Mega-City One has been the target of violent coups, crime wars, otherworldly onslaughts and foreign invasions – each being the brainchild of a villain wanting to see the city, Justice Department and/or Dredd himself perish... Sov agent Orlok the Assassin nearly brought the city to its knees with the Block Mania drug – a deadly precursor to the invasion from East-Meg forces. Judge Death, a Dark Judge from Deadworld, where life itself is considered a crime and the sentence is death. The sole surviving member of the infamous Angel Gang, Mean Machine Angel is a psychopath with a dial on his forehead regulating his anger levels! Judge Grice was a disgraced Judge who broke out of the high-security prison on the Saturn moon of Titan. He became de facto Chief Judge during his bloody coup. Crime Lord Nero Narcos unleashed what is sometimes referred to as the Second Robot War, tearing the Justice Department apart with his army of lethal drones, and booby-trapping the Judges’ Mark II Lawgivers.

To the average Mega-City One inhabitant, the most obvious symbol of the power and authority of the Justice Department is the Street Judge. These formidable individuals are responsible for the strict enforcement of the law on the dangerous streets of the ‘Big Meg', where they act as judge, jury and executioner. Crimes ranging from littering to first-degree murder fall within their remit and the punishments of a perpetrator can vary from a stern word of admonition, a crack on the head with a daystick, to imprisonment in an isolation cube or, in the most serious cases, a Lawgiver execution round. Becoming a Judge is a lifelong undertaking and many individuals falter on the arduous path. Some end up on the streets disenchanted and bitter at what might have been whilst for many Street Judges Resyk will be their final destination.