There is no question that the Harley Quinn animated series has become increasingly popular after only just two seasons. One reason for its popularity is its comedy. Although it has its darker, serious, and more emotional moments, humor tends to take center stage in the DC animated series.
Ranging from cracking one-liners and gags to celebrating yet poking fun at the Batman universe, there are so many brilliant scenes and snippets across both seasons of Harley Quinn, so it is not short of laugh-out-loud moments. The best ones have audiences particularly splitting their sides sometimes for the unexpected ludicrousness of them, as well as showing villains in a very humorous and less threatening light, even when they are at their worst.
Clayface As Stephanie
Fans of Harley Quinn will know how dedicated Clayface is to putting on the perfect character performance for any plan. Even if only needed for a few minutes, Clayface will create an elaborate character complete with a full backstory, personality, and relationships. Though none of his roles are quite as dedicated and hilarious as Stephanie the college student.
Although initially bothersome to Harley and Ivy, "Stephanie" ends up proving to be extremely useful by quickly befriending other students and being able to get into VIP areas at Riddler University. And with the combination of Clayface's hammy acting, his obsession with a student named Chad, and Alan Tudyk putting on a valley girl voice, there's no denying how funny Clayface is as Stephanie. Even Harley admitted that Stephanie was Clayface's best character acting yet.
Bane Swears Vengeance On An Office Chair
There is no question that Bane is one of the best characters in the Harley Quinn series. Funny, wholesome, yet picked on by his peers, Bane is an absolute delight whenever he is onscreen. He arguably has the highest number of funny moments out of all of the characters but the one that perhaps tops them all is the incident with the office chair.
After learning Joshua Cobblepot had put out a hit on Harley by using his uncle Penguin's corporate card, Bane scolds him and gives him a heart-to-heart, telling the teenager "The road to maturity is a long one." Seconds later, Bane accidentally trips on a nearby office chair and in a fit of rage, throws it out of the window screaming, "Blow up on the ground, you stupid office chair!" The whole moment is hilarious on its own but made even better by contradicting his rather wise words uttered seconds ago.
Harley's Epic Entrance Falls Flat
The second episode of season 1, "A High Bar", is possibly one of the funniest episodes of Harley Quinn. It includes a number of brilliant moments including Bane sulkily threatening to blow up Gotham Stadium and the introduction of another beloved character, Kite Man. One noteworthy mention is Harley's epic entrance which ends up falling flat.
To get back at Joker, Harley learns there is a Legion of Doom event being held and decides to crash it. Complete with a bottle of champagne and a tiger, Harley's entrance is worthy of a rock star. Unfortunately, the entrance is wasted as Harley realizes she has crashed a Bar Mitzvah for Joshua Cobblepot. To add insult to injury, the Penguin doesn't recognize her and first asks her if she's one of the dancers for the event.
"I Like Pooping In The Toilet!"
King Shark was introduced to the series in the episode "Finding Mr. Right" and was an instant hit, becoming one of the most popular and most wholesome characters in Harley Quinn. So it was great news for King Shark fans when he received his own subplot in the episode "Bachelorette."
Because he must marry to restore peace to his people, King Shark is taken to his home under the sea, where the sea life performs a very crude toilet-themed parody of "Under the Sea" from Disney's The Little Mermaid. King Shark later stands up to his father and leaves for land, but not before proudly and loudly declaring "I like pooping in the toilet!" much to the absolute horror of his father and his subjects.
The Arkham Guards Make Calendar Man's Kid Cry
One of the best things about the Harley Quinn series is the inclusion of lesser-known characters such as Kite Man, Condiment King, and the Queen of Fables. Whether they're onscreen for a few minutes or an entire episode, their screentime is used well and to great humor.
A particularly great example is in the first episode, where Harley is locked up in Arkham and waiting for Joker to bail her out. There, the lesser-known villain Calendar Man is talking to his wife and son. Calendar Man's son has sweetly bought his father a small cactus as a present but the Arkham guards promptly knock it out of his hands and incinerate it, yelling "No plant life within fifty yards of Poison Ivy, you moron!" And to further upset the child, they add "no wonder your dad doesn't remember your birthday!" Not only is this moment extremely funny (even though it perhaps shouldn't be), it's a great introduction to the capability of Poison Ivy's plant powers.
Bruce Wayne And Alfred
The relationship between Batman and Alfred has always been a staple in the Batman universe, but in Harley Quinn, this isn't touched upon until about halfway through season 2 in the episode "Batman's Back, Man." In fact, this is the episode where Alfred makes his debut in the show, which is somewhat surprising as the loyal butler is considered the most important member of the Bat family.
Bruce Wayne has woken from his coma (from the aftermath of the season 1 finale) and is in poor physical health. But despite Alfred's stern protests, this doesn't stop Bruce, who sulkily declares "I don't want pigs in a blanket, I want to fight crime!" whilst crawling across the floor to get back to bed. Whilst not quite at the hilarious parent-child exchanges of Will Arnett's Batman and Ralph Fiennes' Alfred in The LEGO Batman Movie, the arguments between Bruce and Alfred throughout the episode certainly come close.
Even Evil Has Standards
One of the most memorable parts of Harley Quinn is the exile of villain Dr. Psycho from the Legion of Doom after he calls Wonder Woman and Giganta the c-word. The result shows that even evil has standards in not only one but two scenes. The first is in the third episode of season 1 when Lex Luthor announces on television that Psycho has been kicked out of the Legion of Doom as what he has done "does not represent our brand of evil."
The second isn't until season 2. When Dr. Psycho contacts the interdimensional villain Darkseid, the latter calls him "the dwarf that called Wonder Woman a slur that even I dare not utter." The fact that the powerful Lord of the Apokolips wouldn't even dare do this is excellent but it's made even funnier when Psycho retaliates by saying that "dwarf" is also a slur: "We're not in The Wizard of Oz anymore." It's little wonder Darkseid's line is one of the best quotes from Harley Quinn's second season.
Joker Versus His Contractor
Another reason why Harley Quinn is so funny is that it sees some of Batman's most notorious foes off-duty and in everyday situations. This is most evident in "A High Bar" and the example that stands out the most in this episode is Joker dealing with his contractors as he focuses on getting his hideout rebuilt after the events of the first episode.
The audience first sees Joker arguing with his contractor because he needs a permit to have a trapdoor built: "The whole point is no one is supposed to know about it, especially the city!" Things are made worse for Joker at the end of the episode when he learns that his hideout is being built in a residential area, even though it's in "an abandoned amusement park at the end of a rotting pier." The whole situation of witnessing one of Batman's deadliest enemies being limited by rather mundane city guidelines is both ludicrous and hilarious.
Aquaman Tries To Save The Fish
Villains are not the only ones to have their funny moments in Harley Quinn. Justice League member Aquaman plays a prominent part in the episode "L.O.D.R.S.V.P" and he is surprisingly very funny. Proud and overly dramatic to the point of rivaling Clayface's hamminess, Aquaman also proves he is a force to be reckoned with when he crashes the Legion of Doom's gathering.
His brave and theatrical persona immediately falters when he accidentally destroys the Legion of Doom's fish tank thanks to Harley. The panicked Aquaman's frantic attempts to save all of the fish are made even funnier when Bane proudly declares "I am stomping on your fish!" whilst viciously doing just that, and when Harley tells Aquaman "there's a YMCA pool down the street!". Because of the hilarity of the entire situation, Harley's line is considered one of the best quotes in the first season of Harley Quinn.
"Where's My Goddamn Electric Car, Bruce?!"
The final episode of season 1 does something that perhaps no other Batman story has done: unmask the Bat. In an attempt to cheer Joker up, Scarecrow unceremoniously unmasks Batman, naturally revealing him to be Bruce Wayne. This, unfortunately, does not sit well with Joker and he murders Scarecrow in a fit of rage.
Afterward, Joker angrily confronts Bruce about the electric cars that WayneTech was supposed to have launched: "I put a deposit down! Where's my goddamn electric car, Bruce?!" Joker could have taunted him about his parents or how Gotham is in ruins but instead, he chooses to yell at Bruce over something fairly mundane, not to mention something he could have easily have stolen. What should be a rather tense moment soon becomes one of the funniest and most quoted scenes in the entire series.