'Harley Quinn': Why the Joker makes a better nemesis for Harley Quinn than he ever did for Batman
The Joker has always been Batman's greatest foe, right from his inception. No other villain pushes Batman to the limit, has personally hurt Batman, or disturbs the Dark Knight as much as the Joker has. After all these years of stories involving the pair's bitter rivalry, however, it turns out that the Joker was wasted on Batman. He is far more compelling as a nemesis to Harley Quinn, and the season finale of 'Harley Quinn' illustrates exactly why.
The Joker has always been chillingly homicidal, but the shock value of his crimes tends to be watered down by the sheer number of Joker stories, and how hard the death of the anonymous Gotham citizen ultimately is. The horror of the Joker tends to be at its strongest when he gets personal, and there's one thing that keeps his rivalry with Batman from truly getting there - the Joker doesn't care one whit for who Batman is beneath the cowl. We get explicit confirmation of this in the season finale, when we see Scarecrow (Rahul Kohli) take Batman's (Diedrich Bader) mask off to reveal the face of Bruce Wayne. The Joker (Alan Tudyk) is first shocked, then disappointed, then furious with the Scarecrow for revealing who Batman is. The Joker is outraged that the "mystery" is now gone from his relationship with Batman, and that's telling. The Joker may "love" the Batman in his own, twisted way, but it's a superficial obsession. With Harley, it's personal.
After taking her for granted for most of her criminal career, when Harley leaves him he realizes how much she means to him. It's a matter of pride and power, tangled in with softer feelings in him that he has come to loathe. Though apart, Scarecrow reveals that the Joker doesn't stop talking about Harley and the times they had together - she brought him a certain measure of happiness, and in doing so, got under his skin in a way that Batman never has. The story of Harley Quinn and the Joker isn't, of course, one of love, but of a toxic love of power. The Joker literally remade Harley in his own image and took a perverse delight in constantly displaying his power over her, whether it was through physical violence, verbally putting her down, or using her to further his own ends.
While many argue that Batman is responsible for the Joker's creation, Harley Quinn making a successful superhero career for herself drove the Joker to conquer Gotham, finally defeat Batman, and even imprison the Justice League. She brought out the worst in him by bringing out the best in herself and it's for her that we see the Joker at his most despicable. The glee he has in murdering Poison Ivy, depriving Harley of her support system and the person she cares about more than anyone else in the world is unparalleled. One can see the disturbing pleasure he has in forcing Harley to dress up as his subservient sidekick again. He derives perverse pleasure in trying to make Harley feel loved just before he stabs her in the gut. It's a possessiveness that other Joker storylines have tried to capture before, most notably in the 'Death of the Family' crossover, which saw the Joker try to kill all of Batman's associates, but is played most effectively here.
The Joker is inextricably tied to Harley Quinn's origin. Both are clown-themed villains who revel in chaos, he is a dark mirror of what Harley could become more than he is to Batman. Not to mention that the most insane person in the DC Universe calls out for a nemesis who's a qualified psychologist. The Joker is everything that Harley Quinn is trying not to be, and there are powerful stories to be told there.
Mostly, though, the Joker has been punched hundreds of times by Batman, but it's never quite as satisfying as when Harley Quinn does it - and the satisfaction of a punch well done is what superhero stories are ultimately all about.
All 13 episodes of 'Harley Quinn' are now available for streaming on DC Universe.