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Quote1 This city is 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇 up in the head! I can officially give it that diagnosis because I'm a doctor. And cuz I'm 🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇 up in the head, too. Quote2
Harley Quinn src

Harley Quinn is a criminal psychologist turned flamboyant criminal menace and the former girlfriend and sidekick to the Joker. While her intentions are typically good, her methods often betray her insanity, Quinn has acted as both ally and enemy to Batman.

Origins

Harleen Quinzel was born in Canarsie, Brooklyn, New York, the oldest of four children and the only girl. Her interest in criminal psychology grew early in her childhood, and blossomed when she met a boy named Bernie Bash, who turned out to be troubled enough to commit murder as a way to prove his love for her. Despite his crime, Harley later broke into his house and stole a stuffed beaver from his father's taxidermy shop as a memento of their relationship that she would keep with her into adulthood.

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.[5] 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.[6]

Harley Quinn Vol 4 35 Textless Variant

Classic Harley Quinnn

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.[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.[8]

New 52

Suicide Squad

Harley Quinn was arrested by Black Canary while on a murderous spree of revenge against the lawyers who put the Joker away.

Suicide Squad Vol 4 1 Textless

On the Squad

While on death row at Belle Reve prison for her crimes, her cell filled up with gas, and she was implanted with a micro-bomb to insure her obedience. She was made to endure torture in order to test her loyalty, and was finally inducted into Amanda Waller's Task Force X, aka the Suicide Squad.[9]

Waller put the team to work on tracking the metahuman terrorist organization called Basilisk, with their first mission being to contain an outbreak of a zombifying virus and collect a newborn baby from the scene who could hold the cure.[10] While on downtime between missions, Harley seduced Deadshot, unaware that he may have been secretly infected with the virus.[11]

Their next mission saw Captain Boomerang joining their team as leader. Offhandedly, he mentioned that the Joker had disappeared and was presumed dead. After the mission was complete, they returned to Belle Reve, where a guard accidentally deactivated Harley's micro-bomb before she was safely in her cell. Naturally, she escaped and caused a prison riot, which her teammates were given just eighteen minutes to suppress.[12] After succeeding, Waller gave Deadshot the treatment he needed for the virus and promised an hour with his daughter Suchin - however, she wouldn't give him the full hour until he and the rest of the Suicide Squad found Harley Quinn, and brought her back dead or alive.[13]

The Hunt for Harley Quinn

Harley had escaped to Gotham City to confirm the rumors about the Joker's death. She went to Arkham Asylum and enlisted the help of several escaped inmates to help thwart the Suicide Squad's attempts to find her.

Suicide Squad Vol 4 7 Textless

Harley forcing Deadshot to wear Joker's face

While there, she kidnapped Dr. Sterano and demanded to know whether it was true that the Joker had been killed. She revealed that he was supposedly skinned alive, and that his face was being kept at Gotham City Police Headquarters in evidence. Hearing this, Harley murdered Sterano, finally. In the meantime, though, the Suicide Squad had gathered the same information from one of the escaped inmates, and watched from a nearby rooftop as Harley surrendered to the police and was taken inside the station - exactly where she needed to be.[6]

The Squad created a diversion in order to pursue her unfettered, but the distraction also allowed Harley to get to the evidence room and steal the Joker's face. On her way out, she encountered Deadshot and knocked him unconscious. He woke unmasked and tied to a chair in the dark. In her insanity, she stretched the severed face over Floyd's own, and began talking to him as if he was the Joker, demanding to know why he left her. Unsure of what to do, Floyd played along, claiming that she should prove her love by killing all of Batman's distractions; his family. In her joy, Harley was too distracted to notice Floyd had pulled out his gun, and shot her in the stomach.[7]

Basilisk Rising

After her brush with death, Harley's mental state further deteriorated, and gave way to a form of dissociative identity disorder, wherein she claimed to be exclusively Dr. Harleen Quinzel. This annoyed Waller, who still needed Harley Quinn's skills, and would have let Deadshot kill her otherwise.[14] Despite the protests of her teammates, Harleen rejoined the Suicide Squad for yet another mission to catch the leader of Basilisk, known as Regulus.

However, over the course of the mission, they discovered that someone on the team was a traitor.[15] Even so Waller sent them all in search of Regulus in South America, but their plane was destroyed by a sleeper agent, and they ended up captured by a primitive native tribe intent on sacrificing them.

They were saved at the last moment by Basilisk agents, at the order of Black Spider, who was the traitor all along. He had managed to implant hypnotic suggestions into the minds of every member of the squad except for Deadshot and Harley, leaving the pair of them to face their hypnotized companions.[16] With some effort, the pair managed to snap the others out of their hypnosis, but not without taking casualties. Regulus appeared, and took Deadshot hostage, providing Harley with the dilemma of whether to risk hitting him. Before she could make a move of her own, Deadshot fired a shot through his own chest, and killed Regulus and himself.

Running With The Devil

At Deadshot's funeral, a sudden gas attack caused everyone in attendance to collapse - except Harley. This is because she is immune to Joker Venom, which was employed for just this purpose. The Joker had returned. Despite her happiness at seeing him alive, if disfigured, he was brutal and vengeful after having learnt already of her alliance with Deadshot. He had sensed a change in her, and he didn't like it. He agreed, though, to forgive her if she would do him a favor.[17]

Dressing in the Joker's old Red Hood get up, Harley was forced into meeting Batman at the old Chemical Mill with the Joker's tape-recorded voice attached. She managed to convince the Batman well enough to trick him into falling and being trapped within an overfilling vat of chemical waste. Upon hearing his demands to be freed, Harley turned to leave warning him that the Joker, her once true love, had changed.[18] The Joker had heard her though, and he wondered if she hadn't changed, threatening to cut off her face to as a test of her loyalty. She claimed to be the same as always, but he disbelieved her, choking her into unconsciousness with a chain. She woke to be attacked by her own Hyenas, intentionally infected with rabies by the Joker. She had to, reluctantly, kill them both, to survive. Consumed by rage, she attempted to kill him as well, but he evaded her and left her for dead.[19]

She'd had to slit her wrists to get out of his handcuffs, but Harley survived. When Deadshot recovered from his own wound, he went to see her in the infirmary, and she broke off their relationship, insisting that she was too good for him or the Joker.[20]

Hot in the City

While hiding out in one of her old storage spaces, Harley discovered that the Joker had planted a bomb there, and it burned down her apartment. She collected the taxidermy beaver she'd dubbed Bernie (after her first love, Bernie Bash) from the wreckage, and made her way to the street, where a mysterious man in a limousine informed her that she had been bequeathed a four-story property in Coney Island by an anonymous benefactor - a former patient.[21]

While moving herself from Gotham to New York, an assassin attempted to take kill her, and was rewarded for his efforts to claim the bounty on her head with his own beheading by Harley. After rescuing a dog from an unfriendly owner, she made her way to her apartment block in Coney Island, which she learned was home to a freakshow. Big Tony, one of the tenants, greeted her and showed her around. The next morning, she disguised her bleached skin, and took job interviews first at a senior citizens' home as a therapist, and then a second job on a roller derby team. After returning home, a second assassin made an attempt on her life, and she was rescued by Big Tony. After searching the body, they discovered that a bounty had been placed on her.[22]

Harley later happened upon a protest against a high-kill animal shelter, and after learning that the protesters have been prevented from adopting anymore animals, she and her friend Poison Ivy decide to break in and free the dogs before they're euthanized. Unfortunately, they simply ran wild, and Harley decided it would be best to adopt them all.[23] At her job at the Free Spirit Assisted Living Home, Harley met a man named Sylvester Borgman, who claimed to have been a hero during the cold war, and recruited her to finish his final mission for him - killing off the eight Russian agents who put him in a wheelchair.[24] After knocking two of the agents off, the other six were warned of Sy's campaign against them.[25] They ended up in a confrontation with one of the others in the Prospect Park Zoo, where all of the animals were released. After killing every one of the villains, Harley returned home to find that Poison Ivy had captured yet another assassin.[26] After a series of botched attempts to trap the assassin, the two discovered that it was Harley herself who had called the hit on herself, having done it in her sleep.[27]

Power Outage

While filling in for a role in the cabaret show at the freakshow in her apartment block, Harley inadvertently caused a riot, and in the confusion, she was arrested by a man posing as a police officer, who was in fact a crazed, love-struck stalker. After humoring him a while, she insisted he get some help, and headed to her impending roller derby game.[28] In the game, Harley ended up killing her opponent, causing some distress. Afterward, she was introduced to Mason Macabre, son of the wax museum's curator Madame Macabre. Though she found him handsome, he slipped off. Having been out with the derby girls all night after that, Harley watched the sunrise and was surprised by the sudden crash of Power Girl tumbling down from the sky next to her.[29] Harley's first call was to Big Tony, who brought Mason with him to the crash site. They soon discovered that Power Girl had lost her memories. Harley saw this as an opportunity to create a superhero duo of the two of them, and convinced Power Girl to participate in the freakshow as a strong woman. While out together at a food court, the pair were attacked by Sportsmaster and the Clock King.[30] Armed with a teleportation device, Clock King sent them adventuring all over the universe.[31]

Harley Quinn & Power Girl

Roy Harper Cry for Justice
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After being sent through the portal by Clock King and Sportsmaster they are sent to a world where Powergirl is a savior.[32] After playing on Power Girl's amnesia a little while longer, including taking part in the freakshow, Harley had to contend with the inevitable return of her new friend's memories. Despite her anger, Power Girl had become friendly with Harley, and took pity on her, deciding to mercifully tie her to the tip of the Eiffel Tower and abandon her there.[33]

Kiss Kiss Bang Stab

It was revealed in this story that Harley had a crush on Bruce Wayne, without even knowing he was Batman. At an auction to date the billionaire, Harley put on a dress and bid the highest auction. However, Bruce was kidnapped by a fish-obsessed villain who wore a costume similar to the Gill-Man and called himself the Cod, though she managed to rescue him anyway.[34]

Roy Harper Cry for Justice
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Harley's Little Black Book

Harley traveled to England and teamed up with Wonder Woman to save her from an ambush.[35] Harley later wins a fused red and black lantern ring in an internet bid and goes on a rampage, doing battle with Hal Jordan. Her ring is stolen by the Azakarian, leading her to team up with Hal to stop them. After they are sent falling into the ground and Hal is knocked unconscious and Harley puts on his ring to save them.[36]

Roy Harper Cry for Justice
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New Suicide Squad

DC Rebirth

Suicide Squad v. Justice League

Heroes In Crisis

 Main article: Heroes in Crisis Vol 1

Heroes in Crisis Vol 1 6 Textless

Suspected of mass murder at Sanctuary

After the creation of the superhero mental health facility known as Sanctuary, Harley's best friend and love-interest Poison Ivy checked in as a patient to improve her mental health. Though Harley herself wasn't a patient, she snuck into the facility to be with Ivy, hiding out in Ivy's room. Ivy encouraged Harley to seek treatment from the facility herself, believing it could help her process her past trauma with the Joker.[37]

One day, mysteriously, most of the residents at Sanctuary were killed in a freak explosion. The only survivors of the incident were Harley and Booster Gold; Poison Ivy, as well as several superheroes, were all killed.[38]

Both processing what had happened, Harley assumed that Booster was behind the attack, while Booster assumed vice versa. Distraught over Ivy's death, Harley ambushed Booster while he was at dinner to get revenge on her supposed killer, though she failed in her assassination attempt. Treating both survivors as suspects, the Justice League hunted both of them for questioning.

Eventually, while Harley continued to track Booster to attempt another assassination, Batgirl came to her aid to help Harley clear her name.[39] The women soon learned Booster's location from his robot companion Skeets,[40] and, upon catching him again, Harley beat Booster Gold in a fight. Though she had the opportunity to kill him, Harley backed down and spared him. [41].

Finally talking to Booster about the incident, Harley learned that he had been conducting his own investigation with his friend Blue Beetle to clear his own name. The men had discovered that the corpse of Wally West, one of the apparent victims in the explosion, was 5 days older than all the others. The group continued to work together to solve the mystery.[41]

It was discovered that neither Harley Quinn nor Booster Gold was the culprit. The real killer was the Flash, Wally West, who had accidentally lost control of his Speed Force powers and caused the explosion at Sanctuary. Having committed manslaughter, Wally tried to cover up his crime by faking his own death, leaving a dead time-displaced clone of himself in the wreckage for the Justice League to find, and manipulated the investigation to focus on Booster and Harley.

Harley and Booster were cleared of the crime, and Poison Ivy, with her unique plant-based physiology, was able to regrow herself back to life.

Bad Blood

Joker War

Ghost Stories

Death Metal

Infinite Frontier

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Dawn of DC

Roy Harper Cry for Justice
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Powers

Abilities

Other Characteristics


Weapons


Related

Footnotes

  1. 1.0 1.1 Harley Quinn (Volume 3) #45
  2. Harley Quinn (Volume 4) #36
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harley Quinn (Volume 3) #22
  4. 4.0 4.1 Harley Quinn Road Trip Special #1
  5. Secret Origins (Volume 3) #4
  6. 6.0 6.1 Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #6
  7. 7.0 7.1 Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #7
  8. Detective Comics (Volume 2) #23.2: Harley Quinn
  9. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #1
  10. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #2
  11. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #3
  12. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #4
  13. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #5
  14. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #9
  15. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #10
  16. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #12
  17. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #14
  18. Batman (Volume 2) #1
  19. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #15
  20. Suicide Squad (Volume 4) #16
  21. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #0
  22. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #1
  23. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #2
  24. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #4
  25. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #5
  26. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #6
  27. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #7
  28. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #9
  29. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #10
  30. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #11
  31. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #12
  32. Harley Quinn and Power Girl #1
  33. Harley Quinn (Volume 2) #13
  34. Harley Quinn Valentine's Day Special #1
  35. Harley's Little Black Book #1
  36. Harley's Little Black Book #2
  37. Heroes in Crisis #6
  38. Heroes in Crisis #1
  39. Heroes in Crisis #4
  40. Heroes in Crisis #5
  41. 41.0 41.1 Heroes in Crisis #7
  42. New Suicide Squad #11
  43. New Suicide Squad #12
  44. New Suicide Squad Annual #1
  45. Harley Quinn (Volume 3) #47
  46. New Suicide Squad Annual #1
  47. New Suicide Squad #12
  48. Batman (Volume 3) #109
  49. Harley Quinn (Volume 3) #56
  50. Sinestro #18
  51. 51.0 51.1 51.2 Harley's Little Black Book #2
  52. Harley Quinn (Volume 4) #6



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