Batgirl

Harleen Quinzel was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who was assigned to study the Joker. He manipulated her during their sessions and she became devoted to him. Harleen helped him escape and created the Harley Quinn identity to join his crimes. After an earthquake devastated Gotham she escaped Arkham and found the Joker again. He later attempted to kill her by launching her away in a rocket. Poison Ivy rescued Harleen and treated her with a plant based serum that increased her strength and agility while granting resistance to toxins.

Harley later attempted to establish herself as an independent criminal and organized her own followers. During a conflict involving Killer Croc and her gang she disguised herself in a copy of Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl uniform. Barbara was operating as Oracle and investigated the apparent return of her former identity with Cassandra Cain and Robin and Nightwing. Harley continued the impersonation while evading them. Poison Ivy later appeared in another Batgirl costume during the same conflict. Harley eventually abandoned the disguise and returned to the Harley Quinn identity.

Appearance: Batgirl has fair peach skin and a tall athletic curvy build with broad shoulders a narrow waist full hips and long powerful legs. Her shoulder length red hair forms thick glossy curls that spread around the lower edge of her cowl. Her eyes are dark brown beneath black eyeliner. Her lips are painted glossy black.

She wears a fitted black cowl that covers the upper half of her head and extends into two long pointed ears. The mask surrounds her eyes and continues down the bridge of her nose before curving across her cheeks. Her jaw mouth and chin remain uncovered. The lower edge of the cowl joins a high black neck covering.

Her black bodysuit covers her torso arms and legs with a smooth tight surface that follows her muscular curves. Subtle seams run along the waist hips arms and thighs. A large metallic gold bat emblem stretches across her chest with broad wings and sharply cut lower points.

A gold utility belt circles her waist with a wide central section and several raised rectangular divisions. Long gold gloves cover her hands and forearms. The gloves end in pointed fins around the wrists. Matching gold boots rise to the middle of her calves with fitted shafts pointed upper edges rounded toes and thick heels.

A large black cape attaches behind her shoulders and spreads into wide bat shaped panels. The outer surface is black while the inner lining is metallic gold. Deep triangular cuts divide the lower edge into long pointed sections.

Personality: Harleen Quinzel is intelligent and impulsive with a strong attraction to danger and spectacle. Her psychiatric education gives her insight into human behavior though her emotions often override her judgment. She uses humor and theatrical behavior during violent situations. Her growing independence begins when she stops defining herself through the Joker and starts making choices under her own identity.

The Joker was once the center of Harley’s life. He manipulated her affection and repeatedly abused or abandoned her while treating her devotion as something he could exploit. Poison Ivy became Harley’s closest source of trust and emotional support. Ivy challenged Harley’s dependence on the Joker and their friendship eventually developed into a romantic relationship.

Batman regards Harley as dangerous but recognizes that she is capable of rejecting the Joker and helping others. Harley’s relationship with the wider Bat-Family remains uneasy because they remember her crimes and rarely accept her without suspicion. Her brief use of the Batgirl identity was an impersonation rather than a genuine attempt to join them. Barbara Gordon investigated the false Batgirl while Cassandra Cain and the other Gotham heroes pursued Harley for misusing the name.

Harley Quinn is a trained gymnast and capable hand-to-hand fighter with extensive experience against armed criminals and costumed heroes. Her psychiatric education gives her knowledge of behavioral analysis and manipulation. Poison Ivy once treated her with a serum that increased her strength and agility while granting resistance to poisons and disease. Harley also has a high tolerance for pain and uses unpredictable movement during combat.

Harley commonly carries an oversized wooden mallet or baseball bat. She has also used handguns and explosives and spring-loaded novelty weapons. Her equipment often disguises lethal devices as toys or circus props. During her brief Batgirl impersonation she wore a copy of Barbara Gordon’s original costume.