Harvey Dent
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Two-Face is a supervillain appearing in
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s published by
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, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. The character was created by
Bob Kane Robert Kane (born Robert Kahn ; October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998) was an American comic book writer, animator and artist who co-created Batman (with Bill Finger) and most early related characters for DC comics. He was inducted into the comi ...
and first appeared in '' Detective Comics'' #66 (August 1942). As one of Batman's most enduring enemies, Two-Face belongs to the collective of adversaries that make up Batman's
rogues gallery A rogues' gallery (or rogues gallery) is a police collection of mug shots or other images of criminal suspects kept for identification purposes. History In 1855, Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, established a ...
. Once a bright and upstanding district attorney of
Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
dedicated to ridding its streets of crime and corruption, Harvey Dent is hideously scarred on the left side of his face after mob boss
Sal Maroni Salvatore Vincent Maroni is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The substantial character is portrayed as an infamous gangster of Italian descent in Gotham City and a ...
throws acidic chemicals at him during a court trial. He subsequently goes insane and adopts the "Two-Face" persona, becoming a criminal obsessed with the number two, the concept of duality, and the conflict between good and evil. In later years, writers have portrayed Harvey Dent as having
dissociative identity disorder Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...
, with Two-Face being an alter, which stemmed from the abuse he received from his father during his childhood. Two-Face obsessively makes all important decisions by
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a two-headed coin, with the other half scarred, given to him by his father. The modern version is established as having once been a personal friend and ally of James Gordon and Batman, as well as the childhood best friend of Batman's alter ego, Bruce Wayne. Two-Face has no
superpowers A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale. This is done through the combined means of economic, military, technological, political and cultural s ...
, instead relying on his proficiency in marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat, 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 In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...
. The character has been adapted into numerous forms of media, having been portrayed in live action by
Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor. He appeared as Lando Calrissian in the '' Star Wars'' franchise, first in the early 1980s for ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), and thir ...
in the 1989 film '' Batman'',
Tommy Lee Jones Tommy Lee Jones (born September 15, 1946) is an American actor and film director. He has received four Academy Award nominations, winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard in the 1993 thriller film '' The ...
in the 1995 film ''
Batman Forever ''Batman Forever'' (on-screen title is simply ''Forever'') is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The third installment o ...
'',
Aaron Eckhart Aaron Edward Eckhart (born March 12, 1968) is an American actor. Born in Cupertino, California, Eckhart moved to the United Kingdom at an early age. He began his acting career by performing in school plays, before moving to Australia for his h ...
in 2008 film ''
The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan Nolan, Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero, Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005) and t ...
'', and
Nicholas D'Agosto Nicholas D'Agosto (born April 17, 1980) is an American actor, best known for featuring in ''Final Destination 5'', '' Heroes'' and ''The Office''. He starred in the Showtime series ''Masters of Sex'' and the Fox series '' Gotham''. Early li ...
on the
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television series '' Gotham''.
Richard Moll Charles Richard Moll (born January 13, 1943) is an American actor. He played the role of Aristotle Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon, a bailiff on the NBC sitcom '' Night Court'' from 1984 to 1992. He has also done extensive work as a voice actor, typica ...
,
Troy Baker Troy Baker (born April 1, 1976) is an American voice actor and musician. Baker is known for his video game roles, including Joel Miller in ''The Last of Us'' (2013) and its sequel (2020), Booker DeWitt in ''BioShock Infinite'' (2013), Samuel ...
, and others have provided Two-Face's voice ranging from animation to video games. In 2009, Two-Face was ranked as
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's 12th-greatest comic book villain of all time.


Publication history


Creation and Golden Age history

Two-Face was created by Batman co-creator
Bob Kane Robert Kane (born Robert Kahn ; October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998) was an American comic book writer, animator and artist who co-created Batman (with Bill Finger) and most early related characters for DC comics. He was inducted into the comi ...
, and debuted in '' Detective Comics'' #66 ("The Crimes of Two-Face"), written by Batman's other co-creator
Bill Finger Milton "Bill" Finger (February 8, 1914 – January 18, 1974) was an American comic strip, comic book, film and television writer who was the co-creator (with Bob Kane) of the DC Comics character Batman. Despite making major (sometimes, signatur ...
, in August 1942 as a new Batman villain originally named Harvey "Apollo" Kent, a former handsome, law-abiding
Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
district attorney close to the Batman whose face was disfigured in half after a
mob boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or near ...
he was
prosecuting A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...
,
Sal Maroni Salvatore Vincent Maroni is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The substantial character is portrayed as an infamous gangster of Italian descent in Gotham City and a ...
, 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 Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...
story ''
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...
'', which Kane described as a "classic story of the good and evil sides of
human nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...
", and was also influenced by the 1925 silent film adaptation of
Gaston Leroux Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux (6 May 186815 April 1927) was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, ...
's novel ''
The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...
''. 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 Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...
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 because of Superman's alter ego Clark Kent having the same surname. "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 Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...
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 In fiction, canon is the material accepted as officially part of the story in an individual universe of that story by its fan base. It is often contrasted with, or used as the basis for, works of fan fiction. The alternative terms mythology, tim ...
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 The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and widespread commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those featuring the superhero archetype. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an in ...
, 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 The Bronze Age of Comic Books is an informal name for a period in the history of American superhero comic books usually said to run from 1970 to 1985. It follows the Silver Age of Comic Books and is followed by the Modern Age of Comic Books. Th ...
, Two-Face was brought back by writer
Dennis O'Neil Dennis Joseph O'Neil (May 3, 1939 – June 11, 2020) was an American comic book writer and editor, principally for Marvel Comics and DC Comics from the 1960s through the 1990s, and Group Editor for the Batman family of titles until his retir ...
and former DC editor
Julius Schwartz Julius "Julie" Schwartz (; June 19, 1915 – February 8, 2004) was a comic book editor, and a science fiction agent and prominent fan. He was born in The Bronx, New York. He is best known as a longtime editor at DC Comics, where at various ...
in the story "Half an Evil" ('' Batman'' #234). Written by O'Neil and drawn by
Neal Adams Neal Adams (June 15, 1941 – April 28, 2022) was an American comic book artist. He was the co-founder of the graphic design studio Continuity Associates, and was a creators-rights advocate who helped secure a pension and recognition for Sup ...
, "Half an Evil" is a mystery story which features Two-Face stealing doubloons from a
pirate ship Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
; 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 ''
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'', ''
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'', and ''
Teen Titans The Teen Titans are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, frequently in eponymous monthly series. As the group's name indicates, the members are teenage superheroes, many of whom have acted as sidekicks to DC ...
'', and became one of Batman's most popular enemies.


Modern Age

Following the ''
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'' comic event which
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the
DC Universe The DC Universe (DCU) is the fictional shared universe where most stories in American comic book titles published by DC Comics take place. Superheroes such as Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, Martian Manhunter, The Flash, Green Lant ...
, 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 Dissociative identity disorder (DID), better known as multiple personality disorder or multiple personality syndrome, is a mental disorder characterized by the presence of at least two distinct and relatively enduring personality states. The di ...
effected by the psychological trauma from his past of
childhood abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...
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 Scott McDaniel (born 1965) is an People of the United States, American comics artist who has drawn numerous comic book, books, including Marvel Comics' "Fall from Grace (comics), Fall from Grace" storyline for the ''Daredevil (Marvel Comics series ...
built on "Eye of the Beholder" and explored Dent's psyche and his childhood with his abusive father. Two-Face's origin was later expanded in writer
Jeph Loeb Joseph "Jeph" Loeb III () is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb was a producer/writer on the TV series ''Smallville'' and ''Lost'', writer for the films '' Commando'' and ''Teen Wolf'', and a writer and ...
and artist Tim Sale's 1996 Batman
limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...
'' The Long Halloween'', which incorporated aspects of "Eye of the Beholder" and explored Batman, Gordon and Dent's struggle to end Gotham's
Mob Mob or MOB may refer to: Behavioral phenomena * Crowd * Smart mob, a temporary self-structuring social organization, coordinated through telecommunication Crime and law enforcement * American Mafia, also known as the Mob * Irish Mob, a US crimin ...
during the rise of costumed supervillains. A reformed Dent rid of Two-Face was featured in Loeb and artist
Jim Lee Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...
's 2002 ''Batman'' arc
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, 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 Mark A. Sable (born June 22, 1975) is an American writer for stage, screen, and comic books. Biography Mark Sable is a writer for comics, film and television, best known for such creator-owned comics as Image Comics "Graveyard of Empires" and ...
, Two-Face was given a revamped origin, focusing on Dent's transformation into Two-Face during Dent's
election campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referend ...
for district attorney, as well as establishing the relationship between a young Harvey Dent and
Bruce Wayne Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
, Batman's secret identity. Following DC's ''
New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new series ...
'' 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 DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth restored the DC ...
'' 2016 soft reboot reintroduced Two-Face in
Scott Snyder Scott Snyder is an American author. He is known for his 2006 short story collection ''Voodoo Heart'', and his comic book writing, including '' American Vampire'', '' Detective Comics'', '' Batman'', '' Wytches'', '' Swamp Thing,'' and ''Justice ...
'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 Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...
conducted by Batman. Dent is shown reformed throughout comics such as Matthew Rosenberg's 2021 limited series ''Task Force Z'' and ''Detective Comics''.


Characterization


Description

Two-Face is a duality-obsessed criminal. Introduced in 1942 as a
criminal mastermind A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or near ...
obsessed with the number 2, Two-Face's crimes as well as his hideouts and
henchmen A henchman (''vernacular:'' "hencher"), is a loyal employee, supporter, or aide to some powerful figure engaged in nefarious or criminal enterprises. Henchmen are typically relatively unimportant in the organization: minions whose value lies pri ...
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 In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...
and
evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...
, 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 Disfigurement is the state of having one's appearance deeply and persistently harmed medically, such as from a disease, birth defect, or wound. General societal attitudes towards disfigurement have varied greatly across cultures and over time, ...
resulted in him being shunned by society, which lead 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

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 Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
. Following his disfigurement, he becomes obsessed with the number two and the concept of duality, and thus 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 The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy Gun", "Chicago Typewriter", "Chicago Piano", “Trench Sweeper” or "Trench Broom") is a blowback-operated, air-cooled, magazine-fed selective-fire submachine gun, invented by United Sta ...
, knives and rocket launchers during his battles with Batman. He primarily wields dual pistols, and has become dangerously skilled with them. Harvey Dent has received combat training from Batman and Deathstroke. The ''Batman: Face the Face'' story arc reveals that Batman, shortly before leaving Gotham for a year, trains Dent extensively in detective work and hand-to-hand combat. 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 Dent

Gilda Dent 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 in order to protect him.


Renee Montoya

Renee Montoya and Harvey Dent have a complicated relationship, introduced by writer
Greg Rucka Gregory Rucka (born November 29, 1969) is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series '' Whiteout'', ''Queen & Country'', '' Stumptown'' and '' Lazarus'', as well as ...
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:


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). 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 sculptress. During the
trial In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal ...
, after Kent presents Maroni's lucky two-headed coin as evidence, 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 Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
in
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, 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, by 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 Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. Fate Although often ...
, with the story being resolved in "The Man Who Led a Double Life!" (''Detective Comics'' #68). Harvey Kent is cured through
plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...
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). Later, Kent attends the wedding of
Bruce Wayne Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
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 in which 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 The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
general who hires Two-Face to blackmail the
United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
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 The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
, Two-Face interrupts a
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
meeting to carry out the
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of 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 A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...
, with Two-Face intending to use the money to
bribe Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...
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 The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...
'', ''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 The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...
. In ''Teen Titans'', Two-Face meets Teen Titans member
Duela Dent Duela Dent is a fictional character in the DC Universe. She is a former member of the Suicide Squad, the Teen Titans and its counterpart, Titans East. Introduced under the alias of the Joker's Daughter, she has also used the aliases Catgirl the C ...
who claims to be his daughter. In the 313-314th issues of ''Batman'', Two-Face steals a
top secret Classified information is material that a government body deems to be sensitive information that must be protected. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of people with the necessary security clearance and need to kn ...
missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocke ...
activation binary code owned by the United States government and goes to
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
, with Batman and a United States federal agent reluctantly working together to trail him and obtain the code. On a
float Float may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * ''Float'' (Aesop Rock album), 2000 * ''Float'' (Flogging Molly album), 2008 * ''Float'' (Styles P album), 2013 Songs * "Float" (Tim and the Glory Boys song), 2022 * "Float", by Bush ...
in New Orleans' Mardi Gras parade, Two-Face deceives an American and a
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
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 A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is an airship (dirigible) without an internal structural framework or a keel. Unlike semi-rigid and rigid airships (e.g. Zeppelins), blimps rely on the pressure of the lifting gas (usually helium, rather than hy ...
, 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 In common law jurisdictions, an acquittal certifies that the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as criminal law is concerned. The finality of an acquittal is dependent on the jurisdiction. In some countries, such as the ...
for it, as Ternion admits in a
video tape Videotape is magnetic tape used for storing video and usually sound in addition. Information stored can be in the form of either an analog or digital signal. Videotape is used in both video tape recorders (VTRs) and, more commonly, videocassett ...
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 deathtrap set in a converted
halfway house A halfway house is an institute for people with criminal backgrounds or substance use disorder problems to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. As well as serving as a ...
, eventually capturing Batman and imprisoning him for a week, after which Two-Face attempts to rob a
record company A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...
named Duo Records, and is stopped by Batman's
sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
, 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 Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
's
death mask A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...
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 "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Ma ...
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 Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...
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 Salvatore Vincent Maroni is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The substantial character is portrayed as an infamous gangster of Italian descent in Gotham City and a ...
, 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 The Batcave is a subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman, whose secret identity is Bruce Wayne and his partners, consisting of caves beneath his personal r ...
, 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 Jason Peter Todd is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. First appearing in ''Batman (comic book), Batman'' #357 in March 1983, Todd was created to succeed Dick Grayson as Robin (chara ...
, 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 The phrase baptism by fire or baptism of fire is a Christian theological concept originating from the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11. It also has related meanings in military history and popular culture. Christianity The term ''bapti ...
' for
Tim Drake Timothy Jackson "Tim" Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in ''Batman'' #436 (August 19 ...
, 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 The tarot (, first known as '' trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a pack of playing cards, used from at least the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play card games such as Tarocchini. From their Italian roots ...
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 Bane may refer to: Fictional characters * Bane (DC Comics), an adversary of Batman * Bane (''Harry Potter''), a centaur in the ''Harry Potter'' series * Bane (''The Matrix''), a character in the ''Matrix'' film trilogy * Bane the Druid, a Gu ...
(employed by
Lex Luthor Alexander Joseph "Lex" Luthor () is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Lex Luthor originally appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (cover dated: April ...
), 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 Psyche (''Psyché'' in French) is the Greek term for "soul" (ψυχή). Psyche may also refer to: Psychology * Psyche (psychology), the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious * ''Psyche'', an 1846 book about the unconscious by Car ...
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 Renee Maria Montoya is a fictional character appearing in media published by DC Entertainment. The character was created by Bruce Timm, Paul Dini and Mitch Brian for '' Batman: The Animated Series'' and was preemptively introduced into mainstre ...
. 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.''Batman: Two-Face - Crime and Punishment''. DC Comics. 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 Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...
, 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 Hush may refer to: Film and television * ''Hush'' (1921 film), starring Clara Kimball Young * ''Hush'' (1998 film), starring Gwyneth Paltrow * ''Hush!'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film directed by Ryosuke Hashiguchi * ''Hush'' (2005 film), starring ...
. 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'', that started in '' Detective Comics'' #817, and was part of DC's ''
One Year Later "One Year Later" is a 2006 comic book storyline running through books published by DC Comics. It involves a narrative jump exactly one year into the future of the DC Universe following the events of the ''Infinite Crisis'' storyline, to explore ...
'' 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 the Firebug and
Mr. Freeze Mr. Freeze is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Dave Wood, Sheldon Moldoff and Bob Kane, and first appeared in ''Batman'' #121 in February 1959 as the ice-based criminal Mr. Ze ...
, 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
hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinati ...
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 KGBeast, Magpie, Ventriloquist and Scarface, and
Orca The orca or killer whale (''Orcinus orca'') is a toothed whale belonging to the oceanic dolphin family, of which it is the largest member. It is the only extant species in the genus '' Orcinus'' and is recognizable by its black-and-white ...
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 The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large Lamniformes, mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major ocean ...
, 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 Nitric acid is the inorganic compound with the formula . It is a highly corrosive mineral acid. The compound is colorless, but older samples tend to be yellow cast due to decomposition into oxides of nitrogen. Most commercially available nitri ...
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 The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceive ...
'' (vol. 2) #23, Two-Face is shown as a member of the new Injustice League. He can be seen in ''
Salvation Run ''Salvation Run'' is a seven-issue 2007-2008 DC Comics limited series which was designed to tie into the company's major event series ''Final Crisis'' in 2008. Premise The premise of the series, which is based on a pitch by George R. R. Martin, ...
''. He appears in '' Battle for the Cowl: The Underground'', which shows the effects of Batman's death on his enemies. In
Judd Winick Judd Winick (born February 12, 1970) is an American cartoonist, comic book writer and screenwriter, as well as a former reality television personality. He first gained fame for his stint on MTV's ''The Real World: San Francisco'' in 1994, before f ...
'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 A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinati ...
he sees Dent in a red and black Two-Face themed Batman costume.
Alfred Pennyworth Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Pennyworth is depicted as Bruce Wayne's loyal and tire ...
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 Jeremiah Arkham is a fictional supervillain and the head of the Arkham Asylum in DC Comics, created by Alan Grant. Arkham was created in 1992, and slowly "lost his mind" during his time in the Arkham Asylum, subsequently becoming the second B ...
.


''The New 52''

In September 2011, ''
The New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new serie ...
'' 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 A secret identity is a person's alter ego which is not known to the general populace, most often used in fiction. Brought into popular culture by the Scarlet Pimpernel in 1903, the concept was widespread in pulp heroes and is particularly prevalen ...
. 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 DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 initiative in May 2016 as its launching point, DC Rebirth restored the DC ...
", 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 Killer Moth (Drury Walker) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, usually as an adversary and dedicated original foil personality of Batman (prior to the creations of Wrath, Prometheus, and Hush). Like Batman, he has ...
, Firefly, and
Black Spider Black Spider is the name of several fictional DC Comics supervillains. The first two were both primarily enemies of Batman. Fictional character biographies Eric Needham The original Black Spider first appeared in '' Detective Comics'' #463 ( ...
- 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 in order 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 Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
group Kobra. In the ''
Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...
'' sequel ''
Doomsday Clock The Doomsday Clock is a symbol that represents the likelihood of a man-made global catastrophe, in the opinion of the members of the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists''. Maintained since 1947, the clock is a metaphor for threats to humanity ...
'', Two-Face is among the villains who attend the underground meeting held by the Riddler. In '' Harley Quinn: Rebirth'', while
Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in '' Batman: The Animated Series'', and debuted in i ...
's Gang of Harleys is trying to find information about
Man-Bat Man-Bat (Dr. Robert Kirkland "Kirk" Langstrom) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Introduced in ''Detective Comics'' #400 (June 1970) as an enemy of the superhero Batman, the character belongs to t ...
, they run into 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.''
Superman Family Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1 (cover-dated June ...
'' #211. DC Comics.
Sloane is revived in the current continuity as a successor Two-Face,''Detective Comics'' #777. DC Comics. though not replacing Dent as done in the earlier Earth-Two specific storyline. After the ''
Crisis on Infinite Earths "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Mar ...
'' 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 the Crime Doctor to re-disfigure Sloane. Dent does this out of jealous bitterness and the hope that Sloane would commit crimes based on the number two, thus confusing Batman. At the end of the story, Sloane is once again healed physically and mentally. Paul Sloane is introduced into Post-'' Zero Hour'' continuity as a criminal called the Charlatan in ''Detective Comics'' #777 (February 2003). In this incarnation, Sloan (now spelled without a silent ''e'') is an actor who had been hired by Joker, Penguin, Riddler,
Mad Hatter The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Ca ...
,
Scarecrow A scarecrow is a decoy or mannequin, often in the shape of a human. Humanoid scarecrows are usually dressed in old clothes and placed in open fields to discourage birds from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.Lesley ...
, and
Killer Moth Killer Moth (Drury Walker) is a supervillain appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, usually as an adversary and dedicated original foil personality of Batman (prior to the creations of Wrath, Prometheus, and Hush). Like Batman, he has ...
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 him with fear toxins. Driven insane and deprived of fear, 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.


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 the infant Terry, along with an 80-year-old Carter Nichols, and tried to disfigure them in the style of the Joker. His plans were foiled by Damian Wayne, the fourth Robin and Batman's biological son. Unlike the original Two-Face, this version of the character was born deformed with a second face rather than being scarred by acid or fire and flips two coins instead of one. He is then killed when a machine falls on him. Another Two-Face-Two is briefly mentioned during the course of the ''
DC One Million ''DC One Million'' is a comic book crossover storyline that ran through a self-titled, weekly miniseries and through special issues of almost all of the "DCU" titles published by DC Comics in November 1998. It featured a vision of the DC Univer ...
'' 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.


Alternative versions

A number of alternate universes in DC Comics publications allow writers to introduce variations on Two-Face, in which the character's origins, behavior, and morality differ from the mainstream setting.


''The Dark Knight Returns''

In the alternate future setting of ''
The Dark Knight Returns ''The Dark Knight Returns'' (alternatively titled ''Batman: The Dark Knight Returns'') is a 1986 four-issue comic book miniseries starring Batman, written by Frank Miller, illustrated by Miller and Klaus Janson, with color by Lynn Varley, and p ...
'',
plastic surgery Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes cranio ...
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". Now with his face swathed in bandages, he attempts to blow up the Gotham Twin Towers in exchange for ransom, but is stopped by Batman. He now sees both sides of his face as scarred, or as he 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 steadily".


''Batman Black and White''

Two-Face has a brief short story in the first issue of ''
Batman Black and White ''Batman Black and White'' refers to the comic book limited series published by DC Comics featuring 8-page black and white Batman stories. Volumes 1, 4 and 5 of the series feature all-new stories (published in 1996, 2013–14, and 2020–21, res ...
'', 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.


''Elseworlds''

* In the ''
Gotham by Gaslight ''Gotham by Gaslight'' is a DC Comics one-shot by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola, with inks by P. Craig Russell. The story revolves around a 19th-century version of Bruce Wayne making his debut as Batman just as Jack the Ripper has arrived in G ...
'' timeline, he was responsible for dealing with the case against Bruce Wayne, who was framed for being Jack the Ripper. After a successful case, Harvey and Bruce's friendship was destroyed. During
Convergence Convergence may refer to: Arts and media Literature *''Convergence'' (book series), edited by Ruth Nanda Anshen *Convergence (comics), "Convergence" (comics), two separate story lines published by DC Comics: **A four-part crossover storyline that ...
, this Dent was stationed on Telos. Harvey Dent, at this point having been scarred on half his face and become the villain Double Man, as well as other members of Batman's Victorian rogues gallery, were summoned by
Mister Atom Mister Atom is a fictional comic book supervillain, a radioactive robot who is regularly seen as an enemy of Captain Marvel. The character first appeared in ''Captain Marvel Adventures'' #78 in November 1947. Along with other members of Captain Ma ...
of Earth-S to battle Captain Marvel and the
Marvel Family The Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family (or "Shazamily"), are a group of superheroes who originally appeared in books published by Fawcett Comics and were later acquired by DC Comics. Created in 1942 by writer Otto Binder and artist M ...
. * In the '' Elseworlds'' story '' Batman: In Darkest Knight'', Harvey Dent is the Gotham District Attorney and distrusts
Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...
(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 Joe Chill is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane, the character first appeared in ''Detective Comics'' #33 (Novem ...
's mind, then scars Dent's face and gives him powers similar to those of the main continuity's
Evil Star Evil Star is the name of two supervillains appearing in DC Comics publications. Publication history The Guy Pompton version of Evil Star debuted in ''All Star Comics'' #44 and was created by John Broome and Irwin Hasen. The alien version of Evil ...
. He calls himself Binary Star and works with Star Sapphire (who in this reality is Selina Kyle). * In ''The Doom That Came To Gotham'', an ''Elseworlds'' story based on "The Doom That Came To Sarnath", ''
At The Mountains Of Madness ''At the Mountains of Madness'' is a science fiction-horror novella by American author H. P. Lovecraft, written in February/March 1931 and rejected that year by ''Weird Tales'' editor Farnsworth Wright on the grounds of its length. It was or ...
'' and the overall works of H. P. Lovecraft, Harvey Dent is hideously mutated on the right side of his body by
Talia al Ghul Talia al Ghul ( ar, تاليا الغول; ) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Batman. The character was created by writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Bob Brown (comics), ...
, and used as a conduit for a ritual intended to resurrect her father, the ancient sorcerer
Ra's al Ghul Ra's al Ghul, commonly pronounced correctly as ''Re'sh'', hence or ; "The Head of the Demon" or, in a rougher translation, "The Chief Demon". is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary o ...
, to bring about the end of Gotham City and the world. He is euthanized by Batman by the end of the story. * Two-Face also appears in the ''Elseworlds'' '' Daredevil/Batman: Eye for an Eye'' crossover book, partnered with
Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...
villain
Mr. Hyde Dr. Henry Jekyll, nicknamed in some copies of the story as Harry Jekyll, and his alternative personality, Mr. Edward Hyde, is the central character of Robert Louis Stevenson's 1886 novella ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde''. In the story, ...
for the purpose of using Hyde as an "incubator" to grow an organic Integrated circuit, 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 (Marvel Comics character), Daredevil. Prior to his disfigurement, Dent believed in giving criminals a chance at Rehabilitation (penology), 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 that act is merely "the last of Harvey Dent". * In the ''Elseworlds'' story ''Batman: Masque'', a pastiche of ''
The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...
'', Dent takes the role of the Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Phantom, as a former dancer who is disfigured after he sustains a serious burn to the left side when he was caught in the middle of a confrontation between Batman and a criminal. * In the ''Elseworlds'' book ''Batman: Crimson Mist'', the third part of the trilogy that began with ''Batman & Dracula: Red Rain'', in which Batman becomes a vampire, Two-Face, having only recently been disfigured, forms a new gang accompanied by Killer Croc as his muscle and forges an alliance with Commissioner Gordon and
Alfred Pennyworth Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Pennyworth is depicted as Bruce Wayne's loyal and tire ...
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 The Batcave is a subterranean location appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. It is the headquarters of the superhero Batman, whose secret identity is Bruce Wayne and his partners, consisting of caves beneath his personal r ...
, 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 - "One for each face". * In the ''Elseworlds'' story ''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. He is opposed in this effort by Batman and Tarzan. Tarzan was visiting Gotham to attend to business and joined forces with Batman as the two learnt about Dent's true agenda. As they try to stop Dent raiding the city further, half of Dent's face is mauled by a lion friend of Tarzan's, prompting him to decide to remain in Mnemnom and establish himself as its ruler on the grounds that modern 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. Tarzan later tells Batman that Dent died when the falling rubble that knocked Batman unconscious crushed him. * In the ''Elseworlds'' story ''Batman: Two Faces'', Two-Face is depicted in the Victorian England, Victorian era, opposed by his friend Bruce Wayne after Bruce uses a potion on himself that he devised to try and cure Two-Face's split personality. Wayne's serum allows him to act as a superhuman Batman, but he eventually learns that the potion has also given him a split personality in the form of a ruthless murderer known as the Joker. When Bruce realizes the truth about his new state, he delivers a confession to Gordon and Two-Face before allowing himself to die as he transforms into the Joker once again, Dent taking Wayne's perfected serum to stabilize his mental state and allow him to act as the new Batman. * In the ''Elseworlds'' story ''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 against those responsible for her disfigurement, and her motif is mutilating her victims' faces and wearing a half business suit with a spiked metal bikini.


''Thrillkiller''

In the ''Batman: Thrillkiller'' Fictional universe, 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 ''Batgirl and Robin: Thrillkiller'' #1-3. In the sequel, ''Batgirl and Batman: Thrillkiller '62'', Harvey Dent is the new District Attorney. He appears at the end as the new Mayor of Gotham.


Earth-Three

The new Earth-Three features a heroic female counterpart to Two-Face: Evelyn "Eve" Dent—"Three-Face"—the mother of
Duela Dent Duela Dent is a fictional character in the DC Universe. She is a former member of the Suicide Squad, the Teen Titans and its counterpart, Titans East. Introduced under the alias of the Joker's Daughter, she has also used the aliases Catgirl the C ...
(a nod to the classic film, ''The Three Faces of Eve''). Her original affiliation is to the heroic Riddler Family (like the similar Batman Family); it included herself, Riddler, Quizmaster, Joker (comics), 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 A-2 jacket, bomber jacket on the right and a black Perfecto motorcycle jacket, 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#Earth-Three, Superwoman mutilates her and leaves her for dead.


''Gotham by Gaslight''

In ''
Gotham by Gaslight ''Gotham by Gaslight'' is a DC Comics one-shot by Brian Augustyn and Mike Mignola, with inks by P. Craig Russell. The story revolves around a 19th-century version of Bruce Wayne making his debut as Batman just as Jack the Ripper has arrived in G ...
'', Two-Face is a serial killer called "The Double Man", as mentioned in ''Countdown: Arena''.


Tangent Comics

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


''Flashpoint''

In the ''Flashpoint (comics), Flashpoint'' alternate timeline, Harvey Dent is a judge. When Martha Wayne, Joker kidnaps Dent's children, Dent asks Batman (Thomas Wayne), Batman for help in their search, agreeing to do anything asked. Dent warns Batman that he will shut down everything Batman owns, including Wayne Casinos, unless his children are saved.


''The Batman Adventures''

In ''The Batman Adventures'', which is set in the continuity of ''Batman: The Animated Series'', Two-Face is on the verge of being cured when the Joker convinces him that his 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 Infantino 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 implied that Grace still loves him. Batman and Robin overpower Infantino and his gang, but Two-Face tries to kill him anyway. In the story "Lucky Day", Two-Face and his gang take a game show hostage to get revenge on one of the contestants - Lester Dent, his father; Two-Face indicates Lester is a gambling addict who brutalized him and Harvey's mother whenever he lost. 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.


''Batman: Earth One''

In the graphic novel ''Batman: Earth One'', Harvey Dent has a twin sister named Jessica, who was a friend of Bruce Wayne from University-preparatory school, preparatory school. Harvey Dent occasionally would bully Bruce, as his maternal family (Arkhams rather than Kanes) had a reputation of eventually going insane. This led to the two boys having a fight at least once. After the twins reach adulthood, Harvey becomes Gotham City's District Attorney, and Jessica was the president of the city's board of supervisors. They are also political enemies of Gotham's corrupt mayor Penguin (comics)#alternate version, Oswald Cobblepot. Jessica takes over Cobblepot's term as mayor following his confrontation with Batman, which resulted in Cobblepot's death and most of his crimes being posthumously outed. 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 burning, her final exchange with Bruce suggesting that she has developed a split personality with her brother as the other identity. In Volume Three, Jessica's new split-personality manifests as a hallucination of Harvey as the 'traditional' Two-Face, driving her to trigger a gang war.


''Batman Beyond''

In the ''Batman Beyond'' universe, Two-Face is revealed to be reformed into Harvey Dent again. Though not a district attorney again due to his terms being already ended, he helped the city set up a law preventing deceased villains to have public graves in order to prevent martyrdom, including hiding their corpses from the public eye.


''Injustice: Gods Among Us''

In the ''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 to 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 (comics), Cyborg and Robin. While still bound and restrained, Two-Face witnesses the heroes arguing and attempts to attack Robin during
Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in '' Batman: The Animated Series'', and debuted in i ...
's riot, but is knocked out by one of Green Arrow's boxing arrows.


''DC Comics Bombshells''

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 Timothy Jackson "Tim" Drake is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with the superhero Batman. Created by Marv Wolfman and Pat Broderick, he first appeared in ''Batman'' #436 (August 19 ...
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.


''Batman '66''

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


''Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles''

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 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Shredder and Foot Clan to attack Batman and Robin. Batman is captured, but Robin manages to escape. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Ninja Turtles and Splinter (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), 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 Ra's al Ghul, commonly pronounced correctly as ''Re'sh'', hence or ; "The Head of the Demon" or, in a rougher translation, "The Chief Demon". is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary o ...
. Later, James Gordon (comics), 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 List of government agencies in DC Comics#A.R.G.U.S., A.R.G.U.S. custody.


Emperor Joker

In the "Joker (character), 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!"


''Thy Kingdom Come''

In ''Kingdom Come (comics)#Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Kingdom Come'' storyline, when Power Girl was briefly transferred to another version of the pre-''Crisis'' Earth-2 by Gog (DC Comics), 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 Huntress (Helena Wayne), Helena Wayne, only for the Joker's attack to leave Sims disfigured and confined to the hospital rather than driving him insane.''Thy Kingdom Come''.DC Comics.


''Batman: White Knight''

Two-Face has a minor appearance in the 2017 series ''Batman: White Knight''. Dent, along with several other Batman villains, is tricked by Joker (Jack Napier), 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 The Hatter is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book '' Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' and its 1871 sequel ''Through the Looking-Glass''. He is very often referred to as the Mad Hatter, though this term was never used by Ca ...
’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 Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...
’s poorer districts. Later on in the story, the control hat is stolen by Neo-Joker (the second
Harley Quinn Harley Quinn is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm as a comic relief henchwoman for the supervillain Joker in '' Batman: The Animated Series'', and debuted in i ...
, 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. Two-Face also appears in the sequel storyline ''Batman: Curse of the White Knight'', being among the villains murdered by Azrael (DC Comics), Azrael.


In other media


See also

* List of Batman Family enemies * ''Batman: The Long Halloween'' * '' Batman: Dark Victory'' * Gilda Dent


Notes


References


Sources

* * * *


External links


Two-Face
at DC Comics' official website
Two-Face
at the DC Database Project * {{Robin Batman characters Characters created by Bob Kane Coin flipping Comics characters introduced in 1942 Fictional bank robbers Fictional characters with disfigurements Fictional characters with dissociative identity disorder Fictional crime bosses Fictional district attorneys Fictional marksmen and snipers Fictional mass murderers Fictional rampage and spree killers Golden Age supervillains DC Comics male supervillains Fictional victims of domestic abuse Fictional suicides Fictional attempted suicides Fictional blackmailers Fictional cult leaders Vigilante characters in comics Fictional_prison_escapees