Some of the best comic book villains are those that walk the fine line between being the good guy and the bad guy. Harley Quinn is one of them. She started her journey as a clear Batman antagonist but has evolved into a much more complicated character since then. Depending on which writer is working with her character, Harley can be an antihero or even downright heroic at times.
Unlike other Batman villains, she repeatedly joined forces with superheroes to save the day and proved there was much more to her than just being the Joker's sidekick. Harley Quinn's most heroic moments in the comics leave no doubt that she has a good side to her as well and can achieve many great things!
5 Harley Didn't Kill The Joker
After everything she's been through at his hands, it would be understandable revenge if Harley killed her former boyfriend, the Joker. Yet when Harley gets the chance to do so in Amanda Conner's Harley Quinn series, she decides against it. That's despite the fact that the Joker himself is trying to convince Harley to kill him and stoop down to his level.
It's a poignant moment for Harley in which she finally says goodbyes to her former life and walks away from it as the moral winner. And yes, it's true that she still beats the Joker, but it's hard to deny he had it coming. What makes this storyline even more heroic is that the reason Harley saw the Joker again is that she went to save her new boyfriend, Mason, who's been locked up in the Blackgate Prison.
4 Harley Backed Down From A Fight
Harley Quinn is one of the more tenacious characters and once she sets her mind to something, she'll see it through. On the other hand, she has morals and a sense of understanding toward others, which is something the Joker lacked. Harley demonstrated this softer, more human side of her character during her fight with Black Canary in the Injustice series.
When Harley realized that her opponent was pregnant, she backed down from the fight, and instead, the two women chatted. As a result, an unlikely friendship formed between them, and once Black Canary gave birth to a baby boy, Harley even showed up with multiple gifts for the baby. That doesn't sound like something a comic book villain would do, but as always, Harley Quinn is an exception to every rule.
3 Harley Gave Up Her Daughter
One of the most heroic things Harley had ever done had nothing to do with helping superheroes. Just like her friendship with Black Canary, it happened in the Injustice series. Harley realized she was pregnant with the Joker's child. When she gave birth to a daughter Lucy, Harley had a dilemma. Either she would keep Lucy with her which would mean risking her life, or she would secure her a safer future somewhere else.
In the end, Harley put her child's well-being over her own and sent Lucy to live with Harley's sister Delia. She sent her gifts but let Lucy think that she was her aunt, not her mother. If that wasn't heroic enough, Harley later saves her daughter when Ra's al Ghul kidnaps Lucy, and she promises to visit Lucy more often, even though Lucy is still unaware that Harley is her mother, not Delia. Interestingly enough, Harley isn't the only villainous character who did something like this in superhero comics. In Marvel, Deadpool also lets his daughter be raised by someone else because he knows his dangerous lifestyle isn't suitable for taking care of a child.
2 Harley Rescued Batman
Even though Batman was responsible for locking Harley up in Arkham Asylum, Harley still respects him and even has a soft spot for him in some comics. She proved her complex relationship with Batman once again when she saved him during the storyline The Joker War.
For a moment, it looked like Harley had been killed, but she surprised anyone and showed up to save Batman who was unconscious at the time from the Joker's new sidekick, Punchline. Not only did Harley do her best to protect Batman, but she also got to get her revenge on Punchline who had previously tried to kill her.
1 Harley Saved The World
Harley has only a few deep personal relationships in her life, and one of them is with her friend/occasional partner Poison Ivy. So when Poison Ivy decides to destroy the world and almost every person is influenced by her powers and unable to fight back, Harley is the one to save the day in Batman issues 41 to 43. But not by using the most obvious decision and fighting Poison Ivy. Instead, she talks to her and manages to convince her to stop her plan by pointing out that Poison Ivy isn't the only one who's hurting inside, and that Harley is the same.
Before she became a supervillain and the Joker's sidekick, Harley was a capable psychiatrist and by dealing with Poison Ivy in this way, it's obvious that she hasn't lost the skills that made her so proficient in her former job. It's not the only time Harley convinced Poison Ivy not to follow her plans, another such instance happened in the animated movie Batman and Harley Quinn (2017) where Harley used the power of her tears against Poison Ivy. But this comic book solution is much more complex than that and hints strongly at the strength of the bond between Harley and Ivy.