Few comic book characters have experienced as successful of a rebranding as Harley Quinn has had over the past decade. From being the Cupid of Crime to the kingpin of crimefighting, Harley Quinn has had a tremendous rebrand as of late.
Originally not even conceived as a character for the comic books, and a character who DC Comics editors actively did not want in the official comics canon, Harley Quinn has come a long way from being The Joker’s lovelorn sidekick. Now, she’s essentially 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 the very least has become a full-on anti-hero – and these quotes prove just that.
10 “I’m a total saint!”
Harley Quinn/Gossamer #1 by Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, Pier Brito, Paul Mounts, and Dave Sharpe
After an entire 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 vile that promises to gift Harley Quinn with superpowers, but he only urges her to use her gift for the good of mankind. She promises that she’s a saint, and she probably believes 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 of her story despite her killer instinct and the crimes she’s committed. It’s endearing because her perception that she is a good person often drives her to do good. As far as she is concerned, her actions are actually the right thing to do.
9 “I’m an upstandin’ citizen now. For the most part.”
DC Spring Breakout #1’s “Field Trip” by Joey Esposito, Vasco Georgiev, and Jame
This DC Spring Breakout story went 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 – were divided on Harley Quinn and if she was truly walking the straight and narrow. In fairness to them, though, she did just break King Shark out of prison, even if it was just so he could celebrate his birthday. They had 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 fixate on either term in relation to Harley is practically doing her a disservice. She’s just as looney as she’s always been, but the only thing that’s changed is her character alignment – and even then, that’s hardly changed.
8 “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 is straight-up ripping off the line from The Dark Knight, but in a weird way, it kind of perfectly fits Harley Quinn’s run as a hero. That isn’t necessarily to focus on the “deserve” factor. It more so speaks to how the DC Universe needs Harley Quinn, almost in spite of itself, or more appropriately, in spite of the average character’s opinion on her. She has her doubters, but that doesn’t stop her from committing full time to being a hero.
That hasn’t even compelled her to try to be a villain again. Well, except that one time that she ditched the hero life, but that was strictly for research purposes to study the criminal mind. Other than that, she has remained vigilant in her pursuit of heroism and even when people doubt her efforts are genuine, those same people wind up needing her help in the end.
7 “If Arkham taught me anything, it’s that everyone has a stranger in ’em. Everyone has something locked up so deep that they have no idea it’s even there. Me, you, everyone. Everyone. Except The Joker.”
Harley Quinn #26 by A.J. Lieberman and Mike Huddleston
If anyone understands what it means to harbor demons inside of them, it’s Harley Quinn. Before taking 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 complex than that. It was not so much that The Joker brought something out of her or drove her crazy. It was that Harley Quinn always had that proverbial stranger inside of her locked away.
If anything, Joker may have given Harley the key to opening that door, but it wasn’t anything that he planted there himself. In fact, everybody 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 of him, according to Harley Quinn.
6 “Red is … the color of my lipstick on his lips … and the blood underneath my fingernails.”
Harley Quinn Black + White + Red #1’s “Harleen: Red” by Stjepan Sejic
The colors red, black, and white have all been synonymous with Harley Quinn’s color choice, especially the color red. If she’s not wearing red at the very least, then it’s hard to consider her to be Harley Quinn. This story emphasizes just how ingrained the color of red is in both Harley and her story, specifically the story she shared with The Joker. When playing a game of color association during her stay at Arkham Asylum, what follows is a tremendous monologue by 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 whole monologue could be included in this entry because it does such an apropos job in trailing her journey from its beginnings to now, all through the same color.
5 “My name is Harley F. Quinn. You burned my buildin’ 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 out 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 didn’t 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 from The Princess Bride.
That’s what makes Harley so likable to so many readers, even when the stakes are high and she’s batting a furious anger, she still makes time to crack a joke. When this quality in Harley’s character is written at its peak, a moment like this is able to alleviate the pressure in the room without minimizing the stakes of the story.
4 “I know about permanent hurt.”
Harley Quinn: Make ’em Laugh #2’s “The Lady or the Tiger” by Gail Simone and Priscilla Petraites
In a moment where she attempts to relate to Huntress’ pain, Harley Quinn recalls Harley Quinn relates to the hurt that Huntress is experiencing in Make Em 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 as Harley’s has gotten hurt and how it’s affected her, but now they understand the root cause of it all.
3 “You think I do what I’m told?!?!? I’m Harley freaking Quinn!!”
Harley Quinn and Batman (2017) #3 by Ty Templeton and Luciano Vecchio
One thing that’s more vital to Harley Quinn’s character than her transition from villain to hero is her transition from sidekick to an independent woman. Regardless if she is on the side of crime or the side of fighting crime, the character at her core is all about that search for something greater than being someone’s lap dog. She was The Joker’s lap dog for too long, and so any insinuation that she is still the very thing that she has worked hard to unlearn is a point of contention for her.
That’s why this poker scene is so triggering for Harley, as she’s been 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 Quinn!”
2 “I’m gonna stop you there. My quota on overly pretentious, condescending monologues has already been met for the forseeable 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 so as frequently or egregiously as someone that is more synonymous with the power, like Deadpool, but she does it effectively enough to notice. Case in power, during the “Future State” story arc, she comes face-to-face with the Scarecrow, moments before he is about partake in the classic supervillain monologue trope. However, before he could 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 prominent 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 her.
1 “I’m gonna 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 held a startling grudge against the former criminal, but the monologue that Harley proceeds to deliver is a perfect personification of her redemption story. This monologue, more than anything else, justifies her switch as a hero.
For anyone who doubts that Harley Quinn makes a believable hero, be it critics or characters, this monologue makes a convincing argument. Her redemption arc is a forever-lasting one. Maybe she will never atone for every sin she committed, but Harley Quinn’s prime motivator is to at least try to make up for her crimes by saving as many people as she killed, as tall as that list may be.
