I Just Wrote A Scene Where Harvey Talks About How Much He Hates Needing To Share Everything Including His Name With Harv So Yeah That's Real - Tumblr Posts

Hey, can you explain to me why so many people call Two-Face "Harv" in fanworks?

I know in a few comics, Two-Face calls Harvey "Harv" but I've never seen it the other way around.

I get the want to give Two-Face a name that isn't.... well, Two-Face, but I've never liked it being "Harv" both because it's a part of Harvey's name and because of what I mentioned above.

The first time that "Two Face" ever receives a name other than TF is in BTAS—in fact, afaik BTAS is the only place he's ever given a name like this—and they call him "Big Bad Harv." Technically, Harvey is the one who names him in therapy so that he can address/talk about "his" darker impulses/violent tendencies, but still. I've never seen BBH used for TF in anything other than BTAS but it stuck around! Most likely in large part because it's the only canon non-TF name we're given. But I think it also appeals to people in the same gimmicky way that "Two Face" does lol (a little cheesy, a little on the nose, but it gets the point across in a fun way).

I do see people who refer to the TF alter exclusively as Big Bad! Though of course most of the time we see people use Harv instead.

But I've also seen fanworks that intentionally give TF/Harv a different name because of the same reasons! I've seen him be called Apollo a few times (because in theory there could be an alter in the Harvey/TF system who resonates with that nickname) and one author—in a phenomenal piece called A Day in Two Lives—named him Alastor, which is the name of a Greek god who represents justice and vengeance (chosen to parallel the Apollo title). I've also seen him named Christopher, which is the name of Harvey's father, because sometimes alters can take on traits of the system's abusers.

I agree that using Harv can be... complicated because it's so tied into Harvey's name/identity. I also don't necessarily think calling him Two Face exclusively is bad in and of itself because in some cases, it's a name he chose for himself and that's a pretty big deal within systems! Especially for non-Host alters. For the most part he seems comfortable with it, so I think it can be assumed it's affirming.

My motivation for using Harv is primarily because I think it's more humanizing than Two Face! As a system, it's nice to see the individuality recognized and I think their distinction can get lost behind "Two Face" sometimes. So I tend to use Two Face for Harvey/Harv the same way you might use Batman for Bruce—as a persona or costume that, in their case, represents their supervillain identity but not who they are "underneath." But ultimately imo as long as the distinction is recognized, the specifics for the names used for both feel less significant!