| 1999 |
1st January. Black Friday. The Volgan Republic
of Asia invades western Europe. |
| 2023 |
After the end of the Volgan War,
work begin on a vast Mega-City centred around
New York, in an attempt to cope with the rapidly
soaring population of the East Coast states.
Initially intended to house three to four
million people; America's population at the time
is rapidly approaching a thousand million. |
| 2031 |
With the enormous metropolis
nearing completion, the vast structure needs a
special form of government. A new policing
system is introduced to cope with the problems
posed by such a concentrated mass of humanity.
At first, the Judges are hand-picked from the
ranks of the regular police forces, but are soon
established as a separate entity, with recruits
trained from a very early age. They enjoy a
status higher than the regular police and are
respected and feared on the streets for their
grim impartiality. The first Chief Judge,
Eustace Fargo (known to later generations as
'The Father of Justice'), is responsible only to
the president himself. |
| 2039 |
The success of Mega-City One
inspires other areas to build Mega-Cities, and
plans are drawn up for Mega-City Two, to run
down the Western seaboard, and Mega City Three, centered
around Texas and the other Southern states. Each
is designed to accommodate around two hundred
million citizens. |
| 2040 -
47 |
Mega-Cities Two and Three are
completed. On the streets of all three
Mega-Cities, the Judges have replaced the
traditional policeman, as violence and crime
escalate under already crowded conditions. |
| 2051 |
Judge Solomon reluctantly takes
over as Chief Judge on the death of Judge Fargo,
at the insistence of the other members of the
Council of Judges, the ruling body of the
Justice Department of which the Chief Judge is
head. |
| 2058 |
Soloman steps down, in favor of
Judge Goodman, and returns to the streets where
he is happiest. |
| 2066 |
A new process of accelerated
cloning, coupled with genetic screening for
suitable Judge material, means that trainees are
able to become full Judges in record time. The
legendary Judge Dredd is one of the first
children to result from this new technique. |
| 2070 |
Caught in a maze of diplomatic
wrangling, President Robert L Booth of the USA
starts the Atomic Wars, which rapidly devastate
most of the USA, USSR and Europe. The
Mega-Cities escape direct nuclear attack,
however, because of experimental laser defence
systems installed just a year earlier. Shocked
by such an abuse of power, the citizens of
America rise up and depose President Booth.
Booth still has many loyal followers, however,
and control over the country's robotic Mek-troop
army. A bloody civil war begins. The citizens
petition the Judges to take over the running of
the country. |
| 2071 |
In the heart of the Cursed Earth,
a vast irradiated wasteland formed by the wars,
Booth's Presidential Guard in finally defeated
at the Battle of Armageddon, but only at the
cost of the lives of a hundred thousand Judges
and Mek-troops. Acting in his temporary position
as Grand Judge for all three Mega-Cities, Judge Solomon
pronounces his famous 'Judgment of Solomon', in
which the deposed Booth is put into suspended
animation, and entombed in Fort Knox for one
hundred years. |
| 2072 |
A steady inflow of refugees from
the Cursed Earth swells the post-war populations
of the Mega-Cities; MC-1 has 550 million, MC-2
has 350 million, and MC-3 has 260 million. More
and more blocks are built, but demand fast
outstrips the housing supply and many citizens
form shanty-towns outside the walls of the
Mega-Cities. Gradually, the problem is eased by
new fast construction techniques, but space in
the Mega-Cities is at a premium. |
| 2079 |
Joseph and Rico Dredd graduate
with honors to become full Judges. A few months
after leaving the Academy, Judge Joe Dredd
arrests his clone-brother Rico for the crimes of
accepting bribes, vice and murder. Rico is
sentenced to twenty years on the penal colony of
Titan. |
| 2083 -
86 |
After years of wrangling over independence
and government, civil war breaks out between
Mega-Cities One and Three. The latter claims
that its individual identity is being submerged,
governed as it is by other Mega-Cities. The
other two cities oppose the idea in the
interests of unity, and (probably more
importantly) the highly valuable resources
controlled by Mega-City Three. The war ends in
stalemate, though Mega-City One allows Three to
secede and declare its independence. Mega-City
Three adopts the name Texas City; while MC-1 and
MC-2 form 'The Union'. |
| 2088 |
Luna-1 moon base is established by
all three Mega-Cities. Although hailed as a
great scientific achievement, it is seen by many
as a diplomatic exercise, designed to renew and
cement relations with Texas City. Government of
the colony is divided initially between all
three cities, with a senior Judge sent every six
months to take preside as Chief Judge. |
| 2099 |
The people of Mega-City One unveil
the gigantic Statue of Judgment in honour of the
Judges. The city's population has rises to a
staggering 800 million, many of them are
homeless. Some enterprising citizens take to the
road in ever-moving mobile homes, a solution
which produces some 18 million mo-pads,
perpetually driving the roadways of the city. A
robot rebellion, led by renegade droid
Call-me-Kenneth, brings about widespread
destruction before it is finally quashed;
anti-robot lobbies gain much support.
Rico Dredd returns to Mega-City One, and is
killed by Judge Dredd while attempting to take
his revenge. |
| 2100 |
Mega-City Two falls prey to the
deadly viral disease, 2T(FRU)T, which threatens
to overwhelm the city. An overland mission to
deliver an antidote succeeds after a long and
dangerous trek across the Cursed Earth. |
| 2101 |
Chief Judge Goodman is murdered on
the orders of the mad Judge Cal, who takes
control of the Mega-City for a hundred day reign
of terror, during which time he makes a goldfish
his second-in-command and sentences the entire
city to death. |
| 2102 |
The resistance movement, led by
Judges Griffin and Dredd, rises against Cal and
his alien mercenaries the Kleggs. The tyrant
plummets to his death from the top of the Statue
of Judgment whilst proving his ability to fly.
Griffin takes over as Chief Judge.
Judge Death arrives in Mega-City One. Declaring
all life a crime, the supernatural creature
slaughters dozens of citizens, until his body is
destroyed by Judge Dredd. When the creature
possesses Psi-Judge Cassandra Anderson, she
sacrifices herself by allowing herself to be
sealed in Boing™, trapping Death's spirit with
her.
On his death
bed, Psi-Judge Feyy predicts doom for Mega-City
One in 2120 unless the Judge Child, destined to
be the Chief Judge, can be found. Dredd goes in
search of the Child, who was abducted by the
Angel Gang. After tracking down and executing
the gang on a distant planet, Dredd rejects the
Judge Child as evil and returns to the City.
|
| 2103 |
Judge Death is freed by his
compatriots, Judges Fear, Fire and Mortis. Judge
Dredd and the revived Anderson force the
unkillable creatures to retreat across the
dimension span to their own dead world. After
following them to Deadworld, Anderson channels
the wrath of the lost souls on Deadworld to
exorcise the Dark Judges.
A series of Block Wars accelerate
into Block Mania, under the influence of Orlok
the Assassin, a Sov agent who has been putting
drugs in the water supply. The Mega-City erupts
into chaos, with neighbour fighting neighbour,
and even Judges being affected by the drug.
|
| 2104 |
Supreme Judge Bulgarin of East-Meg One launches
an all-out nuclear strike against the
critically-weakened Mega-City One, and the
Apocalypse War begins. Prolonged fighting
devastates both the Mega-City One and Sov sides,
but a daring raid into Sov territory results in
the obliteration of East-Meg One, and the
invaders finally surrender. Chief Judge Griffin
has died in the war, along with over four
hundred million other citizens and Judges. Most
of Mega-City One is in ruins, and millions are
homeless. Judge McGruder, head of the SJS, takes
over as Chief Judge. |
| 2105 -
06 |
The city is gradually rebuilt, but
many parts still lie in ruins, and irradiated
areas are dotted around the city. Disease is a
common hazard, and pollution is not diminished
by tough laws. Unemployment is nearly 90%, and
many bored citizens turn to crime. A wave of
insane crazes sweep the city, inspired by
controversial vid shows and renegade Juve gangs,
and the Judges are ever-more hard pressed to
keep the peace. |
| 2106 |
Tek Division produces the Proteus,
a prototype time machine. The machine is used by
Judges Anderson and Dredd to travel forward to
2120, in order to discover the truth of Judge
Feyy's final prediction. In 2120 they discover
the ruined Mega-City, ruled over by the Mutant,
a vastly powerful psionic being created from the
cloned tissue of Owen Krysler, the Judge Child.
The Judges return to 2106, and Chief Judge
McGruder orders the termination of the Judge
Child in an attempt to prevent the calamity from
taking place. |
| 2107 |
Judge Anderson is lured to
Deadworld and duped into reviving the Dark
Judges. The creatures return to Mega-City One
with teleportation technology and kill
thousands, before they are finally trapped in
limbo by means of a prototype dimension jump
device. |
| 2108 -
09 |
After a error in judgment results in
widespread destruction, McGruder resigns as
Chief Judge and takes the Long Walk. Judge
Silver assumes the office. The Democratic
movement in the City gains momentum. |
| 2110 |
The Judda, a renegade faction of Judges,
attack the City. After tracking them to their
hidden base in Oz, Dredd destroys the group with
a nuclear device. |
| 2112 |
After experiencing severe doubts
about his role as a Judge, Dredd resigns and
takes the Long Walk. The deprogrammed Judda,
Kraken, takes the badge and becomes Dredd's
replacement.
The Sisters of Death subvert Kraken and use
him to free the Dark Judges. The City becomes a
Necropolis, with the creatures killing over
sixty million before Dredd and McGruder return
from the Cursed Earth to stop them. Chief Judge
Silver dies during the disaster and McGruder
re-assumes the office. The Hunt Club
organises 'Death Aid', a sponsored massacre, in
order to raise funds for those unfortunate
children left parentless as a result of
Necropolis. |
| 2113 |
The City holds a Democratic
Referendum, despite spirited opposition from a
faction within Justice Dept. The conspirators
are rounded up and sentenced to Titan for
treason. The citizens overwhelmingly re-elect
Justice Dept. to govern the City. |
| 2114 |
Judgement Day. Sabbat the
Necromagus arrives from the year 2178, and sets
about reanimating the dead all over the world.
Billions die as several Mega-Cities are
completely overrun by zombies, and are nuked out
of existence to prevent Sabbat's army growing
further. Aided by Johnny Alpha, a mutant
bounty-hunter from Sabbat's time, an elite squad
of Judges succeed in stopping Sabbat. Former
Chief Judge Silver is discovered among those
re-animated, and is laid to rest by Dredd. The
Mechanismo robo-Judge project is initiated, and
promptly abandoned when a serious design flaw
results in several berserk robots. |
| 2115 |
The anti-Democratic faction
escapes from Titan and attacks
MC-1 with the 'meat virus'. Supreme Judge
Traktorfactori is assassinated. |
| 2116 |
Uncovering evidence that the
Mechanismo Project is continuing, Judge Dredd is
accused of treason and sentenced to Titan. After
Justice One crashes on the planet Hestia,
critically injuring Chief Judge McGruder, she
re-instates Dredd's judicial status and steps
down as Chief Judge. Hadrian Volt is elected to
the Office. |
| 2117 -
20 |
A spaceship purporting to carry a
message from God, crashes in Antarctica,
prompting each of the Mega-Cities to send an
agent to recover the secret for themselves.
Judge Dredd is assigned as Sector Chief of The
Pit, the roughest Sector in the City, with
orders to clean it up. |
| 2121 |
Dredd is captured by Orlok the
Assassin and taken to New Kremlin to stand trial
for his actions during the Apocalypse War. With
help from Anderson, he escapes, causing the
destruction of the floating Kremlin.
Crimelord Nero Narcos takes over the City
with a robot army. Judge Dept. is crippled when
the newly issued Lawgiver Mk.11s are discovered
to be under Narcos' control. With help from
Brit-Cit, Dredd leads a team against Narcos'
robot troops which succeeds in turning the army
against itself. Chief Judge Volt commits
suicide, and Judge Hershey is elected to the
office. |
| 2122 |
The present day... |
