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Harleen Quinzel was once a psychiatric doctor and practitioner at Arkham Asylum until she met the incarcerated villain known as the Joker and fell in love.
Obsessed with her "Puddin'", Quinzel conspired to break him out of prison and became his devoted lover and loyal sidekick, Harley Quinn.



Background[]

Harleen Quinzel was born into a dysfunctional family with a somewhat harsh but forgiving mother and a criminal con-man father who was known for swindling women out of their money with his charm.
Wanting to understand why her father did what he did, Harley went to study psychology. Tricking her way in to Gotham University.

Described as having a genius-level IQ, Harleen attended Gotham State University on a scholarship for gymnastics, where she majored in Psychiatry under Dr Odin Markus. To get into the graduate program, she had Dr. Markus meet with her in her dorm room, where she outlined what she believed would be a good graduate thesis: 'There are only two circumstances under which a person disregards the rules of society. When they commit a crime, or when they're in love.' To prove this thesis, she aimed to allow Dr Markus to observe an independent experiment on the matter. The test subjects: herself and her boyfriend Guy Kopski. Guy, also a scientist, had developed a 'Think Drink' to calm and centre himself. One day, while meeting with Harley, he noticed that she wasn't laughing at any of his jokes. She explained that she had driven through a red light in a stolen car, right after blackmailing Dr Markus and possibly shooting him. She asked if he still loved her, but after noticing evidence of a recently fired handgun, Guy ran out with it. Harleen found him in the gymnasium (where the shooting had supposedly taken place) laughing nervously, and standing over a homeless man he had just shot, believing him to be Dr Markus. He begged her to help him shoot himself, asking her to do it because she loved him. The gun fired, but it remains a mystery as to whether she had helped to pull the trigger. It later became clear that Dr Markus had spiked Guy's 'Think Drink' with diluted Joker Venom, in hopes of counteracting the stresses that Harley would put him through. Harley, however, believed that the situation had been caused by chaos, and as such, she grew to feel that she understood The Joker, and declared to Dr Markus that she would do anything to get an internship at Arkham Asylum.

Upon graduating, and with a glowing reference from Dr Markus, Dr. Harleen Quinzel began her first-year residency at Arkham. Three months into her one year residency, Quinzel was allowed to conduct sessions with the patients of the southern wing, choosing to interview the Joker for her dissertation. After conducting therapy with the Joker three days a week, two hours a day, for a year, Quinzel prung the Joker, blaming the explosion on one of her other patients she had rehabilitated; "The Snowman" (aka William Danek). Quinzel helped the Joker escape from Arkham several more times afterward before she herself was finally caught. Her medical license was revoked and she was committed, despite her claims that all of the releases were meant to be therapeutic.

Harley's career as the Joker's sidekick consisted mostly of her being where he could not. He used her less recognizable face to get into places so he wouldn't get arrested and she also acted as a sort of field leader to Joker's henchmen when Joker himself decided to sit out on whatever they where doing. She was trusted with the intimate details of most of his plans but was also often betrayed by Joker when he needed a scapegoat.

Disguising herself as Poison Ivy to break the Joker out of Arkham, Harley accidentally injures him in the process and he plays up the injury to avoid Harley's smothering affections.

Jack Happi creates an amusement park "Happyland", taking advantage of Gotham's rebuilding. Intends to capitalize on the Gotham villain's reputations to sell the park.

Learning of this, the Joker has Harley take henchmen Buster and Lewis to modify the park's The Jokester's Return rollercoaster to get her away from doting on him, however, as the week passes he becomes jealous of the henchmen talking about her plans and progress and intends to boobytrap the roller coaster with her in it. After Lewis warns Harley of the Joker's intended betrayal, Poison Ivy appears, revealing that she had been watching her while she worked on the coaster and expressed her concern and frustration over why she worked for the Joker.

As the Joker kidnaps Jack Happi and his wife, Ivy appears dressed as Harley to prove her suspicions against the Joker; suspicions that are proven correct when he shoots her thinking she was Harley. When the real Harley arrives the two start bickering as the Joker keeps attempting to kill her.

Escaping the park after its destruction Harley attempted to find work on her own and found herself running as second in charge of Two-Face's gang. However, when the gang attempts to hold actor Oscar Cartwright hostage and collect ransom fees from both Cartwright's wife and mistress they discover that his wife and mistress are actually split personalities of the same woman. Endeared, Two-Face tries to kidnap Cartwright's wife for himself only for Harley Quinn to interfere due to also being endeared with the love Cartwright had for his wife/mistress. After blackmailing Cartwight's wife for money to keep her split personalities secret, Harley bought the abandoned Glover Building and Glovers Lane bowling alley to serving as a new hideout and commemorated the occasion by inviting various villainesses (including Catwoman, Poison Ivy, the Body Doubles, Hope and Mercy, Jewelee, and the Female Furies) to a slumber party. After an attempt at accousting a pizza delivery boy was thwarted by Thorn (Rhosyn Forrest), Harley was inspired by all of the independant and "self-made" women in the room and declared that she will no longer work as a "flunky" and prove herself as a solo villain. Meanwhile, Jack Happi has hired ex-bodyguards Bo Donner and Frank Surley to track down Harley with the help of FBI profiler Doctor Carrie Chispazo.

Creating her own gang, dubbed the "Quinntets", Harley recruits ex-Joker henchmen Buster and Lewis, who also recruit Lester Wilde, Kenny and Nixon Two-Bear. Having learned from Hope and Mercy during the slumber party that her pet hyenas were transfered to the Gotham Zoo after they were taken by animal control during a visit to Metropolis, Harley's first caper with her Quinntets was to re-acquire her pets. Although during the heist Lester was shot and killed. While Donner, Surley and Chispazo encounter Quinn during her next heist at the Finger Warehouse she escapes and next arranges to steal money from Wayne Manor during the April Fools Costume Charity Ball. While Wayne is away from the mansion tending to other affairs, Quinn and her Quinntets overpower the household security, including his bodyguard Sasha Bordeux, and attempt to raid the premises only to encounter the Riddler and his gang who were hopping to find a rumored secret vault within the manor. After the heist was disrupted by Big Barda the Quinntets escape, abeit empty handed while the Riddler and his gang are incarcerated. In an attempt to capture Quinn, Donner, Surley and Chispazo stage an awards ceremony at Gotham University for Professor Markus who had stolen Quinn's disertation from during her university years, however, the trap backfired and the professor died trying to kill Quinn. Meanwhile Nixon starts scheming to kill Quinn and usurp her role as gang leader, recruiting Buster and announcing a hit on Quinn while she was downtown shopping. While rescuing Quinn, the Quinntets recruit Matches Malone to aid them and while discussing ways to keep Harley safe from assassins and hitmen Harley decides to dress as the original Batgirl only to end up gaining the attention of the Bat Family. Before opting to abandon Gotham, Harley concocts one last scheme by kidnapping Chispazo (as she wanted to make her and Donner a couple) and Jack Happi (wanting to kill him for making the hit) while Nix creates his own gang and double-crosses Quinn. As Donner and Surley invade the Glover Building to rescue Chispazo, their arrival sets off a firefight between them, the Quinntets loyal to Quinn and the Quinntets loyal to Nixon. With the Bat Family also arriving to quell the fighting. As Nixon kills himself trying to kill Quinn, the Bat Family systematically decimates the Quinntet gangs while Harley escapes with Poison Ivy's aid after ensuring that Donner and Chispazo's relationship blossoms, discovering her life's calling as a matchmaker.

After surviving Joker's "Last Laugh" where he attempts to send some jokerized villainesses to capture her so that he could impregnate her and produce an heir before he died, Quinn convinces Ivy to uproot from Gotham and leave with her to Metropolis, where the pair are immediately confronted by the Science Police and Thorn (Rhosyn Forrest). Breaking into a penthouse apartment the girls witness the occupant hanging herself and Harley vows to hunt down whomever drove her to kill herself. Meeting Jimmy Olsen again by chance, Harley decides to continue toying with him and finds employment at the Daily Planet as the love collumnist "Holly Chance"; providing love advice to forlorn spouses in Metropolis. As Quinn steals a jet pack prototype from STAR Labs with Ivy's help, Thorn attempts to stop the duo only to become captured by Ivy, who had become affronted by the vigilante naming herself after a plant, brings her back to their apartment torture while Quinn escapes with the jet pack only to be confronted by Bizarro, who reveals that he has been stalking her since she had arrived in Metropolis and had formed a crush on her. After promising to help Bizarro find a mate, Harley returned to the apartment to continue toying with Jimmy Olsen while Ivy continued torturing Thorn only to be interrupted by Bizarro who informs her that he and Harley were going to LexTower to create a Bizarro wife for him. After Bizarro frees Thorn after Ivy tells him "not to free Thorn", Ivy is ambushed and knocked unconscious by the vigilante. Meanwhile, Superman interferes with Harley and Bizarro's schemes but not before a bizarro copy of Harley was created and exploded. As the jet pack she stole explodes while she was attempting to escape Superman, Harley dies in the explosion and is sent to Hell where she is sentenced to an eternity experiencing herself and her fellow Quinntets being hunted and gunned down by Detective Petit before being imprisoned alone in a dark void and then returned to being hunted and gunned down by Petit in a never-ending loop.

While attempting to escape Hell with the aid of a small group of hell-bound villains, Harley began causing the villains to redeem themselves through the pursuit of love. Declaring that such activity had no place in Hell, Etrigan evicted Harley from Hell back to Earth where she began possessing women who desired love. Discovered by Martian Manhunter when Harley took possession of his detective partner, Diane Meade, Harley had her physical body restored with the aid of Zatanna and was immediately recruited by Batman into flushing out the Joker, who had gone quiet for some time due to being unable to come up with any satisfying schemes to enact.

As a means of employment, Harley takes a job as a psycologist at the exclusive River View Mental Health Facility as "Doctor Jessica Seaborn".

Targetted by Detective John Bishop for the murder of his partner, Detective James Seaborn, a murder she was framed for by Owen Dane; the son of "The Snowman" whome Harley had framed for the first time she freed the Joker from Arkham. After agency regulation forces Detective Bishop to see a psycologist, he is assigned to "Doctor Seaborn" and the two start the beginnings of a relationship that is halted when the Joker learns of the relationship and reminds her that the relationship is doomed due to her being a supervillain and him being a cop.

After suffering a guilt-induced mental breakdown after letting a child go blind in an attempt to earn more money, Harley returns herself to Arkham Asylum.

Combat Statistics[]

Involvement[]

Heroes[]

  • Harley is a villain you face during a set of missions given by Commissioner Gordon, fought at the very end of Lunatic Fringe.
  • Robin is being held captive by Harley Quinn in a mission assigned by Batman to stop the Joker from taking over a boardwalk.
  • Harley is the final boss for heroes during Harley's Heist.
  • Harley Quinn is one of the final bosses for heroes during the Wayne Manor Gala.

Villains[]

  • Harley Quinn is a Vendor for the Tech Iconic Battle Suit: Joker's Punchline.
  • Harley has been captured by Robin and the GCPD in the Funhouse during the Amusement Mile mission thread. You must defeat Robin and free Harley to complete the mission.
  • Harley appears in the level 15 mission for Tech Villains where she helps cover The Joker's escape from Batman.
  • Harley is also seen in the level 30 Tech Villain mission where she and The Joker are hit with a modified form of Joker Toxin and needs to be rescued by the Player from Batman.

Associated Equipment[]

Trivia[]

  • Harley Quinn first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, in the episode "Joker"s Favor", before being introduced into the main DC continuity in Batman: Harley Quinn (October, 1999).
  • Harley Quinn is voiced by Arleen Sorkin, who had originally voiced the character in Batman: The Animated Series.
  • Harley Quinn is very good friends with fellow Gotham villainess Poison Ivy and receives a constant supply of serum from her that increases her strength and agility as well as bestowing her with immunity to poisons, a limited ability to breath underwater and a limited healing factor. While it is unknown if abstaining from taking the serum is fatal, not taking the serum has shown to be painful and possess debilitating side-effects.
  • Despite having a comical personality, Harley Quinn has the stance of a flirty female character; the same happens with Joker.
  • Part of Harley's psychosis is that she sees violence as it is depicted in comedy cartoons, as such she doesn't see the blood or traumatic injuries that her "pranks" inflict. Instead they are visually translated into cartoonish images that only she can see.
  • Harley has two hyenas that she keeps as pets; Bud and Lou (named after the comedic duo Bud Abbott and Lou Costello). Originally the Joker's pets, the villain never really cared for the two and they were quickly adopted by Harley.
  • After discovering her existence during a conversation with ex-Suicide Squad member Jewelee, Harley occasionally makes prank calls to Oracle late at night.
  • Harley is openly bisexual and a swinger. A proponent of free-love, sexual experimentation, sexual play and casual liaisons, Harley has no qualms with engaging in sexual relationships with men or women for fun but will not engage in such activities if she feels a relationship will be destroyed by it. In addition to the Joker, one of her more notable lovers is her close friend, Poison Ivy, with whom she shares an open sexual relationship/friends-with-benefits arrangement.

Gallery[]

Harley Quinn Gallery Page

See also[]

External links[]

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