Harvey Dent/DKT

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"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

―Harvey Dent

Harvey Dent
Aliases:	Harvey Dent Two-Face Gotham's White Knight
Continuity:	Batman Film Series
Notability:	Antagonist
Type:	Supervillain
Gender:	Male
Race:	Human
Location:	Gotham City
Status:	Deceased
Died:	2008
First:	The Dark Knight (2008)
Actor:	Aaron Eckhart

Harvey Dent, also known by his nom de crime, Two Face, is a fictional supervillain featured in the 2008 film The Dark Knight. Played by actor Aaron Eckhart, the character is based on the DC Comics character Harvey Kent (later changed to Harvey Dent), who was introduced in Detective Comics #66 in August, 1942.

Biography

Wikipedia entry

Harvey at a speech.

Aaron Eckhart portrays Two-Face in The Dark Knight (2008), the second movie in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy and serves as the secondary antagonist. In this film, Dent is portrayed as a tragic hero, lacking the gimmickry and dissociated personalities commonly associated with the character. Harvey Dent is the new district attorney of Gotham. Planning to take down the Mafia, Dent forms a tenuous alliance with Batman (Christian Bale) and James Gordon (Gary Oldman). Corrupt police officers working with the Mafia kidnap Dent and his fiancée, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and hold them prisoner in two abandoned buildings set to explode with oil drums. Dent tries to free himself, but the chair he is strapped to falls over and knocks over one of barrels, spilling oil over the floor and soaking the left half of Dent's body. Batman saves Dent just as the building explodes, but the sparks from the explosion ignite the oil, horrifically burning and scarring half his face; Rachel is killed in the other explosion. The Joker (Heath Ledger) takes advantage of Dent's trauma, prompting him to exact revenge. As the newly-dubbed "Two-Face", a contemptuous nickname that Dent was called by cops when he was working in Internal Affairs, he hunts down those he sees as responsible for Rachel's death. Seeing random chance as the only fair thing left, he decides his victims' fates with his "father's lucky coin" (a two-headed coin with one side scarred by the explosion). Eventually, Two-Face takes Gordon's family to the warehouse where Rachel died. Batman arrives and challenges Two-Face to judge the three who pressured the Mafia to turn to the Joker for assistance: himself, Batman, and Gordon. Two-Face flips the coin for Batman, whom he shoots, and himself, whom he spares; instead of flipping for Gordon, however, the former D.A. opts to flip for Gordon's son, intending to inflict upon him the pain of losing a loved one. As the coin flies through the air, Batman tackles Two-Face, who falls off a ledge to his death. Batman takes the blame for Two-Face's murders in order to make sure Dent is remembered as a hero.

DC Database entry

Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent.

The Gotham City district attorney, Harvey Dent was hailed as the city's "White Knight;" he is getting more and more successful in rounding up all the criminals that plague Gotham City. Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon contemplate bringing Dent in on their plan to eradicate the mob, and the possibility that Dent will become the hero to the people that Batman cannot be. At the same time, Dent is dating his Assistant District Attorney Rachel Dawes and is planning to marry her. An old friend of Rachel, Bruce Wayne, meets them at a restaurant and decides to throw a fundraising party for Dent's campaign.

The mob bosses see this combined effort of Dent, Batman, Gordon, and Gotham City Police taking their money and see this as a threat. After Batman arrests their Chinese accountant, Lau, they hire an insane crime mastermind known as The Joker to kill the hero. The Joker kills a Batman impersonator and leaves with him a clue on his next three victims: Commissioner Loeb, Judge Surrillo and Harvey Dent.

At the fundraising party, Bruce talks to Rachel about their "future together," where it turns obvious that Bruce still loves Rachel. Later, Dent asks Rachel in a private area if she will marry him. Before she can give a full answer, Dent is locked in a room just as the Joker interrupts the party, wanting to know where Dent is so that he can kill him. When the Joker cannot find Dent, he states that he will settle for his loved ones and proceeds to talk with Rachel. However,Batman arrives and takes on the Joker.

The next day, at a public service memorial for the late Commissioner, the Joker, disguised as a military official, shoots at the mayor of the city. But at the last moment Jim Gordon jumps in front of him getting shot in the back, yet saving the mayor. Dent manages to capture and interrogate a thug working for the Joker. However, his interrogation is interrupted by Batman. Realizing what is happening, Wayne, disguised as Batman, states to Dent that he needs to reveal who he truly is, Wayne, in order to save Gotham and stop the killings. At a press conference held by Dent the next day, Wayne is about to step forth but before he can do so, Dent publicly admits to being "the Batman" to draw the Joker out of hiding. Arrested and in route to re-location, Dent’s transport is ambushed by the Joker and a semi-rig full of his henchmen and thugs. The Joker attempts to kill Dent during transport, but wounds up captured by Batman and Gordon, who faked his death. Harvey gets out of the truck and into a cruiser, and says he is off to see his girlfriend. Later, the now Commissioner Gordon, after reuniting with his family, gets a call explaining that Harvey never made it home.

Harvey awakens as Two-Face.

Dent wakes up tied to a chair, in a warehouse filled with gasoline barrels and a bomb, with a telephone planted so he can talk to Rachel, who is in a similar location away from there. The two reassure each other that everything will be okay as Dent attempts to escape but fails and falls and the left side of his face is immersed in oil. Batman arrives to rescue him (although expecting Rachel to be there), and as Dent is carried away of the warehouse by the hero, it explodes igniting the oil that saturated Dent's face. Batman visits Dent in the hospital, and leaves him the two-headed coin that they found at the Rachel's warehouse which exploded and killed her. One side of the coin is still shiny, while the other side is scrapped and burnt, alluding to Harvey's eventual transformation to Two-Face. Harvey wakes up in the hospital with a large bandage over half of his face, finds his now burnt two-headed coin, and screams out in his frustration behind losing the one person he loved.

Commissioner Gordon visits Dent and tries to tell him how sorry he is for what has transpired, questioning why Dent refused skin grafts and how he can stand to be in unrelenting agony over his disfigurement. Harvey is filled with rage for Gordon not listening to him when he warned Gordon not to trust the corrupt officers that Dent investigated during his time in Internal Affairs which has resulted in Dent's disfigurement and ultimately Rachel's death. Dent asks Gordon to tell him the nickname they had for him when he was in internal affairs to which Gordon replies "Harvey Two-Face."

The Joker then arrives at the recently-evacuated hospital where Dent is and talks to him, convincing Dent to exact revenge on the cops, mobsters, Gordon and Batman for killing his love. The Joker then gives Dent his gun and points it at his own head, telling Dent to "introduce a little anarchy". Dent picks up his coin and explains the rules: shiny side, he lives; burnt side, he dies; which the Joker finds amusing. He then flips it, but finds the Joker innocent and allows him to live. Dent takes the gun and his coin and leaves as the Clown Prince of Crime blows up the hospital.

"Two-Face" now confronts the corrupt cops and the mobsters one by one, flipping his coin to decide their fates. He kills a corrupt cop named Wurtz, faces Maroni in his car. Although the coin spares Maroni, it condemns his driver, and the car to crashes. Two-Face confronts Ramirez, forcing her to call Gordon's family and tell his wife and two sons to meet him at the exact spot where Rachel was killed. They believe her because they trust her. Afterwords, Two-Face flips a coin for Ramirez's life and it lands on the clean side, so he just knocks her out and heads on. As Gordon arrives at the building where the Joker is keeping people hostage, he gets a call from his family telling him they are being held captive by Two-Face in the place where Rachel was killed. Gordon rushes off to save his family as Batman breaks in to the building.

In the building where Rachel died, Gordon arrives to see Two-Face holding his family hostage. Two-Face knocks him to the ground tells him that he is going to make him suffer just as he did, as he grabs his young son Jimmy and prepares to flip the coin for his fate. Batman arrives and tells him to stop, and to blame the people responsible for Rachel's death. So then Two-Face flips the coin for Batman, which lands on the burnt, scarred side, and Two-Face shoots him. He then flips the coin for himself and it lands on the clean side. As he is flipping the coin for Gordon's son, he tells Gordon to lie to the boy and tell him that everything will be alright, just as Dent himself had to tell Rachel earlier seconds before she was killed. Batman gets up and tackles him and they fall off of the building together. Batman hands Jimmy up to Gordon as Batman himself falls to the ground next to Two-Face, who was dead.

As Gordon climbs down to check on Batman, he laments that the Joker actually won by turning Harvey Dent, the best of them, and tore him down. Batman tells Gordon that the people of Gotham must never know about Two-Face's killings, and to blame them on Batman himself, basically turning himself into an outlaw in the eyes of the people of Gotham. At Dent's memorial service, Gordon reluctantly smashes the Bat-Signal above the MCU building.

As the cops begin to chase Batman, he hops on his Batpod and speeds out into the night. Gordon notes to his son that Batman is the hero Gotham deserves, but not the hero it needs right now. That was Harvey Dent.

DC Movies entry

Two-Face is not happy.

Dent started his campaign by bringing down any mob owned bank he could find, and arresting as many criminals as he could. After Batman captures gang leader Lau in Hong Kong, Dent puts every single one of his clients on trial at the same time. The Joker attempts to kill him at Wayne Manor during a party dedicated for him, but Bruce Wayne locks him out just in time.

After the supposed death of Lieutenant Gordon, Dent claims to the press that he is the Batman and turns himself into the authorities. This is actually a ploy to lure out the Joker out. The Joker attacks his detainment truck with a bazooka, and Batman shows up. After the battle, his plan was successful, and Gordon (who faked his death) captures the unsuspecting Joker. Before he could make it home, the corrupt cops driving his car turn him and Rachel in to the mob.

Trapped in an explosive-rigged warehouse, Dent falls and knocks over a large can of gasoline which spills onto the left half of his face. Later, as Batman is saving him and the building explodes, a spark catches on that side of his face, burning and disfiguring him into "Two-Face".

Though Dent is taken to Gotham General Hospital, he refuses pain medication and skin grafts due to his grief and rage; he blames Rachel's death and his disfigurement on Batman, Gordon, and the Joker. Later the Joker breaks in and feeds him his hatred, giving him a handgun and asking him to create "anarchy".

Harvey "Two-Face" starts facing the corrupt cops and the mobsters one by one, flipping a coin to decide their fates. He is not seen again until the end of the film when Batman finds Gordon and his family with Dent at the building where Rachel died. Harvey proceeds to judge Batman, himself, and Gordon through the chance of coin flip, which he sees as the only fairness left in the world. Harvey shoots Batman in the stomach but before he can determine Gordon and his son's fate, Batman tackles him over the side of the building, killing Dent and saving Gordon's son.

To preserve Dent's image as Gotham's hero, Batman asks Gordon to blame all the day's deaths on Batman. Hence, the police force start a manhunt for him and Gotham has a funeral for the "White Knight".

Batman Wiki entry

That is never going to heal if you don't stop picking at it.

Having won Gotham City's election for District Attorney, Dent wastes no time in bringing well known mob boss Sal Maroni to trial. Some tension is revealed between Dent and the assistant DA, Rachel Dawes when Dent arrives late, to which he suggests that they flip his father's lucky coin to see who presents first.

The basis of his case was made around the sworn testimony of a mafia wiseguy, leading Dent to accuse Maroni of seizing control of Gotham's organized crime while Carmine Falcone remains in Arkham Asylum. Unfortunately, the statement quickly becomes perjury when the witness jokingly states that he was, in fact, the leader of the Falcone Crime Family, stating that Sal was nothing but a fall guy. With permission from the presiding judge, Dent treats the witness as hostile to which the wiseguy produces a handgun and points it directly at Dent's chest.

Fortunately, the gun jams, and Dent subdues the witness with a punch before the man is taken down and handcuffed by officers. Dent takes the handgun and quickly discerns that it's a Chinese weapon, laying it before Maroni and taunting him, "If you want to kill a public servant, Mr. Maroni, I recommend you buy American."

Then as a show of theatrics, Dent turns to the witness as he's being dragged off and suggests that he's not done despite his near death experience. The observing crowd laughs and applauds the confident DA.

After the court case, Dawes makes Dent promise to play fair with Jim Gordon, the Lieutenant now in charge of Gotham City's new Major Crimes Unit. Upon meeting with Gordon, Dent confirms that because of the perjury, Sal Maroni could not be indicted, but also notes that the mafia will constantly be giving people second chances.

Gordon at the time, was seeking five search warrants for an equal number of banks, as these were suspected of being holding reserves of the mob's life savings. Although as interested in shutting down the mob's funds as Gordon is, Dent is curious as to Gordon's involvement with the vigilante known as Batman, as the police made use of lightly irradiated bills in order to track down which banks the mob uses. The conversations also reveals a thorn of distrust between the two men, as much of Dent's experience and first-hand attempts to stop corruption within Gotham began with his time in Internal Affairs, investigating officers Gordon would later work with. Dent knows first-hand that there are men within Gordon's unit who cannot be trusted, and the difference makes a rift in the two. It was here that Dent alludes he knew the nickname he had been called behind his back, but agrees to get the warrants for Gordon.

While at an impressive dinner with Dawes, Bruce Wayne happens to arrive at the same time with well known ballerina, Natasha. Under Bruce's urgings, the couples break bread, giving Wayne an opportunity to get to know Dent. It was during this time that Dent not only defends Batman, but also idolizes him. He admits that he perceives him as a necessity, needed during these dark times. He believes that Batman isn't looking to fight crime for the rest of his life and is searching for a successor. This earns the admiration of Wayne, who offers to throw Dent a fund raiser, promising him that he would never desire for campaign donations ever again.

Because Dent had ended all other money laundering operations in Gotham, it doesn't take long for the DA to peg Lau as the one who seized the funds before Gordon's unit could. Frustrated, Dent goes to the top of the MCU and activates the Bat-Signal, waiting for Batman to appear. It was then that Gordon, Dent and Batman hold a meeting as a triumvirate of Gotham's finest. Dent explains that the Chinese will not extradite one of their own, and if Batman is able to bring Lau back to the States to stand trial, he can get him to testify.

When Lau is dropped off in front of the MCU, Dent observes the negotiations between Dawes and Lau. Lau makes an offer to hand over information on the mob's investments, Dent realizes he could charge virtually every member of the mafia in one giant RICO conspiracy case. Again, the distrust between Gordon and Dent is revealed when Dent reveals he does not trust Gordon's men. Regardless, Gordon does not permit Lau to be sent to County, in fear that the man would not survive lock up.

With Lau's evidence, Gordon takes all members of the mafia into custody, including Sal Maroni and the Chechen. Before Judge Surillo, Dent pushes for an absolutely absurd number of charges in a single case: 712 counts of extortion, 849 counts of racketeering, 246 counts of fraud, 87 counts of conspiracy to commit murder, 527 counts of obstruction of justice and possibly more felonies go unlisted. All leveled against 549 suspects.

Before the mayor, Dent is called to explain this extremely difficult conspiracy case. Rather than say that this is a deep stab at justice, Dent suggests instead that this be viewed as a tremendous break from crime for Gotham. Even though the head mafia leaders would post bail, the middle men would not. 18 months would go by between appeals, giving the mayor enough time to clean up and make considerably improvements to Gotham City. The mayor agrees to this, but gives Dent a powerful warning that the mob aren't his only enemies, that anyone within Gotham who took pay from them would turn against the District Attorney. The meeting is interrupted as a dead Batman copycat slams into the window.

Later that night, Dent arrives at Bruce Wayne's fundraiser with Rachel Dawes, scared at the prospects of meeting Gotham's upper class. After a humorous and short meeting with Alfred, Dent is greeted by Wayne openly, receiving an embarrassing welcome as Wayne gives his support for Dent and encouraging a round of applause from all of the guests.

A few moments later, Dent interrupts the conversation between Dawes and Wayne to speak to his girlfriend. Quietly, Dent builds the conversation to ask Dawes how she would feel about marriage. At first, Dawes is somewhat reluctant to discuss it, but before Dent could further the conversation, Wayne grabs him from behind, incapacitates him, and locks him in a closet to protect him as the Joker storms the party.

During the mayhem that ensured during the Joker's attack, Commissioner Loeb was killed after ingesting an acid thought to be his preferred alcoholic beverage. Soon after, a memorial service is held in his honor. During which, the Joker and his goons, dressed as the firing squad, turn their guns upon the mayor and fail to kill him, striking down Gordon. While the faux firing squad attempted to escape, one of these men was captured. After escorting Dawes to safety, Dent gets into an ambulance with the suspect and seeks to question him, before realizing that his name tag lists the Joker's next intended target: Rachel Dawes.

Frustrated, Dent climbs into the cab of the ambulance and drives off to an undisclosed location. After a phone call warning Rachel to get to safety, away from the MCU, he then goes on to interrogate the captured thug. Using a hand gun and the flip of his coin, Dent threatens to kill the man unless he tells him everything he knows about the Joker. After the second toss, the coin is caught by Batman, who had just returned from interrogating Sal Maroni. Batman explains that the henchman's name is Thomas Schiff, a paranoid schizophrenic who could not tell Dent what he desired. Batman then goes on to explain that if anyone saw what Dent was doing, the prosecution against the mafia would be destroyed, and the only way to stop the Joker is for Batman to turn himself in. As Batman turns to leave, Dent screams his disapproval.

The next day, Dent goes before a crowd of police, media and observers to explain that Batman has offered to turn himself in and give into the Joker's demands. But before accepting this, he makes a desperate plea to the people not to give into the whims of a terrorist. Despite his assertions, the people demand that the Batman surrender. Before Bruce Wayne could step forward to confess his identity, Harvey demands that the police arrest him as Batman.

In lock up, Dent is cheered for by the GCPD as he marches towards the escort van to take him to county. Despite Rachel's pleas, Dent explains that in doing this, Batman will have a chance to capture the Joker, and promises Rachel that he will go through with this with a flip of his coin, leaving it with her.

While locked within the van, Dent is unable to affect the battle that ensues mid-transit. It's only after Gordon reveals himself as alive and well, and that the Joker has been captured, that Dent is set free. Immediately, Dent goes on television to explain his gamble to capture the Joker, until at last he is escorted back to a car to be driven home. Unfortunately, the car is driven by Michael Wuertz, a corrupt cop on the payroll of Maroni.

After being captured by Wuertz, Dent awakens in a warehouse stacked with drums of fuel. On the opposite end of a rigged landline phone, Rachel Dawes screams, having also been captured by Maroni's men. Dent reassures Rachel as he begins to struggle while tied to his chair. Rachel explains that the timer set before them is set to detonate by the warehouse Dent was in as well as her own whereabouts, and that she was told it was their friends who would have to choose which one of the two would survive. Unfortunately, Dent's efforts to free himself not only throw him to the floor but also knock one of the barrels of gasoline to the ground with him.

The gasoline leaks from the top, spreading across the floor and covering the left side of Dent's face. While Dent struggles to stand, Rachel confesses to loving Dent and agrees to his earlier marriage proposal. It was immediately after this that Batman finally bursts in, having been tricked by the Joker. With no time left, Batman immediately dashed forward and dragged the struggling Dent away. The two make it clear of the building just as the timer reaches zero and the building explodes. The gasoline soaked half of Dent catches on fire and the man drops to the floor, writhing and screaming as flames consume half of his face.

Dent is rushed to Gotham General Hospital, where half his face is covered by a cloth. When he awakens, he finds his father's lucky coin, left there by an earlier visit by Batman while he was still unconscious. Remembering Rachel was the last to have it, he turns the coin over, discovering that one half is greatly burnt. A torrent of emotions envelope him, as Dent is overwhelmed by grief.

The next day, Jim Gordon visits Dent. Gordon reveals that Dent is refusing medication and skin grafts. Dent changes the subject, asking Gordon again what the nickname was members of the MCU called him. With reluctance, Gordon calls him "Two-Face." Dent turns to stare at a horrified Gordon, revealing the remainder of his visage. But even as Gordon apologizes and turns to leave, Dent swears to him that he is not truly sorry, "Not yet."

During the crisis that his threats against the city cause, the Joker disguises himself and inflitrates Gotham General to speak to Dent. Apologizing for the death of Rachel Dawes, the Joker manages to deflect the blame from himself onto Gordon, Batman, Maroni and the corrupt officers. Explaining that he is an agent of chaos, the Joker offers his life to Dent, giving the District Attorney a hand gun and forcibly holding it to his own head. It was then that the Joker explained a point which finally pushed Dent over the edge, "Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair."

Dent, baffled by the Joker's actions, finally comes to a conclusion - whether or not the Joker leaves would be based upon the toss of his lucky coin. Should the flipped coin land on the unblemished side, the Joker would live. However, should it fall on the burnt half, he would die. The flip of the coin lands in the Joker's favor however, and Dent lets the man leave. It was then that Two-Face was truly born.

Motivated by his need for vengeance, Two-Face begins to pursue those responsible for the death of Rachel and his disfigurement. He begins by visiting Michael Wuertz, and after a brief interrogation to find the other traitor in Gordon's unit, answers that he does not know. Two-Face spins his coin on the table to decide the man's fate. It lands black, and Wuertz' life ends in the gunshot.

Two-Face then visits Maroni, having waited for him in his car. As the two sit in the back seat, Maroni is tricked into revealing that the other traitor in Gordon's unit was Anna Ramirez. Although Two-Face flips the coin for Maroni's judgement, it lands in the mob boss' favor. However, Two-Face circumvents this by also judging Maroni's driver. When it lands bad heads, Dent buckles in and shoots the chauffeur in the back of the head, resulting in a car crash that leaves Maroni's fate uncertain, but likely dead.

Then, having hunted down Ramirez, Two-Face forces her to trick Gordon's family into leaving their dwelling and coming to the warehouse where Rachel Dawes had died. The deed done, Two-Face chastises Ramirez for her betrayal, and she in turn pleads that she only did it to save her mother, who desperately needed the funds for her hospital fees. Two-Face silences her with a vicious "Don't!", and flips the coin. Fortunately for Ramirez, it lands in her favor, and Two-Face just knocks her unconscious.

With Gordon's family as his hostages, Two-Face then calls and taunts Gordon into coming to the wreckage of the destroyed warehouse. Gordon arrives and is knocked down and disarmed. As Gordon pleads with Two-Face to release his family, the former D.A. plucks Gordon's son from his mother's arms and prepares to judge him, believing that in taking who Gordon loves is equal to the loss of Rachel's death.

Before he could flip the coin, however, Batman appears and reasons with Two-Face, saying that those responsible are the three of them, and that only the three of them deserve punishment. Two-Face believes this to be a fair assessment, and flips the coin for Batman. It lands bad heads, and with a shot to Batman's stomach, knocks him down and out. Then, Two-Face points the gun to his own head, but the flip comes out good heads, permitting him to survive his own judgement. Finally, Two-Face turns to Gordon, still intent to shoot the boy. But as he flips the coin, Batman tackles him off the edge of the floor, letting the vigilante plummet to his death.

With Dent dead, the problem remains that his murders that day would destroy the prosecution for good, and cause the people of Gotham to lose hope. With no choices left, Batman agrees to take the blame for the murders, preserving Dent's public image. Gordon is reluctant, but agrees, holding a memorial service to honor Dent.

Notes & Trivia

• The character of Harvey Dent was created by director Christopher Nolan and writers Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer based on concepts originally developed by Bill Finger and Bob Kane.

• This version of Harvey Dent is the third iteration of the character to appear in film. The first was played by former Star Wars actor Billy Dee Williams in the 1989 film Batman. This version of the character had a minor supporting role in the film and never became Two-Face. The character was re-imagined for the 1995 film Batman forever, where he was played by actor Tommy Lee Jones. This version of Harvey Dent actually did become Two-Face, but was more comical than his comic book counterpart, often engaging in slapstick comedy with villainous cohort the Riddler (played by Jim Carey).

See also

Batman Media

Batman Batman films Batman programs

Batman novels Batman serials Batman comic books

The World of Batman

Batman characters Batman villains Batman organizations

Batman items Batman locations Batman storylines

Batman miscellaneous

Batman galleries Batman appearances Batman merchandise Batman disambiguations

Batman creators Batman writers Batman artists Batman miscellaneous

External Links

• Harvey Dent at IMDB
• Harvey Dent at DCDP
• Harvey Dent at Wikipedia
• Harvey Dent at the Batman Wiki
• Harvey Dent at the DC Movies Wiki

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