Walter the Wobot

[close] Walter is a fictional character from the Judge Dredd comic strip in British comic 2000 AD.

Walter was Judge Dredd's house robot. He is usually used in stories to provide comic relief, and he has a speech impediment which causes him to pronounce his R's as W's. He was made a free robot with the rights of a human citizen in 2099 for his loyal services during the First Robot War. However he was so devoted to Dredd that he chose to remain in Dredd's employ and even got rid of his freedom papers in exchange for a Deed of Ownership giving him to Dredd. (A later story would retroactively reveal he was granted his freedom again for services against the insane Judge Cal.

He remained a major recurring character − in the run of stories set on the Moon, he was in fact the only supporting character from Mega-City One − and several stories were even told from his point of view. Walter also was involved in the mega-epics The Day The Law Died, where he went undercover to help bring down Judge Cal, and the Apocalypse War, where he assisted Dredd in escaping the Sov-occupied Grand Hall of Justice. Although Dredd would never admit it, he developed a small fondness for the robot.

He left Dredd's service after he sustained serious damage at the hands of Mean Machine Angel. This was an effort by the writers to kill him off when Judge Dredd stories were becoming grittier and more mature; in the same story, Dredd's landlady Maria was also written out.

However, the character was brought back by John Wagner in the early '90s, following the Necropolis storyline; he now ran his own used-droid company and on the surface appeared to be a success (including partially overcoming his speech impediment). By the end of the story though, it was revealed Walter was still infatuated with Dredd and desperately wanted to be taken back as his servant.

As well as numerous appearances in Judge Dredd, in 1978 Walter had his own eponymous comedy series (one-page episodes), in 2000 AD progs 50-61, 67-68, and 84-85. These were almost entirely drawn by Brian Bolland, with the first couple by Ian Gibson, and the last couple by Brendan McCarthy. The writing was credited to Joe Collins and G.P. Rice. Walter also had a substantial role in the Death Trap audio drama.