Harley Quinn (Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel) is a character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for Batman: The Animated Series as a henchwoman for the Joker, and debuted in the series' 22nd episode, "Joker's Favor", on September 11, 1992. Although originally intended to appear in only one episode, Quinn became a recurring character within the DC Animated Universe (DCAU) as the Joker's sidekick and love interest, and was adapted into DC Comics' canon seven years later, beginning with the one-shot Batman: Harley Quinn #1 (October 1999). Quinn's origin story portrays her as a former psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum in Gotham City manipulated by the Joker, her patient, eventually becoming his accomplice and lover.
The character's alias is a play on the stock character Harlequin from the 16th-century Italian theatre . Following her introduction into comics in 1999, she has been depicted as a former doctor-turned-sidekick and lover of the Joker, as well as a close friend and love interest of Poison Ivy.
Harley Quinn's abilities include expert gymnastic skills, and fast agility proficiency with weapons and hand-to-hand combat, complete unpredictability, immunity to toxins, and enhanced strength, agility, and durability. She often wields clown-themed gag weapons, with an oversized mallet serving as her signature weapon. Additionally, she has a pair of pet hyenas, Bud and Lou, who sometimes act as her attack dogs. Quinn has become one of DC Comics' most popular and commercially successful characters, appearing in numerous comic book titles and being adapted into various other media and merchandise. DC Comics publisher Jim Lee has described Harley Quinn as the fourth pillar of DC Comics' publishing line, after Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman.
The character has been adapted into various media incarnations. In film, she has been portrayed by Margot Robbie in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) films Suicide Squad (2016), Birds of Prey (2020), and The Suicide Squad (2021), and by Lady Gaga in Joker: Folie à Deux (2024). In television, she was portrayed by Mia Sara in Birds of Prey (2002–2003) and had a voice cameo by Tara Strong in Arrow. Arleen Sorkin, the character's original voice and inspiration, along with Tara Strong, Hynden Walch, and Kaley Cuoco (in the eponymous Harley Quinn animated series), are among the many performers who have voiced the character in animation and video games.
History
Creation and development
Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series episode entitled "Joker's Favor" while Dini was writing the episode. For the episode, Dini decided to put henchpeople for the title episode character as comic relief to lighten the story, as Dini described as a dark story. Initially written as an animated equivalent of a walk-on role, Harley Quinn was intended to appear in just one episode. Her popularity was unexpected, and the character became a surprise success. As Dini was putting together the story for the episode, he created Harley Quinn because it needed a character for the Joker to have pop out of a cake, and the idea of the Joker doing it seemed too strange, so Dini and the crew devised a female sidekick to be the surprise, but finally decided to put him inside the cake instead while keeping Harley in the episode. Then Dini wanted to introduce a foil for the supervillain the Joker that would emphasize the Joker's comic book personality traits: funny, scary, and egotistical. He then thought of giving Joker a henchwoman, inspired by the molls of the 1960s live-action Batman series, among other TV series, and then decided she would be a "funny counterpart to the Joker to maybe work up a little Punch and Judy attitude between them"; Dini stated, "[...] she could crack a joke and the henchmen would laugh, and the Joker would kind of glare at her". The character idea dated back in 1991, when Dini witnessed his college friend Arleen Sorkin play a jester in an episode of Days of Our Lives. Dini then based Harley Quinn on Sorkin, incorporating aspects such as her mannerisms and "snappy, wisecracking, bubbly blonde" personality. Dini even decided to have Sorkin voice her. In recording Harley Quinn's voice, Sorkin spoke in her normal New York accent while putting in a "little Yiddish sound", since Dini made the character Jewish, another aspect of the character borrowed from Sorkin; Dini described her voice for the character as having "a snappy blonde but also kind of a bad girl": "a little bit of Adelaide from Guys and Dolls, a little bit of Judy Holliday", and "a lot of Arleen", stating that it sounded "very close" to Sorkin's voice.
Dini had several names in mind while naming the character, such as Columbine, and eventually settled on the name "Harley Quinn". Dini chose the name for the character to be in line with other Batman characters's names being puns, and also because he thought "Harley was a fun name for a girl". The name Harley Quinn is a play on Harlequin, a stock character from the sixteenth-century Italian physical comedy theater .
In designing the character, Timm did a "simplified supervillain version" of traditional Harlequin gear; from the original, he took the jester hat, ruffled collar, diamond pattern, and domino mask and put them on a red-and-black bodysuit, on which the diamonds were strategically placed for easier animation. Timm took Harley Quinn's red and black color scheme from the Golden Age comic book character Daredevil. Dini had previously made a rough design for the character, which Timm improved on.
Expanded role
After seeing Harley Quinn in the rough cut of "Joker's Favor", the producers of Batman: The Animated Series, which include Dini and Timm, were impressed with the result, with Dini wanting to bring the character back for more episodes. Timm and another producer, Alan Burnett, were initially reluctant of this and thought that giving Joker a girlfriend "played more towards his comedic side" and would "humanize him too much", which contrasted their vision for Joker as a character who is "as serious a threat as possible to Batman". Nevertheless, months after "Joker's Favor", Harley made a second appearance on the show in the episode "The Laughing Fish", which she became the Joker's love interest, and "Almost Got 'Im", though, by airdate, the latter episode came out earlier than the first. In "Joker's Wild", which is between "The Laughing Fish" and "Almost Got 'Im" by production and vice-versa by airdate, in the title casino, waiters dressed as Harley appear, along with a photograph of her in a file. Harley Quinn gained popularity with fans of The Animated Series, with the character being featured more on the show and eventually starring in her own episodes, such as 1993's "Harley and Ivy", which introduced a friendship/romance between her and fellow supervillain Poison Ivy, and 1994's "Harlequinade" and "Harley's Holiday", which explored her life without the Joker. Harley Quinn then became a recurring character in the DC Animated Universe, appearing in The Animated Series sequel The New Batman Adventures, the direct-to-video film Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker, and in non-Batman animation such as Superman: The Animated Series, Static Shock, and Justice League. In February 1994, she made her first appearance in a video game in The Adventures of Batman and Robin, an action platformer based on Batman: The Animated Series.
Transition to comic books
Because of her popularity, Harley Quinn was adapted into DC's comic books. In September 1993 (cover date), a year following Harley Quinn's first appearance in Batman: The Animated Series, the character made her comic book debut in the 12th issue of The Batman Adventures, a series set in the universe of The Animated Series, and became a regular character. In 1997, she appeared in the story Batman: Thrillkiller, released under Elseworlds, a DC Comics imprint that published out-of-continuity alternate reality stories, as Hayley Fitzpatrick. In 1999, she became a canonical character with the release of Batman: Harley Quinn.
Origin story
In February 1994, the one-shot The Batman Adventures: Mad Love recounting Harley's origin was released. Written by Dini and drawn by Timm, the story marks their first comic book collaboration. Mad Love introduces Harley Quinn as a former psychologist named Harleen Quinzel who fell in love with the Joker during her internship at Gotham City's Arkham Asylum and details her transformation into the Joker's villainous accomplice Harley Quinn, as well as the Joker's lack of respect for Harley. Widely considered the definitive Harley Quinn story, Mad Love added dimensions to the character, with Dini introducing Harley Quinn's motivations as well as establishing her as a tragic and sympathetic figure.Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: The story received wide praise and won the Eisner and Harvey awards for Best Single Issue in the same year and was later adapted into an episode of the same name in The New Batman Adventures in 1999.
Name origin Mad Love establishes Harley Quinn's full name to be Harleen Frances Quinzel. "Harleen Frances" was taken from Sorkin's first and middle name, Arleen Frances, while "Quinzel" came from one of Dini's former Emerson College instructors, who was surnamed Quenzel.
Introduction to mainstream DC continuity Harley Quinn was adapted into the mainstream DC Universe with the 1999 one-shot graphic novel Batman: Harley Quinn, written by Dini and illustrated by Yvel Guichet, which put her origin in the middle of the Batman: No Man's Land story line. Dini changed Harley and the Joker's relationship to be darker to match the Joker's character in the comics; in the story, the Joker attempts to kill Harley at the first opportunity. Harley's immunity to toxins and enhanced strength and agility, which were gained from a special formula created by Poison Ivy, were carried over from Batman: The Animated Series, with Dini stating that they would give her a sort of "physical edge" over Batman and other heroes.
First ongoing series
While pursuing new assignments at DC Comics' offices in New York City, Karl Kesel was approached by former DC editor Matt Idelson to create a pitch for Harley Quinn's first ongoing series, which Kesel accepted, being a fan of the character after having read Mad Love. Kesel chose Terry Dodson as the artist for the series, whose art Kesel thought complemented the character's cartoonish roots and worldview. Kesel called Dodson and asked him if he was interested on working on the comic, to which Dodson agreed, and the two worked for a month on their proposal for the series, which was to make a comic about "love gone horribly, terribly wrong". The proposal was accepted by DC Comics, and the pair began work on the series, with Kesel and Dodson both being involved in the storytelling, and Dodson bringing in his wife, Rachel Dodson, to ink. Kesel's run on the series began being published in December 2000, and was about Harley Quinn leaving the Joker and becoming a solo criminal, alongside a supporting cast of henchmen named the Quinntets. Because of underwhelming sales, his 25-issue run ended in December 2002, and DC decided to change the creative team; the series was given to writer A.J. Lieberman and artists Mike Huddleston and Troy Nixey by Idelson, and took on a grittier and darker direction, contrasting Kesel's run. The decision renewed interest in the character, but the sales remained lackluster and the series was cancelled in 2003.
Gotham City Sirens