Know your Bat-Villain!: Two-face

Continuing with our series of character profiles, I decided to do Two-face. He is not a favorite of mine, but his mental disorder is so interesting and complex I had to get him out of the way...

Two-face: To understand him you have to split him in three parts. There is Harvey, Big Bad Harv and Two-face (let's leave The Judge and any other guys in there alone).
Harvey Dent is the perfect example of a passionate, well balanced  leader. He can pull challenging tasks and use his charismatic social skills to persuade anyone. A bright student, you can bet he was a star athlete, and people love him. Additionally, he is blessed with great empathy and a terrific moral compass. 
By contrast, Big Bad Harv is the worst example of a dominant alpha male. He has ASPD, which makes him is impulsive, vindictive, violent, and resentful. He cares only about himself. Since he is a doer as well, he still attracts people, mostly codependent ones. The worst nightmare of a father-in-law. 
Overall, he is a man with 'dissociative identity disorder'. When he becomes Two-face, he stays emotionally involved and decides between what Harvey wants and what Big Bad Harv wants by flipping a coin. 
His coin is a symbol of chance deciding between Harv's chaos and Harvey's order. Two-face's plots usually revolve around destroying the system in favor of chance, be that the organized crime or the structure of the city. 
Most Batman rogues are bitter small men (the Riddler, the Scarecrow), some are dominant people (Penguin, Scarface), and very few have true leadership qualities (The Joker, Ra's Al Ghul, Egghead, Talia, Owlman, Falcone, Thorne, Maroni), but none like Two-Face (well, maybe Bane). This is what makes him so dangerous and compelling. 
Some versions go straight from Harvey to Two-face without exploring Big Bad Harv, however, the principle is basically the same: He goes from a productive good man, to somebody that struggles between doing the right and the wrong thing.   
Although The Dark Knight makes a deeper exploration of Harvey as a leader, the best exploration so far is his portrayal in Batman: The Animated series. 

Tips for using him: Two-face doesn't need to flip the coin every time he faces a decision. Just when what Harvey wants is at odds with what Big Bad Harv wants. Also, once he has taken a decition, both personas compromise and they don't go back. If the coin decides to kill someone, Harvey won't propose something that goes against the plan. However, he might set traps (like the time he didn't kill Maroni but his driver).

For more Bat-villain profiles, check out the main article:

Know your Bat-Villain!

If you want other character profiles, please, check out the following articles:

Know your Justice Leaguer!
Understand the personality of the early
members of the World's mightiest team.

Know your Super Buddy!
Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire,  Ice, Sue, 
Maxwell and the rest of the late 80s gang!

Know Your Bat-Villain!: Boss Thorne

Continuing with our series of character profiles, I give you Rupert Thorne, one of Batman's most underrated big threats. Even though he is often overlooked or replaced with disposable characters like Carl Grissom or Carmine Falcone, he is a formidable opponent and a great go-to catalyst in Batman stories.

Boss Thorne: He is a socially-oriented shark with the skills of a calculating psychopath. The opposite of the Arkham types, he keeps a facade of a sane, charming man and hides well his lack of empathy and righteousness. He is suave, his mood is mostly good, always teasing around and his outburst of anger don’t last much. He keeps his eyes on the ball and he preys whoever he needs to disappear or become a tool.
Out of all the enemies of Batman, he is among the few with a seasoned attitude that reflects confidence and experience. His wealth gives him higher ground, which makes him even more dangerous.
There are only two versions that were properly explored, the one from the comic books and the one from Batman: The Animated Series, and his attitude and profile is basically the same in both. He rarely focuses on tasks or MacGuffins; in every iteration, his plots revolve around using people to destroy his enemies and increasing his power. This usually backfires and he becomes the perpetual prey of his former victims: Dr. Phosphorus, Hugo Strange, and Two-face. In the animated series, his behavior was put in contrast with that of Arnold Stromwell and his own brother, Mathew Thorne a. k. a. the Crime Doctor. Both of them criminals with a empathy underneath their tough exterior.
The biggest difference between both continuities is that in comics he keeps a double life as a politician while he runs a large underworld cartel; whereas in the animated series, his role as the main crime boss of Gotham City is well known, even though he does have legitimate enterprises.
In the animated series, his gang is notorious for having similar personalities, specially the recurring members like his moll, Candice, and Frankie. It’s notorious how Candice can gain people’s trust, gather information and then betray them without remorse.

Physical description: In every version he is a fat, white man with white hair and blue eyes; somewhat modeled after actor Carroll O'Connor. He wears three piece suits and a distinctive ring. He is often seen smoking cigars.

Possible uses: The role of Ruppert Thone is flexible to the point that he almost seems like a recurring character of The Simpsons. Like one of them, he adds a unique dimension to his city, as the representation of corruption. He is basically House of Cards' Frank Underwood in Batman's world. He fits whenever a catalyst is needed to make another villain have a breakdown and his constant plots to use people and climb up are always interesting.  

For more Bat-villain profiles, check out the main article:

Know your Bat-Villain!

If you want other character profiles, please, check out the following articles:

Know your Justice Leaguer!
Understand the personality of the early
members of the World's mightiest team.

Know your Super Buddy!
Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Fire,  Ice, Sue, 
Maxwell and the rest of the late 80s gang!