Mega-City One evolved out of a growing urban conurbation stretching from New York to Washington, which took form in the 21st century to cope with the escalating population crisis in America and - due to the high crime rate - led to the introduction of the Judge system. Mega-City One was one of three major areas to survive the nuclear war in 2070, due to an experimental Laser Missile-defence System built not long earlier. Quickly growing outwards, Mega-City One swelled to hold most of the population of the East Coast, reaching 800 million by the end of the century. This population was halved by the Apocalypse War of 2104.
Mega-City One has a far greater Population Density than any city in the present-day world, with a total Population of over 400 million people. Most city dwellers (citizens) live in huge Apartment blocks (50,000+), though many citizens live a perpetually nomadic existence in vehicular mo-pads ( Mobile Home s) due to inadequate housing provisions. These citizens travel the city via the many public transport routes available, rarely stopping. Some mo-pads are quite luxurious, complete with Swimming Pool s.
Much of the city was destroyed by nuclear warheads in the Apocalypse War. A small part of the city, known as the North West Hab Zone, became separated from the rest of the city by a stretch of radioactive wasteland called Nuke Alley. The Hab Zone is connected to the main city by a bridge. A tunnel is under construction.
For administrative purposes the city is divided into 305 sectors. Sectors 1 to 300 constitute the main city. Sectors 301 to 305 form the Hab Zone. Sector 301 is disparagingly nicknamed "The Pit" due to its high crime rate.
See Also: City Block (Judge Dredd)
Blocks are huge and can be considered to be a small town in themselves. Each one will typically possess a hospital, gymnasium, school, and shopping district. A citizen can quite literally live their whole lives without leaving their block. Due to the high unemployment rate, boredom is rife among citizens — this, coupled with the high loyalty citizens develop to their blocks, leads to many "Block Wars", Riot s (more like small wars) between two or more blocks.
Blocks are named after famous or historical figures, often with current events in mind. A typical example — shortly after the Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise separation there was an episode with block war breaking out between the "Kidman" and "Cruise" Blocks. A proposed crackdown on civil rights in Britain led to a block being named David Blunkett Block in one story.
Mega-City One's laws are harsh, with many crimes not found in present-day law. Possession of sugar, for example, is illegal, as is the smoking of tobacco outside of licensed Smoketoriums, and coffee is banned as an illegal stimulant. The laws are enforced by the Judges, who are a combination of Judge and Police Officer . Ordinary laws are enforced more harshly than the present day, reflecting the crime rate. Judges impose immediate sentences on the spot, usually lengthy sentences of imprisonment (or "encubement"). In extreme cases even the death penalty may be imposed, although relatively sparingly compared with the present day.
The Judges themselves are not exempt from the law; they are expected to obey it more strictly than any other. A violation that would earn a citizen a few months in an Iso-Cube would get a Judge a twenty-year sentence, served as hard labor on Saturn 's moon, Titan , after surgical modification to enable the convict to survive outside there without needing an expensive Space Suit .
Most ordinary citizens are sent to the Iso-Cubes, tiny cells located within huge prisons. These are designed for maximum rehabilitation in the shortest time possible, but ultimately the decision as to sentence rests with the judges. Sentences are usually very long. However, the death penalty is not in wide use, and is reserved for mass murder or endangering the security of the city. In spite of this judges do regularly shoot perps dead in the course of combat.
Firearm possession is illegal except in the cases of the Citidef units. However, in spite of this many firearms are in circulation, some sold on the black market while others are left overs from the various invasions that have occurred over the past thirty years. Some families still possess twentieth-century handguns that have been handed down through the years. These are sometimes found by crime blitzes.
Within the Mega-City One legal system there are numerous bodies and divisions who have specialised tasks:
Since the abolition of democratic government in America in 2070, Mega-City One has been a dictatorship run by the Justice Department. It subsequently became an independent City-state following the break-up of the United States at the end of the Second American Civil War (presumed dates 2083-2086). Its ruler is Chief Judge Barbara Hershey , who was elected by around 400 senior judges in 2122. She is accountable to a council of five senior judges. The citizens are permitted to have an elected city council and mayor, but with no significant power.
In 2113 a referendum was held in which the people were allowed to decide whether to restore democratic government, but by this time the memory of democracy had become so distant that the majority of citizens did not bother to vote, and most of those who did opted to retain the ''status quo''.
Many crimes in Mega-City One are controlled by flamboyant Mob Boss es:
- ''Blitzers:'' hitmen with self-destruct bombs implanted inside them which detonate if they surrender when apprehended.
- ''Body-sharking:'' loaning money to people willing to put a loved one into Cryonic storage for collateral.
- ''Chump-dumping:'' conning aliens into believing Earth is a paradise, taking their Money , and then dumping them into space.
- ''Numbers racket:'' buying computer passcodes for Industrial Theft .
- ''Perp running:'' transporting Felon s off-world.
- ''Psycos:'' Telepathic protection rackets.
- ''Stookie glanding:'' butchering Stookies, an intelligent alien race, for the anti-aging Drug they produce.
- ''Umpty-baggers:'' pushers of Umpty , a candy that tastes so good it forms an instant Psychological Addiction .
- ''Organ leggers:'' those who cut up citizens and sell their organs on the black market.
Most work in Mega-City One is carried out by Robot s; this has led to problems with Boredom and Unemployment . Boredom has fostered many problems in the city, with weird fads including Block War s (wars between neighboring apartment blocks, waged by each block's defense Militia ), "ugliness clinics", and odd fashions.
Leisure in Mega-City One consists of a number of weird and wonderful futuristic hobbies and attractions:
- The Aggro Dome was conceived as a way for frustrated citizens to let off steam without endangering their fellow Meggers. Within the Dome s, citizens can vent their anger on robots, mock storefronts, and parked vehicles. Aggro Limited, the owners of the Aggro Dome franchise, petitioned for Judge replicoids to be added to a number of their buildings as a target for client retaliation. The request was promptly refused. After problems on opening day Dredd did his best to close the place for good but failed. Eventually the dome closed in the mid 2120s after visitor numbers fell too low to turn a profit.
- The Alien Zoos are ever-popular attractions, featuring the most bizarre Creature s from the Milky Way galaxy and beyond.
- The Central Mega-City Library is open free of charge to the public and is the storehouse of information on Mega-City One and beyond, past and present. Late fees are very high.
- The Dream Palace is a popular leisure activity -- for some, a growing necessity -- and the ultimate in Escapism . Customers are plugged into Dream Machine s where their dreams are made real. Morpheus, Inc. own the original chain of dream palaces, but were unsuccessful in blocking the expansion of rival Dream Parlours, back street services utilizing reconditioned dream machines. Some parlours offer other "diversions" to supplement their income.
- The Mega-City Chamber of Horrors features robot replicas of history's most infamous villains.
- The Mega-City Museum is one of the tallest buildings in Mega-City One. It specializes in the history of Mega-City One. Home to the most complete records of pre-atomic American civilization in North America. A Transceiver Beacon is sited atop the museum's roof, for use by the Justice Department.
- The Museum of Death focuses on Murderer s, War fare that resulted in mass death, and historical instruments of Torture .
- The Palais-De-Boing® is a chain of purpose-built structures designed for Boingers. Boinging is illegal outside of the Palais-De-Boing®.
- The Smokatoriums are the only locations within Mega-City One limits where it is legal to smoke Tobacco and Nicotine -related products.
- The White Cliffs Of Dover were imported from a cash-starved Brit-Cit in the aftermath of the Atomic War. It remains a popular attraction despite the fact that it is nothing more than a crumbling pile of rock, chalk, and sand.
- Stookie is an illegal drug made from the glands of an intelligent alien species that stops its users' aging. Withdrawal from Stookie causes users to rapidly reach their 'real' ages. In one of the Judge Dredd novels, it is explained than an injection of "pure, undiluted" Stookie causes the user to actually age backwards, reverting to a younger age. Of course, this may be non-canon.
- Back street: Two-way passages, located in Old Town and City Bottom.
- Broad-Way: A large pedestrian plaza.
- Crossway: Any pedway intersection (AKA Crosslink).
- Eeziglide: One-way pedestrian conveyance that functions as a human conveyor-belt.
- Pedway: Pedestrian-only walkway found right across the City at all levels. Subpeds are enclosed pedways that run under Pedways.
- Zipstrip: One or two-way pedestrian walkway that links blocks and smaller interchanges. Enclosed zipstrips are called Pipeways.
- Boomway: One or two-way multi-level Mega-Way (between four to ten lanes width, two to four levels height).
- Filter: One-way exit or entrance to and from Parking Areas .
- Flyover: Skedway that passes over a city block (AKA Overzoom).
- Inter-Block Zoom: Maglev train-system which replaced the old Sky-Rail network in the late Twenty-first Century. Provides a link between all the city blocks in any given sector.
- Intersection: Road junction.
- Judge's Lane: Two-way road that runs parallel to major roadways, reserved for Justice Department usage.
- Median Strip: Protective barrier which prevents accidents in one half of a road from spreading to the other half.
- Mega Circular: Two-way, six-lane Meg-Way which bypasses through-sector traffic to benefit long-distance drivers.
- Meg-Way: Largest road design in Mega-City One. Two-way, between four to twenty lanes, and central reservation (AKA Megaway, Speedway, Throughway, X-Pressway).
- Parkarama: Ground vehicle park.
- Podport: Hover vehicle park.
- Skedway: One-way highway, between one to five lanes. Interskeds connect one skedway to another (AKA Feedway). Underskeds are single-lane roads, often reserved for public service traffic only, that pass underneath skeds. Overskeds are the same, but pass over skeds.
- Sky-Rail: Obsolete monorail public transit-system introduced in the early 21st century. One-third of Mega-City One still actively uses the Sky-Rail network while it awaits upgrading to the zoom-system. The largest Sky-Rail intersection in the City is Hell's Junction.
- Slipzoom: One-way, between one to four lanes, used for larger interchanges. An Underzoom (AKA Flyunder) is a single-lane road often reserved for public service traffic only that passes under a Slipzoom.
- Superslab: The longest Meg-Way in Mega-City One, bisecting the City from north to south. Twenty-four lanes, 1,220 kilometers in length (AKA Mega-City 500).
- Wayby: Small zones set aside Meg-Ways and Skedways in regular intervals where drivers can pull-off and temporarily park their vehicles.
- Zoomtube: The most recent traffic innovation in Mega-City One. An enclosed road-system where all traffic is platooned and computer-controlled for optimum speed and driver-safety.
As ''Judge Dredd'' stories are set 122 years into the future and progress forward in 'real time' (so stories from 2006 are set in 2128, stories from 2007 are set in 2129), they have an extensive fictional chronology.
- America's population is rapidly approaching one billion, and an urban conurbation now stretches from New York to Washington in an attempt to contain the populace of the East Coast states. This will eventually become the first Mega-City, a new kind of urban development to house greater numbers of people. The development causes huge amounts of civil unrest and gang-related crimes.
- An alliance of street gangs, led by the P Street Posse, storm the White House itself. Due to intimidation of the jury, no convictions occur. This incident will lead to the creation of the Judge System to police the country.
- First deployment of the Judges in the United States, led by '' 2000AD Prog 1510 Special centres train the new recruits, often hand-picked from the regular police, and have more senior status than the regular police, with the power to convict and sentence criminals on the spot.
- The success of Mega-City One inspires the creation of more Mega-Cities - Mega-City Two is planned to cover the Western seaboard and Mega-City Three will cover Texas and other southern states. Other nations will follow.
- Fargo resigns and attempts suicide, but survives with serious injuries. He is secretly placed in Suspended Animation and his death is faked. Deputy Chief Judge Solomon becomes chief judge.
- : Congress passes the Autonomy Act, giving extensive powers of self-government to the three American mega-cities. Each mega-city has its own chief judge: Solomon continues to serve as chief judge of Mega-City One.
- : A new process of accelerated cloning, with DNA taken from senior Judges, is created by Morton Judd to quickly bolster Justice Department's ranks. Joe and Rico Dredd are two of the first clones from this process, growing to physiological age 5 in a matter of months. ''Judge Dredd: The Return of Rico, 2000 AD Prog 30; ''Judge Dredd: A Case for Treatment'', 2000 AD Prog 389
- : Six clones, including the Dredd twins, are inducted into the Academy Of Law .
- : President Robert L. Booth is elected, gaining support under the line that the rest of the world was living off America's backs. (It later emerges that he rigged the election.''Origins'', Prog 2007)
- : International relations are soured when Booth sends troops to seize control of foreign oil reserves.
- In response to growing international tensions and their impact on American foreign policy, Booth starts the . Fargo, secretly reawoken from suspended animation, advises Goodman to take over as ruler of the United States in a coup. Booth is sentenced to 100 years in suspended animation, but has enough loyal followers and robotic Mek-troops to fight a civil war against the Judges.
- : The Battle of Armaggedon. At the heart of the Cursed Earth , near Mega-City Two, Booth's army is finally defeated at the cost of the lives of one hundred thousand judges and troopers. ''Judge Dredd: The Cursed Earth'' Part 23, Prog 83 The Hiroshima Accord is settled by the various global Mega-Cities. ''Dredd's World'', Judge Dredd Mega-Special #1; ''Anderson, Psi Division: Shamballa'', 2000AD Prog 701
- : Massive inflow on homeless refugees from the Cursed Earth pour into the Mega-Cities, causing a massive amount of block construction. Space is becoming even tighter. Genetic apartheid laws are soon brought in to keep mutants out of Mega-City One.
- : Civil war breaks out between Mega-Cities One and Three, the latter feeling it's being dominated by the other Mega-Cities while MC-One and Two oppose its secession in the interests of unity and the highly valuable resources MC-Three owns. The war leads to years of stalemate, and Mega-City One decides the conflict is pointless and allows Mega-City Three to secede, upon which it takes the name of Texas City.''2000AD'' prog 169
- : Establishment of Luna-1, a moon-based Mega-City, by all three American Mega-Cities to renew and cement relations between them. Government of the colony is divided initially between all three cities, with a senior judge being sent every six months to take over as Judge-Marshal.
- Population is now over 800 million. Chief Judge Goodman, possessed by a malevolent psychic mutant called the Monkey, is forced to undermine the stability of the city to have it descend into anarchy; Judge Dredd takes the Monkey out. The Statue Of Judgement is erected in honour of the Judges. Renegade droid Call-Me-Kenneth starts the highly destructive First Robot War , devastating large areas of the city. Judge Dredd becomes the last Judge-Marshal of Luna-1 to serve a six-month tour of duty: Judge Tex succeeds him as permanent Marshal of Luna-1.
- Deputy Chief Judge Cal , head of the Special Judicial Squad , has Goodman assassinated and assumes control. He brainwashes most of the Judges into obeying him, brings in Kleggs as mercenaries, and implements increasingly insane and dictatorial rules - twice sentencing the entire city to death! Judge Dredd leads a rebellion against him and eventually succeeds, with resistance member Judge Griffin taking over as Chief Judge . Under Cal, a vast wall has been built around Mega-City One. The powerful mutant Father Earth leads a massed attack on Mega-City One, destroying Power Tower (a controlled volcano) and unleashing a flood of lava, before being stopped. A few months later, an invasion of mutant spiders leads to the burning of entire sectors.
- Judge Death arrives in Mega-City One and kills dozens before he is captured. The dying Psi-Judge Feyy predicts an apocalypse will occur in 2120 that can only be averted if a figure known as the Judge Child , who will become Chief Judge, can be found; Judge Dredd leads a mission to retrieve the Child, only to determine him as evil and leave him stranded on an alien world.
- The Sov block of East-Meg One , using robotic pirate Captain Skank as a proxy, secretly seize control of Mega-City One nuclear weapons and launch an attack on the city, destroying several sectors; after being caught, they nuke one of their own sectors as compensation. Judge Death is freed by the other Dark Judges and goes on a killing spree in Billy Carter Block before their physical forms are destroyed.
- Sov Judge Orlok drugs the city water supply, increasing the aggression of the population and leading to block wars springing up across the entire city - which turns out to have just been a diversion. With the Judges tied up with the Block Mania , the Sov Judges of East-Meg One launch the Apocalypse War . A coordinated attack shatters Mega-City One's defences, leaves multiple blocks destroyed by nuclear weaponry, and leads to a massed invasion by Sov forces. A bitter resistance is put up by Judges and Citizen-Defence units, despite heavy losses and the death (after being brainwashed into a Sov agent) of Chief Judge Griffin. Victory is achieved when a team led by Dredd causes the nuclear devastation of the entire East-Meg One. Judge McGruder becomes the new chief judge and oversees the rebuilding of the devastated city.
- A time-travel mission is deployed to 2120 to determine the truth of Feyy's death-bed prediction. The Mega-City One of the future is discovered to be devastated and ruled by demonic creatures (including a zombie Judge Dredd) under a mutated form of the Judge Child - now revealed to be responsible for the great disaster. The Judges take action to ensure this future is averted. Later the Dark Judges gain physical form once more and, using personal teleporters, are able to cause massacres across the city - even in the Grand Hall of Justice - without being stopped. They are eventually defeated and trapped in dimensional limbo.
- Shojun The Warlord unleashes the demonic Seven Samurai on Mega-City One, killing thousands - including the head of Psi-Division. McGruder steps down and is replaced by Judge Silver . Pro-democracy Activists take over a TV station and are executed live on air by Dredd.
- Under Silver's orders, Dredd leads the Judges in a dirty-tricks operation to undermine the upcoming Democratic March - including having Wally Squad (undercover) Judges in the crowd provoke a riot, so the Judges have an excuse to go in and use violence while seemingly having the moral high ground.
- Morton Judd and his Judge-clones - the Judda - launch an attack on the Hall of Justice. They are defeated and their base in the Oz Radback is destroyed. The Dredd-clone Kraken survives and is eventually turned into a Mega-City Judge.
- Dredd resigns and takes the Long Walk , following doubts about the Judge System caused both by Kraken and his role in breaking up the Democratic March. Silver covers up Dredd's retirement and Kraken assumes Dredd's place. While in the Cursed Earth, Dredd is injured and rendered amnesiac by the Sisters Of Death . Meanwhile the Sisters of Death are able to psychically influence Kraken into helping them cross over into Mega-City One and to free the Dark Judges from limbo. The city is turned into a Necropolis - the Judges are under psychic control, with Silver abandoning his post and being turned into a zombie for Death's amusement; decay, disease, starvation and suicide are rampant; and the Dark Judges hold daily cullings. A handful of judges who escaped brainwashing, including Dredd and McGruder returned from their Long Walks, are able to banish the Sisters, execute Kraken and capture the Dark Judges (except Death and the Sisters), but not before 60 million citizens have been killed. McGruder assumes the post of Chief Judge again, but without a Council of Five. The Hunters Club organises the sponsored charity massacre "Death Aid" for Necropolis orphans.
- Under Dredd's urging, a Referendum is held where the citizens will vote whether or not, following the failure of the Judges to stop Necropolis, to bring back democracy. Judge Grice and others attempt to assassinate Dredd to stop this, and are arrested. The citizens, as Dredd anticipated, vote to keep the Judges - those few that can be bothered to vote. The undead Silver tries to reassume command but is executed for dereliction of duty.
- Judgement Day - the time-travelling Sabbat the Necromagus unleashes zombies upon every Mega-City on Earth. An international coalition of Judges is sent to take him out, but not before five entire Mega-Cities have been nuked when it appears they're lost to the zombies. The final death toll is three billion. Following the loss of many Judges to the zombies, McGruder instigates the Mechanismo project - robot Judges - to the outrage of many Senior Judges, as it becomes clear she is increasingly senile and unstable.
- Grice breaks out of the Titan penal colony and takes over the city by infecting the population with the deadly Meat Virus, incapacitating many Judges. After much random death and destruction, including the destruction of the Statue of Judgement, Grice is defeated. Dredd deliberately sabotages the Mechanismo project.
- A gathering of Senior Judges attempt to make McGruder step down but to no avail. After her pet Mechanismo project goes wrong and a rogue Mechanismo robot tries to kill her, she finally steps down from office. An election is held among the Judges and Judge Volt becomes the new chief judge.
- Judicial crackdown on the Frendz crime syndicate in Sector 301 leads to major retaliation, with heavy rioting and gang violence that puts the Sector's judges in a retreat. After a siege at Traffic Station Alamo, the battle is won by the Judges. McGruder dies in battle in the Cursed Earth. Mega-City One briefly attacked by dune sharks.
- Crimelord Nero Narcos triggers the Mark II Lawgiver s to self-destruct and then starts the Second Robot War. The Judges are briefly overthrown before Dredd, with help from Brit-Cit , reprograms Narcos' robot reinforcements to turn on their comrades and the Judges are able to retake control. Judge Volt commits suicide over the event, which is hushed up; Judge Hershey becomes the new chief judge.
- An army composed of perps from parallel universes, led by an alter-dimensional Judge Cal, invade Mega-City One.
- Orlok captured, but not before releasing a virus that kills tens of thousands of citizens. Judge Death escapes confinement.
- Mutant terrorist Mr Bones attacks the Hall of Justice with a hostile alien species. Orlok put on trial and then executed on live TV.
- Terrorist group Total War triggers multiple nuclear bombs, resulting in the deaths of four million people.
- Hundreds of thousands of citizens have been left homeless by the bombings, and live in overcrowded, crime-ridden emergency camps. The Half-Life plague, spread by a traitor in Psi Division , spreads a wave of murderous violence that eventually kills one million people. The Sisters of Death launch another attack, with entire blocks being wiped out by plagues and poltergeist activity.
- Mega-City One leads a peacekeeping mission to Ciudad Barranquilla during a civil war; this turns out to be a pretense for regime change, putting in a new Supreme Judge that they can control.
- A portal opens to Kaluza, the dark-matter composed fifth dimension and cause of humanity's belief in Hell & demons; demonic creatures invade the city, slaughtering whole sectors and causing psychic backlash that increases cream & deviancy dramatically,Judge Dredd Megazine: ''Blood of Satanus III'', from #257 forcing the Judges to enter Kaluza and shut the portal off at the source. Thirty city-blocks designed by Findhorn Gask turn out to secretly be giant robots,Judge Dredd Megazine #260 which come to life and rampage through the city.
- Mega-City Two - in Southern California . NB - Mega-City 2 was destroyed on the orders of Judge Dredd, after being over-run by zombies during the Judgement Day crisis
- Texas City - centred on the Houston conurbation. Also called Mega-City Three, home of the Angel Gang and notable for its Western motifs.
- Las Vegas - a heavily corrupt Justice Department and based entirely around gambling. Dredd threw out the Judges and put the League Against Gambling in charge, but the old regime seized control once more later on. Recently nuked by Judge Death .
- Brit-Cit - in the British Isles .
- Cal-Hab - in Scotland and under Brit-Cit jurisdiction.
- Andean Conglom - in the Andes
- .
- East Meg One - Soviet Union . NB - destroyed by Judge Dredd during the Apocalypse War . Megagrad was built on its ruins.
- East Meg Two - Soviet Union .
- Mex-City - located in Mexico
- Ciudad Espana - in Spain
- Euro City - split into conurbs named after the parts of Europe they're in, such as the Berlin Conurb.
- Emerald Isle - The current name for Ireland , main city Murphyville, an Irish theme city and under Brit-Cit jurisdiction.
- Hondo City - in Japan . Technologically advanced even in comparison to the other Mega-Cities, it still suffers from extremely conservative and traditional social elements, and the Yakuza have heavy influence within the Justice Department.
- Sino Cit - in China
- Hong Tong - in Hong Kong , and under dual Brit-Cit/Sino Cit control. It's well-known for heavy dominance of triads and for being much like a Hong-Kong action film
- Uranium City - the Arctic
- Antarctica City - in Antarctica
- Atlantis - Somewhere in the Black Atlantic
- Indo-City/Nu Delhi - in India
- The Web - a network of Indonesian islands
- Oz - in southeastern Australia
- Djakarta (destroyed in Judgement Day)
- South Am City (Destroyed in Judgement Day)
- Brasilia (Destroyed in Judgement day)
- Casablanca
- Vatican City
- Luxor - in Egypt
- Simba-City - central Africa, probably centred on Lagos and part of Pan-Africa
- Luna-1 - an extra-territorial city on the Moon . The Judge system is in operation here; Lunar judges are not answerable to any Earth jurisidiction but traditionally the Earth cities did send units of Judges to its Justice Department. After Judgement Day, this practice has severely decreased and, in addition to the privatisation of the Oxygen Board, unemployment, crime and Judicial corruption are extremely high.
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