About “Harley Quinn” in a few words:

Harley Quinn is a popular DC Comics character and supervillain who first appeared in the 1992 animated television series Batman: The Animated Series. She was originally a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who fell in love with the Joker and became his loyal accomplice. Harley is known for her playful and unpredictable nature, as well as her love for causing chaos and mayhem. She is often depicted wearing a jester costume with black and red colors, and has a distinctive New York accent. Harley Quinn has since become a fan favorite character, with multiple versions of her appearing in various media, including comics, films, and television shows.

Meet the versions of Harley Quinn

BATMAN BEYOND

Okay, so this is future-Harley — neon hair, maybe, or at least neon energy, like she got tossed into a cyberpunk blender and came out humming show tunes while wielding a plasma mallet. She’s sharper, meaner in a way, streetwise with gadgets and a weird soft spot for retro vinyl (I think? I definitely read that somewhere). Still chaotic but with a scarred, “been around the block” vibe — like she remembers the Joker but also remembers that chaos ages you. Kind of spooky and mischievous, but also occasionally sentimental about antiques and ruined hope, which makes zero sense but I love it.

BATMAN AND HARLEY QUINN

This one is pure cartoon energy — loud, dramatic, theatrical, and somehow self-aware of her own insanity (she knows she’s performing, which is half the fun). She’s a goofball villain who’ll crack a joke and then, five seconds later, pull out explosives with a grin that says “sorry not sorry.” There’s this weird mix of old-school slapstick and sudden moments of surprisingly earnest emotion, like she really can be sweet if you’re into that. Also she debates with Batman in ways that are equal parts flirting and philosophical argument, which is wild but also kind of brilliant.

ASSAULT ON ARKHAM

Here she’s darker, more compact chaos — like someone condensed all the bad decisions into a human sparkler and set it on fire. She’s flashy but efficient, part of the underworld rhythm in that movie, and not the cuddly therapist-turned-clown you sometimes get; she’s sharp, ruthless, and a little tired, honestly. The sarcasm is intact though, and she still uses that trademark giggle to make people angry before she knocks them out. Little odd details pop up — sometimes she loves kittens, sometimes she’s actively trying to torch a pet store — it’s messy, but that’s the point.

GOTHAM CITY SIRENS

This is Harley who grew up into a messy, tender, chaotic best friend — hanging with Selina and Ivy, learning the art of compromise and also the art of stealing ridiculously valuable things. She’s loyalty in clown makeup: dramatic, impulsive, and fiercely protective, but also the friend who’ll bail you out of jail with glitter and a baseball bat. There’s a vibe of antiheroism, like she’s trying to be better but keeps tripping over her own hamartia (shout-out to her love of disastrous makeovers). She collects tiny things for passengers on trains? No idea why I remember that, but it’s cute and true in at least one universe.

INJUSTICE

Harley here is darker — like someone swapped the sugar for battery acid and things got real. She’s volatile, dangerous, and heartbreakingly loyal in a way that makes her both terrifying and tragic; there’s almost no goofiness left, or it’s very pointed and mean. She can be unexpectedly tactical, using chaos as a weapon with a frightening grin, and when she cries it hits like a bomb. Also she somehow keeps wearing bright colors while the world burns, which says a lot about her denial skills and stubbornness.

NEW 52/REBIRTH

This Harley is reinvented a few times — sometimes punk, sometimes pop, sometimes goth counselor, but always The Girl Who Refuses To Be Simple. She’s got therapy notes, a skateboard, a questionable taste in hats, and a real arc toward independence that is delicious to watch (she’s reclaiming herself, but with glitter). She oscillates between accidental villain and awkwardly sincere antihero, and you can sense the writers arguing in the margins about whether she’s emo or ecstatic. Weird little habit: she’ll read self-help books and then immediately rip out the pages and use them as confetti, which I somehow find very Harley.

BATMAN: ARKHAM TRILOGY

Game-Harley is peak chaotic assassin acrobat — bouncy, lethal, and sarcastic with impeccable timing for the one-liners. She’s equally likely to smash you with a mallet or make you laugh until you drop your guard, and the Arkham tone makes her both scary and kind of tragic, like you can see the blueprint of who she used to be under the clown paint. She’s crafty, obsessed with showmanship, and somehow also obsessed with tea cups in my head (I blame the animated trailers). Also, she betrays and befriends in the same breath, which keeps every encounter feeling dangerously personal.

DC UNIVERSE’S HARLEY QUINN

This is the modern sitcom-esque, profanity-laced, surprisingly wholesome Harley (yes, wholesome) who learns how to be a person while screwing up spectacularly. She’s selfish and self-aware, romantic and emotionally stunted, hilarious and brutally honest — basically chaos with growth potential. The show gives her a found-family arc with Ivy and a ton of ridiculous murder-plots-in-training, and she somehow becomes the most emotionally available person in the room, which is peak Harley irony. Also she adores rom-coms but can’t sit still through one, so she watches five minutes at a time and takes notes on breakup strategies.

BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES

OG Harley — you can hear Mark Hamill laughing somewhere in the background — classic origin, tragic clown, theatrical and heartbreakingly naive. She’s brilliant and broken, a former Dr. Harleen Quinzel who fell in love with a chaos god and turned it into a guffawing, acrobatic persona; the show balances the whimsy and the tragedy perfectly. She’s delightful and sinister at the same time, with impeccable comedic timing and occasional real clarity about who she is underneath the makeup. Also, tiny detail: she has this weird obsession with opera that makes zero practical sense but is exactly her.

SUICIDE SQUAD and BIRDS OF PREY

Movie-Harley, the Margot Robbie era — wild fashion choices, rolling-on-the-floor-level mayhem, and an independence arc that’s messy and cathartic. She’s less clownish and more punk femme fatale who learns to be her own protagonist after finally ditching the Joker (best day ever, honestly). She mixes vulnerability with violent glee: cries one minute, flips a table the next, and somehow looks fabulous through the whole spectrum. Quirky thing: she hoards hair ties and lipstick like they’re rare artifacts, which is both adorable and terrifying.