| Rachel Dawes | |
|---|---|
 .jpg) Katie Holmes (left) andMaggie Gyllenhaal (right) as Rachel Dawes inBatman Begins (2005) &The Dark Knight (2008), respectively. | |
| First appearance | Batman Begins (2005) |
| Last appearance | The Dark Knight (2008) |
| Created by | Christopher Nolan David S. Goyer |
| Portrayed by | Batman Begins Katie Holmes (Present-Day) Emma Lockhart (Young) The Dark Knight Maggie Gyllenhaal |
| Voiced by | Katie Holmes (Batman Begins video game) |
| In-universe information | |
| Occupation | Assistant district attorney |
| Family | Mrs. Dawes (mother) |
| Significantother | Harvey Dent |
| Home | Gotham City |
| Nationality | American |
Rachel Dawes is a fictional character who first appeared inChristopher Nolan's 2005 feature filmBatman Begins. She was portrayed in that film byKatie Holmes, with Emma Lockhart as a younger version of the character in early scenes. Holmes also voiced the character in thevideo game adaptation.Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Holmes in the 2008 sequelThe Dark Knight after Holmes chose not to reprise the role.[1] Gyllenhaal also appeared as Dawes on theviral marketing websiteI Believe in Harvey Dent,[2] givingHarvey Dent her endorsement in the District Attorney election.
InThe Dark Knight Trilogy, Rachel isBruce Wayne's (Christian Bale) childhood sweetheart and one of the few people who truly knows him, and inspires him to improve Gotham City. The conflict between Bruce's love for her and his secret life asBatman is one of the main themes of the first two films in the trilogy, while her death inThe Dark Knight partly motivates his actions in the final film,The Dark Knight Rises. Rachel was developed as a combination from three different characters originating from the comics,Julie Madison (a childhood friend of Bruce Wayne's who later becomes his love interest and aware of him being Batman),Silver St. Cloud (a girlfriend of Bruce's who had frictions with his double life), andGilda/Grace Dent (the wife ofHarvey Dent), while sharing the first name of Rachel Caspian fromBatman: Year Two.
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The writers ofBatman Begins originally considered to haveHarvey Dent appearing in the film, but the character of Rachel Dawes was created when they realized that they "couldn't do the character justice".[3] Dent ultimately appeared in the sequelThe Dark Knight, portrayed byAaron Eckhart. Rachel is an original character, and was not taken from any of theBatman comics.[4][5]
Katie Holmes was to reprise as Rachel inThe Dark Knight, but turned it down in order to star inMad Money instead. BeforeMaggie Gyllenhaal was cast,Emily Blunt andRachel McAdams were considered to replace Holmes as Rachel.[6] Gyllenhaal has acknowledged that Rachel is adamsel in distress to an extent, but says Nolan sought ways to empower the character, so "Rachel's really clear about what's important to her and unwilling to compromise her morals, which made a nice change" from the many conflicted characters whom she has previously portrayed.[7]
Rachel is Bruce Wayne's closest childhood friend. Rachel's mother worked as adomestic servant atWayne Manor, and the two would often play together on the grounds. After Bruce's parents are murdered byJoe Chill (Richard Brake), Rachel's mother seeks other employment and leaves Wayne Manor with Rachel.
Rachel enrolls inlaw school and gets aninternship at theGotham CityDistrict Attorney's office during her first year. After Chill is murdered for testifying againstMafia bossCarmine Falcone (Tom Wilkinson), Bruce reveals to Rachel that he intended to murder Chill himself, and is angry that he was deprived of revenge. Rachel is horrified and slaps Bruce telling him that his late parents would be ashamed of him. She also takes Bruce down to the slums and shows him that Falcone's criminal empire has worsened the poverty created by Gotham'seconomic depression, and states that every day more people just like Chill turn to crime out of desperation. Soon afterward, Bruce leaves the United States and Rachel continues her studies in law school. Years later, she becomes anassistant district attorney working for District Attorney Carl Finch (Larry Holden).
Rachel dedicates her life and career to eliminating crime in Gotham, in the process making enemies of Falcone and laterDr. Jonathan Crane (Cillian Murphy),Arkham Asylum's corrupt chiefpsychiatrist. When Bruce returns to Gotham, Rachel is surprised that he did not contact her, and later feels disappointed in him, taking his playboy façade at face value. Around the same time, a costumed vigilante calling himself Batman appears in Gotham, and saves Rachel from Falcone's assassins. Rachel is intrigued by the masked crime-fighter, unaware that he is her old friend Bruce.
After Finch is murdered by Crane's thugs, Rachel takes over his job until a replacement can be found. Shortly afterward, Falcone has a psychotic break in police custody, and Rachel believes he is faking it to avoid trial, unaware that Crane drugged him with his fear toxin. When she goes to Arkham to evaluate the situation, Crane drugs her with fear toxin as well. Batman rescues her again, administers an antidote and tells her that Crane is working with theLeague of Shadows, aterrorist organization led byRa's al Ghul (Liam Neeson). He gives her instructions for a plan to save the city from the League's attack. He then sedates her and has his butler,Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), take her home. She wakes up in her bed and delivers samples of an anti-toxin toGotham City Police Department sergeantJames Gordon (Gary Oldman).
The League starts a riot in the Narrows, one of Gotham City'sslums, and Rachel is trapped. Crane, who has now assumed the criminalalter ego of "The Scarecrow", attacks her again. She defends herself and a boy caught in the riot by firing ataser at Crane's face, driving him away. Soon, the city is overrun by Arkham's inmates, whom the League has released, and Rachel and the boy are surrounded by lunatics led by Falcone's henchman,Victor Zsasz (Tim Booth). Batman saves them at the last minute and gives Rachel a hint as to hissecret identity.
Towards the end of the film, Rachel visits the remains of Wayne Manor, finding Bruce and Alfred sorting through the wreckage. She and Bruce share a kiss, but she tells him that they cannot be together until Gotham no longer needs Batman, now fully aware of his secret. At the end of the movie's novelization, she is named interim District Attorney.
By the start of the second film, Rachel is in a relationship with newly selected District AttorneyHarvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), creating alove triangle between him, herself, and Bruce Wayne. Dent soon asks Rachel to marry him, but she does not have a clear answer, being torn between her love for both men.
At one point, theJoker (Heath Ledger) attacks Rachel at Dent's fundraiser, holding her at knifepoint. Batman arrives and fights off the men, but the Joker grabs Rachel and throws her from the skyscraper window. Batman jumps out the window after her, breaking their fall on a car below.
Rachel is next seen at the funeral of police commissionerGillian Loeb (Colin MacFarlane), who was murdered by the Joker. At the funeral, the Joker attempts to assassinate Mayor Anthony Garcia (Nestor Carbonell), and leaves behind evidence indicating that Rachel will be next. Rachel takes shelter in Bruce's penthouse at Dent's insistence, and she and Bruce briefly rekindle their romance. He admits that he desires to turn himself in as Batman and hopes they could eventually be together, which Rachel says cannot happen if he goes to prison. Dent holds a press conference and claims to be Batman. Rachel is disappointed that Bruce would let Dent take the fall for him, and gives Alfred a letter to be delivered to Bruce "when the time is right." She promptly leaves the penthouse.
After Batman and Gordon capture the Joker, Rachel and Dent are kidnapped by police officers on mob bossSal Maroni's (Eric Roberts) payroll, who are working under the Joker's orders. Batman interrogates the Joker and learns that the lives of both Dent and Rachel are at stake. The Joker tells Batman that he must choose which one of them to save and gives him both locations. However, the Joker has switched the addresses, with the intention of psychologically tormenting Batman and orchestrating Dent's downfall. Batman speeds off, believing that he is traveling to Rachel's destination, while Gordon and several GCPD officers head to what they think is Dent's location. Both Rachel and Dent are tied up in rooms surrounded with gasoline drums and remote-controlled explosives, with phones attached so they can talk to each other. Rachel tells Dent that she wants to marry him. Batman arrives at Dent's location in time to save him, but Gordon arrives at the other too late, and Rachel dies when the building explodes. The loss of Rachel, in addition to his own disfigurement, drives Dent insane and after the Joker's convincing, he becomes the murderous vigilante Two-Face, seeking revenge on those he holds responsible for her death.
Upon Rachel's death, Alfred reads her note (which she deliberately left unsealed) in which she reveals that she intends to marry Dent. She explains that while Gotham may come to no longer need Batman, she now knows that the day when Bruce no longer does will never come. She urges Bruce not to give up faith in other people, even if she has disappointed him. When Bruce relates to Alfred that his only solace is the knowledge that she would have waited for him, Alfred decides to burn the note, sparing Bruce the pain of the truth.
Rachel is mentioned several times throughoutThe Dark Knight Rises. Additionally, a picture of her appears in Wayne Manor (Maggie Gyllenhaal’s archival portrayal of the character inThe Dark Knight only). Bruce, having retired from being Batman after taking the blame for Dent's crimes to ensure he is remembered as a hero, is portrayed as still mourning Rachel eight years after her death, rarely leaving Wayne Manor, and not trying to pursue relationships for fear of not being faithful to Rachel. Despite being dejected over his loss, Bruce meets and is attracted to two women who resemble Rachel:Wayne Enterprises CEO Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard) and cat-burglarSelina Kyle (Anne Hathaway). WhenBane (Tom Hardy) attacks Gotham, Bruce decides to become Batman once more to save the city. In an attempt to stop him, Alfred finally confesses to Bruce that Rachel chose Dent and that he burned the letter in order to spare Bruce pain. This revelation puts a severe strain on Bruce's relationship with Alfred, who then leaves Wayne Manor. Despite this, Bruce makes efforts to move on from Rachel when he and Tate spend the night together, but is heartbroken yet again when she is revealed to be Ra's al Ghul's daughter,Talia al Ghul, who manipulated his emotions to avenge her father's death. Bruce also shares a flirtatious relationship with Kyle throughout the film that develops into love. By the end of the film, Bruce and Selina, who faked their deaths to leave Gotham, have begun a relationship, and Bruce has passed his legacy as Gotham's protector toJohn Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), also proving Rachel wrong in her belief that he wouldn't give up being Batman.
