Few comic book characters have experienced as successful a rebranding as this Harley Quinn has had over the past decade. From being the cupid of crime to the kingpin of crime fighting, Harley Quinn has had a huge rebrand as of late.
Not even originally conceived as a character for the comic books, and a character that DC Comics editors actively didn’t want in the official comics canon, Harley Quinn has come a long way from being the Joker’s loveable sidekick. Now, she has basically become one of the leading faces of the DC brand. While some superheroes still treat her with vitriol (the Justice League still doesn’t consider her a real hero), she at least has become a full-on anti-hero – and these quotes prove just that.
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“I’m quite a saint!”
Harley Quinn / Gossamer #1 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Pier Brito, Paul Mounts and Dave Sharpe
Another complete one-shot of an adventure with local Looney tunes Staple gossamer, Harley Quinn finally meets his creator, Dr. Moron (or is it Dr. Frankenbeans? Mad Scientist? Evil Scientist? He goes by many names). Before leaving the DC Universe, Dr. Moron’s parting gift is a villain who promises to give Harley Quinn superpowers, but he only urges her to use her gift for the good of humanity. She promises that she is a saint, and she Probably believe it.
Funny moment aside, one of Harley Quinn’s endearing qualities is that she certainly believes herself to be a saint, an unapologetic good guy from her story despite her killer instinct and the crimes she’s committed. It’s cute because you perceive That she is a good person, she often strives to do good. As far as she is concerned, her actions are actually the right thing to do.
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“I’m an upstanding citizen now. For the most part.”
DC Spring Breakout #1’s “Field Trip” by Joey Esposito, Vasco Georgiev and Jame
This DC Spring Breakout The story goes out of its way to dissect Harley Quinn’s anti-hero status. Even more than usual, the heroes in the DC Universe – the Justice League – are divided on Harley Quinn and if she really walked the straight and narrow. In fairness to them, however, she had just broken King Shark out of prison, even if it was just so he could celebrate his birthday. They have every reason to doubt Harley in this instance.
However, she explains herself best with this quote, even better with the adage of, “But I’m still ****ing Looney Tunes, babe!” It’s almost as if calling her a hero or a villain doesn’t do justice to the character. Trying to fix every term in relation to Harley is practically doing you a disservice. She’s just as loony as she’s always been, but the only thing that’s changed is her character alignment—and even then, it’s barely changed.
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“I’m not the hero people deserve, but I’m the one they need right now”
Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #2 By Tini Howard and Hayden Sherman
Sure, she’s straight-up ripping off the line of The Dark KnightBut in a weird way, it kind of perfectly fits Harley Quinn’s run as a hero. This is not necessarily to focus on the “earn” factor. It more so speaks to how the DC Universe needs Harley Quinn, almost in spite of herself, or more appropriately, despite the average character’s opinion of her.. She has her doubts, but that doesn’t stop her from committing full time to being a hero.
It didn’t even force her to try being a villain again. Well, except that one time she ditched the hero’s life, but it was strictly for research purposes to study the criminal mind. In addition, she remains vigilant in her pursuit of heroism and even when people doubt that her efforts are genuine, those same people will eventually need her help.
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“If Arkham has taught me anything, it’s that everyone has a stranger inside of them. Everyone has something locked away so deep they have no idea it’s even there. Me, you, everyone. Everyone. Except the Joker.”
Harley Quinn #26 By AJ Lieberman and Mike Huddleston
If anyone understands what it means to harbor demons within them, it’s Harley Quinn. Before she took up crime, she was a sane, rational psychologist who was highly skilled in her field. It’s often simplified that all it took was Joker’s influence to get her to flip on a dime, but as she explains here, her redefined origin is more complicated than that. It wasn’t so much that the Joker brought something out of her or drove her crazy. It used to be that Harley Quinn always had that proverbial stranger inside her locked away.
If anything, Joker may have given Harley the key to open the door, but it’s not something he planted there himself. In fact, everyone has a proverbial stranger, that demon waiting for an opportunity to be unleashed. Even the Joker, and he may be the only person who is aware that such a monster is inside him, according to Harley Quinn.
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“Red is… the color of my lipstick on his lips… and the blood under my fingernails.”
Harley Quinn Black + White + Red #1’s “Harleen: Red” by Stjepan Sejic
The colors red, black and white are all synonymous with Harley Quinn’s color choice, especially the color red. If she’s not wearing red at least, it’s hard to consider her as Harley Quinn. This story emphasizes just how ingrained the color of red is in both Harley and her history, specifically the history she shared with the Joker. When you play a game of color association during your stay in Arkham Asylum, what follows is a tremendous monologue from Harley that covers everything that comes to mind for her. The most telling descriptors come in relation to the red on her lips and the blood on her fingernails.
It highlights just how sensually charged and brutal her relationship with the Joker was, considering how fiery, full of passion, but also intense their dynamic was.. The entire monologue could be included in this entry because it does such a job in trailing her journey from its beginning to now, all through the same color.
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“My name is Harley F. Quinn. You burned down my building ‘an almost killed my amigo. Prepare to die.”
Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey #1 (2020) by Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti
The Defeo mortgage company makes an enemy of Harley Quinn when they burn her apartment complex building – the Dreamin’ Seaman – to the ground as an intimidation tactic for not paying her mortgage. On top of that, Harley Quinn’s friend – or amigo – Big Tony was beaten up in the melee, which did not please her one bit. So, when Harley came back to get to the bottom of things, she naturally came back with a vengeance – but not before putting a twist on a classic line of The Princess Bride.
This is what makes Harley so endearing to so many readers, even when the stakes are high and she’s throwing a tantrum, she still makes time to crack a joke.. When the quality in Harley’s character is written at its peak, a moment like this is able to reduce the pressure in the room without minimizing the stakes of the story.
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“I know about permanent hurt.”
Harley Quinn: Make them laugh #2’s “The Lady or the Tiger” by Gail Simone and Priscilla Petraites
In a moment when she tries to relate to Huntress’ pain, Harley Quinn recalls that Harley Quinn tells the hurt that Huntress is experiencing in Make them laugh #2 By recalling her first crush: a high school bully who humiliates Harley in a scenario that earns her the cruel nickname, Mouse-Girl. “It made me hate Harleen,” she remembers. She then talks about how that pain has followed her into adulthood and, in a way, informs her relationship with the Joker.
So, yes, she knows about permanent hurt, and that hurt from high school continues to permanently affect her relationships in adulthood. Readers have watched for years how Harley was hurt and how it affected her, but now they understand the root cause of it all.
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“You think I’m doing what I’m told?!?!? I’M HARLEY FREAKING QUEEN!!”
Harley Quinn and Batman (2017) #3 by Ty Templeton and Luciano Vecchio
One thing more vital to Harley Quinn’s character than her transition from villain to hero is her transition from sidekick to independent woman.. Regardless if she is on the side of crime or the side of fighting crime, the character at her heart is all about that search for something greater than being someone’s lap dog. She’s been the Joker’s lap dog for too long, and so any insinuation that she’s still the very thing she’s worked hard to unlearn is a point of trouble for her.
That’s why the poker scene is so triggering for Harley, as she’s invited to a supervillain poker game strictly for henchmen and sidekicks. And that’s why she feels so compelled to remind everyone exactly who she is – “Harley freaking Queen!”
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“I’ll stop you there, my quota of overly pretentious, catchy monologues has already been met for the foreseeable future.”
Future state: Harley Quinn #2 by Stephanie Phillips, Simone Dimed and Toni Infante
Harley Quinn’s ultimate superpower is The ability to break the fourth wall. She may not do it as often or outrageously as someone more synonymous with the power, like Deadpool, but she does it effectively enough to be noticed.. In Power, during the “Future State” story arc, she comes face-to-face with the Scarecrow, moments before he is about to engage in the classic supervillain monologue trope. However, before he can get many words out, Harley makes it clear that she is in more of a fighting mood than a talk and listen type of mood.
Being hyper-aware of even the most well-known tropes of the superhero genre is an impressive feat. On one hand, moments like these are just fun to witness from Harley, but on the other, it showcases how such a fun, underused power can go a long way for you.
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“I will try to save as many people as I tried to hurt back in the day. I want to be a better version of me.”
Batman #105 by James Tynion IV, Carlo Pagulayan, Danny Miki, Alvaro Martinez, Bueno, and Guillem March
Clownhunter is a walking, talking reminder of Harley Quinn’s misdeeds. On top of being an active member of the hero community, his origin story and loss of his parents comes as a direct result of the Joker and Harley Quinn’s crimes when they were still together. The young boy has a terrible grudge against the former criminal, however The monologue that Harley proceeds to deliver is a perfect personification of her redemption story. This monologue, more than anything else, justifies her designation as a hero.
For anyone who doubts that Harley Quinn makes a believable hero, his critics or characters, this monologue makes a convincing argument. Her redemption book is a constant. Maybe she will never atone for every sin she committed, however Harley Quinn The main motivator is to at least try to make up for her crimes by saving as many people as she killed, as high as the list may be.