- "We're bad guys. It's what we do."
- ―Harley Quinn[src]
Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, also known as Harley Quinn, is a former psychiatrist and lover of the Joker.
Harley is also a long-time nemesis of Batman and helped the Joker to murder of the latter's protegee Robin. Later imprisoned for her crimes in Belle Reve and forced to join Amanda Waller's Task Force X. She and her teammates ultimately succeed in their mission to save the world from Enchantress and Incubus (in exchange for 10 years off of their prison sentences), but Harley is quick to leave the Squad and rejoin her boyfriend Joker when he successfully frees her.
Biography
Early Life
- "Before she ran off and joined the circus, she was known as Dr. Harleen Quinzel. A psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. She was assigned to the clown himself. She thought she was curing him, but she was falling in love. Talk about a workplace romance gone wrong. They became the King and Queen of Gotham City, and God help anyone who disrespected the Queen."
- ―Amanda Waller[src]Harleen Frances Quinzel was born on July 20, 1990, in Gotham City, New Jersey, to Nicholas Quinzel, a con man, and Sharon Quinzel, a community activist, as the oldest of four children and the only girl. As a model high school student, she achieved excellent grades in addition to her extreme gymnastics training and was awarded a full scholarship to Gotham State University, where she majored in psychiatry under Dr. Odin Markus. Harleen's graduate thesis, made with Markus' help, centered around the belief that the circumstances under which a person disregards the rules of society were by committing a crime or falling in love. In order to defend it, she had her mentor observe an independent experiment on the matter with herself and her boyfriend Guy Kopski, who developed a "think drink" to calm and center himself, as the test subjects. This didn't go well for the two lovers, as Kopski's humor started to change so much that Harleen didn't laugh at any of his jokes while meeting with him, claiming to have driven through red lights in a stolen car after blackmailing Markus and possibly shooting him. She asked if she still loved her, but after noticing evidence of recently fired handgun, he ran out with it to shoot a homeless man he thought was Markus in the school gymnasium, then asked Harleen to help him shoot himself when she caught up with him. Although Kopski was found dead aftewards, it remained unknown if she helped pull the trigger or not, but it later became clear that Markus tampered with Kopski's "think drink" to counteract the stresses Harleen put him through. Harleen, however, believed that the situation was caused by chaos and that she would do anything to become involved with studying criminal psychiatry.
Harleen talking to The Joker.
Following her graduation, Harleen's theatrical thesis made a huge success that it led to her transfer into the job as a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. When the Joker was imprisoned there by the masked vigilante Batman, she took a particular interest in him, regularly visiting and speaking with him. Harleen was gradually psychologically sabotaged and manipulated by the psychopath, eventually falling in love with him, and the Joker got her to do him a favor, which was giving him a machine gun. Shortly thereafter, Joker's goons broke into asylum, and successfully broke their boss out. Before leaving however, Joker sadistically subjected Harleen to shock therapy, but she took the pain.
Harley being lifted from the chemical bath by the Joker.
Harleen later chased the Joker down and managed to get him to stop his car. She nearly killed him with a gun, even shooting a man who approached them. The Joker took the gun and taunted her, before slapping her across the face. Harleen wanted to come with him, and he took her to Ace Chemicals. While there, she was told to say the oath, and was asked if she would die for him. She responded in the affirmative, and allowed herself to fall into the vat of chemicals that created the Joker years back. The Joker considered leaving her to die, but promptly changed his mind and jumped in after her, pulling her up to the vat's surface. He then kissed her, and Harleen awakened with the same frontotemporal dementia that her lover received via exposure to the chemicals and oxygen deprivation as the Joker broke down into maniacal laughter.
The King and Queen of Gotham.
From that point on, the Joker dubbed her "Harley Quinn" (giving her a red-and-black Harlequin costume), and the duo of psychopathic lovers would go on a number of crime sprees in Gotham City together, which would often result in the duo coming into conflict with Batman, becoming (as Amanda Waller would later claim) the criminal king and queen of the city.
Assistance in murdering Robin
The Joker, with Harley's help, managed to kill Batman's partner, Robin.[1] To add injury to Batman's loss in hopes of driving their mutual adversary insane, Joker spray-painted "HAHAHA JOKE'S ON YOU BATMAN" in yellow on the Robinsuit. A devastated Batman would later place the damaged and vandalized suit in an exhibit in the Batcave.
Monster T's lusting and Harley's capture
- "OH! We've got company!
"Batsy, Batsy, Batsy!" - ―Joker and Harley Quinn[src]
Joker and Harley, greeted by Monster T.
At some point, a strip club owned by the Joker is visited by Monster T, a fellow crime boss ally, whom a pole-dancing Harley Quinn and her boyfriend greet, with Monster T welcoming his criminal ally back, congratulating Joker on his escape. However, Monster T then takes notice of the exceptionally beautiful Harley Quinn, and promptly makes remarks about her (calling her a "bad bitch"), proceeding to stare with lustful desire, greatly displeasing the Joker. But Joker initially hides it and proceeds to bring Harley over, intimidating Monster T, and making him somewhat uncomfortable by suggesting he sleep with Harley. Monster T, having picked up on Joker's angry sarcasm, attempts to assure the Joker that Harley is the latter's girl, and that he wants "no beef". The Joker, however, sees this as the mere pathetic pleading of a luster, and promptly shoots Monster T in the head.
Afterwards, the psychopath duo drive down a Gotham City street in their Jokermobile, laughing maniacally. However, Batman pursues them in the Batmobile, and after putting his car on auto-pilot, leaps onto the Jokermobile's roof. Harley, annoyed that Batman was ruining "date night", begins angrily shooting into the roof, though, due to Batman's bulletproof suit, this proves ineffective. Joker, attempting to shake Batman off, makes a sharp turn, that sends his car flying off the road and into the river, forcing Batman to grapple away. Batman then promptly puts on a breather and dives into the river, finding the crashed car and Harley, but no Joker. Batman then grabs Harley, who awakens and tries to stab him, but Batman quickly knocks her unconscious with a mighty punch, and carries her out of the river.
Batman then lays her down on the hood of the Batmobile and checks for a pulse, but does not find one. With extreme reluctance, Batman then does mouth-to-mouth to revive her. A pleased Harley then recovers and begins kissing him, but Batman resists and drives her to Belle Reve, where the female psychopath is imprisoned and monitored by Griggs.
Suicide Squad
Deployment in Midway City
With the attack in Midway City by Incubus, Harley, along with the other members of Task Force X, are pulled from Belle Reve and have bombs injected into their necks. While being wheeled out to their transport, Griggs hands Harley a phone, telling her it will help Joker get in contact with her. Harley then tells Griggs that he's screwed and laughs maniacally as she's wheeled off into a chopper.
Harley and the rest of the members arrive outside of Midway City where they are given their outfits and equipment and debriefed by Rick Flag and Amanda Waller. Harley and the squad are then joined by Katana, whom Harely takes a liking toward, despite the latter's hostility.
More to be added
Personality
Harleen Frances Quinzel was once a calm and compassionate young lady who worked at Arkham Asylum, before the Joker transformed her both mentally and physically into "Harley Quinn". Through the shock therapy and the Joker's manipulation, her mind and emotions were twisted and she was made into a homicidal, sadistic, child-like psychopath, who would use sexuality and her playful personality to achieve her goals or to entertain herself, usually harming others in the process. As of current time, she follows the Joker in whatever he demands of her, blindly smitten with the ruthless psychopath, affectionately referring to him as "Puddin".
Harley carries almost an innocent persona, wide-eyed and bright, finding humor in otherwise dark situations, much like Joker himself. After attacking Belle Reve guards and seriously injuring a couple before finally being restrained, she maniacally began giggling to herself in a sinister way, happy and pleased with how funny she found it, showing how fractured her psyche had become.
Harley is also quite tough and fearless, fighting alongside Task Force X and having fun doing so. With the team, she is shown to get along well with them, acting as a bar tender at a derelict bar. She even seemed horrified before El Diablo's death, imploring Rick Flag not to blow him up (while defeating Incubus).
Abilities
- Peak Human Condition: Harley Quinn, as a highly skilled and experienced supervillain and gymnast, is in top physical condition (from frequent villanous escapades with her boyfriend the Joker) for a woman her age, to the point that she could hold her own against the formidable monstrous troops of Enchantress. She was notably however, weaker than her nemesis Batman, who subdued her without much effort.
- Expert Combatant: Harley Quinn is a highly skilled and formidable combatant, managing to seriously injure 5 Belle Reve guards before finally being restrained in an extra-secure cell. She also quickly overpowered 2 far larger monstrous troops of Enchantress in rapid succession (with nothing but her agility, combat skills and baseball bat), and swiftly cuts open Enchantress' chest with a katana, in a single swift motion. However, she was swiftly defeated by Batman (with the latter knocking her out with a single mighty punch) and by Enchantress in their final battle, primarily due to the mystical metahuman's superior strength, durability (as Enchantress was unfazed by a mighty baseball bat blow from Harley), and tendency to teleport around the battlefield every so often.
- Expert Acrobat: Harley Quinn is shown to be skilled in various acrobatics, including pole dancing and other agile maneuvers, often incorporating agile moves while fighting opponents, notably able to flip over one monstrous mystical opponent when the managed to get a hold of her (thus twisting herself out of his grasp), and to easily dodge slashes from Enchantress's daggers.
- Pathological Indomitable Will: Harley Quinn (much like the Joker) possesses an obliviousness to danger that makes her invulnerable to fear and intimidation, which are usually Batman's greatest weapons in combat. Unlike Joker, however, Harley does seem to fear death, as she was dismayed by the Jokermobile crashing into a river, due to her inability to swim.
- Gifted Intelligence: Harley Quinn, while still Harleen Quinzel, was (and likely still is) exceptionally smart, having been an excellent academic achiever in high school, which earner her a full scholarship to the prestigious Gotham City University. Her intellect would later extend itself to her tactical and deception skills.
- Expert Psychologist: Harley Quinn, while still Harleen Quinzel, was a highly skilled psychologist, with her psychology graduate thesis being a huge success, and allowing her the opportunity to work as a psychologist at the infamous Arkham Asylum itself.
- Skilled Tactician: Harley Quinn, while not quite on par in this regard with her boyfriend Joker, is nonetheless quite skilled with improvising criminal activities, managing to trap and murder Batman's protegee Robin (though she notably had the assistance of Joker in this).
- Expert Deceiver: Harley Quinn is a highly skilled deceiver, managing to trick Enchantress into thinking that she was about to swear allegiance to the latter, and to subsequently use that distraction to suddenly cut open Enchantress's chest with Katana's sword, exposing and pulling out the villain's vulnerable heart.
Relationships
Allies
|
Enemies
|
Behind the Scenes
- This is Harley's first appearance in a movie adaptation, while it is her third live-action appearance. She plays the role of the main antagonist in the TV series Birds of Prey, and her second brief appearance was in the TV series Arrow. However, her first planned live-action appearance was planned to be in the cancelled fifth Batman: The Motion Picture Anthology film, Batman Unchained.
- According to Andrew Kreisberg, Harley Quinn was planned to appear in more episodes of Arrow, but Willa Holland stated that the idea was dropped because of the introduction of Quinn in the DC Extended Universe. She appears in the Arrow episode, "Suicide Squad" and in a deleted scene of "Unthinkable".
- According to Margot Robbie, she received each of the suits that Harley Quinn has worn in all her appearances in DC Comics media, such as the suit of Batman: The Animated Series, or the suit of the Batman: Arkham videogame franchise.
- Harley Quinn will get her own solo film.
- Harley Quinn is the first member of the Gotham Sirens to show up in the DC Extended Universe.
Gallery
Promotional images
External Links
- Harley Quinn at the Batman Wiki
- Harley Quinn at the Batman: The Animated Series Wiki
References
| Task Force X | |
| Founder | Amanda Waller |
|---|---|
| Members | Peacemaker | Vigilante | Emilia Harcourt | Leota Adebayo |
| Supporting members | Clemson Murn | John Economos | Flo Crawley | Briscoe | Fitzgibbon |
| Former members | Enchantress | June Moone | Slipknot | El Diablo | Deadshot | Katana | Killer Croc | Rick Flag | Captain Boomerang | Polka-Dot Man | T.D.K. | Javelin | Blackguard | Mongal | Savant | Harley Quinn | Bloodsport | King Shark | Ratcatcher 2 | Weasel |