Two-Face

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Two-Face
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Two-Face in Batman and Robin vol. 2, #23.1 (2013). Art by Guillem March.
Publication information
Publisher DC Comics
First appearance Detective Comics #66 (Aug. 1942)
Created by Template:Plain list
In-story information
Alter ego Harvey Dent
Team affiliations Template:Plain list
Notable aliases Template:Plain list
Abilities
  • Criminal mastermind
  • Skilled marksman
  • Expert lawyer and tactician

Two-Face (Harvey Dent) is a fictional supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane and first appeared in Detective Comics #66 (Aug. 1942).[1] As one of Batman's most enduring enemies, Two-Face belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's rogues gallery.

Once an upstanding Gotham City District Attorney, Harvey Dent was hideously scarred on the left side of his face after a mob boss threw acidic chemicals at him during a court trial. He was subsequently driven insane and adopted the "Two-Face" persona, becoming a criminal obsessed with the number two and duality. In later years, writers have portrayed Two-Face's obsession with chance and fate as the result of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and dissociative identity disorder. He obsessively makes all important decisions by flipping his former lucky charm, a two-headed coin which was damaged on one side by the acid as well. The modern version is established as having once been a personal friend and ally of James Gordon and Batman.[2]

The character has been featured in various media adaptations, such as feature films, television series and video games. For example, Two-Face has been voiced by Richard Moll in DC animated universe, Troy Baker in the Batman: Arkham series, Billy Dee Williams in The Lego Batman Movie, and William Shatner in Batman vs. Two-Face. His live-action portrayals include Billy Dee Williams and Tommy Lee Jones in the Batman film series, Aaron Eckhart in The Dark Knight, and Nicholas D'Agosto in the television series Gotham. In 2009, Two-Face was ranked #12 on IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time.[3]

Publication history[edit | edit source]

Two-Face first appears in Detective Comics #66 with the name Harvey "Apollo" Kent;[1] later stories changed his name to "Harvey Dent" to avoid an association with Superman (Clark Kent).[4]

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

In his autobiography, Batman creator Bob Kane claims to have been inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, specifically the 1931 film version which he saw as a boy. Some inspiration was also derived from the Pulp magazine character the Black Bat whose origin story included having acid splashed on his face.[5]

In the wake of Frank Miller's 1986 revision of Batman's origin (see Batman: Year One), Andrew Helfer rewrote Two-Face's history to match.[6] This origin, presented in Batman Annual (vol. 1) #14, served to emphasize Dent's status as a tragic character, with a back story that included an abusive, alcoholic father, and early struggles with bipolar disorder and paranoia. It was also established, in Batman: Year One, that pre-accident Harvey Dent was one of Batman's earliest allies. He had clear ties to both Batman and Commissioner Gordon, making him an unsettling and personal foe for both men.[7]

Fictional character biography[edit | edit source]

At 26, Dent is the youngest District Attorney to serve in Gotham City. He is nicknamed 'Apollo' for his good looks and clean cut image. Harvey Dent's origin relates that he went through much hardship during his childhood. Growing up under the parentage of an abusive and mentally-ill father, Harvey Dent started developing repressed mental illnesses of his own, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. His hard work ethic, however, later allowed him to rise in career.

Dent forges an alliance with police captain James Gordon and Batman to rid Gotham of crime boss Sal Maroni,[8] and Carmine Falcone, with the former murdered by the latter's son. Gordon also speculated that Dent might have been Batman, but dismissed this theory because Dent lacked Batman's financial resources. Falcone hires the corrupt Assistant District Attorney Vernon Fields to provide Sal Maroni with sulfuric acid to disfigure Dent by throwing it in his face. Two-Face gets his trademark coin from his father that would employ the coin in a perverse nightly "game" that always ended with a beating. This would instill in Dent his lifelong struggle with free will and his eventual inability to make choices on his own, relying on the coin to make all of his decisions. Eventually, the scarred Dent takes his revenge on Fields and Maroni, leading to his incarceration in Arkham Asylum.[9]

Criminal career[edit | edit source]

During the Batman: Dark Victory story arc, the serial killer Hangman targets various cops who assisted in Harvey Dent's rise to the D.A.'s office. Two-Face gathers Gotham's criminals to assist in the destruction of the city's crime lords. After a climactic struggle in the Batcave, Two-Face is betrayed by the Joker, who shoots at Dent and thus causing him to fall into a chasm, presumably to his death. Batman admits in the aftermath that, even if Two-Face has survived, Harvey is gone forever.[10]

During a much later period, Two-Face is revealed to have murdered the father of Jason Todd. 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.[11] Two-Face similarly serves as a 'baptism by fire' for Tim Drake. When Two-Face has Batman at his mercy, 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 dice 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 the implication made is that Two-Face chose to let Batman live.[12][13]

In the No Man's Land storyline, in which Gotham is devastated by an earthquake, Two-Face claims a portion of the ruined city, takes up residence in Gotham City Hall, and forms a temporary alliance with Gordon to share certain territory. His empire is brought down by Bane (employed by Lex Luthor) who destroys Two-Face's gang during his destruction of the city's Hall of Records. Two-Face kidnaps Gordon and puts him on trial for his activities after Gotham City is declared a "No Man's Land", with Two-Face as both judge and prosecutor for Gordon's illegal alliance with him; but Gordon plays upon Two-Face's split psyche to demand Harvey Dent as his defense attorney. Dent cross-examines Two-Face and wins an acquittal for Gordon, determining that Two-Face has effectively blackmailed Gordon by implying that he had committed murders to aid the Commissioner.[14]

In Gotham Central, Two-Face meets detective Renee Montoya. Montoya reaches the Dent persona in Two-Face and is kind to him. He falls in love with her, though the romance is one-sided.[14] 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.[15]

In the Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment one-shot book, Two-Face captures his own father, planning to humiliate and kill him on live television for the years of abuse he suffered. This story reveals that, despite his apparent hatred for his father, Dent still supports him, paying for an expensive home rather than allowing him to live in a slum. At the end of the book, the Dent and Two-Face personalities argue in thought, Two-Face calling Dent "spineless". Dent proves Two-Face wrong, choosing to jump off a building and commit suicide just to put a stop to his alter ego's crime spree. Two-Face is surprised when the coin flip comes up scarred, but abides by the decision and jumps. Batman catches him, but the shock of the fall seems to (at least temporarily) destroy the Two-Face side of his psyche.[16]

In Two-Face Strikes Twice, Two-Face is at odds with his ex-wife Gilda 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.[17]

Hush[edit | edit source]

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

Return to villainy[edit | edit source]

File:Detective Comics 818 2nd print coverart.jpg
Cover art for the second printing of Detective Comics #818 (April 2006), by Simone Bianchi

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

Despite escaping the explosion physically unscathed to a motel, Dent suffers a crisis of conscience and a mental battle with his "Two-Face" personality. Although evidence is later uncovered by Batman that exonerates Dent for the murders, it is too late to save him. Prompted by resentment and a paranoid reaction to Batman's questioning, Dent scars half his face with nitric acid and a scalpel, becoming Two-Face once again.[18] 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.[19]

On the cover of Justice League of America vol. 2 #23, Two-Face is shown as a member of the new Injustice League. He can be seen in Salvation Run. He appears in Battle for the Cowl: The Underground, which shows the effects of Batman's death on his enemies. In Judd Winick's Long Shadow arc, Two-Face realizes that there's another person as Batman.[20] He hires a teleporter and manages to infiltrate the Batcave. When the new Batman investigates the cave, he is ambushed by Two-Face with tranquilizer darts, and in a hallucination he sees Dent in a red and black Two-Face themed Batman costume.[21] Alfred Pennyworth saved the hero from Two-Face's torture after he subdues his accomplice, and with his help Batman convinces Two-Face that he is the real, original Dark Knight, 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.[22] 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.[23]

The New 52[edit | edit source]

In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline, 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, trapped by attorney client confidentiality, is unable to dissuade the McKillens from continuing their lethal vendetta. The violent attempt on the Gordons' lives prompts Bruce Wayne to use his resources to initiate and fund Dent's campaign for district attorney. Dent becomes D.A. and has the McKillen sisters prosecuted and sentenced to life in prison. After Shannon commits suicide, Erin escapes by switching places with her sister's corpse. Blaming Dent for her sister's death, Erin breaks into Dent's house, kills Gilda in front of him, and pours acid on his face, transforming him into Two-Face.

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

DC Rebirth[edit | edit source]

In DC Rebirth rebooted universe, Batman decides to cure Two-Face, doing whatever it takes. Batman takes a road trip outside Gotham City and stumbles upon Two-Face's henchmen, Killer Moth and Firefly, and eventually Black Spider. Batman gets the upper hand and takes Harvey with him, but Two-Face tries to get rid of Batman, only to fail horribly. Furthermore, both Two-Face and Batman have to deal with KGBeast. They have a fight against the Beast, and eventually get rid of him, however, they were both heavily injured, especially Dent. Batman takes care of Two-Face, but Harvey thanks him with a surprise attack by his men. He takes out Batman and pours some acid into his eyes and shows him how it feels to see the world blurry.[24]

Over the course of time, Batman and Duke Thomas take them out. However, Two-Face and Batman have to face off against KGBeast, Penguin and Black Mask. They barely managed to escape. Two-Face tells Batman that he won't remove the poisonous clouds over Gotham if he won't hand over the cure, as he'd wanted the cure desperately. In the end, Batman injected the cure but it had no effect on Harvey due to him lying about a cure, and Two-Face was knocked out, since there was a sedative in it. In the end, Batman takes Two-Face back to Gotham.

Powers and abilities[edit | edit source]

Before his transformation into Two-Face, Harvey Dent had a successful career as Gotham's upstanding district attorney, proficient in nearly all matters pertaining to criminal law.

Following his disfigurement, he became obsessed with the number two and duality, and thus staged 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). Two-Face has also proven to be a genius in criminal planning, and has constantly demonstrated a high-level of intelligence in plotting heists as a brilliant and respected mastermind in the criminal underworld. In addition, Two-Face is a skilled marksman, and regularly used a variety of firearms such as pistols, shotguns, grenade launchers, Tommy guns, knives and rocket launchers during his battles with Batman. To further improve his proficiency in the use of firearms, Two-Face hired the sharpshooting assassin Deathstroke to train him.[25]

The Batman: Face the Face story-arc revealed that Batman had previously trained Dent extensively in detective work and hand-to-hand combat (specifically kung-fu), enhancing his already proficient talent in both.

Family[edit | edit source]

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

  • Gilda Dent – Gilda is Harvey's wife in most comic-book incarnations. Gilda wanted to have children with Harvey but his busy schedule precluded this. This led Gilda to become the serial killer known as Holiday, who killed several key members of Carmine Falcone's criminal empire. Gilda fled after Two-Face's first arrest and disappeared. Two-Face constantly denies the chance for plastic surgery and a life with Gilda again but has stated that Harvey Dent is a married man. In the New 52 reboot, Gilda is a socialite whom Bruce Wayne introduces to Harvey at a graduation party. She is killed in front of Harvey by Erin McKillen.[26]
  • Christopher Dent – In Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment, Harvey Dent's father is renamed Christopher Dent, although he is once again characterized as a mentally ill alcoholic who frequently abused his son. Harvey represses this trauma for years, fueling the inner torment that eventually turns him into Two-Face.[16]
  • Murray DentBatman: Jekyll & Hyde reveals that, when he was a child, Harvey Dent had an older brother, Murray Dent, who died in a fire because his brother was too scared to save him. The comics explain that Murray is Harvey's second personality, and that Harvey's father abused him because he blamed him for Murray's death.[27]

Other characters named Two-Face[edit | edit source]

Wilkins[edit | edit source]

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.[28]

Paul Sloane[edit | edit source]

Paul Sloane becomes the second imposter 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 Paul 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 he is Dent. Sloane recovers some of his own personality, but continues to commit crimes as Two-Face. Sloane is reused in later Earth-Two specific stories as Two-Face II of Earth-Two where the original Earth-Two Two-Face remains healed.[29] Sloane is revived in the current continuity as a successor Two-Face,[30] though not replacing Dent as done in the earlier Earth-Two specific storyline.

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 #580-581. In Double Image, Harvey Dent (as Two-Face) employs 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.[31]

Paul Sloane is introduced into post-Zero Hour continuity as a criminal called the Charlatan in Detective Comics #777 (February 2003). In this incarnation, Sloan (now spelled without a silent e) had been hired by 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 the Two-Face was an imposter 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 him with fear toxins. Driven insane and deprived of fear, the Charlatan becomes obsessed with both getting revenge on the criminals who hired him and completing his mission to kill Batman. Charlatan is defeated by Batman and incarcerated at Arkham Asylum.[30]

George Blake[edit | edit source]

The third imposter of Two-Face is petty criminal George Blake who passed himself off as a manager of the 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 imposter. Batman defeats George Blake and clears Harvey Dent's name.[32]

Batman as Two-Face[edit | edit source]

Also noteworthy is a 1968 story where Batman himself is temporarily turned into Two-Face via a potion.[33]

Harvey Dent[edit | edit source]

As mentioned above, Harvey Dent does return as Two-Face in the 1970s. With the establishment of the multiverse, the Two-Face of Earth-Two (i.e., the character seen in the original Golden Age stories) is said to be Harvey Kent, who had not relapsed following his cure.[29] The last appearance of this version of Two-Face was in Superman Family #211 (October 1981), depicting him as a guest at the marriage of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle (Catwoman). He meets Lois Lane and Clark Kent, and his shared name with the latter creates confusion.[29]

Two-Face-Two[edit | edit source]

In Batman #700, which establishes Terry McGinnis as part of the DC Universe canon, it is revealed that Two-Face-Two kidnapped the infant Terry, along with an 80-year-old Carter Nichols, and tried to disfigure them in the style of the Joker. His plans were foiled by Damian Wayne, the fifth Robin and Batman's biological son. Unlike the original Two-Face, this version of the character was born deformed with a second face, rather than being scarred by acid or fire, and flips two coins instead of one. He is then killed when a machine falls on him. Another Two-Face-Two is briefly mentioned during the course of the DC One Million storyline, with the Batman of the 853rd century comments how this villain was defeated when the second Batman convinced him that the law of averages proved his coin-tossing would ultimately cause him to make more 'good' decisions than he would 'bad' ones.[34]

Other versions[edit | edit source]

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

The Dark Knight Returns[edit | edit source]

In the alternate future setting of The Dark Knight Returns, plastic surgery returns Dent's face to normal, but at the unforeseen cost of permanently destroying the good-hearted Harvey Dent personality. The monstrous Two-Face is left in permanent control—to the extent that one of his henchmen now refers to him only as "Face". He attempts to blow up the Gotham Twin Towers with his face swathed in bandages, with the intention of dying in the explosions. He then sees both sides of his face as scarred, or as he later says to Batman when he captures him, "At least both sides match". Later in the series, his psychiatrist (who is characterized as completely inept) describes Dent's condition as "recovering nicely".[35]

Batman Black and White[edit | edit source]

Two-Face has a brief short story in the first issue of Batman Black and White, in the comic titled "Two of a Kind" featuring him receiving plastic surgery to regain his original identity as Harvey Dent, only to suffer a relapse when his fiancée—his former psychiatrist—is revealed to have a psychotic twin sister, who kills her sister and forces him to become Two-Face again in order to take his revenge.[36]

Elseworlds[edit | edit source]

In the Elseworlds story Batman: In Darkest Knight, Harvey Dent is the Gotham District Attorney and distrusts Green Lantern (who in this reality is Bruce Wayne) because of his vigilante tactics, made even worse due to Commissioner Gordon's distrust of Lantern due to his sheer power. Sinestro, after becoming deranged from absorbing Joe Chill's mind, then scars Dent's face and gives him powers similar to those of the main continuity's Eclipso. He calls himself Binary Star and works with Star Sapphire (who in this reality is Selina Kyle).[37]

In The Doom That Came To Gotham, an Elseworlds story based on "The Doom That Came To Sarnath", At The Mountains Of Madness and the overall works of Lovecraft, Harvey Dent is hideously mutated on the right side of his body by Talia Al Ghul, and used as a conduit for a ritual intended to resurrect her father, the ancient sorcerer Ra's al Ghul, to bring about the end of Gotham City and the world. He is euthanized by Batman by the end of the story.[38]

Two-Face also appears in the Elseworlds Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye crossover book, partnered with Marvel villain Mr. Hyde for the purpose of using Hyde as an "incubator" to grow an organic microchip, giving Hyde drugs to speed up this process (regardless of the fact that this would kill him). It is also revealed in this book that Harvey Dent had once been friends with Matt Murdock, who is secretly Daredevil. Prior to his disfigurement, Dent believed in giving criminals a chance at rehabilitation, while Murdock believed in final justice; having reversed his outlook to what Dent had once believed, Murdock talks Two-Face out of killing Hyde without Two-Face using his coin. Two-Face, however, insists that act is merely "the last of Harvey Dent".[39]

In the Elseworlds comic Batman: Masque, a pastiche of The Phantom of the Opera, Harvey Dent takes the role of the Phantom.[40]

In the Elseworlds book Batman: Crimson Mist, the third part of the trilogy that began with Batman & Dracula: Red Rain, where Batman became a vampire, Two-Face, having only recently suffered his accident, forms a new gang accompanied by Killer Croc as his muscle and forges an alliance with Commissioner Gordon and Alfred Pennyworth to stop Batman when his insane thirst for blood drives him to kill his old enemies. After Batman is believed killed in the old Batcave, Two-Face turns on the two men, forcing Alfred to flee and rescue Batman while Gordon kills Two-Face's men. As he confronts Gordon, Two-Face is interrupted by Batman, restored to life after Alfred sacrificed himself so that his blood could restore his master. Batman drives two crossbow bolts into each side of Two-Face's head, citing it as "One for each face".[41]

In the Elseworlds tale Batman/Tarzan: Claws of the Cat-woman, explorer and adventurer Finnegan Dent is revealed to be stealing the sacred artifacts of an African tribe in the lost city of Mnemnom. During an encounter with Batman and Tarzan-Tarzan had been visiting Gotham to attend to business when Batman learned about Dent's true agenda, teaming up with the Dark Knight to help him stop Dent from raiding the city-half of Dent's face is mauled by a lion, prompting him to decide to remain in Mnemnom and establish himself as its ruler on the grounds that society would have no place for a man with half a face. He is last seen being sealed away in a tomb of the rulers of Mnemnom after he triggers an explosion in a fight with Tarzan and Batman, Tarzan informing Dent as he takes the unconscious Batman to safety that taking Dent back to Gotham to face trial is Batman's idea of justice rather than his; he later tells Batman that Dent died when the falling rubble that knocked Batman unconscious crushed him.[42]

In the Elseworlds series Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham, model Darcy Dent has half her face scarred when a rival model hires a hitman to lace her facial cream with acid. Unlike the regular Two-Face, Darcy does not rely on a coin toss to make her decisions, nor does she suffer from any type of personality disorder. Her motive is simply revenge based against those responsible for her disfigurement, and her motif is mutilating her victims' faces and wearing a half business suit with a spiked metal bikini.[43]

Thrillkiller[edit | edit source]

In the Batman: Thrillkiller universe, there are two versions of Two-Face. One is Detective Duell, a corrupt officer on the Gotham City Police Department, whose face is scarred in a manner similar to the version of Two-Face in the mainstream continuity. Duell is arrested at the end of Thrillkiller: Batgirl and Robin.[44] In the sequel, Batgirl and Batman: Thrillkiller '62, Harvey Dent is the new District Attorney. He appears at the end as the new mayor of Gotham.[45]

Earth-Three[edit | edit source]

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

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

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

Gotham by Gaslight[edit | edit source]

In Gotham by Gaslight, Two-Face is a serial killer called "The Double Man", as mentioned in Countdown: Arena.[46]

Tangent Comics[edit | edit source]

On the Tangent Earth, Harvey Dent is an African-American man with psionic powers and is that world's Superman, although he has no other similarities to the Two-Face character.[47]

Flashpoint[edit | edit source]

In the Flashpoint alternate timeline, Harvey Dent did not become Two-Face. Instead, he is now a judge and has a wife and twin children. When the Joker kidnaps Dent's children, Dent asks Thomas Wayne for help in their search, agreeing to do anything asked. Dent warns Wayne that he will shut down everything Wayne owns, including Wayne Casinos, unless his children are saved.[48] Chief James Gordon locates Joker with Dent's children in Wayne Manor, and goes in without any backup. Gordon is tricked into shooting Dent's daughter, as she has been taped to a chair and disguised as Joker. Joker then appears and kills Gordon before Batman arrives.[49] Batman rushes in and manages to save Dent's daughter by resuscitating her. Batman then moves them away from Joker.[50]

The Batman Adventures[edit | edit source]

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

In another issue, Two-Face's life is thrown into chaos when he loses his coin during an unplanned breakout from Arkham, and replaces it with a quarter. Little Jonni Infantino, the mastermind behind the breakout, threatens to hurt Grace if Two-Face doesn't provide information on one of Rupert Thorne's thugs: Weird Tony Hendra, one of Harvey Dent's last cases as District Attorney. Two-Face runs into a pay phone and warns Grace to get out of her apartment before Jonni can get to her. Later on, Grace is seen crying at a Chinese restaurant, calling Bruce Wayne to tell him that Dent saved her life; it is implies that Grace still loves him.

According to Ty Templeton, series writer Dan Slott had many ideas for Two-Face's stories for the series, but the series was canceled before many of these ideas could be made.[51]

Batman: Earth One[edit | edit source]

In the graphic novel, Batman: Earth One, Dent has a twin sister named Jessica, who was a friend of Bruce Wayne from preparatory school. Harvey Dent occasionally would bully Bruce, due to his maternal family's reputation (who are Arkhams instead of Kanes) of eventually would become insane, leading at one point, that the two boys had a fight. After the twins reach adulthood, Harvey becomes Gotham City's District Attorney, and Jessica as the president of the city's board of supervisors. They are also political enemies of Gotham's corrupt mayor Oswald Cobblepot. Jessica takes over Cobblepot's term as mayor following his confrontation with Batman, which resulted his death and his crimes are posthumously outed.[52] In Volume Two, Jessica discovers that Bruce is Batman, and they each reciprocate the romantic affection they had for each other since childhood. However, after Sal Maroni kills Harvey, Jessica is disfigured following the incident when she presses her face against Harvey's burns, her final exchange with Bruce suggesting that she has developed a split personality with her brother as the other identity.[53]

Batman Beyond[edit | edit source]

In the Batman Beyond universe, Two-Face is revealed to be reformed into Harvey Dent again. He then set up a law preventing deceased villains to have public graves in order to prevent martyrdom.[54]

Injustice: Gods Among Us[edit | edit source]

In Injustice: Gods Among Us' prequel comic, Two-Face crashes a live broadcast on a Gotham news channel, having murdered a guest speaker and taken his place. His obsession with duality appealed too by the recent actions of Superman due to the destruction of Metropolis and with half the nation in favor of his recent actions and the other not, Two-Face himself admits, "I couldn't stay away. I tried. But the coin...". Two-Face flips his signature coin to decide which of the anchors he will kill when the coin is vaporized by a blast of Superman's heat vision before it has a chance to land in his hand. Shocked, infuriated and at a loss, Two-Face brandishes his gun at the Man of Steel but the weapon is easily destroyed. Two-Face is then subdued by the news station's security guards and he is last seen back in Arkham Asylum in a straitjacket when Batman and Nightwing confront Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Robin.[55] While still bound and restrained, Two-Face witnesses the heroes arguing and attempts to attack Robin during Harley Quinn's riot, but is knocked out by one of Green Arrow's boxing arrows.[56][57]

DC Comics Bombshells[edit | edit source]

In an alternate history set in 1941, issue 13 of the DC Comics Bombshells comic depicts Harvey Dent as the newly elected mayor of Gotham City. Despite having been elected on a platform of supporting World War II refugees from Europe, he becomes an anti-immigrant isolationist in office, who vows to crack down on vigilantes under the slogan "Make Gotham Golden Once More". Tim Drake acknowledges this as a "heavy-handed-but-uncomfortably-timely political allegory" of Donald Trump, whom Dent is drawn to resemble. During the issue, it is revealed that Dent's change is due to him being mind controlled by Hugo Strange, and Dent is freed from the professor's influence at the end. After Dent was saved, he dedicated himself to aiding the Batgirls in their cause. During a battle between Killer Frost and the Reaper, Harvey saves Alyssa Yeoh and Nell Little from one of Killer Frost's blasts, causing half of his face to get frozen and blackened from severe frostbite. Harvey's facial damage doesn't drive him insane, as the Batgirls remind him that since he got it from risking his life to save them, it shows that he's more whole than two-faced. He is seen in their lair serving as their butler similar to Alfred Pennyworth.[58]

Batman '66[edit | edit source]

Two-Face appeared in "The Lost Episode" of Batman '66.[59]

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles[edit | edit source]

In Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover, Two-Face is mutated into a mutant baboon as one of the various other Arkham inmates by Shredder and Foot Clan to attack Batman and Robin. Batman is captured, but Robin manages to escape. The Ninja Turtles and Splinter then arrive, where Splinter defeats the mutated villains, while Batman uses his new Intimidator Armor to defeat Shredder and the Turtles defeat Ra's al Ghul. Later, Gordon tells Batman that the police scientists have managed to turn Two-Face and the rest of the mutated inmates at Arkham back to normal and are currently in A.R.G.U.S. custody.[60]

Emperor Joker[edit | edit source]

In the "Emperor Joker" storyline, when the Joker stole the reality warping power of Mister Mxyzptlk, he warped reality in his own image. Here, Two-Face was a small plushie-like creature that was a servant of Harley Quinn. He had a penchant for double entendres, such as quipping to the reader "If you think I'm small, you should see my silver dollar!"[61]

Thy Kingdom Come[edit | edit source]

In Thy Kingdom Come storyline, when Power Girl was briefly transferred to another version of the pre-Crisis Earth-2 by Gog, she learned that the Joker of this world once attempted to deal with the aging and 'retirement' of Batman's old Rogue's Gallery by repeating the events of Two-Face's creation, attacking new District Attorney Harvey Sims to create a new Two-Face just as he was proposing to Helena Wayne, only for the Joker's attack to leave Sims disfigured and confined to the hospital rather than driving him insane.

Batman: White Knight[edit | edit source]

Two-Face has a minor appearance in the 2017 series Batman: White Knight (which, though unconfirmed, appears to be heavily inspired by Batman: The Animated Series). Dent, along with several other Batman villains, is tricked by Jack Napier (who in this reality was a Joker who had been force fed an overdose of pills by Batman which temporarily cured him of his insanity) into drinking drinks that had been laced with particles from Clayface’s body. This was done so that Napier, who was using Mad Hatter’s technology to control Clayface, could control them by way of Clayface’s ability to control parts of his body that had been separated from him. Dent and the other villains are then used to attack a library which Napier himself was instrumental in building in one of Gotham City’s poorer districts. Later on in the story, the control hat is stolen by Neo-Joker (the second Harley Quinn, who felt that Jack Napier was a pathetic abnormality while Joker was the true, beautiful personality), in an effort to get Napier into releasing the Joker persona.

In other media[edit | edit source]

Television[edit | edit source]

Live-action[edit | edit source]

  • Clint Eastwood was considered for the role of Two-Face in the 1960s Batman television series.[62] But the character was labeled "too gruesome and too violent" for the "kid-friendly" attitude that surrounded the show (as comics and cartoon strips were subject to strict censorship at this time). He was replaced by False Face in the 1960s television series. However, in 1968 Clint Eastwood was cast for the role, but before it could go anywhere the show was cancelled so he did not end up appearing. Interestingly, Eastwood's "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" co-star Eli Wallach played Mr. Freeze in the same show. The intended story with Two-Face was eventually made into the Batman '66 comic called "The Lost Episode".[63]
  • A pre-disfigured version of Harvey Dent appears on the live action TV series Gotham, portrayed by Nicholas D'Agosto.[64][65] He first appears in the season one episode "Harvey Dent" in which he is portrayed as the Assistant District Attorney of Gotham City. While Harvey is shown to have a passionate personality, he has been shown to have an aggressive side.
  • The character of Two-Face is alluded on the live action TV series The Flash. In the season three finale "Finish Line", Vibe refers to Savitar as 'Two-Face' due to the significant scars on the right side of Savitar's face; there is no indication whether this means there's an actual version in this reality to inspire Vibe's choice of name or just a coincidence.

Animation[edit | edit source]

  • The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face made appearances in the DC Animated Universe, voiced by Richard Moll.
    File:Two-Face (DC Animated Universe).png
    Harvey Dent / Two-Face, as depicted in the DC Animated Universe.
    • In Batman: The Animated Series, Harvey Dent is initially depicted as Bruce Wayne's best friend. The District Attorney first appears in the series premiere "On Leather Wings", where he prepares to prosecute during Man-Bat's rampage. His self-titled two-part episode "Two-Face" revealed that Harvey suffers from dissociative identity disorder as a result of years of repressing his anger following an incident from his childhood where he believed a local bully was put in the hospital after he punched him (but the bully was in the hospital being treated for appendicitis), and his evil alter ego Big Bad Harv emerges whenever Dent loses his temper. As he runs for re-election, Harvey is engaged to Grace Lamont. When mob boss Rupert Thorne steals his psychiatric file in an attempt to blackmail him, Dent's evil personality takes hold, and he chases Thorne through a chemical plant. Stray gunfire results in an electrical fire explosion that scars the left side of Dent's body. After the accident, his alternate personality takes over as the coin-flipping criminal Two-Face, waging a vendetta against Thorne. Thorne later tricks Grace into luring Two-Face out, and holds both at gunpoint. Two-Face overpowers Thorne and attempts to kill the mobster, but Batman stops Two-Face and sends him to Arkham Asylum. Two-Face is depicted as a crime boss and supervillain in his own right for subsequent episodes. In the episode "The Strange Secret of Bruce Wayne", Two-Face has a fierce bidding war with the Joker and the Penguin regarding Batman's secret identity at Hugo Strange's auction. Two-Face is later shown alongside Poison Ivy, the Penguin, Killer Croc and the Joker in the episode "Almost Got 'Im", during a poker game where each villain brings up a respective encounter with the Dark Knight. In Two-Face's story, he tied Batman on top of a giant coin. When flipped, it would either crush Batman or break all Dark Knight's bones. But Batman secretly stole his trademark coin and use the jagged edge to cut through the ropes, capturing Two-Face and his gang. When Poison Ivy asked him what happened to it, he said that "they let him keep [the coin]". In the two-part episode "Shadow of the Bat", Two-Face manipulates Gil Mason into infiltrating Gotham's justice system as the new Deputy Police Commissioner. Mason's high level of practical abilities earned Commissioner Gordon's trust, and the two eventually arrest Thorne. Although Two-Face and Mason frame Gordon for working with Thorne, they are eventually exposed by Batman, Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. In the episode "Trial", Two-Face acts as the 'prosecutor' when Batman's rogues gallery hold the Dark Knight prisoner at Arkham Asylum in a kangaroo court. In the episode "Second Chance", Dent undergoes cosmetic surgery to destroy Two-Face's personality permanently. But before he can go through with the operation, he is kidnapped by thugs under Two-Face's orders in an attempt to remain in control of Dent's psyche. Eventually, Batman and Robin recapture Two-Face, and is later grateful to Bruce as he's returned to Arkham.
    • Two-Face returns in The New Batman Adventures. In the episode "Sins of the Father", Two-Face is indirectly responsible for Tim Drake's transformation into Robin. He had Shifty Drake on the run and led to his ex-henchman's death, motivating Robin to join forces with Batman and Batgirl in order to bring Two-Face to justice. The episode "Judgement Day" reveals that Harvey Dent's psyche fragments again in the form of The Judge (voiced by Malachi Throne), a court-themed vigilante who apprehends criminals by using extreme measures. Neither Two-Face nor Dent are aware of The Judge's existence within their shared mind.
    • Although Two-Face doesn't appear in Batman Beyond, an android replica is seen in the episode "Terry's Friend Dates a Robot" and is also mentioned in the episode "Betrayal". When asked about his fate, show creator Paul Dini stated that his character was cured and returned to his career in politics, moving to Los Angeles and working as a lawyer for a major motion picture studio, doing very well that job.[66]
    • Two-Face is seen in the Justice League animated series. In the episode "A Better World", an alternate reality version makes a cameo appearance as a lobotomized janitor in the Justice Lords' dimension. In the series finale "Starcrossed", Two-Face's coin is seen on display in the Batcave to which the Flash (Wally West) uses to flip on top several Thanagarian soldiers.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by James Remar (in "The Fate of Equinox!" and in "The Mask of Matches Malone!") and by Richard Moll (in "Chill of the Night!"). He first appears in "Legends of the Dark Mite!" as part of Bat-Mite's fantasy. In the teaser of "The Fate of Equinox", Two-Face is taken down by Batman. He makes a cameo in "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" singing with the other villains at Arkham Asylum. In "Sidekicks Assemble!", he is one of the villains Robin, Speedy and Aqualad face off against during a simulation in the Batcave. In "Chill of the Night!", Two-Face is one of the villains bidding for a supersonic weapon held by arms dealer Joe Chill. He joins the villains in attacking Chill when they learn that he was indirectly responsible for Batman's creation, before escaping the scene. He also appears in "The Mask of Matches Malone!", where Two-Face is pursued by Huntress, Black Canary and Catwoman.
  • Paul Sloane appears in the Young Justice cartoon series, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson. He appears in the episode "Image", as one of the actors on the fictional sitcom Hello Megan, of which Miss Martian is a fan of.
  • Harvey Dent appears in Beware the Batman, voiced by Christopher McDonald. He serves as Gotham's District Attorney, and takes a stand against vigilantes like Batman and Katana to help his campaign as Mayor. Desperate, he secretly begins working with the supervillain Anarky to bring Batman down, and they later hire the mercenary Deathstroke to kill the Dark Knight. Deathstroke uses Dent as bait to lure Batman, but his attempt on the Caped Crusader's life is unsuccessful. Later, Dent intervenes another battle between Batman and Deathstroke (dressed as Batman) in the Gotham Armory. The altercation causes a massive explosion, in which Dent's face is scarred. Now wrapped in bandages, Dent attacks Batman and even Anarky, who mockingly dubs him "Two-Face". His sanity unraveled and his career ruined, Dent declares that he has "plans" for Gotham as he unwraps his bandages and walks off into the night.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face makes a cameo appearance in the Teen Titans Go! animated series.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Robert Picardo. In the episode "Double Cross", the Penguin had hired Deadshot to take out Two-Face. As part of Batman and Firestorm's plan to apprehend Deadshot, Batman has Plastic Man pose as Two-Face after apprehending him. During this plot, the real Two-Face escapes from Firestorm's custody. Both Two-Face and Deadshot are defeated by Batman, Firestorm and Plastic Man.

Film[edit | edit source]

Live-action[edit | edit source]

Batman[edit | edit source]
  • A pre-disfigured version of Harvey Dent appears in Tim Burton's 1989 film Batman, portrayed by Billy Dee Williams. As the newly elected district attorney of Gotham, Dent vows to lock up mob boss Carl Grissom. Williams was set to reprise his role in Batman Returns, becoming Two-Face in the climax during the taser kiss scene after the confrontation with Selina Kyle which would then set up the originally planned third film starring the Riddler, but Dent's character was set to receive a substantial rewrite as Warner Bros. didn't want to go through with such a massive character change, so Dent was written out from sequel and replaced by Max Shreck. Due to this, Williams dropped out from the role, despite further rumors for him to reprise his role as Dent for the still-planned third film.
  • Tommy Lee Jones portrays Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the 1995 film Batman Forever, replacing Billy Dee Williams from Batman. His origin story is the same as in the Golden Age comics, where the district attorney is disfigured when gangster Sal Maroni throws acid on the left side of his face during a trial. He is driven insane — to the point of referring to himself in the plural — and swears revenge against Batman for failing to save him. After several clashes with the Dark Knight, he and his men attack Haly's Circus and murder Dick Grayson's family; he is thus indirectly responsible for the youth's transformation into Robin. Two-Face later teams up with the Riddler and learns Batman's secret identity of Bruce Wayne. Two-Face captures Bruce's love interest Dr. Chase Meridian and sidekick Robin, and holds them hostage at the Riddler's lair. During the movie's climax, when Two-Face flips his coin, Batman throws a handful of coins into the air. Two-Face then panics and scrambles to find his coin but loses his footing, and subsequently falls to his apparent death.
The Dark Knight Trilogy[edit | edit source]
  • Harvey Dent was planned to appear in the early scripts of Batman Begins, but was finally cut and replaced by the original character Rachel Dawes. According to writer David S. Goyer, the main reason for which Dent was written out from the film was because they realized they "couldn't do him justice".[67]
  • Aaron Eckhart portrays Harvey "Two-Face" Dent in The Dark Knight. In the film, he is depicted as a tragic hero, lacking the gimmickry and multiple personalities commonly associated with the character. At the film's beginning, Harvey is Gotham City's new District Attorney and forms a tenuous alliance with Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon in order to take down Gotham's organized crime. Treacherous police officers working with mob boss Sal Maroni and the Joker kidnap Dent and his girlfriend Rachel Dawes, and hold them prisoner in two abandoned buildings set to explode. Batman saves Dent just as the building explodes, but the ensuing blast scars the left half of Dent's face, and Rachel is killed in the other explosion, leaving Dent embittered. Dent had a coin that he flipped to Rachel the last time they saw each other, and Batman returns the coin to Dent while he's recovering at Gotham General. The Joker then visits Dent while he's recovering at Gotham General Hospital, tempting him to exact revenge against those he believes are responsible for Rachel's death. He embraces the nickname the Gotham police had given him during his Internal Affairs stint - "Two-Face" - and decides his victims' destinies with his two-headed Peace dollar that was scarred on one side during the explosion that killed Rachel. Two-Face shoots and kills one of the traitorous cops who betrayed him and Rachel to the mob, and soon murders Maroni's driver which presumably kills Maroni as well as he had no seat belt on. In the film's climax, Two-Face takes Gordon's family to the site of Rachel's death, intent on punishing Gordon due to how he believed Gordon betrayed him and Rachel to save his own skin and denies Gordon's reasoning on fighting the mob as lies to justify his betrayal. He decides to kill Gordon's son to inflict upon Gordon the pain of losing a loved one, but Batman arrives and persuades Two-Face to judge the three people who pressured the Mafia to turn to the Joker for assistance: Two-Face, Batman and Gordon. Two-Face does so by flipping his coin: he shoots Batman, and spares himself. He then tells Gordon that he lied and still intends to kill his son. But before he can do so, Batman (who is unharmed due to wearing body armor) tackles Two-Face off the ledge of the building, killing him. Batman takes the blame for Two-Face's crimes to ensure that their fallen ally is remembered as a hero.
  • Harvey Dent's legacy plays an important role in The Dark Knight Rises. Set eight years later, the film reveals that the "Dent Act" legislation has all but eradicated Gotham's organized crime. Plagued with guilt, Commissioner James Gordon considers publicly revealing the truth about Two-Face's killing spree, but decides that Gotham is not ready.[68] However, Gordon's decision backfires when Bane acquires Gordon's speech regarding the cover-up of Two-Face's crimes, and reads it on live television to undermine confidence in the legal system and throw Gotham's social order into chaos. Following Batman's sacrifice and the League of Shadows' defeat, Batman was remembered as Gotham's true hero while the Dent Act was eliminated and all of Harvey's other possible accolades were retracted due to the revelation of his corruption.

Animation[edit | edit source]

  • A model of Two-Face is seen in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker.
  • Harvey Dent appears in Batman: Year One, voiced by Robin Atkin Downes.
  • Harvey Dent appears in the two-part animated adaptation of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, voiced by Wade Williams.[69]
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face appears in Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite, with Troy Baker reprising the role from the Batman: Arkham video game series.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face makes a cameo appearance in Son of Batman, flipping his coin in his Arkham Asylum cell.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face makes a non-voiced cameo appearance in Batman: Assault on Arkham. He appears as one of the Arkham inmates who are broken free from prison by the Joker, and takes part in the chaotic battle against the police. He later tries to escape in a police car after a short shootout, but Killer Frost freezes his head and pushes him aside to steal the car for herself.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face makes a cameo appearance in Batman: The Killing Joke. He has inadvertently dropped his coin outside his cell and is seen futilely scratching the door of his cell in Arkham Asylum.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face appears in Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs. Mutants, voiced again by Troy Baker. Two-Face is seen in his cell in Arkham Asylum when the Penguin and Mr. Freeze break into it. Two-Face's coin lands on its moral side when they offer to free him, causing him to decline.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face appears in The Lego Batman Movie, with Billy Dee Williams reprising his role.[70][71] This version of Two-Face is modeled after Billy Dee Williams' rendition of the character from the Batman film where his scarred side has purple hair, a scarred eye, near-exposed skull, and dripping skin.
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face appears in Batman vs. Two-Face, voiced by William Shatner. This version is set in the continuity of Adam West's Batman television series. In the film, Harvey became Two-Face after Hugo Strange's experiment to extract the evil out of Gotham's criminals goes haywire and half of Harvey's face is exposed to their extracted evil essence. After being stopped by Batman and Robin for his crime spree, Harvey is supposedly cured from Two-Face after a surgery, but it's revealed that Two-Face hid himself beneath Harvey's skin and uses the former district attorney's desire to re obtain his old job to set up Batman and Robin. He captures them and deduces their secret identities (as Bruce was a close friend of Harvey's) and leaves them to the other villains before flying in the sky with the evil extraction to turn the whole town into Two-Faces. Batman and Robin eventually stop him and Harvey manages to fight off the evil inside of him to become himself again. Due to repressing Two-Face, Harvey doesn't remember Batman's secret identity months later.[72]
  • Harvey Dent appears in Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.[73]
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face appears in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, voiced by Dave Boat. He is shown in the film's beginning having been captured by Professor Pyg on which Two-Face's evil side demanded Pyg to start the surgeon operation to make him scarred on both sides, purging Harvey's persona completely. The operation, however, was interrupted by Scandal Savage and Knockout capturing Pyg. As Harvey's personality voices his gratitude, he is knocked unconscious by Knockout with a punch.
  • A Feudal Japan version of Two-Face appears in the anime film Batman Ninja.[74]

Video games[edit | edit source]

Lego Batman[edit | edit source]

Main article: Lego Batman
  • The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face appears in Lego Batman: The Video Game, voiced by Steven Blum. He has 2 guns and an immunity to toxins.[75] He works alongside the Riddler (a possible reference to their alliance in Batman Forever). He appears in the outro in every level of Chapter 1 "The Riddler's Revenge" as the Riddler's driver to pick the Riddler up whenever he gets an item he needs. He serves as the third boss and drives his armored truck around and Batman needs to shoot him until crosshairs appear, then he needs to grapple on to him and tow him into the police helicopter searchlight and a bomb drops on him. In the villain side of the story, the Riddler assigns him to steal a super laser from Wayne Tech. He parks his truck outside and they sneak in by riding on top of a delivery van and digging under the wall into the building. When they find the super laser, he flips his coin to decide who gets to try it out. it ends up deciding he gets to use it, and he destroys a giant mecha-suit with it. Then they go for the gold in the Gotham gold reserves. They use all the items they acquired. First the freeze cannon that Mr. Freeze helped the Riddler get to create an ice bridge skate across the moat (but Two-Face slips and slides the whole way), the super laser to destroy it after they're across (obviously so no one would follow them), and the mutated vine seeds that Poison Ivy helped the Riddler get to lift them up a steep cliff (Two-Face's grows faster and it ends up making him land flat on his face) (it is unknown what they use the key that Clayface helped the Riddler get for). They try to use the super laser again to bust down a steel door but the bolt ends up bouncing all over the place and then back at them destroying the super laser, and then they hijack a police helicopter and destroy it the door with missiles. Back in the hero story, they attempt to open a door when Batman and Robin find them and the Riddler tells Two-Face to deal with them. He shoots a tank filled with toxic chemicals that dissolves a table and a chair but leaves him unharmed. He then battles the duo as a miniboss, but they need to avoid the chemicals in order to attack him. He catches up with the Riddler and finds the gold. In the Riddler's boss fight, the Riddler uses mind-control on him and makes him fight alongside him, but they knock Two-Face into him and make gold bars fall on them. In the hero ending, he is seen in Arkham Asylum flipping his coin, but he drops it and it rolls out of his cell, much to his dismay. He is 1 of 3 bosses that later appears as a miniboss, the other 2 being Catwoman and Harley Quinn.
  • The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face appears as a boss in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Troy Baker. He first appears in the first level "Theatrical Pursuits" as a miniboss. In the third level "Arkham Asylum Antics," he drives his truck with a new design around with the Riddler and Harley Quinn riding in it. He is an unlockable character found atop City Hall. His intro catchphrase is, "This city needs a strong, decisive leader. Heh heh heh. Or maybe not."
  • The Dark Knight version of Two-Face appears as a DLC-only playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. He is available via the Dark Knight DLC pack.
  • The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face appears as a boss in Lego Dimensions, once again voiced by Troy Baker. When Sauron takes over Metropolis, Two-Face fights Batman, Gandalf, and Wydlstyle while riding an Oliphaunt. The Lego Batman Movie version appears as the first boss of The Lego Batman Movie adventure pack also voiced by Troy Baker.

Batman: Arkham[edit | edit source]

Troy Baker voices Harvey Dent/Two-Face in the Batman: Arkham franchise.

  • In Batman: Arkham Asylum, Two-Face's cell can be found in the Penitentiary. At the end of the game after defeating the Joker, a police radio states that Two-Face is robbing the Second National Bank, resulting in Batman leaving Arkham Island to pursue him.
  • Two-Face appears in Batman: Arkham City. Prior to the game's events, Two-Face attempted to obtain blueprints for Professor Hugo Strange's vault to steal confiscated goods, only to be captured and sent to Arkham City, a lawless and walled city whose inmate inhabitants are free to wreak havoc. During an interview with Strange, the former district attorney reveals that Carmine Falcone was the mobster who threw acid at him. Two-Face then declines Strange's offer to help him become Dent again, so Strange sets him free and informs him of Catwoman's attempted theft of the valuables in his safe. In the game's introductory sequence, Two-Face thwarts Catwoman's heist and kidnaps Catwoman. Seeking to stake his claim and gain prestige, Two-Face puts Catwoman on trial before a kangaroo court in the abandoned Solomon Wayne Courthouse, intending to perform a public execution of the Feline Fatale. When Batman overheard an Arkham City security report indicating Catwoman's plight and goes to the courthouse to save Catwoman, the Dark Knight defeats Two-Face's men and frees Catwoman, and the two work together to subdue the villain who is promptly left hanging over a vat of acid. Later in the game's storyline, Two-Face makes a new bid for influence by taking over the Penguin's turf in Arkham City, and is left as the mega prison's sole reigning crime boss after the Joker's death in the game's ending. Catwoman later goes to the museum after Two-Face's men bomb Catwoman's apartment and take the valuables. There, Catwoman manages to defeat Two-Face and retrieve most of the loot. Two-Face also appears in the mobile game Batman: Arkham City Lockdown.
  • Harvey Dent is alluded in Batman: Arkham Origins as his election as district attorney is shown on several newspapers.[76]
  • Two-Face returns in Batman: Arkham Knight. He joins Scarecrow's band of supervillains in an attempt to end the Dark Knight once and for all. Using a selection of firearms supplied by the Penguin, Two-Face and his men oversee a string of bank heists in the side mission "Two-Faced Bandit". He is ultimately defeated and sent to the GCPD lockup by Batman.[77] Two-Face later returns in the DLC "A Flip Of A Coin", which features Robin (Tim Drake) protecting Gotham after Batman’s apparent death and hunting down the escaped Two-Face at Hell's Gate Disposal Services.[78]
    • Paul Sloane is mentioned in Batman: Arkham Knight as Gotham's number two actor before becoming a serial killer, and is also seen on posters for films called Prosecutor and Other Fish to Fry.

Injustice[edit | edit source]

  • The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face makes a cameo appearance in Injustice: Gods Among Us. In the Arkham Asylum level, Two-Face, the Penguin and the Riddler attack the playable character whose thrown through the cell door on the second tier's right side before being punched by Killer Croc into the Arkham arena's next tier. Two-Face also appears in certain missions of mission mode and will attack one of the two fighters based on the coin flip.
  • The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face makes a cameo appearance in Injustice 2. In the background of the Arkham Asylum stage, Two-Face is seen inside a cage which any playable character can be knocked into. He is also referenced in one of the intro dialogues between Catwoman and Supergirl; the latter describes the former as being quite two-faced to which the former responds that the villains are mixed up.

Batman: The Telltale Series[edit | edit source]

Two-Face appears in Telltale Games' Batman series, voiced by Travis Willingham. Initially a supporting character, Dent's fall from grace serves as one of the major story arcs in the first season.

  • During the first season, Batman: The Telltale Series, Harvey Dent has been Gotham's District Attorney for some time and is running for Mayor against Hamilton Hill. He is also a close friend of Bruce Wayne, who financially supports his campaign, and dating Selina Kyle. During a Children of Arkham attack on the Mayoral debate, Dent is drugged with a psychoactive agent and, if Batman doesn't intervene, disfigured by one of its members. After Hill is murdered, Harvey is sworn in as the new Mayor, but begins to show signs of a more aggressive split personality, "Two-Face", which takes control after he catches Bruce in Selina's apartment. Harvey, under Two-Face's influence, takes control of the city through martial law and begins terrorizing its citizens as he tries to defeat the Children of Arkham. He is eventually defeated either by Batman as he tries to seize Wayne Manor or Bruce during a hostage situation.
  • In during the second season, Batman: The Enemy Within, Two-Face's campaign poster and (depending on the player's decision in the first game) his lucky coin or the mask he wore over the scarred parts of his face are kept in a display in the Batcave. Additionally, the Gotham Media feed reveals that Harvey's trial has been continuously delayed as each set of attorneys refused to defend him, leading Dent to opt to defend himself in court.

Other games[edit | edit source]

  • A pre-disfigured version of Harvey Dent appears in the video game version of Batman: The Animated Series as a hostage of Poison Ivy.
  • Two-Face appears as a boss in The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Super NES, The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega Genesis, the video game adaptations of Batman Forever, and Batman: Chaos in Gotham (in which he is the final boss).
  • The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face is the first boss in the Wii version of Batman: The Brave and the Bold – The Videogame, with James Remar reprising the role. He appears in the teaser to the first episode, where he has kidnapped Mayor George Hill. In the fight, he has Hill tied to a giant penny and flips to decide whether to send henchmen to fight Batman and Robin or to leave himself open to attack. After he is defeated, Batman states that there is still hope for Two-Face to reform, and the former D.A. responds by declaring that he will escape from Arkham.
  • The Harvey Dent version of Two-Face appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Edwin Neal. If the player uses a Hero character, Two-Face will contact him or her when the player reaches level 30, apparently with Harvey Dent being in control. Two-Face will ask the player to help him uncover the Penguin´s smuggling operations in the Old Gotham Subway, and will guide the player through the instance. When the player defeats Penguin, Two-Face shows up, his evil side being in control. Two-Face mocks Penguin and announces he is taking over Penguin´s business. As it turns out, the Hero character has accidentally helped Two-Face take out his rival. The same process will follow if the player is using a Villain character, but Two-Face's evil side will always be in control in this case. Two-Face is later one of the two bosses to defeat in the duo instance Gotham Mercy Hospital, available only for villains (the other boss being Mr. Freeze). Players can also use Two-Face as one of many playable characters in PVP Legends matches.
  • A poster of Two-Face is found in the Amusement Mile in Gotham City Impostors.

Merchandise[edit | edit source]

  • Toy Biz has released a Two-Face figure in their DC Comics Super Heroes toy line.[79]
  • Several Two-Face figures were made by Kenner for their Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures toy lines, based on the animated TV shows.[80][81]
  • A Retro-Action DC Super Heroes figure of Two-Face has been released.[82]
  • Two Lego minifigs of Two-Face have been made. One from Lego Batman, and the other from Lego Batman 2.[83]
  • Multiple Two-Face and Harvey Dent figures were made for the Batman Forever and The Dark Knight toy lines, based on the live-action films.[84][85]
  • Hot Toys has released a Two-Face collectible based on his appearance in The Dark Knight.
  • A Two-Face bobblehead was made based on the character's likeness in The Dark Knight, but the manufacturer is unknown. It was never sold in stores, and collectiblegiveaways.com later ran out of stock due to the film's popularity.
  • Funko has made a POP! vinyl figure of Two-Face as well as an ImPOPster Two-Face figure.
  • A Two-Face mini figure was released in series 3 of DC Direct's Blammoids line.
  • Mattel has released an Arkham City Two-Face figure in their DC Universe Legacy Edition line, packaged with Batman.[86]
  • A DC Universe Two-Face Hot Wheels car was released in 2012.
  • Fisher Price Imaginext has made and re-released the same Two-Face figure multiple times in their DC Super Friends line.[87]

Parodies[edit | edit source]

  • During the Batman Sunday comic strips that ran from 1943–1946, Two-Face's origin story is somewhat altered. He is introduced as an actor named Harvey Apollo, who is testifying at the trial of criminal Lucky Sheldon, and he is killed at the end of the story arc. 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, which was intended for the Joker.
  • Chris Allen portrays Two-Face in a musical production entitled Holy Musical B@man! by StarKid Productions.
  • From 1999 to 2009, Vekoma made an Invertigo roller coaster in Six Flags America, called Two-Face: The Flip Side. The ride was closed for two seasons until its removal due to repeated mechanical failures.[88][89]
  • The CollegeHumor "Badman" series parodies the final scene in The Dark Knight, where Two-Face threatens Gordon's son. However, Batman doesn't know that Harvey Dent and Two-Face are the same person, so he thinks he sees three different people whenever the villain turns his head, greatly annoying Dent and the Gordons.[90]

In popular culture[edit | edit source]

  • In the episode "The Strike" of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld, Jerry dates a woman who appears attractive in some settings and ugly in others, whom George nicknames "Two-Face". Jerry asks George: "Like the Batman villain?", and an annoyed George responds: "If that helps you".[91]
  • The Harvey Dent iteration of Two-Face appears in Robot Chicken, voiced by Neil Patrick Harris (in "The Ramblings of Maurice") and Giovanni Ribisi (in the DC segments). In the episode "The Ramblings of Maurice", he repeatedly injures his face, resulting in him renaming himself Three-Face, Four-Face and so on. In the Robot Chicken DC Universe Special, Two-Face appears in the opening where he and Composite-Santa get tailored suits together. He next appears in a segment where he uses his coin to determine his bathroom choices. In the final segment where the superheroes and supervillains battle at Aquaman's surprise birthday party, Two-Face flips a coin which lands on the unscarred side, so he knocks himself out. In the sequel, Two-Face bothers Lena Luthor at a coffee shop, as he constantly flips his coin to determine which coffee to order. In the third special, he fights his The Dark Knight film counterpart, and they take turns punching each other based on how the coin lands.
  • In Bat Thumb, Two-Face (renamed "No Face" because he has no face) plans to erase everyone's face in "Gaaathumb City" and marry "Vicki Nail".

Trivia[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Detective Comics #66 (August 1942)
  2. "Meet The Criminal Two-Face!". DC Comics. Retrieved August 11, 2017. 
  3. "Two-Face is Number 12". Comics.ign.com. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
  4. "Comic Book DB - Two Face". Comic Book Database. Retrieved 2008-05-28. 
  5. Kane, Bob (1989). Batman and Me. Foestfille, CA: Eclipse Books. pp. 108–110. ISBN 1560600179. 
  6. Miller, Frank (w), Mazzucchelli, David (p). Batman: Year One 4 (March – June 1987), DC Comics, 0930289331
  7. H (2003-12-23). "The Comic Treadmill: Batman 454, 456, Annual 14 (1990)". Comic Tread Mill. Retrieved 2008-05-28. 
  8. Batman Annual (vol. 1) #14 (1990)
  9. Loeb, Joseph, Sale, Tim (w), Sale, Tim (a). Batman: The Long Halloween: 368 (1996-1997), DC Comics, 1563894696
  10. Batman: Dark Victory #14
  11. Batman #409
  12. Morrison, Grant (w), McKean, Dave (p), McKean, Dave (i). Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth (Hardcover edition for April Fool's reference): 128 (1989), DC Comics
  13. Johnson, Craig (2005-02-23). "Arkham Asylum 15th Anniversary HC Review". Comics Bulletin. Retrieved 2008-05-28. 
  14. 14.0 14.1 "No Man's Land (comics)". Comic Vine. Archived from the original on 2008-04-11. Retrieved 2008-05-09. 
  15. Gotham Central TPB vol 2 or HC 1
  16. 16.0 16.1 Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment
  17. Two-Face Strikes Twice
  18. Batman (vol. 1) #653 (July 2006)
  19. Batman (vol. 1) #654 (August 2006)
  20. Batman (vol. 1) #689 (August 2009)
  21. Batman (vol. 1) #690 (September 2009)
  22. Batman (vol. 1) #691 (October 2009)
  23. Streets of Gotham
  24. All-Star Batman #1
  25. Nightwing (Volume 2) #149
  26. Batman: Dark Victory #11 (September 2000)
  27. Batman: Jekyll & Hyde
  28. Batman #50 (December 1948)
  29. 29.0 29.1 29.2 Superman Family #211
  30. 30.0 30.1 Detective Comics #777
  31. Detective Comics #580-581
  32. Detective Comics #187 (September 1952)
  33. World's Finest Comics #173
  34. Batman #700
  35. The Dark Knight Returns
  36. Batman Black and White #1
  37. Batman: In Darkest Knight
  38. The Doom That Came To Gotham
  39. Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye
  40. Batman: Masque
  41. Batman: Crimson Mist (December 1998)
  42. Batman: Claws of the Catwoman #2
  43. Catwoman: Guardian of Gotham #1
  44. Thrillkiller
  45. Trillkiller '62
  46. Gotham by Gaslight #1
  47. Tangent Comics: The Superman #1 (September 1998)
  48. Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance #1 (June 2011)
  49. Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance #2 (July 2011)
  50. Flashpoint: Batman – Knight of Vengeance #3 (August 2011)
  51. http://www.worldsfinestonline.com/WF/batribute/thecomic/ty.php
  52. Batman: Earth One
  53. Batman: Earth One Volume Two
  54. Batman Beyond #2
  55. Injustice: Gods Among Us #14
  56. Injustice: Gods Among Us #15
  57. Injustice: Gods Among Us #16
  58. DC Bombshells #13
  59. Batman '66: The Lost Episode
  60. Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6. DC Comics/IDW
  61. Emperor Joker #1
  62. "Clint Eastwood Biography". Tvguide.com. 1930-05-31. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
  63. Harlan Ellison (w). Batman '66: The Lost Episode: The Two-Way Crimes of Two-Face! (January, 2015), Burbank, CA: DC Comics
  64. Vejvoda, Jim (July 21, 2014). "GOTHAM SHOWRUNNER: PROFESSOR HUGO STRANGE AND HOW ARKHAM ASYLUM CAME TO BE PART OF SEASON ONE". IGN. Retrieved July 21, 2014. 
  65. Mitovich, Matt Webb (May 28, 2015). "Gotham Season 2: Nicholas D'Agosto Promoted to Series Regular". TVLine. PMC. Retrieved May 10, 2016. 
  66. ToyFare issue, 1999
  67. Nolan, Christopher; Goyer, David S. (2007). Absolute Batman: The Long Halloween. p. §Introduction. ISBN 1-4012-1282-4. 
  68. "Gary Oldman: the 'Harvey Dent Act' cleans up Gotham in 'The Dark Knight Rises". Batman-News.com. December 6, 2011. Retrieved 2011-12-06. .
  69. The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 animated movie trailer Archived 2012-08-03 at the Wayback Machine., http://www.comicsalliance.com, 31 July 2012
  70. "Billy Dee Williams on Secret 'Star Wars' Lunch with Donald Glover and Finally Playing Two-Face". Hollywood Reporter. February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2017. 
  71. "Watch: The Lego Batman Movie Cribs Segment Tours LEGO Wayne Manor". Slashfilm. February 2, 2017. Retrieved February 3, 2017. 
  72. https://www.instagram.com/p/BLPYqm3hNAL/
  73. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woa8JjGpGLY
  74. "'Batman Ninja' Anime: First Details & Poster Revealed". Anime. 
  75. 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.
  76. http://www.hngn.com/articles/16037/20131028/batman-arkham-origins-easter-eggs-our-top-5-hidden-winks-to-the-expanded-batman-universe.htm
  77. "Batman: Arkham Knight - Two-Face Side Mission". IGN. November 3, 2016. Retrieved August 14, 2017. 
  78. http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2015/11/video-game-review-batman-arkham-knight-a-flip-of-a-coin-dlc/
  79. "Image of Two-Face figure". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  80. "Image of animated Two-Face figure". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  81. "Image of new animated Two-Face figure". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  82. "Image of retro DC figures". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  83. "Image of Lego Two-Face set". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  84. "Image of Batman Forever Two-Face figure". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  85. "Image of Dark Knight Two-Face figure". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  86. "Image of Arkham City two pack". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  87. "Image of Imaginext Two-Face figure". Legions of Gotham. Retrieved May 22, 2016. 
  88. RideAccidents.com
  89. "Ride Malfunctions At Six Flags; Several Injured". WTTG Fox 5 News. 2007-10-06. Retrieved 2016-05-22. 
  90. http://www.collegehumor.com/video/6797424/batman-meets-two-face
  91. The Strike Seinfeldscripts.com. Retrieved March 7, 2010.

External links[edit | edit source]

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