For years, Poison Ivy has been one of the deadliest villains in Gotham. Considering how much power is at her disposal, it is really surprising that Batman continually finds a way to beat her. More recently, however, things have begun to change for Ivy as a character, as she has slowly become more heroic.
Like with many comic book characters, Ivy constantly swings back and forth between being a hero, anti-hero, and straight-up villain. While some people definitely have their preferences, there’s no denying that this dynamic has been interesting to read. Looking at the character throughout the ages, here are our thoughts on reasons Poison Ivy is better as a villain, and reasons she is better as a hero.
10 Began as a Villain (Better as a Villain)
When she made her initial debut in 1966, Poison Ivy began as a villain. Since the start of her career, Pamela Isley has constantly been making trouble for the Dark Knight, even proving herself to be one of his most challenging foes.
Though character development is certainly important in order to keep comics interesting, Ivy’s roots stem from her being a villain. Furthermore, Ivy being a hero is a much more modern idea, and it could be argued that fans are simply just more comfortable with her as a villain, especially since she has been one for so long.
9 She Gets Stronger as a Hero (Better as a Hero)
One thing that Ivy can do as a hero is become far more powerful than she has ever been before. Thanks to her ties to The Green, Ivy has the potential to become far stronger than some people may realize.
Unfortunately, as a villain, Ivy still has to lose, which has resulted in the dulling of her abilities in order to ensure a victory from the likes of Batman or any other hero facing off against her. Due to her more heroic actions as of recent, however, Ivy has accessed a whole new set of powers, even going so far as to resurrect herself from a single seed. Despite already being incredibly powerful as a villain, being a hero has certainly helped the character realize her full potential.
8 Her Motives as a Character (Better as a Villain)
Part of what makes Ivy work better as a villain is in her motives as a character in general. Even before obtaining her powers, Isley was always uncomfortable with people. Therefore, after gaining the ability to communicate with plant life, Isley found a world in which she truly belonged.
As a defender of The Green, a force that connects all plant life, Ivy found a calling that truly allows her to thrive. With such a strong affection towards plants and her desire to protect them, Ivy has truly made for a frightening foe plenty of times throughout her history.
7 Her Similarities to Swamp Thing (Better as a Hero)
DC themselves have occasionally acknowledged the similarities between Poison Ivy and the other major guardian of The Green, Swamp Thing. Though Dr. Alec Holland has a much different backstory and motivation, the two do share a lot of the same abilities.
Likewise, with Swamp Thing being such a popular and (mostly) heroic character, Ivy definitely has the capabilities to be the same thing. Despite being several years older than Swamp Thing as a character, Swamp Thing has been in publication far more frequently than Poison Ivy, partially due to the fact that he fights for good. While it is still important that Ivy remain her own independent character, there are still plenty of stories that would clearly work if she were the hero in them.
6 Her Interactions with Other Villains (Better as a Villain)
Part of the fun of Poison Ivy’s character is seeing her interact with other villains. Though most people tend to associate her with Harley Quinn, Ivy has still had some great interactions with plenty of other Gotham villains.
As one third of the Gotham City Sirens, Ivy has had some great interactions with Catwoman as well. Even Riddler proved to be a great part of the series partially due to his interactions with the 3 women. Despite being such a great character on her own, seeing Ivy interact with other villains definitely has its values.
5 She is Culturally Relevant (Better as a Hero)
Over the years, Ivy has constantly been identified as an “eco terrorist.” Though her methods could certainly use some improvement, the status of the environment is a very important and relevant real-world issue, making Ivy just as relevant.
As someone who defends all plant life on Earth, Ivy raises a lot of good points. In fact, she does actually view herself as the hero, and really believes she is doing the right thing. While Batman has even agreed with some of her points, Ivy definitely needs to tone down the scale of her schemes so that they cause much less death and destruction. Though it may seem a bit cheesy for her to act this way, the more heroic approach could really help drive her point further.
4 Her Background (Better as a Villain)
Pamela Isley actually has a few different stories explaining how she became Poison Ivy. Originally, Marc LeGrande hired her for her skills as a botanist, only to attempt to kill her after Ivy began to uncover his secrets.
Following the Crisis On Infinite Earths reboot, however, Isley was revealed to be a student under Jason Woodrue, who would eventually become Floronic Man, and a classmate of Alec Holland, who would eventually become Swamp Thing. Of course, being the mad scientist he is, Woodrue eventually injects Pamela with an experimental serum and leaves her behind, giving her her current abilities. No matter how one looks at it, both origins stories make it very easy to see why Isley would have turned bad over time.
3 She is a Strong Woman in Comics (Better as a Hero)
Not only is Ivy a great environmental activist, but she is also a very strong female character in comics. Granted, her character does have a history of being exploited and has drawn on a lot of sexual themes in the past, but the recent approach to her has had some much more positive attitudes towards her.
Especially considering how much she’s grown as a character, being a hero could really be what her character needs to truly shine. As someone who has always been incredibly powerful and generally independent, there are a lot of real-world themes that DC could easily apply with the right author at the helm.
2 She Makes a Great Villain (Better as a Villain)
Simply put, Poison Ivy just makes a great villain. In comparison to other Batman villains, Ivy has not only withstood the test of time, but evolved as a character in her own right, growing more complex and firmly establishing herself as an A-list Gotham villain.
Even though she’s been more of an anti hero as of recent, many people still grew attached to Ivy simply because she was such a good villain. While it is unclear as to exactly which direction DC will choose to take her character, she will always have a great history as one of the Dark Knight’s deadliest opponents.
1 It Shows Great Character Development (Better as a Hero)
As mentioned previously, Ivy is easily one of the more dynamic characters in comic books. Within the past few years alone, all sorts of productive changes have been made to her character that have helped audiences grow even more attached to her.
Furthermore, as Ivy starts to have her change in attitudes, it helps reinforce ideas that good can truly win out over evil and the idea that people can, indeed, change for the better. While there will always be some people who prefer to see Ivy as the villain, seeing her act more like a hero has been an equally welcome experience.