"He's a vain autosexual, and by having a relationship with her he's feeding his vanity."
This would be my interpretation too. Acts of affection or love towards her are just part of his joke.
Though, it is interesting he has kept her alive. Yes, he has "tried" to kill her, but we're talking about a mass-murderer with genius-level intellect who has humiliated or fought back formidably even metahumans like Superman. If he wanted Harley dead, she would have been worm food for years.
So love? No. Awarding her for her loyalty to the Joker's whims? Maybe. Because he thinks Harley and her undying love is funny to him? Definitely. He keeps Harley alive because she makes him laugh (most of the time). It's funny how normal that sounds when you say it (when remembering who is in question). So many regular couples compliment the other "because he/she makes me laugh" :D
Yes. At that moment, it was his explanation. And it does give a nice edge to their bizarre relationship. There are times the Joker might actually care for Harley. And then his killer clown side steps in. Very much like in Going Sane; the last moments there was a shred of sanity left in his "reborn", yet temporary Joe Kerr persona, he acted according to his feelings for her when he was still sane. And in the next frame, he calls her a tramp and is again willing to kill her.
This is like a bad soap opera explonation, I guess, but: there is a good, normal man trapped and gagged beneath the grinning monster who was born when he first emerged from the chemicals and looked at himself. And for seconds at a time, Harley has managed to bring it out.
Honestly, I do like harley, but I dont think shes anything special. Her charcter is obviously cooky, though sometimes she seems obnoxious in the way shes portrayed. I kinda find her useless. I wish she was written more independant verus simply dependant. Its fine if youre a fan of the relationship but i just dont care for it.
Used, & I'm not just saying that because i WISH the Joker was gay, or because Harley was more fun with Poison Ivy. I'm saying it because I've been reading & rereading comics with the Joker & I'm just not seeing it. Half the time, she's not even around & when she's not, he's not thinking about her.
in azzarello's eyes and in mine as well there is some side of the clown prince of crime that does love and need harley. as sick and twisted as that may seem, i stick by it.
"in azzarello's eyes and in mine as well there is some side of the clown prince of crime that does love and need harley. as sick and twisted as that may seem, i stick by it."
cant really answer that as i havent been following the joker canon in any batman series. kinda new to the character, but i am hoping soon and i am hoping we see more of this bad chick holding an uzi harley. :D
"cant really answer that as i havent been following the joker canon in any batman series. kinda new to the character, but i am hoping soon and i am hoping we see more of this bad chick holding an uzi harley. :D"
Used. Joker just likes using her to further cause pain to a person that despite being a savage trash lowlife despicable abject psycho pos still seems to love him. I guess Harley Quinn though corrupted by Mister J still has optimism that Joker is capable of loving her. It just infurriated me that Harley would apologize to Joker for breaking his arm. That's only a small portion of what Joker would get if he crossed the wrong person. If Joker is so fearless than mouth off to Darksied, and see how long he lasts. Or HP Doomsday, Gog, Mongul, Cyborg Superman, General Zod, Ultraman, Blacksmith, etc.
"In Last Laugh when he thought he was dying he wanted Harley to have his child, and on many other occasions he has randomly killed everyone working for him. So in some way he does love her since he hasn't killed her yet, but because he is insane and incredibly egotistical he sees her as expendable."
He killed her in Emperor Joker. Though he did it because he cared about her and not just for the sake of killing.
However, I'd like to suggest that Harley has a number of problems that make her an easy target for Joker. Firstly is her infatuation with him. Harley may have certain masochistic tendencies that Joker is more than happy to fulfill. It could also be that Harley is willing to tolerate high levels of abuse in the vain hope that Joker will change.
also Firestomnuclearman I wouldn't say Joker is fearless, rather insane/crazy
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Hard to say he's not fearless when he's as abject, and detached from everything as you can get. Bound by no moral code, laws, and is abject as a Devil, and noone can be used as a hostage against him not even harley.
I would further add it's about the same as real abusive dating-marriage relationships where the man continues to beat and abuse the woman yet the woman won't leave however the difference is Joker doesn't love Harley Quinn where woman beaters actually do love the woman.
I can see the Joker perhaps mistakingly believe he might have feelings for her, in that "boy thinks he loves his best gal-friend because they get along & are opposite genders" sorta way. In the end, he usualy ends up dissapointed that she dosen't understand him as well as she should.
Now what if they got married? Like almost all married couples, they'd get more & more irritable with eachother as time went on. Then he probably would kill her.
In the end, she is a cheerleader-henchwoman, his most useful & competant lacky. If she makes him mad, he tries to kill her, if she makes him laugh, he tosses her a milkbone & lets her live another day. But he's a one-man army now.
There's several questions there, I think: it all depends on the writer, really!
In some comics, yes; The Joker loves her only because she reflects who he is, so she's another outlet for him to express his narcissism. In other comics, they're more of a toy/game for each other, like Dini & Co reflected in a B:TaS interview, they love pushing each other's buttons to get the other riled up. And lastly, in some other comics he does not love her in the true sense of love, I.E: romance.
So it depends on the writer: in short, 50/50 he has equally loved her, and equally just used her for kicks.
It really depends on his mood or the day or whatever, but if he does feel anything for another human being other than Bats or maybe Nightwing it's Harley.
In Emperor Joker he does show a tad bit of fondness for her (he even kisses her!). And of course in Batman: Harley Quinn he tries to kill her because he's starting to have feelings for her. I think if Joker really wanted to kill Harley he would have by now, to think she could be so close to him yet he has never been successful in murdering means one of two thins:
1. The Joker isn't as great as everyone thinks if he can't even kill his putz of a girlfriend, or 2. Somewhere deep down in the cockles of his heart the Joker has affection for her and that causes him to fail
Does the Joker love Harley? Perhaps just a little, but he'll never admit it.
Harley is a hostage with Stockholm syndrome. Her being alive is directly relative to how useful she is. He would only kill her if she turned on him, and he would turn on her if it would gain an advantage larger than having her around, which has happened a few times. And Harley happens to continue surviving, so the Joker keeps her around.
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