Harley Quinn is one of the most popular characters in the DC universe right now. More of an anti-hero than a straight-up villain, she’s made a fair few enemies during her time as part of the criminal underworld of Gotham City and beyond.
Over time, Harley has amassed an extensive array of enemies and a similar number of allies. Some names on this list would kill Quinn if they had the chance, but others would defend her at all costs. Here are 5 DC villains who respect Harley and 5 that despise her.
DESPISE: PENGUIN
One of Gotham’s criminal crime lords, Penguin likes control and order. He’s wacky and over the top but certainly doesn’t want to have to deal with Harley Quinn. At the end of the day, Penguin is a businessman and wants to be able to predict actions, costs, and losses.
Quinn takes this forward planning away with her unpredictability. Penguin is also probably not that happy about the fact that Harley has aided Batman in the past, even turning to heroism a few times. She’s not to be trusted in Cobblepot’s eyes and she’s better off dead to him. The two are also constantly at odds in Harley Quinn Rebirth.
RESPECT: POISON IVY
Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn have a long relationship, so it’s no surprise that the two significantly respect one another. Perhaps its because they have similar outlooks and past criminal offenses, but they seem to get on really well.
Ivy will always stand alongside Quinn. The two female warriors know what it takes to be a villain in a male world and clearly have learned a thing or two by working together. In fact, Quinn would probably list Ivy amongst her closest allies.
DESPISE: TWO-FACE
Two-Face is perhaps the opposite of Penguin in terms of planning and strategy. He usually relies on the unpredictability of his coin to make the decisions. However, there’s still a level of control there, where everything depends on him and his luck.
Harley Quinn often takes that opportunity away from him. It’s chaos he cannot comprehend and hasn’t dealt well with in the past. While these two have had to work together before, it is clear that Harvey Dent despises Quinn and her chaotic methods. There is also that time Emperor Joker turned Two-Face into Harley’s servant, an experience unlikely to have enamored the former to the latter.
RESPECT: JOKER (In Rare Instances)
The Joker treats Harley terribly, but there are occasionally hints of some backward form of respect in their dynamic. Although this is a relationship that should never happen again, Quinn seems to be one of the few people that the Clown Prince of Crime actually doesn’t mind keeping around. That said, their relationship varies depending on the storyline; in the comics, Joker often shows little to no respect for Harley.
Quinn is one of the only characters capable of subverting Joker’s expectations. Like anything relating to the Joker, this is still a twisted kind of respect, albeit one that has kept Harley from getting shot in the head, unlike many of Joker’s other “friends.” The Suicide Squad movie also paints Joker and Harley as being on somewhat more equal footing, suggesting this version of the Joker does hold Harley in higher esteem than his comic counterpart.
DESPISE: RA’S AL GHUL
Ra’s Al Ghul is a very different type of villain compared to many others on this list. Unlike that of the Joker, Penguin, and Two-Face, Ghul has a much larger organization and a legacy that he must live up to and rule with an iron fist.
Al Ghul us respected by so many that he can’t give his own respect to someone as reckless as Harley Quinn. His own life is built on a code defined by rules and a traditional system. Quinn operates by absolutely no law, which is something Ghul would have to despise. Furthermore, one of the few times these two interacted in the comics involved Quinn headbutting Al Ghul in Injustice 2. It is safe to say that she didn’t leave a great impression.
RESPECT: THE WONDERLAND GANG
Not only do the Wonderland Gang hold a little bit of respect for Harley but they have actually worked with her in the past. However, they’ve betrayed her a few times too, but that’s all part of doing good business in their eyes.
When the group does work with Harleen, however, they make a well-matched pairing. Perhaps it’s because of the crazy theme they all seem to run with, or maybe it’s because they can actually look to her as a natural leader, but it just seems to work.
DESPISE: LEX LUTHOR
Lex Luthor barely respects the Joker. He would, therefore, view Harley as lesser to the Clown Prince of Crime since she served as his number two for so long. What’s more, there’s been so much betrayal here that he couldn’t trust anyone from Joker’s circle.
Luthor clearly despises everything that the Joker and Harley stand for and has made that clear on a number of occasions. He thinks they are small-minded and tend to disregard the bigger picture; his long term goals could be ruined by these crazy villains.
RESPECT: MAD HATTER
Much like the Wonderland Gang, it seems that the Mad Hatter operates on a similar wavelength to Harley Quinn. In fact, she can probably aid in many of his mad schemes, as long as they involve Batman in the end.
Harley might get defensive of young women being stolen to play the part of Alice, however, in her criminal days she’d probably take great joy in the sort of tea parties that the Mad Hatter would be interested in throwing for his “guests.”
DESPISE: BRAINIAC
Brainiac is the ultimate genius in the DC universe and a collector of interesting beings. At most, he might like to collect Harley Quinn to study her and understand exactly what makes her tick. However, respect is something Brainiac cannot offer.
The fact is, Brainiac has no respect for most beings. Quinn isn’t the smartest DC villain and even the smartest aren’t exactly well-liked by Brainiac. Someone like Harley would be more of a fascination than anything else.
RESPECT: TRICKSTER
The Trickster can always respect a good piece of theatre. Sure, he can get jealous when the spotlight isn’t on him, but he’d certainly respect the work that Harley has been doing.
Quinn and Trickster aren’t all that different. They have different enemies and slightly different methods, but their backgrounds are rather similar and their overall goals often run parallel. Harley’s work should definitely interest Trickster.
