Harley Quinn is one of the most well-known character in DC Comics, matching the likes of heroes like Batman and Wonder Woman. She first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 and her popularity has continued to climb since then. Particularly with her appearance in Suicide Squad in 2016, she’s gained quite the fan-base.
The beloved character has gone through many changes throughout the years, from a drastic switch in love interests to transforming from insane villainess into a somewhat of an anti-hero. There have been countless adaptations of Harley. Fans have always loved that she has a psychotic streak and isn’t as black and white as most superhero characters are. She’s complex, fun, and unpredictable.
With over 25 years of Harley Quinn, fans feel like they’ve memorized everything they know about their character. Despite this, though, there are some aspects about the character that are hard to understand or don’t add up at all no matter how much fans try. While there is a certain level of suspension of disbelief that comic book fans have to adhere too, it’s hard to miss a few of these confusing aspects.
Here are the 20 Things About Harley Quinn That Make No Sense.
She Flips Between Hero And Villain
When Harley first appeared in Batman: The Animated Series, she was purely a villain who worked alongside the Joker. Since then, she’s gone from evil sidekick to independent hero, depending on the storyline.
While there’s a debate among fans aboutn whether she is a villain, hero, or anti-hero, it really just depends on the day.
Typically, Harley just does whatever she wants whenever she wants. If she feels like being good, she’ll be good, and if she feels like being bad, she’ll be bad. The answer to whether or not she’s good or evil is simply “it’s complicated,” which can be confusing for those DC fans who want to classify her as one or the other.
Her Origin Changes
Like most comic-book characters, Harley Quinn’s origin has changed over the years. While she was originally a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum named Harleen Quinzel who fell in love with the Joker, that isn’t necessarily the only background for her.
In Batman: The White Knight, the comic book in which Joker is cured and goes back to being Jack, Harley Quinn is actually two separate women. Dr. Harleen Quinzel attempts to rekindle her romance with Jack while the other more modern Harley, Marian Drews, works to draw the old Joker into the light by going by a new identity called “Neo Joker.” It was a really odd concept for a lot of fans to follow and as interesting as it was, the old origin is much more familiar. Changing it so drastically doesn’t make a lot of sense.
Her bleached skin changes
Not only does Harley’s backstory switch up sometimes, but her appearance does too. Her skin has always looked pale white, but the reason why has changed. In the early days of Harley Quinn, she would wear clown makeup and her jester costume when she wanted to commit crimes, but would sport her regular skin and blond pigtails during her down time.
In later origins, however, the Joker managed to get her into the same vat of chemicals that he fell into, bleaching her skin pale white permanently like his, as fans saw in Suicide Squad. Her costume also changes depending on the movie, video game, or comic book. The continuity doesn’t always make sense, particularly to newer fans.
Her Relationship With Nightwing
When the animated movie Batman and Harley Quinn came out in 2017, there was a lot of controversy among fans. One of the strangest elements of the movie was when Harley Quinn slept with Nightwing.
Not only was the pairing odd, but the methods behind them getting together were also questionable. Nightwing was tied up to a bed during their encounter, blurring the lines of consent and causing some fans to call it distasteful. It was definitely a risky choice to include it in the movie. The scene seemed to come out of nowhere, as fans had never asked for the two to get together. It didn’t really make much sense in the film for anything other than shock value.
Her Inconsistent Accent In Suicide Squad
When Suicide Squad first came out, it didn’t receive the best reviews. While the majority of fans agreed that the movie was a mess, there were high praises for Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Harley Quinn. Though her performance was good, her accent wasn’t very consistent. Harley has always been known for her childish, over-the-top Brooklyn accent. When fans found out about her live-action portrayal, many were curious if the actress would pull of their favorite character’s voice.
While Robbit did do a Brooklyn accent, it turned on and off throughout the movie
It didn’t make sense to have the popular character so prevalent in the film without her iconic accent front and center. Fans expected to hear her usual voice.
Her Sanity Varies
Harley is known for being unstable. Even people who aren’t exactly big fans are aware that he character is extremely chaotic and violent at times. While she’s definitely insane, she’s also a genius with a soft-side.
Her sanity varies drastically depending on the portrayal. This inconsistency leads to confusion about the character. In Suicide Squad, Amanda Waller says that Harley is crazier than Joker. While she’s definitely crazy, this statement simply isn’t true in regards to their typical dynamic. Harleen Quinzel is still somewhere inside of Harley and, sometimes, glimpses of her appear. To say that she’s completely insane to the point that she surpasses Joker cheapens the depth of her character, making it an odd thing to say in the live-action movie.
Her Weapon Choices
Harley Quinn certainly has a wide variety of weapons to choose from. She’s been known to carry everything from handguns to giant, over-the-top hammers. While a lot of these weapons have become iconic to her character, they aren’t exactly practical.
It just doesn’t make sense to lug around giant hammers, baseball bats, and cupcake bombs when a gun is smaller and more portable. She does use guns, of course, but her weapons of choice are often the weirder ones. While her crazier weapons fit her violent, insane desires, clunky and heavy weapons just aren’t the best choice for criminal activity. There is a certain level of fantasy involved with comic books, of course, so most fans overlook this detail.
She Was A Mutant Hyena
Most fans know that Harley Quinn has two hyena companions named Bud and Lou, who she loves dearly. While they were originally Joker’s, she’s the one who cares for them. They are her signature partners and she loves them to the point that she once turned into a mutated hyena herself. There was in a crossover between the Batman universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Inmates at Arkham Asylum ended up mutating into different animals thanks to a mutagen, with Harley Quinn morphing into a hyena.
While it is clear that she has an affinity for the animals, the mutation was a little too weird. The entire premise of the crossover comic book didn’t make much sense.
She Was Dropped In The Arrowverse
Fans of the Arrowverse were excited when they heard the voice of their favorite pigtailed psychiatrist in the end of an episode of Arrow. This excitement was short lived, however, when it was announced they were canceling plans to continue with the Suicide Squad storyline.
Though fans only heard her voice for a brief moment, there were originally plans to bring her character onto the show later. Seeing as she’s one of the most popular DC characters at the moment, it would have been a huge moment for fans to see her on the Arrowverse. While they scrapped plans because of the DCEU, it just doesn’t make sense that they would cut her character out of the show. There’s already a Superman in Supergirl as well as in the DCEU, so there’s no reason why they couldn’t have more duplicates.
She Talks To A Beaver
Harley Quinn isn’t exactly known for being sane. She’s done a lot of crazy things, but talking to a deceased, stuff beaver has to be one of the strangest. His name is Bernie, and he’s a half-burnt taxidermy beaver who belonged to one of her ex-love interests, Bernie Bash. She swiped him as a relationship keepsake. Bernie has survived everything from explosions to gunfire, as Harley has kept him after all this time.
This behavior is weird even for Harley. Even Poison Ivy isn’t sure how to react to the news that Harley’s best friend is a creepy beaver. It doesn’t exactly make sense why she would confide into a stuffed beaver of all objects, but whatever the writers say, goes.
Joker Has Never Taken Her Life
Harley Quinn and Joker are one of the most well-known pairings in the DC comics world. She and the Clown Prince of Crime have been through quite a bit, including savage abuse and intense breakups. Fans have always expressed their concern over their toxic relationship, particularly how Joker treats Harley. He’s strapped her to a rocket, thrown her off buildings, and assaulted her on multiple occasions. Despite all this, he’s never actually taken her life.
This doesn’t make sense considering how insane and violent he is.
There have been multiple times when she certainly would have perished at his hands. It’s hard to believe that after all of this horrific abuse, he hasn’t taken her life at some point. Some fans even have theories as to why he hasn’t yet.
She's Saved Batman's Life
Like most Batman villains, Harley Quinn has had her fair share of fights with the caped crusader. Particularly when she’s fighting alongside Joker, it seems like she would want him to perish so that he would stop interfering with their criminal schemes.
In a different turn of events, there have been a few times when she has actually saved the life of the masked vigilante. She’s saved him a few times on accident, like when she got in a fight with Joker and Batman was freed from one of his traps during their squabble, but she’s also saved him on purpose. It doesn’t make sense that a villain would free the same man who has put her behind bars countless times.
She's Stronger Than Superman
While Harley Quinn is definitely a skilled combatant, she’s not necessarily the strongest villain in the world. This is why it doesn’t make much sense that she once beat Superman in a fight.
In a strange turn of events, she gets herself into a boxing max with the Man of Steel to compete for the title of “Earth’s Champion.” Conveniently enough, Superman didn’t have his powers at the time, but he’s still much bigger and stronger than she is, even when he’s powered down. Somehow, Harley wins, despite logic saying it should be Superman. Is Clark just extremely bad at boxing or is she just surprisingly strong?
She Was Kicked Out Of Hell
Harley Quinn has been to some strange places, but it’s hard to beat going to hell and back. After losing her life, she ends up in hell. When she gets there, she finds herself reunited with all the henchmen who’s lives she’s taken over the years. She’s supposed to live out a bloody loop with them for eternity, however, rather than having to endure her set punishment, she ends up on the loose. Hell’s bounty hunter is assigned to hunt her down.
Things become so chaotic and Harley horrifies the people in charge so much that they banish her from the underworld after she spreads too much love.
While this comic itself has some fun moments, it just doesn’t make sense that Hell itself wouldn’t be bad enough to keep Harley contained.
She Didn't Realize She Dated Batman
Harley has had quite a few love interests over the years. While most fans are familiar with her romantic connections to both Joker and Poison Ivy, she’s also been on a date with the Dark Knight himself.
In Harley Quinn’s Valentines Special #1, she doesn’t realize that Bruce Wayne and Batman are the same person and bets on a date with the billionaire in an auction for charity. Along the way, she manages to save him from kidnapping, and the two grab dinner. She kisses Bruce, and then also kisses Batman later when he stops by to thank her for saving Bruce’s life. It simply doesn’t make sense than Harley wouldn’t realize that the two men are one and the same, especially when she kissed him twice.
She Managed To Wear Green Lantern's Ring
Since Harley does have a hidden good streak in her, she’s typically committing crimes and doing various evil deeds. Despite this, she was somehow able to wear Green Lantern’s ring for a brief moment. Harley gets into some trouble, and Hal Jordan has to come save her. Unfortunately, he gets knocked unconscious while they’re mid-air during the rescue. They both are falling fast through the sky, so Harley yanks off his ring and saves the two.
This never made much sense considering that only those with extraordinary willpower can use the ring. She typically follows the lead of the Joker, leading some fans to believe that the ring shouldn’t work for her.
People Idolize her and Joker
While Harley Quinn started out as Joker’s sidekick, in recent years, she has branched out on her own and has made a name for herself separate from her abusive ex. Despite this, in popular culture, she’s most well-known for her relationship with him. A lot of people say that they want a relationship like Harley and Joker. While they’re fictional, the abusive qualities surrounding their romance are not healthy to aspire to in real life.
It just doesn’t make sense to idolize such a toxic, unhealthy relationship as cute and quirky.
Their story is dark, tragic, and incredibly messed up. She is a victim of domestic abuse. In the comic book world, dark storylines fit right in, but it wouldn’t be a great romance in reality.
She Was In A Folk Band With Ivy
Harley is a quirky character, so it’s no surprise that she’s into some strange hobbies. While some fit her characters, others are a bit too out of line. DC once released an Elseworld line of comics, though they aren’t exactly considered canon.
In Elseworld’s story “Rocumentary,” Lex Luthor is a record producer who had clients like Batman and Superman. He signs both Harley and Poison Ivy, and they become a famous folk-singing duo. It was a very short-term situation, but not one that didn't make much sense. The premise was too out-there for most fans and the comic did not sell very well. Most fans prefer Harley and Ivy as criminals and part-time lovers more than traveling folk singers.
She Acts Ditzy But She's Actually Smart
Harley is incredibly ditzy at times, but a lot of people aren’t aware of how truly smart she is. She is a highly capable psychiatrist who is extremely intelligent. She’s certainly a deranged maniac, as well, but her genius is often downplayed. She clearly has to be intelligent to earn a PhD in psychology and become a trained therapist. Harley has admitted to purposefully acting ditzier than she is as part of her criminal persona, particularly because Joker enjoys it.
Now that she’s gotten away from Joker in recent comics, she shouldn’t hide her intellect as much. It just doesn’t make sense for her intelligence to be hidden away when it could be such an intriguing aspect of her character.
She Keeps Going Back To Joker
Harley has been abused by the Joker for years. Like most survivors of domestic abuse and toxic relationships, she keeps going back to him because she loves him and truly believes she can help change him.
Despite this, fans constantly root for her to stay away from the Clown Prince for good. However, she’s so use to being dependant on his love that she keeps returning to it hoping it’s different. She also feels like he’s the only one who truly understands her. A lot of fans just can’t understand the concept and don’t think it makes any sense for her to go back to the lover who hurt her so badly in the past.
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Can you think of any other things about Harley Quinn that make no sense? Let us know in the comments!