Two-Face

Harvey "Two-Face" Dent is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #66 (Aug. 1942), and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Two-Face is one of the most prominent enemies of Batman and belongs to the collective of Batman adversaries called the "Rogues Gallery."

Once a clean-cut district attorney of Gotham City and an ally of Batman, Harvey Dent goes insane after mob boss Sal Maroni throws acid at him during a trial, hideously scarring the left side of his face. He adopts the "Two-Face" persona and becomes a criminal, choosing to bring about good or evil based upon the outcome of a coin flip. Originally, Two-Face was one of many gimmick-focused comic book villains, plotting crimes based around the number two, such as robbing Gotham Second National Bank at 2:00 on February 2 and stealing 2 million dollars.

In his autobiography, Batman creator Bob Kane claims to have been inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, specifically the 1931 film version which he saw as a boy. Some inspiration was also derived from the pulp magazine character the Black Bat whose origin story included having acid splashed in his face. In later years, writers have portrayed his obsession with duality and fate as the result of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and multiple personality disorder. He obsessively makes all important decisions by flipping a two-headed coin, one side defaced. The modern version is established as having once been a personal friend and ally of Commissioner James Gordon and Batman.

The character has appeared in multiple Batman media forms, including video games, animation, television, and the Batman film series: Billy Dee Williams portrayed Harvey Dent in Batman, Tommy Lee Jones portrayed Two-Face in Batman Forever, Richard Moll voiced both versions of the character in Batman: The Animated Series, Aaron Eckhart played both the district attorney and his villainous alter ego in The Dark Knight, and Nicholas D'Agosto portrays Harvey Dent in Gotham. Two-Face was ranked #12 in IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time.

Publication history

Two-Face first appears in Detective Comics #66 with the name Harvey "Apollo" Kent; later stories changed his name to "Harvey Dent" to avoid an association with Clark Kent (Superman appears on screen in the story, although almost certainly this is one of the Fleischer cartoons).

The character only made three appearances in the 1940s, and appeared twice in the 1950s (not counting the impostors mentioned below). By this time, he was dropped in favor of more "kid friendly" villains, though he did appear in a 1968 issue (World's Finest Comics #173), in which Batman declared him to be the criminal he most fears. In 1971, writer Dennis O'Neil brought Two-Face back, and it was then that he became one of Batman's arch-enemies.

In the wake of Frank Miller's 1986 revision of Batman's origin (see Batman: Year One), Andrew Helfer rewrote Two-Face's history to match. This origin, presented in Batman Annual (vol. 1) #14, served to emphasize Dent's status as a tragic character, with a back story that included an abusive, alcoholic father, and early struggles with bipolar disorder and paranoia. It was also established, in Batman: Year One, that pre-accident Harvey Dent was one of Batman's earliest allies. He had clear ties to both Batman and Commissioner Gordon, making him an unsettling and personal foe for both men.

Character biography

At 26, Harvey Dent is the youngest district attorney to serve Gotham City, and is nicknamed "Apollo" for his good looks and clean-cut image. He is elected about six months before Batman begins his war on crime.

Dent, Captain Gordon, and Batman forge an alliance to rid Gotham of crime boss Sal Maroni and Carmine Falcone, with Maroni murdered by Falcone's son Alberto. (Gordon speculated that Dent might have been Batman, but dismissed him on grounds that Dent lacked Batman's financial resources.) Falcone hires the corrupt Assistant District Attorney Fields to disfigure Dent with sulfuric acid. Two-Face gets his trademark coin from his abusive father, who would employ the coin in a perverse nightly "game" that always ended with a beating. This would instill in Dent his lifelong struggle with free will and his eventual inability to make choices on his own, relying on the coin to make all of his decisions. Eventually, the scarred Dent takes his revenge on Fields and Falcone, leading to his incarceration in Arkham Asylum.

During the Dark Victory story arc, a serial killer called the Hangman targets various cops who assisted in Harvey Dent's rise to the D.A.'s office. Two-Face gathers Gotham's criminals to assist in the destruction of the city's crime lords. After a climactic struggle in the Batcave, Two-Face falls into a chasm after he is betrayed by the Joker. Batman admits in the aftermath that, even if Two-Face has survived, Harvey Dent is gone forever.

During a much later period, Two-Face is revealed to have murdered Jason Todd's father. When attempting to apprehend Two-Face, Jason briefly has the criminal at his mercy, but lets Two-Face's punishment be decided by the law. Two-Face similarly serves as a 'baptism by fire' for Tim Drake, the new Robin: When Two-Face has Batman at his mercy, Tim dons the Robin suit to save him.

In Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Arkham's doctors replace Dent's coin with a die and eventually a tarot deck; but rather than becoming self-reliant, Dent is now unable to make even the smallest of decisionsâ€"such as going to the bathroom. Batman returns the coin, telling Two-Face to use it to decide whether to kill him. Batman leaves safely; but implication is made that Two-Face chose to let Batman live.

In the No Man's Land storyline, in which Gotham is devastated by an earthquake, Two-Face claims a portion of the ruined city, takes up residence in Gotham City Hall, and forms a temporary alliance with Gordon to share certain territory. His empire is brought down by Bane (employed by Lex Luthor) who destroys Two-Face's gang during his destruction of the city's Hall of Records. Two-Face kidnaps Gordon and puts him on trial for his activities after Gotham City is declared a No Man's Land, with Two-Face as both judge and prosecutor for Gordon's illegal alliance with him; but Gordon plays upon Two-Face's split psyche to demand Harvey Dent as his defense attorney. Dent cross-examines Two-Face and wins an acquittal for Gordon, determining that Two-Face has effectively blackmailed Gordon by implying that he had committed murders to aid the Commissioner.

In Gotham Central, Two-Face meets detective Renee Montoya. Montoya reaches the Dent persona in Two-Face, and is kind to him. He falls in love with her, though the romance is one-sided. and eventually, in the Gotham Central series, he outs her as a lesbian and frames her for murder, hoping that if he takes everything from her, she will be left with no choice but to be with him. She is furious, and the two fight for control of his gun until Batman intervenes, putting Two-Face back in Arkham.

In the Two-Face: Crime and Punishment one-shot book, Two-Face captures his own father, planning to humiliate and kill him on live television for the years of abuse he suffered. This story reveals that, despite his apparent hatred for his father, Dent still supports him, paying for an expensive home rather than allowing him to live in a slum. At the end of the book, the Dent and Two-Face personalities argue in thought, Two-Face calling Dent "spineless." Dent proves Two-Face wrong, choosing to jump off a building and commit suicide just to put a stop to his alter ego's crime spree. Two-Face is surprised when the coin flip comes up scarred, but abides by the decision and jumps. Batman catches him, but the shock of the fall seems to (at least temporarily) destroy the Two-Face side of his psyche.

In Two-Face Strikes Twice, Two-Face is at odds with his ex-wife Gilda, as he believes their marriage failed because he was unable to give her children. She later marries Paul Janus (a reference to the Roman god of doors who had two faces). Two-Face attempts to frame Janus as a criminal by kidnapping him and replacing him with a stand-in, whom Two-Face "disfigures" with makeup. Batman eventually catches Two-Face, and Gilda and Janus reunite. Years later, Gilda gives birth to twins, prompting Two-Face to escape once more and take the twins hostage, as he erroneously believes them to be conceived by Janus using an experimental fertility drug. The end of the book reveals that Two-Face is the twins' natural father.

In the Batman: Hush storyline, his face is repaired by plastic surgery, and only the Harvey Dent persona exists. He takes the law into his own hands twice: once by using his ability to manipulate the legal system to free the Joker, and then again by shooting the serial killer Hush. He manipulates the courts into setting him free, as Gotham's prosecutors wouldn't attempt to charge him without a body.

In the Batman story arc Batman: Face the Face, that started in Detective Comics #817, and was part of DC's One Year Later storyline, it is revealed that, at Batman's request and with his training, Dent becomes a vigilante protector of Gotham City in most of Batman's absence of nearly a year. He is reluctant to take the job, but Batman assures him it would serve as atonement for his past crimes. After a month of training, they fight Firebug and Mr. Freeze, before Batman leaves for a year. Dent enjoys his new role, but his methods are seemingly more extreme and less refined than Batman's. Upon Batman's return, Dent begins to feel unnecessary and unappreciated, which prompts the return of the "Two-Face" persona (seen and heard by Dent through hallucinations). In Face the Face, his frustration is compounded by a series of mysterious murders that seem to have been committed by Two-Face; the villains KGBeast, Magpie, The Ventriloquist, and Orca are all shot twice in the head with a double-barreled pistol. When Batman confronts Dent about these deaths, asking him to confirm that he was not responsible, Dent refuses to give a definite answer. He then detonates a bomb in his apartment and leaves Batman dazed as he flees.

Despite escaping the explosion physically unscathed to a motel, Dent suffers a crisis of conscience and a mental battle with his "Two-Face" personality. Although evidence is later uncovered by Batman that exonerates Dent for the murders, it is too late to save him. Prompted by resentment and a paranoid reaction to Batman's questioning, Dent scars half his face with nitric acid and a scalpel, becoming Two-Face once again. Blaming Batman for his return, Two-Face immediately goes on a rampage, threatening to destroy the Gotham Zoo (having retained two of every animal - including two humans) before escaping to fight Batman another day.

On the cover of Justice League of America vol. 2 #23, Two-Face is shown as a member of the new Injustice League. He can be seen in Salvation Run. He appears in Battle for the Cowl: The Underground, which shows the effects of Batman's death on his enemies. In Judd Winick's Long Shadow arc, Two-Face realizes that there's another person under the cowl. He hires a teleporter and manages to infiltrate the Batcave. When the new Batman investigates the cave, he is ambushed by Two-Face with tranquilizer darts, and in a hallucination he sees Dent in a red and black Two-Face themed Batman costume. Alfred Pennyworth saved the hero from Two-Face's torture after he subdues his accomplice, and with his help Batman convinces Two-Face that he is the real, original Dark Knight Detective, informing Dent that his problem is that he cannot imagine Batman changing because he himself is incapable of seeing the world in anything other than black and white. In Streets of Gotham, Two-Face has been at odds with Gotham's latest district attorney, Kate Spencer, also known as the vigilante Manhunter. Two-Face has recently been driven out of Gotham City by Jeremiah Arkham.

In the New 52 reboot, Two Face's origin is revised significantly. Dent is a successful defense attorney whose clientele includes twin sisters from the McKillen crime family, Shannon and Erin. The sisters coerce Dent to become their family's legal retainer for life. They then place a contract on James Gordon and his entire family, despite Dent's protestations. The Gordons survive the attempt on their lives, but Dent, trapped by attorney client confidentiality, is unable to dissuade the McKillens from continuing their lethal vendetta. The violent attempt on the Gordons' lives prompts Bruce Wayne to use his resources to initiate and fund Dent's campaign for district attorney. Dent becomes D.A. and has the McKillen sisters prosecuted and sentenced to life in prison. After Shannon commits suicide, Erin escapes by switching places with her sister's corpse. Blaming Dent for her sister's death, Erin breaks into Dent's house, kills Gilda in front of him, and pours acid on his face, transforming him into Two-Face.

Erin McKillen flees the country and remains in hiding for many years. She is forced to return to Gotham City to reassert her control of her family's criminal operations by killing Two-Face. Her return sparks a climactic battle between her, Two-Face, and Batman. Two-Face scars McKillen with the same acid she used on him, but Batman stops him from killing her. Batman and Two-Face continue battling, with Batman trying to convince his foe to end his vendetta. Two-Face then calls Batman, "Bruce", revealing that he has known Batman's true identity for some time. Dent reveals that he struggled internally for quite some time over whether to kill him, but decided not to because it would have violated his sense of justice. He disappears after the battle and Batman is unable to track him. Several panels of Batman and Robin #28 imply that Two-Face commits suicide by shooting himself in the head.

Abilities and weapons

Before his transformation into Two-Face, Harvey Dent had a reputation as one of the best attorneys in Gotham City, and as proficient in nearly all matters pertaining to criminal law. Despite his later insanity, Two-Face's genius remains, assisting him as he turns to being a crime boss.

Following his disfigurement he developed multiple-personality disorder and became obsessed with duality. He staged crimes centered around the number two - such as robbing buildings with '2' in the address or staging events so that he will take action at 10:22 p.m. (22:22 in military time) - and carried and used dual firearms (such as .22 semiautomatics or a double barreled shotgun). Two-Face does things according to chance and therefore leaves all the decisions he makes to fate at the flip of his two-headed coin in an almost obsessive-compulsive manner, to the point that the Bat-family have exploited his "need" for the coin to their advantage more than once by depriving him of the coin mid-toss to delay his ability to make decisions. On other occasions Two-Face has even helped them when a coin-toss turns out in their favor, such as providing Batman with the antidote to a poison even after he, Joker and Penguin had poisoned the Dark Knight.

The Batman: Face to Face story-arc reveals that Batman has trained Dent extensively in hand-to-hand combat and in detective work, enhancing his already proficient talent in both. Two-Face tends to carry with him a large assortment of conventional weaponry, including guns, knives, rocket launchers, and poison gases; he has expert marksmanship skills.

Family

This section details various members of Harvey Dent's family across various interpretations of the Batman mythos.

• Gilda Dent - Gilda is Harvey's wife in most comic-book incarnations. Gilda wanted to have children with Harvey but his busy schedule precluded this. This led Gilda to become the serial killer known as Holiday, who killed several key members of Carmine Falcone's criminal empire. Gilda fled after Two-Face's first arrest and disappeared. Two-Face constantly denies the chance for plastic surgery and a life with Gilda again but has stated that Harvey Dent is a married man. In the New 52 reboot, Gilda is a socialite that Bruce Wayne introduces to Harvey at a graduation party. She is killed in front of Harvey by Erin McKillen.
• Duela Dent - Duela is the daughter of Two-Face. Creator Bob Rozakis stated, "It didn't take too long to decide whose daughter she would turn out to be. After all, the only married villain was Two-Face. I convinced Julie (and associate editor E. Nelson Bridwell, the acknowledged keeper of DC's historical consistency) that Harvey and Gilda Dent had a daughter, that Harvey had been disappointed because she wasn't a twin, and that they'd named her Duela." Later works make her father an Earth-3 version of the Joker instead, the surname being taken from her mother: Evelyn Dent, also known as Three-Face, the Earth-3 version of Two-Face.

In the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Two-Face", Gilda becomes Grace Lamont, and is introduced as Dent's girlfriend. Dent is about to announce their wedding date as part of his reelection speech, but is interrupted by a late night meeting with crime boss Rupert Thorne, which results in his disfigurement. In the animated series' tie-in comic book, The Batman Adventures, Two-Face tries to kill her after the Joker manipulates him into believing that she is having an affair with Bruce Wayne. After Batman apprehends him, Grace realizes that Two-Face will never be cured, and leaves him. In another issue, Two-Face warns Grace via payphone that a mobster named Little Jonni Infantino is going to kill her after Two-Face refused to eliminate Weird Tony Hendra, a rival mobster and a racketeer in one of Harvey Dent's last cases.

The novelization of The Dark Knight gave the names of Harvey Dent's parents as Harry and Lucy. The novelization explains that Harry, a respected police officer, was an alcoholic who abused his wife and son, and used his connections with the Gotham City Police Department to avoid prosecution for domestic violence. Harry gave his son a misprinted silver dollar coin, with two face, or head, sides, which Harvey considers his good luck charm; after he is disfigured and one side of the coin is burned, he uses it to decide whether his victims will live or die.

In Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment, Harvey Dent's father is renamed Christopher Dent, although he is once again characterized as a mentally ill alcoholic who frequently abused his son. Harvey represses this trauma for years, fueling the inner torment that eventually turns him into Two-Face.

Batman: Jekyll & Hyde reveals that when he was a child, Harvey Dent had an older brother, Murray Dent, who died in a fire because his brother was too scared to save him. The comics explain that Murray is Harvey's second personality, and that Harvey's father abused him because he blamed him for Murray's death.

In Batman Gotham Adventures #2: Lucky Day, Two-Face plans to rob a game-show contestant of $2.2 million on live TV while seeking revenge against his father (this version named Lester), who has just won big on the show. At the conclusion of the storyline, Two-Face attempts to shoot his father, but is foiled by Batman.

Other characters named Two-Face

During Two-Face's third appearance in the 1940s, his face and sanity are restored. Although there was a demand to use him again, the writers did not want to retcon his last story, so they had other characters assume the role.

Wilkins

The first impostor - Wilkins, Dent's butler - uses makeup to suggest that Dent had suffered a relapse and disfigured his own face, giving Wilkins cover to commit crimes as Two-Face.

Paul Sloane

Paul Sloane becomes the second Two-Face. An actor who was set to star in a biography of Harvey Dent, Sloane is disfigured by an accident on the set. Sloane's mind snaps, and he begins to think he is Dent. Sloane recovers some of his own personality, but continues to commit crimes as Two-Face. Sloane is reused in later Earth-Two specific stories as Two-Face II of Earth-Two where the original Earth-Two Two-Face remains healed (Superman Family #211). Sloane is revived in the current continuity as a successor Two-Face (Detective Comics #777), though not replacing Dent as done in the earlier Earth-Two specific storyline.

Aside from a 1962 reprint of the Sloane storyline, this was the character's only appearance in the 1960s.

After the Crisis on Infinite Earths event the Paul Sloane character, with a near identical history to the pre-Crisis version, appears in Detective Comics #580 and #581. In Double Image, Harvey Dent (as Two-Face) employs The Crime Doctor to re-disfigure Sloane. Dent does this out of jealous bitterness and the hope that Sloane would commit crimes based on the number two, thus confusing Batman. At the end of the story, Sloane is once again healed physically and mentally.

Paul Sloane is introduced into post-Zero Hour continuity as a criminal called "The Charlatan" in Detective Comics #777 (February 2003). In this incarnation, Sloan (now spelled without a silent e) had been hired by Gotham's costumed criminals to take Two-Face's place in a scheme to kill Batman. When the real Two-Face learns about this, he captures Sloan and disfigures his face. Scarecrow then experiments on him with fear toxins. Driven insane, The Charlatan becomes obsessed with both getting revenge on the criminals who hired him and completing his mission to kill Batman. Charlatan is defeated by Batman and incarcerated.

George Blake

The third Two-Face is a petty criminal named George Blake, who like Wilkins is not actually disfigured but is wearing make-up. Furthermore, his makeup is worn on the opposite side of his face to Dent/Sloane.

Batman as Two-Face

Also noteworthy is a 1968 story where Batman himself is temporarily turned into Two-Face via a potion (World's Finest Comics #173).

Harvey Apollo

Another Two-Face appears in the Batman Sunday strips. Actor Harvey Apollo is scarred with acid when testifying against a mobster in court, and becomes a criminal. At the end of the story arc, he accidentally hangs himself after slipping on the silver dollar piece he uses as Two-Face.

Harvey Kent

As mentioned above, Harvey Dent does return as Two-Face in the 1970s. With the establishment of the multiverse, the Two-Face of Earth-Two (i.e., the character seen in the original Golden Age stories) is said to be Harvey Kent, who had not relapsed following his cure. The last appearance of this version of Two-Face was in Superman Family #211 (October 1981), depicting him as a guest at the marriage of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle (Catwoman). He meets Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and his shared name with the latter creates confusion.

Split-Personality of Harvey Dent

Although Two-Face has traditionally been shown as fully aware of the actions committed as Harvey Dent and his villainous alter ego, the events of The Great Leap â€" shown in the Nightwing regular series â€" added a new twist to the character: Two-Face and Harvey Dent now appear as a stereotypical case of split personality, two different people cohabitating a shared body, as evidenced when he asks Nightwing to protect an old acquaintance of his, a witness in a mob trial, from a hired gun revealed to be Two-Face himself.

Two-Face-Two

In Batman #700, which establishes Terry McGinnis as part of the DC Universe canon, it is revealed that Two-Face-Two kidnapped the infant Terry, along with an 80-year-old Carter Nichols, and tried to disfigure them in the style of the Joker. His plans were foiled by Damian Wayne, the fourth Robin and Batman's biological son. Unlike the original Two-Face, this version of the character was born deformed with a second face, rather than being scarred by acid or fire, and flips two coins instead of one. He is then killed when a machine falls on him.

Another Two-Face-Two is briefly mentioned during the course of the DC One Million storyline, with the Batman of the 853rd century comments how this villain was defeated when the second Batman convinced him that the law of averages proved his coin-tossing would ultimately cause him to make more 'good' decisions than he would 'bad' ones.

Other versions

As one of Batman's most recognizable and popular opponents, Two-Face appears in numerous comics which are not considered part of the regular DC continuity, including:

The Dark Knight Returns

In the alternate future setting of The Dark Knight Returns, plastic surgery returns Dent's face to normal, but at the unforeseen cost of permanently destroying the good-hearted Harvey Dent personality. The monstrous Two-Face is left in permanent control - to the extent that one of his henchmen now refers to him only as "Face." He attempts to blow up the Gotham Twin Towers with his face swathed in bandages, with the intention of dying in the explosions. As he now sees both sides of his face as scarred. As he puts it when Batman captures him, "At least both sides match." Later in the series, his psychiatrist (who is characterized as completely inept) describes Dent's condition as "recovering nicely".

Batman Black and White

Two-Face has a brief short story in the first issue of Batman Black and White, in the comic titled "Two of a Kind" featuring him receiving plastic surgery to regain his original identity as Harvey Dent, only to suffer a relapse when his fiancée â€" his former psychiatrist â€" is revealed to have a psychotic twin sister, who kills her sister and forces him to become Two-Face again in order to take his revenge.

Elseworlds

In the Elseworlds story Batman: In Darkest Knight, Harvey Dent is the Gotham District Attorney and distrusts Green Lantern (who in this reality is Bruce Wayne) because of his vigilante tactics, made even worse due to Commissioner Gordon's distrust of Lantern due to his sheer power. Sinestro, after becoming deranged from absorbing Joe Chill's mind, then scars Dent's face and gives him powers similar to those of the main continuity's Eclipso. He calls himself Binary Star and works with Star Sapphire (who in this reality is Selina Kyle).

In The Doom That Came To Gotham, an Elseworlds story based on "The Doom That Came To Sarnath", At The Mountains Of Madness and the overall works of Lovecraft, Harvey Dent is hideously mutated on the right side of his body by Talia Al Ghul, and used as a conduit for a ritual intended to resurrect her father, the ancient sorceror Raz Al Ghul, to bring about the end of Gotham City and the world. He is euthanized by Batman by the end of the story.

Two-Face also appears in the Elseworlds Batman/Daredevil crossover book, partnered with Marvel villain Mr. Hyde for the purpose of using Hyde as an "incubator" to grow an organic microchip, giving Hyde drugs to speed up this process (regardless of the fact that this would kill him). It is also revealed in this book that Harvey Dent had once been friends with Matt Murdock, who is secretly Daredevil. Prior to his disfigurement, Dent believed in giving criminals a chance at rehabilitation, while Murdock believed in final justice; having reversed his outlook to what Dent had once believed, Murdock talks Two-Face out of killing Hyde without Two-Face using his coin. Two-Face, however, insists that act is merely "the last of Harvey Dent."

In the Elseworlds comic Batman: Masque, a pastiche of The Phantom of the Opera, Harvey Dent takes the role of the Phantom.

In the Elseworlds book Batman: Crimson Mist, the third part of the trilogy that began with Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, where Batman became a vampire, Two-Face, having only recently suffered his accident, forms a new gang accompanied by Killer Croc as his muscle and forges an alliance with Commissioner Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth to stop Batman when his insane thirst for blood drives him to kill his old enemies. After Batman is believed killed in the old Batcave, Two-Face turns on the two men, forcing Alfred to flee and rescue Batman while Gordon kills Two-Face's men. As he confronts Gordon, Two-Face is interrupted by Batman, restored to life after Alfred sacrificed himself so that his blood could restore his master. Batman drives two crossbow bolts into each side of Two-Face's head, citing it as "One for each face."

In the Elseworlds tale Batman: Claws of the Catwoman, explorer and adventurer Finnegan Dent is revealed to be stealing the sacred artifacts of an African Tribe in the lost city of Mnemnom. During an encounter with Batman and Tarzan- Tarzan had been visiting Gotham to attend to business when Batman learned about Dent's true agenda, teaming up with the Dark Knight to help him stop Dent raiding the city-, half of Dent's face is mauled by a lion, prompting him to decide to remain in Mnemnom and establish himself as its ruler on the grounds that society would have no place for a man with half a face. He is last seen being sealed away in a tomb of the rulers of Mnemnom after he triggers an explosion in a fight with Tarzan and Batman, Tarzan informing Dent as he takes the unconscious Batman to safety that taking Dent back to Gotham to face trial is Batman's idea of justice rather than his; he later tells Batman that Dent died when the falling rubble that knocked Batman unconscious crushed him.

In the Elseworlds series Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham, model Darcy Dent has half her face scarred when a rival model hires a hitman to lace her facial cream with acid. Unlike the regular Two-Face, Darcy does not rely on a coin toss to make her decisions, nor does she suffer from any type of personality disorder. Her motive is simply revenge based against those responsible for her disfigurement, and her motif is mutilating her victims faces and wearing a half business suit with a spiked metal bikini.

Thrillkiller

In the Thrillkiller universe, there are two versions of Two-Face. One is Detective Duell, a corrupt officer on the Gotham City Police Department, whose face is scarred in a manner similar to the version of Two-Face in the mainstream continuity. Duell is arrested at the end of Thrillkiller: Batgirl and Robin. In the sequel, Batgirl and Batman: Thrillkiller '62, Harvey Dent is the new District Attorney. He appears at the end as the new mayor of Gotham.

Earth-Three

The new Earth-Three features a heroic female counterpart to Two-Face: Evelyn "Eve" Dentâ€""Three-Face"â€"the mother of Duela Dent. Her original affiliation is to the heroic Riddler Family (like the similar Batman Family); it included herself, Quizmaster, Jokester, and Riddler's/Joker's Daughter (her daughter Duela). They were later part of Alexander Luthor's Justice Underground, opposing Ultraman's Crime Syndicate.

Evelyn has three personalities (Irrational, Practical, and Hedonistic). To portray this, she wears a costume that is divided in three parts. Her right side favors loud fabrics like polka-dots, stripes, or plaids; her left side favors animal prints like tiger or leopard; and the center is a wide stripe of green. Over her leotard she wears a leather jacket that is a brown bomber jacket on the right and a black biker jacket on the left. Her face is not scarred but is instead usually painted all white with a vertical green center stripe and dark green or black lipstick; sometimes she is shown with her face parted into light green on the right, white in the middle, and mauve on the left. Her black hair is divided into cropped short on the right (sometimes dyed pink or red), worn shoulder-length on the left, and a mohawk in the center. She carries a revolver in a holster slung on her right hip.

She later has a cybernetic left arm after Superwoman mutilates her and leaves her for dead.

Gotham By Gaslight

The Earth-19 version of Two-Face is a serial killer called "The Double Man", as mentioned in Countdown: Arena.

Tangent Comics

On the Tangent Earth, Harvey Dent is an African-American man with psionic powers and is that world's Superman, although he has no other similarities to the Two-Face character.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Harvey Dent did not become Two-Face. Instead, he is now a judge and has a wife and twin children. When the Joker kidnaps Dent's children, Dent asks Thomas Wayne for help in their search, agreeing to do anything he asks of him. Dent warns him that he will shut down everything he owns, including Wayne Casinos, unless his children are saved. Chief James Gordon locates the Joker in Wayne Manor, and he goes in without any backup. Gordon is tricked into shooting Dent's daughter, as she has been taped to a chair and disguised as the Joker. The Joker then appears and kills Gordon before Batman arrives. Batman rushes in and manages to save Dent's daughter by resuscitating her. Batman then moves them away from the Joker.

The Batman Adventures

In The Batman Adventures, which is set in the continuity of Batman: The Animated Series, Two-Face is on the verge of being cured when the Joker convinces him that his fiancee, Grace, is cheating on him with Bruce Wayne. His evil personality takes hold once again, and he kidnaps Grace. Batman and Robin foil his plan and send him back to Arkham. Grace, meanwhile, realizes that Dent will never be cured, and leaves him.

Batman: Earth One

In the graphic novel, Batman: Earth One, Dent has a twin sister named Jessica, who was a friend of Bruce Wayne from preparatory school. Harvey Dent occasionally would bully Bruce, due to his maternal family's reputation (who are Arkhams instead of Kanes) of eventually would become insane, leading at one point, that the two boys had a fight. After the twins reach adulthood, Harvey becomes Gotham City's District Attorney, and Jessica as the president of the city's board of supervisors. They are also political enemies of Gotham's corrupt mayor Oswald Cobblepot. Jessica takes over Cobblepot's term as mayor following his confrontation with Batman, which resulted his death and his crimes are posthumously outed.

In other media

Television

• Although Clint Eastwood was discussed for the role in the 1960s Batman television series, reimagined as a news anchor who was disfigured when a television set exploded in his face, he did not appear as the character was labeled "too gruesome and too violent" for the "kid-friendly" attitude that surrounded the show (as comics and cartoon strips were subject to strict censorship at this time). The story eventually was made into the Batman '66 comic called "The Lost Episode".

• The Harvey Dent incarnation of Two-Face appears in several cartoons for the DC Animated Universe.
  • Two-Face appears in Batman: The Animated Series, voiced by Richard Moll. Prior to his disfigurement, Harvey Dent appears to be perfectly willing to prosecute Batman as a vigilante (in the first episode "On Leather Wings"), Poison Ivy tries to kill him in retaliation for his unintentional extermination of a rare flower species to green-light Stonegate Penitentiary's construction (in the episode "Pretty Poison"), and is shown as friends with Bruce Wayne. In his titled two-part episode "Two-Face", it is revealed that Harvey suffers from multiple personality disorder as a result of years of repressing his anger. His alter ego Big Bad Harv is as evil as his original personality is noble, and emerges whenever he loses his temper. As he runs a re-election campaign, he is engaged to Grace Lamont (voiced by Murphy Cross). When mob boss Rupert Thorne gets a hold of his psychiatric file and plans to blackmail him, Dent assumes his alternate personality and chases Thorne through a chemical plant. Stray gunfire results in an electrical fire and an explosion that scars the left half of his body. After the accident, his alternate personality takes over, and he turns into the gangster Two-Face and wages a vendetta against Thorne. Thorne tricks Grace into contacting Two-Face, and holds both of them at gunpoint. Two-Face overpowers Thorne and flips his coin to decide the mobster's fate, but Batman tossed a box of coins into the air, preventing Two-Face from finding his double-headed coin and rendering him helpless. He is arrested and sent to Arkham Asylum. In subsequent episodes, Two-Face is a crime boss and supervillain in his own right. He is shown alongside other supervillains (Poison Ivy, Penguin, Killer Croc and Joker) in the episode "Almost Got 'Im" during a poker game while each brings up a respective encounter with the Dark Knight. Two-Face strapped Batman to a giant penny which is placed on a catapult. If it landed face down, Batman would be squashed. If it landed face up, his bones would shatter. When Two-Face's coin launched, Batman cut himself free from the ropes in midair using Two-Face's own coin. Much to Two-Face's irritation, Batman had been actually allowed to keep the giant penny as a trophy. In the episode "Shadow of the Bat", Two-Face manipulates Gil Mason (voiced by Tim Matheson) into attempting to murder Commissioner Gordon, only to be brought to justice by Gordon's daughter as Batgirl. In the episode "Trial", Two-Face acts as a 'prosecutor' when Batman's rogues gallery hold the Dark Knight prisoner in Arkham Asylum in a kangaroo court. In the episode "Second Chance", he is about to undergo an operation that will restore his face and sanity when he is kidnapped. Batman eventually deduces that Two-Face's personality had orchestrated the kidnapping to prevent Dent from destroying him, and engages Two-Face in a confrontation that ends with the disfigured mobster forsaking his coin and allowing himself to be arrested.
  • Two-Face appears in The New Batman Adventures, again voiced by Richard Moll. In the episode "Sins of the Father", he is indirectly responsible for Tim Drake's origin story. He murders former henchmen Steven "Shifty" Drake, motivating Robin to join forces with Batman and Batgirl in order to bring Two-Face to justice. In the episode "Judgement Day", Two-Face's psyche fragments a second time, creating a third personality - a court-themed vigilante known as the Judge (voiced by Malachi Throne) that attempts to eliminate all of Gotham's criminals. Two-Face has no idea that he himself is the vigilante in question which Batman eventually defeats.
  • The character is briefly featured in the Justice League animated series. In the episode "A Better World", an alternate reality version makes a cameo appearance as a lobotomized janitor in the Justice Lords' dimension. In the episode "Starcrossed", Two-Face's penny is on display in the Batcave and used by the Flash to defeat a group of Thanagarians.
  • Two-Face is sporadically mentioned/alluded in Batman Beyond. In the episode "Black Out", Two-Face's penny is still on display in the Batcave and used by Inque in an attempt to crush the new Batman (Terry McGinnis). In the episode "Terry's Friend Dates a Robot", Terry fights with an android replica of Two-Face during a training simulation. In the episode "Betrayal", the character is alluded. When Terry feels guilty about fighting his old friend Big Time (voiced by Clancy Brown), the elderly Bruce Wayne commiserates by saying that Two-Face had once been his friend.
• The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face is featured in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by James Remar (primarily) and briefly reprised by Richard Moll (in "Chill of the Night!"). He first appears in "Legends of the Dark Mite!" as part of Bat-Mite's fantasy. Two-Face's first speaking role is in the teaser of "The Fate of Equinox" where he readies his henchmen to kill Batman. When his coin lands unscarred face up, Two-Face teams up with Batman against the henchmen. Before he can flip again, however, Batman knocks him out. He makes a cameo in "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" singing with the other villains in Arkham Asylum. In "Sidekicks Assemble!", he is one of the villains Robin (Dick Grayson), Speedy and Aqualad face off against in a simulation in the Batcave. In "Chill of the Night!", Two-Face is one of the villains bidding for a supersonic weapon held by arms dealer Joe Chill. He joins the villains in attacking Chill when they learn that Chill was indirectly responsible for Batman's creation. Two-Face and other villains are defeated by Batman, but he manages to escape when the warehouse collapses. He also appears in "The Mask of Matches Malone!" where he is pursued by Huntress, Black Canary and Catwoman.
• Paul Sloane appears in the Young Justice episode "Image", voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. He appears as one of the actors on the fictional sitcom Hello Megan.
• Harvey Dent appears in Beware the Batman, voiced by Christopher McDonald. He serves as District Attorney, and takes a stand against vigilantes like Batman and Katana. He secretly begins working with the criminal Anarky to bring Batman down, and they hire the mercenary Deathstroke to kill him. Deathstroke lures Batman by kidnapping Dent, and tries unsuccessfully to kill the Caped Crusader. Later, Dent intervenes in another battle between Batman and Deathstroke (dressed as Batman) in the Gotham Armory. The altercation causes a massive explosion, in which Dent is disfigured. Dent, whose face is now wrapped in bandages, makes an unsuccessful run for mayor, and turns against Anarky, who angrily dubs him "Two-Face". Dent's sanity unravels as his career is ruined, and declares that he has "plans" for Gotham as he unwraps his bandages.

• Two-Face is referenced in Teen Titans Go! (TV series), in Caged Tiger, pictures of Two-Face can be seen in the elevator of titans, along with others pictures of supervillains

• Harvey Dent appears in the live action TV series Gotham, portrayed by Nicholas D'Agosto. He first appears in the episode "Harvey Dent" (S1E9), in which he is portrayed as the Assistant District Attorney of Gotham City. He forms an alliance with Detective James Gordon, and helps him investigate the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne and the secrets of corrupt police commissioner Gillian B. Loeb.

Film

Live action

• Harvey Dent appears in Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman, portrayed by Billy Dee Williams. Newly elected Gotham's district attorney, he vows to lock up mob boss Carl Grissom. Williams was set to reprise the character as Two-Face in later films, but his character was deleted from the script for the 1992 sequel Batman Returns. Although it had long been rumored that Williams had to be paid a penalty, Williams later stated that this did not occur.

• The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face appears in the 1995 film Batman Forever, portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones. Mel Gibson was offered the role but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts with Braveheart. His origin story is the same as in the Golden Age comics: district attorney Harvey Dent is disfigured when gangster "Boss" Maroni throws acid in his face during a trial. He is driven insane â€" to the point of referring to himself in the plural â€" and swears revenge against Batman for failing to save him. After several clashes with Batman, he and his men attack Haly's Circus and murder Dick Grayson's family, being indirectly responsible for the youth's transformation into Robin. Two-Face teams up with the Riddler in order to learn Batman's secret identity. At the movie's climax, Batman prompts Two-Face to flip his coin to make a decision and then throws a handful of coins into the air. Two-Face scrambles to find his coin but loses his footing and falls to his death. This version of the character was met with a largely negative response among critics and audiences alike. Scott Beatty, in particular, noted that he felt that the Batman Forever version of Two-Face was more of a Joker knock-off than the multifaceted character in the original comics; his reliance on the coin was also portrayed as more of a quirk than a necessity, one scene showing him repeatedly flipping the coin to get the result he wants rather than simply accepting its original result. However, Jones was nominated for "Best Villain" at the MTV Awards alongside Jim Carrey for his performance. Two-Face's costume can be seen in Arkham Asylum in the 1997 film Batman & Robin.

• Aaron Eckhart portrays Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the 2008 film The Dark Knight. In this film, Harvey Dent is a tragic hero, lacking the gimmickry and multiple personalities commonly associated with the character. At the beginning of the film, he is Gotham City's new district attorney who forms a tenuous alliance with Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon in order to take down the Mafia. Corrupt police officers working with the Mafia kidnap Dent and his girlfriend Rachel Dawes and hold them prisoner in two abandoned buildings set to explode. Dent tries to free himself, but the chair he is strapped to falls over and knocks over an oil drum, spilling oil over the floor and soaking the left half of his body. Batman saves Dent just as the building explodes but the ensuing blast disfigures half of Dent's face, while Rachel is killed in the other explosion. The Joker visits Dent in the hospital and convinces him to exact revenge against those he believes are responsible for Rachel's death. He embraces the nickname the Gotham police had given him during his time in Internal Affairs â€" "Two-Face" â€" and decides his victims' fates with his two-headed Peace dollar that has one side scarred by the explosion. He kills a corrupt cop, as well as mob boss Sal Maroni. Eventually, he takes Gordon's family to the site of Rachel's death, intent on punishing Gordon for failing to save Rachel. Batman arrives and challenges him to judge the three who pressured the Mafia to turn to Joker for assistance: himself, Batman and Gordon. Two-Face flips the coin for Batman, whom he shoots, and himself, whom he spares; instead of flipping for Gordon, he opts to flip for Gordon's son to inflict upon Gordon the pain of losing a loved one. As the coin flies through the air, Batman tackles Two-Face off a ledge to his death. Batman takes the blame for Two-Face's crimes in order to make sure Harvey Dent is remembered as a hero.

• Harvey Dent's legacy plays an important role in The Dark Knight Rises. Set eight years later, the film reveals that the "Dent Act" legislation which has all but eradicated organized crime in Gotham. Plagued with guilt over covering up Two-Face's killing spree, Commissioner James Gordon considers publicly revealing the truth but decides that Gotham is not yet ready. Later, Bane acquires the speech that Gordon had planned to deliver exposing Two-Face's crimes and Gordon's cover-up with Batman. After defeating Batman and taking over Gotham, Bane reads the speech about Two-Face on live television to undermine public confidence in the law and throw Gotham's social order into upheaval. This is all part of a larger plan to destroy Gotham, with the first act having the League of Shadows release all of Blackgate Penitentiary's inmates, many of whom were locked up under the Dent Act.

Animated

• Harvey Dent was alluded in Batman: Under The Red Hood by Jason Todd.

• Harvey Dent appears in Batman: Year One, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.

• Harvey Dent appears in the two-part animated adaptation of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, voiced by Wade Williams. He undergoes plastic surgery to repair his disfigured face. Although he is declared sane, Harvey quickly goes into hiding following his release. Dent resurfaces threatening to blow up a building unless he is paid a ransom. Batman defeats Dent's henchmen, learning that the bombs will explode even if the ransom is paid; he realizes that Dent intends to kill himself. Batman disables one bomb and the other detonates harmlessly. After Batman defeats Dent, he reveals that, while his face was repaired, he is still disfigured in his own mind.

• The Flashpoint version of Harvey Dent is mentioned in Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox by Batman.

• The original incarnation of Two-Face appears in the animated film Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite, with Troy Baker reprising the role.

• The original incarnation of Two-Face makes a cameo appearance in the animated film Son of Batman. He is seen flipping his coin in his Arkham Asylum cell.

• The Batman: Arkham series incarnation of Two-Face makes a non-speaking cameo appearance in Batman: Assault on Arkham. He appears as one of the Arkham Inmates who are broken free from prison by the Joker and takes part of the chaotic battle of the Inmates against the police. He also tries to escape in a police car after a short shotout until Killer Frost freezes his head and gets him out of her way and tries to steal the car by herself.

Video games

• A pre-disfigured version of Harvey Dent appears as a hostage of Poison Ivy in the video game Batman: The Animated Series.

• The original version of Two-Face is a boss in The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Super NES, The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega Genesis, the video game adaptations of Batman Forever, and Batman: Chaos in Gotham (in which he is the final boss).

• The original version of Two-Face appears in Lego Batman: The Video Game, voiced by Steven Blum. He possesses an immunity to toxins. He serves as the Riddler's second-in-command (a possible reference to their alliance in Batman Forever).

• The original version of Two-Face is the first boss in the Wii version of Batman: The Brave and the Bold â€" The Videogame, with James Remar reprising the role. He appears in the teaser to the first episode and has kidnapped Mayor George Hill. In the fight, he has tied Hill to a giant penny and flips him to decide whether to send henchmen to fight Batman and Robin or to leave himself open to attack. After he is defeated, Batman states that there is still hope for Two-Face to reform, and the former D.A. responds by declaring that he will escape from Arkham.

• The original version of Two-Face appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Edwin Neal. If the player uses a Hero character, Two-Face will contact him or her when the player reaches level 30, apparently with Harvey Dent being in control. Two-Face will ask the player to help him uncover Penguin´s smuggling operations in the Old Gotham Subway, and will guide the player through the instance. When the player defeats Penguin, Two-Face shows up, his evil side being in control. Two-Face mocks the Penguin and announces he is taking over the Penguin´s business. As it turns out, the Hero character has accidentally helped Two-Face take out his rival. The same process will follow if the player is using a Villain character, however, Two-Face will always be in control in this case. Two-Face will also be one of the two bosses to defeat in the duo instance Gotham Mercy Hospital, available only for villains (the other boss being Mr. Freeze). Players can also use Two-Face as one of many playable characters in PVP Legends matches.

• The original version of Two-Face is mentioned in Batman: Arkham Asylum. He is mentioned twice in the game. The first is in a cutscene with the Joker taunting Batman in a room. The second is at the finale of the game where he is mentioned on a police radio as he attempts to be robbing a bank. Also, his cell, which is filled with posters and a guardhouse also filled with poster, is present in the game.

• The original version of Two-Face appears in Batman: Arkham City, voiced by Troy Baker (for the first time). Two-Face is sent to Arkham City after a dispute with Catwoman. In the introductory sequence of the game, he manages to thwart Catwoman's plans to pilfer some of the ill-gotten gains from a safe in his hideout. He then puts Catwoman on trial before a kangaroo court in an abandoned Solomon Wayne Courthouse, secretly planning to gain prestige among other Arkham inmates by executing Catwoman. Batman, having overheard an Arkham City security report indicating Catwoman's plight, goes into the courthouse to rescue Catwoman. Batman takes down some of Two-Face's men before Two-Face shoots Batman. Two-Face flips his coin to decide Catwoman's fate, and it lands on the scarred side. Catwoman gets free and scratches Two-Face, then kicks him down causing him to drop his gun. Two-face just draws a second gun on her, but she is saved by Batman (who had only been stunned thanks to his armor), roping his legs and hosting him into the air. He is promptly left strung up by his feet over a vat of acid, but swears revenge. Late in the game's storyline, Two-Face returns and makes a new bid for influence by taking over the Penguin's turf in Arkham City. Catwoman goes there after her apartment has been bombed to find that Two-Face's men have taken the valuables she had stolen. Catwoman manages to defeat Two-Face. In Hugo Strange's interview tapes, Two-Face says that half his face was scarred when he was prosecuting Carmine Falcone. Strange was also the one who tipped Two-Face off about Catwoman's attempted heist. The original version of Two-Face also appears in Batman: Arkham City Lockdown.

• The original version of Two-Face appears in Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes, with Troy Baker reprising his role. He appears to have a split personality as seen when he is among the villains released from Arkham Asylum by Lex Luthor and Joker. He appears as a boss fight and unlockable character found atop City Hall.

• The original version of Two-Face makes a cameo appearance in Injustice: Gods Among Us. In the Arkham Asylum level if one of the characters is thrown through the cell door on the right side of the second tier, they will be attacked by Two-Face, Killer Croc, Penguin and Riddler before being punched by Killer Croc into the next tier of the Arkham arena.

• The Dark Knight version of Two-Face appears as a DLC-only playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham via the Dark Knight DLC pack.

• Two-Face is the tertiary antagonist of Batman: Arkham Knight, with Troy Baker voicing him once again.

Miscellaneous

• During the Batman Sunday comic strips that ran from 1943â€"1946, Two-Face's origin story is somewhat altered: He is introduced as an actor named Harvey Apollo who is testifying at the trial of criminal Lucky Sheldon. He is killed at the end of the story arc. Also, his origin is again altered in the Batman daily strips published from 1989 to 1991. In this version, Harvey Dent is scarred by a vial of acid thrown by an unnamed bystander, and intended for the Joker.

• In a musical production entitled Holy Musical B@man by Starkid Productions (Team Starkid), Two-Face is portrayed by Chris Allen.

• A bobblehead was released for Two-Face based on the character's likeness in The Dark Knight, but the manufacturer was unknown. It was never sold in stores, but collectiblegiveaways.com later ran out of stock due to the film's popularity.

• From 1999 to 2009, Six Flags America had an Invertigo roller coaster, made by Vekoma, called Two-Face: The Flip Side. The ride was SBNO for two seasons until its removal due to repeated mechanical failures (see Incidents at Six Flags parks).

In popular culture

• In the final season of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, in the episode "The Strike," Jerry dates a woman who appears attractive in some settings and ugly in others, whom George nicknames "Two-Face." Jerry asks George: "Like the Batman villain?" An annoyed George responds: "If that helps you."

• Two-Face appears in Robot Chicken, voiced by Neil Patrick Harris. In the episode "The Ramblings of Maurice", Two-Face repeatedly injures his face, resulting in him renaming himself "Three-Face", "Four-Face", and so on. In the Robot Chicken DC Universe Special, he appears in the opening where he and Composite-Santa get tailored suits together. He next appears in a segment where he uses his coin to determine his bathroom choices, with Harris reprising his role. In the final segment where the superheroes and supervillains battle it out at Aquaman's surprise birthday party, Two-Face flips a coin and it lands on the unscarred side, so he knocks himself out.

• In Bat Thumb, the character is renamed "No Face" because he has no face. His plan was to erase everyone's face in Gaaathumb City and marry "Vicki Nail."

See also

• List of Batman Family adversaries
• Batman: The Long Halloween
• Batman: Dark Victory
• Gilda Dent

References

External links

• Two-Face at the Internet Movie Database
• Two-Face at the DC Database Project