Harvey Dent/ Two-Face The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you...the dawn is coming.
4th most-quoted character in The Dark Knight (2008): in 29 of its 136 quotes
Most scenes with: Rachel Dawes (14), Bruce Wayne/Batman (5), Commissioner Gordon (5)
You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.
More lines from Harvey Dent/ Two-Face
12 quotes Harvey Dent/ Two-Face Harvey Dent/ Two-Face [To Sal Maroni, while sitting in a vehicle, after flipping his coin]
You're a lucky man. [about Sal's driver, after flipping his coin once more] He's not...your driver [Two-Face shoots the driver, possibly killing Maroni in the process]
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time...but you were wrong! The world is cruel. And the only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unbiased, unprejudiced, fair.
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face I don't leave anything up to chance, I make my own luck.
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face [To Joker]
You live... [showing one face of his coin] You die! [shows the other face]
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face [After the public demand the arrest of Batman]
All right, then, take the Batman into custody. I am the Batman.
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face Have you ever had to talk to the person you love most? To tell them it's going to be all right, when you know that it's not?
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face [In response to Gordon saying he's sorry]
No. No you're not. Not yet.
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face [To Maroni]
Are you going to join your wife? Do you love her? Do you ever wonder what it would sound like to listen to her die?
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face Tell your boy it'll be all right, Gordon. Lie. Like I lied.
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face You think I want to escape from this? There is no escape from this!
Harvey Dent/ Two-Face It's not about what I want, it's about what's fair!
Scenes with Harvey Dent/ Two-Face
16 scenes Harvey Dent [to Rachel arriving late to court]
Sorry I'm late folks.
Harvey Dent [After they sit down when the judge enters] [to Rachel]
Who should go first?
What do you mean?
Harvey Dent [pulls out a coin]
Heads, I go; tails, you go.
You'd leave something like this up to chance.
Harvey Dent [flips her the coin, which lands on "heads"]
I don't rely on chance. I make my own luck.
[to Dent]
I thought the D.A.'s job was just to play golf with the mayor; stuff like that.
Harvey Dent Tee-off's at one-thirty. That's more than enough time to put you away, "Sally".
Harvey Dent [During Maroni's trial]
With Carmine Falcone behind bars in Arkham, someone must've taken over the so-called Family. Is that man in this courtroom today?
Witness
[nods]
Harvey Dent [confidently looking at Maroni]
Could you identify him, please?
Witness
[jokingly, as Maroni smirks at Dent]
You win, counselor: it was me. [courtroom laughs]
Harvey Dent [surprised and furious, walks over to the table and picks up a folder]
I have here, a signed statement, by you, saying that Salvatore Maroni is the head of the Falcone crime family. Is that true?
Witness
Maroni's just a fall guy. I'm the brains of the organization. [courtroom laughs again]
Judge
[bangs gavel]
Order!
Harvey Dent Your honor, permission to treat the witness as hostile.
Judge
Granted.
Witness
Hostile?! I'll show you hostile! [The witness smirks as he pulls out a gun, only for it to jam as Harvey punches him in the face and takes it]
Harvey Dent [describing the gun to Maroni]
Carbon fiber. .28 caliber, made in China. If you want to kill a public servant, Mr. Maroni, I recommend you buy American. [places it on Maroni's desk]
Judge
Remove this man into custody!
Harvey Dent But Your Honor, I'm not done. [the courtroom cheers]
[After the trial is over] [excited]
There's no way we can link the gun to Maroni, so we won't be able to charge him with anything, but the fact that they're trying to kill you means that we're getting to them.
Harvey Dent [sarcastically]
Well, I'm glad you're so pleased. I'm fine, by the way.
Come on, Harvey. You're Gotham's D.A. If you're not getting shot at, then you're not doing your job right.
Harvey Dent [We see Harvey Dent on the roof looking at the Batsignal with is on with his back to the camera; he turns around as Batman emerges from the shadows behind him] [a bit sarcastically]
You're a hard man to reach.
Harvey Dent [Gordon storms onto the roof and angrily shuts off the Batsignal]
Lau's halfway to Hong Kong. If you would've asked, I could've taken his passports! I told you to keep me in the loop!
All that was left in the vaults were marked bills! They knew we were coming! As soon as your office got involved...[Harvey cuts him off]
Harvey Dent My office?! You're sitting down there with scum like Wuertz and Ramirez, and you're talking to...Oh yeah, Gordon. I almost had your rookie cold on a racketeering beef!
Don't try to cloud the fact that clearly Maroni has people in your office, Dent!
Harvey [to Batman, who has remained silent, simply watching the entire exchange]
We need Lau back. But the Chinese won't extradite a national under any circumstances.
If I get him to you, can you get him to talk?
Harvey Dent I'll get him to sing.
We're going after the mob's life savings. Things will get ugly.
Harvey Dent I knew the risks when I took this job, Lieutenant. [turns back to Batman] How will you get him back any...
Harvey [Harvey Dent and Rachel are having a quiet date a very expensive upscale restaurant]
It took me three weeks to get a reservation. And I had to tell them I work for the government.
Really?
Harvey The City health inspector isn't afraid to pull strings.
Yeah, Bruce. [skeptically] Fancy that.
Natasha? Are you the...
Prima ballerina for the Moscow ballet.
Wow, Harvey's taking me next week.
Bruce, this is Harvey Dent.
Harvey [Harvey and Bruce shake hands]
The famous Bruce Wayne. Rachel's told me everything about you.
I certainly hope not. So let's put a couple of tables together.
Harvey [looks around]
I don't think they'll let us.
Well, they should. I own the place. [motions with his hand for someone to move a table]
Natasha
I don't think Gotham is a good place to raise children.
Harvey Is Wayne Manor in Gotham City's limits?
[laughs]
The Palisades? Sure. As our new DA, you should probably check out where your jurisdiction ends.
Natasha
No, I mean, how can you justify supporting a vigilante?
Harvey Well, I think that Gotham should be proud that one of its citizens is standing up for what's right.
Natasha
But this is a democracy.
Exactly. Who elected the Batman?
Harvey We did. All of us who let scum like over our city. When their enemies were at the gates, the Romans would suspend democracy and appoint one man to protect the city. And it wasn't considered an honor, it was considered a public service.
Harvey, the last person the Romans elected was named Caesar, and he never gave up his power.
Harvey Fine. You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Look, whoever the Batman is, he's looking for someone to take his place. He doesn't want to do it forever.
Natasha
Someone like you, Mr. Dent?
Harvey Maybe. If I'm up to it.
Natasha
[holding her napkin up, covering the upper half of Harvey's face, laughing]
What if Harvey Dent is the Caped Crusader.
Harvey [stroking Rachel's hand]
If I was sneaking out every night, someone would noticed by now.
[who has been listening and thinking intently]
Well, I'm sold. Dent, I'm going to throw you a fundraiser.
Harvey That's very nice of you Bruce, but I'm not up for election for another three years. [Bruce interrupts]
[completely serious]
No, no, no, you don't understand. One party with my pals, and you'll never have to worry about another cent.
Harvey Dent You're Alfred, right?
That's right, sir.
Harvey Dent You've known Rachel her whole life?
Well, not yet, sir.
Harvey Dent Any psychotic ex-boyfriends I should be aware of?
Oh, you have no idea.
Harvey, I'm sorry about Rachel. The doctors told me that you're in agonizing pain, but that you're refusing medication...that you refused to accept skin grafts.
Harvey Dent Remember that nickname that you gave me when I worked in Internal Affairs...what was that?
Harvey...
Harvey Dent Say it. [pause] Say it!
Harvey Dent Why should I hide who I am? [reveals the burnt side of his face to an uncomfortable and guilty looking Gordon]
I know you tried to warn me before. Wuertz picked you up. Do you know who picked up Rachel?
Harvey Dent Why would you listen to me now?
I'm sorry, Harvey.
Harvey Dent [The camera reveals the burnt side of Harvey's face for the first time]
No...no you're not. Not yet.
[The Joker, dressed in a nurse uniform and wig, visits Harvey "Two-Face" in the hospital. He shoots a police officer before walking over to Harvey's bedside] [raising the upper-half of the bed up, mutters a tune while doing so]
La, de, la, de, la, de, lum [takes off his surgical mask]
[Harvey immediately becomes enraged and struggles to get out of the bed he's tied to] [sits down by the bed, sighs and with a sympathetic tone and forced smile]
Hiii. [takes off his wig as Harvey stops struggling, shaking his hair back into its messy state with his hands] You know, I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us, Harvey. When you and, uhh, Ra...
Two-Face Rachel!
[motions his hands before him as he talks]
...Rachel were being abducted, I was sitting in Gordon's cage. Now, uh, I – I didn't rig those charges.
Two-Face Your men, your plan.
[serious, smirks slowly]
Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? [Two-Face tries to raise his arms] I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know...I just do things. The mob has plans. The cops have plans. Gordon's got plans. You know...they're schemers. Schemers trying to control their little worlds. I'm not a schemer. I try to show the schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. So when I say... [grabs Harvey's hand, Harvey struggles a little] eh, come here. When I say that you and your girlfriend [slowly slaps Harvey's hand a couple of times] was nothing personal, you know that I'm telling the truth. [starts unstrapping Harvey's wrists from one side] It's the schemers... [goes to the other side] that put you where you are. You were a schemer. You had plans. And, uh ... [starts unstrapping Harvey's other wrist] look where that got you.
[Once Harvey's other wrist is free, he attempts to grab The Joker, the two struggling with each other until The Joker grabs a hold of Harvey's hands, moving them from side to side]
I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and [sing-song tone] I turned it on itself. [Harvey stops struggling, The Joker looking down at him] Look at what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hm? You know–you know what I noticed? Nobody panics when things go [does the quote-fingers] "according to plan"... even if the plan is horrifying. If tomorrow I told the press that, like, a gang-banger will get shot, or a truck load of soldiers will be blown up, nobody panics, because it's all part of the plan. But when I say that one little old mayor will die... [voice rises hysterically] well, then everyone loses their minds! [lets go of Harvey's hands and pulls out a gun, the handle facing Harvey] Introduce a little anarchy. [puts the gun into Harvey's hand, cocking the gun] Upset the established order, then everything becomes...chaos. [guides the gun to his own forehead, smacking his lips] I'm an agent of chaos. Oh, and you know the thing about chaos? It's fair.
Two-Face [looks down, pulls out his lucky coin with his free hand and shows the "heads" side to The Joker]
You live.
Mmm-hm. [smacks lips together]
Two-Face [turns coin around, showing the burnt, "tails" side]
You die.
Hmmm, now we're talking.
[Harvey flips the coin, assuming it landed, The Joker then looks at him]
TV Reporter Gotham PD has shut down the bridges and tunnels across the area.
Sweet Jesus. [to Detective Wuertz, who is sitting on the barstool] Shouldn't you be out there? You know, doin' somethin'?
Detective Wuertz It's my day off.
I gotta take a leak. Keep an eye out for me, will ya? [leaves]
Detective Wuertz [Pause ... someone enters the room]
Now what? Need someone to shake it for you?
Two-Face Hello.
Detective Wuertz [shocked]
Dent. Jesus, I-I thought you was dead...
Two-Face Half.
Two-Face [He drinks Wuertz's shot of whiskey, with some of it flowing out the side of his face]
Who picked up Rachel, Wuertz?
Detective Wuertz It must've been Maroni's men.
Two-Face Shut up! Are you telling me that you're gonna protect the other traitor in Gordon's unit?
Detective Wuertz I don't know, he never told me! Listen, Dent, I-I swear to God, I didn't know what they were gonna do to you.
Two-Face Hm, that's funny...[spins his coin on the table]...because I don't know what's gonna happen to you either. [it lands on "tails"]
[Two-Face shoots him]
[Maroni gets into his cars as he heads out of Gotham] [to the driver]
Don't stop for lights, cops, nothin'. [notices that Two-Face is sitting beside him in the car]
Two-Face Going to join your wife? You love her.
Two-Face You ever imagined what it would be like to listen to her die?
Look, take it up with the Joker. He killed your woman. He made you...like this.
Two-Face The Joker's just a mad dog. I want whoever let him off the leash. I took care of Wuertz. Now, who was your other man inside Gordon's unit who picked up Rachel? It must've been someone she trusted.
Look, if I tell you, will you let me go?
Two-Face It can't hurt your chances.
It was Ramirez.
Two-Face I said it couldn't hurt your chances. [flips his coin: it's "heads"] You're a lucky man. [flips it again: "tails"] But he's not.
Who?
Two-Face [buckles seatbelt]
Your driver. [shoots the driver; the car crashes]
Barbara [Gordon has received a phone call from his wife]
Jim, help! We're in trouble.
Calm down, Barbara. What's going on?
Barbara He's got has the kids!
Two-Face [taking the phone]
Hello, Jim.
Harvey? What did you do? Where's my family?
Two-Face Where my family died. [hangs up]
[Two-Face has kidnapped Gordon's family, and Gordon has followed them to the place where Rachel died] [as he walks into the building]
Dent!
Two-Face [after knocking Gordon to the ground from behind]
This is where they brought her, Gordon...after your men handed her over. This is where she died.
I know. I was here, trying to save her.
Two-Face But you didn't!
I couldn't!
Two-Face Yes, you could have. If you had listened to me...if you stood up against corruption...instead of doing your deal with the devil!
I was trying to fight the mob!
Two-Face You wouldn't dare try to justify yourself if you knew what I lost. Have you ever had to talk to the person you love most? To tell them it's going to be all right, when you know that it's not? Well, you're about to know what it feels like, Gordon. Then you can look me in the eye and tell me you're sorry.
Two-Face [moving over to Gordon's wife and children with his gun out]
No, just the person you love most. [points the gun at his Gordon's wife] Is it your wife?
Put the gun down Dent! [whispers] please.
[Two-Face puts the gun to Gordon's son]
Goddamn it, will you stop pointing the gun at my family?!
Two-Face We have a winner.
Barbara [as Harvey grabs their son]
No, Jim, stop him!
Harvey? Harvey! [desperate] I'm sorry! For everything! Please, don't hurt my son.
Two-Face [seems to consider it but grows angry when he hears police sirens]
You brought your cops?!
All they know is this is a situation. They don't know who or what, they're just creating a perimeter.
Two-Face You think I want to escape from this?! There is no escape from this!
Two-Face It's not about what I want! It's about what's fair! You thought we could be decent men in an indecent time! But you were wrong. The world is cruel. And the only morality in a cruel world...[pulls out his coin]...is chance. Unbiased, unprejudiced, fair. His son's got the same chance she had: 50/50.
What happened to Rachel wasn't chance. We decided to act. We three.
Two-Face Then why was it me who was the only one who lost everything?!
Two-Face [still holding a gun to Gordon's son's head]
The Joker chose me!
Because you were the best of us. He wanted to prove that even someone as good as you could fall.
Two-Face And he was right.
You're the one pointing the gun, Harvey. So point it at the people responsible.
Two-Face Fair enough. You first. [flips his coin, it lands "tails," he shoots Batman in the stomach as Gordon's family screams] My turn [puts the gun to his own head, flips the coin and it lands "heads" up so he points the gun at Gordon's son's head]
Harvey, you're right. Rachel's death was my fault. Pl-Please, don't punish the boy. Please punish me.
Two-Face [still holding the gun to the boy's head]
I'm about to. Tell your boy it's going to be all right. Lie...like I lied.
[trying to calm his son]
It's going to be all right, son.
[Two-Face flips the coin, but Batman tackles him over the side of the building before he can catch it, Batman saves Gordon's son but Harvey falls to the ground; Gordon runs over to the ledge where Batman is holding on to a pole with one hand and Gordon's son with the other, he pushes the boy up over the ledge and Gordon's wife runs over and hugs him, but before Gordon can help Batman, Batman loses his grip and crashes through several planks before he lands next to the motionless Harvey]
Gordon's Son
[after he follows Gordon down to where Batman lay unmoving next to Dent]
Daddy! Dad, is he okay?
You don't have to thank me. [he laborously gets to his feet in obvious pain]
Yes, I do. [both look at Harvey's body on the ground] The Joker won. Harvey's prosecution, everything he fought for, undone. Every chance we had at fixing our city dies with Harvey's reputation. We bet it all on him. The Joker took the best of us and tore it down. People will lose hope.
They won't. [speaking tiredly through intense pain] They must never know what he did.
Five dead, two of them cops. You can't sweep that up.
But the Joker cannot win. [kneels down next to Harvey, whose burnt left side is facing up] Gotham needs its true hero. [turns Harvey's head so that his unmarred side faces up]
[quoting Harvey Dent]
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain." I can do those things because I'm not a hero, unlike Dent. I killed those people. That's what I can be.
I'm whatever Gotham needs me to be. [hands Gordon his radio] Call it in.
. . .
[speaking at a memorial for Harvey with a giant picture of Dent as he was, held in the same street as Loeb's funeral]
A hero. Not the hero we deserved, but the hero we needed. Nothing less than a knight...shining.
You'll hunt me. You'll condemn me, set the dogs on me. Because that's what needs to happen.
[talking to Gordon as we see Alfred burning Rachel's letter to Bruce]
Because sometimes the truth isn't good enough. Sometimes people deserve more.
[talking to Gordon as we see Lucius typing his name into the sonar display before it self-destructs]
Sometimes people deserve to have their faith rewarded. [Lucius smiles to himself and walks away]
Gordon's Son
[as Batman runs]
Batman? Batman! [looks up to Gordon] Why is he running, Dad?
Because we have to chase him.
Police officer
Okay, we're going in! Go, go! Move!
Gordon's Son
He didn't do anything wrong.
[visibly shaken, but respect clearly evident on his face]
Because he's the hero that Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...[as Gordon continues, we see a wounded Batman running from the police and their dogs]...so we'll hunt him...[Batman reaches the Batpod and rides off]...because he can take it...because he's not a hero...[Batman is riding through the streets of Gotham on the Batpod]...he's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a Dark Knight.
[title card appears and credits roll]
Jim Gordon
[Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon are meeting in Dent’s office after Sal Maroni’s trial]
I hear you've got a hell of a right cross. It’s a shame Sal's going to walk.
Harvey Dent Well, good thing about the mob is they keep giving you second chances. [Looking through a bundle of bills] Lightly irradiated bills. Fancy stuff for a city cop. Have help?
We liaise with various agencies-
Dent Save it, Gordon. I want to meet him.
Official policy is to arrest the vigilante know as “Batman” on sight.
Dent And that flood light on top of M.C.U.?
If you have problems with malfunctioning equipment, I suggest you take them up with maintenance, counselor.
Dent I've put every known money launderer in Gotham behind bars but the mob is still getting its money out. I think you and your "friend" have found the last game in town and you're trying to hit them where it hurts: their wallets. It's bold. You gonna count me in?
In this town, the fewer people know something, the safer the operation.
Dent Gordon, I don't like that you've got your own special unit, and I don't like that it's full of cops I investigated while I was at at internal affairs.
If I didn't work with cops you'd investigated while you were making your name at I.A.- I'd be working alone. I don't get political points for being an idealist. I have to do the best I can with what I have.
Dent You want me to back warrants for search and seizure on five banks without telling me what we're after?
I can give you the names of the banks.
Dent Well, that's a start. I'll get you your warrants. But I want your trust.
You don’t have to sell me, Dent. We all know you’re Gotham’s white knight.
Dent I hear they have a different name for me down at M.C.U.
[Batman finds Dent flipping his coin to decide whether to kill one of the Joker's men, not knowing that the coin is double-headed] [snatching the coin]
You'd leave a man's life to chance?
Harvey Dent Not exactly.
His name's Schiff, Thomas. He's a paranoid schizophrenic. Former patient at Arkham - the kind of mind the Joker attracts. What do you expect to learn from him?
Dent The Joker killed Gordon. He's gonna kill Rachel!
You're the symbol of hope I could never be. Your stand against organized crime is the first legitimate ray of light in Gotham in decades. If anyone saw this, everything would be undone. All the criminals you pulled off the streets would be released, and Jim Gordon will have died for nothing. You're going to hold a press conference, tomorrow morning.
Dent Why?
No one else will die because of me. [returns the coin] Gotham's in your hands now.
Dent [as Batman leaves]
You can't. You can't give in! YOU CAN'T GIVE IN!
