The first season of the new animated TV show Harley Quinn appeared seemingly almost out of nowhere and took the world by surprise. It offered a funny and action-filled story focused primarily on Harley Quinn and other DC villains, which makes the show different from previous animated TV series.

The first season featured a lot of memorable characters on both sides of the law, but the two most prominent heroes were Harley and Poison Ivy who soon became best friends. Here are 5 reasons why Poison Ivy was the best part of the show and 5 reasons why this honor goes to Harley Quinn herself.

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10 Harley Quinn: Complicated Background

Harley may still be fairly young but she had already been through a lot in her life. The audience got a glimpse into her past life multiple times during the first season of the show, and some of these moments have been the best in a series already filled with great scenes. Harley's past helps the audience to understand how she became the person she is today, and it also shows that there's more to Harley than seemingly meets the eye.

From her dysfunctional family to her studies and her work at Arkham, showing Harley's background transforms her into a complex and intriguing character.

9 Poison Ivy: Relationship With Harley

Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn about to kiss

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are best friends, and they have been so for quite some time. Even when they occasionally have their differences and end up fighting one another, at the end of the day, they're still there for each other. In the show, Ivy is the one who encourages Harley to finally forget Joker and move on when it becomes clear that Joker is only using Harley.

The first season also hints multiple times at the fact that Ivy might like Harley more than just a friend, and that makes it fascinating to watch how her attitude towards Harley changes throughout the episodes.

8 Harley Quinn: Relationship With The Joker

The Joker from Harley Quinn smiling in an office

In the first season, Harley's complicated relationship with the Joker presented a major storyline. After she broke up with her boyfriend, Harley spent a majority of the first season trying to build a name for herself as a supervillain and to get into the Legion of Doom, and control Gotham for herself.

She managed to do most of this, as she defeated Joker in the finale and destroyed a large portion of Gotham. Joker's presence helped Harley grow as a character and she eventually realized that her friends and her independence were the things that truly mattered, not her twisted relationship with the Joker.

7 Poison Ivy: Emotional Growth

As its title suggests, Harley Quinn is primarily focused on Harley herself, but that doesn't mean that the other heroes and villains don't get a space to shine as well. Poison Ivy, especially, also undergoes a transformation in the first season, albeit not as big as Harley herself does.

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In the beginning, Poison Ivy is wary of letting other people into her life and she's not so excited about having roommates. She also doesn't consider herself to be a part of Harley's team. But as time goes on, Ivy's relationship with Harley and her friends deepens and she also stops being embarrassed about her relationship with Kite Man.

6 Harley Quinn: Sense Of Humor

There are heroes in the DC universe who are serious most of the time (such as Batman). There are also those who like to crack jokes (Green Arrow and The Flash). And finally, there's Harley who forms a whole new category.

Harley has a very specific style of humor, one not so everybody can find funny, but if you manage to attune yourself to Harley's special brand of craziness, dark humor, and puns, you're in for a treat. Harley also isn't afraid to combine violence with humor, and she more often strikes down her opponent with a good joke as well as with her weapon of choice.

5 Poison Ivy: Realistic Approach

In the first season, Harley forms a team that includes King Shark, Doctor Psycho, Ivy's landlord Sy Borgman, and Clayface. Of all these characters, Poison Ivy is the sanest one, which says a lot. Ivy spends a lot of time serving as a buffer for Harley's unhinged ideas and plans, explaining patiently to her friend why something doesn't work or makes sense, only to find out that Harley is just going to do her own thing anyway.

Ivy's sensible, realistic and sometimes somewhat cynical approach to people around her feels like a sip of cold water, especially when accompanied by Harley's craziness.

4 Harley Quinn: Well-Known Issues

Harley Quinn is so over the top for most of the time (in the best meaning of the word) that it might not be obvious to the audience that they can actually draw a lot of inspiration from Harley's story. The first season deals with several topics that are also important in our modern world, especially if you're a young woman, just like Harley.

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Yes, your boyfriend probably isn't a crazy clown, but learning how to deal with and get out of toxic relationships is important - as well as finding out how to be respected by your male colleagues, and how to build meaningful friendships.

3  Poison Ivy: Comic Book Accuracy

Poison Ivy plays an important part in the comics, but so far, she hadn't gotten as much love on TV and in films as she would have deserved. She played a smaller part in the Batman: The Animated Series from the early 1990s where she also befriended Harley shortly after her breakup from the Joker, but other than that, her most notable appearance was in the universally dismissed 1997 film Batman and Robin, where Uma Thurman portrayed Ivy.

That's why it's so refreshing to finally see a portrayal of Ivy which shows the audience just how amazing Poison Ivy really is, all that without twisting her comic book characterization.

2 Harley Quinn: Relationships With Batman

Batman, voiced by Diedrich Bader, didn't play a big part in the first season and only appeared occasionally, but when he did, it was usually epic and brought an already amazing show to a whole new level. Batman and Harley are enemies most of the time, but Harley also has a soft spot for the Dark Knight, not to mention her crush on Bruce Wayne (even though she doesn't know that Bruce Wayne is Batman).

She and Batman join forces once in the first season, and their team-up is just as epic as you might have hoped for, so hopefully, there'll be more of it in the second season.

1 Poison Ivy: Frank The Plant

Finally, one of the reasons why Poison Ivy is so great in the show is thanks to her best friend with whom she creates an unforgettable duo. Until Harley and her friends come along and start living in Ivy's apartment, her best friend and probably also an only friend is Frank the Plant, voiced by J. B. Smoove.

Frank is exactly the type of best friend you need, even though he's a plant. He's not afraid to call Ivy out when he thinks she's doing something stupid, lying to herself or the whole world. He's also the one who alerts Harley when Ivy gets kidnapped and asks for her help.

NEXT: 10 Best Episodes Of Harley Quinn Season 1, According To IMDb