Characters / DCAU: Harley Quinn

Batman: The Animated Series character index
Batman and Bat Family (Batman) | Allies | Rogues Gallery Part 1 (The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy) | Rogues Gallery Part 2 | Rogues Gallery Part 3 | Rogues Gallery Part 4: Minions

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Harley Quinn (Harleen Quinzel, M.D.)

^{Click here to see her unmasked}

^{Click here to see her design in Batman and Harley Quinn}

Voiced by: Arleen Sorkin, Melissa Rauch (Batman and Harley Quinn)

Appearances: Batman: The Animated Series | The New Batman Adventures | Gotham Girls | Static Shock | Batman and Harley Quinn | Justice League vs. The Fatal Five

"You'd think after livin' with Mistah J, I'd be used to a little pain..."

A psychiatrist who encountered The Joker in Arkham Asylum. She became enamored with her patient, eventually aligning herself with him as his assistant - if anyone could classify as "the second most deranged nut-job in Gotham", it's this woman.

People believe Harley is weak without the Joker. She isn't.

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A-H

• Accent Slip-Up: Her heavy Brooklyn accent is fake, or at least exaggerated. Whenever she's in a more depressed or serious mood, she speaks in a significantly less cartoonish voice.
• Acquired Poison Immunity: In "Harley and Ivy," Poison Ivy gives her a shot of a powerful antidote that renders her immune to all toxic substances. This immunity, combined with her incredible gymnastic talent, is her only "superpower."
• Actor Allusion: Her entire character is based on Arleen Sorkin's character Calliope Jones From Days of Our Lives, namely this Dream Sequence where she plays a court jester; and is The Danza as Quinn's real name was later revealed as Harleen Quinzel, with her first name being just one letter away from Arleen's. Paul Dini was shocked Sorkin still spoke to him.
• Affably Evil: As opposed to the Faux Affably Evil Joker, her cheerful disposition seems to be legit. Thing is, she's not actually a bad person, but she won't come to understand that she's "dating" a psychopath.
• Afraid of Needles: She cries like a little girl when Poison Ivy gives her a shot in "Harley and Ivy". Harley even lampshades this by saying, "You'd think after livin' with Mistah J I'd be used to a little pain."
• All Girls Want Bad Boys or Girls: She is dating The Joker, and has a quasi-romantic relationship with Poison Ivy.
• All Take and No Give: Any relationship with Harley Quinn. She invokes this trope being the lover of The Joker and Poison Ivy's friend. Justified because those two are sociopaths. By the time of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, Harley has this type of relationship with her granddaughters.
• Ambiguously Bi: While she is in love with the Joker, her interactions with Poison Ivy suggest that there's a little more than friendship between the two. In "Harley and Ivy" alone, they are shown together wearing only long shirts and (maybe) underwear underneath it. In "Holiday Knights" They are in a hotel together wearing very little clothing and there seems to only be one bed. Word of Gay confirms that there was a relationship between the two, but they had to keep it ambiguous to appease the censors.
• Ambiguously Jewish: Her voice is that nasal "Noo Yawk" accent made infamous by Jewish comediennes such as Fran Drescher, plus she utilizes Yiddish as a Second Language. Kinda helps that all of her voice actresses are Jewish as well. Like the ambiguous bisexuality, she is confirmed to be Jewish and is depicted as such in the comics.
• Anger Born of Worry: One interpretation of her response to the end of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker where she bails her two granddaughters out of jail. She chews both of them for being involved with the Joker despite the good stable life she provided for them and whacks their rears with her cane.
• Anti-Love Song: She does a truly adorable one in "Harlequinade" called "Say That We're Sweethearts Again" from a 1944 movie called Meet The People.
• Anti-Villain: Her cheery attitude makes her seem less malicious than most of the rest of the Rogues Gallery. When she's at her nicest - such as in "Harlequinade" and especially "Harley's Holiday" - she barely seems villainous at all, instead coming off as an sweet but uninhibited kook whose impulsiveness causes chaos. In several episodes she seems only a few steps away from a Heel–Face Turn, if she could just shake her obsession - which, naturally, she never does. At least not until after Joker is killed by Tim Drake.
• Appropriated Appellation: When Joker first points out Harleen's Punny Name, she mentions that she's heard it before. Once she becomes his sidekick, she takes on "Harley Quinn" as her criminal alias.
• Art Evolution: Averted—mostly. Harley was one of the only characters that were left relatively unchanged after the New Batman Adventures revamp, with her character model simply being updated to match the new art style. The only real changes were as follows:
  1. In BTAS, there was a case of Early Installment Character-Design Difference, where the first few times we see her unmasked, she sported a Tomboyish Ponytail instead of the Girlish Pigtails that have become her trademark.
  2. In TNBA proper, her chalk white face makeup was changed to a blue-ish white, much like Joker's skin, and the bright red lipstick she sported when out of costume was changed to the same dark red color that she wears while in costume.
• Ascended Extra: She was originally just a one-shot character who received a positive reception with the fans and writers that she became the Joker's pseudo-girlfriend/top henchwoman, began developing relationships with other characters, and received her own spotlight episodes (including a comic tie-in detailing her origins that got adapted into an episode). Then, she became a Canon Immigrant into the main DC Universe, so she's ascended twice from one-shot to supporting character, from cartoon to comics, in that order.
• The Atoner: It is implied that she became one after the Joker dies in Return Of The Joker. She even does her best to stop her granddaughters from following in her footsteps.
• Ax-Crazy: When she gets crazy, she gets CRAZY. Even the Joker is afraid of her when pushed too far.
• Badass Adorable: She is a very adorable, attractive blonde-haired woman with a bubbly personality. She also happens to be a psychotic nutcase who is perfectly willing to shoot you and hit you with her mallet.
• Badass Normal: Beyond exceptional gymnastic skill and the immunity to toxins that Poison Ivy gives her, Harley has no particularly outstanding abilities. It doesn't stop her from being an extremely dangerous foe to the entire Bat-Family, and a successful criminal to boot.
• Became Their Own Antithesis: From a prim and proper psychiatrist to a prancing clown who's self-admittedly crazy.
• Beware the Nice Ones: She's probably the nicest and least evil of the recurring villains. This does not make her harmless by any means. In fact, she is more dangerous than the Joker as she lacks his tendency for Stupid Evil, and would have succeeded in killing Batman in "Mad Love" had the Joker not got mad about her messing up his plan, thus giving Batman a chance to escape.
• Beware the Silly Ones: She's very bubbly and goofy, and may be the nicest of Batman's Rogues Gallery. She's also a psychotic nutcase who's perfectly willing to shoot you, break your legs, or let you be eaten alive by a tank full of piranha.
• The Big Damn Kiss: She goes back for seconds after giving Batman a "Thank You" peck on the lips. Batman seems to have enjoyed it.
• Book Dumb: The original comic version of "Mad Love" shows that her grades in college were rather poor, but as a result of Sextra Credit, she was able to pass.
• Bowdlerise: Her questionable academics in her college days as revealed in the "Mad Love" comic aren't mentioned in the episode adapting it for the cartoon.
• Break the Cutie: All it took was a few sessions with The Joker to turn her into an obsessed supervillain sidekick to the Clown Prince of Crime.
• Breakout Character: Harley Quinn, who went from being the Joker's henchwoman, to becoming a Canon Immigrant in the comics, to becoming DC Comics' "fourth pillar" after Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
• Breakout Villain: Harley Quinn was intended to be a one-off character for "Joker's Favor", but she ended up so popular that not only was she added to Batman's main Rogues Gallery in both the show and the comics (including her own series), but had almost as many appearances in the DCAU as Joker himself. Harley Quinn's self-titled comic series was the highest-selling female-led book published by DC Comics. Meaning she was outselling Batgirl, Supergirl, Batwoman, and Wonder Woman.
• Bumbling Sidekick: She is treated In-Universe like one, but that's because The Joker and Poison Ivy cannot recognize her Conservation of Competence. You could say that Harley is a Hypercompetent Sidekick—she doesn't doom the Joker or Poison Ivy's plans, it's just that Batman is that good.
• Butt-Monkey: Justified, when you seek the company of the Joker and Poison Ivy, this trope is bound to happen. Probably got it the worst in the Superman episode, "Girls Night Out" where she was practically outclassed by everyone involved (Ivy, Livewire, Supergirl and Batgirl.)
• Canon Immigrant: She started out as a DCAU character and then became part of the main DC universe by making her first comic appearance (aside from the twelfth issue of this cartoon's comic tie-in The Batman Adventures) in the 1999 one-shot Batman: Harley Quinn.
• Catchphrase: One that followed her to the comics and a few future adaptations:
  (when meeting someone for the first time): "Call me Harley! Everyone does."
• Character Exaggeration: It depends on the episode, but some episodes - particularly the crossovers - really play up how childishly dimwitted and silly she is, occasionally to the point of making her The Load. It's a major character trait in "Girl's Night Out".
• Characterization Marches On:
  • You'd never believe it now, but in "Joker's Favor" (her debut), she was actually the calmest person in the room and seemed anything but immature.
  • Likewise, she tries to appeal to Batman's sympathy when they encounter. Batman handcuffs her, refusing to buy the "innocence" act. Later on, Harley would continually rebuff everyone's sympathy aimed towards her in favor of running back towards the Joker.
  • Her earlier appearances - especially "Joker's Favor" - also implied she had no real fighting skill, and was mostly in Joker's gang for infiltration purposes (and standard Moll duties like cutting Joker's hair). A far cry from later seasons and especially the comics, which portray her as one of Batman's most athletic foes, on par if not surpassing Catwoman.
  • Also in "Joker's Favor", it is implied that she was a hairdresser before joining up with Joker (aside from cutting Joker's hair, she says "Boy, beauty school's looking pretty good about now." after Batman cuffs her). Later episodes established that she was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who was manipulated by Joker into becoming his henchgirl.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: Her skill as a gymnast reaches this level—in "Harley and Ivy," she's able to successfully navigate a field of defense lasers using nothing but backflips and handsprings. There are also a few occasions when she's able to go toe-to-toe with the Bat Family and, if not outfight them, at the very least escape using her gymnastic talents.
• Chronic Villainy: Every time she feels that the Joker is not for her, it's only temporary, and she goes right back to loving him again. It's not until Joker's death at the hands of Tim Drake that Harley ditches the criminal lifestyle for good.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Joker finds this out the hard way in "Joker's Millions", as he replaced her with a new henchgirl. She escaped from Arkham and beat the crap out of him with a nightstick.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Even when she does get declared sane, she's still weird.
• Comedic Spanking: After bailing the Dee Dee twins out at the end of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, she rebukes her granddaughters for turning to crime and proceeds to use her cane to spank them.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Combined with a fair amount of Stockholm Syndrome. She can't bring herself to leave the Joker so she just puts up with all the cruelty he heaps on her (and, if her Villain Song is about true events, Mad Love isn't even the first time he tried to outright murder her.)
• Critical Psychoanalysis Failure: Was a fairly straight laced psychiatrist until she tried to take on The Joker.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: In "Mad Love", even Batman himself admitted that she came a lot closer to killing him than the Joker ever did.
• Cute and Psycho: She is easily one of the most adorable rogues on the show. Also likes to pummel people and shoot at them for fun.
• Dark Action Girl: For a woman as lovesick and loony as she is, Harley proves surprisingly capable as a fighter with her acrobatics and mallet, being a very effective muscle for him.
• Dark Mistress: Although she is prominent in many Batman comics today, it was in this series that she was introduced as Joker's girlfriend/henchman in an abusive relationship.
• Dartboard of Hate: Keeps a dart-riddled photo of Batman in her cell at Arkham, as shown in "Joker's Millions".
• Decoy Damsel:
  • Plays one in her own plan in "Mad Love", resulting in Batman nearly being eaten alive by dozens of fish.
  • And again in flashback sequences in "Batman Beyond: Return Of The Joker", to help Joker kidnap Robin.
• Does Not Like Spam: Harley despises fish, as seen in "The Laughing Fish". Joker forces her to eat one on his commercial and she ends up vomiting offscreen.
• The Dog Bites Back: Sometimes Mistah J will push her too far, which leads to her going into Yandere mode. Fear her when she goes into this mode. Even the Joker is scared of her when she goes into this mode. "Joker's Millions" showed this best where she successfully busted out of Arkham, only to impersonate an officer, hide in the truck where Joker was handcuffed, and bring out the nightstick.
• The Dragon: To the Joker.
• Drives Like Crazy: As seen in the crossover with Superman: The Animated Series when she replaces Mercy as Lex Luthor's chauffer, causing several dozen wrecks while Lex and the Joker make their deal.
• Dumb Blonde: Subverted. She is quite ditzy and clumsy, but she can be surprisingly competent when left to her own devices. When she goes behind the Joker's back to try an assassinate Batman, she nearly succeeds (the only reason she didn't succeed is because Batman tricked her into calling Joker, with Batman knowing that Joker wouldn't allow someone else to kill him), working out a flaw in Joker's original plan to boot.
• Dub Name Change: Downplayed, but in the Venezuelan dub she is called "Arley" instead of Harley sometimes, since in spanish, the word for harlequin is Arlequin.
• Early Installment Character-Design Difference: The first few times we see Harley without her mask, she's sporting a single ponytail rather than her dual pigtails.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • She considers her fellow Arkham inmates her friends, and was disgusted with Joker's plan to atomize Gotham once she realized he intended to leave them and their hyenas behind in "Harlequinade" (not to mention he was going to leave Harley as well).
  • She fakes this in "Mad Love", pretending that she's decided to turn Joker over to the police in horror at a plan to blow up the town as a trap for Batman.
  • Eventually, she recognized that helping the Joker torture Robin went too far, after she fell down a pit and a brainwashed Tim killed Mr. J. Harley gave up crime and reformed, knowing that she didn't deserve forgiveness from the Bat-family for what she did.
  • In the comic book series she absolutely refuses to help the Joker murder Jason Todd and has to be restrained by his mooks in order to stop her from freeing the boy.
• Even Mooks Have Loved Ones: The Joker, Poison Ivy, and her hyenas, referring to them as her "babies".
• Evil-Detecting Dog: Inverted. While Harley Quinn, recently released from Arkham and out trying to start anew, her hyenas immediately start barking at the sight of Bruce Wayne. Harley for her part is clueless that she happens to be standing next to Batman.
• Evil Parents Want Good Kids: She berates her granddaughters after bailing them out of jail, presumably not wanting them to repeat her mistakes.
• Expressive Hair: Harley's "hat" often droops when she's upset.
• Expressive Mask: Her mask moves like her eyebrows would if she had visible eyebrows.
• Extreme Doormat: Deconstructed—this quality is what makes her an incredibly dangerous character, because she is this to sociopaths The Joker and Poison Ivy. Harley Quinn is an Extreme Doormat personified when it comes to the Joker. Lampshaded in this exchange:
  Harley: I'm not a doormat! Am I?
  Poison Ivy: If you had a middle name, it would be welcome!
• Fallen-on-Hard-Times Job: The only work Harley can get after retiring from crime is waitressing at a Cosplay Café called "Superbabes". Aside from porn, that is (which she refuses to take part in).
• Flipping the Bird: She's implied to give the Batfamily the finger in the 14th issue of Batman: Gotham Adventures, where she gets the heroes' attention by making shadow puppets near the Bat-Signal and one isn't shown to the reader.
  Robin: Whoops!
  Batgirl: That hand gesture's not hard to figure out. Only one finger.
• Florence Nightingale Effect: She was originally Joker's psychiatrist at Arkham who grew sympathetic to him after listening to his various justifications for why he became the insane clown that he is. After helping him escape, he continued to mentally, emotionally, and physically abuse her to the point that she became almost as crazy as he is, though she does have her moments of clarity, especially after he's done something to really piss her off.
• Fluffy Tamer: To everyone else, the Joker's snarling pet hyenas are a menace. To her, they're her "babies."
• Friend to Psychos: Harley loves The Joker and is best friends (maybe something more) with Poison Ivy. Both of them are sociopaths: By definition, they could like Harley, but they cannot care for her.
  • She also said hi to a then ranting and raving Scarecrow, who instantly calmed down to pleasantly return the gesture.
• Genki Girl: She is hyper cheerful all the time, even when committing crimes.
• Girlish Pigtails: When out of costume, her hair is styled this way, save for a few early episodes where she sported a single ponytail.
• Glass Cannon: Whenever she gets into fights she very capable of bringing the pain to the Bat-Family through her impressive acrobatic skills and sturdy mallet, but she's just a Badass Normal without any major Charles Atlas Superpower, so she's just as easy to punch down as her lightly-built appearance suggests.
• Heel–Face Turn: It's implied at the end of Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker that she eventually went straight. Nodded to in Batman and Harley Quinn, where she has gone straight and has successfully avoided a life of crime by being a waitress at a superhero-themed diner in her own costume, with no one being any the wiser (at least until Batman and Nightwing came along).
• Hello, Attorney!: Her disguise in "The Man Who Killed Batman". She even wears glasses.
• Hidden Depths:
  • If you go by the animated adaptation of "Mad Love" and not the comic, she earned her MD legitimately and was interested in hopeless cases like the Joker because of the challenge, rather than writing a celebrity tell-all. Harley did her best to show sympathy towards a monster; the problem is that it worked too well. There's no mention of her Sleeping Their Way to the Top and she's the only intern at Arkham that we've seen.
  • She's not as bad as she is, she's just easy to manipulate. When she's away from the Joker, she's built a respectful relationship with some of the other Arkham inmates. She managed to break through Scarecrow's rant and gain a respectful response by greeting him, and she manages to become Poison Ivy's partner-in-crime, if not, something more than that. These relationships imply that they have no personal grudges towards Harley, they just hate Joker.
• Hidden in Plain Sight: Who'd have guessed that the waitress dressed as Harley at the Superbabes restaurant is the real deal? Nightwing, that's who. He even applauds her for hiding in plain sight.
• Horrible Judge of Character: She always forgives the Joker no matter what, even when he tortures children and has tried to kill her in the past. She also consistently fails to recognize his inherent selfishness and huge ego, and doesn't realize that he will always put himself first, and sacrifice her on a whim to save his own skin if he has to (or even just thinks it is funny to do so). In this case, she is insane, though, and the show makes it clear that this isn't a healthy relationship. Later on, however, she gets an offscreen Heel Realization about this and reforms for real.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: The Joker treats her like a Bumbling Sidekick. However, in "Harley and Ivy", it's revealed he depends on her for his daily life. In "Joker's Millions", he asks the replacement Harley for an idea, implying he does that with the real one. She’s also the one who’s come closer to killing Batman than he ever has.

I-N

• Ignored Epiphany: In "Harlequinade" and "Mad Love" regarding her relationship with The Joker as toxic and cruel, only to go back to him not long after which is Truth in Television as many victims return to their abusers even after realizing the truth of their situation. This no longer applies after the Joker died.
• Implausible Deniability: Harley Quinn really was trying to go straight, but after her first day out of Arkham ended with her taking a hostage she pointed out that, with her history, even she would not believe the story that it was all a big misunderstanding.
• Improperly Paranoid: Harley's attempt at living a normal life is interrupted because she assumes that a security guard responding to an alarm going off, who makes it clear that she's not in trouble and they need to remove the security tag on her clothing, is out to get her and she's being framed for a crime she did not do. This ends up being the last step leading to her Redemption Failure.
• Inconsistent Spelling: The DVD captions for "Mad Love" in Volume Four of Batman: The Animated Series spell her real name as "Harlene Quinzelle".
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: Subverted. When she makes an honest attempt at killing Batman without anyone else's help, she very nearly succeeds. The only reason why she doesn't is because The Joker finds out.
• Informed Judaism: It's revealed in the original comic of "Holiday Knights" that she is actually Jewish, which is another reason for Ivy to find Harley's whining for a Christmas tree bewildering and annoying.
• Ink-Suit Actor: Harley was based heavily on her actress Arleen Sorkin down to her physical appearance. Melissa Rauch and Tara Strong also look quite a bit like Harley, with Tara even cosplaying as Harley on occasion.
• Insane No More: In "Harley's Holiday", she's declared sane and released from Arkham.
• I Take Offense to That Last One:
  Harley Quinn: And here you thought I was just another bubble-headed blond bimbo! Well, the joke's on you, I'm not even a real blond!
• Jumping Out of a Cake: She slinky emerged from an oversized lemon custard pie.
• Just Got Out of Jail: "Harley's Holiday". Poor Harley even paid for that dress...
• Know When to Fold 'Em: After the Joker died, Harley actually disappeared and reformed herself, following her surviving a long drop into the Arkham foundations. She gave up crime, but also made sure to stay under the radar. After all, the Bat-family knows what she was complicit in torturing a child and they would never forgive her for that; Barbara references that when Terry mentions Harley probably "bought it".
• Lap Pillow: To Joker during the episode "Trial", much to the disgust of the attorney defending Batman.
  Van Dorn: I object to this witness! She's obviously trying to influence the judge.
  Joker: (sounding genuinely confused) What makes you say that?
• Laser-Guided Karma: She spent much of her career rejecting help from everyone who wanted to help her leave the Joker. The roles get reversed when a resurrected Joker recruits her granddaughters for his gang forty years after she retired.
• Laughably Evil: She's often very funny because of how perky and childish she behaves. Nonetheless, she is still a villain.
• Lima Syndrome: Harley Quinn's origin is Lima Syndrome turned Mad Love.
• Love Makes You Evil / Love Makes You Crazy: She was a normal psychiatrist until she fell for the Joker and became his accomplice.
• Love Martyr: It doesn't matter how many times The Joker hits her or calls her worthless, she has hope the relationship will work.
• Luke, I Am Your Father (or Grandmother): Due in part to Paul Dini not bearing to kill Harley Quinn off, she was revealed to be the grandmother of the Dee-Dee twins, members of the Jokerz gang, nearing the end of Return of the Joker, and was scolding them.
• Mad Love: Her relationship with Joker, naturally. Despite him being a murderous psychopath she's crazy about him, and always goes back to him even when he's abusive towards her.
• Magic Skirt: She gets one at the beginning of the episode "Mad Love".
• Master of Delusion: Played with in "Harley's Holiday". Newly released from Arkham, she's out shopping when she runs into Bruce Wayne. She stops him, then covers the top half of his face, saying, "I recognize that chin..." and then declares, "I knew it! You're Bruce Wayne, boy billionaire!"
• Meaningful Name: Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn—Harlequin, the clown character.
• Minion with an F in Evil: Downplayed, but she's one of the least evil recurring villains, and even tries to pull a Heel–Face Turn in one episode (although, of course it doesn't stick.)
• Mook Promotion: She was originally supposed to be a minor accomplice of the Joker and ended up a full-blown Super Villain, making appearances in numerous other adaptations.
• Moral Myopia: In "Mad Love", when Harley is reading a newspaper with the front page article titled "Joker Still At Large. Body Count Rises", she is more concerned for the Joker than for the victims.
• Ms. Fanservice: Both as Sexy Jester and in other outfit (police, lawyer, ecc). Not forgetting the famous Jumping Out of a Cake scene and her Les Yay relationship with Poison Ivy.
• Murder the Hypotenuse: This is her truly deranged goal: Without the Batman, the Joker could be hers at last!
• My God, What Have I Done?: Off-screen, she had this after the Joker died. She gave up crime, the Harley Quinn identity, and her obsession with Mr. J after it sunk in that she aided in torturing and mindraping Robin, who was a child. Barbara says that after forty years of quiet, she doubts Harley would be involved with the Joker that attacked Bruce. She's right; Harley is horrified when Joker recruited her granddaughters instead.
• My Master, Right or Wrong: If one counts the Joker as her master, as she is usually The Dragon.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Her whole origin story is this. She wanted to be a psychiatrist in order to help people, and took pity on the Joker after he told her a (completely bullshit) story about his abusive childhood, eventually coming to believe that he was just a misunderstood soul who was being persecuted by mean old Batman. Even after Batman straight up tells her that the Joker is always making up phony stories about his past to get people to go easy on him, she can't seem to internalize this and still thinks he's not a bad guy.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Harley's impish charm and sweet-natured personality often makes her seem like a relatively harmless victim of the Joker. In "Mad Love", she lures Batman to her by pretending to give the police info on the Joker in exchange for protection, then having a mechanical Joker shoot at her and Batman, which distracts Batman long enough for her to sedate him, capture him, remove his utility belt and suspend him over a large tank full of piranha to be eaten alive. She would have succeeded in killing Batman had he not convinced her that the Joker would never believe she'd killed the Bat without proof of a body, knowing that she'd call Joker and that Joker would not allow someone else to kill his arch-nemesis. Batman even admits to Joker that Harley came closer to killing him than Joker ever did.
• Now You Tell Me: This delightful exchange while getting chased by the Batmobile.
  Joker: I thought I told you to get gas!
  Harley: WE'RE BROKE, remember? What was I supposed to do? Fill the tank, shoot the guy, and drive off?!
  Joker: (nodding) Mmhmm.
  Harley: *Beat* NOW ya tell me!
• Number Two for Brains: Subverted, she can be dim and childish, but when she really sets her mind to something, she can be just as dangerous as the Joker, if not more so.

O-Y

• Obfuscating Stupidity: It's implied that she puts on a ditzy front to keep Joker from thinking she's upstaging him.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: During the flashback in "Mad Love", she has a generic American accent instead of her regular thick New Jersey/New York one. The accent is implied to be part of the Harley persona. Alternately, it could be her real accent, which she suppressed for reasons of appearance.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: She "rescues" Sidney Debris from the cops in plain clothes and using her real name. Bullock thinks there's something familiar about her, but can't place it.
• Parental Hypocrisy: Or rather, Grandparental hypocrisy. In Return of the Joker, she chews out her granddaughters, the Dee Dee twins, for getting mixed up in crime after she pays for their bail. They give her a Big "SHUT UP!" in return.
• Perky Female Minion: She is this towards the Joker.
• Pin-Pulling Teeth: She does this before throwing a Joker Grenade at Batman in "Harley's Holiday".
• Playing the Victim Card: She tries this on Batman in "Joker's Favor".
  Harley: I know. You're thinking, "What a shame. A pure, innocent little thing like her led astray by bad companions." (grabs a knife but Batman stops her)
  Batman: Right. Tell me another. (handcuffs Harley and goes after Joker)
  Harley: Beauty school is looking good right about now.
• Pre-Insanity Reveal: Harley was once a promising young doctor, and while she was definitely a bit arrogant, lazy, and narcissistic, she didn't go fruit loops until after she tried to cure The Joker.
• Prim and Proper Bun: She wears one in a flashback when she was a psychiatrist. Also when she was posing as a lawyer to get Sid the Squid out of jail.
• Psycho Supporter: An interesting take in the trope, because without someone to lead her, Harley doesn’t have the motivation to commit crimes. However, we see at "Mad Love" that of all the villains that compose the Batman Rogues Gallery, she is the one who was the closest to actually managing to kill him:
  • The Joker abuses her with glee, until his death. After that, it is implied she chose a tranquil life.
  • Poison Ivy also abuses Harley and doesn’t want to give her enough credit for her part at their heists. In All There in the Manual, the ''Batman Adventures'' comic book offers a reason why Ivy leaves Harley alone.
  • And at Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker,we see that Nana Harley paid Delia and Deidre Dennis' (better known as Dee Dee) bail to keep them out of jail. Even when Harley was calling them out, she paid their bail. In an alternate timeline, those two managed to help kill most of the Justice League and kill Terry McGinnis.
• Psychopathic Womanchild: She's a dangerous loon and often behaves in a childish manner. She also talks in a rather childlike voice a lot of the time (likely to make her more cute and sympathetic.)
• Punch-Clock Villain: The real frightening part about Harley is that she is a person without any reason to kill, but she will do it, and sadistically, only because a man she's in love with tells her it would be fun.
• Punny Name: Harley Quinn. Even when not highlighting this, her name sounds like "Harlequin", and her real name is Harleen Quinzel. The Joker even lampshaded this in "Mad Love".
• Real Name as an Alias: In "The Man Who Killed Batman", she masquerades as the lawyer of the episode's titular character, using the name Harleen Quinzel. Later, the episode "Trial" would confirm this as her actual name. One must wonder how this didn't tip off the cops.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Wears a black and red playing card-themed jester outfit and she is the main accomplice to Gotham's most dangerous criminal.
• Redemption Failure:
  • In "Harley's Holiday", though because it is Played for Laughs, this is a borderline Heel–Face Door-Slam example, too.
• Reformed, but Rejected: In "Harley's Holiday", she tried to reform. The chain of events that got her sent back to Arkham started with her panicking after setting off a detector in a department store. The clerk never got a chance to explain that they just forgot to remove the security tag on the dress she just bought.
  Harley: They won't even let me keep my new dress! And I actually paid for it!
  • Though it could be worse - at the end of the episode, her doctor observes that it was all just a misunderstanding and that Harley was still well on the path to recovery even if she wasn't quite there yet.
• Remember the New Guy?: Aside from her being a Canon Immigrant who was created for the series, she first appears in "Joker's Favor" having apparently been his lackie for some time despite never being shown or even mentioned. Possibly justified in that the Joker makes it clear that he doesn't really care about her beyond the surface level, so it makes sense that he wouldn't go out of his way to break her out with him whenever he manages to escape Arkham.
• Retired Outlaw: Return of the Joker depicts her well into her twilight years, where she has become a grandmother who angrily scolds her grandchildren for getting mixed up in criminal activities.
• Sextra Credit: In the original comic version of Mad Love, Batman's account of young Harleen Quinzel's academic career strongly implies that she was sleeping with her professors to get higher marks in her psychology classes.
• She-Fu: She is one of Batman's most acrobatic foes. It's natural since she got into college on a gymnastics scholarship.
• Slip into Something More Comfortable: In "Harlequinade", she takes Batman back to the Joker's last hideout to look for clues. Once there, she says, "Have a look around while I slip into something more comfortable," and changes out of her Arkham jumpsuit and into her regular costume.
• Smooch of Victory: She gives one to Batman of all people. When Batman showed her a bit of kindness by returning a dress she'd bought and told her even though she's going back to Arkham, she should get a little happiness. Touched, she gives him a quick peck. Then, looking playful, gives him a long, long smooch, telling him to call her. Robin and Poison Ivy, watching, seem weirded out.
• Society Is to Blame: She recites this trope when her attempt at a normal life goes awry in "Harley's Holiday": "I tried to play by the rules, but no, they wouldn't let me go straight! Society is to blame!" Played for Laughs because her "crime" was having paid for the dress... but neglecting to let the woman remove the security tag, and not letting the store's guard explain the situation to her before overreacting.
• Stating the Simple Solution: Suggested just shooting Batman to Joker. He brushes it off, as he believes Batman deserves nothing less than an elaborate death trap. That is, until he notices that Batman is chained up right in front of him and the opportunity is too good for Joker to pass up.
• Stepford Consumer: Tries to play one for Joker in "The Laughing Fish". That is until she's expected to eat some of the titular product, which makes her puke.
• Steven Ulysses Perhero: Harleen Quinzel. The Joker lampshades it in the episode showing her origin, and Harley dryly responds that she's heard it before.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: In "Harley's Holiday", she espouses this after violating her parole barely moments out of being released from the asylum ("I tried to be good. I really did. But if that's not good enough, fine!"). However, after having to be saved by Batman, she seems to reconsider. Subverted in that most of this was Harley thinking people were acting like this to her - a dress she bought still had the tags, so the security guard tried to take them off for her. She thought he was accusing her of stealing the dress, so in a panic she took off accidentally taking Veronica Vreeland hostage and ran.
  Harley: Welcome to the club.
• Unexplained Recovery: Just how did she survive the fatal fall in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker? Reportedly, the writers have confirmed that Poison Ivy's stamina booster from back in Batman: TAS is responsible for her survival. It also helps that The Joker himself was a master of this kind of thing.
• Unwilling Suspension: In "Trial", courtesy of Batman.
• Utility Belt: She wears Batman's utility belt in "Trial", in order to make sure he can't use any of his gadgets to escape. He ends up escaping anyway and leaving her dangling from the ceiling.
• Villainous Friendship: With Poison Ivy. Stemming from an early heist, the two develop a rather unexpected big sister-little sister friendship. Numerous episodes show them hanging out and cooperating on heists, as well Harley moving in to Ivy's hideout whenever Harley and Joker have a spat (which is very often).
• Villainous Harlequin: Probably the most classic example ever.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: A villainous example. Seeing her "puddin'" brutally beaten by Batman was enough to dress up as a Sexy Jester and break Joker out of Arkham.
• Vocal Evolution: In "Mad Love", when Dr. Harleen Quinzel first meets the Joker, she speaks in Arleen Sorkin's natural voice. Over the time she spends with him, though, her voice slowly gets higher in pitch. By the time she fully transforms into Harley Quinn, her voice is as high as it'll comfortably get and her New Jersey accent is more emphasized than ever.
• Vomit Discretion Shot: In "The Laughing Fish" and "Harley's Holiday".
• When All You Have Is a Hammer…: Demonstrated in "Girl's Night Out". Poison Ivy and Livewire are a bit more subtle when it comes to breaking, entering, and burglary due to their abilities... but all Harley can do is bang things with her mallet.
• Why Did You Make Me Hit You?: In "Mad Love", she is tossed out of a third-story window by the Joker, and whispers "My fault... I didn't get the joke.", quietly asserting Battered Spouse Syndrome.
• With Catlike Tread: As she and Batman sneak into Joker's hideout, Harley is behind Batman saying "Sneak - Sneak - Sneak". She stops when Batman turns around and glares at her.
• Woman Scorned:
  • She is not going to take well of Joker dumping her for a new hench-girl.
  • She also chased down and beat up Bobby Leibowitz for standing her up at her high school prom.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: She was once a normal, good-hearted person who fell in love with the Joker, and was abused and manipulated into being a villain. The comic book version of her Origin Story isn't as sympathetic, but still counts.
• Would Hurt a Child: As revealed in the flashback sequence in Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, she (and The Joker) would hurt Robin. With that said, Harley retired after this night because she knew that what she did was downright terrible. Without the Joker's influence, she became The Atoner afterward.
• Yandere: An episode had Harley getting closer than anyone else to killing Batman because Joker was spending all his time obsessing over him instead of her.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: She finally managed to kick her obsessive love with Joker after the latter died, and reformed herself. All the while, Harley made sure to not attract any more Bat attention because she knew any justice they brought her way was well-deserved for what she did to Tim. She settles down and starts a family. Forty years later, "Pudding" somehow finds her granddaughters and recruits them for his Jokerz gang, when she's too old to fight back or protect them and their parents are no longer in sight. In another timeline, they're also murderers. Karma is such a bitch.
• You're Just Jealous: "Trial" gives us this piece of dialogue between Harley Quinn and DA Janet VanDorne :
  Van Dorn: Sad, isn't it? Harleen Quinzel was a doctor here at Arkham, until The Joker twisted her mind.
  Harley: HA! You're just jealous, 'cause you don't have a fella who's as lovin' and loyal to you as my puddin' is to me.

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