Rico Dredd
Encyclopedia
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.
and drawn by Mike McMahon
. This story was retold in 1995, when Mills was asked to write an extended three-episode version of it to coincide with the release of the 1995 film
, in which Rico appeared. As well as introducing the character of Rico Dredd, the 1977 story also revealed Joe Dredd's first name. (As the first editor of 2000 AD and the commissioning editor of the Judge Dredd strip, Mills had also given Dredd his surname, which originally had been going to be "Judge Dread.")
Although Rico was killed off in his debut story, he occasionally recurs in flashback
s, most extensively in the story "Origins"
(2006–2007) by John Wagner
.
Alternative versions of Rico from parallel universes
also appeared in the novel "Dread Dominion
" (1994) by Stephen Marley
, in which he played a major role, and in the comic strip story "Helter Skelter" (2001) by Garth Ennis
(in which he appeared as part of an ensemble cast
of villains).
badge with the name "Dredd" (see image, left), some artists in later stories have erroneously drawn him with a badge labelled "Rico" as though it were his surname. This error was also included in the script to a story by writer Gordon Rennie
. This is possibly based on confusion with the character Judge Rico
, whose surname is Rico and whose badge therefore bears that name (see image here
).
from the same genetic source, in their case Chief Judge Fargo
. Their growth in the cloning tanks was artificially accelerated, so that within 16 months they emerged with the physical development of children aged five years. They also had their brains electronically induced with knowledge and training which greatly surpassed their apparent physical age, so that they could immediately begin training in law enforcement. Rico was removed from the cloning tanks twelve minutes before Joe, and so he habitually referred to Joe as his little brother (or "Little Joe").
At the Academy of Law
Rico consistently demonstrated higher levels of skill than Joe, and he graduated at the top of their class in 2079, with Joe coming second. During his time as a cadet, he requested to join the older cadets in restoring order to the streets of Mega-City One
in the immediate aftermath of the Atomic Wars
of 2070. Rico and Joe served with distinction, and were personally chosen to take part in the raid on the White House to depose President Booth
(who had usurped his office and had started the War).
However, following an injury during a training mission in the Cursed Earth
, Rico began to become more aggressive, underhanded, and determined to prove himself better than Joe. After graduation, Rico began engaging in criminal activities, including extortion, assault and racketeering. Joe suspected that this was the result of exposure to radiation when Rico was injured on a training mission in the Cursed Earth
. Joe's efforts to persuade Rico to change his ways fell on deaf ears. When Judge Kenner, Rico's former Assessing Judge, became suspicious, Rico secretly murdered him and hid the body.
Eventually Rico allowed his brother to find out about his crimes (except for Kenner's murder). When Joe witnessed Rico murder an innocent cafe owner who had refused to pay him protection money, Joe arrested him. Rico resisted arrest by opening fire, but the shots went wide. Given Rico's skill with a firearm, Joe would later posit the theory that Rico was trying to commit suicide by cop
out of a deep disgust at what he had become, rather than trying to kill him. Rico received the mandatory sentence for corrupt judges – twenty years hard labour on the prison colony of Titan
, where he grew to hate his brother. While he was there he illicitly fathered a daughter, Vienna Dredd
, with a reporter who was interviewing him.
After serving his time on Titan, Rico returned to Mega-City One
seeking revenge on Joe. Confronting him at his home, Rico challenged him to a duel to settle their differences, knowing that with his superior skills he could always outdraw his brother. However he had grown used to the weaker gravity of Titan after his twenty years there. This slowed him down by a split second and allowed Joe to shoot him dead. Carrying his brother's lifeless body out into the street, Joe declined a paramedic's offer of assistance, allowing the writer, Pat Mills
, to conclude the story with a line from the Hollies
song, "He ain't heavy - he's my brother!"
in the 1995 Judge Dredd movie, in which Joe was played by Sylvester Stallone
and Rico by Armand Assante
. In this version, although they were cloned from identical DNA, they did not look the same. Rico was portrayed as a straightforward psychopath, having reached a point where he killed the innocent on the grounds that the division between guilt and innocence was merely a matter of timing and everyone would commit a crime in time. His deviant behavior was attributed to something going wrong in his creation which made him the perfect criminal. They were both friends in school (Joe was unaware of their true kinship, but it is unclear when Rico learned about their connection), but when he became a murderer, Joe judged him and sentenced him to life imprisonment, and his death was faked to reassure the public and prevent the truth of the clone program coming to light.
Rico later broke out of prison with help from Judge Griffin
and killed a reporter who had been investigating the Judge program. Since he and Joe had the same DNA, Joe was wrongly convicted of the murder and given a life sentence. Griffin, Rico, and a scientist named Ilsa Hayden (Joan Chen
) began working to reopen the cloning lab that created Rico and Joe. Griffin planned to create a new generation of Judges to enforce his views on the populace, but Rico wanted to create clones of himself to take over Mega-City One and killed Griffin to get him out of the way. Once Joe returned to the city, Rico tried to persuade him to join the effort; when Joe refused, Rico tried to kill him. The two fought atop the Statue of Liberty
, and Joe threw Rico over the edge to his 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...
magazine. He is the brother of Judge Joe 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...
, the strip's eponymous lead character.
Appearances
Rico first appeared in "The Return of Rico" in 2000 AD #30 (1977), written by Pat MillsPat Mills
Pat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since....
and drawn by Mike McMahon
Mike 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....
. This story was retold in 1995, when Mills was asked to write an extended three-episode version of it to coincide with the release of the 1995 film
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 which Rico appeared. As well as introducing the character of Rico Dredd, the 1977 story also revealed Joe Dredd's first name. (As the first editor of 2000 AD and the commissioning editor of the Judge Dredd strip, Mills had also given Dredd his surname, which originally had been going to be "Judge Dread.")
Although Rico was killed off in his debut story, he occasionally recurs in flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
s, most extensively in the story "Origins"
Origins (Judge Dredd story)
Origins is one of the longest Judge Dredd storylines to run in the pages of British comic 2000 AD. Making extensive use of flashbacks, it tells the story of how the Judges of Mega-City One rose to power. It was written by John Wagner and illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra, who between them created...
(2006–2007) by 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...
.
Alternative versions of Rico from parallel universes
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
also appeared in the novel "Dread Dominion
Dread Dominion
Dread 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:...
" (1994) by Stephen Marley
Stephen 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...
, in which he played a major role, and in the comic strip story "Helter Skelter" (2001) by Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis
Garth 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...
(in which he appeared as part of an ensemble cast
Ensemble cast
An ensemble cast is made up of cast members in which the principal actors and performers are assigned roughly equal amounts of importance and screen time in a dramatic production. This kind of casting became more popular in television series because it allows flexibility for writers to focus on...
of villains).
Badge
Although in the original story Rico was depicted wearing a judge'sJudge (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...
badge with the name "Dredd" (see image, left), some artists in later stories have erroneously drawn him with a badge labelled "Rico" as though it were his surname. This error was also included in the script to a story by writer Gordon Rennie
Gordon Rennie
Gordon Rennie is a comics writer, responsible for White Trash: Moronic Inferno, as well as several comic strips for 2000 AD and novels for Warhammer Fantasy....
. This is possibly based on confusion with the character Judge Rico
Judge Rico
Judge Rico is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD magazine. He chose the name Rico to commemorate Rico Dredd.-Character biography:...
, whose surname is Rico and whose badge therefore bears that name (see image here
Judge Rico
Judge Rico is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD magazine. He chose the name Rico to commemorate Rico Dredd.-Character biography:...
).
Character biography
Rico Dredd (2066–2099) was the "clone brother" of Joseph Dredd, which is to say that they were both clonedCloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
from the same genetic source, in their case Chief Judge Fargo
Chief Judge Fargo
Chief Judge Eustace Fargo is an important fictional character from the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. He is Judge Dredd's clone father....
. Their growth in the cloning tanks was artificially accelerated, so that within 16 months they emerged with the physical development of children aged five years. They also had their brains electronically induced with knowledge and training which greatly surpassed their apparent physical age, so that they could immediately begin training in law enforcement. Rico was removed from the cloning tanks twelve minutes before Joe, and so he habitually referred to Joe as his little brother (or "Little Joe").
At the Academy of Law
Academy of Law
The Academy of Law is a fictional place of learning appearing in the Judge Dredd series that appears in the British comic 2000 AD.-Fictional history:The Academy of Law is where the Judges of Mega-City One are trained...
Rico consistently demonstrated higher levels of skill than Joe, and he graduated at the top of their class in 2079, with Joe coming second. During his time as a cadet, he requested to join the older cadets in restoring order to the streets of 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...
in the immediate aftermath of the Atomic Wars
Atomic Wars
The Atomic Wars or Great Atom War is a fictional event in the Judge Dredd universe.In 2070, the possibly psychotic President Robert L. Booth started World War III by starting a nuclear war which dragged in all the major superpowers....
of 2070. Rico and Joe served with distinction, and were personally chosen to take part in the raid on the White House to depose President Booth
President Robert L. Booth
Robert Linus Booth is a fictional character from the British comic strip Judge Dredd in 2000 AD. He was the last President of the United States and the man who initiated the Atomic Wars.-Fictional character biography:...
(who had usurped his office and had started the War).
However, following an injury during a training mission in 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:...
, Rico began to become more aggressive, underhanded, and determined to prove himself better than Joe. After graduation, Rico began engaging in criminal activities, including extortion, assault and racketeering. Joe suspected that this was the result of exposure to radiation when Rico was injured on a training mission in 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:...
. Joe's efforts to persuade Rico to change his ways fell on deaf ears. When Judge Kenner, Rico's former Assessing Judge, became suspicious, Rico secretly murdered him and hid the body.
Eventually Rico allowed his brother to find out about his crimes (except for Kenner's murder). When Joe witnessed Rico murder an innocent cafe owner who had refused to pay him protection money, Joe arrested him. Rico resisted arrest by opening fire, but the shots went wide. Given Rico's skill with a firearm, Joe would later posit the theory that Rico was trying to commit suicide by cop
Suicide by cop
Suicide by cop is a suicide method in which a suicidal individual deliberately acts in a threatening way, with the goal of provoking a lethal response from a law enforcement officer or other armed individual, such as being shot to death....
out of a deep disgust at what he had become, rather than trying to kill him. Rico received the mandatory sentence for corrupt judges – twenty years hard labour on the prison colony of Titan
Titan in fiction
Titan is the largest moon of Saturn. It has a substantial atmosphere and is the most Earth-like satellite in the Solar System, making it a popular science fiction setting.- Literature :* Flight on Titan , short story by Stanley G. Weinbaum...
, where he grew to hate his brother. While he was there he illicitly fathered a daughter, Vienna Dredd
Vienna Dredd
Vienna Dredd or Vienna Pasternak is a fictional character from the Judge Dredd comic strip, first appearing in prog 116 of the British comic 2000 AD in 1979....
, with a reporter who was interviewing him.
After serving his time on Titan, Rico returned to 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...
seeking revenge on Joe. Confronting him at his home, Rico challenged him to a duel to settle their differences, knowing that with his superior skills he could always outdraw his brother. However he had grown used to the weaker gravity of Titan after his twenty years there. This slowed him down by a split second and allowed Joe to shoot him dead. Carrying his brother's lifeless body out into the street, Joe declined a paramedic's offer of assistance, allowing the writer, Pat Mills
Pat Mills
Pat Mills, nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since....
, to conclude the story with a line from the Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
song, "He ain't heavy - he's my brother!"
He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother
"He Ain't Heavy... He's My Brother" is a popular music ballad written by Bobby Scott and Bob Russell. Originally recorded by Kelly Gordon in 1969, the song became a worldwide hit for The Hollies later that year and again for Neil Diamond in 1970....
Film version
Rico appears as the main villainVillain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
in the 1995 Judge Dredd movie, in which Joe was played by Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone
Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone , commonly known as Sylvester Stallone, and nicknamed Sly Stallone, is an American actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, film director and occasional painter. Stallone is known for his machismo and Hollywood action roles. Two of the notable characters he has portrayed...
and Rico by Armand Assante
Armand Assante
-Personal life:Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Katherine , a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist. His father was Italian and his mother was Irish, and was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family...
. In this version, although they were cloned from identical DNA, they did not look the same. Rico was portrayed as a straightforward psychopath, having reached a point where he killed the innocent on the grounds that the division between guilt and innocence was merely a matter of timing and everyone would commit a crime in time. His deviant behavior was attributed to something going wrong in his creation which made him the perfect criminal. They were both friends in school (Joe was unaware of their true kinship, but it is unclear when Rico learned about their connection), but when he became a murderer, Joe judged him and sentenced him to life imprisonment, and his death was faked to reassure the public and prevent the truth of the clone program coming to light.
Rico later broke out of prison with help from 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 :...
and killed a reporter who had been investigating the Judge program. Since he and Joe had the same DNA, Joe was wrongly convicted of the murder and given a life sentence. Griffin, Rico, and a scientist named Ilsa Hayden (Joan Chen
Joan Chen
Joan Chong Chen is a Chinese American actress, film director, screenwriter and film producer. She became famous in China for her performance in the 1979 film Little Flower and came to international attention for her performance in the 1987 Academy Award-winning film The Last Emperor...
) began working to reopen the cloning lab that created Rico and Joe. Griffin planned to create a new generation of Judges to enforce his views on the populace, but Rico wanted to create clones of himself to take over Mega-City One and killed Griffin to get him out of the way. Once Joe returned to the city, Rico tried to persuade him to join the effort; when Joe refused, Rico tried to kill him. The two fought atop the Statue of Liberty
Statue of Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886...
, and Joe threw Rico over the edge to his death.
See also
- Judge RicoJudge RicoJudge Rico is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD magazine. He chose the name Rico to commemorate Rico Dredd.-Character biography:...
- Judge KrakenJudge KrakenJudge Kraken is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip featured in the long-running British comic 2000 AD. Although he only appeared in a few episodes, he was nonetheless a very important character in Tale of the Dead Man, in which he was given almost equal billing with Dredd, and in...
- Other clones of Fargo and Dredd
External links
- Rico Dredd 2000 AD website profile