Respect Harley Quinn!
Here's Harley's very own respect thread. She's been my favorite Batman character since he very beginning and her comedic antics to this day make me laugh, the girl has a sick sense of humor and that's what makes her kick ass.
Harley Quinn first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode "Joker's Favor" (episode #22, original airdate: September 11, 1992), as what was originally supposed to be the animated equivalent of a walk-on role – a number of police officers were to be taken hostage by someone jumping out of a cake, and it was decided that to have the Joker do so himself would be too bizarre. A female follower of the Joker was thus created. Arleen Sorkin, formerly starring in the soap opera Days of our Lives, appeared in a dream sequence in which she wore a jester costume - Dini used this scene as an inspiration, writing the character specifically so Sorkin could voice her. Dini, who had been friends with Sorkin for years, incorporated aspects of her personality into the character.The 1994 graphic novel Mad Love recounts the character's origin. It reveals that Joker intended to twist her mind as a joke because her name was close sounding to the word harlequin, a french clown character, but in his joke he found some affection for her. Told in the style and continuity of Batman: The Animated Series and written and drawn by Dini and Timm, the comic book describes Harley as an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist who falls in love with the Joker and becomes his accomplice and on-again, off-again girlfriend.
As portrayed in the comic, she becomes fascinated with the Joker while interning at Arkham, and volunteers to analyze him. She falls in love nearly instantly with the Joker during their sessions. After helping him escape from the asylum more than once, she is caught by her superiors, who revoke her license and put her in her own cell. During an earthquake in Gotham City, she flees and becomes Harley Quinn, the Joker's partner-in-crime.
She appeared in World's Finest: The Batman/Superman Movie as a rival and foil of sorts for Lex Luthor's assistant Mercy Graves; each has a mutual immediate dislike for the other, at one point fighting brutally with each other as Luthor and the Joker have a business meeting. In the film's climax, Harley nearly kills Mercy when she duct tapes her mouth shut and tapes her to the top of a gigantic killer android, although she is rescued and untied by Batman and Superman. At the conclusion, Harley is taken away in a padded ambulance screaming, "I want a lawyer! I want a doctor! I want a cheese sandwich!"; Mercy chuckles "Now that's funny!" as she watches Harley get locked away on TV.
In issue #16 of the Batman Adventures comic series, Harley is almost married to the Joker. Ivy crashes the wedding and tries to kill the Joker, only to be stopped by Batgirl. At the end of the comic, Harley vows to kill Ivy, thus apparently ending their partnership.
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker depicts Quinn's ultimate fate. After a dramatic battle with Batgirl, Harley falls into a deep chasm, and Batman presumes her dead. However, bottomless pits are a notoriously unreliable means of death in comic books . A scene toward the end of the film reveals that she survived to start a family, with her twin granddaughters Delia and Deidre Dennis eventually joining the Jokerz gang, something which, ironically, the elderly Harley does not appreciate.
DC Universe Comic history:
The character proved so popular that she was eventually added to the Batman comic book canon (although she had already appeared in the Elseworlds mini-series Thrillkiller in 1997). The comic book version of Quinn, like the comic book version of The Joker, is more dangerously psychotic and less humorously kooky than the animated series version.
A Harley Quinn ongoing series was published monthly by DC Comics for 38 issues from 2001 to 2003. Creators who contributed to the title included Karl Kesel, Terry Dodson, A.J. Lieberman and Mike Huddleston. The series ends with Harley turning herself in to Arkham Asylum. She is next seen in the Jeph Loeb series Hush. She is next seen in Villains United Infinite Crisis special, where she is one of the many villains who escape from Arkham. (She is, however, knocked unconscious the moment she escapes).
Harley next appeared in Batman #663, in which she helps the Joker with a plan to kill all his former henchmen, unaware that the "punchline" to the scheme is her own death. Upon realizing this, she shoots him in the shoulder.
Harley resurfaces in Detective Comics #831, written by Paul Dini. She is still a borderline psychotic, but has apparently reformed. Harley has spent the last year applying for parole, only to see her request systematically rejected by Bruce Wayne, the layman member of Arkham's medical commission. She is kidnapped by Sugar, the new female Ventriloquist, who offers her a job; Harley turns the job down out of respect for the memory of Arnold Wesker, the original Ventriloquist, and helps Batman and Commissioner Gordon foil the imposter's plans. Although Sugar escapes, Bruce Wayne is impressed with Harley's effort at redemption, and agrees with granting her parole.
In Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn is revealed as the sixth member of the Secret Six. In issue #108, upon hearing that Oracle has sent the Russian authorities footage of teammate Deadshot murdering the Six's employer as payback for double-crossing them, Harley asks, "Is it a bad time to say 'I quit'?", thus leaving the team.
In Countdown, Harleen Quinzel appears to have reformed and is shown to be residing in an Amazon-run women's shelter. Having abandoned her jester costume and clown make-up, Harley now only wears an Amazonian stola or chiton. She befriends the former Catwoman replacement Holly Robinson, and then succeeds in persuading her to join her at the shelter, where she is working as an assistant. They are both brought to Themiscyra by "Athena" (really Granny Goodness) and begin Amazon training. Holly and Harley then meet the real Athena, and encounter Mary Marvel. The group reveal Granny's deception, and Holly, Harley and Mary follow her as she retreats to Apokolips. Mary finds the Athenian gods, whom Granny had been holding prisoner, and the group frees them. Harley is granted powers by Thalia as a reward. Upon return to earth, the powers vanish, and Harley and Holly return to Gotham.
In Batman Confidential's version of the Joker's origin, Harley meets the Joker when he is still "Jack". She is working her way through college as a cocktail waitress, and goes by the nickname of Leeny. She convinces him that whatever life he is running from is a gift and deserves a second chance. This sets in motion the chain of events that leads to the Joker's transformation. In gratitude, Joker secretly pays off Harley's college bills.
Harley Quinn fantasizes about her future with the Joker in Mad Love. Harley's relationship with the Joker is one of the most complex in the DC Universe. While he often abuses her, sometimes near the point of death, there are as many instances that show a mutually affectionate side to their bizarre relationship. Certain stories imply that the Joker wrestles with the confusing reality of actually caring for someone (Harley), giving in to the sentiment more or less at times depending on his mood or state of mind.
In the book Batman: Animated, Mark Hamill (who provided the voice of the Joker in Batman: the Animated Series) says "Expressing emotion in any way that's real and meaningful is alien to the Joker, but he's learning those parts of himself, however unconsciously, through Harley."
Sorkin adds, "Everyone else sees the Joker laugh; Only Harley has ever seen him cry."
One example of this affectionate bend in their rollercoaster relationship comes from the Emperor Joker series (Action Comics #770) where Joker shares with Harley his deeply personal reasons for destroying the universe. Instead of destroying her with it, he gives her a last kiss and turns her into a constellation, saying "You get the best seat in the house for Armageddon. Say goodnight, Harley. I always wanted to see my dame in lights. Heh. Even in a moment of abject saccharine, I still got it."
A more in-depth look at the early stages of their DC Universe relationship is provided in Greg Rucka's No Man's Land novel. In the book Joker's initial reaction to Harley in her new mental state is a mixture of fascination and annoyance. Something that he can only seem to guess at causes him to not kill her and to keep her around, and as they spend more time together he begins to enjoy her more in spite of himself. One part describes Joker observing Harley during one of their outings, "Harley, he had discovered, had tricks. One of her favorites involved a rusty cheese grater and a stapler. It didn't always work, mostly because people didn't tend to sit still for that sort of thing, but it gave Joker a consistent laugh, and he figured in time Harley would have it down to a science."
Another part describes Joker choking Harley in frustration, and then a quick thought or two later grabbing her, kissing and licking her, and saying to her excitedly "Harley. You are the greatest, you know that?"
In Batman #663, it is revealed that Harley included in her college thesis the theory that the Joker is constantly reinventing his personality; After she is corrupted, however, she refuses to accept that his love for her is not a constant. Furthermore, Joker relents after Harley defends herself against him, saying he will let her live, but that it would be better if she were disfigured. She apparently consents, but Batman attacks as Joker traces a razor against her cheek. The issue ends with Harley putting a bullet through Joker's shoulder.