| “ | Please, you can’t buy freedom. You have to cut it out of them! You have to burn the bastards, then dig through their ashes for it! | ” |
— Judge
| ||
Judge is an unhinged lunatic, or a great champion of the common people, depending on who you ask. She is the leader of the Burners, a dissident group even more extreme than the Breakers. She's not only mad herself, but has a way of turning other people mad.
Appearance and Personality
Judge has a mass of flame-red hair, all braided and coiled and pinned into a mad tangle. Her big eyes, black and empty, seem huge in her bony, blotchy face, She always wears an old, scarred breastplate rusty at the rivets, over a ragged red dress that might once have been some noblewoman’s ballgown, and goes barefoot.
She has some laudable and noble intentions, to seek representation for the people in The Union's government, but her actions seems more like those of a madman than of a revolutionary. She has an unusual animal magnetism, instilling in others a fanatical purpose. With Gunnar Broad, she has a particularly strange effect; a sort of unwilling lust.
History
Judge got her name by settling the disputes among the whores down on the docks in Keln, because she was the best judge of character. She claims that with one look, she knows a body better than they know themselves.
A Little Hatred
During the Valbeck insurrection, Judge sets up a kangaroo court in the courthouse, with herself as judge, whores as jurors, and a naked, beaten and traumatized lawyer as the defense. By the time Vick arrive to take the prisoners away from her, she has already hanged almost all of them. Meanwhile, the area of the city that she controls rapidly dissolves into anarchy, slaughter and wanton destruction. Judge and Superior Risinau flee Valbeck as soon as Crown Prince Orso arrives with his regiment.
The Trouble With Peace
Since the ill-fated Valbeck insurrection, feelings among the dissidents are running hot; as Judge puts it, “We’re all Burners now”. Judge orchestrates an assassination attempt against King Orso at the demonstration of Honrig Curnsbick's steam engine. It was actually quite cleverly, if ruthlessly, planned and might have succeeded, but for the unanticipated presence of Yoru Sulfur, an Eater, who ended up slaughtering all the Burners.
Meanwhile, Gunnar Broad arrives in Valbeck, seeking to make contact with the Breakers for Savine dan Glokta, who hopes to use them to keep the King's Own distracted during Leo dan Brock's armed rebellion. Broad finds himself chained to a chair in a rotten cellar, with Judge perched on his lap. He offers her weapons and armour in return for their help during the rebellion. But Judge insists on Broad proving himself first, by helping them ambush an armoured carriage of the new Valbeck branch of Valint and Balk.
In fact, neither the Burners nor Breaker play any role in the Battle of Stoffenbeck. When the King's Own withdraw to support Orso, the dissidents take control of unguarded Valbeck, Keln, Holsthorm and many of the smaller cities; Adua will be next. Arch Lector Pike explains this to Vick dan Teufel as they enter Valbeck to find Judge and Superior Risinau in the main square, surrounded by armed men with fine new weapons and armour; provided by Savine. Pike then admits to being the Weaver, and persuades Vick to join the movement for "A Great Change".
The Wisdom of Crowds
After the Breakers and Burners take control of the capital and imprison Orso, Judge leads the Burners as the more radical faction in The Great Change. Eventually, with the blessing of Pike, Judge and the Burners seize complete control of the government, turning what was already a bloody revolution into complete madness. Judge appoints Spillion Sworbreck as prosecutor in her court, tasking him with bringing charges of treason, usury, profiteering or anything else he can make up to so-called enemies of The Great Change. Judge also seduces and further corrupts Gunnar Broad into being her brutal and totally obedient bailiff and executioner.
The People's Court sentences hundreds if not thousands of citizens to their deaths, regardless of true innocence or not. While at first these victims are hung, Judge decides that this is not public enough and changes the conveyance of death to being pushed off the Tower of Chains. The Court further destroys any credibility behind The Great Change by executing any general of the People's Army who loses in the field. This eventually leads to the circumstances that allow Leo dan Brock to seize control of the army.
Judge's ultimate goal is to execute Orso dan Luthar, but holds a grudge against the true ruler of The Union of the last 30 years, Sand dan Glokta. Judge strikes a deal with Leo: allow Savine to testify, denounce her father and give up his location, and in return he will be appointed leader of The People's Army. Leo accepts, and races to the army to prepare it to remove Judge and the Burners from power. During her trial, Savine makes a fool of Sworbrek, Judge, and the entire court. However, Judge angrily cuts her off but Orso's timely intervention allows him to buy more time for Vick and Bremer dan Gorst to keep the gate open and allow Leo's forces to enter the former Lord's Round.
Judge immediately sets the Burners to destroying the building, setting it aflame with pre-placed piles of wood. Judge rushes Orso and Savine to the top of the Tower of Chains, as one last ditch effort to fully realize The Great Change. Reaching the top, she and her guard are suddenly attacked by Gunnar, who has pushed off the corruption of Judge. Judge and Savine fight savagely, leading to Judge falling from the top of the tower. She lands in the moat, joining the large piles of bones and splatters of blood and gore from months of executions.
Trivia
- Judge seems to be heavily inspired by DC Comics Joker - particularly the Nolanverse version of the character as played by Heath Ledger. Both are fearless, psychotic, darkly humorous and want to watch the world burn, Judge is quite literally the leader of the Burners. Also, Judge constantly asks the question, “Do you know why they call me Judge?” Offering a different story every time she poses the question. This is almost identical to when the Joker poses the question, “You know how I got these scars?” Again spinning a different origin story to varying individuals.