The Harley Quinn animated series may be renowned for its over-the-top violence, humor, and lots of swearing, but it doesn’t mean the show didn’t have its tender moments. With one key focus being on Harley’s relationship with Poison Ivy throughout the series, the show sported some heartfelt and touching scenes revolving around friendship being put to the test and falling in love.
It wasn’t just Harley and Ivy that have their emotional scenes. Supporting characters such as members of Harley’s crew, the heroes, and even an antagonistic supervillain have some of the most heartfelt and touching quotes in the series so far as they deal with their relationships.
King Shark About His Love Life
“I Want To Be With Someone Who Excites Me. Where Love Isn’t Safe, The Kind Of Love That Doesn’t Have Limits. I Want A Soul Mate.”
Whilst there were some very pivotal scenes happening at Ivy’s bachelorette party, the episode’s subplot focused on fan-favorite King Shark as he has to face an arranged marriage for the sake of his people. Despite having no romantic interest in his bride-to-be Tabitha, the two mutually get married for the sake of their families.
King Shark’s expression of desire for true love shows a deeper side to the wholesome shark outside of helping out the crew, as well as reflecting the growing romance between Harley and Ivy. With a mutual friendship and agreement with his now-wife, fans may hopefully see King Shark find his soul mate in season 3.
Mr. Freeze’s Last Words To Nora
“My Beautiful Girl. Goodbye My Love, Have The Life I Could Never Give You.”
Although he didn’t get the screen time he deserved, fans of Mr. Freeze will immediately recognize just how much he adores his wife Nora, and how he would do anything to cure her, from other Batman sources. And in Harley Quinn, Nora is successful but at the cost of Mr. Freeze’s own life, a price he is all the more willing to pay.
Mr. Freeze is an amicable character in the show, and he makes his sacrifice so his wife can finally live all the more heartbreaking. This act, and his heartfelt final words to Nora, is not only one of the most emotional moments in the entire series but it showed Harley that there is such thing as an act of true love.
Barbara Gordon’s True Hero
“You’re A Good Man, Jim Gordon. And You Inspired Me… [Batman] Inspired My Costume. My Dad Inspired Me.”
Harley Quinn‘s version of Commissioner Gordon is a pitiful tragi-comical figure. He is depicted as a washed-up tired cop who is driven to breaking point and just wants a friend. During the havoc of season 2, Gordon finally hits rock bottom and lets his demons take over.
It is words of heartfelt encouragement from Batgirl that revive him and makes him successfully take action to bring order back to Gotham. What makes these words perhaps even more meaningful is that these words are spoken just as she unmasks herself, revealing herself to be none other than his daughter, Barbara.
The Heartbreak Of Sy Borgman’s Sister
“I Was Angry Because You Walked Away. You Closed Yourself Off From Me. I Didn’t Just Lose My Brother That Day, I Lost My Best Friend.”
In the initially bizarre subplot of “L.O.D.R.S.V.P”, it is revealed that not only is there a giant tentacled monster residing in the abandoned mall but the giant tentacled monster is, in fact, the sister of Sy Borgman. She had ended up in her new form as a result of an experiment (one that Sy insisted she did) that went wrong.
With Dr. Pyscho acting as a medium, Sy’s sister has an honest and emotional heart-to-heart with Sy, resulting in the two siblings renewing their friendship and setting his sister free. The scene is not only so heartfelt that the normally cold Dr. Psycho is crying but it reflects a turbulent point in Harley and Ivy’s friendship after a bitter argument.
Dr. Psycho Has A Heart To Heart With His Son
“You’re Gonna Make Me Cry Because I Thought I Failed As A Father, And You Ended Up Happy And Heroic. But Look At You. You’re More Evil Than I Could Have Dreamed. I Couldn’t Be More Proud Of You, My Terrible Son.”
Dr. Psycho may be one of the funniest characters in Harley Quinn due to his brutally honest rudeness, ridiculous misogynism, and being the target of slapstick humor. But he has shown genuine love and care for only one person in the entire show, and that is his teenage son, Herman.
The telepath learns that Herman slandered him under his Internet persona ‘the Cowled Critic’ because of how much he had ruined his life growing up. Instead of getting angry, Dr. Psycho is overjoyed that his son has shown the potential of being a great supervillain. It’s oddly funny and keeps within the tone of the show but also rather sweet and touching. Even Poison Ivy shed a tear at this reconciliation.
Harley Breaks Up With Joker
“Til Death Do Us Part.”
The first-ever episode of the series sees Harley finally realize how awful Joker truly is (with some help from Ivy), and decides to break up with him for good. The first attempt to break up with him fails miserably but the second attempt leads to one of the best fights in the series.
With her new look and the discovery of her now-signature baseball bat, Harley takes down Joker’s goons single-handedly before taking on Joker. When she appears to be losing the fight at one stage, Joker snidely tells her that he’ll happily call off his goons if she surrenders. Harley, spitting out blood, bitterly and firmly responds with “Til death do us part.” This quote is heartfelt in the sense that Harley now despises Joker and would rather die than give in to him anymore.
Poison Ivy’s Biggest Fear
“Fine! You Want To Know What My Biggest Fear Is? Finally Allowing Myself To Count On Someone And Then Having Them Ditch Me.”
Poison Ivy is notably very introverted and tends to close herself off, not letting people get too close to her. Of course, she naturally develops a close bond with Harley throughout the show and is noticeably very hurt when Harley ditches her for Joker and lies to her about it.
She may be one of Gotham’s most powerful supervillains but this moment reveals how vulnerable Ivy is. This is even more evident that she acts like she doesn’t care what people think and how little she opens up to others, which is what helps to make the above line one of the most heartfelt quotes of the series.
Kite Man Breaks Up With Poison Ivy
“I May Be Simple, But I’m Not A Fool. It Is Hard To Finally Admit It, But Since You Refuse To, I Will. I’m Not The Person For You.”
Before Ivy and Harley, it was Ivy and Kite Man. Although Ivy genuinely cared for Kite Man, she didn’t feel the same amount of love and adoration that Kite Man did for her. So by the time their wedding was destroyed in the season 2 finale, Kite Man can no longer take it and finally takes a stand.
The above quote is heartfelt because although Kite Man still loves Ivy and wants to marry her, he realizes that she’s not ready to commit and has to let her go despite his feelings. It’s not only emotional but it’s a growing moment in his arc, making it one of Kite Man’s best quotes in the series.
A Risk Worth Taking
“Love Is A Risk. I’d Rather Risk My Friendship Than Pretend These Feelings Aren’t Real.”
By the penultimate episode of season 2, Harley’s feelings for Ivy have become so strong that they are now the driving force for all of her actions. Shockingly, she was inspired by something said by the Joker of all people to pursue a romantic relationship with Ivy.
Having surprisingly fallen in love with someone himself, Joker declares that “love is a risk.” Inspired, Harley decides to fight for Ivy and confesses her love for her, claiming she is willing to risk her already strong friendship to be romantically involved with her best friend, a claim that really couldn’t be more heartfelt. Of course, fans of Harl-Ivy are all geared up to see them as a romantic couple in season 3.
