Harley Quinn is a former TV star turned criminal and partner in crime/moll to the Joker. Other similar themed sidekicks included Prank and Punch & Judy.
History[]
Quinn was the host of a pop-psychology television show called Heart to Heart with Harley.
Claiming to have obtained an online degree in psychology, she gives off-the-cuff advice to her callers that generally does more harm than good. This created controversy, much to her boss Jimmy Herbert's discomfort. It wasn't until one Valentine's Day special that Harley set up an ambush on Bruce Wayne to have him talk about a previous relationship with a woman named Kiki during her show, after falsely promising she would help him promote a charity drive for crime victims. Angered, Wayne leaves in a huff, and Herbert, finally fed up with Harley's irresponsible behavior, denounces Harley as a fake and pulls her show off the air permanently while apologizing to Wayne for the event.
The Joker, seeing the episode and learning that it led to an emotional wreck for Harley (as she is now left without a job), proceeds to take advantage of the situation. After meeting the despondent Harley in her apartment, he took her to his lair, where he admitted to seeing her potential after watching her tame his two hyenas to sit. Initially thinking getting a tell-all from the Joker would restore her career, Harley Quinn ends up explaining her problems to him, and the Joker convinces her to join him on a rampage in Gotham under a costumed disguise to take out her rage. Convinced, Harley dons a jester costume and white makeup, being dubbed 'Harley Quinn', and both wackos go around town creating chaos, something Batman finds difficult to stop, even after he instantly learns of Harley's alter-ego.
Eventually, after escaping back to the Joker's lair after ignoring Batman's warning that the Joker is a psychopath, Harley learns that the Gotham Broadcast Network has gotten evidence of her alter ego and is planning to send in a full profile of her on live. Angered, Harley plans to send the network down into pieces in revenge for her sacking, something the Joker finds amusing and tags along with her. Breaking in to the studio, Harley plants up four bombs around it and holds the staff and audience hostage with the help of the Joker and his hyenas. However, Batman, along with Robin and Batgirl, arrive to the rescue and disable her detonation device. This causes Harley to accidentally set off one of her bombs, rendering her unconscious.
As Robin and Batgirl get everyone outside the flaming building, the Joker and the hyenas escape, leaving Harley to die from the fire. Witnessing this, the Batman saves Harley from the fire before surrendering her to the police. It was then that Harley seemed to regret taking up the Joker's influence. However, once loaded into a police car, she sees that Joker has left her an affectionate message and instantly falls in love with him again as she is hauled away to prison.
Later, she is captured by Rumor, along with the Joker and many other villains, and once freed, both clowns fight Batman and Robin, only to lose to them. They are both taken to jail this time, along with the other criminal's, including Rumor.
Later, Harley appears with Joker, Punch, Judy, and Joker's new accomplice, Marty Slacker. When Joker goes through an accident, nanobots replicate into Joker 2.0. Harley is sceptical about having a boyfriend made out of nanobots and is happy to see her real Joker return. Harley then starts to like Joker 2.0 more than the original Joker. However, when Joker 2.0 seemingly kills the original Joker, Batman, and Robin Harley scolds him, apparently "destroying her old puddin." When Joker is revealed to be alive, Harley, Punch, Judy, and Marty proceed to join the original Joker again. Joker 2.0 tries to kill them all, but Batman stops him. The original Joker, Harley, Punch, Judy, and Marty are captured by Robin and arrested, while Joker 2.0 is sucked into the game world and then killed off. Harley tells him to cheer up by saying that Marty has more ideas. The Joker then wonders if Penguin has problems with his own henchmen.
In "The End of the Batman", Harley helps the Joker steal a globe, and the two manage to escape. Later in the episode, she briefly appears again when she and the Joker escape and drive off into the night after gassing Wrath and Scorn to stop them from revealing Batman's identity.
Appearances[]
The Batman[]
- Season 4
- "Two of a Kind"
- "Rumors" (cameo)
- Season 5
- "White Heat" (Mentioned)
- "The Metal Face of Comedy"
- "The End of the Batman" (cameo)
The Batman Strikes![]
- Issue 35 " The Clown Prince Of Late Night"
- Issue 39 " Hostile Takeover" (cameo)
- Issue 41 " Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!"
- Issue 43 " Grounded
- Issue 45 " Gotham Girls: Honor Among Thieves"
- Issue 47 ":20 Minutes"
Voiced by[]
- Hynden Walch (English)
- Sayuri Yahagi (Japanese)
- Edwige Lemoine (French)
- Marcella Silvestri/ Alessandra Karpoff (Italian)
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- This incarnation of Harley Quinn wears a slightly different costume than the one she wore in Batman: The Animated Series, as the black parts of the original are dark red here, the headdress is larger and taller here than the original, the inverted diamond pattern on the shoulders and thighs is absent, and her mask conceals her eyes.
- In this series Harley is on a more even footing as more of an ally/girlfriend as opposed to the henchgirl role from Batman: The Animated Series.
- Joker is more kind to her in this show than in the DCAU.
- She appears less in this show compared to BTAS though The Batman strikes comics give her more of a role.
- According to Batgirl in White Heat, Firefly and Blaise had a relationship very similar to the one Harley and Joker had.
Personality[]
As with all other Harleys, she is in love with Joker and tries to please him. However, Joker seems to love Harley as well, since he wanted her to join him, not the other way around. She is also much more vengeful than the original, as she wanted to get back at her studio for canceling her show, not caring that the advice she gave was bad. Later episodes show her as a moll to the Joker, but on the same level as him. She also does not fear Joker when compared to the original 1992 version.