10 Times Comic Book Villains Became Heroes (In A Big Way)

5. Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn Injustice Gods Among Us Comic
DC Comics

The trajectory of Harley Quinn as a character is really something that's interesting. At first created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini as a sidekick for Joker in Batman: The Animated Series, Harley grew over the years to break free of the Clown Prince's control, and has now cemented herself as a key antihero in the DC universe.

It hasn't always been smooth sailing though. The character experienced a few wacky years during the New 52, suffering some tremendously poor redesigns and creative choices in the wake of Batman: Arkham Asylum, until thankfully Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner took the reins on the character in 2013.

Harley's only gone from strength to strength from there, whether that be through her misadventures with the Suicide Squad or with Batman's resistance in writer Tom Taylor's superb Injustice: Gods Among Us comic from the same year.

Quinn's time with the Joker will always be memorable, but ultimately, it's the connections she's forged away from the Clown Prince that have cemented the character as a true DC great.

Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.