Can someone answer me a question I have had about The Joker & Harley Quinn?

[Bronson881]

I have seen many movies, shows, animated shows and comic books on the Joker and Harley and of course I watched Suicide Squad (very good btw.) I have always wondered

Did the Joker make Harley crazy (I read once that he was a hypnotist in his past life) or was her craziness already there and he pulled it out? In the movie she feel for him,


I have always wondered about this.

[Mr. X]

She's originally from the animated series. She was a doctor at Archam who became fascinated with the Joker. So he slowly manipulated her. This is sort of based on real live events in which someone can manipulate another. Yes she was probably a repressed sociopath and all Joker did was bring it out.

[frightiningcow]

Her first appearance was in a comic the writers of the animated series made to introduce her "mad love". That was later turned into a episode of the series under the same name. Harley is already in Jokers gang and trying to lift his spirits after another failed plan. This is where the "rev up your harley" line came from. Harley decides that to prove how great her puddin' is she'll enact one of his plans for him.
Through out the comic/episode they flash back to Harley's early days working in the Asylum and her having great empathy for the patients, and discuss in the way batman treats them. Joker plays on this empathy telling Harley about his abusive childhood and his dad taking him to the circus.
Harley is able to capture Batman and has him tied upside down over a tank of piranha's. So when he's dunked their upside down faces will look like smiles. before she can lower him Batman calls her out for believing the joker and how he's used others. He lists off the Jokers backstories ending on the one about his father and the circus.
Harley is crushed but before she can process Joker bursts in pissed that Harley went off without him. Captured Batman without him, making him look inept. Worse of all using his abandoned plan, only the victim see's the smiles. Everyone needs to see them but he couldn't get the fish to smile. Joker hits Harley making her fall out a window into a trash pile in the alley. She murmurs to herself it was all her fault. Joker debates if he should finish off batman with the fish, but ultimately Batman gets free and takes down the joker.

[frightiningcow]

Generally her origin hasn't deviated from this. It's pretty recent (in terms of comic history) that she goes through a skin bleaching and hair dying process via chemicals like the Joker. It was brought in with the new 52 series, before that it was just makeup and a costume, easily removed for her to have a civilian life in the multitude of stories where she is or trying to reform.

[Bronson881]

OK thanks for the replies guys. Very helpful.