Harley

Biodata

Power Progression

Harley’s documented numerical progression concerns NPC affection toward Lynn, not a personal combat level 40.

Background / History

Harley grew up with an abusive, alcoholic father who mistreated both her and her mother. She demonstrated a talent for gymnastics at school, hoping her achievements would win recognition for them, but her father continued rejecting her 52.

She later became an intern psychologist. Her projects and research received little acknowledgment, continuing a pattern of dismissal by her father, gymnastics coach, coworkers, superiors, and eventually Joker. During her airship crisis, she recognizes that even her ambition to become Gotham’s queen grew from a lifelong need to prove herself 52.

Harley holds a doctorate in psychology, but struggled with calculus and quantum mechanics and failed both subjects in college 130.

Appearance

Harley has pale skin, a curvaceous figure, and twin ponytails; later passages describe her pigtails as red and blue 17 63.

• Early costume: Red-and-black jester outfit with deathly white face makeup 3.
• Casual clothing: Cropped white shirt and denim shorts, or a red-and-black jacket over a white camisole with fishnet stockings 17 39.
• Formal clothing: A fitted red gown worn to the jewelry exhibition 43.
• Later outfit: Black-and-white maid uniform with black stockings, worn while carrying her Adamantium Hand Bone 145.

Personality

Harley is impulsive, profane, and enthusiastic about violence. She laughs during firefights, attacks enemies’ vulnerable areas, and is disappointed when the police retreat before she can enjoy a prolonged shootout. An unusually peaceful, sunny Gotham unsettles her because it lacks the gunfire and disorder she expects 44 45 48 145.

Her bravado conceals a strong sensitivity to rejection. Other criminals dismiss her as helpless without Joker, while she insists on establishing a reputation of her own. Her dream of ruling Gotham is tied to proving that she is more than someone else’s sidekick 39 40 48 52.

She responds warmly to support and becomes fiercely protective of her companions. She thanks Lynn with a kiss after the Ventriloquist’s defeat, threatens Riddler when Lynn is trapped above acid, and leads an expedition against the Crime Syndicate after learning that it is targeting the Bat Gang 42 49 105.

Harley is also observant beneath her erratic behavior. She identifies Lynn beneath his Bruce Wayne disguise through his speech and his ability to produce a rocket launcher from nowhere 17.

Abilities & Skills

Gymnastics and Evasion

Gymnastics is listed among Harley’s NPC skills and dates back to her school years 40 52.

• Avoids Lynn’s rocket barrage by timing her escape and getting into his car 17.
• Rolls out of Commissioner Blake’s line of fire as he shoots, then moves into cover 44.
• Remains vulnerable to armed opponents at close range; Catwoman saves her when a gunman aims at her forehead 48.

Close-Quarters Combat

Her NPC panel lists Street Fighting, and she fights with both a baseball bat and an Adamantium Hand Bone 12 40 48.

• Ambushes Lynn with a baseball bat outside the Iceberg Lounge 12.
• Uses the Hand Bone against Joker’s henchmen, targeting their heads and other vital areas 48.
• Attacks and pursues Joker with the same weapon during the Crime Alley battle 77.

Firearms and Heavy Weapons

Harley uses pistols and Lynn’s rocket launcher in combat 21 42 44.

• Provides rocket support against Venom Wolverine, blasting him into the street 21.
• Carries two Glock 17 pistols after taking the Ventriloquist’s supplies 42.
• Exchanges gunfire with police at the jewelry exhibition 44.
• Her rockets cannot overcome Venom Wolverine’s accelerated healing 21.

Psychology and Criminal Skills

Harley’s panel lists Psychology and Kidnapping alongside her combat skills. Her later-established specialties include psychiatry and criminal psychology 40 130.

• Serves as the Bat Gang’s chief psychological consultant 145.
• Pursues bank robberies, recruits accomplices, and gathers stolen money and weapons to finance the gang 40 42.
• Suggests splitting the airship search into two teams to locate Joker and Riddler more quickly 47.

Stealth

Harley, Talia, and Cheshire learn quiet movement techniques from Catwoman 105.

• Uses light footsteps while infiltrating the Crime Syndicate’s underground base 105.
• Advances with Talia and Cheshire in a coordinated triangular formation 105.

Temporary Transformation: The Batman Who Laughs Hulk

Harley temporarily transforms into The Batman Who Laughs Hulk during the airship incident. Joker suggests that his injection of laughing gas virus may be responsible, but the precise cause is not confirmed 50 51.

• The transformed figure possesses enormous strength, resists gunfire, tears through metal, and breaks Poison Ivy’s restraints 51.
• His strength increases with anger, as observed by Batman and Kara 51 52.
• He acts as a separate hostile personality, recognizes Lynn’s Iron Man Armor, and claims that Harley cannot change back 50 51.
• Harley returns to her normal form after the Hulk is driven out. No lasting control over this transformation is documented 52 53.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Baseball bat — Her early signature melee weapon, used against Lynn and his car 12 17.
• Adamantium Hand Bone — Later melee weapon used against Joker’s gang and Joker himself; she continues carrying it at Zeus Securities 48 77 145.
• Glock 17 pistols — Takes two from the Ventriloquist’s supplies and stores them in her back pockets 42.
• RPG rocket launcher — Uses Lynn’s launcher against Venom Wolverine 20 21.
• Waist pouch — Holds the money taken during the Ventriloquist robbery 42.

Relationships

• Lynn — Initially an enemy who steals her wallet, deceives her, and fights her. He later becomes her partner, lover, and fellow Bat Gang boss. She transfers the pet name “Puddin’” to him and chooses his safety over Joker’s during Riddler’s acid trap 9 12 40 49 53 145.
• Joker — Former boyfriend and criminal partner. Harley leaves after concluding that he cares more about Batman than her. Joker later calls her disposable and claims that three other women had already died for him before her; she becomes openly hostile toward him 5 39 49 77.
• Selene / Catwoman — Close friend and teammate. Catwoman saves Harley from a gunman aboard the airship and later teaches her stealth techniques 42 48 105.
• Pamela / Poison Ivy — Friend from Arkham Asylum whom Harley seeks out as a recruit. Pamela tries to restrain the transformed Hulk and calls for Harley to change back; they later study together under Lynn’s direction 45 46 51 130.
• Talia — Their initially poor relationship develops into a close friendship. Harley reports Talia’s disappearance in Central City, prompting Lynn to investigate 118.
• Cheshire — Bat Gang teammate who joins Harley and Talia’s infiltration of the Crime Syndicate base 105.
• Rolisa — Harley’s curiosity about the succubus leads to an encounter with black magic that leaves her overwhelmed with desire. Pamela later warns Harley against mistreating her 63 129.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Leaving Joker and Meeting Lynn

Harley first appears beside Joker after Lynn robs him. Joker’s fixation on Batman convinces her that he does not love her, and she decides to strike out independently 3 4 5.

While working as an East End waitress, she encounters Lynn, who promises her ten thousand dollars but instead leaves without paying and takes her wallet. Her attempt to retaliate alongside Catwoman leads to another fight outside the Iceberg Lounge 9 12 13.

She later attacks Lynn while he is disguised as Bruce Wayne, survives his rocket barrage, and recognizes who he really is. She accompanies him into Wayne Tower, where he introduces her as his new girlfriend 17 18.

Founding the Bat Gang

After other criminals reject Harley’s proposal to rob Gotham Bank, Lynn agrees to work with her. This completes his gang-formation quest and makes her his first recruited NPC 40.

Their defeat of the Ventriloquist secures Zeus Securities as a base, thirty thousand dollars in starting funds, and additional weapons. Harley enthusiastically takes charge of gathering supplies and expanding the gang 41 42.

She helps bring in Catwoman and recruits Poison Ivy, while Lynn recruits Deadshot. The assembled group then prepares to rob Joker and Riddler 43 45 46.

Airship Robbery and Rescue

Aboard the airship, Harley rejects Joker’s possessive claims and fights his men. When Riddler traps Lynn and Joker above concentrated sulfuric acid, she demands Lynn’s release and explicitly disavows any concern for Joker 47 48 49.

After the robbery, her affinity reaches 100, but she weakens and transforms into The Batman Who Laughs Hulk. During the crisis, she experiences a vision of the rejections that shaped her life and fears being dragged into darkness 50 51 52.

Lynn catches her after she returns to normal, interrupting her fall. Back at Zeus Securities, he unlocks her Special CG, and their relationship becomes explicitly intimate 52 53.

Gotham Conflicts and Gang Coordination

Harley fights Joker during the Crime Alley confrontation while Lynn presents himself as Batman. She later relays urgent information that Talia and Cheshire are losing their fight against Deathstroke 77 88.

After Lynn returns from Metropolis, Harley alerts him to Batman’s altered behavior. She subsequently leads Talia and Cheshire into the Crime Syndicate base, where Lynn saves her from an ambush by the Titan Venom–affected Batman. When the underground base begins collapsing, she urges Lynn to escape 97 98 105 106.

Her report that Talia has vanished in Central City initiates Lynn’s investigation of the Blood Blade Gang 118.

Studies and Co-Leadership

Lynn assigns Harley and Pamela calculus and quantum mechanics so that their learning can benefit him through the maximum-affection skill-sharing system. Harley protests that she cannot learn calculus, but Lynn reassures her rather than blaming her slow progress 40 130 133.

By the later Zeus Securities scenes, Lynn formally introduces Harley as both the Bat Gang’s chief psychological consultant and one of its bosses, explaining that the gang can have two leaders 145.

Notable Quotes

“I’m going solo. I’m gonna pull off something huge and show everyone that Harley Quinn isn’t anybody’s sidekick.” 39

“Fuck! I’ve got nothing to do with him! I mean the other one!”
— Clarifying that she wants Lynn, not Joker, released from Riddler’s trap 49

Trivia

• Her first NPC panel records −$124,807 in assets, prompting Lynn to remark on her debt 40.
• Lynn repeatedly responds to her offers of cooperation or affection by asking her to prove Einstein’s theory of relativity 17 40 129.
• At maximum affection, the system allows Lynn to acquire skills Harley learns later, not merely those she already possessed when recruited 40.