Dark Judges

In the fictional Judge Dredd universe recounted in the UK comic 2000 A.D, the Dark Judges were originally a group of lawkeepers from a parallel dimension, led by Judge Death, who had determined that all crime was committed by the living, thus, by his logic, all life was a crime. Thanks to the magic of Phobia and Nausea (the Sisters of Death), the four Dark Judges - Death, Fire, Fear and Mortis murdered the entire population of their world.

Dimension-travelling visitors chanced upon the now 'Deadworld' and found the Dark Judges. After 'judging' (ie, killing) them and taking their dimension jumping warp devices, Judge Death travelled to Mega City One and began 'dispensing justice'. Death was eventually defeated by the combined efforts of Judges Dredd and Anderson, his body having been destroyed, and his spirit form held inside Judge Anderson, herself encased in the miracle plastic Boing.

Having sensed Death's peril, his comrades Fear, Fire & Mortis crossed the dimension warp to rescue him. Released from imprisonment and with a new body created, the four Dark Judges continued their 'judgement' upon Mega City One. Dredd and Anderson intervened, and pursued the Dark Judges back to Deadworld. There, the spirits of the Dark Judges millions of victims flowed through Anderson and seemingly extinguished their spirits forever.

However, the Dark Judges were not destroyed but merely weakened, and four years later, Judge Anderson was duped into returning to Deadworld, where she was forced to resurrect them. Armed with teleporter technologies, the four returned to Mega City One, leaving Anderson for dead. Anderson survived, however, and used the dimension warp technology against the Dark Judges, consigning them to limbo, the void between dimensions. This is where they were to remain for the next few years.

Following Judge Dredd's resignation and his replacement by the ex-Judda Kraken (recounted in the Judge Dredd stories Tale of The Dead Man and Countdown to Necropolis respectively), the sisters of Death - Phobia and Nausea - used their powers to influence Kraken and rescue the Dark Judges from Limbo. With the Mega City One judge force under their control, the Dark Judges created Necropolis - the city of the dead, killing 60 million citizens. Judges Dredd, Anderson and Chief Judge McGruder, together with a handful of Cadet Judges, returned via The Undercity to defeat them - returning the Sisters of Death to Deadworld, imprisoning Fear, Fire and Mortis within secure containment, and executing Kraken, who had become a fifth Dark Judge. Judge Death eluded capture by hiding in the burial pits of the Cursed Earth.

However Death was eventually captured by Dredd with the aid of Batman (see Judgement on Gotham).

After numerous escapes, Death escaped into the Cursed Earth and remains at large.