Harleen Quinzel



Harleen Quinzel is a District 9 Tribute who made her debut in Arena 06. She was crowned as one of the Victors of Mini-Arena 01, but was forced to return to fight as a one-off Tribute in Arena 11 following her arrest.

Life Before "Harley Quinn"
Harleen Quinzel grew up as the eldest sister to a guilt weilding Jewish mother and a shyster of a father who was frequently in and out of their home and jail for various con jobs he would attempt. Harleen lived an average enough life for a girl in the big city. She fought with her slacker brother (Mom's favorite) and did well enough in school that she could graduate and earn admittence into Gotham University with the aide of a gymnastics scholarship.

While studying there Harleen met her first true love, a boy by the name of Guy Kopski. Guy was a somewhat absent minded senior studying psychiatry sciences. He always knew how to make Harley smile and together they were a happy if eccentric duo. It was through him she first took an interest in Gotham's infamous criminal "The Joker."

The clown prince of crime was just beginning his tales in Gotham and as the stories appeared in the paper Guy would read them to Harley, enjoying the chaos that Joker left in his wake even if he didn't consider Joker's schemes all that plausable or functional.

In an effort to work her way into Gotham U's Psychiatric Graduate program, the head of the department proposed that Harleen perform an experiment on Guy to prove her hypothesis about love being a force strong enough to overcome a morally upstanding persons instincts and have them overlook crimes and even forgive for them. She had already attempted to seduce him but he was more drawn to her studies. So with great reluctance she set in motion the experiment. With her failing grades she saw no other alternative to getting what she wanted.

She presented Guy with a story, acting to the best of her abilities. She claimed that she had met with the head of the department to try and appeal to him once more.

"You know my grades-- I'll never get into Grad School. So I met Markus in the Gym...to Blackmail him. Told him I'd say he tried to Rape me. I thought I had everything under control...but he just laughed. Pulled out a little tape recorder in one hand and a big gun in the other. He said the cops should sort this out. I...I saw my whole future collapsin'...Don't really know what happened next. 'cept I tried to get the Tape and then the gun went off..."

Guy bought into the story completely and before Harley could continue her experiment he took the gun and bolted from the room. He was determined to make things right for the woman he loved. Unfortunately in his haste to find the body of Dr. Markus, he returned to the gym and saw someone in the shadows. Thinking it was Markus he paniced and shot, killing an innocent homeless man. This destroyed guy and he could no longer live with himself and what he'd done. When Harley found him he confessed and begged for her to help him. He brought the gun to his own head with her hands on it. To this day it is unclear if he killed himself or if Harley aided in the suicide.

This ordeal set in place the cracks in Harleen's mental foundations. She realized that all her life she'd done everything she could do to remain in control. But life couldn't be controlled, life was chaos and the closest you could come to control was setting off more chaos. She believed that Guy had always known that...and that the Joker also knew it. With fresh determination to meet the Joker in her heart she blackmailed Dr. Markus and made it into the Graduate Program.

Doctor Harleen Quinzel becomes Harley Quinn!
From then on, with her eyes on the prize she studied, worked as hard as she could and achieved a rare and vaunted internship at Arkham Asylum. Eventually through her time there she was allowed a meeting with the Joker. At last face to face with the king of chaos! She began to study him, and it was all too easy for the Joker to twist things around on her. Before she knew it he was learning more about her then she was learning about him. He drew her in, got her addicted to him.

He escaped once again, leaving her to continue her work until eventually Batman defeated his latest scheme, beat him senseless (More senseless?) And brought him back to the Asylum. Unable to stand seeing her sweetheart in such a mess Harleen prepared her own costume as tribute to the man who had changed her life. In that outfit she helped him escape and offically became his right hand girl.

The Romance between Joker and "Harley Quinn" as she became known was infamous for it's ups and downs. With Harley at his side Joker's organization became...more organized. Money became easier to find and handle. Henchmen came more willingly despite the high fatality rate that was associated with Joker's plans. For someone who had never been a professional henchwoman, Harley was great at it!

But on the flip side she could often be the weak link in his schemes. Barely able to hold her own at times against Batman and his team, other times she would absentmindedly make mistakes, or sometimes intentionally for the sake of comedy. And her obsessive love for the Joker often got in the way of her more rational thinking.

Fed up with Harley's bumbling and ignoring the many ways she had aided him, Joker decided to be through with her and strapped her to a rocket, blasting her away and going about his business presuming she was gone forever. Little did he know her broken and battered body would be found crash landed in a swamp near the hide out of of one Pamela Isley, otherwise known as the Villain "Poison Ivy."

Ivy took a shine to Harley, pitying her enough to innoculate the girl with a chemical cocktail of her own creation. It gave Harley's immune system a powerful boost allowing her to tolerate some of the most powerful of poisons and chemicals including Joker Toxin. This also made Harley stronger and faster, to the level of many olympic athletes. With her new abilities allowing her to keep up Harley and Ivy formed a friendship that would become as strong, if not stronger then her love for the Joker.

Harley the Amazon, and The Gotham City Sirens.
Years passed, Harley's criminal career would have it's ups and downs. Sometimes she would be allowed to serve at the Joker's side...sometimes she would grow fed up with his abuse and turn the tables if only for a moment. But she always forgave him. In turn she would also spend time with Ivy who hated the Joker. Ivy would do all she could to encourage Harley to leave her abusive lover, but Harley's obsession would not be shaken.

She was not always a villain, and at times experienced a short lived period of reformation. It was during one of those periods that Harley checked herself into an Athenian Woman's center and met Holly Robinson. The two of them would embark on an adventure together taking them to the isle of Themyscira where they aided Hippolyta in exposing a secret plot by the forces of Apokolips. This led them to the planet of Apokolips itself where Harley went toe to toe with some of the powerful fighters known as "Female Furies." To do so she was granted temporary power by the muse of comedy herself. Once they had come through victorious, Harley and Holly returned to Earth and lived together for a time. But Harley could not resist Joker for long and returned to him for more of the same.

A few more years and Harley once more attempted to strike out on her own away from the Joker. She spent some time as a second in command for other villains but found that unsatisfying. Then she formed her own gang but found that too had complications she simply wasn't willing to tolerate. So finding comfort in Ivy they spent their days happily taking what they wanted and flying below the radar of Gotham's crime fighters.

Eventually Ivy and Harley would join forces with Catwoman, and decide that for their mutual health and protection they should form a trio. They moved in together and spent over a year supporting one another through various problems and situations including being framed for murder, attempted assasinations, alien invasion, and even being stalked, harassed and almost killed by an obsessive midget.

But such a highly volatile team was sure to have trouble staying together, and it was in an act of kindness that Harley began the string of chaotic events that would lead to their seperation.

Catwoman was feeling particularly glum about the status of her relationship with Batman who had recently returned from the dead. Harley sat with her and encouraged her to talk about it, but as Catwoman related her troubles Harley began to draw similarities between her relationship with the Joker, and the one with Catwoman. This sparked a fire of anger in Harley and she set off with a goal in mind. To Kill the Joker once and for all. The girls attempted to stop her before she got far but Harley knocked them out and set off for the Asylum.

Using knowledge she had gained from her brief employment and frequent incarceration at the Asylum, Harley was able to break in easily, killing a few people in the process both directly and indirectly while only emotionally scarring others. When she confronted the Joker however she was unable to kill him and instead took to his side once more. They overthrew the security of the fascility and chaos spread as the Asylum was overrun.

When Ivy came to rescue Harley, in a fit of madness Harley attacked at Ivy's weakness by analyzing her out loud and asking "Do you love me?"

This question threw Ivy off long enough that Harley and Joker could beat her back and knock her out cold leaving her half buried in the Asylum. Ivy was locked up and in time, Catwoman and Batman caught up to Harley and Joker capturing them as well.

Ivy vowed revenge and broke into Harley's cell with intentions on killing her, but still her love for Harley persisted even after such a heart breaking betrayal. She took pity on Harley who's obsession with the Joker had left her nearly incapacitated. Joining forces for "One last time" the duo broke out of the Asylum to find Catwoman and attempt to kill her in revenge.

Their battle was short and fast and bitter sweet as they came together one last time to avoid being arrested. Ivy and Harley still furious with Catwoman, while Catwoman tried to make amends by helping them escape Batman and the police.

The girls went their seperate ways at that point, under the belief that they were never meant to be a trio after all. Harley claimed she was ready to stand on her own but after only a block of walking away she turned on her heel instantly regretting the choice and scrambling to catch up to Ivy.

Unfortunately the next thing she remembers is waking up in The Capitol.

Arena 06
Harley's first appearance in the Never-ending Quell was in the sixth arena where she arrived clad in a bright yellow gown with elaborate skirt and puffy sleeves. At the Cornucopia Harley focused most of her energy on being an irritation to everyone else there by lashing out with kicks and flips and swinging her skirt around whenever she could. In the process of this she made contact with Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne, and Barbara Gordon as well as getting into a short scuffle with Punchy. Her over confidence however got her too close to R who bit into her side. Only by her strength and the sudden intervention of Barbara Gordon did Harley not die of blood loss or Zombie infection.

They retreated into Tomorrowland where unknowingly Harley's metahuman abilities became active again and prevented her from dying. While in Tomorrow Land Harley went to explore Space Mountain with Barbara and foolishly climbed into one of the carts. It rocketed around the inside of the building till it almost launched off some broken tracks. The girls managed to jump out in time but the crash disturbed a nest of Tracker Jackers. Only Harley's metahuman immune system saved her from being killed by the amount of stings as they escaped.

Over the next couple weeks Harley frightened and harassed Rapunzel, and made friends with Gavroche as well as attending a Tea Party in Fantasy Land. She came away empty handed but without injury.

In week three she and Barbara were confronted by Albert Wesker who was at full power thanks to being in Tomorrow Land. He attacked Barbara first and Harley came to her aid by kicking Wesker very hard in the crotch. To this day it is one of the most beloved memories of her career. The battle after that was short lived. Just when it seemed Wesker would kill Barbara Harley threw herself at him and he snapped her neck. This gave Barbara enough of a head start that she could scramble away.

Arena 07
Harley was delighted upon arriving in the Candy themed arena. Upon arriving her mind was filled with fantasies of stabbing people through the chest with sharpened candy canes, and devouring life sized marshmallow bunnies. She was clad in a nightmarish mascot costume shaped like a pink pony with bulging eyes and as far as she was concerned that only added to the pleasure.

But unfortunately Harley only made it about fifty feet from the starting point before falling flat on her face. Little did she know roughly half the tributes had been secretly poisoned. As she died painfully she hallucinated, Cinderella came to her side and held her close. Harley at first believed her to be Selina Kyle, a friend of hers from home. But in the end Harley realized what was happening and died after one last joke.

"Knock Knock. Who's there? Icee. Icee who? Icee a bright light. Funny, I thought I'd be going to the other place."

And there she died. Cindy mourned for but a moment and then had to move on or risk being attacked.



Upon waking up from death in the Desert Arena Harley expressed her extreme frustration by shouting at the camera and the Gamemaster for a few minutes ending by describing some rather vulgar acts his mother might be inclined to commit with sea creatures. She set out trying to blend in using her ridiculous pony costume, but instead found Donatello and set off with him to explore the new arena and seek out supplies for survival. This was their first time really interacting and they seemed to get along very well despite the sharp contrast in their personalities.

This arena held a particular importance for Harley as recently she had been marked as a traitor to the Capitol due to having made no secret that she would like to continue her chaotic and destructive lifestyle in the Capitol. She was given a cuff to inform the citizens of the Capitol of her ill intent and due to that sponsorships became incredibly difficult to obtain for her. Worse still was she had gotten a taste of popularity before the cuff marked her and the sharp change in attitude among her fans had upset her deeply. She knew the only way to win them back was a good showing in the arena.

Three hours of hiking proved useless as the only items they came across were sponsorship gifts for Donatello. As he showed nobility in sharing his water with her they came across a television buried in the ground and locked behind a grate. When they huddled around it they were treated to a image on the screen of the previous arena they had died in...as well as their dead bodies rotting on the ground.

This caused a mental break in Donatello. He had an identity crisis that Harley was all too happy to feed into turning him from the honorable noble ninja turtle that the world had grown to love, to a ruthless killer who had given up hope, honor and everything that made him who he was. Harley stuck with him eager to see where this would lead and sure enough it led to the Cornucopia.

Before they left Harley had located R the Zombie and decided to lay a trap for future tributes by luring the shambling corpse back to the Cornucopia. Here they left him and set out to hunt the tributes.

As the arena went on Harley managed to kill at least one other tribute while making friends with Dr. Holiday and Ruby. She even was reunited for a short time with her friend Edward Nigma who in her world was a brilliant criminal. Eddie had begun setting up traps in the desert and Harley was all too happy to agree to aid him however she could. This would prove to be helpful in the long run.

By week three, Donatello had decided the time had come to betray Harley. She had been expecting this and wasn't about to make it easy on him. In fact to this day it is a fan favorite series of events starting with her pinning a "Kill me" sign to his back, starting a buffalo stampede where they proceeded to fight ontop of the charging beasts, and then finally he sliced her in half before she dragged him into a pit full of scorpions.

Arena 8
The Jungle arena was a particularly entertaining show for Harley as the Capitol introduced a device into the arena. Buried in the arena was a compound where tributes could find food and shelter for the first week. There was also a red button on a a pedestal. Naturally Harley could not resist the urge to push the red button, but curiously there was no effect till the end of the week. Once she figured that out every week Harley would push the button, sometimes multiple times and the effects it had on the arena were far reaching even if the tributes didn't know it.

The first week, Mangoes were parachuted down from the sky to the tributes. The second week horrific and graphic holograms of the tributes dying in awful ways were appearing all around the arena. The third week, twin bull Tyrannosaurus Muttations were released into the arena. The fourth week she was rewarded with a special watch that allowed her to see from the POV of the cameras around the arena. The fifth week, she was hosed down with pheromones which caused a pack of raptors to chase after her. It was in that final week she died, having led the Raptors on a cheerful and desperate chase around the arena. Several tributes died along the way as she would run past them and use them to slow down the raptors.

Abilities

 * Ivy's love: Due to the affection and pity of Poison Ivy and a chemical cocktail she prepared for Harley, Ms. Quinzel has a Hyper immune system that renders her impervious to most poisons and disease. This includes zombie bite, and has shown to give her a high tolerance for Tracker Jacker stings.
 * Ivy's pity: The chemicals also gave Harley a greater amount of strength, speed and agility putting her on par with most Olympic level gymnasts. She has a daily training regime she adheres to however to ensure she doesn't get too soft.
 * Gotham University Graduate: Harleen studied Psychiatry and grauated with honors. She has always claimed it came naturally to her because of her ability to read people.
 * Super Sanity(?): due to the fractured state of her mind Harley can at times throw herself headfirst into dangerous and deadly situations without fear of repercussions. This can both be a boon and a burden as such fearlessness also tends to come with a poor sense of self preservation.
 * Combat skills: Harley has been self taught in a number of weapons, her favorite being mallets. She has been shown to be a decent shot with a gun or thrown weapons. Due to her amazon training she also has training with various weapons including spears, shields, short swords, nets, and bow and arrow.
 * Weapon creation: Having worked for the Joker, Harley is fully capable of putting together bombs, acids, and even Joker Toxin if afforded the proper tools and ingredients. She's just not as good at it as he is.

Miscellaneous

 * Harley's performance in Arena 08 once sparked off a trend of people wearing red buttons to match the same mysterious Red Button that Harley continued to press week after week to see what effects it would cause.
 * Harley has a drink named after her. "The Harlequin" is Three shots of Espresso, four sugars, with whipped cream, cinnamon and caramel on top.
 * The alcoholic version of "The Harlequin" is a mysterious concoction that comes out red with black diamon ice cubes. It's sweet enough to hurt the teeth of weaker drunks and has been said to make you as flexible as she is physically, mentally and emotionally.
 * Harley has acted as willing spokesperson for a toy company, a candy company and most recently a garden supply company due to her infamous reputation and impulse shopping.