Two-Face

Real Name: Harvey Dent

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: Criminal;
   former district attorney

Affiliations: Riddler, Suger, Spice

Enemies: Batman (Bruce Wayne), Robin (Richard Grayson), Chase Meridian, Sal Maroni, Flying Graysons (John Grayson, Mary Grayson, Mitch Grayson)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Gotham City

First Appearance: Batman Forever (Warner Bros. Pictures, 1995) but see comments

Powers/Abilities: Harvey Dent was an exceptional prosecutor, but following a severe physical and emotional trauma he suffered a psychotic break and his shattered mind suffered from having two conflicting sides to his personality, one decent and merciful and the other brutal and merciless, driven to acts of extreme violence. He had an extreme compulsion to choose which side to follow at any given moment through the toss of a two-headed coin, one side of which was scarred like his own face. When the unmarked side came up, Dent followed his better nature's preferences; when the scarred side won, he followed his murderous instincts.

   Though not superhuman, Dent was an extremely fit man with good reflexes, excellent stamina, and a exceptionally high pain threshold. He was competent both in hand-to-hand combat and with pistols.

Height: 6'1"
Weight: 200 lbs.
Eyes: Brown
Hair: (Right half) brown; (left half) purple

History: Harvey Dent was a crusading District Attorney until half of his face was badly scarred during a trial by the defendant he was prosecuting, mobster Sal Maroni. Suffering a mental breakdown as a result, Dent became Two-Face, a homicidal criminal obsessed with duality; he wore clothes of two conflicting designs split vertically down the middle, had two contrasting molls to represent the two sides of his nature, maintained hideouts with rooms split down the middle by two radically different styles of decor, and obsessively made all his choices based on the outcome of a coin toss of a two-headed coin, with one side of said coin having scarring mirroring his own.

   Though apprehended by Batman and sent to Arkham Asylum, Two-Face eventually escaped on the second anniversary of his incarceration. Suspecting one of Gotham's elite citizens must know Batman's true identity, he planted a bomb at the Gotham City Charity Circus fundraiser many of the city's wealthiest were attending. Batman intervened, battling Two-Face while four of the performers, the family members of the Flying Graysons, carried the bomb out of the venue so it could explode harmlessly outside. In retaliation, before he fled Two-Face shot the high wires the Graysons were hanging from, causing three of them to fall to their deaths.

   Soon after Two-Face was approached by a new villain, the Riddler, who proposed an alliance in order to uncover Batman's secret identity. Two-Face agreed, and helped Riddler steal the money he needed to construct a mind-reading device of his own design in order to scan billionaire Bruce Wayne's brainwaves, as Riddler suspected Wayne knew Batman's true identity. The scheme worked better than anticipated, as it revealed that Wayne was Batman. Armed with that knowledge the two criminals attacked Wayne Manor and kidnapped Wayne's girlfriend Chase Meridian.

   Needing assistance to deal with the dual threat, Batman allied with the surviving Flying Grayson, now using the costumed identity of Robin, and the dynamic duo confronted the perilous pair at Riddler's new hideout, Claw Island. Two-Face managed to capture Robin, and he and Riddler dangled both their hostages over a pit of spikes, taunting Batman that he could only save one. However, they had underestimated their foe, who used his bat grapples to catch both victims as they fell. Two-Face then tried to shoot Batman and Robin, but Batman reminded him he should use his coin to decide whether to kill them or let them go. When Two-Face tossed it into the air, Batman threw a handful of additional coins he had brought with him into the air, causing Two-Face to lose track of his own. As he tried to desperation to catch it, Two-Face slipped and fell to his death on the spikes below.

Comments: Created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger, adapted for Batman Forever by Joel Schumacher, Lee Batchier, Janet Scott Batchier and Akiva Goldsman, portayed by Tommy Lee Jones.

   When Batman Forever came out, it was a sequel to the two Tim Burton Batman movies, and as such this incarnation of Harvey Dent was meant to be the same one as had been seen in 1989's Batman, there played by Billy Dee Williams. Indeed, at first Williams was intended to return for this installment of the franchise to reprise that role and see Dent transition from heroic District Attorney to insane supervillain. However, new director Schumacher decided to switch actors for Tommy Lee Jones, who was especially then a much bigger star. Nevertheless, despite Two-Face abruptly changing from a black man in 1989's Batman to a white (and purple) one in Batman Forever, they were still intended to be the same guy. That remained the case for decades, until in 2021 Sam Hamm, the writer of 1989 Batman movie, penned a series for DC Comics titled Batman '89; this series was a continuation of the first two movies, and explicitly ignored the two Schumacher entries, consigning them to an alternate reality, something Hamm confirmed in interviews. That comic series saw Billy Dee Williams version of the Dent finally become Two-Face, retroactively splitting him off into a separate version of the character.

Appearance checklist (not including reprints):

• In film: Batman Forever (1995)
• In prose: Batman Forever novelization
• In comics: Batman Forever adaptation

CLARIFICATIONS:
Two-Face should not be confused with:

• Janus of the Two Face of Janus -- Pow! and Wham!#53
• Face, a Golden Age hero -- Big Shot Comics#1
  
• or any other "Two" or "Face" characters

First Posted: Circa 09/07/2010
Last updated: 06/10/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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