With The Batman on the horizon, new incarnations of Batman's gallery of foes will soon take to the big screen. The Riddler, Penguin, and Catwoman will be the first in line, but it's only a matter of time before Matt Reeves and company bring a new version of Two-Face to the silver screen.
Batman and Two-Face's rivalry isn't as famous as the Caped Crusader's bouts with the Joker, but in many ways, it's equally as personal. That said, there are many things about Batman and Two-Face's two-man war that Batman fans who don't read the comics may not be aware of.
Batman & Two-Face Were Childhood Friends
Before Gotham City had its Dark Knight, Bruce Wayne met Harvey Dent when they went to summer camp together. In a recent retcon, it was revealed that Bruce Wayne's history with Two-Face extended far beyond their rivalry began.
Although he never knew his name, Bruce and Harvey became friends at a summer camp where Harvey told Bruce about his abusive father. While this new addition to the Batman mythos isn't everyone's cup of tea, their childhood interactions give their current battles a bit more depth, giving them a relationship before Batman: Year One.
Harvey Dent Was One Of Batman's First Allies
Batman: Year One is Batman's best comic book origin, but the story establishes far more than the Dark Knight's first year on the job. The story mostly focuses on Jim Gordon and his developing relationship with Batman, with a scene depicting Gordon questioning Assistant District Attorney Harvey Dent on his activity during Batman's adventures.
After Gordon left, Dent allowed Batman into his office, revealing the two were working together. Later, Gordon questioned a surprisingly flippant Dent on why he let notorious gangster Jefferson Skeevers out on bail, only for Batman to scare Skeevers into copping a plea.
Dent Put Bruce Wayne On Trial
While it was revealed that Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent were close as young lads, that wasn't established when Batman: The Long Halloween was written. Despite Dent maintaining his cordial relationship with Batman, he showed little more than passive contempt for Gotham's favorite son.
When Bruce was framed as being the serial killer known as Holiday, Dent had him arrested and put on trial, only for testimony from Alfred to both free Bruce and thoroughly embarrass Dent. These events illustrate how tense this era in Gotham's history was, all leading up to the infamous trial of mob boss Sal Maroni.
Two-Face Signaled In A New Era For Gotham's Criminal Underworld
After Maroni splashed acid onto Dent's face during a heated cross-examination, The Long Halloween becomes an epic tragedy that is arguably Batman's best story. Harvey, now properly going by Two-Face, gathered Gotham's costumed criminals together at Carmine Falcone's penthouse, with Batman soon arriving on the scene.
Though Batman was able to stop the other crooks, Two-Face shot Falcone in the head when his iconic coin come up scarred, ending The Roman's criminal empire. With a single gunshot, Two-Face ended the era of organized crime, with Gotham's criminal element soon being taken over by people in costumes.
When They Became Allies Again
Hush had many iconic Batman comic panels, but one of the least discussed panels sees a cured Harvey Dent reveal himself. After helping Batman stop Doctor Thomas Elliot's scheme to destroy Batman's life, Dent officially gave up his life of crime.
During the "One Year Later" era, a cured Dent briefly became Gotham's newest protector in Batman's absence. While Batman may have hoped that this new status quo was a permanent one for Dent, most knew that it wouldn't last.
Face The Face
Face The Face saw the end of Harvey Dent's career as a crime fighter and brought Two-Face back in a big way. When some of Batman's lesser villains like KGBeast, Magpie, and the Ventriloquist ended up dead, all the evidence pointed to Two-Face's return.
Batman soon unveiled that the killings were perpetrated by a new version of the Tally Man, but the damage had already been done to Harvey's psyche. The story ultimately ends on a sad note, as Dent used acid to scar himself once again.
Batman Seemingly Cured Two-Face
Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth is a unique graphic novel that showcases radically different versions of Batman and his supporting cast. Two-Face is portrayed as having lost his free will when his coin was replaced with a deck of tarot cards.
In order to stop the Joker from killing him and the asylum's staff, Batman returned Two-Face's coin to him in order to decide their fates. Though he claimed the coin landed good side up, the ending implies that it was the other way around, seemingly stating that Two-Face was cured.
Two-Face Became Batman...In A Hallucination
Following Bruce Wayne's "death" in Final Crisis, Dick Grayson took up the Batman mantle from his mentor. Not long after Grayson began his new career as Batman, Two-Face found out that someone was running around as Batman, infiltrating the Batcave before incapacitating Grayson.
Hit with tranquilizer darts, the former Robin began hallucinating Two-Face in a mock Batsuit, with the image being a striking one. Though he was swiftly defeated by the new Batman with help from Alfred, the scene made enough of an impression to warrant an action figure of a Two-Face-themed Batman.
Batman And Two-Face's Final Battle
Much like Arkham Asylum, The Dark Knight Returns' place in DC canon is disputed, but that does little to sully its status as a legendary Batman story. While everyone talks about the scenes where Batman fights the Joker and Superman, few talk about how the first person Batman fights in the story once among his first allies.
Despite his face being cured, Harvey Dent quickly returned to a life of crime, but when Batman confronted him, he explained that not everything about him had been fixed. Dent, believing that the surgeon had actually scarred both sides of his face, said that he was relieved as both sides match now, showing that while his facial scars were remedied, his mental scars remained.
Batman Isn't Two-Face's True Nemesis
Batman and Two-Face have a long-standing rivalry, but the World's Greatest Detective hasn't received the brunt of Two-Face's scorn. The Robins have all had poor relationships with the former D.A., with Two-Face making life much harder for Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne.
However, out of all his relationships with past and present Robins, Nightwing's is the most messed up. Not only did Two-Face force the first Robin to make a decision that led to the death of a civilian, but he also shot him in the shoulder, leading Batman to cut him loose. Nightwing fostered a grudge against Two-Face because of this tragedy, which was reciprocated by the villain.