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{{Short description|Comic book supervillain}} | |||
:''This article is about the DC comics villain. For the Nigerian musician, see ]. For the Brazilian soap opera, see ]. For craniofacial duplication, see ].'' | |||
{{redirect|Harvey Dent}} | |||
{{Superherobox| <!--Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Comics--> | |||
{{Infobox comics character <!--Misplaced Pages:WikiProject Comics --> | |||
image=] | |||
| character_name = Two-Face | |||
|caption='''Two-Face''', as depicted on the cover of ''Batman Annual'' #14 (1990).<br>Pencils by ]. | |||
| image = TwoFaceYearOne.png | |||
|character_name=Two-Face | |||
| image_size = 180 | |||
|real_name=Harvey Dent | |||
| converted = y | |||
|publisher=] | |||
| caption = From ''Two-Face: Year One'' #2 (October 2008).<br>Art by Jesus Saiz and ]. | |||
|debut='']'' #66 (August 1942) | |||
| real_name = Harvey Dent | |||
|creators=]<br>] | |||
| publisher = ] | |||
|alliances=]<br/>] | |||
| debut = '']'' #66 (August 1942) | |||
|aliases=Janus | |||
| homeworld = ] | |||
|}} | |||
| creators = ]<!--do not add Bill Finger, see quote from source in reference for info crediting Bob Kane as sole creator in the article--> | |||
| alliances = {{Plain list | | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* Church of Two | |||
* Task Force Z | |||
}} | |||
| aliases = ]<br/>Apollo | |||
| cat = super | |||
| subcat = DC Comics | |||
| villain = y | |||
| sortkey = Two-Face | |||
| powers = * Criminal mastermind | |||
* Expert in ] and ] | |||
* Skilled marksman and hand-to-hand combatant | |||
}} | |||
'''Two-Face''' is a <!--Do not add "fictional" as it is tautological; supervillains (and characters in general) are by definition implied to be fictionalized to some extent.-->] appearing in ]s published by ]. The character was created by ],<!--Do not add Bill Finger to list of co-creators. Read the quote from the reference citing Kane as his creator below in Creation and Golden Age history--> and first appeared in '']'' #66 (August 1942). He has become one of the superhero ]'s most enduring enemies belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his ]. | |||
'''Two-Face''' is a ] that appears in ] published by ]. The character first appeared in '']'' #66 (]), and was created by ] and ]. Once '''Harvey Dent''', ] of ] and an ally of Batman, after a criminal ] half of his face with ], Dent goes insane and becomes the crime boss Two-Face, who chooses to do either good or evil depending upon the results of flipping a coin. Originally, Two-Face was one of many ]-focused ] villains, plotting crimes based around the number two, such as robbing Gotham Second National Bank at 2:00 on February 2. Creator Bob Kane was inspired by a movie poster advertising the ] film '']'' and conceived the idea of a villain with a dual personality. In ], writers have portrayed his obsession with ] and ] as the result of ] and ] as well as a history of ]. He ] makes all important decisions by flipping a two-headed coin, one side of which is scratched over with an X. | |||
In his comic book appearances, Two-Face is the alter ego of '''Harvey Dent''', ]'s former ] who becomes a criminal mastermind obsessed with ] and the number two. Half of his face is hideously scarred after mob boss ] throws ] at him. The resulting disfigurement drives him insane and causes him to make decisions based on the ] of a coin. The ] portrays the character as having ], with Two-Face being an alternate personality that developed as a result of ]. The modern version is also established as having once been an ally of Batman and ], and a close friend of Batman's secret identity, Bruce Wayne. | |||
The character has appeared in multiple Batman media forms, including video games, '']'', and the ]. ] portrayed Harvey Dent in '']'', while ] portrayed Two-Face in '']'' and ] played Harvey Dent/Two-Face in '']''. | |||
The character has been adapted in various ], having been portrayed in film by ] in '']'' (1989), ] in '']'' (1995), ] in '']'' (2008), and ] in '']'' (2024), in television by ] in the ] series '']'', and ] in ] series '']''. ], ], and others have provided Two-Face's voice in animation and video games. | |||
{{TOC limit|3}} | |||
==Publication history== | ==Publication history== | ||
===Creation and Golden Age history=== | |||
] | |||
Two-Face was created by ] co-creator ],{{sfn|Daniels|1999|p=45|loc=While the details involving the creation of some of these characters are in dispute, everyone seems to acknowledge that Two-Face was Bob Kane's brainchild exclusively}} and debuted in '']'' #66 ("The Crimes of Two-Face"), written by Batman's other co-creator ], in August 1942 as a new Batman villain originally named '''Harvey "Apollo" Kent''', a handsome, law-abiding former ] ] close to the Batman. Half of his face was ] when a ] he was ], ], ], resulting in his loss of sanity and turn to crime, with his crimes centered around the number ].<ref>{{cite web |last=Schedeen |first=Jesse |date=March 27, 2019 |title=20 Detective Comics Issues That Redefined Batman |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2019/03/27/20-ways-detective-comics-1000-redefined-batman-over-80-years |access-date=September 18, 2022 |website=]}}</ref><ref name="tec66">{{Cite comic |date=August 1942 |title=Detective Comics |story=The Crimes of Two-Face |issue=66 |volume=1 |publisher=DC Comics |writer=Finger, Bill |penciller=Kane, Bob |inker=Robinson, Jerry & Roussos George |letterer=Schnapp, Ira |editor=Ellsworth, Whitney |page=1}}</ref>{{sfn|Eury|Kronenberg|2009|p=101}}{{sfn|McCabe|2017}} In creating Two-Face, Kane was inspired by the ] of the ] story '']'', which Kane described as a "classic story of the good and evil sides of ]",{{sfn|Kane|Andrae|1989|p=109}} and was also influenced by the ] of ]'s novel '']''.{{sfn|Kane|Andrae|1989|p=109}} Kane and Finger conceived the idea of Two-Face ] scarred on one side to determine which side of his personality emerges: evil if the coin flip results in the scarred side, which causes him to "go on a rampage of looting and destruction,"{{sfn|Kane|Andrae|1989|p=109}} or good if it results in the unscarred side, causing him to give his loot to ] or refrain from committing a crime.{{sfn|Kane|Andrae|1989|p=109}} In Kane's autobiography ''Batman and Me'', Kane suggests that Finger was inspired by the ] hero ], with their similarities as both district attorneys disfigured with acid.{{sfn|Kane|Andrae|1989|p=109}} Two-Face's last name Kent was later changed to Dent, which Kane infers was done to avoid confusion with ]'s alter ego Clark Kent.{{sfn|Kane|Andrae|1989|p=109}} | |||
"The Crimes of Two-Face" also introduced Two-Face's devoted wife ], a long-standing character in Two-Face stories.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/batman-gilda-dent-long-halloween-killer-returns/|title=Batman: A Long Halloween Survivor Returns With a LETHAL Mission|last=Zachary|first=Brandon|date=April 27, 2021|website=]|access-date=September 20, 2022}}</ref> Later appearances continued featuring the character's criminal life until he was cured through ] in his third appearance and shown reformed in 1952's "The Double Crimes of Two-Face!" (''Detective Comics'' #187),{{sfn|Daniels|1999|p=46}}{{sfn|McCabe|2017}} with impostors taking Two-Face's place in later stories.<ref name="dcsbadside">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/grumpy-old-fan-how-long-will-two-face-be-on-dcs-bad-side/|title=How long will Two-Face be on DC's bad side?|last=Bondurant|first=Tom|date=June 25, 2015|website=]|access-date=September 25, 2022}}</ref> Two-Face made his last appearance in the ] in 1954's "Two-Face Strikes Again" (''Batman'' #81), in which Two-Face returns to crime; however, this story is ] to the Golden Age version of the character, because only the Two-Face stories from 1942 to 1952 were assigned to DC's setting for their Golden Age characters, ].<ref name="dcsbadside"/> | |||
The character only made three appearances in the 1940s, and appeared twice in the 1950s (not counting the ]s mentioned below). By this time, he was dropped in favor of more "kid friendly" villains, though he did appear in a 1968 issue ('']'' #173), in which Batman declared him to be the criminal he most fears. In 1971, writer ] brought Two-Face back, and it was then that he became one of Batman's arch-enemies. | |||
===Dormancy and revitalization=== | |||
In the wake of ] 1987 revision of Batman's origin (see '']''), Andrew Helfer rewrote Two-Face's history to match.<ref name="YearOne"/> This origin, presented in ''Batman Annual'' #14, served to emphasize Dent's status as a ] character, with a back story that included an abusive, ] father, and early struggles with ] and ]. It was also established, in '']'', that pre-accident Harvey was a major heroic figure working as one of Batman's earliest allies. Harvey had clear ties to both Batman and Commissioner Gordon, making him an unsettling and personal foe for both men.<ref name="Annual 14"/> | |||
The character was unused throughout the ], only appearing in the 173rd issue of ''World's Finest Comics'' in 1968 which featured Batman transforming into Two-Face.{{sfn|Eury|Kronenberg|2009|p=101}}{{sfn|Eury|Kronenberg|2009|p=13}} In July 1971, during the ],{{sfn|Eury|Kronenberg|2009|p=223}} Two-Face was brought back by writer ] and former DC editor ] in the story "Half an Evil" ('']'' #234).{{sfn|Eury|Kronenberg|2009|p=141}}{{sfn|Eury|Kronenberg|2009|p=226}} Written by O'Neil and drawn by ], "Half an Evil" is a mystery story which features Two-Face stealing ] from a ]; the issue also retold his origin with a recap of previous stories.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Farago|first1=Andrew|last2=McIntyre|first2=Gina|date=2019|title=Batman: The Definitive History of the Dark Knight in Comics, Film, and Beyond|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page=85|isbn=9781683834373}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Frye|first=Todd|date=2019|title=Batman #201-300: The Complete Comic Book Covers, Vol. 3|publisher=Action Figure Publishing}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Greenberger|first=Robert|page=299|date=2019|title=DC Comics Super-Villains: 100 Greatest Moments: Highlights from the History of the World's Greatest Super-Villains|publisher=Book Sales|isbn=9780785836193}}</ref> After his reintroduction, Two-Face was featured in several DC comics, such as '']'', '']'', and '']'', and became one of Batman's most popular enemies.<ref name="dcsbadside"/><ref>{{cite book|last1=Sacks|first1=Jason|last2=Dallas|first2=Keith|last3=Dykema|first3=Dave|title=American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1970s|year=2014 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing|page=50|isbn=9781605490564}}</ref> | |||
===Modern Age=== | |||
During the same period, Two-Face is revealed to have murdered ]'s father, who had been one of his henchmen. Todd later has Two-Face at his mercy and chooses not to kill him, embracing Batman's ideal of justice. This storyline has been mirrored in other media, with other Robins taking Todd's place: in the animated series of the late 1990s with ] substituting for Todd <ref name="Annual 14"/> and in the 1995 film '']'', with ] as a substitute. | |||
{{See also|Modern Age of Comic Books}} | |||
Following the '']'' comic event which ] the ], Two-Face was reintroduced in ]'s 1986 revision of ], '']'', as Gotham City's former crusader against crime and former ally of the Batman.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Manning|first1=Matthew K.|last2=Wiacek|first2=Stephen|last3=Scott|first3=Melanie|last4=Jones|first4=Nick|last5=Walker|first5=Landry Q.|date=2021|title=The DC Comics Encyclopedia New Edition|publisher=Penguin|page=327|isbn=9780744053012}}</ref><ref name="dcsbadside"/> Later in 1990, Two-Face was given a revised origin by ] in 1990's "The Eye of the Beholder" (''Batman'' Annual #14) which established Harvey Dent as having ] effected by the ] from his past of ] dealt by his father, with Two-Face being a second personality state, and cemented Dent as being formerly part of an alliance with Batman and ] against crime in Gotham City.<ref name="bookshelf">{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/12/14/ultimate-bookshelf-harvey-dent-two-face|title=Ultimate Bookshelf: Harvey Dent / Two-Face|last=Phillips|first=Dan|date=December 15, 2009|website=]|access-date=September 18, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://comicbook.com/news/5-essential-two-face-stories/|title=5 Essential Two-Face Stories|last=Ginocchio|first=Mark|date=November 17, 2014|website=comicbook|access-date=September 18, 2022}}</ref>{{sfn|McCabe|2017}} 1995's ''Batman/Two-Face: Crime and Punishment'' by writer ] and artist ] built on "Eye of the Beholder" and explored Dent's psyche and childhood with his abusive father.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jmdematteis.com/2014/07/well-today-is-batman-day-yes-there-is.html|title=HAPPY BIRTHDAY BATMAN!|last=DeMatteis|first=J.M.|date=July 23, 2014|website=jmdematteis.com|access-date=September 25, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/the-greatest-two-face-stories-ever-told/|title=The Greatest Two-Face Stories Ever Told!|last=Cronin|first=Brian|date=April 28, 2013|website=]|access-date=September 25, 2022}}</ref> Two-Face's origin was later expanded in writer ] and artist ] 1996 Batman ] '']'', which incorporated aspects of "Eye of the Beholder" and explored Batman, Gordon and Dent's struggle to end Gotham's ] during the rise of costumed supervillains.<ref name="bookshelf"/>{{sfn|McCabe|2017}} | |||
A reformed Dent rid of Two-Face was featured in the 2002 storyline '']'', continuing on to 2006 in the '']'' limited series and in writer ] ''Batman'' arc "]", which explored Dent having trained under Batman and taking Batman's place as Gotham's protector during Batman's one-year absence, as well as Two-Face's return.<ref name="dcsbadside"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/batman-redeemed-two-face/|title=Batman Just Redeemed One of Gotham City's Oldest Villains|last=Stone|first=Sam|date=July 22, 2020|website=]|access-date=September 20, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/batman-two-face-rivalry-things-only-comic-book-fans-know/|title=10 Things Only Comic Book Fans Know About Batman & Two-Face's Rivalry|last=Rector|first=Seth|date=October 7, 2021|website=]|access-date=September 20, 2022}}</ref> In the 2006 limited series '']'' written by ], Two-Face was given a revamped origin, focusing on Dent's transformation into Two-Face during Dent's ] for district attorney, as well as establishing the relationship between a young Harvey Dent and ], Batman's secret identity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/sable-puts-a-dent-in-two-face-year-one/|title=Sable Puts a Dent in "Two-Face: Year One"|last=Renaud|first=Jeffrey|date=May 16, 2008|website=]|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref> | |||
In '']'', writer ] portrays Harvey's dependence on his coin. The doctors in the asylum attempt to wean him off his evil personality by taking away his coin and replacing it with a die and eventually a ] deck, effectively giving him 78 options. The treatment fails, however; with so many options, Harvey can't even make simple decisions. At the end of the graphic novel, Batman gives Harvey his coin back, telling him to use it to decide whether to kill him. He tells Batman that the coin landed scar face down, and Batman leaves safely, but the next scene shows the scar face up, meaning that he inexplicably chose to let Batman live. In the hardcover edition, Morrison said this was because it was April Fool's Day.<ref>{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ] | |||
| Penciller = ] | |||
| Inker = McKean, Dave | |||
| Story = | |||
| Title = Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = | |||
| Date = 1989 | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| Page = 128 | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = | |||
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Craig|last=Johnson|url=http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/110920233584870.htm|title=Arkham Asylum 15th Anniversary HC Review|accessdate=2008-05-28|date=2005-02-23|publisher=Comics Bulletin}}</ref> | |||
Following DC's '']'' reboot in 2011, Two-Face's origin was changed by writer ] in the 2014 '']'' arc The Big Burn, altering the cause of Dent's transformation into Two-Face and introducing Gilda Dent's death into his origin; the story also established Dent's knowledge of Bruce Wayne being Batman, and concluded with Dent dying by ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/the-15-best-two-face-stories/ | |||
Throughout the history of the Batman ], attempts have been made to repair his facial scars but they have not yet cured his insanity; he simply destroys the one side of his face and becomes Two-Face once again. In Frank Miller's revival of Batman, '']'', Bruce Wayne himself funds Harvey's rehabilitation, however, Harvey soon returns to crime and Batman must once again stop him from destroying Gotham. | |||
|title=The 15 Best Two-Face Stories|date=October 27, 2016|website=]|access-date=September 20, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= | |||
http://www.multiversitycomics.com/reviews/review-batman-two-face-24/ | |||
|title=Review: Batman and Two-Face #24|last=Dodge|first=Matt|date=October 17, 2013|website=Multiversity Comics|access-date=September 20, 2022}}</ref> The subsequent '']'' 2016 soft reboot reintroduced Two-Face in ]'s My Own Worst Enemy arc in ''All-Star Batman'', in which Batman tries to obtain a cure to rid Dent of Two-Face in a ].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/all-star-batman-comic-two-face/|title=All-Star Batman: Dark Knight & Two-Face Take a Deadly Road Trip|last=Dyce|first=Andrew|date=August 10, 2016|website=]|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gq.com/story/all-star-batman-scott-snyder-interview|title=The Guy Who Reinvented Batman Without Changing a Thing|last=Rivera|first=Joshua|date=April 18, 2017|website=GQ|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref> Two-Face was then featured in the 2020 ''Detective Comics'' arc Ugly Heart, which showed Dent surviving his ] in Tomasi's previous story "The Big Burn" then starting a cult named the Church of Two, before being rid of Two-Face through ] conducted by Batman.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/detective-comics-joker-most-sadistic-torture-plan|title=Detective Comics Just Revealed Joker's Most Sadistic Torture Plan|last=Matadeen|first=Renaldo|date=June 4, 2020|website=]|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/batman-two-face-just-became-gothams-new-anti-christ-with-a-classic-look/|title=Batman: Two-Face Just Became Gotham's New Anti-Christ (With a Classic Look)|last=Cardona|first=Ian|date=March 1, 2020|website=]|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/batman-redeemed-two-face/|title=Batman Just Redeemed One of Gotham City's Oldest Villains|last=Stone|first=Sam|date=July 22, 2020|website=]|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref> Dent is shown reformed throughout comics such as Matthew Rosenberg's 2021 limited series ''Task Force Z'' and ''Detective Comics''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/task-force-z-amanda-waller-jurassic-park/|title=Red Hood's New Team Is Ripping Off Jurassic Park For the Worst Reason|last=Erdmann|first=Kevin|date=March 28, 2022|website=]|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://screenrant.com/two-face-found-cure-detective-comics/|title=Has Harvey Dent Been Cured of Two-Face?|last=Erdmann|first=Kevin|date=July 27, 2020|website=]|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.cbr.com/dc-detective-comics-1063-comic-review/|title=REVIEW: DC's Detective Comics #1063|last=Gayen|first=Sayantan|date=August 23, 2022|website=]|access-date=September 21, 2022}}</ref> | |||
In 2024, Two-Face received a solo series as part of the ] initiative.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Jenna |date=September 19, 2024 |title=DC Reveals New Series Starring Batman Villain Two-Face |url=https://comicbook.com/comics/news/dc-new-series-batman-villain-two-face/ |access-date=December 25, 2024 |website=ComicBook.com |language=en-US}}</ref> | |||
During the aftermath of the ] that leaves Gotham City in shambles, Two-Face carves out a sizable portion of the ruined city for himself. He takes up residence in Gotham City Hall, maintaining a relatively sophisticated lifestyle. His empire is eventually brought down by ], who, in the employ of ], devastates Two-Face's gang during his destruction of the city's Hall of Records. Two-Face kidnaps Commissioner Gordon and puts him on trial for his activities after Gotham City was declared a ], with Two-Face as both judge and prosecutor. Gordon plays upon Two-Face's split ] to demand Harvey Dent as his defense attorney. Harvey ] Two-Face and wins an ] for Gordon, determining that Two-Face has effectively ]ed Gordon by implying that he had committed murders to aid the Commissioner.<ref name="NML">{{cite web|url=http://www.comicvine.com/no-mans-land/42106/|title=No Man's Land (comics)|accessdate=2008-05-09|publisher=Comic Vine}}</ref> | |||
==Characterization== | |||
].]] | |||
===Description=== | |||
Two-Face is a duality-obsessed criminal. Introduced in 1942 as a ] obsessed with the number 2, Two-Face's crimes as well as his hideouts and ] surround the number;<ref name="roguesgallery"/><ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202092310/http://www.newsarama.com/15456-the-10-greatest-batman-villains-of-all-time.html|title=The 10 Greatest BATMAN Villains of ALL TIME!|last1=Ching|first1=Albert|last2=Siegel|first2=Lucas|date=October 10, 2013|website=]|access-date=October 9, 2022|archive-date=February 2, 2014|url=http://www.newsarama.com/15456-the-10-greatest-batman-villains-of-all-time.html}}</ref> since the 1980s, Two-Face's duality obsession evolved into an obsession with the duality of man, with the character committing crimes based on his "misguided sense of right and wrong".<ref name="roguesgallery">{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/06/05/rogues-gallery-two-face|title=Rogue's Gallery: Two-Face|last=Phillips|first=Daniel|date=June 6, 2008|website=]|access-date=October 8, 2022}}</ref> | |||
Two-Face views himself as both ] and ], and relies on flipping his double-headed coin, scarred on one side, in making important decisions and deciding whether his good or evil side will prevail.<ref name="roguesgallery"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Reynolds|first=Richard|date=1994|title=Super Heroes: A Modern Technology|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|page=68|isbn=9780878056941}}</ref> | |||
During ''No Man's Land'', Two-Face meets detective ]. 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.<ref name="NML"/> Later, in the '']'' series, he ] her as a ] 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. | |||
Widely considered Batman's most tragic villain,{{sfn|McCabe|2017}}<ref name="roguesgallery"/><ref name="bookshelf"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-comics-september-2022-solicitations-covers/|title=All of DC's September 2022 comics and covers revealed|author=] Staff|date=June 17, 2022|website=Gamesradar|access-date=October 8, 2022}}</ref> Two-Face was established as a tragic figure in his debut: a former law-abiding district attorney turned criminal whose ] resulted in him being shunned by society, which led to his turn to crime.<ref name="gothicroots">{{cite journal|last1=Andrae|first1=Thomas|date=Fall 2020|title=The Darkest Knight: The Gothic Roots of Batman Comics|journal=Notes in the History of Art|volume=40|issue=1|pages=19–33 |doi=10.1086/711341|s2cid=224807457 |doi-access=free}}</ref> In his early stories, Two-Face yearns to fix his face and bring back the love of his wife who he mistakenly thinks does not love him because of his disfigurement.<ref name="gothicroots"/> 1990's "The Eye of the Beholder" (''Batman'' Annual #14) reimagined Two-Face for the Modern Age as having psychological trauma from the childhood abuse he received from his father, and depicted him as being on the verge of a ] as a result of his repressed trauma and the pressure of fighting crime in Gotham, and driven to a point of desperation by Gotham's corruption.<ref name="bookshelf"/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/05/the-25-best-batman-comics-of-all-time/the-eye-of-the-beholder|title=The 25 Best Batman Comics Of All Time|last=Serafino|first=Jason|date=May 1, 2014|website=Complex|access-date=October 16, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/comics/ethan-young/our-favorite-creators-favorite-comics-of-all-time/|title=Our Favorite Creators' Favorite Comics of All Time: Ethan Young|last=Young|first=Ethan|date=November 21, 2016|website=]|access-date=October 16, 2022}}</ref> "Eye of the Beholder" also established Two-Face as a second personality state of Harvey Dent's dissociative identity disorder which resulted from his trauma; a psychiatrist in the story describes his condition as having "two personalities", with Dent having managed to "sublimate the second, anti-social one since he was a teenager".{{sfn|McCabe|2017}}<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Mishou|first=A.L.|date=2020|title=Holy Stitches Batman, or, Performative Villainy in Gothic/am|type=PhD|publisher=Old Dominion University|doi=10.25777/q5jq-4c76|url=https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1110&context=english_etds|access-date=October 16, 2022}}</ref> | |||
In the ''Two-Face'' one-shot book, Two-Face leads a crusade against Gotham City, culminating in the capturing of his own father to humiliate and kill 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, Harvey and Two-Face argue in thought, Two-Face calling Harvey "spineless." Dent proves Two-Face wrong, however, choosing to jump off a building and ] just to put a stop to his ]'s crime spree. Two-Face is surprised when the coin flip comes up scarred, but abides by the decision and jumps. Batman catches Harvey, but the shock of the fall seems to (at least temporarily) destroy the Two-Face side of his psyche. | |||
===Skills and abilities=== | |||
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 ] who had two faces, one facing forward, the other backward. 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 to make it look as if Janus has gone insane just as Two-Face had. Two-Face is eventually caught by Batman and sent away, 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 a surprise twist; Batman learns from Gilda that Janus is not the father of Gilda's twins - Harvey is. Some of his ] had been frozen after a death threat had been made against him, and she used some of it to get ]. Batman uses this information to convince Dent to free the twins and turn himself in. | |||
Two-Face has no ], instead relying on his proficiency in ] and ], which was further improved after being trained by ] and ].<ref>''Deathstroke'' (vol. 4) #38</ref> As a former ], the character uses his expertise in ], ], and police procedures to devise his ].<ref name="DC UNIVERSE INFINITE">{{cite web | title=Two-Face | website=DC UNIVERSE INFINITE | url=https://www.dcuniverseinfinite.com/encyclopedia/two-face/ | access-date=August 1, 2021 | quote=Though Harvey Dent has no superpowers, he possesses a genius-level intellect and is an expert in criminology and police procedures, helping him predict how the Gotham City Police Department will try to stop his crimes. His split personality, genius intellect and reliance on flipping a coin to make decisions make him an extremely unpredictable opponent. | archive-date=August 1, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210801130622/https://www.dcuniverseinfinite.com/encyclopedia/two-face/ | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="DC 2015"/> | |||
Before his transformation into Two-Face, Harvey Dent had a successful career as Gotham's ], driven to bring an end to the city's epidemic of ]. Following his disfigurement, he becomes obsessed with the number two and the concept of duality. Thus, Two-Face stages crimes centered around the number two—such as robbing buildings with ''2'' in the address or staging events that will take place at 10:22 p.m. (2222 in military time). He was an accomplished lawyer highly skilled in almost all matters relating to criminal law and an extensive knowledge of the criminal world.<ref name="DC 2015">{{cite web | title=Two-Face | website=DC | date=May 19, 2015 | url=https://www.dccomics.com/characters/two-face | access-date=August 1, 2021}}</ref> He is also a ] leader and speaker. Two-Face is a genius in criminal planning and has an exceptional character, which allows him, among other things, to stoically endure pain and recover from smudging injuries in a short time. Two-Face is a skilled marksman, and regularly uses a variety of firearms such as ]s, ]s, ]s, ], knives and ]s during his battles with Batman. He primarily wields dual pistols, and has become dangerously skilled with them. | |||
In the storyline '']'', Harvey's face is repaired once more via ]. This time around, only the Harvey Dent persona exists. However, he takes the law into his own hands twice: once by using his ability to manipulate the legal system to free the ], and then again by shooting the ] ]. He manipulates the courts into setting him free, as Gotham's prosecutors wouldn't attempt to charge him without a body. | |||
Harvey Dent has kept himself in peak physical conditions, even before his transformation into Two-Face and had exercise equipment in his office when he was an assistant district attorney. The ''Batman: Face the Face'' story arc reveals that Batman, shortly before ], trains Dent extensively in ] work and martial arts.<ref name="10thingsfans">{{cite web|title=10 Things Only DC Comics Fans Know About Two-Face|website=]|date=April 2, 2022|last=Harn|first=Darby|url=https://screenrant.com/two-face-unknown-facts-dc-comics-batman-villain/}}</ref> To further improve his proficiency in the use of firearms, Dent hires the sharpshooting assassin Deathstroke to train him.<ref>''Nightwing'' (vol. 2) #149. DC Comics.</ref><ref name="10thingsfans"/> | |||
<!-- Please do not edit this image! Editors on the talk page reached a consensus to use Detective Comics #818 2nd printing and not Batman #653. --> | |||
]'' #818 (April 2006), by ].]] | |||
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===Relationships=== | |||
In the Batman story arc '']'', that started in '']'' #817, and was part of DC's ''One Year Later'' storyline, it is revealed that, at Batman's request and with his training, Harvey becomes a ] 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 doing good would serve as ] for his past crimes. After a month of training, they fight ] and ], before Batman leaves for a year. Soon, Harvey finds himself enjoying his new role, but his methods are seemingly more extreme and less refined than Batman's. Upon Batman's return, Harvey begins to feel unnecessary and unappreciated, which prompted the return of the "Two-Face" persona (seen and heard by Dent through ]s). In ''Face the Face'', his frustration are compounded by a series of mysterious killings that seem to have been committed by Two-Face; the villains ], ], The ], and ] are all shot twice in the head with a double-barreled pistol, implying that Harvey was the perpetrator. When Batman confronts Harvey about these deaths, asking Harvey to confirm that he was not responsible, Harvey refuses to give a definite answer. He then detonates a bomb in his apartment and leaves Batman dazed as he flees. | |||
This section details the character's most notable relationships across various interpretations of the Batman mythos: | |||
====Gilda==== | |||
Despite escaping the explosion physically unscathed to a motel, Harvey suffers a crisis of ] and a mental battle with his "Two-Face" personality. Although evidence is later uncovered by Batman that exonerates Harvey Dent for the murders, it is too late to do anything to save him. Prompted by resentment and a ] reaction to Batman's questioning, Harvey ] half his face with ] 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. | |||
'''Gilda Dent''' in some iterations,<ref name="5worstheroic">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbr.com/batman-heroic-harvey-dent-worst-two-face/|title=Batman: The 5 Most Heroic Things Harvey Dent Has Ever Done (& The 5 Worst Things Two-Face Did)|last=Fernandes|first=Mariana|date=July 23, 2019|website=]|access-date=February 19, 2021}}</ref> is Harvey Dent's wife. Her character debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #66, alongside Harvey, and became a recurring character in Batman stories involving Two-Face.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Greenberger |first1=Robert |title=The Essential Batman Encyclopedia |date=2008 |publisher=Del Rey |isbn=9780345501066 |page=111}}</ref> | |||
====Bruce Wayne==== | |||
On the cover of '']'' #13 (Vol.2), Two-Face is shown as a member of the new ]. He can be seen in ''].'' | |||
Batman's alter-ego Bruce Wayne is the best friend of Harvey Dent, while before becoming Two-Face, Harvey was also one of Batman's earliest allies, predating Batman's partnership with ].<ref name="tfj">{{cite web|first=Devin|last=Meenan|url=https://www.cbr.com/dc-comics-batman-joker-two-face-enemies/|title=5 Reasons Why The Joker Is Batman's Greatest Enemy (And 5 Why It's Two-Face)|access-date=February 18, 2021|date=April 8, 2020|website=]|quote=Harvey Dent was not only a friend of Bruce Wayne, he was one of Batman's greatest allies within the Gotham City legal system (per Batman: Year One, their relationship predated Batman and Gordon's partnership) and one of the few city's civil servants not in the pocket of the Gotham Mob. When Harvey turned heel, Batman lost more than just an ally, he lost a friend.}}</ref> Their friendship goes back to Harvey's first appearance in ''Detective Comics'', in which Batman refers to him as his friend and emotionally asks him to give up his life of crime.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #66 (June 1942). DC Comics.</ref> Because of this relationship, Two-Face is one of Batman's most personal enemies.<ref name="darkknightsecret">{{cite web|first=Sam|last=Stone|url=https://www.cbr.com/batman-two-face-dark-knight-identity/|title=Batman's Most Disturbed Villain Knows the Dark Knight's Biggest Secret|access-date=February 23, 2021|date=March 27, 2020|website=]}}</ref> In the comics, it is shown that Bruce considers Harvey's downfall a personal failure, and has never given up in rehabilitating him.<ref name="tfj" /> | |||
It is established canonically that Harvey knows Bruce Wayne is Batman. The character's knowledge of Batman's secret identity was introduced in the story ''The Big Burn'' from Peter Tomasi's 2011 ''Batman and Robin'' ongoing series,<ref name="5worstheroic" /><ref name="snydergamespot">{{cite web|first=Tony|last=Guerrero|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/two-face-knows-batmans-secrets-in-all-star-batman-/1100-6446501/|title=Two-Face Knows Batman's Secrets in All Star Batman #5|access-date=February 23, 2021|date=December 26, 2016|website=GameSpot}}</ref> and is shown in subsequent comics such as Scott Snyder's ''All-Star Batman'', in which they were established as childhood best friends.<ref name="snydergamespot" /> In ''Detective Comics'' #1021, Harvey admits to Batman that he has been keeping his identity secret from his Two-Face personality to protect him.<ref name="darkknightsecret" /> | |||
===Other Two-Faces=== | |||
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 ] his last story, so they had other characters assume the role. The first impostor is Wilkins, Harvey's butler, who uses makeup to appear that the reformed Harvey had suffered a relapse and deformed his face to appear as before. | |||
====Renee Montoya==== | |||
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 in a manner similar to Harvey Dent. Sloane's mind snaps, and he begins to think he ''is'' Harvey. Sloane recovers enough of his own personality but continues to remain as the criminal Two-Face. Sloane is reused in later ] specific stories as Two-Face II of Earth-Two where the original Earth-Two Two-Face Harvey remained healed ('']'' #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. | |||
Renee Montoya and Harvey Dent have a complicated relationship, introduced by writer ] in the sixteenth issue of 1999's ''Batman Chronicles'',<ref name="morethanacop">{{cite web|first=Chris|last=Sims|url=https://www.cbr.com/dc-renee-montoya-more-just-gotham-cop/|title=How DC's Renee Montoya Became More Than Just a Gotham City Cop|access-date=February 19, 2021|date=April 18, 2020|website=]}}</ref> in which Renee reaches out to Two-Face's Dent persona and is kind to him.<ref>''The Batman Chronicles'' #16 (March 1999). DC Comics.</ref> Their relationship continues with the "]" crossover storyline;<ref name="morethanacop" /> in one issue, Harvey sends Renee flowers for her birthday and Renee visits him in Arkham Asylum.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #747 (August 2000). DC Comics.</ref> Harvey eventually develops romantic feelings towards Renee, which Renee doesn't return.<ref name="5worstheroic" /> This one-sided love would turn into an unhealthy obsession with her, which would lead to her professional and personal ruin;<ref>{{cite web|first=Tim|last=Beedle|url=https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2018/12/05/convergence-fight-of-the-week-the-question-vs-two-face|title=Convergence Fight of the Week: The Question vs. Two-Face|access-date=February 22, 2021|date=April 2, 2015|website=DC Comics}}</ref> in the five-part Gotham Central story arc ''Half a Life'', Two-Face attempts to destroy Renee's life by framing her for murder, outing her as a ], and orchestrating a prison escape to make her a fugitive, so she would have nothing to keep her from returning his love.<ref name="reneeuntoldtruth">{{cite web|first=Ryan|last=Sigmon|url=https://www.looper.com/189809/the-untold-truth-of-renee-montoya/|title=The Untold Truth of Renee Montoya|access-date=February 19, 2021|date=February 20, 2020|website=Looper}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Joshua|last=Lapin-Bertone|url=https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2020/02/19/bird-with-a-badge-meet-renee-montoya|title=Bird With a Badge: Meet Renee Montoya|access-date=February 22, 2021|date=February 19, 2020|website=DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=DC Editorial|url=https://www.dccomics.com/blog/2015/04/08/convergence-confidential-the-question|title=Convergence Confidential: The Question|access-date=February 22, 2021|date=April 8, 2015|website=DC Comics}}</ref> | |||
Years after the release of ''Half a Life'', Rucka would reunite the two in ''Convergence: The Question'' in 2015, following his return to DC Comics after his departure from the company in 2010.<ref>{{cite web|first=Oliver|last=Sava|url=https://www.avclub.com/exclusive-dc-preview-rucka-and-montoya-reunite-for-con-1798278178|title=Exclusive DC preview: Rucka and Montoya reunite for Convergence: The Question|access-date=February 22, 2021|date=April 3, 2015|website=DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Greg|last=McElhatton|url=https://www.cbr.com/convergence-the-question-1/|title=Convergence: The Question #1|access-date=February 22, 2021|date=April 9, 2015|website=]}}</ref> In the story, Renee saves a remorseful Harvey from killing himself, and convinces him to be a good man.<ref>''Convergence: The Question'' (April 2015). DC Comics.</ref> | |||
The third Two-Face is another impostor, 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. | |||
Rucka has talked about the characters' relationship in an interview with Comic Book: | |||
Also noteworthy is a 1968 story where Batman himself is temporarily turned into Two-Face via a potion ('']'' #173). | |||
{{Blockquote | |||
|text=Renee and Harvey have always had a very odd bond, as far as I've written them, going back to the very first Renee story I did for DC, "Two Down". It's never been just cop-and-criminal between them. There's a peculiar understanding between them; Renee, to me, has always been able to see the path of Harvey's madness in a way that even Batman has never negotiated. I'm not sure I'd ever call them friends, especially after what he's put her through, but Renee has always been sympathetic to him, at least, and that care, that guardianship, drives much of our story.<ref>{{cite news|first=Russ|last=Burlingame|url=https://comicbook.com/news/covering-convergence-greg-rucka-takes-renee-montoya-back-to-goth/|title=Covering Convergence: Greg Rucka Takes Renee Montoya Back to Gotham As The Question|access-date=February 20, 2021|date=September 6, 2017|newspaper=]}}</ref> | |||
}} | |||
====Christopher Dent==== | |||
Aside from a 1962 reprint of the Sloane storyline, this was the character's only appearance in the 1960s.<ref></ref> | |||
'''Christopher Dent''' is Harvey Dent's abusive and alcoholic father, first introduced in the definitive Two-Face origin story ''Eye of the Beholder'' (''Batman'' Annual #14). Dent would beat his son based on the flip of a coin, heads he would beat Harvey, tails he wouldn't. Because the coin was double headed, Harvey would always be beaten. The trauma Harvey received from his father's constant abuse fueled the inner torment that eventually turns him into Two-Face.<ref>{{cite web | last=Phillips | first=Dan | title=Ultimate Bookshelf: Harvey Dent / Two-Face | website=] | date=December 14, 2009 | url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2009/12/14/ultimate-bookshelf-harvey-dent-two-face | access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref><ref name="Ginocchio 2017">{{cite web | last1=Heller | first1=Bruno | last2=Ginocchio | first2=Mark | title=5 Essential Two-Face Stories | website=] | date=September 6, 2017 | url=https://comicbook.com/news/5-essential-two-face-stories/ | access-date=April 7, 2021}}</ref> | |||
==Character biography== | |||
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. He only makes a few appearances before accidentally ] himself after slipping on the silver dollar piece he uses as Two-Face. | |||
===Golden Age=== | |||
].]] | |||
Two-Face's debut and Golden Age origin story, 1942's "The Crimes of Two-Face" (''Detective Comics'' #66), introduced him as Harvey "Apollo" Kent,{{efn|Nicknamed "Apollo" in the story because of his beauty}} a handsome law-abiding Gotham City district attorney prosecuting mob boss Sal Maroni; the issue also introduced his wife, Gilda Kent,{{efn|"Kent" later changed to "Dent"}} who is a sculptor. During the trial, after Kent presents Maroni's lucky two-headed coin as evidence, an enraged Maroni throws acid at Kent's face and disfigures it in half. Kent, driven insane by society's repulsion and his wife's nonacceptance of his new appearance, destroys his wife's sculpture of him to resemble his disfigurement and scars one side of Maroni's two-headed coin to symbolize his appearance's duality of beauty and ugliness, then flips the coin to decide whether to become a criminal or wait for the only plastic surgeon able to fix Kent's face, who was caught in a ] in ], to arrive. With the scarred side of the coin being the result of Kent's coin flip, Kent decides to become a criminal with the alias Two-Face who depends on flipping his coin to determine whether to be evil or good; afterwards, with the coin landing on the scarred side, Two-Face robs a bank, then, with the coin landing on the unscarred side, gives his loot to charity, causing confusion between the police and populace, whose opinions are divided about Two-Face's morality. The rest of the issue features Two-Face committing a series of crimes centered on the number 2, one of which is stopped by Batman, who pursues and corners Two-Face after he escapes. Batman makes Two-Face a proposition to give himself up and start over, to which Two-Face replies that the coin makes all his decisions for him, then flips the coin. The issue ends with the coin landing on its edge, making Two-Face leave his life to fate,<ref name="tec66"/> with the story being resolved in "The Man Who Led a Double Life!" (''Detective Comics'' #68).{{sfn|McCabe|2017}} Harvey Kent is cured through plastic surgery in 1943's "The End of Two-Face" (''Detective Comics'' #80), and is shown reformed in 1952's "The Double Crimes of Two-Face!" (''Detective Comics'' #187).{{sfn|Daniels|1999|p=46}}{{sfn|McCabe|2017}} | |||
Kent would later be framed for crimes done by imposters like his butler Wilkins,<ref name="Batman #50">''Batman'' #50 (December 1948). DC Comics.</ref> Paul Sloane,<ref name="Batman #68">''Batman'' #68 (December 1951). DC Comics.</ref> and George Blake.<ref name="Detective Comics #187">''Detective Comics'' #187 (September 1952). DC Comics.</ref> | |||
As mentioned above, Harvey Dent does return as Two-Face in the 1970s. With the establishment of the ], however, the Two-Face of Earth-Two (i.e. the character seen in the original ] 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 (]). He meets ] and Clark Kent, and his shared name with the latter creates confusion. | |||
Later, Kent attends the wedding of ] and ] as a guest in 1981's "The Kill Kent Contract!" (''Superman Family'' #211).<ref name="dcsbadside"/> | |||
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 Doctor Thorne (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. | |||
===Bronze Age=== | |||
Paul Sloane is introduced into post-'']'' continuity as a criminal called "The Charlatan" in ''Detective Comics'' #777 (February 2003). In this incarnation, the actor had been hired by Gotham's costumed criminals to take Two-Face's place in a scheme to kill Batman, Harvey's coin having come up unscarred. When the real Two-Face learns about this, he captures Sloan and disfigures the left side of his face. ] 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. | |||
].]] | |||
In Two-Face's Bronze Age reintroduction, "Half a Life" (''Batman'' #234), Two-Face concocts an elaborate scheme to steal ]s from a historical ], which Batman realizes and attempts to stop. As Batman approaches the ship, Two-Face finds and incapacitates him, then ties him up, eventually leaving the ship after he lets it sink. Before Two-Face leaves, Batman tries to convince Two-Face to flip his coin to save an old man unwittingly caught in the trap by reminding him that he is both good and evil; Two-Face first disagrees until after his departure from the ship when he is unable to resist flipping his coin. With the coin landing on the unscarred side, Two-Face returns to the ship to rescue the old man, then sees Batman had escaped his restraints. Batman offers Two-Face to surrender, to which Two-Face disagrees and attempts to attack Batman, with Two-Face being knocked out unconscious by Batman afterwards. "Half a Life" also includes a recap of his Golden Age stories as his origin: from his transformation to Two-Face and his subsequent reformation to his criminal relapse, as depicted in the 1954 story "Two-Face Strikes Again!" (Batman #81), in which Harvey Dent's plastic surgery is undone after he attempts to prevent a robbery, causing his return as Two-Face.<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Dennis O'Neil | artist = Neal Adams & Dick Giordano| story = Half An Evil| title = Batman| volume =1| issue =234| date = August 1971| publisher =DC Comics| page = 1}}</ref> | |||
In "Threat of the Two-Headed Coin!" (''Batman'' #258), Two-Face is broken out of ]{{efn|Later changed to Arkham Asylum}} by a retired ] general who hires Two-Face to blackmail the ] with an ]. After Two-Face betrays the general and takes over his plan, the general reveals the scheme to Batman, then dies by suicide out of remorse. Later, in the ], Two-Face interrupts a ] meeting to carry out the extortion scheme: in exchange for not exploding the Capitol with an atomic bomb, Two-Face demands the United States government to give him two billion dollars and gemstones, with Two-Face intending to use the money to bribe people to ignore his hideous appearance and end his misery; Batman eventually foils Two-Face's plan.<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Dennis O'Neil | artist = Irv Novick & Dick Giordano| story = Threat of the Two-Headed Coin!| title = Batman| volume =1| issue =258| date = October 1974| publisher =DC Comics| page = 1}}</ref> | |||
Even if traditionally Two-Face has been shown as fully aware of the actions committed as Harvey Dent and his villainous persona, in the events of ''The Great Leap'', shown in the '']'' regular series a new twist was added to the character: Two-Face and Harvey Dent now appear as a stereotypical case of split personality, two different men cohabitating a shared body, as evidenced when he asked Nightwing to protect an old aquaintance of his, witness in a mob trial from an hired gun who revealed to be Two Face himself. | |||
Two-Face then appears in a number of non-Batman comics, such as '']'', ''Justice League of America'', and ''Teen Titans''. ''The Joker's'' first issue, "The Joker's Double Jeopardy", features Two-Face and fellow Batman adversary ] battling each other to prove who is the superior criminal, while ''Justice League of America's'' 125-26th issues, "The Men Who Sold Destruction!" and "The Evil Connection", shows Two-Face assisting the ] team ].<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Dennis O'Neil | artist = Irv Novick & Dick Giordanok| story = The Joker's Double Jeopardy!| title = The Joker | volume = 1| issue = 1| date = May 1975| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Gerry Conway | artist = Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin| story = The Men Who Sold Destruction!| title = Justice League of America | volume = 1| issue = 125| date = December 1975| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Gerry Conway | artist = Dick Dillin & Frank McLaughlin| story = The Evil Connection!| title = Justice League of America | volume = 1| issue = 126| date = January 1976| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref> In ''Teen Titans'', Two-Face meets Teen Titans member ] who claims to be his daughter.<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Bob Rozakis | artist = Bob Brown and Tex Blaisdell| story = Trouble--Which Rhymes With Double!| title = Teen Titans | volume = 1| issue = 47| date = April 1977| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref> | |||
==Fictional character biography== | |||
]'']] | |||
When he first appears in ''Detective Comics'' #66, the character's name is '''Harvey Kent''', but in later stories his name is changed to Harvey Dent to prevent confusion with ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://comicbookdb.com/character.php?ID=95|title=Comic Book DB - Two Face |accessdate=2008-05-28|publisher=Comic Book Database}}</ref><ref name="DC - 66">{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ], ] | |||
| Artist = ], ] | |||
| Story = The Crimes Of Two-Face | |||
| Title = Detective Comics | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = 66 | |||
| Date = August 1942 | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| Page = 68 | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = | |||
}}</ref> However, the original name is made reference to in the "Prodigal" storyline, where Harvey Dent walks due to a clerical error which causes him to be confused with a similarly named Harvey Kent. At 26, he is the youngest district attorney ever to serve ], and is nicknamed "Apollo" for his good looks. He is elected about six months before Batman begins his war on crime, as depicted in the events of '']''.<ref name="YearOne">{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ] | |||
| Penciller = ] | |||
| Inker = | |||
| Story = | |||
| Title = Batman: Year One | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = 4 | |||
| Date = March - June 1987 | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| Page = | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = 0930289331 | |||
}}</ref> | |||
In the 313-314th issues of ''Batman'', Two-Face steals a top secret missile activation code owned by the United States government and goes to ], with Batman and a United States federal agent reluctantly working together to trail him and obtain the code. On a float in the ] parade, Two-Face deceives an American and a Russian representative who each negotiated for the code for $22,000,000 and steals $44,000,000 from them; Two-Face then escapes from the float to a blimp, with Batman and the agent in pursuit. Afterwards, while Batman hangs from the blimp's hatch, Two-Face flips the coin to decide whether to kill him, with the agent eventually shooting the coin outwards the hatch. Two-Face, declaring that his life is meaningless without the coin, leaps for it and falls out of the blimp.<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Len Wein| artist = Irv Novick| story = Two For the Money!| title = Batman| volume = 1| issue = 313| date = July 1979| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Len Wein| artist = Irv Novick| story = Once Beaten, Twice Sly!| title = Batman| volume = 1| issue = 314| date = August 1979| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref> | |||
]'' #66.]] | |||
His campaign against crime ends tragically during the ] of crime boss ] for murder. At a ] moment in the trial, Harvey produces Maroni's good luck charm, a two-headed coin, which had been found at the murder scene with Maroni's fresh ] upon it. Enraged, Maroni throws ] in Harvey's face, horribly scarring his left hand (Though most depictions tend to leave the left hand undamaged) and the left half of his face while leaving the other half undamaged; in some versions of the story, Harvey is only saved from a face-full of acid by Batman's quick, but only partial, deflection of Maroni's hand.<ref name="TF">{{cite web|url=http://www.dccomics.com/heroes_and_villains/?hv=origin_stories/two_face|title=DC Comics - Two-Face Profile|accessdate=2008-05-27|publisher=]}}</ref> Driven insane by his hideous reflection, Harvey scars one side of Maroni's coin and lets tosses of the coin decide whether he acts for good or evil in any situation.<ref name="DC - 66"/><ref name="TF"/> | |||
Two-Face changes his face through plastic surgery as well as his identity to Carl Ternion in ''Batman's'' 328-329th issues, and reunites with Gilda Dent to make her happy after her former husband, Dave Stevens, died. Two-Face then avenges Stevens' death by killing Sal Maroni, who had also changed his face and his identity to Anton Karoselle and had killed Gilda Dent's former husband. Karoselle's death and Two-Face and Maroni's changed identities are significant aspects of the mystery Batman solves in the story: how Ternion murdered Karoselle twice and had been acquitted for it, as Ternion admits in a video tape sent to Batman by Two-Face. Later, Two-Face runs away from Gilda Dent after his plastic surgery becomes undone, and afterwards, Batman tells Gilda Dent the truth about Ternion's actual identity and convinces her of a plan to lure and take down Two-Face: Batman disguises himself as Maroni attacking Gilda Dent as bait, and, with Two-Face chasing him, leads Two-Face to the Gotham City courthouse, where Batman and Gilda Dent eventually convince Two-Face to rehabilitate himself in Arkham.<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Marv Wolfman| artist = Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin| story = Double Jeopardy|title = Batman| volume = 1| issue = 328| date = October 1980| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Marv Wolfman| artist = Irv Novick & Frank McLaughlin| story = Twice Dies the Batman!| title = Batman| volume = 1| issue = 329| date = November 1980| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref> | |||
'']'' #14,<ref name="Annual 14">{{cite web|author=H|url=http://www.comictreadmill.com/CTMBlogarchives/2003/2003_Individual/2003_12/000159.php|title=The Comic Treadmill: ''Batman'' 454, 456, ''Annual'' 14 (1990)|accessdate=2008-05-28|date=2003-12-23|publisher=Comic Tread Mill}}</ref> elaborates on these events, with some changes. In it, Dent, Captain (later Commissioner) ], and Batman forge an alliance to rid Gotham of crime (large elements of this story were later co-opted for the limited series '']'', and to a lesser extent in the 2008 film '']''). ] chieftain Sal "The Boss" Maroni is still the criminal who disfigures Harvey with help from the corrupt Assistant District Attorney Adrian Fields (though in ''The Long Halloween'', his name changed to Vernon Fields). Fields provides Maroni with the acid, concealed in an antacid bottle. Two-Face gets his trademark coin from his ] father, who would employ the coin in a perverse nightly "game" that would always end with Harvey being beaten. This would instill in Harvey his lifelong struggle with ] and his eventual inability to make choices on his own. | |||
In the two-issue arc "Half a Hero... Is Better Than None!" from ''Batman'' #346 and ''Detective Comics'' #513, Two-Face escapes Arkham Asylum and puts Batman in an elaborate death trap set in a converted ], eventually capturing Batman and imprisoning him for a week, after which Two-Face attempts to rob a ] named Duo Records, and is stopped by Batman's sidekick, ]. Two-Face, having escaped the encounter, returns to the halfway house. Afterwards, Batman escapes by creating and putting on a Two-Face mask, causing Two-Face to release him.<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Gerry Conway| artist = Don Newton & Frank Chiaramonte| story = Half A Hero...| title = Batman| volume = 1| issue = 346| date = April 1982| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Gerry Conway| artist = Don Newton & Frank Chiaramonte| story = ...Is Better Than None!| title = Detective Comics| volume = 1| issue = 513| date = April 1982| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref> | |||
], who had been Dent's fiancée back in ''Detective Comics'' #66 and 68 (1942),<ref name="DC - 66"/><ref>{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ], ] | |||
| Artist = ] | |||
| Story = The Man Who Led A Double Life! | |||
| Title = Detective Comics | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = 68 | |||
| Date = October 1942 | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| Page = | |||
| Panel = | |||
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}}</ref> is instead his wife in "Eye of the Beholder," and therefore subsequently, ''The Long Halloween'' (1998). In the former, he escapes from the hospital and confronts Fields, who tries to ] with Dent by offering a massive file of criminal funds, hideouts, and connections for his old boss to begin his "new life." When Batman interrupts them, Two-Face kills Fields and then, losing the coin toss, confronts his father and forces him to play the game they used to play. The coin comes up clean, so he spares his father, and is incarcerated in ], where he receives an experimental plastic surgery. However, in a fit of madness, he claws his face open with his bare hands. | |||
Two-Face's good and evil sides are in conflict in a four-issue storyline in ''Batman'' and ''Detective Comics'', with his evil side being predominant. Two-Face allies with Batman villain ]'s former lover Circe who convinces him to steal a ]'s ] concealed within a ] which she states to be imbued with magic that could restore his good side; this plan is revealed to be conceived by Batman, who is working with Circe to trick Two-Face into having his good side restored and have him rehabilitated. The plan doesn't work with Two-Face's evil side taking over.<ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Doug Moench| artist = Gene Colan| story = Free Faces| title = Detective Comics| volume = 1| issue = 563| date = June 1986| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Doug Moench| artist = Tom Mandrake| story = Binary Brains| title = Batman| volume = 1| issue = 397| date = July 1986| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Doug Moench| artist = Gene Colan| story = Double Crosses| title = Detective Comics| volume = 1| issue = 564| date = July 1986| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref><ref>{{Cite comic| writer = Doug Moench| artist = Tom Mandrake| story = About Faces!| title = Batman| volume = 1| issue = 398| date = August 1986| publisher = DC Comics}}</ref> | |||
In ''The Long Halloween'', Harvey escapes from the hospital and hides out in the sewers for weeks, finally resurfacing as Two-Face to take revenge on the mob, killing Vernon Field and mob boss ] (Maroni has already been assassinated by this point by Falcone's son ]). By the end, Two-Face is incarcerated in Arkham.<ref>{{Cite comic | |||
| Writer = ], ] | |||
| Artist = Sale, Tim | |||
| Story = | |||
| Title = Batman: The Long Halloween | |||
| Volume = | |||
| Issue = | |||
| Date = 1996-1997 | |||
| Publisher = ] | |||
| Page = 368 | |||
| Panel = | |||
| ID = 1563894696 | |||
}}</ref> | |||
=== |
===Modern Age=== | ||
]'' #7 (June 1993). Art by ].]] | |||
*''']''' is originally depicted as 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." <ref></ref> | |||
The ] and followed up in '']'' established this version of Two-Face is depicted as having had an unhappy childhood; his father was a mentally ill alcoholic who beat him regularly, often deciding whether or not to brutalize his son based on a flip of his lucky coin. The abuse instilled in Dent his lifelong struggle with ] and his eventual inability to make choices on his own, ] to make all of his decisions. Dent is diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder at a young age, but manages to hide his illnesses and, thanks to an unyielding work ethic, rises up through the ranks of Gotham City's district attorney's office until, at age 26, he becomes the youngest DA in the city's history. Gordon even suspected that Dent could be Batman, but discarded this suspicion when he realized that Dent lacked the vigilante's financial resources. Dent forges an alliance with Gordon and Batman to rid Gotham of organized crime. Mob boss ] bribes corrupt Assistant District Attorney Vernon Fields to provide his lieutenant ], whom Dent is trying for murder, with ]; Maroni throws the acid in Dent's face during a cross-examination, horribly scarring the left side of Dent's face. Dent escapes from the hospital and reinvents himself as the gangster Two-Face. He scars one side of his father's coin and uses it to decide whether to commit a crime. Eventually, Two-Face takes his revenge on Falcone, Fields and Maroni, but is captured by Batman, leading to his incarceration in ].<ref>{{Cite comic| Writer = ], ]| Artist = Sale, Tim| Title = Batman: The Long Halloween| Date = 1996-1997| Publisher = ]| Page = 368| ID = 1563894696}}</ref> | |||
*''']''' is Harvey Dent's wife in ''Batman: The Long Halloween''. Gilda wanted to have children with Harvey but his busy schedule prevented such from happening. Gilda fled after Two-Face was first arrested and was never seen again. 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. | |||
*''']''' is Harvey's first fiancée in '']''. Harvey and Isley have dated in "Pretty Poison". She poisoned Harvey as revenge for killing the endangered flowers to make way for Stonegate Penitentiary. The two later meet again in "Almost Got 'Im". Two-Face remarks that half of him wanted to strangle Ivy as revenge for poisoning him. When Ivy flirtatiously asks what the other half wants, he replies, "To hit you with a truck." | |||
*In the '']'' two part origin of Two-Face, Gilda becomes '''Grace''' (although this name change draws from several of Gilda's comic appearances -- including ''Batman Annual #14'' and ''Secret Origins Special #1'' -- where she is identified by this alternate name). He was going to announce their wedding date as part of his re-election speech, however a late night meeting with ] results in the scarring of Harvey's face and his transformation into Two-Face. Grace says she is there for Harvey at the end of the episodes and convinces him to turn himself in. | |||
During the '']'' story arc, the serial killer ] targets various cops who assisted in 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 ], Two-Face is betrayed by the ], who shoots at Dent, causing him to fall into a chasm, presumably to his death. Batman admits in the aftermath that, even if Two-Face has survived, Harvey Dent is gone forever.<ref>''Batman: Dark Victory'' #14. DC Comics.</ref> During a much later period, Two-Face is revealed to have murdered the father of ], the second Robin. 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.<ref>''Batman'' #409. DC Comics.</ref> Two-Face similarly serves as a ']' for ], the third Robin. Two-Face has Batman at his mercy, but Tim dons the Robin suit to save Batman.<ref>''Batman'' #457. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
==Other comic book appearances== | |||
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: | |||
In '']'', Arkham's doctors replace Dent's coin with a ] and eventually a ] deck, but rather than becoming self-reliant, Dent is now unable to make even the smallest of decisions—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 it is implied that Two-Face made his own decision to let Batman live.<ref>{{Cite comic| Writer = ]| Penciller = ]| Inker = McKean, Dave| Story = | Title = Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (hardcover edition for April Fool's reference)| Date = 1989| Publisher = ]| Page = 128}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|first=Craig|last=Johnson|url=http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/110920233584870.htm|title=Arkham Asylum 15th Anniversary HC Review|access-date=May 28, 2008|date=February 23, 2005|website=Comics Bulletin|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224151441/http://www.comicsbulletin.com/reviews/110920233584870.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
*In '']'', the character of Two-Face remains basically the same, save for his origin. Having been abused by his mother and spoiled by his father, Dent develops a split personality, unwittingly killing his mother. After spending years in Arkham Asylum, Dent arrests Bruce Wayne for robbery and decides to become a lawyer. In the book's first arc, he is viciously burned by ], later teaming up with ] to kill the Joker's protege, ]. After succeeding in killing Todd, he willingly accepts capture. | |||
*In the alternate future setting of '']'', plastic surgery returns Dent's face to normal, but at the unforeseen cost of permanently destroying the good-hearted Harvey Dent personality, leaving the monstrous Two-Face in control forever. As he puts it when Batman captures him, "At least both sides match." Later in the series, his psychiatrist (a character noted for telling notorious lies to the media and being inept as a psychiatric practitioner) describes his condition as "recovering nicely". | |||
*In the Elseworld story '']'', Harvey Dent is the Gotham District Attorney and distrusts ] (who in this reality is Bruce Wayne) because of his ] tactics. ], after becoming deranged from absorbing ]'s mind, then scars Harvey's face and gives him powers. He calls himself Binary Star and worked with ] (who in this reality is Selina Kyle). | |||
*Two-Face also appears in the '']'' Batman/] crossover book, partnered with ] villain ] for the purpose of using Hyde as an "incubator" to grow an organic ], 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, Harvey believed in giving criminals a chance at ], while Matt believed in final justice; having reversed his outlook to what Dent had once believed, Matt talks Two-Face out of killing Hyde without Two-Face using his coin to decide. Two-Face, however, insists that act is merely "the last of Harvey Dent." | |||
*In the Elseworlds comic '']'', a pastiche of '']'', Harvey Dent takes the role of the hideously scarred musical ]. | |||
*In the Elseworlds book ''Batman: Crimson Mist'', the third part of the trilogy that began with '']'', where Batman become a vampire, Two-Face — accompanied by ] as his muscle — forms an alliance with Commissioner Gordon and ] to stop Batman when his insane thirst for blood drives him to kill his old enemies. After Batman is believed killed in the old ], 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, however, Two-Face is interrupted by the restored Batman- Alfred having given his blood to give Batman the strength to save the day one last time-, who drives two crossbow bolts into each side of Two-Face's head, citing it as 'One for each face'. | |||
*In the '']'' ], there are two versions of Two-Face. One is Detective Duell, a corrupt officer on the ], whose face is scarred in a manner similar to Dent's. Duell is shown as being arrested at the end of ''Thrillkiller: Batgirl and Robin''. In the sequel, ''Batgirl and Batman: Thrillkiller '62'', Harvey Dent is shown as the new District Attorney. He appears at the end as the new mayor of Gotham. | |||
*The new ] features a heroic female counterpart to Two-face: Evelyn Dent, Three-Face. She is the mother of ], and the Jokester (a heroic Earth-3 alternate Joker) was her father. Unlike Two-Face, Evelyn has three personalities and she is not scarred, although she has a ] left arm, after ] mutilates her. Her original affiliation is to the heroic ] Family. | |||
*The ] version of Two-Face is a ] called "The Double Man". | |||
*In the '']'' 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 and wears a half business suit with a spiked metal bikini. | |||
*On the ] Earth, Harvey Dent is the name of that world's ], although he has no other similarities to the Two-Face character. | |||
*On ] Earth, where a part of the DC Multiverse is fused with a part of the Marvel Multiverse, Two-Face is fused with Norman Osborne, ], to become Harvey Osborne, "The Two-Faced Goblin." This Two-Face has Norman's body with the left half of his face scarred in an accident (which he blames ] (Batman + ]) for), but he disguises this in the Green Goblin's original costume, uses "pumpkin bombs" and rides on a glider shaped like a coin. Two-Faced Goblin was once the leader of the now disbanded "Terrible Three" (] + ]), and the other members are "Silicone Man" (] + ]) and "Scarecrow" (] + ]). | |||
In the '']'' 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 ] (employed by ]), 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; Gordon later plays upon Two-Face's split ] to demand Harvey Dent as his defense attorney. Dent ] Two-Face and wins an ] for Gordon, determining that Two-Face has effectively blackmailed Gordon by implying that he had committed murders to aid the Commissioner.<ref name="NML">{{cite web|url=http://www.comicvine.com/no-mans-land/42106/|title=No Man's Land (comics)|access-date=May 9, 2008|publisher=Comic Vine|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080411134444/http://www.comicvine.com/no-mans-land/42106/ <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=April 11, 2008}}</ref> During this time, Two-Face also meets detective ]. 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.<ref name="NML"/> | |||
==In other media== | |||
===Newspapers=== | |||
*During the Batman Sunday ] that ran from 1943-1946, he is an actor (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 ]. | |||
Eventually in the '']'' series, he outs her as a ] 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.<ref>''Gotham Central'' TPB vol. 2 or HC vol. 1. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===Television=== | |||
]''.]] | |||
In the ''Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment'' one-shot comic book, Two-Face captures his own father, planning to humiliate and kill him on live television for the years of abuse that 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 ]'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 personality.<ref name=BTFCaP>''Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment''. DC Comics.</ref> In ''Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice!'', Two-Face is at odds with his ex-wife ], as he believes their marriage failed because he was unable to give her children. She later marries Paul Janus (a reference to the ], 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.<ref>''Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice!''. DC Comics</ref> | |||
*He never existed on the ] due to the production's cancellation.{{fact|date=September 2008}} ] was scheduled for this role.{{fact|date=September 2008}} ''False-Face''' substituted him. This supervillain was portrayed by ]. | |||
====''Batman: Hush''==== | |||
*In '']'', Harvey Dent, voiced by ], suffers from deep-seated psychological trauma resulting from years of repressing anger. As a child another personality was created inside Harvey, who would come to be called Big Bad Harv. Big Bad Harv would sometimes show himself whenever Harvey were to become incredibly angry, causing him to seek therapy. Mob boss Rupert Thorne gets a hold of his psychiatric file and plans to black mail him unless he were to do him favors. Big Bad Harv breaks out, and he has a fight with Thorne and his men. Big Bad Harv chases Thorne into a chemical plant where he is horribly injured, giving him scars covering the left side of his body. After the accident, he becomes a twisted vigilante known as "Two-Face" and soon begins his own crusade to bring Thorne down, something the law deliberately failed to do. In subsequent episodes of the show, he becomes the supervillain he is in the comics. Prior to his disfigurement, he once dated Pamela Isley who would later become Poison Ivy And he was a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. Batman seems to have lost all hope of trying to save Harvey from his personality, but he never gives up on him. | |||
In the '']'' storyline, Dent's face is repaired by ], seemingly eradicating the Two-Face personality. Dent 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 ]. He manipulates the courts into setting him free, as Gotham's prosecutors would not attempt to charge him without a body. | |||
*In the final episode of '']'', Harvey's personality fragments a second time, creating a third personality called "The Judge" (voiced by ]), a violent court-themed vigilante that attempts to eliminate all of Gotham's denizens. Two-Face, looking to eradicate this new threat to him, has no idea that he himself is The Judge. At the end of the episode he is sent back to Arkham. This would be his last appearance in the DCAU, though an alternate reality version of him made a cameo appearance during the Justice League episode "A Better World". | |||
====Return to villainy==== | |||
*Although he never appeared in '']'', a similar character named Ethan Bennett shares the same origin as Two-Face. Ethan and Bruce were good friends ever since they were kids. Later, Ethan is transformed by the Joker into Clayface, turning his whole personality upside-down. | |||
In the Batman story arc '']'', which started in '']'' #817, and was part of DC's '']'' storyline, it is revealed that, at Batman's request and with his training, Harvey 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 that it will serve as atonement for his past crimes. After a month of training, they fight ] and ], before Batman ]. Dent enjoys his new role, but his methods are 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 ]s). 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 ], ], ], and ] 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, Dent suffers a crisis of ] and a mental battle with his "Two-Face" personality. Although Batman later uncovers evidence that exonerates Dent for the murders, establishing that he was framed as revenge for his efforts against new crime boss Warren White, a.k.a. the ], it is too late to save him. Prompted by resentment and a paranoid reaction to Batman's questioning, Dent scars half his face with ] and a scalpel, becoming Two-Face once again.<ref>''Batman'' #653 (July 2006). DC Comics.</ref> 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. Batman subsequently confronts White, while acknowledging that he cannot attack White, as there is no explicit evidence supporting Batman's deductions, vowing to inform Two-Face of White's actions when they next face each other.<ref>{{cite comic|writer=]|penciller=]|inker=]|colorist=]|letterer=Travis Lanham|editor=]|story=Face the Face, Conclusion|title=Batman|volume=|issue=#654|date=August 2006}}</ref> | |||
On the cover of '']'' (vol. 2) #23, Two-Face is shown as a member of the new Injustice League. He can be seen in '']''. He appears in '']'', which shows the effects of Batman's death on his enemies. In ]'s ''Long Shadow'' arc, Two-Face realizes that ] has taken over as Batman.<ref>''Batman'' #689 (August 2009). DC Comics.</ref> He hires a teleporter and manages to infiltrate the Batcave. When the new Batman investigates the cave, Two-Face ambushes him with tranquilizer darts, and in a ] he sees Dent in a red and black Two-Face themed Batman costume.<ref>''Batman'' #690 (September 2009). DC Comics.</ref> ] saves the hero from Two-Face's torture after subduing his accomplice, and with his help Batman convinces Two-Face that he is the real, original Dark Knight, 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.<ref>''Batman'' #691 (October 2009). DC Comics.</ref> In '']'', Two-Face has been at odds with Gotham's latest district attorney, ], also known as the vigilante Manhunter. Two-Face has recently been driven out of Gotham City by ].<ref>''Streets of Gotham''. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===Film=== | |||
] appears as a pre-disfigurement Harvey in '']'' (1989). Williams took the role specifically to guarantee his casting in a sequel, reinforced by a ]. However, when Two-Face was to become a secondary villain to ]'s ] in the third movie, director ] had abdicated to ], who decided to pay Williams' penalty fee to hire ]. | |||
====''The New 52''==== | |||
] as Two-Face in ''Batman Forever''.]] | |||
In September 2011, '']'' rebooted DC's continuity. Here, Two-Face's origin is revised significantly. Harvey 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 ] and his entire family, despite Dent's protestations. The Gordons survive the attempt on their lives, but Dent, bound by ], is unable to dissuade the McKillens from continuing their lethal vendetta. The violent attempt on the Gordons' lives prompts Bruce Wayne 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. Several years later, Erin McKillen returns to Gotham City to kill Two-Face, and thus reassert her control of her family's criminal operations. 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 knows Batman's ]. Two-Face reveals that he struggled internally for quite some time over whether to kill his former friend, 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 '']'' #28 imply that Two-Face commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. | |||
In '']'' (1995) ] portrays Two-Face alongside ]'s ] and opposite ]'s Batman. "Harvey Two-Face" plays up the "two" gimmick to the point where Two-Face even refers to himself in the ]. In the film, Two-Face (instead of ], as in the original comics) is responsible for the origin of ] when he kills ]'s (]) family. Also, Jones' Two-Face repeatedy flips his coin until he gets the decision he wants. | |||
====''DC Rebirth''==== | |||
] as Harvey Dent in ''The Dark Knight''.]] | |||
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "]", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Batman decides to cure Two-Face, doing whatever it takes. Following a confrontation with Two-Face and his henchmen - ], ], and ] - Batman takes Two-Face into his custody, until they both have to fight ]. They defeat KGBeast, but are badly injured. Batman nurses Two-Face back to health, but Two-Face suspects Batman of trying to betray him and rubs acid in his eyes.<ref>''All-Star Batman'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> Two-Face and Batman mend their relationship somewhat to fight KGBeast, the ], and ]. Batman tells Two-Face that he can cure Two-Face's split personality. Two-Face does not trust Batman to help him, however, and so threatens to destroy Gotham City with poison gas unless Batman gives him the cure. In the end, Batman injects Two-Face with the "cure", which turns out to be a sedative that renders Two-Face unconscious. Batman then takes Two-Face back to Arkham. | |||
In the ''Deface the Face'' story arc, Two-Face goes to Batman for help. Harvey Dent had murdered a man whom he could not convict in trial. Two-Face says, "...Harvey's the good one. He has to be. Otherwise, what am I?", and then decides to help Batman and Gordon bring down the ] group Kobra. In '']'', Two-Face is among the villains who attend the underground meeting held by the ].<ref>''Doomsday Clock'' #6 (July 2018). DC Comics.</ref> In '']'', while Harley Quinn's Gang of Harleys is trying to find information about ], they encounter Two-Face in Arkham Asylum, where he makes threats towards the group. | |||
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] portrays Harvey Dent/Two-Face in '']'' (2008), the sequel to the 2005 film '']''. In the film, Harvey Dent plays more of a ] and ] role than a full-fledged villain as he is commonly portrayed in the comics. Harvey is first elected to become Gotham City's district attorney and tries to rebuild Gotham's image for the better, only to have his life destroyed by the ] and the mob. Upon escape from a building rigged to explode by the Joker, half of Harvey's gasoline-doused face catches on fire and is severely disfigured. His trademark coin is created when his double-headed 1922 ] is burnt on one side in an identical explosion that killed his fiancée, ]. Afterward, Harvey takes the nickname the cops had given him when he was in the ]'s Internal Affairs division - "Two-Face" - and sets out to make things "fair" by confronting the mobsters and crooked police officers who helped ruin his life, deciding whether or not to kill each one by flipping his coin. In the end of the film, at a warehouse ] talks him into punishing the ones responsible for Rachel's death. On Batman's turn, Harvey flips his coin and shoots him and flips it again for his own fate but because of the toss does not shoot himself but when he flips the coin and points the gun at ]'s son. Before he catches it, Batman, who survives because of his suit, tackles him off the warehouse and seemingly dies, although the film's producer stated that the fall was left ambiguous enough to suggest that he might have survived. Director ] explained that the movie's portrayal of the character was meant to emphasize both the differences and parallels between Two-Face and Batman. Aaron Eckhart has expressed his enthusiasm that he would reprise his role for a sequel if asked,<ref>{{cite news | author = Geoff Boucher | title = Aaron Eckhart: Not just another pretty face in 'The Dark Knight' | work = ] | date = ] | url = http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-echkart-2008may04,0,932553.story | accessdate=2008-05-04}}</ref> although he later confirmed that, in talks with Nolan before ]'s death, Two-Face is indeed dead.<ref>{{cite news | author = Heather Newgen | title = Aaron Eckhart on Two-Face | work = Superhero Hype! | date = ] | url = http://www.superherohype.com/news/featuresnews.php?id=7641 | accessdate=2008-09-03}}</ref> | |||
==Other characters named Two-Face== | |||
===Video games === | |||
===Wilkins=== | |||
Two-Face appears in several Batman-related ]. A pre-disfigurement Harvey Dent appears as a hostage of Poison Ivy in the video game ''Batman: The Animated Series'' (which carries over Ivy's vendetta against Harvey for being indirectly responsible for the destruction of an endangered plant in the episode "]"). As Two-Face he is a boss in '']'' for the ], ''The Adventures of Batman & Robin'' for the ], the video game adaptations of '']'' and '']'' (in which he is the final boss). He appears in '']'' as an enemy of ] and a follower of ].<ref>''Game Informer'' features a two-page gallery of the many heroes and villains who appear in the game with a picture for each character and a descriptive paragraph. See "''LEGO Batman'': Character Gallery," ''Game Informer'' 186 (October 2008): 93.</ref> The September 2008 issue of '']'' also reveals that there will be collectible Two-Face coins in '']'' making him a possible character. Two-Face is set to appear in the upcoming video game '']''. | |||
The first impostor was '''Wilkins''', Harvey Dent's butler who uses makeup to suggest that Dent had suffered a relapse and disfigured his own face. This would give Wilkins the cover to commit crimes as Two-Face.<ref name="Batman #50"/> | |||
===Paul Sloane=== | |||
'''Paul Sloane''' becomes the second impostor of Two-Face.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schelly |first1=William |title=American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1950s |date=2013 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=9781605490540 |page=51}}</ref> An actor, Sloane is disfigured by an accident on the set of a biography film about Two-Face. This occurred when a prop boy working on the film got jealous at the fact that his girlfriend developed a crush on Sloane. This causes the prop man to switch out the water with actual acid that was to be used for the trial scene. Sloane's mind snaps and he begins to think that he is Dent. Sloane recovers some of his own personality, but continues to commit crimes as Two-Face. Batman eventually confronted Sloane and managed to trick the criminal to undergo a reconstructive surgery which would cure his mental illness.<ref name="Batman #68"/> Sloane is reused in later ] specific stories as Two-Face II of Earth-Two where the original Earth-Two Two-Face remains healed.<ref name="SF#211">'']'' #211. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
After the '']'' event, Paul Sloane, with a near-identical history to the pre-''Crisis'' version, appears in ''Detective Comics'' #580-581. In ''Double Image'', Harvey Dent (as Two-Face) employs the ] 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.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #580-581. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
A new take on the Paul Sloane character is re-introduced into post-'']'' as a criminal called the '''Charlatan''' in ''Detective Comics'' #777 (February 2003). In this incarnation, Sloan is an actor who had been hired by Joker, Penguin, Riddler, ], ], and ] to take Two-Face's place in a scheme to kill Batman. They had originally offered Two-Face the part in the scheme, but his coin landed on the non-scarred side. During his impersonation of Two-Face, Batman discovered that this Two-Face was an impostor when he killed a security guard without consulting the coin. When the real Two-Face learns about this, he captures Sloan and disfigures his face. Scarecrow then experiments on Sloan with fear toxins. Driven insane and deprived of fear, Sloan becomes Charlatan where he 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 at Arkham Asylum.<ref>''Detective Comics'' #777-782. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===George Blake=== | |||
The third impostor of Two-Face is petty criminal '''George Blake''' who passed himself off as a manager of an anti-crime exhibition. However, he is not actually disfigured, but is wearing make-up. Furthermore, his makeup is worn on the opposite side of his face to Harvey Dent or Paul Sloane, which easily enabled Batman to identify him as an impostor. Batman defeats George Blake and clears Harvey Dent's name.<ref name="Detective Comics #187"/> | |||
===Batman as Two-Face=== | |||
Also noteworthy is a 1968 story where Batman himself is temporarily turned into Two-Face via a potion.<ref>'']'' #173. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
===Two-Face-Two=== | |||
In ''Batman'' #700, which establishes ] as part of the ], it is revealed that '''Two-Face-Two''' kidnapped Terry and ], and tried to disfigure them in the style of the ]. His plans were foiled by ], the fourth ] and Batman's biological son. Unlike the original Two-Face, this version was born deformed and flips two coins instead of one. He is then killed when a machine falls on him.<ref>''Batman'' #700. DC Comics.</ref> Another Two-Face-Two is briefly mentioned during the course of the '']'' storyline, when 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 "bad" ones. | |||
==Other versions== | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-31 appears in '']''. This version was physically healed via ], but at the unforeseen cost of destroying Harvey Dent's personality.<ref>''The Dark Knight Returns #1–2 (1986)''. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-19 appears in '']''. | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-32 appears in '']''. This version was scarred by ], empowered with his Lantern energy, and became ''']'''.<ref>''Batman: In Darkest Knight''. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in '']''.<ref>''Batman Black and White'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face inspired by ] appears in '']''. | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-43 appears in '']'' as one of several villains killed by a vampiric Batman.<ref>''Batman: Crimson Mist'' (December 1998). DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in '']''. This version is '''Finnegan Dent''', an explorer who was mauled by a lion during an expedition and attempted to remain in the city of Mnemnom as its leader, only to be buried under a collapsing roof during a fight.<ref>''Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman'' #2. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in '']''.<ref>''Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye''. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in '']''. This version lost his split personality after taking a potion created by Bruce Wayne and succeeded him as Batman following his death (the same potion caused Batman to develop a split personality in the form of the Joker). | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in '']''. This version was mutated by ] and used as a conduit to resurrect ] before being killed by Batman.<ref>''The Doom That Came To Gotham''. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in '']''. This version is '''Darcy Dent''', a model who was scarred after a rival of hers hired a hitman to lace her facial cream with acid. Unlike the regular Two-Face, Darcy does not rely on a coin toss to make decisions or have a mental disorder.<ref>''Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* Two characters based on Two-Face appear in '']'', set on Earth-37. One is '''Detective Duell''', a corrupt officer on the ], whose face is scarred in a manner similar to the version of Two-Face in the mainstream continuity.<ref>''Batgirl and Robin: Thrillkiller'' #1-3 (1997). DC Comics.</ref> Harvey Dent appears in the sequel ''Batgirl and Batman: Thrillkiller '62'' as the mayor of Gotham City.<ref>''Batgirl and Batman: Thrillkiller '62'' (1998). DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Harvey Dent from Earth-9 appears in ]. This version is an African-American man with ] powers and his world's ].<ref>''Tangent Comics: The Superman'' #1 (September 1998). DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in ''Emperor Joker''. This version is a plushie-like creature and servant of Harley Quinn.<ref>''Emperor Joker'' #1. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* '''Evelyn Dent / Three-Face''', a heroic alternate universe variant of Two-Face from ], appears in '']''. | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Harvey Dent appears in '']''. This version is a judge.<ref>''Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance'' #1 (June 2011). DC Comics.</ref> In the sequel '']'', Dent is killed by ], leading ] to adopt his son Dexter.<ref>''Flashpoint Beyond'' #0. DC Comics.</ref>] | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Harvey Dent appears in '']''. This version was killed by Sal Maroni, leading his sister '''Jessica Dent''' to become Two-Face instead, manifesting a split personality based on a more ruthless version of her brother.<ref>''Batman: Earth One'' (July 2012). DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Batman: Earth One'' Volume Two (May 2015). DC Comics.</ref><ref>''Batman: Earth One'' Volume Three (June 2021). DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* The ''Gotham by Gaslight'' incarnation of Two-Face appears in '']''.<ref>''Convergence: Shazam!'' #2. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Harvey Dent from Earth-24 appears in '']''. This version is the mayor of Gotham City and an ally of Batman who is scarred while protecting the Batgirls from ] and remains heroic afterwards.<ref>''DC Bombshells'' #13. DC Comics.</ref> | |||
* An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in ''Batman: White Knight''. | |||
* Two-Face appears in '']''.<ref>''Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' #6. DC Comics/IDW Publishing.</ref> | |||
==In other media== | |||
{{Main|Two-Face in other media}} | |||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
* ] | |||
{{wikiquote|Batman (comics)#Two-Face|Two-Face}} | |||
*'']'' | * '']'' | ||
*'']'' | * '']'' | ||
*'']'' | |||
* ] | * ] | ||
==Notes== | |||
{{notelist}} | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{Reflist |
{{Reflist}} | ||
===Sources=== | |||
{{Batman}} | |||
*{{cite book |last1=Kane|first1=Bob|last2=Andrae|first2=Tom|author-link=Bob Kane|date=1989|title=Batman and Me|publisher=Eclipse Books|isbn=1-56060-016-0}} | |||
*{{cite book |last1=Eury|first1=Michael|last2=Kronenberg|first2=Michael|date=April 2009|title=The Batcave Companion|publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing|isbn=978-1-893905-78-8}} | |||
*{{cite book|last=McCabe|first=Joseph|date=2017|title=100 Things Batman Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die|publisher=Triumph Books|chapter=27. Two-Face|isbn=9781633199149}} | |||
*{{cite book |last= Daniels |first= Les |title= Batman: The Complete History |publisher= Chronicle Books |location= San Francisco |year= 1999 |isbn= 978-0811824705 }} | |||
==External links== | |||
{{Wikiquote|Batman (comics)#Two-Face|Two-Face}} | |||
* at DC Comics' official website | |||
* at the DC Database Project | |||
* {{Cite journal|last=Mastracci|first=Sharon|date=2017-03-01|title=Public service in popular culture: the administrative discretion of commissioner gordon and harvey dent|journal=International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior|volume=17|issue=3|pages=367–388|language=en|doi=10.1108/IJOTB-17-03-2014-B005|issn=1093-4537}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 20:45, 25 December 2024
Comic book supervillain "Harvey Dent" redirects here. For other uses, see Harvey Dent (disambiguation). Comics characterTwo-Face | |
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From Two-Face: Year One #2 (October 2008). Art by Jesus Saiz and Jimmy Palmiotti. | |
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Detective Comics #66 (August 1942) |
Created by | Bob Kane |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Harvey Dent |
Place of origin | Gotham City |
Team affiliations |
|
Notable aliases | Holiday Apollo |
Abilities |
|
Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bob Kane, and first appeared in Detective Comics #66 (August 1942). He has become one of the superhero Batman's most enduring enemies belonging to the collective of adversaries that make up his rogues gallery.
In his comic book appearances, Two-Face is the alter ego of Harvey Dent, Gotham City's former district attorney who becomes a criminal mastermind obsessed with duality and the number two. Half of his face is hideously scarred after mob boss Sal Maroni throws acid at him. The resulting disfigurement drives him insane and causes him to make decisions based on the flip of a coin. The Modern Age of Comic Books portrays the character as having dissociative identity disorder, with Two-Face being an alternate personality that developed as a result of childhood abuse. The modern version is also established as having once been an ally of Batman and Commissioner James Gordon, and a close friend of Batman's secret identity, Bruce Wayne.
The character has been adapted in various media incarnations, having been portrayed in film by Billy Dee Williams in Batman (1989), Tommy Lee Jones in Batman Forever (1995), Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight (2008), and Harry Lawtey in Joker: Folie à Deux (2024), in television by Nicholas D'Agosto in the Fox series Gotham, and Misha Collins in The CW series Gotham Knights. Richard Moll, Troy Baker, and others have provided Two-Face's voice in animation and video games.
Publication history
Creation and Golden Age history
Two-Face was created by Batman co-creator Bob Kane, and debuted in Detective Comics #66 ("The Crimes of Two-Face"), written by Batman's other co-creator Bill Finger, in August 1942 as a new Batman villain originally named Harvey "Apollo" Kent, a handsome, law-abiding former Gotham City district attorney close to the Batman. Half of his face was disfigured when a mob boss he was prosecuting, Sal Maroni, splashed Kent with acid, resulting in his loss of sanity and turn to crime, with his crimes centered around the number 2. In creating Two-Face, Kane was inspired by the 1931 adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson story The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which Kane described as a "classic story of the good and evil sides of human nature", and was also influenced by the 1925 silent film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera. Kane and Finger conceived the idea of Two-Face flipping a coin scarred on one side to determine which side of his personality emerges: evil if the coin flip results in the scarred side, which causes him to "go on a rampage of looting and destruction," or good if it results in the unscarred side, causing him to give his loot to charity or refrain from committing a crime. In Kane's autobiography Batman and Me, Kane suggests that Finger was inspired by the pulp magazine hero Black Bat, with their similarities as both district attorneys disfigured with acid. Two-Face's last name Kent was later changed to Dent, which Kane infers was done to avoid confusion with Superman's alter ego Clark Kent.
"The Crimes of Two-Face" also introduced Two-Face's devoted wife Gilda Dent, a long-standing character in Two-Face stories. Later appearances continued featuring the character's criminal life until he was cured through plastic surgery in his third appearance and shown reformed in 1952's "The Double Crimes of Two-Face!" (Detective Comics #187), with impostors taking Two-Face's place in later stories. Two-Face made his last appearance in the Golden Age of Comic Books in 1954's "Two-Face Strikes Again" (Batman #81), in which Two-Face returns to crime; however, this story is non-canon to the Golden Age version of the character, because only the Two-Face stories from 1942 to 1952 were assigned to DC's setting for their Golden Age characters, Earth-Two.
Dormancy and revitalization
The character was unused throughout the Silver Age of Comic Books, only appearing in the 173rd issue of World's Finest Comics in 1968 which featured Batman transforming into Two-Face. In July 1971, during the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Two-Face was brought back by writer Dennis O'Neil and former DC editor Julius Schwartz in the story "Half an Evil" (Batman #234). Written by O'Neil and drawn by Neal Adams, "Half an Evil" is a mystery story which features Two-Face stealing doubloons from a pirate ship; the issue also retold his origin with a recap of previous stories. After his reintroduction, Two-Face was featured in several DC comics, such as The Brave and The Bold, Justice League of America, and Teen Titans, and became one of Batman's most popular enemies.
Modern Age
See also: Modern Age of Comic BooksFollowing the Crisis on Infinite Earths comic event which rebooted the DC Universe, Two-Face was reintroduced in Frank Miller's 1986 revision of Batman's origin, Batman: Year One, as Gotham City's former crusader against crime and former ally of the Batman. Later in 1990, Two-Face was given a revised origin by Andrew Helfer in 1990's "The Eye of the Beholder" (Batman Annual #14) which established Harvey Dent as having dissociative identity disorder effected by the psychological trauma from his past of childhood abuse dealt by his father, with Two-Face being a second personality state, and cemented Dent as being formerly part of an alliance with Batman and Commissioner James Gordon against crime in Gotham City. 1995's Batman/Two-Face: Crime and Punishment by writer J.M. DeMatteis and artist Scott McDaniel built on "Eye of the Beholder" and explored Dent's psyche and childhood with his abusive father. Two-Face's origin was later expanded in writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale's 1996 Batman limited series The Long Halloween, which incorporated aspects of "Eye of the Beholder" and explored Batman, Gordon and Dent's struggle to end Gotham's Mob during the rise of costumed supervillains.
A reformed Dent rid of Two-Face was featured in the 2002 storyline Batman: Hush, continuing on to 2006 in the 52 limited series and in writer James Robinson's Batman arc "Face the Face", which explored Dent having trained under Batman and taking Batman's place as Gotham's protector during Batman's one-year absence, as well as Two-Face's return. In the 2006 limited series Two-Face: Year One written by Mark Sable, Two-Face was given a revamped origin, focusing on Dent's transformation into Two-Face during Dent's election campaign for district attorney, as well as establishing the relationship between a young Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne, Batman's secret identity.
Following DC's New 52 reboot in 2011, Two-Face's origin was changed by writer Peter J. Tomasi in the 2014 Batman and Robin arc The Big Burn, altering the cause of Dent's transformation into Two-Face and introducing Gilda Dent's death into his origin; the story also established Dent's knowledge of Bruce Wayne being Batman, and concluded with Dent dying by suicide. The subsequent DC Rebirth 2016 soft reboot reintroduced Two-Face in Scott Snyder's My Own Worst Enemy arc in All-Star Batman, in which Batman tries to obtain a cure to rid Dent of Two-Face in a road trip. Two-Face was then featured in the 2020 Detective Comics arc Ugly Heart, which showed Dent surviving his suicide attempt in Tomasi's previous story "The Big Burn" then starting a cult named the Church of Two, before being rid of Two-Face through brain surgery conducted by Batman. Dent is shown reformed throughout comics such as Matthew Rosenberg's 2021 limited series Task Force Z and Detective Comics.
In 2024, Two-Face received a solo series as part of the DC All In initiative.
Characterization
Description
Two-Face is a duality-obsessed criminal. Introduced in 1942 as a criminal mastermind obsessed with the number 2, Two-Face's crimes as well as his hideouts and henchmen surround the number; since the 1980s, Two-Face's duality obsession evolved into an obsession with the duality of man, with the character committing crimes based on his "misguided sense of right and wrong".
Two-Face views himself as both good and evil, and relies on flipping his double-headed coin, scarred on one side, in making important decisions and deciding whether his good or evil side will prevail.
Widely considered Batman's most tragic villain, Two-Face was established as a tragic figure in his debut: a former law-abiding district attorney turned criminal whose disfigurement resulted in him being shunned by society, which led to his turn to crime. In his early stories, Two-Face yearns to fix his face and bring back the love of his wife who he mistakenly thinks does not love him because of his disfigurement. 1990's "The Eye of the Beholder" (Batman Annual #14) reimagined Two-Face for the Modern Age as having psychological trauma from the childhood abuse he received from his father, and depicted him as being on the verge of a mental breakdown as a result of his repressed trauma and the pressure of fighting crime in Gotham, and driven to a point of desperation by Gotham's corruption. "Eye of the Beholder" also established Two-Face as a second personality state of Harvey Dent's dissociative identity disorder which resulted from his trauma; a psychiatrist in the story describes his condition as having "two personalities", with Dent having managed to "sublimate the second, anti-social one since he was a teenager".
Skills and abilities
Two-Face has no superpowers, instead relying on his proficiency in marksmanship and martial arts, which was further improved after being trained by Deathstroke and Batman. As a former lawyer, the character uses his expertise in criminal law, criminology, and police procedures to devise his crimes.
Before his transformation into Two-Face, Harvey Dent had a successful career as Gotham's district attorney, driven to bring an end to the city's epidemic of organized crime. Following his disfigurement, he becomes obsessed with the number two and the concept of duality. Thus, Two-Face stages crimes centered around the number two—such as robbing buildings with 2 in the address or staging events that will take place at 10:22 p.m. (2222 in military time). He was an accomplished lawyer highly skilled in almost all matters relating to criminal law and an extensive knowledge of the criminal world. He is also a charismatic leader and speaker. Two-Face is a genius in criminal planning and has an exceptional character, which allows him, among other things, to stoically endure pain and recover from smudging injuries in a short time. Two-Face is a skilled marksman, and regularly uses a variety of firearms such as pistols, shotguns, grenade launchers, Tommy guns, knives and rocket launchers during his battles with Batman. He primarily wields dual pistols, and has become dangerously skilled with them.
Harvey Dent has kept himself in peak physical conditions, even before his transformation into Two-Face and had exercise equipment in his office when he was an assistant district attorney. The Batman: Face the Face story arc reveals that Batman, shortly before leaving Gotham for a year, trains Dent extensively in detective work and martial arts. To further improve his proficiency in the use of firearms, Dent hires the sharpshooting assassin Deathstroke to train him.
Relationships
This section details the character's most notable relationships across various interpretations of the Batman mythos:
Gilda
Gilda Dent in some iterations, is Harvey Dent's wife. Her character debuted in Detective Comics #66, alongside Harvey, and became a recurring character in Batman stories involving Two-Face.
Bruce Wayne
Batman's alter-ego Bruce Wayne is the best friend of Harvey Dent, while before becoming Two-Face, Harvey was also one of Batman's earliest allies, predating Batman's partnership with James Gordon. Their friendship goes back to Harvey's first appearance in Detective Comics, in which Batman refers to him as his friend and emotionally asks him to give up his life of crime. Because of this relationship, Two-Face is one of Batman's most personal enemies. In the comics, it is shown that Bruce considers Harvey's downfall a personal failure, and has never given up in rehabilitating him.
It is established canonically that Harvey knows Bruce Wayne is Batman. The character's knowledge of Batman's secret identity was introduced in the story The Big Burn from Peter Tomasi's 2011 Batman and Robin ongoing series, and is shown in subsequent comics such as Scott Snyder's All-Star Batman, in which they were established as childhood best friends. In Detective Comics #1021, Harvey admits to Batman that he has been keeping his identity secret from his Two-Face personality to protect him.
Renee Montoya
Renee Montoya and Harvey Dent have a complicated relationship, introduced by writer Greg Rucka in the sixteenth issue of 1999's Batman Chronicles, in which Renee reaches out to Two-Face's Dent persona and is kind to him. Their relationship continues with the "No Man's Land" crossover storyline; in one issue, Harvey sends Renee flowers for her birthday and Renee visits him in Arkham Asylum. Harvey eventually develops romantic feelings towards Renee, which Renee doesn't return. This one-sided love would turn into an unhealthy obsession with her, which would lead to her professional and personal ruin; in the five-part Gotham Central story arc Half a Life, Two-Face attempts to destroy Renee's life by framing her for murder, outing her as a lesbian, and orchestrating a prison escape to make her a fugitive, so she would have nothing to keep her from returning his love.
Years after the release of Half a Life, Rucka would reunite the two in Convergence: The Question in 2015, following his return to DC Comics after his departure from the company in 2010. In the story, Renee saves a remorseful Harvey from killing himself, and convinces him to be a good man.
Rucka has talked about the characters' relationship in an interview with Comic Book:
Renee and Harvey have always had a very odd bond, as far as I've written them, going back to the very first Renee story I did for DC, "Two Down". It's never been just cop-and-criminal between them. There's a peculiar understanding between them; Renee, to me, has always been able to see the path of Harvey's madness in a way that even Batman has never negotiated. I'm not sure I'd ever call them friends, especially after what he's put her through, but Renee has always been sympathetic to him, at least, and that care, that guardianship, drives much of our story.
Christopher Dent
Christopher Dent is Harvey Dent's abusive and alcoholic father, first introduced in the definitive Two-Face origin story Eye of the Beholder (Batman Annual #14). Dent would beat his son based on the flip of a coin, heads he would beat Harvey, tails he wouldn't. Because the coin was double headed, Harvey would always be beaten. The trauma Harvey received from his father's constant abuse fueled the inner torment that eventually turns him into Two-Face.
Character biography
Golden Age
Two-Face's debut and Golden Age origin story, 1942's "The Crimes of Two-Face" (Detective Comics #66), introduced him as Harvey "Apollo" Kent, a handsome law-abiding Gotham City district attorney prosecuting mob boss Sal Maroni; the issue also introduced his wife, Gilda Kent, who is a sculptor. During the trial, after Kent presents Maroni's lucky two-headed coin as evidence, an enraged Maroni throws acid at Kent's face and disfigures it in half. Kent, driven insane by society's repulsion and his wife's nonacceptance of his new appearance, destroys his wife's sculpture of him to resemble his disfigurement and scars one side of Maroni's two-headed coin to symbolize his appearance's duality of beauty and ugliness, then flips the coin to decide whether to become a criminal or wait for the only plastic surgeon able to fix Kent's face, who was caught in a concentration camp in Germany, to arrive. With the scarred side of the coin being the result of Kent's coin flip, Kent decides to become a criminal with the alias Two-Face who depends on flipping his coin to determine whether to be evil or good; afterwards, with the coin landing on the scarred side, Two-Face robs a bank, then, with the coin landing on the unscarred side, gives his loot to charity, causing confusion between the police and populace, whose opinions are divided about Two-Face's morality. The rest of the issue features Two-Face committing a series of crimes centered on the number 2, one of which is stopped by Batman, who pursues and corners Two-Face after he escapes. Batman makes Two-Face a proposition to give himself up and start over, to which Two-Face replies that the coin makes all his decisions for him, then flips the coin. The issue ends with the coin landing on its edge, making Two-Face leave his life to fate, with the story being resolved in "The Man Who Led a Double Life!" (Detective Comics #68). Harvey Kent is cured through plastic surgery in 1943's "The End of Two-Face" (Detective Comics #80), and is shown reformed in 1952's "The Double Crimes of Two-Face!" (Detective Comics #187).
Kent would later be framed for crimes done by imposters like his butler Wilkins, Paul Sloane, and George Blake.
Later, Kent attends the wedding of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle as a guest in 1981's "The Kill Kent Contract!" (Superman Family #211).
Bronze Age
In Two-Face's Bronze Age reintroduction, "Half a Life" (Batman #234), Two-Face concocts an elaborate scheme to steal doubloons from a historical schooner, which Batman realizes and attempts to stop. As Batman approaches the ship, Two-Face finds and incapacitates him, then ties him up, eventually leaving the ship after he lets it sink. Before Two-Face leaves, Batman tries to convince Two-Face to flip his coin to save an old man unwittingly caught in the trap by reminding him that he is both good and evil; Two-Face first disagrees until after his departure from the ship when he is unable to resist flipping his coin. With the coin landing on the unscarred side, Two-Face returns to the ship to rescue the old man, then sees Batman had escaped his restraints. Batman offers Two-Face to surrender, to which Two-Face disagrees and attempts to attack Batman, with Two-Face being knocked out unconscious by Batman afterwards. "Half a Life" also includes a recap of his Golden Age stories as his origin: from his transformation to Two-Face and his subsequent reformation to his criminal relapse, as depicted in the 1954 story "Two-Face Strikes Again!" (Batman #81), in which Harvey Dent's plastic surgery is undone after he attempts to prevent a robbery, causing his return as Two-Face.
In "Threat of the Two-Headed Coin!" (Batman #258), Two-Face is broken out of Arkham Hospital by a retired United States Army general who hires Two-Face to blackmail the United States government with an atomic bomb. After Two-Face betrays the general and takes over his plan, the general reveals the scheme to Batman, then dies by suicide out of remorse. Later, in the United States Capitol, Two-Face interrupts a Congress meeting to carry out the extortion scheme: in exchange for not exploding the Capitol with an atomic bomb, Two-Face demands the United States government to give him two billion dollars and gemstones, with Two-Face intending to use the money to bribe people to ignore his hideous appearance and end his misery; Batman eventually foils Two-Face's plan.
Two-Face then appears in a number of non-Batman comics, such as The Joker, Justice League of America, and Teen Titans. The Joker's first issue, "The Joker's Double Jeopardy", features Two-Face and fellow Batman adversary Joker battling each other to prove who is the superior criminal, while Justice League of America's 125-26th issues, "The Men Who Sold Destruction!" and "The Evil Connection", shows Two-Face assisting the superhero team Justice League. In Teen Titans, Two-Face meets Teen Titans member Duela Dent who claims to be his daughter.
In the 313-314th issues of Batman, Two-Face steals a top secret missile activation code owned by the United States government and goes to New Orleans, with Batman and a United States federal agent reluctantly working together to trail him and obtain the code. On a float in the Mardi Gras parade, Two-Face deceives an American and a Russian representative who each negotiated for the code for $22,000,000 and steals $44,000,000 from them; Two-Face then escapes from the float to a blimp, with Batman and the agent in pursuit. Afterwards, while Batman hangs from the blimp's hatch, Two-Face flips the coin to decide whether to kill him, with the agent eventually shooting the coin outwards the hatch. Two-Face, declaring that his life is meaningless without the coin, leaps for it and falls out of the blimp.
Two-Face changes his face through plastic surgery as well as his identity to Carl Ternion in Batman's 328-329th issues, and reunites with Gilda Dent to make her happy after her former husband, Dave Stevens, died. Two-Face then avenges Stevens' death by killing Sal Maroni, who had also changed his face and his identity to Anton Karoselle and had killed Gilda Dent's former husband. Karoselle's death and Two-Face and Maroni's changed identities are significant aspects of the mystery Batman solves in the story: how Ternion murdered Karoselle twice and had been acquitted for it, as Ternion admits in a video tape sent to Batman by Two-Face. Later, Two-Face runs away from Gilda Dent after his plastic surgery becomes undone, and afterwards, Batman tells Gilda Dent the truth about Ternion's actual identity and convinces her of a plan to lure and take down Two-Face: Batman disguises himself as Maroni attacking Gilda Dent as bait, and, with Two-Face chasing him, leads Two-Face to the Gotham City courthouse, where Batman and Gilda Dent eventually convince Two-Face to rehabilitate himself in Arkham.
In the two-issue arc "Half a Hero... Is Better Than None!" from Batman #346 and Detective Comics #513, Two-Face escapes Arkham Asylum and puts Batman in an elaborate death trap set in a converted halfway house, eventually capturing Batman and imprisoning him for a week, after which Two-Face attempts to rob a record company named Duo Records, and is stopped by Batman's sidekick, Robin. Two-Face, having escaped the encounter, returns to the halfway house. Afterwards, Batman escapes by creating and putting on a Two-Face mask, causing Two-Face to release him.
Two-Face's good and evil sides are in conflict in a four-issue storyline in Batman and Detective Comics, with his evil side being predominant. Two-Face allies with Batman villain Black Mask's former lover Circe who convinces him to steal a pharaoh's death mask concealed within a sarcophagus which she states to be imbued with magic that could restore his good side; this plan is revealed to be conceived by Batman, who is working with Circe to trick Two-Face into having his good side restored and have him rehabilitated. The plan doesn't work with Two-Face's evil side taking over.
Modern Age
The Post-Crisis and followed up in The Long Halloween established this version of Two-Face is depicted as having had an unhappy childhood; his father was a mentally ill alcoholic who beat him regularly, often deciding whether or not to brutalize his son based on a flip of his lucky coin. The abuse instilled 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. Dent is diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder at a young age, but manages to hide his illnesses and, thanks to an unyielding work ethic, rises up through the ranks of Gotham City's district attorney's office until, at age 26, he becomes the youngest DA in the city's history. Gordon even suspected that Dent could be Batman, but discarded this suspicion when he realized that Dent lacked the vigilante's financial resources. Dent forges an alliance with Gordon and Batman to rid Gotham of organized crime. Mob boss Carmine Falcone bribes corrupt Assistant District Attorney Vernon Fields to provide his lieutenant Sal Maroni, whom Dent is trying for murder, with sulfuric acid; Maroni throws the acid in Dent's face during a cross-examination, horribly scarring the left side of Dent's face. Dent escapes from the hospital and reinvents himself as the gangster Two-Face. He scars one side of his father's coin and uses it to decide whether to commit a crime. Eventually, Two-Face takes his revenge on Falcone, Fields and Maroni, but is captured by Batman, leading to his incarceration in Arkham Asylum.
During the Batman: Dark Victory story arc, the serial killer Hangman targets various cops who assisted in 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 is betrayed by the Joker, who shoots at Dent, causing him to fall into a chasm, presumably to his death. 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 the father of Jason Todd, the second Robin. 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 third Robin. Two-Face has Batman at his mercy, but Tim dons the Robin suit to save Batman.
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 decisions—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 it is implied that Two-Face made his own decision 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; Gordon later 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. During this time, Two-Face also 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.
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 Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment one-shot comic book, Two-Face captures his own father, planning to humiliate and kill him on live television for the years of abuse that 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 personality. In Batman: Two-Face Strikes Twice!, Two-Face is at odds with his ex-wife Gilda Grace Dent, 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.
Batman: Hush
In the Batman: Hush storyline, Dent's face is repaired by plastic surgery, seemingly eradicating the Two-Face personality. Dent 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 would not attempt to charge him without a body.
Return to villainy
In the Batman story arc Batman: Face the Face, which 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, Harvey 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 that it will 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 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, Ventriloquist and Scarface, 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, Dent suffers a crisis of conscience and a mental battle with his "Two-Face" personality. Although Batman later uncovers evidence that exonerates Dent for the murders, establishing that he was framed as revenge for his efforts against new crime boss Warren White, a.k.a. the Great White Shark, 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. Batman subsequently confronts White, while acknowledging that he cannot attack White, as there is no explicit evidence supporting Batman's deductions, vowing to inform Two-Face of White's actions when they next face each other.
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 someone else has taken over as Batman. He hires a teleporter and manages to infiltrate the Batcave. When the new Batman investigates the cave, Two-Face ambushes him with tranquilizer darts, and in a hallucination he sees Dent in a red and black Two-Face themed Batman costume. Alfred Pennyworth saves the hero from Two-Face's torture after subduing his accomplice, and with his help Batman convinces Two-Face that he is the real, original Dark Knight, 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.
The New 52
In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. Here, Two-Face's origin is revised significantly. Harvey 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, bound 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 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. Several years later, Erin McKillen returns to Gotham City to kill Two-Face, and thus reassert her control of her family's criminal operations. 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 knows Batman's secret identity. Two-Face reveals that he struggled internally for quite some time over whether to kill his former friend, 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.
DC Rebirth
In 2016, DC Comics implemented another relaunch of its books called "DC Rebirth", which restored its continuity to a form much as it was prior to "The New 52". Batman decides to cure Two-Face, doing whatever it takes. Following a confrontation with Two-Face and his henchmen - Killer Moth, Firefly, and Black Spider - Batman takes Two-Face into his custody, until they both have to fight KGBeast. They defeat KGBeast, but are badly injured. Batman nurses Two-Face back to health, but Two-Face suspects Batman of trying to betray him and rubs acid in his eyes. Two-Face and Batman mend their relationship somewhat to fight KGBeast, the Penguin, and Black Mask. Batman tells Two-Face that he can cure Two-Face's split personality. Two-Face does not trust Batman to help him, however, and so threatens to destroy Gotham City with poison gas unless Batman gives him the cure. In the end, Batman injects Two-Face with the "cure", which turns out to be a sedative that renders Two-Face unconscious. Batman then takes Two-Face back to Arkham.
In the Deface the Face story arc, Two-Face goes to Batman for help. Harvey Dent had murdered a man whom he could not convict in trial. Two-Face says, "...Harvey's the good one. He has to be. Otherwise, what am I?", and then decides to help Batman and Gordon bring down the terrorist group Kobra. In Doomsday Clock, Two-Face is among the villains who attend the underground meeting held by the Riddler. In Harley Quinn: Rebirth, while Harley Quinn's Gang of Harleys is trying to find information about Man-Bat, they encounter Two-Face in Arkham Asylum, where he makes threats towards the group.
Other characters named Two-Face
Wilkins
The first impostor was Wilkins, Harvey Dent's butler who uses makeup to suggest that Dent had suffered a relapse and disfigured his own face. This would give Wilkins the cover to commit crimes as Two-Face.
Paul Sloane
Paul Sloane becomes the second impostor of Two-Face. An actor, Sloane is disfigured by an accident on the set of a biography film about Two-Face. This occurred when a prop boy working on the film got jealous at the fact that his girlfriend developed a crush on Sloane. This causes the prop man to switch out the water with actual acid that was to be used for the trial scene. Sloane's mind snaps and he begins to think that he is Dent. Sloane recovers some of his own personality, but continues to commit crimes as Two-Face. Batman eventually confronted Sloane and managed to trick the criminal to undergo a reconstructive surgery which would cure his mental illness. 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.
After the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, Paul Sloane, with a near-identical history to the pre-Crisis version, appears in Detective Comics #580-581. 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.
A new take on the Paul Sloane character is re-introduced into post-Zero Hour: Crisis in Time! as a criminal called the Charlatan in Detective Comics #777 (February 2003). In this incarnation, Sloan is an actor who had been hired by Joker, Penguin, Riddler, Mad Hatter, Scarecrow, and Killer Moth to take Two-Face's place in a scheme to kill Batman. They had originally offered Two-Face the part in the scheme, but his coin landed on the non-scarred side. During his impersonation of Two-Face, Batman discovered that this Two-Face was an impostor when he killed a security guard without consulting the coin. When the real Two-Face learns about this, he captures Sloan and disfigures his face. Scarecrow then experiments on Sloan with fear toxins. Driven insane and deprived of fear, Sloan becomes Charlatan where he 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 at Arkham Asylum.
George Blake
The third impostor of Two-Face is petty criminal George Blake who passed himself off as a manager of an anti-crime exhibition. However, he is not actually disfigured, but is wearing make-up. Furthermore, his makeup is worn on the opposite side of his face to Harvey Dent or Paul Sloane, which easily enabled Batman to identify him as an impostor. Batman defeats George Blake and clears Harvey Dent's name.
Batman as Two-Face
Also noteworthy is a 1968 story where Batman himself is temporarily turned into Two-Face via a potion.
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 Terry and 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 was born deformed 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, when 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 "bad" ones.
Other versions
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-31 appears in The Dark Knight Returns. This version was physically healed via plastic surgery, but at the unforeseen cost of destroying Harvey Dent's personality.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-19 appears in Gotham by Gaslight.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-32 appears in Batman: In Darkest Knight. This version was scarred by Sinestro, empowered with his Lantern energy, and became Binary Star.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in Batman Black and White.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face inspired by The Phantom appears in Batman: Masque.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-43 appears in Batman: Crimson Mist as one of several villains killed by a vampiric Batman.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Cat-woman. This version is Finnegan Dent, an explorer who was mauled by a lion during an expedition and attempted to remain in the city of Mnemnom as its leader, only to be buried under a collapsing roof during a fight.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in Batman: Two Faces. This version lost his split personality after taking a potion created by Bruce Wayne and succeeded him as Batman following his death (the same potion caused Batman to develop a split personality in the form of the Joker).
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in Batman: The Doom That Came to Gotham. This version was mutated by Talia al Ghul and used as a conduit to resurrect Ra's al Ghul before being killed by Batman.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham. This version is Darcy Dent, a model who was scarred after a rival of hers hired a hitman to lace her facial cream with acid. Unlike the regular Two-Face, Darcy does not rely on a coin toss to make decisions or have a mental disorder.
- Two characters based on Two-Face appear in Batman: Thrillkiller, set on Earth-37. 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. Harvey Dent appears in the sequel Batgirl and Batman: Thrillkiller '62 as the mayor of Gotham City.
- An alternate universe variant of Harvey Dent from Earth-9 appears in Tangent Comics. This version is an African-American man with psionic powers and his world's Superman.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in Emperor Joker. This version is a plushie-like creature and servant of Harley Quinn.
- Evelyn Dent / Three-Face, a heroic alternate universe variant of Two-Face from Earth-Three, appears in Countdown to Infinite Crisis.
- An alternate universe variant of Harvey Dent appears in Flashpoint. This version is a judge. In the sequel Flashpoint Beyond, Dent is killed by Scavenger, leading Batman to adopt his son Dexter.
- An alternate universe variant of Harvey Dent appears in Batman: Earth One. This version was killed by Sal Maroni, leading his sister Jessica Dent to become Two-Face instead, manifesting a split personality based on a more ruthless version of her brother.
- The Gotham by Gaslight incarnation of Two-Face appears in Convergence.
- An alternate universe variant of Harvey Dent from Earth-24 appears in DC Comics Bombshells. This version is the mayor of Gotham City and an ally of Batman who is scarred while protecting the Batgirls from Killer Frost and remains heroic afterwards.
- An alternate universe variant of Two-Face appears in Batman: White Knight.
- Two-Face appears in Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
In other media
Main article: Two-Face in other mediaSee also
Notes
- Nicknamed "Apollo" in the story because of his beauty
- "Kent" later changed to "Dent"
- Later changed to Arkham Asylum
References
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Though Harvey Dent has no superpowers, he possesses a genius-level intellect and is an expert in criminology and police procedures, helping him predict how the Gotham City Police Department will try to stop his crimes. His split personality, genius intellect and reliance on flipping a coin to make decisions make him an extremely unpredictable opponent.
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Harvey Dent was not only a friend of Bruce Wayne, he was one of Batman's greatest allies within the Gotham City legal system (per Batman: Year One, their relationship predated Batman and Gordon's partnership) and one of the few city's civil servants not in the pocket of the Gotham Mob. When Harvey turned heel, Batman lost more than just an ally, he lost a friend.
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External links
- Two-Face at DC Comics' official website
- Two-Face at the DC Database Project
- Mastracci, Sharon (2017-03-01). "Public service in popular culture: the administrative discretion of commissioner gordon and harvey dent". International Journal of Organization Theory & Behavior. 17 (3): 367–388. doi:10.1108/IJOTB-17-03-2014-B005. ISSN 1093-4537.
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- DC Comics supervillains
- Batman characters
- Characters created by Bob Kane
- Coin flipping
- Comics characters introduced in 1942
- DC Comics film characters
- DC Comics male supervillains
- Fictional attempted suicides
- Fictional bank robbers
- Fictional blackmailers
- Fictional burn survivors
- Fictional characters with dissociative identity disorder
- Fictional American criminals
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- Fictional district attorneys
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- Fictional mass murderers
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- Golden Age supervillains
- Vigilante characters in comics
- Villains in animated television series