Kleggs
Encyclopedia
Kleggs are alien
mercenaries in the Judge Dredd
comic book
s.
A Klegg looks rather like a large man with green, scaly skin and the head and tail of an alligator
or crocodile
. They only take payment in meat
, since they are pure carnivore
s. They are reasonably intelligent, but their ferocity and propensity for eating their foes dominate others' perception of them.
hired in the Kleggs to put down a rebellion inspired and led by the outlawed Judge Dredd
. With their "Klegg-Hounds" (alien beasts rather like large dogs with crocodilian heads, which track enemies by tasting the ground where they have passed) the Kleggs kept the citizens of Mega-City One
cowed and terrorized. Their battle-cry was "Klegg-Hai! Klegg-Hai!" and, in The Day The Law Died, they also preceded this with a war-song: "slicey slicey, oncey twicey, claw and fang'll kill Dredd nicely! Meaty beaty, chop 'em neatly, death or glory no retreatee!". Cal appointed their leader, Grampus, deputy chief judge.
After Judge Cal's death, the Kleggs were outlaw
ed from Mega-City One; any citizen who sees a Klegg is required to either kill it or report it immediately to the Judges so that they may do so. Although most of them left, some remain, hidden here and there in the ruined parts of the city. Due to bitter memories of the Kleggs, other, more peaceful aliens have found Mega-City One less than welcoming on occasion.
The Kleggs live on in space, where their society is essentially feudal, and briefly had a space-based military alliance with Sino-Cit. However, despite their ability to use technology, they rarely do much beyond simple raids on other planets with no aim beyond killing - The Corps by Garth Ennis
showed Kleggs (which looked quite different from the regular ones and may have been a mutant strain) launching raids on MC-1 space colonies, and The Kleggs in Judge Dredd Megazine
#201 had them raiding the Index Planetary Archive.
It was revealed in The Kleggs that some of the ruling classes have actually had an education, though they often have problems getting the grunts to understand about taking prisoners alive.
during the British 2010 general election campaign, comparing them to The Cleggs
.
Extraterrestrial life in popular culture
In popular cultures, "extraterrestrials" are life forms — especially intelligent life forms— that are of extraterrestrial origin .-Historical ideas:-Pre-modern:...
mercenaries 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 book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s.
A Klegg looks rather like a large man with green, scaly skin and the head and tail of an alligator
Alligator
An alligator is a crocodilian in the genus Alligator of the family Alligatoridae. There are two extant alligator species: the American alligator and the Chinese alligator ....
or crocodile
Crocodile
A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae . The term can also be used more loosely to include all extant members of the order Crocodilia: i.e...
. They only take payment in meat
Meat
Meat is animal flesh that is used as food. Most often, this means the skeletal muscle and associated fat and other tissues, but it may also describe other edible tissues such as organs and offal...
, since they are pure carnivore
Carnivore
A carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of animal tissue, whether through predation or scavenging...
s. They are reasonably intelligent, but their ferocity and propensity for eating their foes dominate others' perception of them.
Publication history
In the story "The Day The Law Died", the insane Chief Judge CalJudge Cal
Chief Judge Cal is a fictional character in the Judge Dredd comic strip in 2000 AD. He was loosely based on the real life Roman emperor Caligula, who is widely considered to have been insane...
hired in the Kleggs to put down a rebellion inspired and led by the outlawed 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...
. With their "Klegg-Hounds" (alien beasts rather like large dogs with crocodilian heads, which track enemies by tasting the ground where they have passed) the Kleggs kept the citizens 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...
cowed and terrorized. Their battle-cry was "Klegg-Hai! Klegg-Hai!" and, in The Day The Law Died, they also preceded this with a war-song: "slicey slicey, oncey twicey, claw and fang'll kill Dredd nicely! Meaty beaty, chop 'em neatly, death or glory no retreatee!". Cal appointed their leader, Grampus, deputy chief judge.
After Judge Cal's death, the Kleggs were outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
ed from Mega-City One; any citizen who sees a Klegg is required to either kill it or report it immediately to the Judges so that they may do so. Although most of them left, some remain, hidden here and there in the ruined parts of the city. Due to bitter memories of the Kleggs, other, more peaceful aliens have found Mega-City One less than welcoming on occasion.
The Kleggs live on in space, where their society is essentially feudal, and briefly had a space-based military alliance with Sino-Cit. However, despite their ability to use technology, they rarely do much beyond simple raids on other planets with no aim beyond killing - The Corps 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...
showed Kleggs (which looked quite different from the regular ones and may have been a mutant strain) launching raids on MC-1 space colonies, and The Kleggs in Judge Dredd Megazine
Judge Dredd Megazine
Judge Dredd: The Megazine is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in October 1990. It is a sister publication to 2000 AD. Its name is a play on words, formed from "magazine" and Dredd's locale Mega-City One.-Content:...
#201 had them raiding the Index Planetary Archive.
It was revealed in The Kleggs that some of the ruling classes have actually had an education, though they often have problems getting the grunts to understand about taking prisoners alive.
In popular culture
The Kleggs were the focus of a light-hearted piece in The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
during the British 2010 general election campaign, comparing them to The Cleggs
Nick Clegg
Nicholas William Peter "Nick" Clegg is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the Deputy Prime Minister, Lord President of the Council and Minister for Constitutional and Political Reform in the coalition government of which David Cameron is the Prime Minister...
.