Judge Cal
Encyclopedia
Chief Judge Cal is a fictional character
in the Judge Dredd
comic strip in 2000 AD
. He was loosely based on the real life Roman emperor
Caligula
, who is widely considered to have been insane. He was the villain in the story "The Day the Law Died!" (1978–79).
Cal was head of the Special Judicial Squad (SJS), the feared Internal Affairs unit of judges responsible for weeding out corruption in the Mega-City One
Justice Department. However he exploited this position to blackmail errant judges into working for him as assassins, instead of arresting them, as he built up his powerbase and prepared to seize control of the city. His career advanced rapidly and he became deputy chief judge
of Mega-City One in the year 2100. Soon afterwards he was ready to make his move. First he framed Dredd on his return from the Cursed Earth
with the murders of a news vid editor and a photographer. Dredd was sentenced to twenty years on Titan; however he was able to escape and prove his innocence. A robot double had been used to frame Dredd, programmed with information only available to those within Justice Department. The search was on for the traitor within the department.
Cal had already had a taste of power in Dredd's absence, Chief Judge Goodman
not being in a fit state to govern because of his grief over Dredd's sentence. Unwilling to wait any longer, Cal ordered his assassins to stab Goodman to death in the street, whereupon he automatically succeeded to the city's highest office. He had Judge Dredd shot and the mayor arrested, and immediately began a despotic reign of terror. By this time the power had gone to his head and he became openly insane. He appointed his own pet goldfish to the vacant position of deputy chief judge, and made criticising the chief judge a capital offence. He was able to get away with this because he had brainwashed the majority of the judges into obeying his every order.
Judge Dredd had survived however, and with the help of a handful of colleagues who had escaped being brainwashed such as Judge Giant
, he led a revolt by the citizens against Cal's insane tyranny. But Cal had anticipated this and recruited an army of alien mercenaries, the Kleggs
, a reptilian race of soldiers-for-hire. The revolt was quickly quashed with widespread loss of life. Dredd and the small number of survivors went into hiding and began a guerrilla campaign of resistance. However Cal decided to punish Mega City One by sentencing the entire population to death; he did this in alphabetical order beginning with the unfortunate Aaron A. Aardvark, likely inspired by the “The Day Perry Masonment Lost a Case” in Mad Magazine circa 1969 where the first of 45,000 witnesses to be called is "Aaron A. Aardvark". Execution chambers were set up all over the city. Dredd managed to stop the executions by having Deputy Chief Judge Fish assassinated, which the superstitious Cal took to be an omen that the executions would lead to the death of the judges as well. However when no citizens turned up for his pet's funeral he decided to punish the citizens by passing even more draconian laws. He appointed Grampus, the Klegg leader, as his new deputy and encouraged children to snoop on their parents if they said anything against his leadership. These and a wave of other measures made life intolerable for the beleaguered citizens.
When the oppressed population tried to flee into the Cursed Earth, Cal built a wall one mile high around the entire city to keep them in, enslaving millions of people to perform this task. The wall was covered in gun emplacements to shoot anyone who tried to escape. However he was not able to crush the people's spirit entirely, even when he thought he had destroyed Dredd forever by causing his transport to crash through the City Bottom into the Undercity
. When the citizens again failed to join in his celebrations he launched a crackdown on all items that could possibly cause happiness, ordering all luxury items to be burned in the street.
All the while his madness intensified and his visions of the previous chief judges became more violent. He imagined them tormenting him, suggesting that the only way for his 'perfect city' to go was down. So in order to preserve its perfection forever he would execute his entire population of 800 million people, this time by releasing toxic gas over the whole city to kill everybody at once. When even his own SJS judges turned against him he began killing them too.
Eventually Dredd managed to sabotage the brainwashing machines which Cal had been using to control the judges, and he led the loyal judges against Cal's Kleggs and SJS in a final battle to save the city. When Grampus and his Kleggs tried to surrender (having been allowed to leave before the gas was to be released) they were mercilessly shot down. Even then Cal almost regained the upper hand at the last moment, when Dredd and his fellow judges were captured. It fell to Fergee
, a common criminal and outcast from the city, to save the day by killing Cal just before he could press the doomsday button.
For his leadership of the resistance movement Dredd was acclaimed as a hero and was offered the office of chief judge, but he declined, preferring to return to his chosen career in law enforcement. Instead he nominated his former mentor and tutor, Judge Griffin
, who had fought with him against Cal from the beginning. Chief Judge Griffin never forgot the debt he owed Dredd and personally intervened on his behalf in a future crisis when the future of Dredd's own career was in the balance.
An adapted version of this storyline was used for the Judge Dredd movie
in 1995; however Cal was replaced by Rico Dredd
.
.)
Not long after that, in 2123, Mega-City One was attacked by another incarnation of Cal, from a parallel universe in which he had not been insane but had actually killed Dredd and ruled the city ever since. This alternative-history Cal took over the Grand Hall of Justice, killing hundreds of judges in the process, and crucified all his prisoners in the street. He was finally stopped by Dredd and killed (again with the help of a civilian, Darien Kenzie), but only after considerable loss of life.
It is also ironic that the very wall that Cal built to effectively imprison the population of Mega City One helped in the city's defence on a number of occasions, including attacks from Sabbat's zombies. However its most prominent role was when the wall's weaponry functioned as an anti-missile defence system against Sov-block missiles during the Apocalypse War
.
's portrayal of Caligula
in the 1976 BBC TV serial I, Claudius
(he even looks vaguely like him in some frames). The parallel was made more explicit when the story was collected together under the title Judge Caligula when it was reprinted by Titan Books
in 1982. Suetonius
' story that the Emperor Caligula suggested his horse be appointed a senator is parodied with Cal making his goldfish deputy chief judge. There are many other parallels too, for example forcing people who had pledged their lives to him to commit suicide (see below) and gigantic and impossible building projects. At one point Cal orders a one mile wall to be built around the city within three weeks: this neatly ties in with this quote from Suetonius:
Another point of comparison is the Kleggs, the alien merceneraries who bolster Cal's rule and who are the equivalent of Caligula's German body-guard.
There are many other bizarre kinds of behaviour that could be parallels, such as sentencing people to death in the bath, holding conversations with the dead chief judges, and pickling people in giant vats of vinegar. There are also some things that one would expect more from a parody of Nero
, such as reading bad poetry to his judges and planning a feature film with Dredd played by a midget. John Wagner
seems to take great delight in making Cal even madder than his progenitors.
Cox: "Yes, Chief Judge. I...I would die for you!"
Cal: "Would you? That's a very generous offer. You've made me feel a lot better, Judge Cox. Off you go and do it then. I'll let you use my gun."
Cox: "B-B-B-But-"
Cal: "No "buts", Judge Cox! Either you love me or you don't!"
Cox: Yes, sir...
Cal: "I have today passed a law to maintain public order! Deputy Chief Judge Fish will announce it!"
Fish: "Bloop!"
Cal: "You have heard the law. The penalty for disobedience is death!"
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Judge Dredd
Judge Dredd
Judge Joseph Dredd is a comics character whose strip in the British science fiction anthology 2000 AD is the magazine's longest running . Dredd is an American law enforcement officer in a violent city of the future where uniformed Judges combine the powers of police, judge, jury and executioner...
comic strip in 2000 AD
2000 AD (comic)
2000 AD is a weekly British science fiction-oriented comic. As a comics anthology it serialises a number of separate stories each issue and was first published by IPC Magazines in 1977, the first issue dated 26 February. IPC then shifted the title to its Fleetway comics subsidiary which was sold...
. He was loosely based on the real life Roman emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
, who is widely considered to have been insane. He was the villain in the story "The Day the Law Died!" (1978–79).
History
JudgeJudge (2000 AD)
Judge is a title held by several significant characters in the Judge Dredd series, which appears in the British comics 2000 AD and Judge Dredd Megazine...
Cal was head of the Special Judicial Squad (SJS), the feared Internal Affairs unit of judges responsible for weeding out corruption in the Mega-City One
Mega-City One
Mega-City One is a huge fictional city-state covering much of what is now the Eastern United States in the Judge Dredd comic book series. The exact boundaries of the city depend on which artist has drawn the story...
Justice Department. However he exploited this position to blackmail errant judges into working for him as assassins, instead of arresting them, as he built up his powerbase and prepared to seize control of the city. His career advanced rapidly and he became deputy chief judge
Chief Judge of Mega-City One
Chief Judge of Mega-City One is the title of several supporting characters in the Judge Dredd comic strip published in 2000 AD. The chief judge is dictator and head of state of Mega-City One, a fictional future city of around 400 million people in 22nd-century America...
of Mega-City One in the year 2100. Soon afterwards he was ready to make his move. First he framed Dredd on his return from the Cursed Earth
Cursed Earth
The Cursed Earth is a part of the fictional universe from the Judge Dredd series that appears in the UK comic book 2000 AD.-Background:...
with the murders of a news vid editor and a photographer. Dredd was sentenced to twenty years on Titan; however he was able to escape and prove his innocence. A robot double had been used to frame Dredd, programmed with information only available to those within Justice Department. The search was on for the traitor within the department.
Cal had already had a taste of power in Dredd's absence, Chief Judge Goodman
Judge Goodman
Chief Judge Clarence Goodman is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd stories published in the British comic 2000 AD. He appeared in the first episode of Judge Dredd in March 1977 , and was the first regularly recurring supporting character.-Biography:Goodman was joint deputy chief judge at the...
not being in a fit state to govern because of his grief over Dredd's sentence. Unwilling to wait any longer, Cal ordered his assassins to stab Goodman to death in the street, whereupon he automatically succeeded to the city's highest office. He had Judge Dredd shot and the mayor arrested, and immediately began a despotic reign of terror. By this time the power had gone to his head and he became openly insane. He appointed his own pet goldfish to the vacant position of deputy chief judge, and made criticising the chief judge a capital offence. He was able to get away with this because he had brainwashed the majority of the judges into obeying his every order.
Judge Dredd had survived however, and with the help of a handful of colleagues who had escaped being brainwashed such as Judge Giant
Judge Giant
Judge Giant can refer to either of two fictional characters appearing in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. They are father and son...
, he led a revolt by the citizens against Cal's insane tyranny. But Cal had anticipated this and recruited an army of alien mercenaries, the Kleggs
Kleggs
Kleggs are alien mercenaries in the Judge Dredd comic books.A Klegg looks rather like a large man with green, scaly skin and the head and tail of an alligator or crocodile. They only take payment in meat, since they are pure carnivores...
, a reptilian race of soldiers-for-hire. The revolt was quickly quashed with widespread loss of life. Dredd and the small number of survivors went into hiding and began a guerrilla campaign of resistance. However Cal decided to punish Mega City One by sentencing the entire population to death; he did this in alphabetical order beginning with the unfortunate Aaron A. Aardvark, likely inspired by the “The Day Perry Masonment Lost a Case” in Mad Magazine circa 1969 where the first of 45,000 witnesses to be called is "Aaron A. Aardvark". Execution chambers were set up all over the city. Dredd managed to stop the executions by having Deputy Chief Judge Fish assassinated, which the superstitious Cal took to be an omen that the executions would lead to the death of the judges as well. However when no citizens turned up for his pet's funeral he decided to punish the citizens by passing even more draconian laws. He appointed Grampus, the Klegg leader, as his new deputy and encouraged children to snoop on their parents if they said anything against his leadership. These and a wave of other measures made life intolerable for the beleaguered citizens.
When the oppressed population tried to flee into the Cursed Earth, Cal built a wall one mile high around the entire city to keep them in, enslaving millions of people to perform this task. The wall was covered in gun emplacements to shoot anyone who tried to escape. However he was not able to crush the people's spirit entirely, even when he thought he had destroyed Dredd forever by causing his transport to crash through the City Bottom into the Undercity
Undercity (Judge Dredd)
The Undercity is a part of the fictional universe featured in the Judge Dredd series that appears in the UK comic book 2000 AD.-Background:...
. When the citizens again failed to join in his celebrations he launched a crackdown on all items that could possibly cause happiness, ordering all luxury items to be burned in the street.
All the while his madness intensified and his visions of the previous chief judges became more violent. He imagined them tormenting him, suggesting that the only way for his 'perfect city' to go was down. So in order to preserve its perfection forever he would execute his entire population of 800 million people, this time by releasing toxic gas over the whole city to kill everybody at once. When even his own SJS judges turned against him he began killing them too.
Eventually Dredd managed to sabotage the brainwashing machines which Cal had been using to control the judges, and he led the loyal judges against Cal's Kleggs and SJS in a final battle to save the city. When Grampus and his Kleggs tried to surrender (having been allowed to leave before the gas was to be released) they were mercilessly shot down. Even then Cal almost regained the upper hand at the last moment, when Dredd and his fellow judges were captured. It fell to Fergee
Fergee (Judge Dredd character)
Fergee is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd universe, first introduced in prog 100 of the UK comic book 2000 AD.-Fictional character biography:...
, a common criminal and outcast from the city, to save the day by killing Cal just before he could press the doomsday button.
For his leadership of the resistance movement Dredd was acclaimed as a hero and was offered the office of chief judge, but he declined, preferring to return to his chosen career in law enforcement. Instead he nominated his former mentor and tutor, Judge Griffin
Judge Griffin
Chief Judge Griffin is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. He was chief judge of Mega-City One between 2101 and 2104.-Fictional character biography :...
, who had fought with him against Cal from the beginning. Chief Judge Griffin never forgot the debt he owed Dredd and personally intervened on his behalf in a future crisis when the future of Dredd's own career was in the balance.
An adapted version of this storyline was used for the Judge Dredd movie
Judge Dredd (film)
Judge Dredd is a 1995 American science fiction action film directed by Danny Cannon, and starring Sylvester Stallone, Diane Lane, Rob Schneider, Armand Assante, and Max von Sydow. The film is based on the strip of the same name in the British comic 2000 AD...
in 1995; however Cal was replaced by Rico Dredd
Rico Dredd
Rico Dredd is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD magazine. He is the brother of Judge Joe Dredd, the strip's eponymous lead character.-Appearances:...
.
Legacy
Although dead, Cal continued to harass Mega-City One from beyond the grave. Over twenty years after his demise, a disc with his computer files on it—long thought lost—resurfaced, containing the evidence Cal had used to subvert and blackmail corrupt judges when he was head of SJS. Several of these judges had risen to very senior positions in the Justice Department over the years, believing their dark secrets to be safe. By this time the SJS had been cleaned up and a wave of arrests followed, resulting in significant political fallout. (See also Judge EdgarJudge Edgar
Judge Jura Edgar is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. Although in most of her stories she is not evil or a murderer in the manner of most villains in the Judge Dredd series , she is nevertheless one of Dredd's adversaries...
.)
Not long after that, in 2123, Mega-City One was attacked by another incarnation of Cal, from a parallel universe in which he had not been insane but had actually killed Dredd and ruled the city ever since. This alternative-history Cal took over the Grand Hall of Justice, killing hundreds of judges in the process, and crucified all his prisoners in the street. He was finally stopped by Dredd and killed (again with the help of a civilian, Darien Kenzie), but only after considerable loss of life.
It is also ironic that the very wall that Cal built to effectively imprison the population of Mega City One helped in the city's defence on a number of occasions, including attacks from Sabbat's zombies. However its most prominent role was when the wall's weaponry functioned as an anti-missile defence system against Sov-block missiles during the Apocalypse War
Apocalypse War
The Apocalypse War is a storyline from the comic strip Judge Dredd, first published in British comic 2000 AD in 1982. A sequel to the story "Block Mania", it was written by John Wagner and Alan Grant and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra...
.
Parallels with Caligula
The primary inspiration for the character seems to have been John HurtJohn Hurt
John Vincent Hurt, CBE is an English actor, known for his leading roles as John Merrick in The Elephant Man, Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Mr. Braddock in The Hit, Stephen Ward in Scandal, Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant and An Englishman in New York...
's portrayal of Caligula
Caligula
Caligula , also known as Gaius, was Roman Emperor from 37 AD to 41 AD. Caligula was a member of the house of rulers conventionally known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula's father Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Emperor Tiberius, was a very successful general and one of Rome's most...
in the 1976 BBC TV serial I, Claudius
I, Claudius (TV series)
I, Claudius is a 1976 BBC Television adaptation of Robert Graves' I, Claudius and Claudius the God. Written by Jack Pulman, it proved one of the corporation's most successful drama serials of all time...
(he even looks vaguely like him in some frames). The parallel was made more explicit when the story was collected together under the title Judge Caligula when it was reprinted by Titan Books
Titan Books
Titan Publishing Group is an independently owned publishing company, established in 1981. It is based at offices in London, England's Bankside area. The Books Division has two main areas of publishing: film & TV tie-ins/cinema reference books; and graphic novels and comics reference/art titles. The...
in 1982. Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
' story that the Emperor Caligula suggested his horse be appointed a senator is parodied with Cal making his goldfish deputy chief judge. There are many other parallels too, for example forcing people who had pledged their lives to him to commit suicide (see below) and gigantic and impossible building projects. At one point Cal orders a one mile wall to be built around the city within three weeks: this neatly ties in with this quote from Suetonius:
Caligula seemed interested only in doing the apparently impossible-which led him to construct moles in rough deep water far out to sea, drive tunnels through exceptionally hard rocks, raise flat ground to the height of mountains, and reduce mountains to the level of plains; and all at immense speed, because he punished delay with death.
- Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, translated by Robert GravesRobert GravesRobert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
, Caligula para. 37.
Another point of comparison is the Kleggs, the alien merceneraries who bolster Cal's rule and who are the equivalent of Caligula's German body-guard.
There are many other bizarre kinds of behaviour that could be parallels, such as sentencing people to death in the bath, holding conversations with the dead chief judges, and pickling people in giant vats of vinegar. There are also some things that one would expect more from a parody of Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
, such as reading bad poetry to his judges and planning a feature film with Dredd played by a midget. John Wagner
John Wagner
John Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
seems to take great delight in making Cal even madder than his progenitors.
Main appearances
- Judge Cal first appeared in 2000 AD prog 86 and died in prog 108.
- His other incarnation first appeared in prog 1252 and died in prog 1261.
- "The Day the Law Died" was adapted into an audio drama by the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in 1995, William Dufris played Judge Cal and Gary MartinGary Martin (actor)Gary Martin is a British voice artist and actor who has been in the industry since the early 1980s. His first recorded acting credit is as a chauffeur in the television series Nobody's Perfect. He has since gone on to perform in over 60 roles, either as a voice artist or actor...
played Judge Dredd. - Another version of Cal from yet another parallel universe appeared in the 1994 novel "Dread DominionDread DominionDread Dominion is an original novel written by Stephen Marley and based on the long-running British science fiction comic strip Judge Dredd. It is Marley's second Judge Dredd novel.-Synopsis:...
" by Stephen MarleyStephen Marley (writer)Stephen Marley is a British author and video game designer, best known for his Chia Black Dragon series. He was born in Derby of Irish parents and was educated in Bemrose School in Derby and at Nottingham. He graduated in Social Anthropology in 1971 in London, gained an M.Sc in the Sociology of...
.
Main story details
- "Crime and Punishment" (written by John WagnerJohn WagnerJohn Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
, with art by Brian BollandBrian BollandBrian Bolland is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. Best known in the UK as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in...
, in 2000 AD #86, 1978) - "Outlaw" (written by John Wagner, with art by Brian BollandBrian BollandBrian Bolland is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. Best known in the UK as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in...
and Dave GibbonsDave GibbonsDave Gibbons is an English comic book artist, writer and sometime letterer. He is best known for his collaborations with writer Alan Moore, which include the miniseries Watchmen and the Superman story "For the Man Who Has Everything"...
, in 2000 AD #87, 1978) - "Bring Me the Head of Judge Dredd!" (written by John Wagner, with art by Brendan McCarthyBrendan McCarthyBrendan McCarthy is a British artist and designer best known for his work in comic books, film and television.- Biography :Brendan McCarthy, of Irish descent, was born in London. Brendan soon began painting and drawing his own home-made comics....
, in 2000 AD #88, 1978) - "The Day the Law Died!" (written by John WagnerJohn WagnerJohn Wagner is a comics writer who was born in Pennsylvania in 1949 and moved to Scotland as a boy. Alongside Pat Mills, Wagner was responsible for revitalising British boys' comics in the 1970s, and has continued to be a leading light in British comics ever since.He is best known for his work on...
, with art by Mike McMahonMike McMahon (comics)Michael McMahon is a British comics artist best known for his work on 2000 AD characters such as Judge Dredd, Sláine and ABC Warriors, and the mini-series The Last American....
, Brett EwinsBrett EwinsBrett Ewins is a British comic book artist best known for his work on Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper in the weekly comic book 2000 AD.-Biography:...
, Brian BollandBrian BollandBrian Bolland is a British comics artist, known for his meticulous, detailed linework and eye-catching compositions. Best known in the UK as one of the definitive Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology 2000 AD, he spearheaded the 'British Invasion' of the American comics industry, and in...
and Ron SmithRon Smith (artist)Ron Smith, born 1924, is a retired British comic artist whose career spanned almost almost fifty years, during which time he built a solid reputation as one of the most popular and well respected illustrators working in his field....
, in 2000 AD #89-108, 1978-79)
- "Helter Skelter" (written by Garth EnnisGarth EnnisGarth Ennis is a Northern Irish comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series Preacher with artist Steve Dillon and his successful nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise...
, with art by Carlos EzquerraCarlos EzquerraCarlos Sanchez Ezquerra , who has also worked under the alias L. John Silver, is a Spanish comics artist who works mainly in British comics and currently lives in Andorra...
and Henry FlintHenry FlintHenry Flint is a British comic book artist who has worked mainly for British sci-fi comic 2000AD.-Biography:Flint has established a cult following for his hyper-detailed and wildly inventive work on series such as Judge Dredd, Zombo,,ABC Warriors, Shakara, Low Life and Aliens.A recent project was...
, in 2000 AD #1250-61, 2001)
Quotes
Cal: "Do you love me, Judge Cox? I mean really love me?"Cox: "Yes, Chief Judge. I...I would die for you!"
Cal: "Would you? That's a very generous offer. You've made me feel a lot better, Judge Cox. Off you go and do it then. I'll let you use my gun."
Cox: "B-B-B-But-"
Cal: "No "buts", Judge Cox! Either you love me or you don't!"
Cox: Yes, sir...
Cal: "I have today passed a law to maintain public order! Deputy Chief Judge Fish will announce it!"
Fish: "Bloop!"
Cal: "You have heard the law. The penalty for disobedience is death!"