Welcome to the Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn
The multiverse would be a much less lively place without the hijinks and shenanigans of the former Dr. Harleen Quinzel, the one and only Clown Princess of Crime.
Sometimes love can make people do crazy things. Other times? It drives them completely insane. Such is the case with Harley Quinn, formerly Dr. Harleen Quinzel. A promising psychologist and intern at Arkham Asylum in Gotham City, Harleen was given the chance to get up close and personal with the Joker, an experience that wound up ending…badly. Harleen became obsessed with her subject, and after falling madly in love with the Clown Prince of Crime, she helped him escape the asylum.
Her love for the Joker inspired Harleen to adopt a new identity, that of Harley Quinn, the Joker’s sidekick-slash-love interest—whether he wanted one or not. (Most of the time? He did not.)
In time, Harley came to realize the Joker was holding her back and she struck out on her own. She became an entrepreneur and a member of several slightly less-than-reputable super teams (including the Suicide Squad), Gotham City’s all-girl gang the Gotham City Sirens, and a traveling sideshow. Along the way Harley has become one of the most popular super-villains in the DC Universe, thanks in part to her versatility, charisma and cheery-but-deranged outlook on life.
After all, as Harley would say, if you’re going to go a little crazy, you may as well sit back and enjoy the ride!
The Joker
A homicidal artist and an agent of chaos, the Clown Prince of Crime is the embodiment of everything Batman fights against…and everything he fears.
No name strikes terror into the hearts of Gotham’s citizens quite like the Joker. In a city overrun with larger-than-life criminals, the always-laughing villain stands alone. A complete psychopath with no moral compass whatsoever, the Joker, whose real name and identity remain completely unknown, is characterized by his chalk-white skin, green hair and a permanent rictus grin stretched across his face. But there isn’t a single thing funny about this particular clown, who only finds humor in the suffering of others.
The Joker first appeared in Gotham City around the same time that the Batman arrived on the scene, and since their very first confrontation, the Clown Prince of Crime has been the Dark Knight’s most formidable nemesis. While Batman represents justice and order, the Joker is his complete opposite, seeing himself as an agent of chaos, the living embodiment of the cruel randomness of fate. The Joker’s psychosis causes his personality to shift between goofy prankster and mass murderer on a dime, making it impossible to predict his next move. It’s this unpredictability that really makes him such a dangerous opponent.
Certainly, no villain has managed to inflict as much pain and suffering on Batman as the Joker, who has on more than one occasion brought death to Bruce Wayne’s extended family. As long as there is a Batman bringing justice to Gotham City, there will be a Joker to bring nightmares.
Poison Ivy
What happens when you mix betrayal with an undying passion to save the Earth? You get the Batman’s Floral Femme Fatale.
Evil has never been so seductive as it is in the form of Poison Ivy, who uses her own natural pheromones to control whomever she wants. Her additional ability to control the floral life around her gives her an instant army against anyone who tries to stop her, as vines and plants attack whoever is foolish enough to get in her way.
The beautiful villainess is not a criminal in the traditional sense, but an ecoterrorist determined to push mankind out of the way, so plants can rule the planet she believes has long abused them. But Ivy has also proven herself compassionate time and time again, especially toward other women who have been victimized.
No two-dimensional villain, Ivy remains one of the most conflicted and complex members of Batman’s formidable rogues gallery.
Batman
In the name of his murdered parents, Bruce Wayne wages eternal war on the criminals of Gotham City. He is vengeance. He is the night. He is Batman.
One of the most iconic fictional characters in the world, Batman has dedicated his life to an endless crusade, a war on all criminals in the name of his murdered parents, who were taken from him when he was just a child. Since that tragic night, he has trained his body and mind to near physical perfection to be a self-made Super Hero. He‘s developed an arsenal of technology that would put most armies to shame. And he’s assembled teams of his fellow DC Super Heroes, like the Justice League, the Outsiders and Batman, Incorporated.
A playboy billionaire by day, Bruce Wayne’s double life affords him the comfort of a life without financial worry, a loyal butler-turned-guardian and the perfect base of operations in the ancient network of caves beneath his family’s sprawling estate. By night, however, he sheds all pretense, dons his iconic scalloped cape and pointed cowl and takes to the shadowy streets, skies and rooftops of Gotham City.
Batgirl
Barbara Gordon redefined what it meant to be a self-made hero when she crafted her own costume and joined Batman’s crusade right under her father’s nose.
The mean streets of Gotham City have a number of guardian angels watching over them. And one of the first—the young woman who turned the Dynamic Duo into the Batman family—was Batgirl. Barbara Gordon has always existed between two worlds: her life at home as the only daughter of Police Commissioner James Gordon and her life swinging from gargoyles as an associate of the Dark Knight and a founding member of the Birds of Prey.
Though the two halves of her life don’t always mesh, she stays true to the things she believes in. A genius-level hacker and information broker, and an expert martial artist, Babs has, like her namesake, proven to be a fierce survivor, and one of Gotham’s most cherished protectors.
Robin
Every kid wants to be Batman, but do you have a lifetime of training? A billion-dollar fortune? The dream gets dashed pretty quickly. So OK, maybe you can’t be Batman… but that doesn’t mean you can’t be adopted by him.
And just like that, Robin the Boy Wonder made the kid sidekick an icon.
Acrobat Dick Grayson was the youngest member of his parents’ death-defying circus act. But after their cold-blooded murder, Dick vowed revenge. Seeing a genuine piece of himself in the boy, Batman took him in—and gave him a better outlet for his anger. Becoming Batman’s protégé, Robin is an expert fighter and astounding acrobat—with the toughest example in the world to live up to. But the Boy Wonder’s true strength may lie in not being Batman—and providing a beacon of hope and family throughout the Dark Knight’s grim crusade.
But as Dick matures into his own entity—eventually becoming the masked crime fighter Nightwing—Robin proves more than just an identity, but a mantle passed to the most worthy. From the troubled Jason Todd to the overachieving Tim Drake, the mask is now worn by Bruce Wayne’s own son Damian—a rebellious troublemaker who’s been trained by assassins since birth. With a lethal skill set and a marginal sense of mercy, Robin no longer needs Batman to protect him from criminals.