8 Worst Things Harley Quinn Has Ever Done

6. Almost Killing Batman To Get Joker's Attention

Batman Mad Love Harley Quinn
DC Comics/Bruce Timm

Mad Love is - next to Harley and Ivy - the definitive Harley story. Written by Paul Dini and drawn by Bruce Timm, the comic - which debuted in the pages of the Adventures of Batman before being adapted in The New Batman Adventures - detailed in full the abusive dynamic in Quinn and Joker's relationship. Harley wants nothing more than for the pair to settle down, have a family, and continue their hijinks into retirement, but the Clown Prince couldn't care less.

For him, Quinn is nothing but a means to an end - another resource to be exploited in his destructive obsession with Batman - but it's a fact Harley hasn't alerted to. After the clown spurns her advances after yet another chastening encounter with The Dark Knight, he assaults Harley and leaves her out in the cold alone. In return, Harleen hatches a scheme that (she thinks) will win over her puddin' once and for all, deceiving Batman into thinking that she'll disclose the whereabouts of the Joker and send him back to Arkham.

In actual fact, Harley has concocted a scheme as lethal as it is hilarious, trapping Batman in a harebrained death-trap, exceeding anything the Joker had achieved in BTAS up until that point and managing to even make the Caped Crusader pause, laugh, and appreciate the subtlety of Quinn's plan.

It was the first real indication of how the character could outgrow the Joker, and though the Dark Knight doesn't end up sleeping with the fishes, it's a close call.

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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.