The release of James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is not only one of the best-rated movies of the DCEU but also another opportunity for fans to enjoy Academy Award-nominated actress Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn. Harley Quinn is one of the most beloved characters in DC comics and thanks to Robbie's portrayal, she's also one of the most beloved in the DC movies.

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However, there are certain things about Harley Quinn as a character and as a plot device that have become overused in the films, but do they outnumber what makes Harley great?

10 Overused: her plot armor is especially egregious in the first film

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Watching superhero movies requires a lot of suspension of belief, and this is never more clear than when Harley Quinn is put into more precarious situations throughout 2016's Suicide Squad, 2020's Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)and 2021's The Suicide Squad. 

Harley's plot armor is especially egregious in the first film since her outfit isn't congruent with actual hand-to-hand combat. The fact that Harley (and Flag) even survives the opening scenes of The Suicide Squad is enormous plot armor.

9 Perfectly Used: Harley always perfectly lives up to her silly court jester identity

Birds of Prey Harley Quinn Fun Gun 3

Harley is a gorgeous villain-turned-anti-hero but always remember that she's also a total Looney Tunes character. Each movie has perfectly showcased this part of her personality as she's shown to be goofy and often very childlike.

Some great examples of this are her antics when being chased by Detective Renee Montoya in Birds of Prey and her escape scene from her shackles in The Suicide Squad, of which Margot Robbie did her own stunts. Harley always perfectly lives up to her silly court jester identity.

8 Overused: Her Weakness For Bad Men

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This aspect of Harley's character is overused due to the source material, since Harley was written to be The Joker's girlfriend/sidekick. But, that part of her character's history has been old news for a while, since Harley has entered a non-monogamous relationship with fellow Batman rogue, Poison Ivy.

Birds of Prey and The Suicide Squad have planted seeds for a Harley-Ivy pairing in a future film but there's still some impulse to pair her with evil men, be they the Joker or a dictator.

7 Perfectly Used: Her Twisted Sense Of Humor

Harley Quinn says no to personalized license plates in The Suicide Squad

No matter which film she's featured in, Harley is always there as the explicit comic relief and it's one of her character's best qualities. Harley's role is to bring humor and she does so with ease, especially with each film.

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Even though some of her one-liners in Suicide Squad are clunkers, the vast majority of jokes and laughs Harley brings make each of her movies worth watching, especially with writers like Christina Hodson and James Gunn writing her jokes.

6 Overused: Jokes About Her Mental Illnesses

Harley Quinn jokes that she's schizophrenic in Suicide Squad

This was more of an issue in David Ayers' Suicide Squad, but the number of quips and jokes in regards to Harley's mental health, particularly from the character herself, was just too much.

While it makes sense for Harley to not take mental health seriously in the 2016 movie, having her reference hallucinations and having schizophrenia, which was meant for laughs, came off as embarrassing and un-funny. References to her mental illnesses in the other movies aren't as overt, but the damage has been done.

5 Perfectly Used: Showcasing Her Vulnerability

Harley cries after Doc betrays her

What makes Harley Queen such an endearing character is her capacity to be vulnerable. From the Eisner-winning comic The Batman Adventures: Mad Love by Paul Dini, Bruce Timm, and Glen Murakami to the hug she gave Rick Flag in The Suicide Squad, Harley being vulnerable and sympathetic have been some of the best-written parts of her stories, especially in the films.

Even her evolution towards violence against children throughout the three films shows her vulnerability as her ruthlessness was a side effect of loving The Joker.

Warning: The Entry Below Contains Spoilers!

4 Overused: Her Part In The Final Battles

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While Harley doesn't give the final blow in her films' epic final battles, she is still a major part of the big bad getting destroyed.

While it fully works in Birds of Prey since she's the one that gets Sionis away before the bomb Cass triggers goes off, it comes off as a paint-by-numbers for Harley to play such a big part in the destruction of both Enchantress and Starro in the Suicide Squad movies, especially with the foreshadowing of Javelin's javelin.

3 Perfectly Used: Her Skills In Acrobatics

Harley Quinn does acrobatics in her cell in Suicide Squad

Due to her background as an accomplished gymnast, the fight choreography for Harley always incorporates her incredible acrobatic abilities, an asset for superhero movies.

From her fight scene in the elevator in Suicide Squad to the Funhouse trampoline fight scenes in Birds of Prey to her big solo fight scene in The Suicide Squad, Harley's skills are choreographed in new and unpredictable ways that add to her likeability. Nobody fights like Harley Quinn and it's a treat to see her do her thing in the DCEU.

2 Overused: Treated Like The Main Character

Harley Quinn holds a rocket launcher while flowers grace the background.

Though Birds of Prey is an excellent film, many fans were disappointed by the film's main title referencing Barbara Gordon's Birds of Prey, and yet the film being primarily about Harley's life post-breakup.

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Even though Margot Robbie has said that "Harley loves interacting with people, so don’t ever make her do a standalone film" the Suicide Squad movies treat her as the main character. It's a Catch-22 however, as it would be really difficult to have a successful Suicide Squad movie without her.

1 Perfectly Used: Her Wild Card Status

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In an interview for The Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie talked about her belief that Harley Quinn as a character is "a catalyst of chaos" and further detailing her point that Harley works best when she's in an ensemble of some kind.

Even though Birds of Prey was mostly a Harley vehicle, having her supporting cast was essential for the film since, as Robbie argues, Harley needs others to bounce off of: "She’s not necessarily your narrative center, and sometimes it’s great when plot points can rest on other characters’ shoulders, and she can be the thing that erupts a whole sequence of events."

NEXT: DC: 10 Female Comic Villains That Deserve A Harley Quinn-Style Movie