Two-Face is an enemy of Batman in the film based on the 1960s series called Batman vs. Two-Face. He previously appeared in Batman '66: The Lost Episode and was originally going to appear in the Batman TV show.
Harvey Dent was a well-known district attorney and friend of Batman in both of his identities. However, after an experiment to rehabilitate criminals went wrong and scarred the left side of his face, he himself became a criminal that had a dual personality and made decisions of his actions with the flip of a coin.
Biography[]
Batman '66: The Lost Episode[]
Before he became Two-Face, Dent was a respected young District Attorney and "one of the most honest men in Gotham." When Harvey Dent was prosecuting "Lucky" Maroni during a trial at the Gotham City Courthouse, the mob boss suddenly attempted to eliminate the DA by throwing a bottle of acid towards him. Batman, who was present at the trial, leapt in front of Dent to shield him with the Batsuit's cape, but was not able to prevent some of the acid from splashing on the left side of Harvey's face, severely scarring it in the process. Even though the surgeons at Gotham Hospital tried their best, they were unable to undo the disfigurement. Back on the streets of Gotham, the people would now look at Dent in horror whenever they saw him, eventually causing him to snap and turn to a life of crime. He assumed the name Two-Face and scarred one side of Maroni's lucky two-headed coin. Dent proceeded to plan crimes and determine his actions on the toss of his coin. Whenever the coin landed on the disfigured side, Dent would keep the goods he stole, but when it landed on the unmarked side, he would return the stolen loot with interest. Two-Face's crimes, whenever he committed them, were always based on the number two in some way.
Batman vs. Two-Face[]
Harvey was an old school friend of multimillionaire Bruce Wayne, and they were the best of friends. They both grew up and became figures fighting for truth and justice; Bruce became the defender against crime as Batman and Harvey became a district attorney fighting to rid the city of criminals. He kept a double headed coin which was a memento from the first case he had won and kept it as a lucky charm.
Harvey however wasn't very popular with Bruce's youthful ward Dick Grayson as he always teased him and seemed to make Bruce forget he was around, but tried being nice to him for Bruce's sake.
One day Harvey was sent to Gotham State Penitentiary where Batman and his partner Robin were also to view an experiment created by Professor Hugo Strange to rehabilitate criminals.
He had invented an evil extractor that would suck out all the evil villainess schemes of all criminals. He used it on several different criminals including Joker, Penguin and Riddler.
However the machine began to overload with so much evil that was being contained in a gas tank which was on the verge of exploding. Batman tried to warn Harvey, but he was too late and the tank exploded, spraying gas in his face and scarring one side of it. Driven insane by what had happened, Harvey took on the persona of Two-Face and scarred one side of his lucky charm using it to decide his actions as a criminal, using clean heads (to do good) and scarred heads (to do evil).
The Dynamic Duo kept fighting him many times and finally with the help of Bruce Wayne managed to get him rehabilitated and fixed the damaged caused to his face. Delighted with seeing his face normal again, Harvey promised that he would put right the wrongs he had done to Gotham City.
However, it seemed as if Two-Face was still causing trouble as he had been seen once again by the Dynamic Duo, but when they confronted Harvey about the situation, he confessed, he was just as amazed about it as they were.
Later it was revealed that the effects of the gas from the evil extractor were taking over Harvey's subconscious mind, bringing back his Two-Face persona, with Harvey being unable to explain his actions.
He eventually trapped the Dynamic Duo and found out their true identities. He had also released most of Gotham's criminals, and decided to reveal the caped crimefighters' secret in return for money from the highest bidder. The criminals decided to put all their money together to find out the secret together.
Two-Face also tied Batman and Robin in a trap where they would be crushed with a giant replica of his coin, but they escaped and apprehended the other villains while Two-Face made his escape.
His other villainous objective was to cover Gotham City with the same evil gas that created him, turning its residents into criminals like him. He piloted a plane armed with two large canisters containing the gas, ready to release it. However, the Dynamic Duo followed him, foiled his plan and cured all the people he affected.
The plane crashed near an abandoned chemical plant and Two-Face tried to escape. Batman followed him alone and saw to his horror that the gas was still taking effect and Harvey's face was scarred all over now. They fought, and the plant started to catch fire, but Batman still had hopes of making his old friend good again and urged Harvey to fight off the evil that was taking control of his mind.
After a long struggle, Harvey's persona and face returned to normal again, and together they escaped the blazing chemical plant.
Sometime later, Harvey was invited to a party hosted by Bruce with his persona of Two-Face and his knowledge of Batman's true identity, apparently gone for good.
Appearances[]
Batman '66[]
Films[]
Trivia[]
- Two-Face was planned to appear in the 1960s series in two episodes written by Harlan Ellison titled "The Two-Way Crimes of Two-Face". However, they were cancelled due to Two-Face's appearance being deemed too scary for younger viewers. Infamously known as "The Lost Episode" for years, "The Two-Way Crimes of Two-Face" was eventually adapted as a one-shot spinoff of the Batman '66 comic series, titled Batman '66: The Lost Episode.
- Two-Face was voiced by and modelled after actor William Shatner, best known for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk in the Star Trek franchise.
Gallery[]
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