Characters with complicated backstories aren’t anything new for comic books, but the Joker’s Daughter is a prime example of just how absurd character backgrounds can really get. Sometimes, writers will play around by giving a character an intentionally confusing backstory that leaves characters just as confused as the readers. This was definitely the case with Duela Dent aka the Joker’s Daughter, who left everyone confused about just who exactly she was.

The first appearance of the Joker’s Daughter was way back in 1976’s Batman Family #6 by Elliot S. Maggin and Jose Delbo. In this story, Joker’s Daughter claims to have stolen a dead mystery writer’s manuscript, and despite there being no evidence that this manuscript ever existed, Robin still tries to bring her in for the crime. Surprisingly, Robin is no match for Joker’s Daughter. Not only does she deduce Robin’s identity, she also escapes him.

Despite Duela’s claims that she is the daughter of Joker, the Riddler, Catwoman, and Scarecrow, Robin eventually deduces her identity as Duela Dent and claims that she is the daughter of Two-Face, which she agrees with. While this might seem like the end of any confusion around her, surprisingly, things were only just getting started. The mystery of Duela Dent and who she really is would only get far more complicated as she continued appearing in comic books.

Duela Dent Was Both Hero And Villain

Eventually, Duela decides to put her criminal past behind her and reinvent herself as a hero. To do this, she drops the “Joker’s Daughter” moniker in 1977’s Teen Titans #48 by Bob Rozakis and Jose Delbo and becomes Harlequin, not to be confused with Harley Quinn, who, at the time, hadn’t been invented yet. Duela then goes on to join the Teen Titans and works together with them, despite serious protests from some members due to her history of criminal behavior. She uses absurd gadgets during her time with the Titans, such as bullet lipstick and spray-taser. While some members of the Titans doubt Duela’s ability to be a hero, she proves herself invaluable while helping Robin infiltrate a criminal organization called MAZE.

Duela Dent manages to redeem herself from being Joker’s Daughter by helping the Titans fight crime and save the world. She is even invited to the wedding of Donna Troy, where Dick Grayson finally notices that Duela is actually too old to be the daughter of Two-Face. Duela coyly agrees with this statement but disappears into the crowd of the wedding before Dick can follow up. Later, during the Technis Imperative storyline, when Cyborg is seeking out all potential allies of the Titans, Duela is one of the many whom he recruits. Duela assists in the Titans’ battle against the Justice League to help save Cyborg. But despite these many heroic achievements, Duela is not officially made a Titans member and slips back into her criminal tendencies, right after she claims the daughter of Doomsday.

After Being Rejected From The Titans, She Slips Back Into Old Habits

In Titans Secret Files and Origins #2 from 2000, the story “Super Friends” by Geoff Johns, Ben Raab and Drew Johnson sees the Teen Titans begin a membership drive for their L.A. division, and Duela is expecting an invitation. When she doesn’t get one, she attacks the party with a group of supervillains. Even more disheartening is the fact Beast Boy dismisses Duela entirely as “some psycho who used to hang with the Titans.” This is a pretty harsh description considering she went up against the Justice League purely to help save Cyborg, who is Beast Boy’s best friend.

She would then bounce back and forth between being villain and hero, with her finally joining the Titans formally during the 2006 One Year Later period in DC’s history. During this time, Duela acts as a member of Titans East, a villainous version run by Deathstroke, where she teams up with Enigma, someone who claims to be Riddler’s daughter. The pair manage to capture and torture Raven, but after Raven appeals to Duela’s former heroism and offers her formal membership to the Titans, Duela agrees and attacks Enigma, helping Raven escape.

With Deula now an official member of the Teen Titans, it seems that her villainous days are behind her, but unfortunately, her life soon comes to an end along with a bombshell reveal about her history. In 2007’s Countdown #51 by Paul Dini and Jesús Saíz, Duela Dent is killed by a Monitor, who tells her, “This world is not yours. Your presence in it is not tolerated. The penalty is death.” After this, the DC heroes do what, apparently, nobody has ever thought of doing before, and simply ask Joker if he has a daughter, to which he responds that he doesn’t. As it turns out, the Joker only has a son.

Duela Dent’s Reinvention Makes Her Far Darker

Catwoman #23 by Ann Nocenti, Scott McDaniel, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Sonia Oback, and Travis Lanham

After the New 52 completely rebooted the DC Universe, tons of new characters and new versions of old characters appeared. One of these was Duela Dent, who was a far cry from her original appearance. Instead of being the chaotic agent torn between good and evil, this version of Deula Dent is a much scarier and more brutal version of who she once was. As part of the reboot, Duela’s mysterious past is swapped out for a more clear and basic one. Duela grew up in a normal suburban household, but she was deeply troubled and often took to cutting her face or creating odd things, like corsets made out of barbed wire. Eventually, Duela Dent runs away from home, and while in the sewers, she makes a shocking discovery.

While in the sewers, looking for a hidden society of people she can live with, Duela Dent comes across the Joker’s face, which he previously cut off, and she begins using it as a mask. This visage proves so horrifying that a pair of criminals immediately mistake Duela for the Joker and surrender to her. This inspires Duela to start using a crescent-shaped bit of metal she found to carve smiling faces into her targets. This eventually escalates to her taking over the entire clan she’s searching for. While this seems to be a major rise to power for Duela Dent, she quickly falls off soon after.

Duela Dent eventually finds herself becoming a member of the Suicide Squad, but she doesn’t last very long on it. Unsurprisingly, she continually gets into fights with another Suicide Squad member, Harley Quinn. This eventually results in Duela Dent being kicked off the Suicide Squad, as Harley Quinn is a far more popular and useful member. From here, Duela bounces around a few places, even hanging out with Red Hood and Arsenal in the Outlaws for a time. However, Duela hasn’t really shown up since.

Writers Don’t Seem To Know What To Do With This New Joker’s Daughter

Duela Dent has been a twisted character from conception and has constantly alternated between hero and villain. She seems to truly want to be a hero and has worked hard to do so. She has fought against the Justice League on behalf of the Titans and has helped Robin take down a criminal organization. There is definitely good in her, and her confusing backstory only adds to the mystique and sense of chaos that she embodies.

The New 52 certainly made Duela Dent’s character history much easier to understand, but it also completely removed any intrigue or mystery she had. Instead of a character whose lineage and motivations are unknown, she’s just became a significantly worse version of Harley Quinn. This is why, despite having endured for almost 30 years in comics, the Joker’s Daughter has simply faded out.