Recognized as two of the most popular female Batman villains, the fiendish pair of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy is more than just Gotham City Sirens. Their friendship has transpired into something more through both the canon of the comics and an extension of other DC-owned media. Fans were eager to "ship" them — or imagine Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in a relationship — and DC Comics quickly caught on. The duo of evil-doers was never intended to end up as romantic partners at all, but ultimately their shared disdain for the patriarchal rule of society fed into a relationship on the outskirts of the mainstream. Their affinity for one another is complex, which makes the relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy an unlikely but oddly fulfilling one.
Updated May 17, 2023, by Katie Downey:DC fans, this article has been updated with more information regarding Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in the upcoming Harley Quinn Season 4, out later this year.
The nature of the relationship remained fluid after the two first crossed paths; they didn't have a real concrete definition of their relationship status (or a 'label'). Even with the flirtatious moments between them, DC Comics opted for a slow-burn method while whittling away to the core of the villainous women, ultimately expounding more on their personalities when brought together. Now though, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are one of DC's most popular couples, and the company has come to embrace it. This is the history of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy and what makes them such a great power couple.
Who is Harley Quinn?
Harleen Quinzel, otherwise known by her nickname of Harley Quinn, found her origins as a henchwoman to the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series. She was created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini and made her debut beside the Clown Prince of Crime on September 11, 1992. She was first inserted into the series as a love interest for the Joker, whose relationship sprouted from extreme dysfunction and abuse. Quinn, a former psychiatrist, earned her Ph.D. while graduating at the top of her class and has been established as an accomplished gymnast. She was created with the intention of being a one-off before becoming a reoccurring character. In October 1999, Batman: Harley Quinn #1 canonized Quinn into DC Comics.
Quinn, with her name riffing off of the pun of the "Harlequin," has reclaimed the jester look as her own. Despite being a relatively new character in DC history, Harley Quinn has become one of the most popular and recognizable figures in the company's history. She has been depicted as a core member of the Suicide Squad in DC's New 52 relaunch and was later brought to life by Margot Robbie in 2016, and she reprised her role in 2020's Birds of Prey and 2021's The Suicide Squad. HBO Max launched the animated Harley Quinn series following the solo adventures of Quinn, voiced by Kaley Cuoco, in 2019 and prominently featured Pamela "Poison Ivy" Isley in the supporting cast, with Lake Bell voicing the character.
Who is Poison Ivy?
Created by Sheldon Moldoff and Richard Kanigher, Poison Ivy first appeared in Batman #181 in 1966, the same year the Adam West Batman television show premiered. While she never appeared in the series, the character has been adapted into multiple media, including 1997's Batman & Robin, where she was played by Uma Thurman, and a new second version of the character recently appeared in season three of Batwoman, played by Nicole Kang.
Related: Will Poison Ivy Ever Get Her Live-Action Justice in the DCEU?
Isley's inspiration can be partially sourced from Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the titular character being a misanthropic botanist and biochemist who is poisonous to the touch. Her power grants her control over all plant life, immunity to all poisons or toxins, the ability to transfer poison through just a touch, and mind-controlling pheromones. She harvests her powers from the Green, a force found on many planets, which was introduced in Neil Gaiman's short storyPavane.
Isley prides herself on being "an eco-terrorist of global importance" and has been one of Batman's most recurrent villains throughout DC Comics and other DC media. The publisher has realized that, with the state of the environment, the character naturally has become more sympathetic and has been positioned as an antihero in recent years.
The History of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy
The relationship between Quinn and Isley did not happen spontaneously nor upon a "love-at-first-sight" moment of epiphany. They first met on January 18, 1993, during the Batman: The Animated Series episode titled "Harley and Ivy," and their inevitable meeting was the beginning of their history to follow. In the episode, after Quinn and the Joker break up (again), her determination to prove to him that she's just as good as a criminal leads to a museum heist, where she stumbles upon Isley on a mission to steal plants from the same venue. They later reunite in 1997 in Batman: The New Adventures in the episode "Holiday Knights," brainwashing Bruce "Batman" Wayne and turning him into their slave.
In the comics, Quinn was tasked by the Joker to kill Isley in Batman: No Man's Land, released in 1999, though the mission ended up with Quinn receiving the same chemicals shared by Isley in the animated series that heightened her agility and granted her immunity. Even though Isley had offered her protection to Quinn, Quinn found herself running back to the Joker.
Later, Harley and Ivy were joined by Selina "Catwoman" Kyle to form the Gotham City Sirens in 2009, which introduced a more antiheroic arc with each of their moralities. They couldn't be defined as criminals, but they did not subscribe to the stereotypes of heroism, either. It was in this specific comic run that Quinn knew that Isley was in love with her. Isley admitted to loving Quinn but did not divulge if it was platonic or romantic. Essentially, the readers were allowed to interpret the confrontation.
In 2015, it was confirmed that Quinn and Isley were romantic partners on a non-monogamous level. Their relationship was temporarily paused by Isley in Harley Quinn #8 after Quinn asks for them to live together. The duo took big steps in non-canon comics like a wedding in Injustice: Zero Dawn, and the couple's first kiss reached pages in 2016's DC Bombshells. In the 2019 animated series Harley Quinn, Isley is shown facing her evolving sexuality head-on as she struggles with her engagement to Kite Man before admitting her true affection for Quinn.
Harley Quinn Series Fully Explores Their Relationship
Harley Quinn season two ends with Harley and Ivy finally accepting their feelings for one another and pursuing a romantic relationship. Season three delves into that relationship and examines Harley and Ivy fully as a couple. It tackles Harley adjusting to being in a healthy, happy relationship while Ivy actually opens herself up to one. Interestingly by the end of the season, the two end up on opposite sides of the board, with Ivy truly embracing her supervillain status while Harley teams up with the Bat-family to protect Gotham. Despite their differences, the two are still able to maintain a romantic relationship which picks up the Valentine's Day special.
Having the two romantic partners end up pursuing two different paths was an interesting development for both characters, one that mirrored actual romantic relationships that need to balance career and romance. Season three maintained the relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, but things got complicated towards the end of the season. The season unpacks both partners' baggage they are bringing into the relationship and how it has informed who they are and how they are dealing with their new relationship.
Related: Harley Quinn: The Best Episodes of the Series, Ranked
Unlike many romances in fiction, this does not force them apart but actually enforces their love. Poison Ivy understood Harley Quinn and was also there for her during the breakup with the Joker, so she knows how painful the entire thing was for Quinn and what it is like to be with a partner who forces her outside her comfort zone. Harley, meanwhile, realizes she isn't meant for evil but instead wants a life of helping people, which puts her down a different path than Ivy.
With season four right around the corner, we might just see Batgirl and Quinn's relationship become closer as they are forced to work together while Bruce Wayne is in jail. Now that Quinn has become an adopted part of the Bat-family, she needs to play nice with the other family members, which is something she isn't great at doing. What will all of this mean to Poison Ivy, who is bent on destroying everyone in Gotham City and creating a city made up of only plants? Hopefully, we will see season four sometime in 2023, but it wouldn't be unheard of to have it wind up being released in 2024.
The Important Relationship Between Quinn and Ivy
The relationship has been depicted throughout the comics through a number of series. While they may not capture the full extent of a Sapphic relationship, the non-hypersexual and de-fetishized portrayal of an LGBTQ+ couple is a step forward for progressive attitudes in comics. The importance of LGBTQ+ people being shown through a transparent, de-stigmatized manner strips away the stereotypes that have been associated with women loving women. Presenting queer people as they are - people - especially to a community that may not be as eagerly open to accepting the spectrum of sexualities and genders, pushes for the importance of inclusion in the art form.
What's more important about the queerness of Quinn and Isley is that they ditch the coming-out story. There's no asking for either to explain their sexuality or to defend it. While a coming-out may empower some queer narratives, others don't need to seek one out: a demonstration shown in the Harley Quinn series. It sets a tonal example for not only the future of DC Comics handling their LGBTQ+ characters but for other comic publishers and beyond to follow. With the DCEU about to take shape as the DCU under James Gunn, it is assumed Margot Robbie will return as Harley Quinn, and with her might be time for Poison Ivy to join her on the big screen.
