Harley Quinn has the distinction of being the first character in Batman canon to have originated in an animated series rather than the pages of a comic book or film. She was created for Batman: The Animated Series in the mid ’90s as a sidekick and love interest for The Joker, Batman’s arch nemesis. With her red and black harlequin outfit, giant mallet, and obnoxiously high pitched New York accent, she stole every scene she was in. She was even more charismatic than her boyfriend, which made it all the more sad when he treated her poorly.
Since then, Harley has appeared in her own standalone comic, video games, and in a live-action version of Suicide Squad. Harley has been touted as both a role model and a bad influence, depending on one’s perspective, and that sort of paradoxical thinking has led to some logical fallacies in her character development. Here are 10 logic memes just as insane as Harley!
#1 Fan
From the moment that the character of Harley Quinn appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, there was a strong whiff of a “groupie” doggedly following her “rockstar” idol attached to her relationship with Gotham’s Prince of Crime. In that vein, everything he did was worthy of adoration, no matter how many times his plans were foiled by Batman.
Harley’s role was to prop up The Joker whenever his plans went awry, re-inflate his ego like a party balloon, and remind him of his strengths. It was in that way that The Joker’s number one fan became his defacto girlfriend, even though he ridiculed her at every turn and never gave any indication that he actually cared about her as anything other than an ego fix.
Can’t Help Falling In Love With You
Though Harleen Quinzel’s origin story has changed depending on the run of comics she’s in, what has remained a constant is her background in criminal psychology, which began at an early age when a young boy murdered someone out of love for her.
She became a psychiatrist soon after graduating university (where she was an Honor Student), but her transfer to Arkham Asylum reignited her fascination with the deeply psychologically disturbed inmates. Dr. Quinzel was known for being able to penetrate the minds of her patients, but apparently didn’t have the intellectual tools to protect herself against the charismatic charm of a textbook psychotic narcissist like The Joker.
Kids These Days
After she fell in love with The Joker and decided to take part in his pursuit of making Gotham City his playground of chaos, Hareen Quinzel adopted an outfit that mirrored his own as the Clown Prince of Crime. She selected a red and black catsuit with white collar and cuffs that mimicked a harlequin doll. To make her appearance more “clown like”, she painted her face and wore a jester hat.
Despite both her and her lover’s desire to make people laugh and cause tumult in the name of “fun”, they aren’t very good with kids. Harley Quinn looks like an adorable clown yet views children as a nuisance, even though she’s had fantasies of having a few of her own with Mista J.
Bad Influence
Harley Quinn has become a controversial part of pop culture thanks to the success of Batman: The Animated Series, her own solo comic series, inclusion in the popular Arkham Asylum games, and her scene-stealing role in Suicide Squad. She’s become, for better or for worse, someone young women have taken to emulating, citing her carefree attitude and fun style of dress.
Those calling her a “bad influence” fail to remember that her very nature makes her a bad influence, not how she dresses. Wardrobe aside, Harley Quinn has helped The Joker commit numerous atrocities, including arson, theft, and murder.
Can’t Get Enough Puddin'
Though their relationship has changed over the years, when Harley Quinn first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, she loved The Joker unconditionally despite his horrible treatment of her. Not only was he verbally abusive towards her, he frequently committed physical acts of violence against her if she so much as looked at him wrong.
Occasionally, Harley would let their location slip to Batman or the authorities, or do something that might jeopardize The Joker’s big doomsday plan for Gotham. This got her sent into everything from a pool of piranhas to straight out the window of a multi-story building. Yet she always went back, and viewers couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
Human Meat Shield
Unfortunately for Harley Quinn, she couldn’t see The Joker for what he was; a manipulative psychopath, albeit a charming one. Where she had been shy or unsure of herself, he inspired confidence, and a means to live life unafraid. All it meant was not playing by society’s rules, and dwelling in chaos.
With this chaos came frequent run-ins and confrontations with Gotham City PD as well as its resident vigilante protector, Batman. Whenever this happened, Harley was more often than not used as a human shield so that The Joker could get to safety. Despite putting her in harm’s way, Harley believed he still loved her.
Felt Cute, Might Act Like A Psycho Later
It’s no secret that part of the reason Harley Quinn is so successful at being a criminal and supervillain is because being bad has never looked so good. Gotham City is full of sinister attractive women that want to cause mayhem for Batman, but Harley’s insanity makes her unique. She stands out against the likes of Poison Ivy and Catwoman, who are far more cool and collected than she is.
Harley’s sense of whimsy and fun makes her difficult to classify as a supervillain sometimes, especially since her intentions are often good, but her methods betray her unstable mind. She always looks good even when she looks a mess (most scenes in Suicide Squad).
For The Love Of A Psychopath
Suicide Squad saw the first live-action appearance of Harley Quinn on film, and it depicted her in very much the same vein as she appeared in Batman: The Animated Series; completely devoted to The Joker despite his treatment of her. He was proven to be a completely manipulative thug and merciless killer, yet she thought the jack rose and fell in his box.
He occasionally made her think he cared for her as much as she did for him, like with a rescue attempt in a helicopter, but it was clear when the plan was going to fail, he cut his losses and run. That included shoving Harley out of the helicopter and getting himself to safety.
Relationship Goals
Recently, Harley Quinn has gotten free from The Joker, in her comic book adventures and her New Earth origins put him as a very transient moment in her life, and not nearly as influential as he was in her development as a supervillain in Batman: The Animated Series. In earlier comic runs, however, he still occupied the position of abusive lover and manipulative jerk.
For casual comic book fans and consumers of all things related to superheroes, their introduction to The Joker and Harley’s relationship came from Suicide Squad, in which they were portrayed as “relationship goals”, because audiences mistook myopic co-dependence for true love.
Comics Vs Comic Book Movies
Longtime fans of Harley Quinn and The Joker’s antics know that in the comic books, The Joker manipulated Harley into being his lackey in exchange for throwing her an emotional bone every so often. He frequently put her in danger, and when he wasn’t using her as a human shield, he was physically and verbally abusive.
Suicide Squad even shows The Joker booting Harley out of a moving helicopter, but because he comes to rescue her at the end of the film, all of her character development in between is for nothing because she (and the audience) eagerly accept him back.
