Harvey Dent: Two-Face
Image taken from about.com
Since his first appearance in the Batman comic series, Harvey “Two-Face” has been one of Batman’s main adversaries. The traditional story of Harvey is as follows. Dent was the district attorney of Gotham City. His aim was to rid the city of all of the criminals. However, this mission eventually took a toll on Dent. He ended up becoming mentally deranged and scared with acid which turned half of his face into a burnt piece of flesh. Harvey soon went by the name of “Two-Face.” He felt that all people were truly evil and there was no use in trying to stop criminals. He felt that the only way to live life was by the decision of a coin. If he was going to kill someone, he would flip the coin to get either a yes or no answer.
This character has been interpreted in the media dozens of times. In 1995, Batman Forever was released into theatres with Tommy Lee Jones in the role of Two-Face. The film became one of the most successful movies of the year and Jones garnered critical acclaim for his acting. On television, the character was once again portrayed as a violent psychopath, much like he was in the comics. But in 2008, The Dark Knight was released. Aaron Eckhart portrayed Dent as the most human version we had ever seen. After losing his true love, the Joker shows him that life is chaotic and the only way to live is without rules. Dent succumbs to madness and begins to kill people he sees as being responsible for his injury.
