Two-Face
Two-Face is a fictional character, a supervillain and enemy of Batman, that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in Detective Comics #66 (August 1942), and was created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Two-Face was once Harvey Dent, District Attorney of Gotham City and close ally of Batman. After a criminal disfigured half of his face with acid, Dent became the insane crime boss Two-Face who would choose to do either good or evil depending upon the results of flipping a coin—a device which was taken from the 1932 version of Scarface. Co-creator Bob Kane was inspired by a movie poster advertising the Spencer Tracy film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and conceived the idea of a villain with a dual personality.
Originally, Two-Face was one of many gimmick-focused comic book villains, plotting crimes based around the number two, such as robbing Gotham Second National Bank at 2:00 on February 2. In recent years, writers have portrayed his obsession with duality and fate and his criminal behavior as the result of multiple personality disorder and a history of child abuse. He obsessively makes all important decisions by flipping a two-headed coin, one side of which is scratched over with an X. The fact that Dent was formerly a close friend and ally of Batman before his scarring colored their now adversarial relationship is also a more prominent element in modern stories.
Although too gruesome for the 1960s television show that popularized Batman and much of his rogues gallery, Two-Face has been a prominent foe of the Dark Knight and was played by Billy Dee Williams in the 1989 film Batman, Tommy Lee Jones in the 1995 film Batman Forever. He will also appear in the upcoming film The Dark Knight, portrayed by Aaron Eckhart.
