Two-Face

Two-Face
Gender:	Male
Portrayed By:	Billy Dee Williams Tommy Lee Jones Aaron Eckhart
First Appearance:	Batman (1989)

Two-Face is a fictional character, a comic book supervillain that appears in comic books published by DC Comics, and is an enemy of Batman. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #66 (Aug. 1942), and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Two-Face was once Harvey Dent, the clean-cut district attorney of Gotham City and an ally of Batman. However, Dent goes insane after mob boss Sal Maroni throws acid at him during a trial, hideously scarring the left side of his face. Dent adopts the "Two-Face" persona and becomes a criminal, choosing to bring about good or evil based upon the outcome of a coin flip. Originally, Two-Face was one of many gimmick-focused comic book villains, plotting crimes based around the number two, such as robbing Gotham Second National Bank at 2:00 on February 2.

Film

• In Batman (1989), Billy Dee Williams appears as a Harvey Dent before his disfigurement, vowing to reduce crime by locking up mob boss Carl Grissom. Williams was set to reprise the character as Two-Face, reinforced by a pay or play contract. However, Batman Forever director Joel Schumacher decided to pay Williams's penalty fee to cast Tommy Lee Jones.

• In Batman Forever (1995), Tommy Lee Jones portrays Two-Face. His origin story is the same as in the Golden Age comics: District attorney Harvey Dent is disfigured when a gangster named "Boss" Maroni throws acid in his face during a trial. He is driven insane — to the point of referring to himself in the plural — and swears revenge against Batman for failing to save him. He and his men attack a circus performance and kill Dick Grayson's family, making him indirectly responsible for Grayson's transformation into Robin. Two-Face teams up with the Riddler in order to learn Batman's secret identity. At the movie's climax, Batman prompts Two-Face to flip his coin to make a decision and then throws a handful of coins into the air. Two-Face scrambles to find his coin but loses his footing and falls to his death. This version of Two-Face, as well as the film itself, was met with a mixed response among critics and audiences alike. Scott Beatty, in particular, noted that he felt that the Batman Forever version of Two-Face was more of a Joker knock-off than the multifaceted character in the original comics; his reliance on the coin was also portrayed as more of a quirk than a necessity, one scene showing him repeatedly flipping the coin to get the result he wants rather than simply accepting its original result. However, Jones was nominated for "Best Villain" at the MTV Awards for his performance.

• In Batman & Robin (1997), Two-Face's costume can be seen in Arkham Asylum.

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

• Harvey Dent's death and legacy plays an important role in The Dark Knight Rises, the third and final installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Set eight years later, the film reveals that legislation was introduced in his name called the 'Dent Act' which all but eradicated organized crime in Gotham. Plagued with guilt over covering up Two-Face's killing spree, James Gordon considers publicly revealing the truth, but decides that Gotham is not yet ready. Later, Bane acquires the speech Gordon had planned to deliver exposing Dent's crimes and Gordon's cover-up with Batman. After defeating Batman and taking over Gotham, Bane reads the speech on live television to undermine public confidence in the law and throw the city's social order into upheaval, all part of his larger plan to destroy Gotham.