Two-Face

Revision as of 15:21, 20 February 2022

Two-Face is a male comic supervillain who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Pre-Crisis

Harvey Dent

Post-Crisis

Following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events.

In the year afterwards, he resolved to become Gotham's protector and operated as a vigilante where he stopped crime in the city. (Detective Comics v1 #817) By this point, Batman and Robin were operating in the city once again where Harvey began to question his role as a protector. It was then that he began to hear the voice of Two-Face calling on him to resume his old criminal career. (Detective Comics v1 #818)

Post-Flashpoint

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Harvey Dent was a boy who grew up in Gotham where it was said his father was a politician. Notable for being an evil man, his father was said to had gambled and gotten drunk with him constantly abusing Harvey. It was shown that his decision to beat his son stemmed from the flip of a coin. Sometime later, he was noted to had tied his father up and left him trapped in their house for days until the police finally found him. his led to Harvey being sent to the Arkham boys rehabilitation home upstate where he came to meet Bruce Wayne who had been sent there to better handle the grief of the death of his parents. During this time, the two became good friends though neither knew the identity of the other until years later. (All-Star Batman v1 #3)

One of his latest plots was to turn rainwater acidic which burnt a large number of Gotham citizens until he was stopped by Batman and his new partner. Due to his growing power, the other crime bosses in Gotham were said to had helped the GCPD capture Two-Face. Around this time, Harvey Dent managed to gain control over his body where he begged Batman to perform a procedure to burn out the Two-Face persona from his brain. Batman decided to personally transport the villain though Two-Face managed to get out a message offering the fortune of three of the biggest crime families in Gotham in exchange for securing his freedom. (All-Star Batman v1 #1)

Despite shooting himself in the head, Two-Face still survived his injuries and was found by two criminals who considered selling him to the highest bidder. They kept Dent with them when they were approached by the Joker who looked to help Two-Face. The Clown Prince of Crime then called Hugo Strange and the Mad Hatter to help Harvey recover from his injuries. Once restored, Dent then went about forming the Church of the Two and began a new wave of crime in the city. (Detective Comics v1 #1022)

Afterwards, Dent looked to redeem himself and atone for his past actions. This saw him volunteering for a government program that looked to harness the power of Lazarus Resin. The substance was capable of reviving the deceased in a half dead state with the government wanting to use recently deceased villains to serve as operatives. Dent was given charge of the project that was labelled as Task Force Z where he was provided a number of deceased Gotham criminals including Mr. Bloom, Man-Bat, Bane and the Arkham Knight. Following the completion of their mission, they would be given a full dose of the resin thus restoring them fully to life as a reward for their service. Establishing the Chop Shop as his headquarters, he had Task Force Z forcibly recruited the Red Hood to serve as a handler for the team in the field. Dent kept his role in this a secret where he operated under the identity of Director Crispin. (Task Force Z v1 #4)

Overview

Personality and attributes

As the head of Task Force Z, he came to operate under the identity of Director Crispin. (Task Force Z v1 #4)

The Two-Face persona believed that with his one eye he saw the real world and claimed it was beautiful. He believed everyone had a side that they hid from the world. (All-Star Batman v1 #1)

He came to believe Batman and the first Robin worked in sync with one another. However, in contrast, he felt the second and third Robins were never as good. He believed that it was this reason that Batman came to withdraw into himself and away from others. (Detective Comics v1 #818)

Powers and abilities

He was noted to had taken expensive sharpshooting lessons from Deathstroke where he became good in firearms. (Nightwing v2 #149)

It was said that he had something on everyone which made him a dangerous foe. This stemmed from Harvey Dent's time as the D.A. where he put mechanisms in place to track criminal behaviour. Two-Face used those same mechanisms as his own private information network. Through this means, he was able to exploit others to do his bidding. Crime in Gotham was said to go up when Two-Face was in town where he tempted the people in the city with further criminal ventures. He had claimed to be privy to secrets that even the likes of Batman were unaware of with some even being held by those close to him. (All-Star Batman v1 #1)

Notes

• Two-Face was created by Bill Finger and Bob Kane where he made his first appearance in Detective Comics v1 #66 (August, 1942).
• In an interview, writer Greg Rucka said, "Renee and Harvey have always had a very odd bond, as far as I’ve written them, going back to the very first Renee story I did for DC, "Two Down". It’s never been just cop-and-criminal between them. There’s a peculiar understanding between them; Renee, to me, has always been able to see the path of Harvey’s madness in a way that even Batman has never negotiated. I’m not sure I’d ever call them friends, especially after what he’s put her through, but Renee has always been sympathetic to him, at least, and that care, that guardianship, drives much of our story."

Alternate Versions

In other media

Television

• In Harley Quinn, Two-Face appeared in the setting of the animated television series where he was voiced by actor Andy Daly.

Films

• In Batman Forever, Two-Face appeared in the setting of the 1995 live-action film where he was now portrayed by actor Tommy Lee Jones.

Video games

• In DC Universe Online, Two-Face appeared in the setting of the MMORPG video game where he was voiced by actor Edwin Neal.

Appearances

• Detective Comics v1: (1942)
• All-Star Batman v1:
• Batman and Robin v2:
• Task Force Z v1:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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