Abstract: The asphalt-aggregate interface is a critical yet vulnerable component controlling the durability and service performance of asphalt pavements. With the increasing use of modified asphalt, functional additives, recycled or artificial aggregates, and more severe environmental exposure, interfacial structure and failure behavior have become more complex. A clear understanding of cohesive failure within asphalt, adhesive failure at the asphalt-aggregate boundary, and their transition is therefore essential for explaining moisture-induced interfacial failure and developing reliable evaluation systems. This review systematically summarizes the multifaceted features of asphalt-aggregate interface behavior and classifies current characterization techniques from the perspectives of interfacial failure, thermodynamic energy, microphase behavior, and other physicochemical indicators. The principles, indicators, applicable failure types, advantages, and limitations of representative methods under dry and moisture-conditioned states are critically discussed across different observation scales and testing conditions. Particular attention is given to how asphalt-aggregate material characteristics and service environments drive transitions between cohesive and adhesive failure. The review indicates that future studies should further integrate different evaluation techniques and laboratory indicators to establish a laboratory evaluation system more closely correlated with field pavement failure patterns. Quantitative criteria for distinguishing cohesive and adhesive failure should also be refined to improve the reliability of interfacial behavior evaluation.