C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T P R O P O S A LT H E H A R L E Q U I N
D U E L A D E N T ♦ F E M A L E ♦ 2 2 ♦ G O T H A M , T H E N A R R O W S
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C H A R A C T E R C O N C E P T:
"Laugh! And the world laughs at you!"
Duela Dent: shameful daughter of Gilda Dent, who in a base moment had lay not with her husband, Harvey, but his dark and violent alter-ego, Two-Face. When approached with his newborn daughter, Two-Face took the moment to lord Gilda's betrayal over Harvey, and Harvey's grief mixed with Two-Face's psychosis. In a rare moment of true co-operation, the pair lashed out: Gilda was slain, and Duela was left for dead in the Narrows.
Cue 20 years of being raised by the destitute and pauperized of Gotham's poorest alleyways, and the natural entry into Gotham's underworld such an upbringing segues to. Rumours of illegitimate children were commonplace, but for such a Gotham heavy-hitter to have spurned his only daughter was a particular scandal, even among the basest criminals, and Duela's first meeting with her Fathers was suitably eventful: she had grown into the image of her late mother, and Harvey's fragile psyche was ill-prepared for the ghost of his greatest misdeed. Duela gained her first scar, half a smile, marked like her father. She lost her standing with the crew, and was forced to flip.
She fell in with Joker's gang, and her blossoming loyalty and admiration of the clown's pageantry and embodiment of chaos was of little consequence when Joker himself discovered who she was. She was far more than a dispensable goon, then - she was a pre-packaged, second-hand chalkboard to carve another message upon for Gotham's most boring criminals. Duela got her matching set, and Joker's laughter rang in her ears as she was left for dead once more.
With a full smile and complete exile, Duela decided the criminal life wasn't for her; clearly, though born of Two-Face, she must take after her other father - Harvey, still the steadfast pillar of Justice beneath Two-Face's oppression. She would be a force for Good in Gotham, and work to undo the villainy that had rejected her twice-over, reclaiming those elements of fear so skilfully wielded by the crime lords of Gotham. Except to Duela's addled mind, there was little difference between serial murder and petty jaywalking, and no difference at all in the mortal judgement metered out. And so the Bat rejected her too, and she landed - finally, inevitably - in the madhouse.
A special transfer authorisation to Belle Reve didn't turn a single head in the halls of Arkham. Duela only realised something greater was at play when she woke in her new cell, face-to-face with Amanda Waller. She's worked on the Squad ever since.
Duela has no powers or special abilities, but is instead an incredibly unpredictable, chaotic, and topsy-turvey field operative with an eccentric streak a mile wide and a surprisingly good head for improvised weapons and gadgetry. Her greatest strength is how often she is underestimated, and how poorly even those who estimate her to the inch can anticipate what she's going to do next.
Duela outfits herself with all manner of wacky and wonderful tools, and also with several practical, pragmatic utensils. She's a decent gymnast, and as a recruit of the Squad has been pushed through Waller's exceedingly-vigorous training regime to develop her speed, stamina, strength, and fieldwork combat skills.
She's also sharper than she lets on, or that people anticipate her to be - although this is often difficult for even Duela to acknowledge beneath the fragmented synapses of her mind.
C H A R A C T E R M O T I V A T I O N S & G O A L S:
How the hell do you do 'The Joker's Daughter', without being a corny knock off of the Joker? Or Harley Quinn? Or Punchline? Or the Jokerz?
The real secret is you don't. You just take all of that rip-off energy that's intrinsically baked into the character, and you try and have some fun with it.
I rewrote her a bit, because Jesus Christ who can even follow the 18 different origins and reboots this character has had, and I've turned her into a wayward Anti-Hero, someone who means well but is woefully un-equipped to deliver on that good intent. She's still trying to decide who she is - in her canon history she's claimed parentage from nearly every major Batman villain - and she's decided that villainy doesn't want her and heroism is trickier than it look, so maybe this task force x business is a perfect compromise between the two.
C H A R A C T E R N O T E S:
Hasn't settled on a proper pseudonym, and is looking for one that feels nice and cozy, without upsetting too many red-and-black-clad floozies.
Considers herself an orphan, her true parents being the streets of Gotham and she a force that the city has delivered unto its people, much like the Bat. Batman has not enjoyed this comparison on their one and only meeting.
Despite her self-styled look being deliberately evocative, she does not enjoy being referred to as, or having the inference made that she is, the Joker's Daughter.
R E L A T I O N S H I P S:
Short summary of your characters thoughts, feelings and regards for the rest of the cast. Optional and can be added to whenever.
