As Harley Quinn continues to become more and more wildly popular, the character is continuing to distance herself from her former boss, the Joker. In her place, the maniacal villain has chosen a new female comrade that is proving to be even more deadly than Harley was.
This new villain, Punchline, is one of the more interesting Batman villains to be created in the last decade. In many ways, Punchline is a replacement for Harley Quinn, while in many other ways she is completely her own character. Here are ten reasons why the Joker's new girl, Punchline, is deadlier than Harley Quinn.
10 Not A Sidekick
Harley Quinn was merely a sidekick for the much more formidable Joker. In terms of super-villainy, she could never quite reach her psychotic partner's supervillain status. Punchline, on the other hand, seems to be much than a simple sidekick.
As one of Joker's underbosses, Punchline is much more of a partner than a sidekick. As such, she is much more in line with Joker's overall evil vision than Harley Quinn could have ever hoped to be. Punchline's capacity for planning and committing more heinous attacks far exceeds Harley's.
9 Serial Killer
While she did have her bad moments, Harley Quinn was never a full out serial killer. She left that to her crazy boyfriend. Her body count didn't even come close to the Mad Clown Prince of Crime's.
Punchline, however, loves killing as many people as possible. She is a psychopathic serial killer that had been a bad guy long before she ever met Joker. This extra bit of experience and passion for killing makes her much deadlier than Harley.
8 Will Never Be A Hero
Nowadays, Harley Quinn is known as one of DC's most popular heroes. She's even joined the Justice League for a short amount of time. For Punchline, that will never be the case.
Harley Quinn started off as a well-intentioned psychiatrist. Because of that, her character had a built-in path to redemption from the get-go. Before Punchline ever appeared on the supercriminal scene she already had quite a bloody reputation.
7 More Like The Joker
In many important ways, Punchline is much more like her new psychotic partner than Harley Quinn ever was. Their similarities are what has led Punchline to have much more of Joker's respect than her predecessor had.
Harley Quinn may have had more of the outgoing laughing personality that Joker displays, but Punchline better reflects the supervillain's inner self. An agent of chaos and lover of causing pain and despair, Joker will do whatever it takes to enact his evil agenda. Punchline isn't just going along for the ride, she's right there with the Joker every single step of the way.
6 Not Just A Fangirl
Harleen Quinzel was merely a fangirl of Joker. Starting from when they first met, she just wanted to follow her obsession with the Joker and really didn't have much stronger motivation than that. That's what eventually led the former medical professional to leave her murderous boyfriend and switch sides.
Punchline is not just a fangirl. She has fully bought into the Joker's schemes and will always be just as murderous and evil as he is. Because of this, during battle Punchline is more focused on defeating and ruthlessly murdering her enemies than Harley Quinn ever was when she used to fight alongside the Mad Clown.
5 Loyal To A Psychopath
Punchline has proven her loyalty to the mad clown on several different occasions since her debut. Undying loyalty to a murdering psychopath was something that Harley Quinn simply couldn't keep up. Eventually, Harley fought Joker and left him to join the many heroes of the DC universe in their fight to protect innocents.
Punchline is completely and utterly loyal to the Joker. That's because she wasn't simply infatuated with the Batman arch-nemesis, Punchline shared values in common with him. That is the foundation for a long-lasting loyal relationship.
4 Knives
Harley Quinn was infamous for using blunt weapons like hammers and bats. While conceivably you could easily kill someone with these weapons, oftentimes she would simply knock out her enemies.
Joker's new girlfriend, Punchline, is much more ruthless in her approach. Instead of a blunt instrument, Punchline uses sharp knives to cut away at her enemies and painfully stab and bleed them to death.
3 Silent
Laughing is the Joker's main mode of being. Harley Quinn was much the same way, although she was much less smart about it, leaving her open to attacks. Punchline is the exact opposite.
Heroes could almost always tell when Harley Quinn was on her way. A bit obsessed with theatrics, the lady clown always loved to announce her arrival. Punchline, on the other hand, is a deadly killer that you will never see coming. She'll only begin to crack a smile when she looks down at your lifeless body as you slowly begin to die off from bloodloss.
2 Sadistic
One of the reasons Quinn left the Joker is because she no longer enjoyed all of the evil things he did. Unfortunately, it seems as though Punchline has no such qualms with her new partner.
One of the apparent joys that Punchline gets in life is inflicting pain onto others. In her free time, the new Joker partner loves to use her knives to carve up and torture innocent civilians and recently defeated foes.
1 The Anti-Harley Quinn
For the above-listed reasons and so many more, Punchline is being described as the new anti-Harley Quinn. The opposite of a somewhat incapable villain is a totally effective and ruthless killer.
That is exactly what Punchline is. She is an effective partner that Joker trusts dearly, unlike Harley Quinn who oftentimes screwed things up. In the short amount of time that Punchline has existed, she has already more than proven herself to be much deadlier than Harley Quinn herself.