Harleen Quinzel (Harley Quinn)

Amat Info Post

» Name: Harleen Quinzel (goes by Harley Quinn)

» Canon: Batman: The Animated Series

With one exception: a comic book detailing Harley’s origin titled “Mad Love” was later adapted into an episode of the series. It is a direct adaption of the comic, except one element of the comic had to be censored in the new medium since the show was aimed at a younger demographic. All of the events are the same, but the episode leaves out the implication that Harley slept with her professor during college in order to get a better grade. While I want to go with B:TAS canon overall, for this particular episode I want to go with the uncensored version because I feel that it informs Harley’s character in a way that is very important to how she is played in Amat.

» Reference: Unfortunately most wikis mush together all the various incarnations of Harley. While this page does not have the best writing quality, all of the information is accurate to animated series canon: link
Note that ‘Batman: The Animated Series’ and ‘The New Batman Adventures’ are part of the same canon, the series switched names when the art style changed to make crossovers with the Superman animated series easier but they are part of the same continuity.

» Canon Point: post Episode 106

» Gender: cisgendered female

» Age: None stated in canon, but her creator put her at about 28 in an interview and I accept that headcanon.

» Appearance: Harley has a fairly slim but athletic build, maintaining a gymnast-like physique. She is on the short side, coming in at a couple inches over 5 feet tall, and could easily pass for a woman in her early twenties rather than approaching thirty. This impression is helped by large blue eyes and blonde pigtails

» Collar:


» Orientation: Pansexual. In the series we most obviously see Harley’s romantic and sexual attraction to the Joker, but we also see her attracted to Poison Ivy and Batman at various points. Obviously all of these characters have extremely different physical appearances and genders. Harley is attracted to strong, domineering personalities, as well as a project she feels that she can “fix.” She can feel attraction to whatever body comes attached to these personalities; male or female, brawny or buxom or bleached skin and yellowed teeth. Gender identity and physical appearance are secondary to personality in determining who Harley falls for.

» Personality:

“You’re just one forgiving doormat, aren’t you?”
“I am NOT a doormat! …Am I?”
“If you had a middle name it would be Welcome.”
-Harley and Ivy

Harley is just the littlest bit unhinged and drawn to bad relationships. She is a fiercely driven individual, attending university on a scholarship for her talent at gymnastics and then pursuing medical school to become a psychiatrist. Harley tends to not take no for an answer once she’s set her sights on something; when her thesis is rejected, she seduces her professor into passing her with high marks. Wanting the prestige of working with high-profile criminals, she makes her way into interning at Arkham Asylum and catches the eye of the Joker. She works for three months just to get an interview with him, and with that meeting her career hits something of a roadblock.

Harley is characterized by being manipulative, playing sweet when it suits her and doing anything to achieve her goals. However, she is also easily manipulated herself. It doesn’t take long at all for the Joker to draw her in with his own sob stories and seduce her; Harley gives up the career she’s been striving toward for years to break the Joker out of Arkham and embark on a crime spree with him, all in the name of love. She is a dangerous criminal who won’t hesitate to take down those standing in her way through any means necessary, yet a hint of affection from the Joker is all it takes to bring her to her knees— most of the time. Harley is not what one would call sane and has spent more time on the inmate side of the glass than on the other.

All that said, Harley is still a fun loving gal just looking to have a good time. When asked what her attraction to the Joker is, she once responded that as a doctor she was always listening to other people’s problems, but the Joker made things fun. Life is a gag and with him she feels in on the joke. She is the only member of Batman’s rogues gallery that teams up with other villains because she legitimately thinks of them as friends rather than just a means to an end. That doesn’t mean she won’t double-cross them if the going gets tough (it’s all good fun after all), but she has willingly foiled other villains plans when they put the people she cares about in real danger before; In Harlequinade, she shoots down the Joker to prevent him from bombing the city once she realizes that her friends and pets are in the city too. Despite her doormat-like tendencies, Harley does stand up for herself from time to time; as just mentioned she has shot at the Joker point-blank before, and it is times like these that he comes closest to returning her affection (so of course she drops the gun and runs back into his arms). She can be compulsive and inconsistent despite her underlying obsession, and for all the times she cowers from the Joker there are also times when we see him cowering from her. The nature of their relationship is constant abuse culminating in a murder attempt on one side, then reconciliation when they both somehow survive.

Needless to say, Harley is a survivor. She has lasted longer than anyone in the Joker’s company (despite his best efforts) and she won’t hold a murder attempt or two against you as long as everything winds up settled in the end. She is both fiercely loyal and someone who has no problem teaming up with Batman one day, Poison Ivy the next, and then running back into the Joker’s arms. Basically, anything that can be said about Harley comes with the disclaimer of “but she is insane, so don’t expect consistency.” A tiny show of affection is all it takes to melt away her resolve to be rid of the Joker for good, and it can be hard to predict if she’ll play victim or villain on any given day. She plays both roles well.

» Assorted Links:
Quinn Counseling info page
Croix du Sud info page