She Started As One And Is Now The Other

Harley Quinn started off as a villain, but lately, she’s been portrayed as a superhero and an anti-hero. Many have tried to find one label accurate enough to definitively say is Harley Quinn good or bad. Yet, why can’t readers answer the simple question: Is Harley Quinn a good buy or a bad guy?

This article will be exploring Harley Quinn’s origin, a few of the assorted ways she’s portrayed alongside both heroes and villains, why Harley Quinn is a hero for some readers, and how the most recent incarnation opens the door for her greatest version yet.

Harley Quinn’s Origin

Harley Quinn first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series (BTAS) as a harlequin-themed sidekick and girlfriend to the Joker. Created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini, Harley was styled after gangster molls from the golden age of Hollywood, and Timm/Dini drew the inspiration for Harley’s crazy, fun personality from a short clip of Arleen Sorkin in a clown outfit on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives.

Arleen Sorkin would eventually be brought on to voice the Harley character throughout the entire run of BTAS.

We can at least answer one question: Why is Harley Quinn a villain?

Her origin story is simple… perhaps too simple. Harleen Quinzel worked as a criminal psychologist to attend the inmates of Gotham’s Arkham Asylum, including the Joker. Through Joker’s psychotic manipulations, and perhaps susceptibility through her own character flaws, Harleen fell in love with the Joker. Harleen adopted the Harley Quinn persona to join the Joker in his life of crime after his escape from Arkham.

The “Harley Quinn and Joker” romance is probably best described as toxic. Joker occasionally fawns over Harley, but his treatment of Harley ranges from uninterested to outright abusive.

In short, Harley Quinn starts off her career as the abused-girlfriend-turned-criminal to gain the Joker’s favor by being part of her boyfriend’s life and the gang.

Why Is Harley Quinn So Popular?

Harley Quinn is so popular in comics, movies, tv, and animation because she’s, in a word, relatable.

Fans of the character throughout the world can see aspects of her origins in their own shared life experiences. 

• Falling for the bad boy
• Making bad life choices to stay near the one you love
• Trying to be something you’re not to make others happy

As a successful character model, Harley Quinn is the walking, talking archetype of every person who’s been in a bad relationship. Perhaps that says something about our modern culture that so many people find a relatable kinship with a cartoon character.

That’s another article for another day.

There’s no question Harley is a popular character. Branded material carrying her likeness is extremely popular in retail outlets, online stores, and anywhere superhero-related merchandise is sold. 

But if Harley’s so popular, why does she struggle to hold an audience’s attention in comics outside the odd one-shot or mini-series? Why can’t fans seem to definitively decide whether or not Harley is evil? And why can’t the writers at DC Comics decide what to do with her?

Harley Quinn Is a Reactive Character

Harley Quinn fails to hold the attention of the comics-reading audience because she’s a reactive character (sometimes called a passive character). Once you get past the very thin motivations of her origins (turning to a life of crime for the love of a deformed, deranged supercriminal), Harley Quinn has no real reason to exist. Her entire career as a character only exists to react to other characters. She’s effectively a very colorful foil.

Stepping through her appearances from the very beginning, we see the same pattern repeated over and over.

• Harley Quinn is born out of a reaction to Joker’s love and lunacy.

• Harley Quinn takes an active position as a member of the Suicide Squad because Amanda Wheeler drafts her.

• In the recent (and very awful) Birds of Prey film, Harley is dragged into conflict with Black Mask when she crosses paths with Cassandra Cain by happenstance.

• In the amusing Harley Quinn cartoon from the now-defunct DC Universe streaming service or the limited run of DC Super Hero Girls, the humor comes about from Harley Quinn trying to prove she has a normal life while reacting to what other outlandish characters are doing.

There lies the heart of the problem. Harley Quinn is a villain. But she’s also a hero. And can be, when necessary, an anti-hero. She’s all these things and definitively none of these things because she assumes the role that other characters need her to play at any given moment.

Is a reactive character a problem? No, not necessarily. But it’s nearly impossible for a reactive character to be an effective leader in any story. They have weak or almost no motivations, which leads to a character with little drive to do anything beyond following along with what life (and the writers) throw at them.

Harley Quinn is colorful and unique, but she’s not complete as a person. With her current origins and lackluster focus from DC Comics, she never will be. Hero, villain, or otherwise.

There Is Hope For Harley Quinn

Let’s take a look at the choices again: hero, villain, anti-hero.

Could Harley Quinn Be a Hero?

For Harley to be a true hero, she would need to go through the proverbial “hero’s journey.” Superhero teams like the Justice League could not accept her outright in her current state because she lacks the heroic exceptionalism of a street-level character ala Batman, and she has no superpowers that could overcome her personality flaws e.g. Guy Gardner or Superman.

A bad record, no motivational origins to do good, and no superpowers that could be molded into something useful for the greater good. A hero is definitely out.

Could Harley Quinn Be an Anti-Hero?

Maybe but no. Her membership in the Suicide squad is the notable exception but even then, her participation is forced by Amanda Waller in exchange for leniency. 

An anti-hero is a hero that isn’t afraid to straddle the fence between doing right and doing wrong to achieve a goal. Catwoman is a strong example of a good and evil character as the situation and her personal motivations call for it. She can be a hero when she chooses (typically when profit is involved).

Again, Harley lacks a clear sense of agency based on motivation. She can be both good and evil but only in response to the needs of other characters. She has no superpowers to speak of that would lead her into the vigilante role, and her talents as a psychologist would, at best, lead into a consultant role for other heroes.

An anti-hero is also out.

Could Harley Quinn Be a True Villain?

Yes with one defining moment. Harley is no stranger to physical violence, and she understands the criminal mind. Those qualities could make for an excellent hero/strategist, but her damaged emotional state and flawed personality make it impossible to cooperate with any civil authority (the police, the military, the Justice League, etc.).

In the recent Future State: Harley Quinn comic, we see a glimmer of potential. The issue depicts a near-future period where Harley is in jail. Dr. Jonathan Crane (the reformed Scarecrow) enlists her help to capture a number of Gotham’s super-criminals through the use of her profiling abilities as a criminal psychologist. 

We see Harley’s mental prowess used as a talent that’s much more potent than the silly clown girlfriend swinging a giant mallet. Harley has the makings of a dangerous criminal mastermind that could subjugate other criminals through psychological manipulation. She could become the DC equivalent of Marvel’s Puppet Master, controlling others to do her bidding.

But before this ascension to criminal mastermind can happen, Harley needs “one bad day.” She needs a moment or event that breaks her out of perpetual reaction mode and grants her a true sense of purpose. That moment can be anything, but it has to hurt so deeply that moving on becomes impossible for her.

Perhaps that moment will be the Joker attempting to kill her, pushing her to a mission of revenge.

Maybe the death of a loved one (her pet hyenas?) or a family member that the justice system fails to make right. Hell hath no fury like a Harley Quinn scorned.

With a “one bad day” moment that snaps Harley out of her subservience to other characters and establishes a clear motivation/purpose, Harley could use her psychological talents to bend Gotham criminals to her will. Harley Quinn could be the most dangerous crime boss Gotham City has ever known.

Where Does DC Go From Here?

Lean in, DC. Lean in!

Harley Quinn already has a built-in fan base that wants to see her in engaging material. Somehow DC’s strategy to capitalize on Harley’s popularity is to force-fit her into the hero role, and it’s failing miserably. We may see a new take on the character with the upcoming Harley Quinn #1 (2021), but what take is yet to be determined.

Give Harley Quinn a defining moment that motivates her to lash out, to dominate, to win, and use her prowess with criminal psychology to help rise in the criminal ranks.

It’s time for a new clown to be the preeminent crime boss in Gotham City. Let it be Harley Quinn.

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