Harley Quinn Trivia: 23 fun facts about the fictional character!

Harley Quinn (Harleen Frances Quinzel) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly as an adversary of the superhero Batman. Let’s see some fun facts and trivia about her!

1.Harley Quinn first appeared in the Batman: The Animated Series episode “Joker’s Favor”.

2. The character was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm

3. Arleen Sorkin, a former star of the soap opera Days of Our Lives, appeared in a dream sequence on that series in which she wore a jester costume; Dini used this scene as an inspiration for Quinn.

4. The character was originally voiced by Arleen Sorkin in various tie-ins to the DC animated universe, and has also been voiced by Hynden Walch and Tara Strong in either DC Animated Showcases or in various video games.

5. Harley Quinn is an Olympic-level athlete with excellent gymnastics skills rivaling that of Catwoman and Nightwing.

6. She can jump very high and perform dangerous acrobatic feats with little effort. She is also a very impressive fighter, utilizing her acrobatic skills in her fighting style.

7. Harley is shown to be talented with a array of various weapons, particularly with of one of her trademarks weapons; a large mallet which she wields with surprising skill, despite its large size and unwieldy appearance.

8. She is also shown to be capable with firearms as well.

9. Harley Quinn is also highly intelligent (at one point, Amanda Waller even called Harley a “genius”), being skilled in the field of psychology.

10. After a failed attempt by the Joker to blow her up in a rocket, Poison Ivy gave her a strange “potion”, which gave Harley an immunity to most poisons and toxins, enhanced strength, agility, and speed, and a small healing factor.

11. The 1994 graphic novel Mad Love recounts the character’s origin. Told in the style and continuity of Batman: The Animated Series and written and drawn by Dini and Timm, the comic book describes Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel, M.D. as an Arkham Asylum psychiatrist who falls for the Joker and becomes his accomplice and on-again, off-again sidekick.

12. The story received wide praise and won the Eisner and Harvey Awards for Best Single Issue Comic of the Year.

13. The New Batman Adventures series adapted Mad Love as the episode of the same name in 1999, making it the second “animated style” comic book adapted for the series (the other was “Holiday Knights”).

14. After Batman: The Animated Series and The New Batman Adventures, Harley makes several other animated appearances. She appears as one of the four main female characters of the web cartoon Gotham Girls.

15. She appeared in World’s Finest: The Batman/Superman Movie as a rival and foil for Lex Luthor’s assistant Mercy Graves; each takes an immediate dislike for the other, at one point fighting brutally with each other as Lex Luthor and the Joker have a business meeting.

16. After the success of The Animated Series, the character proved so popular that she was eventually added to the Batman comic book canon.

17. In Countdown #43, Harley appears to have reformed and is shown to be residing in an Amazon-run women’s shelter. Having abandoned her jester costume and clown make-up, she now only wears an Amazonian stola or chiton. She befriends the former Catwoman replacement Holly Robinson, and then succeeds in persuading her to join her at the shelter, where she is working as an assistant.

18. They are both brought to Themiscyra by “Athena” (really Granny Goodness) and begin Amazon training. Holly and Harley then meet the real Athena, and encounter Mary Marvel. The group reveal Granny’s deception, and Holly, Harley, and Mary follow her as she retreats to Apokolips. Mary finds the Olympian gods, whom Granny had been holding prisoner, and the group frees them. Harley is granted powers by Thalia as a reward. Upon returning to Earth, the powers vanish, and Harley and Holly return to Gotham City.

19. Harley Quinn joins forces with Poison Ivy and Catwoman in the series Gotham City Sirens.

20. Following a number of adventures with Catwoman and Ivy, Harley betrays them and breaks into Arkham Asylum with the goal of killing the Joker for his years of abuse towards her. However, Harley ultimately chooses instead to release Joker from his cell, and together the two orchestrate a violent takeover of the facility that results in most of the guards and staff members either being killed or taken hostage by the inmates.

21. Harley and the Joker are eventually defeated by Batman and Catwoman, and Harley is last seen being wheeled away while bound in a straitjacket and muzzle.

22. Shortly after this, Poison Ivy breaks into Harley’s cell and attempts to kill her for her betrayal, but instead offers to free her if she helps kill Catwoman, who had left both of her fellow Sirens behind in Arkham. Harley agrees, and the two set out to trap Catwoman.

23. Following DC’s 2011 relaunch of its titles, Harley Quinn’s costume and appearance is fully revamped. Harley Quinn has a more revealing costume, altered hair color, and bleached skin. Her hair is half-red and half-black, like the jester cap of her previous incarnation, rather than fully blonde. Consistent with her new origin, her bleached skin is the result of being kicked into a vat of acid by the Joker.