Armitage is a science fiction series appearing in the British comic anthology the Judge Dredd Megazine, created by Dave Stone and Sean Phillips in 1991. The protagonist is a Detective-Judge in Brit-Cit, a British mega-city in the universe of Judge Dredd. He has also made occasional appearances in the main Judge Dredd series in 2000 AD, as well as two spin-off novels and an audio drama. In the same way that Dredd was based partly on Dirty Harry, Armitage owes something to the cynical but unbending police detectives seen in dramas such as Inspector Morse and Taggart. Although an outstanding detective, he is difficult to work with and often clashes with his superiors in Brit-Cit's corrupt, class-ridden Justice Department. Like many such characters, he has a junior partner: usually Detective-Judge Treasure Steel, and in later stories upper-class Detective-Judge Timothy "Timbo" Parkerston-Trant.
Biography
Armitage is a tall, white haired man with a goatee, usually wearing a trenchcoat, suit and tie. His real name is unknown: "Armitage" was a fake ID he used in 2080. He despises the system of privilege that got his superiors where they are and, by extension, his superiors themselves. Because he refuses to "play the game", he is very unpopular with the upper ranks, despite being very good at his job. Another character trait is that he never carries a gun. Despite this, Armitage's knowledge of weapons is extensive, mainly due to his activities during the Brit-Cit Civil War, when he fought in the London Liberation Army against the Emergency Military Government: however, the LLA were on the losing side and in 2080, he decided to join the Judges instead. The corruption of the new government saw him become cynical and morose, and this only got worse when his lover Liora was killed by the crime lordEfil Drago San, in revenge for the Detective Judge crippling him. Although this means he has gained a reputation for being impossible to work with, Armitage has done outstanding work in the Brit-Cit Justice Department's plainclothes Homicide Division. He has managed to not only irritate his higher-ups though but also most of the other Judges, to the extent that when Shok-Tak entered a building to rescue a Judge in danger, they remarked with disgust "aw, drokk it, it's only Armitage".
Publications
He has appeared in his own eponymous comic series as well as two Judge Dredd novels and audio play. In the audio, he was played by Trevor Littledale.
