With a very high death toll in The Suicide Squad, it was truly survival of the fittest in Task Force X’s mission to infiltrate Corto Maltese’s Jotunheim prison. Each main character required a high level of intelligence to live as long as they did. This includes considering everything from battle strategy, infiltration plans, and being aware of when technology was needed.
To this end, a deeper look should be taken at the cleverness that the main characters possessed, whether it was someone as forward-thinking as Amanda Waller or as absent-minded as King Shark. The moments where the characters didn’t display the smartness they should have are also worth considering.
King Shark
The most obvious attribute of King Shark was his lack of intelligence, as he didn’t even perceive the danger everybody was in. He had the habit of drifting away due to his minimal attention span and was fascinated by his own hand.
Of course, this highlighted that King Shark was a character who was influenced by his primal nature, with his character development surrounding his emotional range rather than by intelligence. As far as his level of smarts goes, King Shark wasn’t someone to rely on for any flashes of brilliance.
Peacemaker
Peacemaker is regarded as one of the funniest characters in The Suicide Squad, but he didn’t display much in the intelligence department. He was mainly prone to emotional outbursts, a lack of creativity in strategy, and stuck with Amanda Waller’s plans rather than change his mind about Corto Maltese.
To his credit, Peacemaker did display some sense of strategy when he broke away from the group’s plan in Jotunheim. This was to attempt to kill Rick Flag and Ratcatcher 2 and ensure there were no witnesses to U.S.A.’s involvement in Corto Maltese's crimes against humanity. Overall, though, Peacemaker was too stringent with his own rules to think out of the box.
Harley Quinn
Harley has always been erratic with her emotions and lets this aspect drive her. In The Suicide Squad, she didn’t have any clever inventions to make or plans to conjure, but she was smart enough to think on her feet to survive where others perished.
This was best seen during the breakout after her torture, as Harley strategically took all the army men out by employing her fight skills. She was also perceptive in battle as she realized what Starro’s weak spot was and protected both King Shark and Polka-Dot Man from certain death during Jotunheim’s collapse by anticipating attacks to come from enemies.
Ratcatcher 2
Although never unintelligent during the movie, Ratcatcher 2 did compromise in her smarts when it came to her emotions. This included instances like sleeping next to King Shark knowing full well he might try to eat her, which the latter even attempted to do.
On the other hand, Ratcatcher 2 was also intelligent enough to better the technology made by her father by controlling rats on a large scale to defeat Starro. She was also the one to realize that Starro’s spawns could be countered by shielding the face, which was instrumental in allowing Task Force X to survive when others were killed.
Polka-Dot Man
Polka-Dot Man will mainly be remembered for his valiant effort in the final fight that made him one of the bravest characters in The Suicide Squad. His intelligence wasn’t as much in focus, but the fact that he created a suit to redirect his multi-dimensional illness into weaponry is incredible to behold.
During the course of the story, Polka-Dot Man’s death wish hindered him from thinking logically, with moments like accidentally blowing up Jotunheim as a result of his fear. It was after he gained confidence in his abilities that he figured out that attacking Starro’s legs was the key to weakening him.
The Thinker
The characterization of The Thinker was a pleasant mix of funny and ruthless, making him one of the best characters not on the team in The Suicide Squad. He seemed to be easily captured by Task Force X, only to reveal that he was certain they would be out of their element when he revealed that Starro was part of the U.S. government’s research.
The Thinker also possessed great intelligence to experiment on Starro, who was an alien of unknown origin, unlocking Starro’s hidden abilities in the process. He was sly in his manipulations as he caused Task Force X members to argue within themselves, although he wasn't smart enough to fool Starro into letting him live in the end.
Bloodsport
Bloodsport had more to offer than doling out one-liners and having one of the best costumes in The Suicide Squad. His intelligent attributes included making weaponry only he could use, crafting smaller bullets that pierced through Peacemaker’s, and blackmailing Waller to release everyone from the team.
He did have a few failings in the smartness department, such as killing off the resistance fighters by mistaking them as part of Corto Maltese’s army, but he was largely a quick thinker. After all, it was Bloodsport who figured out everyone’s strong points to use them collectively to take Starro down.
Amanda Waller
Waller was close to executing the perfect plan, having used Task Force X’s Team A to serve as a distraction to allow Team B to enter without issue. She also used each member's weaknesses against them to follow her commands. Her diabolical genius was also apparent when Waller used Peacemaker’s extreme patriotism to plant him as her inside man in the team to ensure no one reneged on the plan.
Waller would’ve gotten away with wiping U.S.A.’s involvement in Corto Maltese had her workers not attacked her when she was going to execute Team B. Her one lack of smarts was her inability to perceive people’s humanity, as her lack of empathy didn’t allow her to see that her team would turn on her.
Rick Flag
All things considered, Rick Flag didn’t really have any weak points, as he was a brave man, a worthy leader, and an expert tactician. While Team A got massacred, Flag was smart enough to escape and was quick to become allies with the resistance to formulate the plan to get to Jotunheim.
He was also intelligent in terms of strategy, with Flag formulating the way to apprehend The Thinker, how to infiltrate Jotunheim, and turning the tables on Waller to release the incriminating evidence to the press. Flag even used his wits during his fights, as he targeted enemies’ weak points to gain the advantage would have beaten Peacemaker had the latter not spotted a convenient shard to pierce Flag’s heart.