Suicide Squad character guide: Meet Harley Quinn and the Joker ahead of DC movie's release
A psychiatrist-turned-psycho and the clown prince of crime in blockbuster are explained...
Just one more day until Warner Bros' hotly anticipated anti-hero movie Suicide Squad is released in both UK and US cinemas and it's safe to say, the fans are done waiting! While even DC Comics lovers aren't entirely sure what the plot is going to be yet, one thing has been certain for more than a year, and that's which characters will be onscreen, from Cara Delevingne's Enchantress to Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang and Will Smith's Deadshot.
So to gear everyone up for tomorrow (5 August), IBTimes UK have been rolling out a day-by-day guide as to who's who in the film. Lastly, we have Harley Quinn and the Joker...
Harley Quinn
![Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1538870/margot-robbie-harley-quinn.jpg?w=680&f=6bcf629c525c84b559cd4857653a62ae)
Played by: Australian actress Margot Robbie, best known for her roles in The Wolf Of Wall Street, Focus and The Legend Of Tarzan
Character's real name: Harleen Frances Quinzel
Main adversaries: Amanda Waller, Batgirl, Black Canary, Catwoman and Batman
Originally intended as a walk-on character in Batman: The Animated Series, Quinn later became a fully-fledged figure in DC Universe and appeared in graphic novels, comics and continued popping up in the show. Her origins involve her meeting the Joker when she begun interning at Arkham Asylum as a psychiatrist, and it didn't take long for the young M.D. to become fascinated with the supervillain and eventually fall in love with him.
![Suicide Squad poster](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1538882/suicide-squad-poster.jpg?w=736&f=cc676939469cb807bb2dc48b60b45f9c)
So smitten is she in the stories in fact, that she even helps him escape from the institution on more than one occasion. She adopts the guise of Harley Quinn after the Joker is returned to Arkham after a particularly grisly battle with his arch-nemesis Batman and the sight of seeing him so injured drives her insane. In her madness, she quit her job as a psychiatrist, donned the now-iconic red and black jester costume and became the Joker's sidekick.
In later comics she befriends fellow baddie Poison Ivy, who injects her with an antitoxin which gives her increased agility and strength as well as immunity to toxins.
The Joker
![Jared Leto as the Joker](https://d.ibtimes.co.uk/en/full/1535025/jared-leto-joker.jpg?w=736&f=d2ede56884572211b9c052e49310bc57)
Played by: Oscar-winningAmerican actor Jared Leto, best known for his roles in Fight Club, Requiem For A Dream and Dallas Buyers Club
Character's real name: Unknown
Main adversaries: Barbara Gordon (as Batgirl), Superman, Wonder Woman, Commissioner Gordon, Jason Todd (as Robin) and Batman
One of the most notorious and dangerous, but simultaneously mysterious supervillains in DC Comics, the Joker's real identity or backstory has never been confirmed. However there have been various storylines that suggest what happened to him to make him such a big bad. The most common story involves him falling into a tank of chemical waste which bleaches his skin white, turns his hair green, and his lips bright red; the resulting disfigurement arguably the reason that he became insane.
While, like both Quinn and his nemesis Batman, the Joker possesses no superhuman abilities, his in-depth knowledge of chemical engineering enables him to develop lethal concoctions frequently, He also likes to use more gimicky, but equally as dangerous weapons throughout the comics, including razor-tipped playing cards, deadly joy buzzers and acid-spraying lapel flowers.
While he mainly works alone, the Joker has teamed up with other villains within the DC Universe from time-to-time including the Penguin and Two-Face. Of course, he's also worked with his psychotic girlfriend Harley Quinn too, most often when he gets her to do various tasks to aid him in taking down The Dark Knight.
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