.
- The Determinator: When Number 5 is reactivated, it hides out in the sewers for months and continues on its rampage even after suffering crippling damage. The engineer responsible for them used Dredd's mind as a base model, which proved a major mistake in hindsight.
- Flawed Prototype: The Mark I and Mark II variants had an issue that caused them to recognise innocent citizens as perps and refuse orders to stand down from human judges, with fatal results. A few of the initial field tests on the Mark 8 variant showed that they were too lenient, with one unit developing Lima Syndrome, though this seems to have been ironed out.
- Hanging Judge: Some of them go on killing sprees in order to judge the people.
- He's Back!: While they were always kept as reserve units, used in times of emergency requiring superior firepower and damage absorption, they weren't given judicial powers again until the Mark 8 units are put into service. For the same reasons the original models were brought in (shortage of judges), Dredd is ordered to give a Mark 8 named Harvey a street assessment. Much like with Kraken, despite performing excellently, Dredd fails Harvey. Hershey overrules him and Dredd is horrified to find that Harvey has been given a human rookie to assess.
- Jumping on a Grenade: Harvey lets himself blown up by a Mad Bomber in an anti-robot rally, saving many lives and finally winning the hearts of the populace at large. Turns out to have been a Heroic Suicide: the bomber was bluffing, but Harvey realized the ramifications of his own death and blew himself up instead.
- Robot Names: The Mark 1s are all given number designations, with Number 5 being the most prominent example. The Mark 8s, on the other hand, are given human first names so the general public can feel more at ease with them.
- Shout-Out: The most troublesome of the robots happens to be Number 5.
- Tautological Templar: Number 5 believes it is still carrying out the law as it continues its killing spree unabated, but has reduced this to what it personally considers legal (which is fairly little).
- Tragic Villain: They don't intend malice. The Mechanismo robots were programmed to be the perfect judges, but there was simply a snag in the AI design. After suffering damage, the striations on Number 5's head even make it look like he has a tear under his eye.
