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. Rico first appeared in the story "Blood Cadets" (2000), written by John Wagner.

Character biography

Since Judges Joe Dredd and Rico Dredd were cloned from the DNA of Chief Judge Fargo in 2066, at least eight further clones of the Fargo bloodline have been produced by the Mega-City One Justice Department. The first of these to graduate from the Academy of Law was given his final street assessment by Joe Dredd in 2122. His original name was Dredd, so to avoid complication at dispatch, on receiving his full eagle the clone took the surname Rico, in honour of the late Rico Dredd. He has no first name.

After a short period with the traffic division, Rico was assigned to Sector 108, where he overcame his colleagues' resentment at his ancestry and hardline attitude, and proved himself to be a brave and resourceful judge. He has a strong bond with his clone brother Joe Dredd (although Dredd is old enough to be his father), and when the older man's living quarters were moved to the Grand Hall of Justice, Rico took over his apartment in Rowdy Yates Block.