Judge Rico


 * Not to be confused with Rico Dredd.

Judge Rico is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD magazine. Originally named Dredd, he chose the new surname 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.

While serving in Sector 108 Rico had to have one of his lungs replaced with an artificial one following an injury in the line of duty. Later he suffered a gunshot wound to the jaw, but has since had this replaced with a synthetic copy.

When Mega-City One's mutant citizens were exiled to townships in the Cursed Earth, Rico was one of the judges sent to supervise them, under Dredd's command. When Dredd returned to the city he left Rico in charge. Rico led a contingent of mutant volunteers back to the city to help rebuild it following the disastrous events of the story Day of Chaos.