History Characters / BatmanTwoFace

* TheArtifact: * Harv came from an era where most ''Batman'' villains were little more than gangsters with gimmicks, and Batman's abilities weren't much greater than those of, say, ComicStrip/DickTracy. As the stories grew DarkerAndEdgier and HollywoodPsych became a theme, he was given a further twist of his duality representing a SplitPersonality, and [[WeUsedToBeFriends having a personal connection to Batman]], which solidified him as a big player. However, throughout all this time, his capabilities remained largely static. Modern Two-Face doesn't have any powers to fight Batman, he isn't an especially BadassNormal, he isn't some sort of supergenius, he doesn't use any piece of technology that could give him an advantage, he's rarely depicted as anything more than a middle-ranking crime boss (TheDon usually tends to be the Penguin or Black Mask), he isn't insanely rich, and he isn't a VillainWithGoodPublicity or anything like that. His only niche is being tied to Batman's past, really. Yet despite all this, comics like ''Comicbook/BatmanTheLongHalloween'' or movies like ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' or ''Film/BatmanForever'' means he is too iconic a villain to not adapt, despite the great power imbalance existing between him and Batman.

* BadassNormal: Despite being one of Batman's most prominent villains, Two-Face doesn't actually have any special powers.

[[Characters/BatmanBane Bane]] | Characters/{{Catwoman}} ([[Characters/CatwomanSelinaKyle Selina Kyle]]) | [[Characters/BatmanClayface Clayface]] | Characters/HarleyQuinn ([[Characters/HarleyQuinnTheCharacter Harleen Quinzel]]) | [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] | [[Characters/BatmanLadyShiva Lady Shiva]] | [[Characters/BatmanLeagueOfAssassins League of Assassins]] ([[Characters/BatmanRasAlGhul Ra's Al Ghul]] | [[Characters/BatmanTaliaAlGhul Talia Al Ghul]]) | [[Characters/BatmanThePenguin The Penguin]] | [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheRiddler The Riddler]] | [[Characters/BatmanTheScarecrow The Scarecrow]] | '''Two Face''' | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart1 A-H]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 J-R]] | [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart3 S-Z]]\\

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Any time Two-Face doesn’t flip his coin to make a decision, such as when he [[spoiler:kills Janice Porter]] in ''ComicBook/DarkVictory'' or when he prepared to kill or ruin his abusive father in ''ComicBook/BatmanGothamAdventures'', as that means that both sides of his personality agree on what he’s about to do.

* XanatosGambit: Two-Face’s plan against his father in ''ComicBook/BatmanGothamAdventures'' #2; either he killed the man directly, or he would blow up his father’s $2.2 million lottery winnings in a manner that means his father won’t actually get the money.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Pulled this with a {{Mook}} who was standing directly between him and someone he wanted to shoot; when he asked him to get out of the way and the mook failed to, he informed him that he couldn't afford to lose any "red shirts". When this flew over the mook's head, Dent informed him that he was far too stupid to be anything but a liability and shot him dead on the spot.

* BaldOfEvil: His disfigured half is depicted as lacking hair in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'' and ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019''.

* {{Retcanon}}: In the New 52, his scarred side lacks hair, bringing his appearance closer to Creator/AaronEckhart's version of him in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.

* HairTriggerTemper: With shades of ArsonMurderAndJaywalking; Two-Face often tends to explode over damn near anything, even trivial issues.

* {{Wrath}}: Two-Face's scarred side is rage personified, in many depictions.

In spite of his stature, Two-Face never made an appearance on the [[Series/Batman1966 sixties show.]] (FALSE Face did, but that's a different character altogether.) Rumor has it that they considered his scarring origin too horrific for the series' DenserAndWackier tone. Another legend claims that they did briefly consider Creator/ClintEastwood for the role, though.[[note]]The real reason is far simpler. They had plans to include him in season 4, but the show was canceled before they could get around to adapting him[[/note]] He would finally be adapted into the show's universe several decades later in ''ComicBook/Batman66: The Lost Episode'' and the animated film based on the sixties show, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTwoFace'', being voiced by Creator/WilliamShatner.

In spite of his stature, Two-Face never made an appearance on the [[Series/Batman1966 sixties show.]] (FALSE Face did, but that's a different character altogether.) Rumor has it that they considered his scarring origin too horrific for the series' DenserAndWackier tone. Another legend claims that they did briefly consider Creator/ClintEastwood for the role, though.[[note]]The real reason is far simpler. They had plans to include him in season 4, but the show was canceled before they could get around to adapting him[[/note]] He would finally be adapted into the show's universe over fifty years later in ''ComicBook/Batman66: The Lost Episode'' and the animated film based on the sixties show, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTwoFace'', being voiced by Creator/WilliamShatner.

** His incarnation in ''Batman: Dark Allegiances'', who is [[AdaptationNameChange renamed Caldecott Pewtie]], is a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain white supremacist]] affiliated with the White Legion, the story's equivalent to the Ku Klux Klan.

In spite of his stature, Two-Face never made an appearance on the [[Series/Batman1966 sixties show.]] (FALSE Face did, but that's a different character altogether.) Rumor has it that they considered his scarring origin too horrific for the series' DenserAndWackier tone. Another legend claims that they did briefly consider Creator/ClintEastwood for the role, though. He would finally be adapted into the show's universe in some form over fifty years later in the animated film based on the sixties show, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanVsTwoFace'', being voiced by Creator/WilliamShatner.

In spite of his stature, Two-Face never made an appearance on the [[Series/Batman1966 sixties show.]] (FALSE Face did, but that's a different character altogether.) Rumor has it that they considered his scarring origin too horrific for the series' DenserAndWackier tone. Another legend claims that they did briefly consider Creator/ClintEastwood for the role, though.

* TwoFaced: He serves as the TropeNamer as well as the TropeCodifier.

* NotHisSled: His incarnations in ''ComicBook/DCComicsBombshells'' and the Grim Knight's universe ''don't'' become evil after getting partially disfigured.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Portrayals outside of mainstream continuity tend to make him a nasty piece of work even before the disfigurement if there even is one (with exceptions usually having it established that Harvey Dent had other problems driving him over the edge with the disfigurement simply being the straw that broke the camel's back). This is due to the problematic aspect of a character going insane or becoming a villain just because of disfigurement. Examples include:

* AdaptationalVillainy: Portrayals outside of mainstream continuity tend to make him a nasty piece of work even before the disfigurement if there even is one. This is due to the problematic aspect of a character going insane or becoming a villain just because of disfigurement. Examples include:

Alongside ComicBook/TheJoker and ComicBook/RasAlGhul, Two-Face is one of Batman's greatest enemies, but not because of the threat he poses to the rest of the world. Instead, he reminds Batman of how far the greatest can fall, and how he cannot save all of his allies - Batman's feelings of guilt that he failed to save his old friends and constant attempts to 'redeem' Dent remain one of the biggest themes of the character.

** Is Two-Face an alternate persona or isn't it? The latter was more of the case up until ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. His revised origin ''Eye of the Beholder'' depicts Two-Face as the manifestation of his outrage at the unfairness of the world, ''Crime and Punishment'' makes it the guilt and self-loathing born from his father's beatings, assuming he'd done ''something'' to deserve it, and ''Jekyll and Hyde'' made Two-Face a representation of Harvey's twin brother Murray (which other writers were quick to ignore).

* DoomedByCanon: Any appearance by Harvey Dent in a Batman adaptation (except the 1989 ''Batman'', as that would be a build-up for Two-Face in a later sequel... [[TheOtherDarrin which did occur, but with a different actor]]).

* BaldOfEvil: His disfigured half is depicted as lacking hair in the ''Franchise/BatmanArkhamSeries'' and ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019''.

* AntiVillain: Sometimes. He used to be a good guy, and his origin story is kind of tragic, but he still is a mentally unstable crime boss at the end of the day.
** His status is quite complicated, mostly because he suffers heavily on DependingOnTheWriter. Sometimes, he is written as a cheater, who commits evil no matter which side of the coin falls, other times, not only does he listen to "good" the coin falls, but actively commits acts of good.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Specifically ''what'' Harvey's official diagnosis is seems up for debate, and ever changing. He's been described as a paranoid schizophrenic, someone with dissociative identity disorder, or as having obsessive compulsive disorder.
** Even more bafflingly, he's been described as having Bipolar disorder, which despite being thematically appropriate (bi=two) has very little, if anything to do with the symptoms he usually exhibits.