Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn in Harley Quinn v3 #1.

Harley Quinn is a female comic character who features in DC Comics.

Biography

Origin

Harleen Quinzel in Harley Quinn v1 #26.

Harleen Frances Quinzel

Described as having a genius-level IQ, Harleen attended Gotham State University on a scholarship for gymnastics, where she majored in Psychiatry under Dr Odin Markus. To get into the graduate program, she had Dr. Markus meet with her in her dorm room, where she outlined what she believed would be a good graduate thesis: 'There are only two circumstances under which a person disregards the rules of society. When they commit a crime, or when they're in love.' To prove this thesis, she aimed to allow Dr Markus to observe an independent experiment on the matter. The test subjects: herself and her boyfriend Guy Kopski.

Guy, also a scientist, had developed a 'Think Drink' to calm and centre himself. One day, while meeting with Harley, he noticed that she wasn't laughing at any of his jokes. She explained that she had driven through a red light in a stolen car, right after blackmailing Dr Markus and possibly shooting him. She asked if he still loved her, but after noticing evidence of a recently fired handgun, Guy ran out with it. Harleen found him in the gymnasium laughing nervously, and standing over a homeless man he had just shot, believing him to be Dr Markus. He begged her to help him shoot himself, asking her to do it because she loved him. The gun fired, but it remains a mystery as to whether she had helped to pull the trigger.

It later became clear that Dr Markus had spiked Guy's 'Think Drink' with diluted Joker Venom, in hopes of counteracting the stresses that Harley would put him through. Harley, however, believed that the situation had been caused by chaos, and as such, she grew to feel that she understood The Joker, and declared to Dr Markus that she would do anything to get an internship at Arkham Asylum.

Upon graduating, and with a glowing reference from Dr Markus, Dr. Harleen Quinzel began her first-year residency at Arkham. As soon as she was accepted by Dr. Arkham, she requested to meet the Joker. Based on the claim that she was doing research for a book on serial killers, she was given complete access to the Clown-Prince of Crime.

In their first session together, she introduced herself as Dr Harleen Quinzel, but stressed that he could refer to her as Harley Quinn, like the medieval jester Harlequin. Joker had been silent until then, but he suddenly began laughing and asked if she was flirting with him. When she moved closer, he chose to strangle her. But, when he saw a loving look from Harley instead of shock or fright, he ceased, and stated that it was just a joke. The pair shared an affair, with Quinn helping Joker escape from Arkham several times before she herself was finally caught. Her medical license was revoked and she was committed, despite her claims that all of the releases were meant to be therapeutic.

Quinn started her first-year residency at Arkham Asylum where she was an intern and attempted to convince her superiors to have private sessions with the Joker. She was hoping to use this to gather research material for a book on the serial killers mystique. In these sessions, she found his psyche to be disturbing and his dementia alarming yet him to be irresistibly charming. (Batman: Harley Quinn v1 #1)

Harley moved into a new apartment that was burglarized. The thieves stole the plant-based serum she relied on for her powers, and she went berserk trying to find them. The serum moved through a number of hands before she found the current owners, and killed them all, but in the process shattered the vials. Harry, who first spoke to the thieves who got the serum, snitched a vial for himself, and Harley tracked him down and took her serum back. (Harley Quinn v1 #31) Afterwards, Harley had thoughts of turning straight, and took Detective Bishop of his offer of a date. Joker offered her a job and the chance to be with him again, but she refused and he followed her on her date. Things went decently except that Joker kept luring her away and demanded she work for him. He threatened her life, but she wouldn't back down. She offered him a chance to work for her, which he accepted. She also made it clear their relationship was over, she realized he'd only end up trying to kill her again. (Harley Quinn v1 #32)

Harley Quinn then spends a year applying for parole, only to see her request systematically rejected by Bruce Wayne, the layman member of Arkham's medical commission. She is kidnapped by Peyton Riley, the new female Ventriloquist, who offers her a job; Harley turns the job down out of respect for the memory of Arnold Wesker, the original Ventriloquist, who attempted to cheer her up during her first week in Arkham while the Joker was still on the loose. She then helps Batman and Commissioner Jim Gordon foil the impostor's plans. Although Riley escapes, Bruce Wayne is impressed with Harley's effort at redemption and agrees with granting her parole. (Detective Comics v1 #831)

She was later contacted by Catwoman who wanted revenge against Hush and had her network of allies target his fortune. This saw Harley being given a list of banks where Elliot kept his fortune where Quinn helped steal from his personal accounts. (Detective Comics v1 #850) Harley ended up spending the money and even sent some to a man claiming to be a Nigerian Prince who contacted her via email. After Holly was gone, Harley claimed to had gotten lonely and decided to stay with Poison Ivy who was using the Riddler's home as a place to stay after brainwashing him. Around this time, Catwoman was there and suggested that the three work together as Gotham had become a more dangerous place. Using their money, they came to move to an abandoned animal shelter that they purchased with them planning to se it as a base of operations. (Gotham City Sirens v1 #1) However, Ivy then temporarily paralysed Catwoman and drugged her in an effort to learn Batman's true identity with Harley in on the act. Under the drugs, Selina came to claim that Batman was actually an identity shared by a number of people and that there was not a single person who was under the mask. This came to satisfy Ivy and Harley who apologised for their actions as the three began to work together. (Gotham City Sirens v1 #2)

Harley was contacted by Catwoman, who wanted to get revenge against Hush and Harley was given a list of banks were Hush kept his money. Harley broke into all those banks and stole exclusively from Hush's personal accounts. (Detective Comics v1 #850)

After Batman's 'death', Harley found Riddler and teamed up with him to locate the new Black Mask. Later, they were joined by Poison Ivy and together went looking for Catwoman, just to find her knocked unconscious on the streets. (Battle for the Cowl: The Underground v1 #1)

Post-Flashpoint

Joining Task Force X in Suicide Squad v4 #1.

Following the Flashpoint, a new version of reality was created with a different history of events. Harleen Frances Quinzel

She was an Honor Student and a Gymnast. She attended Gotham University and initially went to college for Veterinary and Biological Science, but for some unknown reason she left that field to pursue Psychiatry. She excelled in her field, eventually earning a place as a psychiatrist at a prominent hospital, but her interest in criminal psychology led her to transfer to Gotham City's famed Arkham Asylum. Soon discovering that the other doctors could not penetrate the minds of their patients, Harleen went undercover as a patient herself. The Joker - whom she had thought was misdiagnosed by his previous doctors - saw through her disguise, and opened up to her. (Secret Origins v3 #4) Her confidence and savvy in the face of the Joker's madness impressed him. On their tenth session, he revealed to her that he knew about the fact that her father had been killed by a drunk driver who had had the connections required to get off without any punishment. As a gift to her, he presented her with the driver's finger as proof that the man had been brought to justice. He then promised that he could teach her how to become as powerful as he had, by failing to care about life's rules. (Suicide Squad v4 #6) Unfortunately, Harleen's supervisor, Dr. Sterano, discovered her crush on the Joker after stealing her psychiatric notes with the intention of publishing them as her own. In a rage, Harleen tried to kill Sterano, but was interrupted by the guards. Rather than surrender, she killed a guard and broke the Joker out of his cell. That night, the Joker took her to the Ace Chemical Processing Plant where his persona had been born, and promised that this would be her birthday. Realizing his intention, she had struggled, but he shoved her into one of the chemical vats and watched her sink to the bottom. Afterwards, he drained it and found her inside, alive, but changed. She had lost touch with reality, which meant that she could do whatever she liked. He dubbed her Harley Quinn, and the two of them were together - until he grew tired of her. (Suicide Squad v4 #7) Freed of the constraints and strict regiment of her former life, Harley chose a uniform for herself, forming a mosaic of all of the people she was or wanted to be. Any guilt for the crimes she committed as Harley Quinn was repressed along with Harleen Quinzel. (Detective Comics v2 #23.2)

After her arrest by Black Canary, Quinn came to be secretly transferred to Task Force X and she was one of the candidates of the new Suicide Squad. (Suicide Squad v4 #1)

She came to be tired of working with others and decided to focus on herself leading to Harley spending time on the beach. Whilst there, the Female Furies arrived were under orders from Granny Goodness they were to take Quinn to Apokolips via Boom Tube. Whilst there, Granny convinced her to become one of her Female Furies and came to equip herself with a hammer of New God origin from the arsenal present there. She came to enjoy her role as a Fury and was dispatched by Granny to find the rogue Petite Tina. (Harley Quinn v3 #45)

Going to the sewers with Catwoman, Selina took Harley to meet the Underbroker so that she could stop the Joker's plans to steal the Wayne fortune. Whilst there, they were betrayed by the Underbroker with them facing the Joker's new right hand woman Punchline. Quinn later came to battle Punchline where she was outmanoeuvred by her foe who ended up slitting her throat and leaving her for dead. (Batman v3 #93) Harley managed to survive and managed to close the wound though her throat was still healing afterwards. Gotham by this point was engulfed in the Joker War as the Joker used the Wayne fortune to cause chaos and sent gangs to destroy the city. Harley managed to save Batman who was dosed with a new strain of the Joker Toxin but in his paranoid state he refused Quinn's help and fled the scene. (Batman v3 #96) She managed to find the poisoned Batman and convinced him to follow her as she took him to the secret underground garden that Ivy had made for her. Once there, he had him take a tea designed to flush out the toxin within his system where she stood guard over him. (Batman v3 #97) The garden was then invaded by Punchline who intended to torch it in an effort to kill Quinn leading to a second round of fighting between the pair. Harley came to see that she and Punchline were similar in that they had both idolised the Joker but for different reasons. However, Quinn had come to learn that nothing mattered more to the Joker than Batman and confronted Punchline over her beliefs. This caused the villain to decide to murder Batman to prove herself to the Joker but the Dark Knight recovered and knocked out the woman. He along with Harley as well as the unconscious Punchline then departed the cavern as the flames consumed the entire underground garden. (Batman v3 #98) She joined Batman as he called his family consisting of the other vigilantes of the city in order to combat the Joker. However, Batman stated that he wanted to simply arrest the Joker and return him to Arkham with Harley opposing this decision as she only joined forces with the Dark Knight to murder the Clown Prince of Crime. She later told Batman that the Joker would never stop and would always seek to outdo himself with her intending to kill him despite Batman's disapproval. Harley then made a deal that if Batman was killed then she would kill the Joker to end his rampage once and for all. (Batman v3 #99) She managed to arrive at Ace Chemicals during the fight between Batman and the Joker where she shot the Clown Prince of Crime in the eye. Though wounded, it was not a shot to kill and Harley instead decided to force Batman into a choice of not actively saving the Joker. This involved tying the Joker up and strapping a bomb to him whilst she tied one to herself as she went deeper into the burning chemical plant. Quinn intended to force Batman to choose to either save her or the Joker thus meaning that one of them would die from the explosion. The Dark Knight left the Joker and saved Harley Quinn who was unconscious for a week as a result of the explosive detonation. She awoke to find herself in the hospital with Batman by her side as the two looked at Gotham which they believed would survive the damage done to it by the Joker. (Batman v4 #100)

She then looked to buy a new apartment in Little Santa Prisca where unknown to her she was a target of the vigilante Clownhunter. (Batman v3 #102) Harleen's apartment was then broken into by the vigilante who was looking to kill her due to her former ties to the Joker. However, Quinn stated that she had no interest in being a villain anymore and was looking to turn over a new leaf. Clownhunter refused to hear her words and instead tried to murder her but Harley Quinn managed to easily evade him where she knocked him out as well as tied him up. At that time, a wounded Batman crashed into her apartment where she discovered that he was the target of another vigilante named the Ghost-Maker who was looking to take over as protector of Gotham with a more ruthless view to handling criminals. He used a tranquilizer dart on Quinn to render her unconscious whilst he sought to deal with Batman. (Batman v3 #103)

She was on-board the Ghost-Stream as it returned to Gotham to help Batman who was being pursued by Peacekeeper-01. The Dark Knight made a leap from a building with Ghost-Maker grabbing him in mid-air and landing them on a rooftop. He then brought Batman on-board his jet where the Dark Knight revealed that Mayor Nakano had authorised the deployed of the Magistrate program that would empower super-cops to bring peace to Gotham. These would consist of cybernetically enhanced Peacekeepers with the one he fought being Sean Mahoney. Harley then revealed her own experiences with the man during her time as a doctor in Arkham Asylum where she revealed that he was a sadist who regularly enjoyed beating up in-mates leading to constantly arguments with Doctor Arkham. Batman then uncovered that the fire on Gotham had erased his files about his past actions and allowed him to appear in the news with a blank slate where he was hailed as a hero to the people. (Batman v3 #110)

Overview

Personality and attributes

When she joined the Female Furies, Harley was given the name of Hammer Harleen as her new name. (Harley Quinn v3 #45)

It was noted by Poison Ivy that Harleen was a strong, clever and an intelligent person. (Harley Quinn v1 #1)

Quinn was said to have had a crush on Bruce Wayne. (Harley Quinn Valentine's Day Special v1 #1)

After meeting Punchline, she came to see that she and Alexis were similar in how they had both idolised the Joker. Harley had come to want his heart whilst Punchline had wanted his brain. However, Quinn came to realise a while back that the Joker would always be obsessed with Batman. Thus, she had turned away from him and came to feel sorry for Punchline still being under his spell. (Batman v3 #98)

Powers and abilities

As one of the Female Furies in Harley Quinn v3 #45.

This led to surprise from people as they were shocked at how high she was capable of jumping. (Harley Quinn v1 #1)

Poison Ivy later created a concoction that made Harley immune to the toxins made from Isley's body. Not only had her body's resistance to toxins been increased but so had her natural strength and agility. (Batman: Harley Quinn v1 #1) The serum included elements from the Aquavilla vines from Portuga that allowed him to breathe indefinitely underwater. (Harley Quinn v1 #30)

She had access and was familiar with the use of Joker's various gadgets. Among these included a spring-loaded boxing glove that could stretch across a distance and hit with enough force to break a wall. She also used a gun that fired huge rubber bullets which whilst none lethal were strong enough to leave a person with broken ribs. (Harley Quinn v1 #1)

After joining the Female Furies, she was provided and weapon of Apokoliptian origin that was taken from the Maniac Menagerie. This saw Quinn making use of a powerful hammer that was able to communicate to her by emitting a series of 'pings' which Harley could understand. It allowed her to find her quarry and track them for her assignments. (Harley Quinn v3 #45)

She once modelled a gang of followers after herself that she called the Gang of Harleys. (Harley Quinn v2 #16)

Notes

• Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm where she made her first appearance in Batman: The Animated Series in the episode "Joker's Favor"
• The character was later introduced into New Earth comic continuity in Batman: Harley Quinn v1 #1 (October, 1999).
• In an interview, Paul Dini commented on the creation of Mad Love, "Bruce and I [...] were talking about what if there was some sort of surprise to her origin? What if she's not just a hench girl? We came up with the idea that she had been a doctor at Arkham Asylum and the Joker had gotten into her head and worked her into being his follower. ...Then we thought, what if Harley's in the role of the long-suffering girlfriend?"
• In an interview with Westfield Comics, writer Karl Kessel commented, "[The series] is an interesting assignment because the main character is a) insane and b) a criminal, and both of these things are pretty essential to the character, so we don't want to get rid of either of them. [...] [We] hammered out a direction for the book which [...] will establish a motivation and agenda for Harley. Depending on the storyline, she will be on the side of the angels sometimes, and on the side of the demons and devils on others. Like most great crime characters, she's not concerned with the law. What concerns her is something totally different. What that is will be revealed as the first half dozen issues progress."

Alternate Versions

• Flashpoint v2 #1 (2011), a character seemingly based on Harley Quinn appeared in the alternate reality of the Flashpoint. This version was referred to as Yo-Yo who was a gimicky criminal that stylised herself on yo-yos. She was a henchwoman of the Joker, and the Batman chased her down to find the Joker's location, as she had kidnapped Judge Dent's children. He chased her to the ledge of the building around Crime Alley. Batman drops her off the roof, but she is luckily saved by Cyborg.
• In Batman: White Knight v1 #2 (2018), a version of Harleen Quinzel appeared in the setting of the Elseworld. She came to take the name Harley Quinn where she was a henchwoman of the Joker and was in love with him. However, she came to find that he was more obsessed with Batman and she saw that he had become too mentally unstable when he tried to kill Robin. After abducting the Boy Wonder, Harley notified Batman to save his sidekick and this led to her leaving the Joker. Afterwards, the Joker attacked a bank where a woman named Marian Drews and forced her to help him rob the bank. She was taken to his headquarters where he treated her wounds and suffered Stockholm Syndrome with her falling in love with him. She eventually took the identity of Harley Quinn and became enamoured with his idea of killing others.

In other media

Television

• In the DC Animated Universe, Harley Quinn made a number of appearances in the shared continuity setting:
  • In Batman: The Animated Series, Harley Quinn made her first appearance in the animated television series set in the DC Animated Universe where she was voiced by actor Arleen Sorkin.
• In The Batman, Harley Quinn appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Hynden Walch.
• In Justice League Action, Harley Quinn appeared in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Tara Strong.
• In Harley Quinn, Harley Quinn featured in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Kaley Cuoco.

Films

• In Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Harley Quinn appeared in the animated film based in the DC Animated Universe continuity where she was voiced by actor Arleen Sorkin.
• In Batman: Assault on Arkham, Harley Quinn appeared in the animated film where she was voiced by actor Hynden Walch.
• In Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn appeared in the 2016 live-action film where she was portrayed by actress Margot Robbie.
• In Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, Harley Quinn appeared in the animated film where she was voiced by actress Tara Strong.
• In Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn appeared in the 2020 live-action film where she was once more portrayed by actress Margot Robbie.
• In Justice League Dark: Apokolips War, Harley Quinn appeared in the setting of the animated film where she was voiced by actress Hynden Walch.

Video games

• In Batman Vengeance, Harley Quinn appeared in the video game where she was voiced by actor Arleen Sorkin.
• In Injustice: Gods Among Us, Harley Quinn appeared as a playable character in the setting of the fighting video game where she was voiced by actor Tara Strong.
• In Injustice 2, Harley Quinn returned as a playable character in the setting of the fighting video game sequel where she was once again voiced by actor Tara Strong.

Appearances

• Batman: Harley Quinn v1: (1999)
• Batman v1:
• Harley Quinn v1:
• Detective Comics v1:
• Gotham City Sirens v1:
• Battle for the Cowl: The Underground v1:
• Suicide Squad:
• Harley Quinn v2:
• Harley Quinn v3:
• Batman v3:

External Links

• DC Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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