Batman Villains: Two-Face

Bio: Abused as a child, Harvey Dent still manages to rise the political ladder and eventually become Gotham City's youngest District Attorney. He is elected 6 months before Batman begins his war on crime. He is nicknamed "Apollo" and "The White Knight" for his clean-cut determination and his eagerness to rid the streets of crime. He later forms an alliance with the Chief Police Officer James Gordon and Batman. Harvey's campaign comes to an end, when crime boss Sal Maroni disfigures half of his face with sulfuric acid. He is driven mad by his horrific appearance, and escapes the hospital to hide in the sewers. After several weeks he re-emerges as the insane Two-Face, out to take revenge on the mob. Once he enacts his revenge, he himself becomes a twisted crime boss and villain, who uses the chance of a coin-flip to make his decisions.

Powers and Abilities:Back when they were friends, Batman trained Harvey Dent in basic hand-to-hand combat. As a crime boss he has many henchmen working under him as well as a large arsenal of weapons; guns, knives, rocket launchers, and poison gases. He is obsessed with the number 2, and always leaves his important decisions to the flip of a scarred coin.

Media Portrayal: In the comics Two-Face becomes a super villain of Gotham City, the complete opposite of his heroic life as District Attorney. As a major crime boss, he crusades against his many enemies; the mob, his father, Commissioner Gordon, Batman, and Gotham City.

In the animated series, he is dressed in a black-and-white mobster suit, with half of his face disfigured, blueish skin and white hair. He mostly battles with other crime bosses, yet his biggest battle is always against himself. In one episode he is nearly killed by Poison Ivy, who seduces him with a poisonousness kiss, thought Batman is able to save him.

Two Face has been portrayed in three films; The first was a minor role played by Billy Dee Williams in the 1989 film Batman, where he played Harvey Dent leading up to his incident.

In the film, Batman Forever, Tommy Lee Jones played the part as one of the major antagonists alongside the Riddler. Tommy Lee did a fairly well job, yet took away the seriousness of the character and instead brought out the madness. He also had two sexy girlfriends in the movie, Sugar & Spice to match both sides.

His most recent portrayal was by Aaron Eackhart in the film, The Dark Knight. In this film we mostly saw Harvey Dent's rise and fall as the District Attorney of Gotham City. He put away many criminals, and became known as the White Knight of Gotham, until he got caught-up in the Joker's master scheme. His girlfriend was killed, and his face was disfigured in a terrible explosion. Towards the end of the movie he became the Two-Face, but by the point I think Heath Ledger's Joker had already stolen the show. An all around good performance as Harvey Dent, yet not enough Two-Face in the film... Some speculate that he will return in the next film. We shall see.

The Appeal: Just as his name suggests, the Two-Face has two personalities. A good side; heroic and incorruptible, which is his former self as the clean cut District Attorney, Harvey Dent. And then the evil side; out for vengeance for what happened to his face, the loss of his girlfriend, and being abused as a child. He is at constant battle with himself, trying to choose which side to act upon, and thus uses his signature coin to make his decisions. He emerges himself in the crime world, out for power and vengeance, and thus becomes a major player and a super-villain of Gotham City. Batman's former friendship with Harvey Dent, makes it all the harder for him to bring justice upon the Two-Face.