It’s fairly clear to see that theHarley Quinnanimated show on Max is in a level of superheroes storytelling all its own. It’s of course the story of Harley Quinn’s journey after leaving the Joker’s side and becoming romantically involved with Poison Ivy.
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However, the show’s story is so much more than that. It had created outlandish versions of DC’s major and minor characters. It has no problem stretching these newly imagined characters to truly absurd and ridiculous levels while also telling compelling superhero stories. Here are some of the best characters that are featured on the show.
Bane is known asone of Batman’s most lethal and devastating foes. But in the Harley Quinn series, he’s anything but. In fact, he’s a hopeless romantic in many circumstances. He’s still a gigantic brute, but he often finds himself in the most ridiculous situations the show has to offer.
Probably the biggest catastrophe was during the Valentine’s Day special, where he grew to ridiculous portions and became extremely horny, destroying nearly every building in Gotham City in the process.
9Jim Gordon
One thing the Harley Quinn show does really well is deconstruct its characters, particularly its male characters, turning them into depressing caricatures of their former selves. Of this group, none fell harder than Jim Gordon.
Once the chief of police in Gotham City, he has since been reduced to the security guard for the Legion of Doom, a position he was extremely willing to jump at even though he would essentially be defending criminals. For this bumbling alcoholic, it was a job he found a surprising purpose at.
8Frank The Plant
Harley Quinn has very few original characters, but none are more prominent than Frank the Plant. He’s a sentient Venus flytrap that essentially operates as Poison Ivy’s companion and conscience. He’s also pretty hilarious with some of the show’s best one liners.
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Frank the Plant’s character got elevated during the show’s third season when Bruce Wayne kidnapped him. His plan was to use Frank’s unique chemical makeup to resurrect his dead parents, resulting in a zombie apocalypse. It wasn’t necessarily Frank’s fault, but it just shows there’s more to him than meets the eye.
7Nora Fries
Mr. Freeze had someexcellent appearances in Arkham Asylum, but his wife Nora is usually relegated to nothing more than background motivation. This show flips this concept on its head by giving Nora a fleshed-out and absolutely ridiculous character.
She’s a party girl who wants to make up for lost time when she was frozen in ice because of her husband. Nora was a guest character at best until the fourth season when Poison Ivy hired her as her assistant at the Legion of Doom.
6Lex Luthor
There’s no denying that Lex Luthor is a dominant force in a DC Universe. The Harley Quinn universe is no different. The character is expertly voiced by Giancarlo Esposito, who was almost born to play the character.
He more or less stayed in the background, manipulating people from behind the scenes for the first three seasons. In the fourth season, he hired Ivy to run the Legion of Doom, but Lex couldn’t stay away. He made multiple appearances throughout the season, thus revealing himself as a petulant man-child.
5Doctor Psycho
As a powerful and sarcastic villain who often finds himself in bizarre conundrums, Dr. Psycho might be the funniest character in the entire show. It also doesn’t hurt that Tony Hale voices him to perfection. Of everybody in Harley’s crew, Dr. Psycho is perhaps the most villainous.
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So it’s no surprise that he eventually betrayed Harley in later seasons and had a falling out with the rest of the group. Because of this, he doesn’t show up as much in later seasons. But he still remains one of the most hilarious parts of the show.
Batgirl is an interesting character in the show in that she may be the most normal. She’s also unique in that she actually has an origin story as opposed to a lot of the other characters who are already their full-fledged DC selves.
Batgirl’s origin has been tackled many different times in different mediums. Still, there is something about the way her character develops in this universe of crazed ridiculousness that seems innocent and wholesome. Shemade her costume from scratchand went out to fight crime, which is strange given that her father’s character is that of a hyper-alcoholic.
3King Shark
From a storytelling standpoint, King Shark is one of the most interesting characters in the DC roster. This is because his physical form is typically always the same. He’s a big, anthropomorphic shark.
Other than that, he’s essentially a blank slate for the writers to do with as they wish. For Harley Quinn, this means King Shark is a big and lovable pacifist that would have no problem devouring people if they get on his bad side or if he just gets a little hungry, which happens a lot.
Kite Man is without a doubt the unexpected winner on this list. He’s often been thought of as a joke, but there has been a surprising resurgence in the character. He was featured prominently in a recent comic story, and his depiction in Harley Quinn is another great example of how a minor character can be utilized properly.
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He became Poison Ivy’s love interest for the majority of the earlier seasons. Although he isn’t portrayed as a bad person, he’s not right for Ivy and she leaves him, thus making him very sympathetic.
1Harley Quinn
It’s kind of hard not to give Harley Quinn the top spot in a show literally named after her, especially whenshe’s on so many other Max programs. The show chronicles her journey from a neglected sidekick to a woman busting out on her own while pursuing her affection for one of her best friends.
She even moves away from villainy, eventually becoming a hero alongside Batman and his allies. But the show is so much more than just a compelling character journey. Harley also delivers crazy and insane action alongside punchy one-liners. She’s even had Earth invaded by para-demons, proving she’s a complicated character.
