Harley Facts

Are you a fan of Harley Quinn? Well, we got One Dozen Harley Facts for ya!

1. Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for "Batman: The Animated Series" back in 1992 in an episode called "Joker's Favor". Dini's inspiration behind Harley Quinn was an uneasy relationship his female friend experienced.

2. Dini's friend Arleen Sorkin was starring on a show called "Days of Our Lives" and had a sequence in which she wore a jester costume. Sorkin's character and jester costume also inspired Harley's design. Sorkin would go on to voice Harley Quinn through three seasons of the show until Tara Strong voiced Harley in season four.

3. The original design for Harley Quinn sported a red and black diamond dress. Dini and Timm agreed to go over the design again and use a simpler, more slimming design. Original design here: http://ifanboy.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Batman-Animated-1998.jpg

4. Harley Quinn's civilian name is Harleen Quinzel, a name The Joker mentioned sounded like "Harlequin". The Harlequin was originally a comedic, witty, trickster character portrayed in Italian plays in the 1500's. During the 17th Century in England, the role of the Harlequin was an act partnered with a Clown. While the Clown was a more brutal and harsh role, the Harlequin was more sophisticated and romantic. One could guess this pair's behavior was the influence behind Harley Quinn and The Joker.

5. Dini admitted that Harley Quinn was supposed to be a "walk-on" character, a simple sidekick for The Joker. However, both Dini and the audiences loved Harley's character so much she took on a more prominent role in the show. This popularity would reemerge when she appeared in the 2009 game "Batman: Arkham Asylum". In that appearance Sorkin returned for the voice role while Tara Strong took over in the game's sequels. In 2011, Harley was added to The New 52 incarnation of The Suicide Squad. This addition brought the Squad to a new level of popularity, further pushed by their film in 2016 where Harley was played by Margot Robbie.

6. In 2002, there was a short-lived television series based on The Birds of Prey-Oracle, Huntress, and Black Canary. In this show, both Batman and The Joker were rumored to be dead and Harley Quinn had taken The Joker's place as a crime lord. During the day Harley was a psychiatrist, but at night she used her mind control powers-granted through experimental metahuman chemicals-to slowly take over Gotham City. Harley was played by Sherilyn Fenn in the unreleased pilot episode and then by Mia Sara in the actual series.

7. Mark Protosevich was asked by Warner Bros. to write a sequel to "Batman & Robin" in the late 90's. In this sequel, Scarecrow, Man-Bat, and Harley Quinn would have made appearances. Harley would've been rewritten to be the daughter of The Joker seeking revenge over his death in "Batman" circa 1989. A popular rumor was that the studio wanted music artist Madonna to play Harley Quinn.

8. Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy kicked-off a successful friendship during the animated series. It was a case of a more mature, more man-savvy woman (Ivy) helping a fragile and unlucky-in-love friend (Harley). In 2013, writers/married couple Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti began writing a Harley Quinn solo series where Ivy became a series regular. It was confirmed there that Harley and Ivy are not only friends, but lovers. Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman were also paired up in the series "Gotham City Sirens".

9. For the 2013 series, DC Comics held a contest for fans to submit their drawings of one of four images of Harley Quinn stating the drawings would featured in the book's "First Issue: Director's Cut". The fourth image fans were asked to draw was a scene of Harley Quinn naked in a bathtub preparing to drop a toaster in the water. There was a large controversy about this scene because it not only sexualized a suicide attempt, but the contest was announced around the same time as National Suicide Prevention Week.

10. Alongside her solo book, Harley got her several spin-off series as well. "Harley Quinn & Power Girl" was a self-explanatory series following the two character's friendship, one established by Connor and Palmiotti because the two wrote a Power Girl series back in the mid-2000's. "Harley's Little Black Book" was a series of team-up stories where Harley teamed up with characters like Wonder Woman, The Green Lantern, Lobo, and even alternate versions of herself from "Batman: The Animated Series" and "DC Bombshells". "Harley Quinn & Her Gang of Harley's" followed Harley Quinn and a bunch of her groupies fighting crime. Her solo series also got plenty of special one-shots like a Scratch & Sniff special, a ComicCon special, and holiday specials for Valentine's Day and Christmas. Despite the latter story, some versions of Harley Quinn claim to be Jewish.

11. In the world of "Injustice", Harley reveals that she has a four-year-old daughter named Lucy who's father was The Joker. In the post-story Easter Egg of "Batman: Arkham City" is it hinted that version of Harley Quinn had either gotten pregnant by The Joker or had a miscarriage. 

12. In 1976, a character calling herself The Joker's Daughter appear in "Batman Family #6" and was a foe for Robin to face. She claimed to be the child of either The Joker, Catowoman, The Penguin, Scarecrow, or The Riddler until finally revealing herself to be Two-Face's daughter. Despite her heritage she continued to go by "The Joker's Daughter" and joined The Teen Titans. The character would be reworked both in the 2000's and in 2014, to little success. For whatever reason the character was also added to The Suicide Squad where she and Harley Quinn came to blows over "who's the real Joker girl".

Thanks for reading.