Harvey Dent, Gotham’s beloved District Attorney, was a shining beacon of justice before tragedy struck and transformed him into the villain known as Two-Face. The horrific event that scarred his face also shattered his mind, creating a personality split between his once unwavering belief in justice and a chaotic, vengeful side fueled by randomness and fate. This duality has become Two-Face’s defining characteristic. His obsession with chance and the flipping of his coin represents his internal struggle between his idealistic past and his broken, chaotic present.
Throughout his appearances in comics, television, and film, Two-Face has delivered some of the most memorable quotes that capture the essence of this internal conflict. These lines not only reveal the fractured nature of his character but also shed light on the man he once was—and the villain he has become.
#10: “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” (The Dark Knight, 2008)
This quote, spoken by Harvey Dent before he fully succumbs to his darker side, perfectly encapsulates the transformation of Gotham’s once-heroic District Attorney. It speaks to the core of Harvey’s duality—he begins as a symbol of hope and justice, only to have his faith in the system shattered by the corruption around him. Harvey believes that those who strive to be heroes will eventually face the truth: that the fight for justice can destroy them, and they may ultimately be forced to become the very thing they hate.
While not technically a quote made by Two-Face after his transformation, this line foreshadows the devastating mental break that will come. It’s a recognition that even the most virtuous individuals have limits, and when pushed beyond them, they can lose themselves completely. This quote highlights Harvey’s internal struggle: his inability to reconcile his former self with the bitterness and vengeance that his traumatic injury has birthed.
#9: “The coin, it’s not just chance. It’s fate.” (Batman: The Animated Series, “Two-Face Part I”)
Two-Face’s obsession with fate becomes clear in this chilling quote. The coin, once a symbol of his internal conflict, has now become the tool he uses to decide life and death with cold precision. Harvey Dent once believed in justice, now he believes that the universe is governed by forces beyond his control, and that chance is the ultimate arbiter of what is right.
The line reveals how Two-Face’s fractured mind works: his belief that he is no longer in control of his destiny and that only the randomness of his coin can deliver true justice. It is a tragic reflection of his inability to return to his former self, a man who fought with ideals, only to be consumed by the randomness of fate. The coin, once used as a simple decision-making tool, becomes his means of punishing and passing judgment on Gotham’s criminals, as well as on himself.
#8: “The world is so full of evil, it’s hard to tell good from bad anymore.” (Batman: The Long Halloween)
In this quote, Two-Face reflects the despair that plagues him as he sinks deeper into madness. Harvey Dent, once Gotham’s shining example of justice, now struggles to differentiate between right and wrong. His world is no longer governed by black-and-white rules; instead, it’s a chaotic mix of moral ambiguity, where everything is relative. This is the very essence of his duality.
Two-Face’s transformation into a villain is rooted in his inability to make sense of the world. The justice system he once championed no longer seems to function, and the idealistic man he was seems like a distant memory. In his fractured state, the lines between good and bad blur, and the world becomes a place where fate is the only certainty. This quote reflects the internal conflict that defines Two-Face: his mind torn between his former dedication to justice and his newfound belief that the world is beyond repair.
#7: “Justice is a game of chance, and the coin is my referee.” (Batman #404, 1987)
This quote from the classic Batman: Year One story arc encapsulates Two-Face’s warped sense of justice. Harvey Dent’s transformation into Two-Face isn’t just about vengeance; it’s about his perception of fairness and the randomness of the world. The coin, in this context, becomes more than a decision-making tool—it becomes a symbol of his fractured belief that true justice cannot be served through human means, but only through the blind forces of fate.
Harvey’s inability to accept that justice should be blind, impartial, and fair drives his obsession with the coin. He believes that his actions, and even the life or death of others, are not determined by moral code or reasoning but by the randomness of fate, as dictated by the coin’s flip. This line highlights his loss of control over his own destiny and his unwillingness to trust his own judgment, turning fate into the ultimate judge in his eyes.
#6: “Everything is fair in love and war. Even murder.” (Batman: The Long Halloween)
This quote from Two-Face reflects his complete abandonment of any moral compass. After his transformation, Harvey Dent stops following the rules he once held dear and justifies his actions with an almost nihilistic perspective. His belief that everything is fair in love and war—the very things that are meant to govern human emotions and conflict—shows his detachment from the principles he once fought for.
By equating murder with fairness, Harvey justifies the violence he inflicts on Gotham’s criminals and anyone who crosses him. The quote reflects the ultimate downfall of a man who once believed in justice and now believes in the randomness of life and death. It shows the brutal nature of Two-Face’s thinking: a person with no empathy, no boundaries, and a total disregard for the value of human life. The shift from a man who once believed in justice to a man who sees murder as just another decision, made by fate, is a tragic commentary on his descent into madness.
#5: “You wanted a god, Batman? Well, now you’ve got one.” (Batman #452, 1990)
In this chilling quote, Two-Face reveals his complete rejection of his former identity as a crusader for justice. After his transformation, Harvey Dent believes that Gotham needs someone to impose order, and in his mind, he sees himself as that force. The quote is an ironic reflection on his fractured mind: he once worked alongside Batman as an idealistic partner, and now, he has become something entirely different—a god of fate, with the power to decide life and death at random.
This quote represents the moment where Harvey fully embraces his villainous identity, seeing himself as a powerful figure who can impose his twisted sense of justice on Gotham. It is a reflection of his delusion, as he views himself not as a broken man but as an entity above the law, one whose judgment is final. His coin, in his eyes, becomes a tool of divine intervention. It is an example of how his fractured psyche has turned him from a man of principle into a god-like figure bent on punishing Gotham.
#4: “You can’t escape what you are. You can’t escape me.” (Batman #474, 1991)
This line is a terrifying expression of the psychological battle that defines Harvey Dent. He’s no longer just a criminal—he’s the embodiment of Gotham’s broken system, a mirror of Batman’s struggle to bring justice to a corrupt city. His obsession with duality extends to the point where he believes there is no escape from his new identity.
This quote reveals Two-Face’s belief that no one, not even Gotham’s hero, can escape the chaos and suffering that he represents. It’s a statement of finality—Harvey’s duality has consumed him, and he sees it as something that cannot be separated from who he is. The terrifying aspect of this quote is the certainty that Two-Face has that his dual nature cannot be escaped, not even by the city he once swore to protect. This sentiment is his most chilling, as it reflects the depth of his descent into villainy: he no longer sees his duality as a curse, but as his true, unchangeable nature.
#3: “Don’t blame me, blame the coin.” (Batman #451, 1990)
Two-Face’s belief in the coin as a neutral arbiter of justice is most evident in this line. It perfectly encapsulates his mental state—he no longer takes responsibility for his actions, instead attributing them to the coin’s flip. This quote reflects his transformation from a man of law and order into someone who seeks absolution through randomness.
The coin, for Two-Face, represents the complete abdication of personal responsibility. By leaving his decisions to chance, he believes he is blameless for his violent actions. It’s a tragic manifestation of his belief that fate, rather than reason or morality, governs the world. This quote emphasizes how deeply Two-Face has fractured: he no longer trusts his own judgment and seeks to escape accountability by passing the responsibility onto something outside himself. The coin is not just a tool for decision-making—it’s his excuse, his crutch, and his justification.
#2: “Justice is a game of chance, and the coin is my referee.” (Batman #404, 1987)
In this chilling quote, Two-Face lays bare his twisted view of justice. What was once a system of law and order now becomes a game of randomness. His belief that justice is governed by the flip of a coin reveals how far he’s fallen from his original ideals.
This line captures the essence of Two-Face’s duality—he sees justice not as a system of right and wrong, but as a game where outcomes are determined by fate. The coin symbolizes the moral randomness that has overtaken Harvey’s life. He no longer believes in the concepts of fairness or human judgment, instead placing his faith in a coin’s flip as a way to impose “justice.” This quote embodies the ultimate irony of Two-Face’s character: he once fought for Gotham’s justice, only to abandon it in favor of blind chance.
#1: “You’re a failure, Bruce. You can’t escape what’s inside of you.” (Batman: Hush, 2002)
In the emotionally charged confrontation between Batman and Two-Face in Hush, Harvey Dent reveals how deeply his duality has shaped his perception of his former ally. This quote isn’t just about Batman’s failures—it’s about Harvey’s belief that Batman is just as broken as he is.
Two-Face’s cruelty lies in how he projects his fractured psyche onto Batman. He believes that Batman’s refusal to embrace his darker side makes him weak. In this line, Two-Face dismisses Bruce’s idealism, suggesting that true justice isn’t about principles or restraint—it’s about accepting the chaos within and using it to your advantage.
This is the culmination of Two-Face’s internal battle—he believes that Batman’s refusal to cross the line makes him a failure, even as he justifies his own descent into madness. The duality in this quote represents the ultimate tragedy of Harvey Dent’s transformation: he’s not just a villain, but a man who believes that everyone, even his former partner, is as lost as he is.
Two-Face’s journey from Gotham’s idealistic DA to one of its most tragic villains is marked by his intense internal struggle between justice and chaos. These quotes showcase the fractured mind of Harvey Dent and how his duality became the lens through which he viewed the world. His obsession with randomness, his belief in fate, and his rejection of his former ideals turned him into one of Batman’s most complex and dangerous foes. Each quote reveals a different layer of his character, making him a truly tragic figure in Gotham’s rogues’ gallery—forever torn between the man he was and the monster he became.
