8 Worst Things Harley Quinn Has Ever Done

Or how to kill friends and eviscerate people.

Batman Mad Love Cover
DC Comics/Bruce Timm

Harley Quinn might be more of an anti-hero these days, but as with most former villains, she has something of a tortured past.

Introduced in Batman: The Animated Series by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm, Doctor Harleen Quinzel started out life as a former psychiatrist who became infatuated with the Joker. Eventually, she broke him out of Arkham Asylum and became his right hand henchwoman, Harley Quinn. The character was based on Dini's friend Arleen Sorkin, who was then cast in the role - setting the character on a path in which she'd take the world of animation, comics, video games and film by storm as the years went on.

Harley's meteoric rise to widespread renown has been well chronicled in recent years, and while it certainly looks as though her villainous days are now behind her, you don't have to search far and wide to see the worst offences she's committed - whether they be on the page, or off it.

It’s a past that DC have made great lengths to divest from in recent years, especially in regards to her fraught relationship with the Clown Prince of Crime. But while Harley today is adored by all, some crimes just shouldn’t be forgotten...

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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.