History ComicBook / Harleen

* PoisonousFriend: This starts low-grade with Shondra, Harleen's only friend who has a more cynical outlook. She tries to convince Harleen that to get grants, the first thing to establish is how her research will make her corporate sponsors tons of money. Then there's obviously the Joker, taking the trope UpToEleven. The one who doesn't fit here is literal PoisonousPerson Poison Ivy.

In 2017, artist-writer Creator/StjepanSejic posted a series of "little storytelling practices", fanart/story snippets detailing Harleen Quinzel's fall to the Joker and the creation of [[Characters/HarleyQuinnAndSupportingCharacters Harley Quinn]], their abusive relationship and a possible salvation aided by [[Characters/BatmanPoisonIvy Poison Ivy]]. While the snippets were well received, Šejić always insisted nothing more would come of them since the only place this story could be told well would be DC's [[Creator/DCBlackLabel Black Label]] which was a tier above him. In September 2019, DC's Black Label published the first issue of artist-writer Šejić's ''Harleen''.

** Ivy asks if Harleen is attracted to her during one of their later interviews. While the reader knows Harley will eventually fall in love with Ivy, this is years early for that so Harleen doesn't reply and leaves the room in a flustered state. The variant covers also do this, depicting the characters as playing cards, having Joker as (well) a Joker but Harley and Ivy are both Queens, a small nod towards the far healthier relationship the two women will build in the years to come.

* StartOfDarkness: Yup.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Quinzel's breaking point that completes her fall [[spoiler:after she accidentally shoots a guard dead to save the Joker]]. Certain her life to be irreparably over, compounded by everything else that's been happening, she turns LaughingMad. [[spoiler:And then the Joker comforts her.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Dr. Mathews. She believes in Harleen, and and helps her her get the Wayne grant to finance her research. Despite Harleen's scandal involving sleeping with a professor during college, Dr. Matthews hires her anyway because the scandal only involves one professor and if Harleen gotten all her stellar grades through SextraCredit, she would've been accused of sleeping with the ''entire staff''. In Dr. Matthew's own words, everyone has a past and if she couldn't look past it, she would have made a bad psychologist.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Dr. Mathews. She believes in Harleen, deduces that she can't have gotten her good grades unfairly because they're too spread out across professors, and helps her get the Wayne grant to finance her research. In her own words, everyone has a past and if she couldn't look past it, she would have made a bad psychologist.

* {{Irony}}: Dr. Quinzel's hypothesis, which brought her to Arkham for research, is proven accurate... on ''herself''.

* SenseLossSadness: The chemicals that caused the Joker's appearance also caused irreparable nerve damage, leaving him unable to feel bodily sensations [[SenseFreak unless they're extreme]].

* StealthPun: Quinzel realizes and [[LampshadeHanging Lampshades]] one. After both she and Dent have committed murders, and believing that the Joker's view of the world turned out to be correct, she points out that "Harvey" and "Harleen" start with "Ha Ha".

** Harvey Dent, for his part, is the much-overworked and cynical district attorney of Gotham, who sees his work further made difficult by the faulty and corrupt prison and healthcare system, which he sees as ping-ponging his prosecutions between Arkham and Blackgate -- {{Cardboard Prison}}s that they are. Further struggling with the political weight of his work, which culminates with Salvatore Maroni's acid attack on him, he eventually comes to the conclusion that if the city's systems won't work as he wants it too, he'll have to tear it down himself.

** Harleen, for the most part, was grinded down by professional and social disappointment in finding support for her research, career path and life in general (the Wayne Foundation grant notwithstanding). Finding 'the perfect patient' in the Joker which can/will prove her research hypothesis right (together with her own duty of care) drives her not only to be more partial to him and the other criminal Arkham inmates to extremes, she even stands up to Batman and accuses him of being part of the problem (unaware he is the guy funding her work, and perhaps the one who is most wishing her success). This culminates in her warped idea of emotionally-connecting with the Joker, helping pave the way to her psychological fall.
** Poison Ivy's eco-terrorist sentiments are portrayed quite sympathetically (if not impartially), and we don't even see her wreaking havoc against any particular innocents (the worst collateral damage she causes was during the Arkham breakout). She is also the sole patient [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who eventually commiserates]] with Harleen.
** Harvey Dent, for his part, is the much-overworked and cynical district attorney of Gotham who sees his work further made difficult by the faulty and corrupt prison and healthcare system (which sees his prosecutions being ping-ponged between Arkham and Blackgate--{{Cardboard Prison}}s that they are). Further struggling with the political weight of his work (and culminating with Salvatore Maroni's acid attack on him), he eventually comes to the conclusion that if the city's systems won't work as he wants too, he'll have to tear it down himself.
** The Gotham City Police (both its leaders such as Commissioner Gordon and the rank-and-file) are portrayed with disturbingly close TruthInTelevision (particularly on police brutality--and is in fact at the heart of Harleen's study of how [[ShellShockedVeteran PTSD victims]] are formed): in that because of their institutional training, the increasingly-bizarre nature of crimes in Gotham and their growing alienation from public sympathy is what drives them to be on the defensive and become {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s to system reform advocates like Harleen. [[spoiler:Radicalized GCPD personnel eventually choose to become Executioners, and chose to ally with Two-Face to become his {{Mooks}}.]]
** Batman, ironically enough, gets it both ways. While sections of the public support him, others precisely see him as a dangerous VigilanteMan. At the same time, those within the GCPD and Harvey Dent eventually come to believe he is in fact [[ALighterShadeOfGrey not extremist]] [[EvilerThanThou enough]] to their liking or sense of justice / effectivity. [[spoiler:This is ultimately the rallying cry of Two-Face and the Executioners.]]

** Harleen, for the most part, was grinded down by professional and social disappointment in finding support for her research, career path and life in general (the Wayne Foundation grant notwithstanding). Finding 'the perfect patient' in the Joker which can/will prove her research hypothesis right (together with her own duty of care) drives her not only to be more protective of him and the other criminal Arkham inmates to extremes (which culminates in her warped idea of emotionally-connecting with the Joker) is what helps pave the way to her psychological fall.

** The Gotham City Police (both its leaders such as Commissioner Gordon and the rank-and-file) are portrayed with disturbingly close TruthInTelevision (particularly on police brutality--and is in fact at the heart of Harleen's study of how {{ShellShocked Veteran}}s are formed): in that because of their institutional training, the increasingly-bizarre nature of crimes in Gotham and their growing alienation from public sympathy is what drives them to be on the defensive and become {{Obstructive Bureaucrat}}s to system reform advocates like Harleen. [[spoiler:Radicalized GCPD personnel eventually choose to become Executioners, and chose to ally with Two-Face to become his {{Mooks}}.]]
** Batman, ironically enough, gets it both ways. While sections of the public support him, others precisely see him as a dangerous VigilanteMan. At the same time, those within the GCPD and Harvey Dent eventually come to believe he is in fact [[ALighterShadeOfGrey not extremist enough]] to their liking or sense of justice / effectivity. [[spoilers:This is ultimately the rallying cry of Two-Face and the Executioners.]]

* TheCon: [[spoiler:The investigation Bruce launches into the mass breakout brings this to light. It turns out that Joker got his hands on Harleen's research and used it to set himself up as the perfect patient for her theories. Falling in love with him and becoming his sidekick was an unexpected bonus, but all of it was just him playing Harley to get himself set free. That said, the incident that actually frees him was Two-Face's GambitRoulette--albeit it does also serves Joker's purpose to become the "[[TraumaCongaLine one bad day]]" that cements Harleen's DespairEventHorizon.]]

** The Gotham City Police (both its leaders such as Commissioner Gordon and the rank-and-file) are portrayed with disturbingly close TruthInTelevision (particularly on police brutality--and is in fact at the heart of Harleen's study of how {{Shell-Shocked Veteran}}s are formed): in that because of their institutional training, the increasingly-bizarre nature of crimes in Gotham and their growing alienation from public sympathy is what drives them to be on the defensive and become [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]s to system reform advocates like Harley. [[spoiler:Radicalized GCPD personnel eventually choose to become Executioners, and chose to ally with Two-Face to become his {{Mooks}}.]]

** Harvey Dent, for his part, is the much-overworked and cynical district attorney of Gotham who sees his work further made difficult by the faulty and corrupt prison and healthcare system (which sees his prosecutions being ping-ponged between Arkham and Blackgate--[[Cardboard Prison]]s that they are). Further struggling with the political weight of his work (and culminating with Salvatore Maroni's acid attack on him), he eventually comes to the conclusion that if the city's systems won't work as he wants too, he'll have to tear it down himself.
** The Gotham City Police (both its leaders such as Commissioner Gordon and the rank-and-file) are portrayed with disturbingly close TruthInTelevision (particularly on police brutality--and is in fact at the heart of Harleen's study of how [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]]s are formed): in that because of their institutional training, the increasingly-bizarre nature of crimes in Gotham and their growing alienation from public sympathy is what drives them to be on the defensive and become [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]s to system reform advocates like Harley. [[spoiler:Radicalized GCPD personnel eventually choose to become Executioners, and chose to ally with Two-Face to become his {{Mooks}}.]]

** Harvey Dent, for his part, is the much-overworked and cynical district attorney of Gotham who sees his work further made difficult by the faulty and corrupt prison and healthcare system (which sees his prosecutions being ping-ponged between Arkham and Blackgate--CarboardPrisons that they are). Further struggling with the political weight of his work (and culminating with Salvatore Maroni's acid attack on him), he eventually comes to the conclusion that if the city's systems won't work as he wants too, he'll have to tear it down himself.

* MaliciousMisnaming; [[ZigZagged|Trope]]: While some misspell/mispronounce Harleen's name out of malice or anger at her, others seem to be honestly mistaken or just couldn't be bothered to correct themselves.

* TheCon: [[spoiler:The investigation Bruce launches into the mass breakout brings this to light. It turns out that Joker got his hands on Harleen's research and used it to set himself up as the perfect patient for her theories. Falling in love with him and becoming his sidekick was an unexpected bonus, but all of it was just him playing Harley to get himself set free.]]

In 2017, artist-writer Creator/StjepanSejic posted a series of "little storytelling practices", fanart/story snippets detailing Harleen Quinzel's fall to the Joker and the creation of Harley Quinn, their abusive relationship and a possible salvation aided by Poison Ivy. While the snippets were well received, Šejić always insisted nothing more would come of them since the only place this story could be told well would be DC's [[Creator/DCBlackLabel Black Label]] which was a tier above him. In September 2019, DC's Black Label published the first issue of artist-writer Šejić's ''Harleen''.

* ShoutOut: ''"Bob, [[Film/Batman1989 you're my number one guy now."]]''

-->'''Harley Quinn'''

* RealityEnsues: A career in violence while also in a violent relationship will leave permanent scarring.

* ShoutOut: Bob, [[Film/Batman1989 you're my number one guy now."]]

** Harleen sleeping with her professor earned jokes about how he "rode his Harley." Which itself is a reference to an infamous GettingCrapPastTheRadar joke from the Harley Quinn OriginsEpisode from ''ComicBook/TheBatmanAdventures'' adapted to the episode "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE21MadLove Mad Love]]" from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''.

** A tray of take-out coffees has cups labeled "[[Creator/BruceTimm Timm]]" and "[[Creator/PaulDini Dini]]" along with "Doc Harley".
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Batman was intrigued by the possibilities of Dr. Quinzel's hypothesis and so had his Wayne Foundation support her research, which brought her to work in Arkham. In the aftermath, Batman realizes the role he played for what happened to her.