Judge Doom

"Remember me, Eddie?! When I killed your brother, I talked, JUST... LIKE... THIIISSS!!!"

- Judge Doom revealing his true form to Eddie Valiant.

Judge Doom is the main antagonist in the 1988 Disney/Touchstone film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. He is the former judge of Toontown, Eddie Valiant's arch-nemesis, and the Toon Patrol's former boss.

He was portrayed by Christopher Lloyd, who also played Merlock in Disney's DuckTales The Movie, Grigori Rasputin in Anastasia, and Switchblade Sam in Dennis the Menace.

Biography
For the majority of the film, Doom poses as a high-ranking judge. However, he employs tactics that are at odds with traditional views of justice, such as the employment of a mob of weasel gangsters (whom he has hired as his new henchmen) and the execution of toons through a chemical paint thinner solution called the Dip, which is said to be the only way to truly kill a toon forever.

Judge Doom wishes to destroy Toontown in order to build a freeway over the entire area. He is happy to commit genocide to do so, building a huge machine by which to literally erase Toontown from existence via the use of high-powered cannons filled with Dip. His plans are in danger of being foiled if anyone finds the will to Toontown, which gives the toons rightful ownership of the land.

In an attempt to prevent this from happening, Doom murders several prominent figures who could potentially end his scheme, namely Marvin Acme and R.K. Maroon, framing the troubled Roger in the process. In desperation, Roger seeks help and advice from Eddie, despite his reluctance to get involved in another case involving a toon since a toon once murdered his brother. The event had hardened the once fun-loving detective and made him extremely cynical of toons.

For the majority of the film, Judge Doom is portrayed as being almost xenophobic and merciless towards toons and regards them as vermin (despite hiring some as henchmen). However, by the end of the film, it turns out to be a facade as reveals that he is a toon himself and that his genocidal plan was all part of his gag. He was also revealed to be the one that is murderously insane and the one responsible for the death of Eddie's brother Teddy a few years back.

At the end of the film, Doom and Eddie fight in the Acme Factory where Doom is squashed flat by his own steamroller. Since he is a toon, he survives this and manages to re-inflate himself before revealing his true appearance to Eddie. After failing to kill Eddie with a cartoon circular saw, Doom meets his demise when Eddie activates the Dip machine, which douses the evil judge in his own concoction.

As he begins to melt, Doom shows more of his "toony" nature as he can't resist doing a direct spoof of the Wicked Witch of the West's death throes (screaming in pain that he's melting) in The Wizard of Oz. He finally melts into the Dip-soaked floor and dissolves, leaving behind only his clothes and a rubber mask. When the other toons come to investigate, they all wonder what Doom really was and what he actually looked like under the mask; however, they soon realize that it doesn't matter what Doom was as they are now safe from his wrath forever and celebrate their victory.

Personality
Judge Doom is a cunning, heartless, psychopathic, unmerciful, manipulative, egocentric, and sadistic man who has murdered several people. He also has weasel minions who do his work for him, but at the end of the film, he attempts to kill Eddie himself, boasting that he had already done to Eddie's brother.

Appearance
Judge Doom dresses ominously like most villains would; It insisted of a dark coat, shady glasses, and a black hat that he pulls over his head a bit. He also walks with a cane, implying he is older or wants to look sophisticated.

Trivia

 * Before Christopher Lloyd was cast in the role, Tim Curry (who also portrayed and voiced Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Wadsworth, Hexxus, Cardinal Richelieu, Long John Silver, Pennywise the Dancing Clown, Ben Ravencroft, Mr. Hector, Drake, Simon Doonan, Lord of Darkness, Professor Calamitous, Maestro Forte, El Malefico, King Chicken, Mouse King and Rooster Hannigan) auditioned for the role, but the producers thought his performance was too scary.
 * John Cleese expressed interest in playing Doom, but both Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis refused, thinking nobody would take a former member of Monty Python seriously as a sadistic villain.
 * Roddy McDowall, Robin Williams, Eddie Deezen, Sting, and Jon Pertwee were all considered as well.
 * Doom's death is an allusion to the Wicked Witch of the West's death in MGM's The Wizard of Oz, as they both melt while shouting, "I'm melting! Melting!".
 * In addition, both have weaknesses to liquid. The Witch's demise comes from water while Judge Doom's demise is the Dip.
 * The character was originally going to have an animated pet vulture (one of the two that appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) named Voltaire (after the French philosopher) that sat on his shoulder, but that idea was dropped in the interest of saving time. However, the vulture later resurfaced with Doom when a bendable action figure was produced.
 * Doom originally had seven weasels accompanying him, rather like the Seven Dwarfs, but he ultimately ended up only having five. He was also to have a jury of kangaroos, as in "Kangaroo Court." These elements were all dropped, because animating them would be too expensive.
 * In a deleted scene, when Doom attempts to dip Roger at the bar, the patrons protest that Roger should at least have a proper trial. The judge agrees, then pulls out a suitcase from which jumps a group of kangaroos that hold out signs reading "Y-O-U A-R-E G-U-I-L-T-Y" (a literal Kangaroo Court, in other words).
 * Originally, Doom was going to dip a toon gopher instead of the cartoon shoe seen in the film. This was likely changed for the film to keep a PG rating.
 * It's believed by a large group of spectators that Judge Doom is also the Toon who robbed the 1st National Bank of Toontown. This is never told is the film: they only say that it's a day they were searching the guilty party for a rob in this bank that Eddie and Teddy met Doom for the first time and that Doom killed Teddy. Also, they think that the money Doom gave to the Toons for being elected was the one he previously rob in the bank.
 * The ending scene was originally going to have Doom reveal his Toon mouth and red hands with long nails.
 * In early drafts for the film, he was revealed to be Man, as in the early drafts Eddie mentions offhand to Roger that the person who killed Teddy was probably the one who killed Bambi's mother. However this dialogue was cut from the film for reasons yet-unknown.
 * In the Bonkers' series, The Collector is the reverse of Judge Doom. He is a human disguised as a Toon, but shares a similar personality and glasses.
 * Though Doom's real identity remains a mystery in the film, the yellow paint that remains of him following his death may hint that he was a Toon of a yellow or gold color, as evidenced from the yellow/gold-animated props (handles of his knife-like eyes, springs in his heels, anvil and buzz saw) that sprouted from his black suit during his second fight with Eddie.
 * Prior to the publication of The Resurrection of Doom, many fans speculated that Doom's real Toon form was the "Pistol Packin' Possum", a Toon seen on one of the posters in R. K. Maroon's office. This is mainly because the Possum has red eyes just like the Toon that killed Teddy Valiant as well as the exact same gun that Judge Doom had in the scene where he shot Maroon.
 * Additionally, in the first scene where Valiant talks to Maroon about taking on the snoop job, behind Maroon are posters of cartoons on a rotating wall. The one on the right is a poster of the "Pistol Packin' Possum". When Valiant and Maroon walk over to the desk to discuss more business, the rotating wall is closed and the poster (along with the gun the possum is holding) is always pointed towards Maroon with his back turned to it.
 * Even after the release of The Resurrection of Doom, this theory could still be somewhat valid, as "Baron Von Rotten" was known as "the toon with a thousand faces" and played many disguised roles, one of which might have been Pistol Packin' Possum.
 * There are many instances throughout the film that foreshadow the fact that Judge Doom is a Toon:
 * In the bar, he backs away from the spilled Dip, which is later shown not to affect regular people. Also, when he demonstrates the Dip's effectiveness for the first time by dunking a toon shoe in the chemical, he wears a rubber glove to protect himself.  Also, when he decides to get Benny off the road so he can capture Eddie Valiant and Jessica Rabbit, he kicks the Dip and keeps a distance from it.
 * On several occasions, Doom is shown to detest laughter. Seeing as it is a Toon's role to be funny, too much laughter may have blown Doom's cover.
 * While Judge Doom was luring Roger Rabbit to him with the "shave-and-a-haircut" trick in the bar, Eddie said "I don't know who's Toonier, you or Doom."
 * Another instance that implies that Doom is a Toon is when he falls on fake eyeballs, he trips in a cartoonish way before falling down, making the Toon Patrol laugh at him (which he once again ordered to stop). Also, when he gets back on his feet after falling, he hides one of his eyes, not because it's in pain, but so as to conceal his actual red toon eyes with the fake eyeballs he's wearing.
 * Doom's face appears to be made out of rubber as he never blinks on-screen, and his teeth looked fake.
 * Doom constantly performed an exaggerated toon-like turn whenever he turns his body.
 * A gust of wind almost always blows on Doom's cape even when he's in an area where there's no wind.
 * If one pauses at the shot of Doom getting knocked by the spray of Dip, they will notice the dummy used for filming (in other words; "fun with your "pause" button.")
 * According to the (non-canon) graphic novel, The Resurrection of Doom, Doom's real name was "Baron Von Rotten", who worked as an actor until an accident resulted in him believing that he was a villain.
 * Fittingly enough, Judge Doom is one of the evillest villains ever involved with Warner Brothers and Disney, he is said to be the "Enemy of all Toons" which probably means that he is also a threat to other cartoon villains such as Pete and Yosemite Sam who were also in the film.
 * Doom is similar to Judge Claude Frollo from the 1996 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame. They are sword-wielders, dark judges, pure evils and have an obsessive hatred of innocent races (Toons, Gypsies), have killed a relative of the protagonist (Eddie Valiant's brother Teddy, Quasimodo's mother), have tried to kill the heroes' friends (Roger Rabbit, Esmeralda), have obnoxious henchmen, (Weasels, Soldiers), have taken on feral attitudes, and get killed by a deadly liquid (Dip, Molten Lead).
 * Judge Doom is also similar to Frieza, famous villain of the manga and anime series Dragon Ball: both act as speculators, and want to exterminate the population (the Toons for Judge Doom, the people residing in many planets in the galaxy for Frieza) for economic purposes (Doom to build the highway, Frieza to resell the planets conquered to the highest bidder in the market). Both of them also have a group of five-person soldiers (Toon Patrol for Doom, Ginyu Special Forces for Frieza). In addition, both have a deep hatred for a particular breed (Toons for Doom, Saiyan for Frieza), and both are responsible for the death of a relative of the protagonists of their respective stories ( Doom has murdered Teddy, Eddie Valliant's brother, while Frieza has killed Bardock, Goku's father).