Dark Judges - Character Details

Character Details

The Dark Judges are undead and, as such, cannot be conventionally killed. They are ghostly spirits that must first inhabit dead bodies in order to do physical harm. This involves obtaining recently deceased cadavers, which are subsequently processed by machinery that produces "dead fluids". These fluids bring the corpses to "full ripeness", prefatory to the spirits inhabiting and animating them. The incarnate Dark Judges are emaciated, zombie-like humanoids with sharp claws that frequently serve for them to stab their victims through the head or torso. All four speak with a hiss.

Once incarnated, the Dark Judges don uniforms, or "robes of office", which reflect their identities. The uniforms are variants of the traditional judge uniform, with specific modifications based upon the judges' personalities.

Judge Death appears in something close to a Judge's helmet, though its modified visor resembles a portcullis. His mouth is pulled into a rictus. On his right shoulder is a pterodactyl, as opposed to the Judges' eagles; his left shoulder pad and elbow pads are festooned with bones. His tunic is fastened with crude stitches rather than a zipper, and his badge and belt buckle are each shaped like a human skull with extended fangs, the latter with bat wings. Judge Death will most often kill his victims by reaching directly into their chests (in an intangible state) and squeezing their hearts until they burst, which he does without even breaking his victims' skin.

Judge Fear is an imposing figure with a black, iron helm obscuring his face, which he will open before his victims to frighten them to death with whatever lies within, often saying "gaze into the face of Fear!" Judge Dredd, however, was able to resist long enough to punch Fear through the head, replying "gaze into the fist of Dredd!" The actual face under the helmet has only been seen once, as a mass of eyeballs - although no explanation was given whether it was his actual face, or a representation of Fear's manifestation of the person watching's greatest terror. Fear has an assortment of bear traps dangling from his belt, and is known to throw them at his enemies in order to immobilize them; it also holds an enormous padlock which he uses to secure his victims' potential exit routes. He wears a thick robe with ornamental bear traps on the shoulders. His belt buckle is a shrunken head. A side note, in Progs 421 and 423 Judge Fear can be seen exhibiting the same powers as Judge Death, stabbing his hands through citizens bodies, though whether this is an additional ability or simply the artist's mistake has never been addressed.

Judge Fire is immersed in flame, but otherwise his uniform resembles that of Death. He has a human skull for a head and wields a flame-spewing trident. As a human, he was an undercover Judge named Fuego who had infiltrated a resistance group, which he eventually led to the newly-created Judge Death to become his first kills. He earned the name Judge Fire when he was human, for burning a school down for breaking noise regulations at playtime.

Judge Mortis is in a perpetual state of disintegration, and his touch causes his victims to decay extremely rapidly. Like Fire and Fear, he spent his early years as a trainee Judge at Law School, Deadworld's equivalent to Mega-City One's Academy of Law, and graduated after Judge Death. He quickly developed an admiration for Sidney's methods and beliefs and became one of his three lieutenants, sharing his comrade's zeal for passing arbitrary death sentences. He is sometimes employed by Judge Death to prepare the Dark Judges' host bodies. Mortis's head is a sheep skull and he has a bony tail. His uniform's right shoulder is a bird skeleton, and his left shoulder is protected by a perforated mantle. His badge is a stylized sheep skull with his name emblazoned in wood.