Poison Ivy (character)

Poison Ivy
Variant cover of Batman vol. 3, #26 (Sept. 2017) Art by Joshua Middleton
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	Batman #181 (June 1966)
Created by	Robert Kanigher Sheldon Moldoff
In-story information
Alter ego	Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley Lillian Rose Penelope Ivy
Species	Metahuman
Team affiliations	Birds of Prey Injustice Gang Injustice League Secret Society of Super Villains S.T.A.R. Labs Suicide Squad Gotham City Sirens
Partnerships	Harley Quinn
Notable aliases	Pamela Lillian Isley Paula Irving
Abilities	Trained botanist Secretion of floral toxins and mind controlling pheromones Immunity to toxins and pathogens Plant manipulation via connection to the Green

Poison Ivy is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with superhero Batman, created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff. The character made her debut in Batman #181 (June 1966). Her real name is Pamela Lillian Isley (/ˈaɪzli/).

Poison Ivy has been portrayed as a love interest of Batman and is known for her infatuation with him. She has teamed up on occasion with fellow villains Catwoman and Harley Quinn, with Harley being her close friend, recurring ally and sometimes romantic interest. She is a Gotham City botanist who is obsessed with plants, ecological extinction, and environmentalism. Ivy typically wears a green one-piece outfit adorned with leaves and often has plant vines extending over her limbs. She uses plant toxins and mind-controlling pheromones for her criminal activities, which are usually aimed at protecting endangered species and the natural environment. She was originally characterized as a supervillain, but as of the New 52 and DC Rebirth, she has periodically been depicted as an antiheroine, often doing the wrong things for the right reasons.

Poison Ivy is one of Batman's most enduring enemies, belonging to the collective of adversaries who make up Batman's rogues gallery. She has been featured in many media adaptations related to Batman. Uma Thurman portrayed the character in Batman & Robin, and Clare Foley, Maggie Geha, and Peyton List played her in Gotham. She has also been voiced by Diane Pershing in the DC animated universe, Piera Coppola on The Batman animated series, Tasia Valenza for the Batman: Arkham video game franchise, and Riki Lindhome in The Lego Batman Movie.

Publication history

File:Batman181.JPG

Poison Ivy debuted in Batman #181 (June 1966).

Poison Ivy was created by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff, and the character first appeared in Batman #181 (June 1966). Robert Kanigher originally modeled her after Bettie Page, giving her the same haircut and look.

The character was partly inspired by the short story "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, about a maiden who tends a garden of poisonous plants; she becomes resistant to the poisons, but she becomes poisonous to others. According to Octavio Paz, the sources of Hawthorne's story lie in Ancient India. In the play Mudrarakshasa, one of two political rivals employs the gift of a visha kanya, a beautiful girl who is fed on poison. This theme of a woman transformed into a vial of venom is popular in Indian literature and appears in the Puranas. From India, the story passed to the West and contributed to the Gesta Romanorum, among other texts. In the 17th century, Robert Burton picked up the tale in The Anatomy of Melancholy and gave it a historical character, when India's King Porus sends Alexander the Great a girl brimming with poison.

Following the character's initial appearance, Poison Ivy continued to appear in the various Batman comic books and had a major role in the Black Orchid miniseries. The character did not have an origin in her first appearances during the 1960s; she was merely a temptress. An origin story was later written for her. Poison Ivy is typically depicted with long flowing hair, plant vines extending over her neck or limbs, and a green one-piece suit adorned with leaves.

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

Dr. Lillian Rose, PhD is a promising botanist who is persuaded by Marc LeGrande into assisting him with the theft of an Egyptian artifact containing ancient herbs. Fearing she would implicate him in the theft, he attempts to poison her with the herbs, which are deadly and untraceable. She survives this murder attempt and discovers she has acquired an immunity to all natural toxins and diseases.

Post-Crisis

Following the events of the DC maxi-series comic Crisis on Infinite Earths, which massively retconned DC Universe history and continuity, Poison Ivy's origins were revised in Secret Origins #36, 1988, written by Neil Gaiman. Poison Ivy's real name is Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, PhD, a Gotham City botanist. She grows up wealthy with emotionally distant parents and later studies advanced botanical biochemistry at a university with Alec Holland under Dr. Jason Woodrue. Isley, a shy girl, is easily seduced by her professor. Woodrue injects Isley with poisons and toxins as an experiment, causing her transformation. She nearly dies twice as a result of these poisonings, driving her insane. Later, Woodrue flees from the authorities leaving Isley in the hospital for six months. Enraged at the betrayal, she suffers from violent mood swings, being sweet one moment and evil the next. When her boyfriend has a car accident after mysteriously suffering from a massive fungal overgrowth, Isley drops out of school and leaves Seattle, eventually settling in Gotham City.

File:Poison Ivy (Post-Zero Hour version).png

Poison Ivy, as she appeared in the post-Crisis narratives. Art by Brian Stelfreeze.

She begins her criminal career by threatening to release her suffocating spores into the air unless the city meets her demands. Batman, who appears in Gotham that very same year, thwarts her scheme, and she is incarcerated in Arkham Asylum. From this point on, she has a kind of obsession with Batman, him being the only person she could not control due to his strong will and focus. Over the years, she develops plant-like superpowers, the most noticeable being a lethal toxin in her lips; she is literally able to kill with a kiss.

In subsequent issues, she states that she only started a life of crime to attain sufficient funds to find a location to be alone with her plants, undisturbed by humanity. A few years later, she attempts to leave Gotham forever, escaping Arkham to settle on a desert island in the Caribbean. She transforms the barren wasteland into a second Eden, and is, for the first time in her life, happy. It is soon firebombed, however, when an American-owned corporation tests their weapons systems out on what they think is an abandoned island. Ivy returns to Gotham with a vengeance, punishing those responsible. After being willingly apprehended by Batman, she resolves that she can never leave Gotham, at least not until the world was safe for plants. From then on, she dedicates herself to the impossible mission of "purifying" Gotham.

At one point, Batman travels to Seattle to ascertain information on Pamela Isley's life before she became Poison Ivy. Here, Batman states that both of Pamela's parents are dead. When and why they died has been left undetermined.

While in Arkham, Poison Ivy receives a message through flowers that someone is to help her escape. That night, two women, Holly and Eva, successfully break Ivy out and bring her back to their employer. She is less than happy to discover that it is the Floronic Man, formerly known as Dr. Jason Woodrue, her former college professor that conducted the experiments on her. The only human portion of him remaining is his head, while the rest of his body is plant-based.

After striking a deal with him in the underground tunnels of Gotham, Ivy receives a trunk full of money in return for samples of her DNA. Woodrue intends to combine their DNA to create a "child", all while flooding the streets of Gotham with high-grade marijuana. The purpose of this is to create a world economy run on hemp and to have their offspring control it. Batman intervenes, but is overcome by Woodrue's henchwomen, Holly and Eva. However, Ivy turns on Floronic Man and lets Batman go to fight the intoxicated maniac. In the end, Batman decapitates the Floronic Man, and Ivy escapes with her money.

At times, Ivy demonstrates positive and maternal traits. When Gotham City is destroyed in an earthquake and declared No Man's Land, she holds dominion over Robinson Park and turns it into a tropical paradise rather than fight over territory like most of Batman's enemies. Sixteen children who are orphaned during the quake come to live with her as she sympathizes with them having suffered a traumatic childhood herself. She cares for them like sons and daughters, despite her usual misanthropy. That winter, Clayface (Basil Karlo) pays Ivy a visit, hoping to form a bargain with her. This would entail her growing fruits and vegetables, having the orphans harvest them, and him selling the produce to the highest bidder. She wants nothing to do with the plan, and she attempts to kill him with a kiss. Clayface overpowers her, however, and imprisons Ivy and the orphans for six months in a chamber under the park's lake. He feeds her salt and keeps her from the sun to weaken her. Eventually, Batman comes and discovers the imprisoned orphans and Ivy. The two agree to work together to take Karlo down. Batman battles Clayface and instructs Robin to blow up the lake bed above, allowing the rushing water to break apart the mud, effectively freeing Ivy. She fights Karlo, ensnaring him in the branches of a tree and fatally kissing him. She then proceeds to sink him down into the ground, where he becomes fertilizer for Ivy's plants. Batman, originally intending to take the orphans away from Ivy, recognizes that staying with her is what is best for them, and they remain in her care until the city is restored. Also, as part of a bargain to keep her freedom, Batman arranges it so that Ivy provides fresh produce to the starving hordes of earthquake survivors. Soon after, Ivy finds Harley Quinn, who had almost been murdered by the Joker, among the debris of the earthquake and nurses her back to health. The two have been best friends and partners-in-crime ever since.

After Gotham City is reopened to the public, the city council wants to evict her from the park and send her back to Arkham Asylum, as they are uncomfortable with the thought of a "psychotic eco-terrorist controlling the equivalent of 30-odd square blocks." They also mistakenly believe that the orphans in Ivy's care are hostages. The Gotham City Police Department threaten to spray the park with R.C. Sixty, a powerful herbicide that most certainly would have killed every living plant in the park, including Ivy, and more than likely do harm to the children. Ivy refuses to leave the park to the city and let them destroy the paradise she had created, so she chooses martyrdom. It is only after Rose, one of the orphans, is accidentally poisoned by Ivy that the hardened eco-terrorist surrenders herself to the authorities in order to save the girl's life. Batman says that, as much as she would hate to admit it, Ivy is still more human than plant.

Later on, she and other Gotham characters are manipulated by the Riddler and Hush. Her task is to hypnotize both Superman and Catwoman, using Catwoman to steal ransom money from Killer Croc after the original plan is interrupted by Batman while Superman serves as a 'bodyguard' when she hides in Metropolis. However, she abandons Catwoman to be killed by Killer Croc, and Batman is able to keep Superman busy in a fight (aided by the Kryptonite ring he was given long ago) long enough for the Man of Steel to break out of the spell. Soon afterwards, the Riddler, who is being chased and attacked by Hush, approaches Ivy and seeks her protection. Ivy, who is angered by the manipulation, battles the Riddler physically and psychologically. She comes to physically dominate her opponent, humiliating Riddler and temporarily breaking his spirit.

Poison Ivy comes to believe that her powers are killing the children she had looked after, so she seeks Bruce Wayne's help to reverse her powers and make her a normal human being once more. Soon after, she is convinced by Hush to take another serum to restore her powers and apparently dies in the process. However, in Batman: Gotham Knights, when her grave is visited shortly thereafter, it is covered with ivy, creating the impression her death would be short-lived.

Shortly after, Poison Ivy appears briefly in Robinson Park, killing two corrupt cops who killed one of her orphans (although whether this takes place before or after the aforementioned storyline is unknown).

"One Year Later", Ivy is alive and active. Her control over flora has increased, referred to as being on a par with Swamp Thing or Floronic Man. She also appears to have resumed her crusade against the corporate enemies of the environment with a new fanaticism, regarding Batman no longer as a main opponent, but as a "hindrance". After arriving back from a year-long absence, Batman discovers that Ivy has been feeding people including "tiresome lovers", "incompetent henchmen", and those who "returned her smile" to a giant plant which would digest the victims slowly and painfully. She refers to these murders as a "guilty pleasure". In an unprecedented event, her victims' souls merge with the plant, creating a botanical monster called Harvest, who seeks revenge upon Poison Ivy. With the intervention of Batman however, she is saved. Poison Ivy is left in critical condition, and the whereabouts of Harvest are unknown.

Other storylines

In Countdown #37, the Pied Piper and the Trickster are hiding out in a greenhouse, picking fruits and vegetables from the plants. They run into Ivy, who is talking to her plants (presumably being told that Piper and Trickster hurt them), to which she reacts by tying them up in vines with the intention of killing them. She is then shown to have joined the Injustice League Unlimited and is one of the villains featured in Salvation Run.

In the "Battle for the Cowl" storyline, she is coerced by a new Black Mask into joining his group of villains that aims to take over Gotham. She and Killer Croc unsuccessfully attempt to murder Damian Wayne.

Shortly after, she escapes from Black Mask's control and forms an alliance with Catwoman and Harley Quinn, leading into the ongoing series Gotham City Sirens.

During Hush's ploy to hurt Batman through hurting his loved ones, Hush kidnaps Catwoman and surgically removes her heart. After being saved by Batman, Catwoman is operated on by some of the most gifted surgeons in the world, including Doctor Mid-Nite and Mr. Terrific. Zatanna also gives her a magic antidote to help heal her wounds. In order to get even with Hush, Selina enlists the help of Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, Oracle, Holly Robinson, and Slam Bradley to track down all of Hush's accounts, pilfer them, and leave him penniless. Selina pays Holly, Harley, and Ivy over $30 million each, hoping that they would use the funds to leave Gotham to start fresh somewhere else. However, Harley uses her money to go on a shopping spree, while Ivy gives her money away to organizations in Madagascar and Costa Rica dedicated to reforestation.

After rescuing Catwoman from Boneblaster, a new villain trying to make a name for himself, Poison Ivy takes Catwoman back to the Riddler's townhouse. When there, Catwoman sees that Ivy has been keeping the Riddler under mind control so that she and Harley could use his townhouse as a hideout. Here, Catwoman decides that with Gotham City more dangerous than ever with all the gang wars and a new Batman, a partnership with the other two women would be advantageous. However, Ivy fears that Catwoman has lost her edge and prowess, and consults with Zatanna on the nature of Catwoman's injuries. Zatanna responds that Catwoman has psychological wounds that would need healing. Ivy resolves that she and Harley would provide Catwoman with "positive female reinforcement". The three then agree to become a team. However, Harley and Ivy have one condition that Catwoman is to reveal to them Batman's secret identity.

Eventually, Ivy and the other Sirens ambush the Riddler at his office (with Ivy using her plants to truss and gag his secretary), telling him that they've been framed for the murder of a young nurse. He agrees to help clear their names, and during the discussion Ivy reveals that she has recently taken up a job at the Gotham division of S.T.A.R. Labs under an assumed name (Dr. Paula Irving). She is eventually kidnapped and placed in a specialized containment unit by a researcher named Alisa Adams, but escapes and turns the table on her captor by binding her with vines. Ivy initially informs Adams that she plans to kill her, but instead decides to let her live after seeing a photograph of Alisa's young daughter. Ivy then threatens Alisa into keeping her mouth shut about her true identity, telling her that she will change her mind and kill her if she reveals her secret to anyone.

When Harley Quinn betrays her friends and breaks into Arkham Asylum with the goal of killing the Joker, she ultimately chooses instead to release Joker from his cell, and together the two orchestrate a violent takeover of the facility. Poison Ivy arrives and tries to convince Harley Quinn that the Joker is evil, but Harley Quinn refuses to believe her and knocks Poison Ivy unconscious. After they are defeated by Catwoman and Batman, Catwoman then tells Poison Ivy that they are no longer friends, after Ivy had drugged Catwoman in an attempt to discover Batman's identity. Poison Ivy is taken to Arkham Asylum. Ivy soon escapes and ambushes Harley in her cell, binding and gagging her former friend before she can defend herself. Ivy struggles with the decision to execute Harley for her betrayal, but ultimately releases her after realizing that she is still her friend. Together, the two set off to find Catwoman and make her pay for leaving them behind. The two of them find Catwoman and fight her on the streets. While fighting, Catwoman confesses that she saw good in the both of them and only wanted to help them. When she tells them that she only kept tabs on them because Batman wanted to keep them under control, Ivy lashes out onto the city by using giant vines to destroy buildings, cursing at Batman for manipulating her. Batman is about to arrest them, but Catwoman helps the two of them escape.

The New 52

In The New 52 (the 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), Poison Ivy is recruited into the covert-ops group known as the Birds of Prey. Though she is specifically hand-picked by the team's leader, Black Canary, the other members of the group protest Ivy's inclusion, citing her violent past and connections to various murders. These suspicions are proven correct when Ivy poisons the team and forces them to attack corrupt companies she wants to destroy, until Katana apparently kills her.

Ivy survives the injuries and returns to Gotham, breaking out Clayface/Basil Karlo in order to manipulate him into becoming her husband. Batman intervenes to help her, mainly because the locations she attacked were the Penguin's properties. Poison Ivy ends up captured by Penguin's men. She is buried alive by them, but survives long enough to be rescued by Penguin's right-hand man Emperor Penguin who has taken over his boss' businesses after the Joker's return. He proposes an alliance with her. However, Karlo, whom Batman had set free from Ivy's control, tracks down and attacks Poison Ivy.

The character's origin, in this new DC universe, was presented in a special issue of Detective Comics (#23.1), during the "Villains Month" event in September 2013.

In this timeline of The New 52, Pamela Isley was born with a skin condition that prevented her from leaving her home. She spent most of her limited time outside in her family's garden. Her abusive father murdered her mother and buried her in the garden. While in college, Pamela sold pheromone pills to other students to study its effects until she was caught by police. She used a powerful version of the pills to control the dean's mind so he would drop the charges and let her graduate with honors. While visiting her father in prison, she kissed him, and the poison that was secreted from her lips killed him.

Later she landed an internship in Wayne Enterprises' Bio-Chemistry division developing pharmaceutical and cosmetic applications. She was fired after suggesting to Bruce Wayne that the company develop chemicals that could brainwash people. As she was escorted out by security, she accidentally spilled the chemicals she was working with on herself, giving her powers to control plant life and immunity to all poisons and viruses.

Cycle of Life and Death

Poison Ivy as Dr. Pamela Isley, PhD (March 2016). Art by Clay Mann and Seth Mann.

In January 2016, DC Comics debuted Ivy's first solo comic book series, Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death. As Dr. Pamela Isley, PhD, she joins the plant sciences department at Gotham Botanical Gardens, but things quickly get complicated when Luisa Cruz, Ivy's friend and mentor, is murdered via poisoning. Ivy investigates the murder whilst working on her genetic engineering research that culminates in the creation of two plant-human hybrid children known as Rose and Hazel.

With the help of Selina Kyle and fellow researcher Darshan, Poison Ivy finds that the Gotham Botanical Gardens are performing experiments, using Ivy's research, which result in the creation of another plant-human hybrid child known as Thorn. Ivy destroys the laboratory and rescues the child. Ivy raises Rose, Hazel and Thorn who grow to adult size at an exponential rate, becoming young women within 35 weeks. When the girls sneak out to see Gotham City at night for the first time, they cause an incident at a strip club that gets the police involved, and Ivy has to help them escape.

Returning to the apartment, Ivy locks Rose, Hazel and Thorn away so they will not leave again. Ivy finds Doctor Eric Grimley, Chair of the Gotham Botanical Gardens Research Department, waiting for her. Grimley had been conducting experiments with Ivy's research in order to cure his own cancer; he had then murdered Luisa because she was suspicious of the experiments he was performing. Now, with his cancer returning, he intends to harvest Rose, Thorn, and Hazel for spores to be used as another cure. He attacks Ivy, and transforms into a giant, plant-like monster. Darshan arrives and releases the girls. Ivy, Rose, Hazel, Thorn, and Darshan, along with Swamp Thing (who seeks to kill Grimley for trying to break the cycle of life and death) fight and defeat Grimley, with Thorn hacking him up with a machete.

Darshan later helps Rose, Thorn, and Hazel leave Ivy, reasoning that they were getting so restless they would go eventually with or without his help. They set off away from Gotham to places unknown, saying they plan to live out their lives regardless of how short they may be.

DC Universe

DC Comics began the next relaunch of its entire line of titles, called DC Rebirth, in June 2016. DC opted to rebrand its titles under the "DC Universe" name in December 2017, using the continuity established from DC Rebirth. In the "Better Together" story arc of Trinity, Poison Ivy finds a dreamworld and the White Mercy entity, both created by the Black Mercy plant for Mongul, through her connection to the Green. After capturing Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman, she places them into the dreamworld and intends to use the solar energy emitted from Superman's body to open a gateway to bring the White Mercy—whom she considers as a daughter—over from the dreamworld. It is later revealed that Mongul deceived Poison Ivy and intended to conquer Earth using Superman as a vessel. Mongul is defeated by the White Mercy, using Batman as a temporary and willing vessel. As Poison Ivy and the White Mercy bid farewell to each other, the White Mercy uses her connection to the Green to make Poison Ivy lose her memories of the incident, so Ivy doesn't need to suffer any heartache. In the continuity, the "Better Together" story arc takes place after the events in Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death involving Ivy's children.

In Batgirl, Poison Ivy helps Batgirl save an airplane and its passengers from a plant, one of Ivy's specimen, that is growing uncontrollably in the cargo bay. In the end, she reluctantly allows Batgirl to kill it.

In the "Ends of the Earth" arc of All-Star Batman, Poison Ivy goes into Death Valley where she conducts research on a barren tree to discover cures. Here, Batman asks Poison Ivy for help with a deadly bacteria, which was unleashed by Mr. Freeze, informing her about an infected girl and giving her samples of it. Upon examining it, Ivy realizes that the infected girl is already dead and Batman wanted to evoke her sympathy as he is actually seeking for a cure to combat the spread of the disease. She also reveals that, when she was still working at Wayne Enterprises, she had presented her research wrongly as she thought Bruce Wayne wanted something to manipulate people but she was actually researching pheromones to make people feel good. Batman warns Ivy that an unknown strike force is after her, because they know Ivy is able to pull biological weapons from the tree. After Batman helps Ivy in the fight, Ivy synthesizes a selective agent that can destroy the spores without harming the hosts.

In "The War of Jokes and Riddles" story arc of Batman, Poison Ivy has allied herself with the Riddler in his war against the Joker. In the arc, when the Riddler was trying to convince her to join his side, she is seen stopping Carmine Falcone's men—who are sent to kill the Riddler—by capturing them in vines.

In the "Gotham Resistance" tie-in story arc for Dark Nights: Metal, Poison Ivy controls a jungle-like realm within a Gotham City warped by the dark energy emitted from the dark metal in the cards given by the Batman Who Laughs to various enemies of Batman including Poison Ivy herself. Poison Ivy captures Harley Quinn—who realizes that Poison Ivy isn't herself—Green Arrow, Nightwing, Robin, and Killer Croc as they try to solve what's going on and stop it. They escape when Poison Ivy violently reacts to her plants being harmed during an attack by several members of the Teen Titans and Suicide Squad, who all also have been twisted, as well as a Dark Robin.

In the "Source Code" story arc of Batgirl and the Birds of Prey, Poison Ivy infiltrates and tries to take down Terracare, a company whose fertilizers contain a secret ingredient destructive to bee populations. She comes across the Birds of Prey (Huntress, Black Canary, and Batgirl) and Catwoman who were trying to save the Calculator's family held hostage by Terracare. Terracare had namely traced back a data breach to the Calculator who sold the information to Catwoman, so she could steal a vial of the ingredient from Terracare for Poison Ivy. She did this for Ivy, as Ivy once saved her from Boneblaster. After they stopped those responsible at Terracare, Batgirl arranges that Poison Ivy becomes the chemist in charge of the fertilizers. After this arc, Poison Ivy is occasionally seen working at Terracare (now acquired by Gordon Clean Energy) or helping the Birds of Prey against villains (such as the Daughters of Gotham or the Calculator).

In the "Unnatural Disaster" storyline of Damage, Poison Ivy has fallen under the influence of forces that led to a desire to destroy humanity. She partnered with Gorilla Grodd for that purpose . They fought against Damage (Ethan Avery) who is trying to protect people from them. However, Poison Ivy eventually resists the control of these forces, as she thinks that people are worth saving and doesn't want to be a killer. At the end, Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) reveals to Ethan Avery that the Green is trying to change Poison Ivy but hasn't succeeded.

Batman #41–43 features a Poison Ivy arc titled "Everyone Loves Ivy". Fueled by her guilt over the men she thought she killed in "The War of Jokes and Riddles", Poison Ivy uses her powers to take control of everyone on earth, except Batman and Catwoman. With the help of Harley Quinn, Batman and Catwoman convince Poison Ivy to release the world from her control. At the end of arc, Poison Ivy enters a facility known as the Sanctuary for rehabilitation.

In Heroes in Crisis, at the mental health institution Sanctuary, Poison Ivy is seen giving a confession in which she states that she shouldn't be there because they are made for heroes and she is a terrorist. Earlier, Harley Quinn had told Poison Ivy to go to Sanctuary and followed her there. Ivy and several others are killed when Wally West loses control of the Speed Force, but Wally revives Ivy from the Green by using the Speed Force on a rose that was a part of Ivy given to Harley.

Harley Quinn features Ivy as Harley's best friend and then lover. Ivy has helped Harley out on several adventures between her ecological terrorism gigs back in Harley's new home on Coney Island. She helps Harley explain to the local assassins that Harley posted her own bounty while sleepwalking and that trying to kill her would just lead to their deaths and no pay day. Harley rescued her from a super villain's mind control while Ivy was secretly held prisoner and used by said villain in Arkham. She assisted in hiring the Gang of Harleys and nursing Harley back to health when Captain Strong's mutant possibly alien seaweed put her in the hospital. She and Catwoman joined Harley on a road trip when Harley's uncle died and found that while both she and Harley are immune to most toxins, that does not include some secret drink brewed up on an Indian reservation. She and Harley were invited to spend a romantic week in Bermuda on a nudist colony by Sy Borgman. When there was a dispute over some real estate Ivy helped turn it into protected swampland. Also, when the Penguin attacks New York with giant killer penguins, she helps defeat him by growing a giant daisy in what their friend Eggy calls "the worst Kaiju fight ever".

Activism

Ivy calls herself an "eco-terrorist of global importance" and has demonstrated philanthropic contributions to conservation efforts. The Gotham Girls episode "Pave Paradise" has her going out of her way to get Gotham's mayor to prevent bulldozing of a park because he swore he would not do it in his election campaign. In Gotham City Sirens, Ivy reveals that she donated her $30 million share of Hush's money to a reforestation fund.

Powers and abilities

File:Poison Ivy (character).png

Poison Ivy with plant vines extending over her arms and legs (2016). Art by Clay Mann and Seth Mann.

The experiments that transformed Dr. Isley introduced a mixture of several potent toxins originating from a selection of venomous predators and poisonous plant life into her bloodstream to act as a mutagen; making her touch deadly while also giving her a superhuman immune system. This immunity also extends to synthetic toxins such as Joker venom. Some versions of the character show her as more plant than human, such as breathing carbon dioxide and undergoing photosynthesis as well as having a more plantlike appearance with aloe blood and chlorophyll skin.

Poison Ivy's body produces pheromones that make people susceptible to mind control around her, especially men, although strong-minded people like Batman are usually capable of resisting. She specializes in hybrids and can create the most potent floral toxins in Gotham City, ranging from truth serums and love potions. Often these toxins are secreted from her lips and administered in her preferred way, a poisonous kiss, usually after professing false love or affection for her victim. They come in a number of varieties, from mind-controlling drugs to instantly fatal toxins.

She has the ability to mentally control all forms of plant life on a molecular level. This plant growth can occur in an instant, allowing her to use plants in the environment to attack or ensnare her opponents, and even to create powerful new plant hybrids for specialized purposes. In volume three of Batman, she causes giant plant roots to become uprooted at a moment's notice, and directs the roots to entangle her enemies. While in Arkham Asylum, she manipulates and animates plants, using roots to form supports for a tunnel she and another inmate named Magpie dig to escape, and also spawning glowing fungi to entertain Magpie. Plant vines are also commonly seen extending over her limbs and neck, creating part of her overall appearance. She controlled an entire tree to come down on Clayface, ensnaring him in its branches, and once brought a whole skyscraper down with giant vines.

Poison Ivy is identified by the Swamp Thing as a being with an elemental mystical component, whom he calls the "May Queen". Writers have not referred to her in this way in quite some time. She has shown an ability to use the Green, a force connected to plant life. Ivy is able to communicate over great distances with this talent, as she manifests in a vase of roses in Zatanna's dressing room to talk to the magician.

The character carries a certain number of live vines: coupled with her natural ability to commune with plant life, they act as weaponry, or defensive/grabbing appendages. Their supply is, however, limited.

Beyond her metahuman traits, Ivy is shown to be exceptionally physically fit both due to gymnastics and her enhanced health; being both similar to Harley Quinn in skill as well as showing enough hand-to-hand combat prowess to challenge Batman without relying solely on her powers.

Romantic relationships

Batman

Although Poison Ivy has been historically portrayed as a supervillainess, Batman and Poison Ivy have worked together in achieving common goals and are frequently depicted as having a romantic relationship. While not at the same level as his relationship with Catwoman, Batman's attraction to Ivy is present in some way in nearly several version and medium in which the characters appear. There has always been a sexual tension between the two, most notably in their canonical earlier encounters.

In her first appearance, Poison Ivy is established as having an attraction to Batman, and tries to convince Batman to join her side and creates love potions that ensnare him.

In the 1989 story, Batman: Poison Ivy, Christopher DeJardin tries to kill Ivy, and Batman takes the bullet. Batman, who was wearing body armor, knocks him out. Ivy considers his saving her from death as proof he loves her, though he responds that that she doesn't know the meaning of the word.

Her attraction is confirmed in Widening Gyre when she fantasizes about Batman performing cunnilingus on her.

At first, Ivy's infatuation with Batman was one-sided; later stories presented the attraction as more mutual, but hindered by reluctance on Batman's part. She later kisses Bruce during a robbery, poisoning him. But when she subsequently kisses a dying Batman, she unknowingly cures her intended victim and establishes a budding romantic tension between them. During the "No Man's Land" arc, Batman comes to her rescue while she is held captive by Clayface, with Ivy remarking that she knew he would.

In Batman: Hothouse (1992), Batman gains an obsession with Isley. Later, she kisses him. Now completely deranged, Ivy thinks herself "Titania, Queen of the May", and Batman her Oberon - as Batman struggles with the hallucinations induced by the kiss, she pins him down and prepares to unmask him. With his last burst of strength, Batman kicks the greenhouse's sprinklers on, washing away Ivy's pheromones. The sobered Batman chases an increasingly desperate Ivy onto the greenhouse's catwalks, where he barely manages to save Ivy from falling to her death. Subsequently, Ivy is returned to Arkham Asylum, her twisted love for Batman stronger than ever.

In one of the annuals of Batman: Shadow of the Bat, a mutual attraction between Poison Ivy and the Batman is obvious right from the start. Ivy considers Batman "the perfect man", and in a conversation with his butler, Alfred Pennyworth, he admits to finding her attractive and more appealing than Catwoman.

In the 2004 story Poison Ivy: Cast Shadows, Batman and Ivy work together to find a killer carrying out a series of Ivy-like murders at Arkham. Batman gets poisoned by the flowers, and he has to kiss Poison Ivy for the cure. Ivy insists for him to trust her, despite Batman's doubts. Batman at first decides to punch her, hesitates, then willingly shares a kiss with her instead, curing him, but when — assuming Batman dead — Poison Ivy tries to kill herself, once more insinuating that it is more than just lust she feels for him. Later, Ivy returns to Arkham to finish her rehabilitation, and is stunned when she discovers that Batman filled her cell with flowers as a gift. Upon being told some "anonymous benefactor" wanted to make sure her time isn't as daunting as it might have been, a touched Ivy smiles.

In Gothtopia, Batman comes to her rescue when he realizes she was telling him the truth, even though he put her in Arkham. First she punches him for not believing her claims, and then she kisses him for coming to her rescue, poisoning him with her mind control toxin. Resisting it, he warns that they would be best off helping each other for now. Thanks to her own resistance and the kiss he received, both Batman and Ivy become immune to Scarecrow's gas effect.

The relationship even briefly deviated from the Batman/Ivy relationship into a Bruce/Pamela one when, in the comic series Batman: Gotham Knights, he helps her return to normal.

Harley Quinn

Prior to the New 52 reboot, Ivy is shown as teamed up on occasion with fellow villain Harley Quinn with Harley being her close friend and recurring ally. They are sometimes shown as romantically involved. Unlike most villain team-ups, their partnership is based on genuine friendship and mutual respect. Ivy sincerely wants to save Harley from her unhealthy abusive relationship with the Joker. Accordingly, Poison Ivy despises the Joker, and the two exchange vicious banter at every opportunity. In the final storyline of the Gotham City Sirens series, Harley suggests that Ivy may be in love with her, an accusation that stuns her. The following issue has Poison Ivy acknowledge that she may indeed love Harley, but the details of her love are never specified, and the series ended with the New 52 reboot before their relationship could be addressed.

In June 2015, Poison Ivy was revealed to be bisexual by Harley Quinn series writers Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner, stating that she is in a romantic relationship with Harley "without the jealousy of monogamy".

In Harley Quinn #8, Harley went on a vacation with Ivy to a nudist colony in which she tried to convince Ivy to move in with her, but while Ivy admitted that she loves Harley more than any other person on Earth and would love to spend as much time with her as possible, she is currently more dedicated to saving the environment. Harley was disappointed and very sad, but accepted it and the two parted with promises to meet again.

In Justice 2 #70, Poison Ivy confirmed her marriage to Harley Quinn.

Teams

Ivy teamed up on occasion with fellow villain, Harley Quinn with Harley being her close friend and recurring ally. The partnership between Harley and Ivy has also at times included Catwoman, such as in episodes and issues of the Gotham Girls webtoon and comic book series. In the mainstream DC Universe, the three formed an alliance in the pages of Gotham City Sirens.

Poison Ivy was invited to join the Birds of Prey by Black Canary in The New 52 continuity reboot. Katana and Starling reject the idea and even attack Ivy, but after a brief scuffle, the women begin working together as a team. She remained with the team for a time, but eventually betrayed them, shortly before the team split-up. When the Birds were reformed under the leadership of Batgirl, Poison Ivy was not invited back.

Poison Ivy joins Two-Face's gang for a short period of time during Batman: Dark Victory, when she murders crime boss Lucia Viti on Two-Face's orders. She is notably the only member of the gang to be upset by Two-Face's casual murder of fellow gang member Solomon Grundy, a plant-based entity. The gang is broken up after Two-Face's apparent death at the hands of the Joker.

Poison Ivy is a member of the original Injustice Gang of the World, which fights the Justice League on several occasions.

She joins the Secret Society of Super Villains for a mission against the Justice League. She later joins Alexander Luthor, Jr.'s incarnation of the Society.

She is coerced into being a member of the Suicide Squad. During this time, she uses her abilities to enslave Count Vertigo.

Reception

IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Villains of All Time ranked Poison Ivy as #64. She was ranked 21st in Comics Buyer's Guide's "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.

Other versions

JLA: Created Equal

In JLA: Created Equal, Ivy and Swamp Thing team up to mentally travel through the Green, to try and discover what exactly caused the event which wiped out almost every male on the planet. But the trip is too much for her and it shatters her mind.

Batman: Crimson Mist

In Batman: Crimson Mist, Ivy is one of the many villains whom the now vampiric Batman kills for blood, the vampire Batman's presence causing her plants to wither around him as he gives Ivy the kiss she always wanted, commenting that he could only want her while in the darkness and decay of corruption. Her head is apparently left at GCPD headquarters after her demise.

Elseworlds

• In Batman & Demon: A Tragedy, Ivy is characterized as an elfen healer. She gives Bruce Wayne a cure for his night terrors, only to be slaughtered by Etrigan the Demon.
• In Justice League International Annual #5, published under the Elseworlds banner, Ivy is one of 10 superhumans who has made herself known to the public. In this story, Ivy has the power to seduce and control men, as well as the ability to secrete poison from her touch, willingly.

JLA/Avengers

In JLA/Avengers #3, Poison Ivy appears as a servant of Krona and attacks Aquaman and the Vision as a part of a group of villains. Poison Ivy strangles Aquaman in vines but is blasted by Iron Man and defeated.

Smallville

Poison Ivy is featured in the Smallville Season 11 digital comic based on the TV series.

Flashpoint

In the alternate timeline of the Flashpoint event, Poison Ivy is one of the many villains subsequently killed by Batman.

Batman '66

In Batman '66 (which is based on the 1960s TV series), Poison Ivy appears. In this continuity, Pamela Isley had botanist parents who started their own nursery called Isley Nursery and worked at a university. After her father Dr. Isley died from a toxic tropical plant, Pamela blamed the university that her father worked for as they did not bother to find an antidote for him. Upon moving back to the south with her mother, Pamela improved in her botany and became immune to the toxin that killed her father. With her new powers, she became Poison Ivy and committed crimes with her plants. Batman and Robin came across her while investigating Louie the Lilac's apparent demise.

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Ivy appears as one of the mutated Arkham inmates in the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover. She was mutated into a humanoid mutant praying mantis.

Injustice: Gods Among Us/Injustice 2

In the tie-in comic to Injustice: Gods Among Us, Poison Ivy first appears in "Chapter 21" of Year Three, where Dick Grayson, now the new Deadman, possesses Ivy and has her drive the Batplane to the House of Mystery and House of Secrets, where Batman's Insurgency and Superman's Regime are doing battle. Before she can figure out where she is, she gets attacked by Swamp Thing as the 2 of them battle, before they stop and use their powers to save the forest from Trigon's hellfire. As Trigon and Mister Mxyzptlk's battle continues to tear reality apart, the 2 teams retreat into the respective houses, before Doctor Fate and Shazam stops them. Ivy then reappears in Year Four, where her best friend, Harley Quinn tries to convince her to commit a crime with her because she's bored, but Ivy refuses and suggests that Harley turn to someone else. Ivy then reappears in Ground Zero, where Harley calls her to recruit her for her gang, the Joker Clan, but Ivy refuses until Harley can stand up to Joker and since the Regime's peace, plant life is now prospering. Ivy then reappears at the end, where she shows up at Gary's funeral, much to Harley's surprise. Ivy then tries to convince Harley that they can run away together and be free, but Harley refuses to leave her gang behind until the war between the Regime and Insurgency is over, which Ivy accepts. The two of them then share a kiss before Ivy leaves, wishing Harley good luck.

In the tie-in comic to Injustice 2, one year after the Regime's fall, Poison Ivy joins Ra's al Ghul and his team for the purpose of creating a better world for The Green. The comic establishes that Ivy and Harley were a couple, and issue #70 hints that the two got married in Las Vegas.

Batman: White Knight

Poison Ivy has a minor appearance in the 2017 series Batman: White Knight. Ivy, along with several other Batman villains, is tricked by Jack Napier (who in this reality was a Joker who had been force fed an overdose of pills by Batman which temporarily cured him of his insanity) into drinking drinks that had been laced with particles from Clayface’s body. This was done so that Napier, who was using Mad Hatter’s technology to control Clayface, could control them by way of Clayface’s ability to control parts of his body that had been separated from him. Ivy and the other villains are then used to attack a library which Napier himself was instrumental in building in one of Gotham City’s poorer districts. Later on in the story, the control hat is stolen by Neo-Joker (the second Harley Quinn, who felt that Jack Napier was a pathetic abnormality while Joker was the true, beautiful personality), in an effort to get Napier into releasing the Joker persona.

In other media

Television

Live-action

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Clare Foley as young Ivy Pepper in the television series Gotham

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Maggie Geha as adult Ivy Pepper in Gotham

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Peyton List as "Poison Ivy" in the television series Gotham

• Poison Ivy appears in the live-action TV series Gotham, portrayed by Clare Foley (initially), Maggie Geha in season 3–4, and then by Peyton List in the second-half of season 4. This version is named Ivy "Pamela" Pepper and is depicted as the young daughter of Mario Pepper, a petty criminal who is framed for the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. In the pilot episode, Detective Harvey Bullock kills her father during a shootout. Stricken with grief, her mother commits suicide and she is adopted by a couple who renames her "Pamela". After running away from her adoptive family, she befriends Selina Kyle, and becomes a skilled chemist, using plants and herbs to create mind-altering chemicals. In Season 3, Ivy has a brief encounter with Subject 514A and gets caught by Fish Mooney's minion Nancy when she tries to warn Selina. When Mooney unleashes the minion Marv on Ivy, she tries to get away. Marv's brief touch on Ivy accelerates her aging process until she transforms into a beautiful woman in her 20s after she fell into a sewer drain. After her transformation, she uses her beauty - and a pheromonal perfume - to seduce and rob wealthy men. Ivy eventually teams up with Oswald Cobblepot and helps form "an army of freaks", which includes Mr. Freeze and Firefly. At the end of the season, Penguin has Ivy and Freeze cryogenically freeze Edward Nygma, where she then helps Penguin build his new club, the Iceberg Lounge. In season 4, Ivy becomes tired of not being taken seriously and breaks into an apothecary shop and steals and drinks some mystical chemicals from the owner's safe, enhancing her abilities further while also altering her appearance. She later emerges from a cocoon with a completely new appearance and the ability to poison people with just a scratch. Ivy did perfect an antidote to this condition which she tested on Selina Kyle who agrees to help Ivy with her next plot. After abducting Lucius Fox following her light poisoning of Bruce Wayne, she has Lucius take her to where Project M is located where it was revealed to be water from the Lazarus Pit. Though she managed to use some leverage to get away from Gordon, she did leave an antidote for Bruce Wayne in Lucius' coat pocket. Ivy then enacts a plan to exact revenge on those who have wronged her, starting with Bullock, who killed her father on the job. Ivy comes to the bar where he works and poisons his employees. She then uses her mind control on him and orders him to call Gordon and then himself, though Gordon manages to break him out of the spell. After this, Ivy goes to the Wayne Foundation party with her new gang of mind controlled minions and holds everyone hostage. She poisons one wealthy man, before Gordon interrupts her and she orders her guards to kill everyone. She returns home to find Selina. They battle for the Lazarus water which Selina ends up destroying. As they were about to kill each other, they decide to go their separate ways hoping to never cross each other's paths. Ivy flees and is assumed to have gone into hiding. In the episode "Trespassers," Ivy has taken refuge in Robinson Park after Gotham City was declared No Man's Land. After Bruce helped to deal with her captors and revealing that the plants are feeding off the humans, Ivy gives Bruce a plant that would help deal with Selina's spinal injury. In the episode "The Trial of Jim Gordon", Ivy plans to prevent Gotham from reunifying with the mainland by ruining the water supply, cover the city in her plants, and get revenge for her father's death. She hypnotizes Victor Zsasz into shooting Gordon, critically injuring him. Ivy also hypnotizes Bruce and Fox into shutting down the river's treatment facility, but Selina frees them and helps stop the shutdown. Ivy goes the GCPD precinct to kill Gordon while he is recovering. Leslie Thompkins shoots her in the abdomen and Ivy escapes, having all aspects of her plan fail.

Animation

DC animated universe

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Poison Ivy in Batman: The Animated Series

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Poison Ivy as later depicted in The New Batman Adventures

• Poison Ivy appears in several series set in the DC animated universe, voiced by Diane Pershing:
  • In Batman: The Animated Series, Poison Ivy first appears in "Pretty Poison", in which she makes an assassination attempt on Harvey Dent as retribution for construction over the last habitat of a rare flower. In the earlier days, her metahuman characteristics (such as her immunity to toxins) were stated on many occasions, portraying her as a human with an extreme affinity for plants. She mentions in "House and Garden" where she ostensibly reforms that her hyper-immune system has left her unable to bear children. (Episodes 9 - Pretty Poison, 16 - Eternal Youth, 31 - Dreams in Darkness, 35 - "Almost Got 'Im", 47 - "Harley and Ivy", 66 - "House & Garden" and 69 - "Trial")
  • In The New Batman Adventures, Poison Ivy was aesthetically revamped to look more plant-like and her skin turning pale greenish-white. She also became more humorous and seductive in personality, coinciding with her genuinely friendly relationship with Harley Quinn. Her fanatical mindset regarding the despoiling of plants and the ecosphere was also greatly reduced. She supposedly dies in a shipwreck in the episode "Chemistry".
  • Although Poison Ivy doesn't appear in Batman Beyond, a stage actress playing her in the musical theater play The Legend of Batman is seen in the episode "Out of the Past". Albeit the character doesn't physically appeared, when asked about Poison Ivy's fate, show's creator Paul Dini stated that Ivy moved to South America and took over the rain forest, being now part of the forest itself.
  • Poison Ivy returns in Static Shock. In the episode "Hard As Nails", she and Harley Quinn open a 'support and cure' website that would lure female metahumans to Gotham claiming that it's a clinic to cure metahumans. When Static pursues a classmate that calls herself Nails to Gotham, Static ended up running into Batman and ended up ambushed by Harley and Ivy. When it came to a heist upon a ship carrying gold, she and Harley double-cross Nails only for Static and Batman to save her. During the conflict, Static's powers couldn't work on Ivy's plants but weren't immune to Nails' claws. Ivy and Harley were defeated in the end.
  • Poison Ivy had a co-starring role in the Gotham Girls webtoon, in which she joins forces with Harley Quinn and Catwoman.
  • Poison Ivy is also seen in the Justice League animated series. In the episode "A Better World", an alternate universe version appears only once in a lobotomized form. She is a prisoner at Arkham Asylum and she is also allowed to work as the prison's gardener. Show's creator Bruce Timm stated that he had turned down pitches for Poison Ivy episodes on Justice League so they could focus on new characters and storylines, only bringing back a minimal number of villains from previous shows.

• Poison Ivy appears in the animated TV series The Batman, voiced by Piera Coppola. This incarnation is complete with a new origin and rose-like hairstyle and dress as well as stronger ties to Barbara Gordon. Pamela Isley is a high school student and environmental activist. Despite Jim Gordon's protests, as she was sentenced to a youth detention center repeatedly for delinquent acts during her protests, she is Barbara's best friend. She convinces Barbara to help her with "protests" which were actually scouting missions on polluting companies for her hired mercenary, the corporate saboteur Temblor (voiced by Jim Cummings). She uses a voice scrambler in order to recruit Temblor to carry out her missions of ecoterrorism. During one such mission, the plant mutagen "chlorogene" falls on her during a battle between Temblor and the Batman. She awakes in an ambulance afterward and manifests powers similar to her other incarnations, most notably psionic plant control, and an ability to exhale mind-controlling spores when she blows a kiss at her desired target. She swiftly turns her powers to furthering her ecoterrorist career, and takes the 'Poison Ivy' name before being stopped by Batman and Batgirl. In the fifth-season premiere, she is forced into helping Lex Luthor take control of Superman by using her mind-controlling spores and lacing them with Kryptonite dust.
• Poison Ivy appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Jennifer Hale (in "Chill of the Night!") and by Vanessa Marshall (in "The Mask of Matches Malone!"). Prior to her appearances in this show, she was mentioned in "Rise of the Blue Beetle!" in a conversation between Jaime Reyes and Paco. In "Chill of the Night!", Poison Ivy appears among other villains in an auction for a supersonic weapon held by arms dealer Joe Chill. When Chill asks the villains for protection against Batman and admits a role in creating the Dark Knight, Poison Ivy and the others try to kill Chill, but Batman stops them. Poison Ivy later appears in the teaser of "The Mask of Matches Malone!". She and her army of 'Flower Children' henchwomen kidnap Batman and she tries to seduce the Dark Knight into becoming her king. After Batman refuses, she orders her guards to feed Batman to a giant Venus Flytrap. Before the creature can consume Batman, Black Orchid (disguised as a henchwoman) comes to his rescue. Black Orchid frees Batman and the two both work together to defeat Poison Ivy. She also has a key role in the opening of "Crisis: 22,300 Miles Above the Earth", in which she is present at Batman's roast. Poison Ivy later makes cameos in "Knights of Tomorrow", "Joker: The Vile and the Villainous" and "Mitefall".
• Poison Ivy appears in the Young Justice animated series, voiced by Alyssa Milano. This version is a member of the Injustice League. In the episode "Revelations", Poison Ivy works with her teammates to create a massive plant creature that attacks various cities across the globe, with the intention of extorting a hefty ransom from the United Nations. Robin and Miss Martian successfully destroy the creature, and the Injustice League members are soon apprehended by the Justice League.
• Poison Ivy appears in Super Best Friends Forever. She is seen in the second animated short "Time Waits for No Girl".
• Poison Ivy is portrayed as a member of the Legion of Doom in Robot Chicken DC Comics Special 2: Villains in Paradise, in which she was voiced by Clare Grant.
• Poison Ivy appears in the web series DC Super Hero Girls, voiced by Tara Strong. She is a student at Super Hero High.
• Poison Ivy appears in the Teen Titans Go! animated series. She has a cameo appearance in the episode "The Titans Show" and returns later in "Mo' Money Mo' Problems".
• Poison Ivy appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Natasha Leggero. In the episode "Garden of Evil", she takes Swamp Thing on a blind date to control into helping her overrun Gotham City with her monstrous plants that were affected by the serum that Harley Quinn throws on them. As Batman worked on an antidote, Superman and Firestorm work to fight Swamp Thing while Vixen fights Harley Quinn. During the fight at the location where Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing's wedding is, Superman and Firestorm fight both Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing until Batman arrives to dose Poison Ivy with a chemical that negates her abilities. After the monstrous plants are returned to normal, Batman prepares to take Poison Ivy back to Arkham Asylum.
• Poison Ivy will appear in Harley Quinn, set to air on DC Universe, voiced by Lake Bell.
• Poison Ivy appears on the 2019 animated series DC Super Hero Girls, voiced by Cristina Milizia.

Film

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Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy in Batman & Robin (1997)

• Uma Thurman played Poison Ivy in the 1997 film Batman & Robin. Dr. Pamela Isley is a botanist, working for Wayne Enterprises' arboreal preservation project in South America. She is experimenting with Venom to create animal-plant cross-breedings capable of fighting back and protecting the world's plants from "the thoughtless ravages of man". However, her senior colleague, Dr. Jason Woodrue, steals some of her Venom samples in order to transform a prisoner into Bane. Isely is outraged that her research has been corrupted, and when she rejects Woodrue's advances, he tries to murder her by sending her crashing into shelves lined with beakers containing Venom and other animal-plant toxins and chemicals. She is transformed into a poisonous hybrid of human and plant. Replacing her blood with aloe, her skin with chlorophyll and filled her lips with venom, making her kiss poisonous. She kills Woodrue by kissing him with her poisonous lips, and vows to establish botanical supremacy over the world. She allies herself with Bane and Mr. Freeze, and plans to freeze the Earth with a giant freezing cannon, which will destroy the human race and enable Poison Ivy's mutant plants to "overrun the globe". She ensures Freeze's cooperation by pulling the plug on his cryogenically frozen wife, and convincing him that Batman had done it. Ivy then lures an infatuated Robin to her garden hideout and tries to kill him with a venomous kiss; the attempt fails, however, as Robin had coated his lips with rubber. A furious Ivy throws Robin into her lily pond and entangles Batman in her vines, but they are able to free themselves when Batgirl unexpectedly arrives and traps the villainess in her own floral throne. After Batman, Robin and Batgirl foil the villains' plan, Ivy is imprisoned in Arkham Asylum with a vengeful Freeze as her cellmate.
• Poison Ivy is one of the many villains broken out of Arkham by the Joker and Lex Luthor in Lego Batman: The Movie - DC Super Heroes Unite. She, along with the rest of the rogues gallery, battles with Batman and Robin but is recaptured before escaping the grounds.
• The Batman: Arkham franchise version of Poison Ivy makes a cameo appearance in Batman: Assault on Arkham. When the Joker releases all the inmates at the Asylum, Ivy goes to the greenhouse. Two guards are there and she approaches them and users her vines on them. Later, she kisses guards and inmates with her mind control-lipstick, to possess other inmates to do her bidding and escape from Arkham.
• Poison Ivy appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Gotham City Breakout with Vanessa Marshall reprising her role from Batman: The Brave and the Bold. She is among the villains unintentionally broken out of Arkham by Superman. She uses her pheromones to paralyze Superman, Wonder Woman and Cyborg. She is last seen towards the end of the movie robbing a florist shop until Wonder Woman sends her back to Arkham.
• Poison Ivy appears in The Lego Batman Movie, voiced by Riki Lindhome. She is a member of The Rogues, a team of Gotham's primary supervillains formed by the Joker. During the battle at the Gotham Energy facility, she tries to kiss Batman, only for Batman to block it with several of the Penguin's hench-penguins, whom she continues to kiss and poison. She is sent to Arkham Asylum with the rest of the Rogues after Joker forces everyone to turn themselves in. She is later broken out to assist Batman in defeating the Joker, Harley Quinn and the army of Uber villains. They manage to succeed and, in celebration, she kisses a man, which accidentally poisons him. She and the Rogues reconcile with Joker and leave, with Batman giving them a thirty-minute head start.
• Poison Ivy appears in Batman and Harley Quinn, voiced by Paget Brewster. She teams up with the Floronic Man to unleash a virus that will turn everyone on earth into human-plant hybrids like Swamp Thing. Batman recruits Ivy's best friend Harley Quinn to help track her down and stop her from making a dangerous mistake which may cost all life on Earth, even plants.
• The Brave and the Bold version of Poison Ivy appears in Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Tara Strong.
• A Victorian era version of Poison Ivy appears in the animated adaptation of Gotham by Gaslight, voiced by Kari Wuhrer. In this version, Ivy is an exotic dancer and opium addict who was looked after by Sister Leslie. She is murdered by Jack the Ripper after trying to seduce him in an alley way.
• Poison Ivy appears in the film Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash, voiced again by Vanessa Marshall. She has her plants go on a rampage to eat the civilians to get back at them for eating salad when Firestorm appears to stop her and turns her plants into ice cream. Unfortunately, she fights back and knocks him into the ice cream. Then Reverse-Flash appears, cages her, and turns her plants into a parade float, making her the first of the many villains he captures to win the hearts of the citizens.
• A Feudal Japan version of Poison Ivy appears in the anime film Batman Ninja, voiced by Atsuko Tanaka and Tara Strong in Japanese and English respectively.
• Poison Ivy appears in Justice League vs. the Fatal Five. She is locked in Arkham Asylum and escapes briefly, along with Harley. The two of them battle Batman and the guards until they are subdued. Both were voiced by an uncredited Tara Strong.
• Poison Ivy appears in Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with Tara Strong reprising the role. Unlike the comics where she is mutated into a humanoid praying mantis, she instead becomes a mutant plant monster. However, she is unable to fight Robin, Raphael, and Michelangelo because she is rooted in the ground and cannot reach them.
• Poison Ivy will appear in Batman: Hush, voiced by Peyton List, reprising her role from Gotham.
• Poison Ivy will appear in the upcoming film Gotham City Sirens.

Video games

Poison Ivy has appeared in most of the Batman video games over the years. In most of these games, she does not fight Batman directly and usually watches in the background while Batman fights one of her plant monsters. She appeared as a boss in:

• Batman: The Animated Series for the Game Boy
• The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Super NES.
• The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega CD.
• Batman: Chaos in Gotham
• Batman and Robin, the video game adaptation of the movie.
• Batman Vengeance
• Batman: Dark Tomorrow She appears as a boss in the Arkham Asylum level, if Batman is caught in the vines of her plant monster, she will kill him with her poisoned kiss.
• Poison Ivy has two cameo appearances in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, first as a hallucination induced by the Scarecrow, and later as an imprisoned inmate of Arkham Asylum.
• In Batman: Gotham City Racer, Poison Ivy's vehicle was playable.

She is able to jump higher than any other character (an ability given to all female villains), increase the growth rate of particular plants, blow long-range poison kisses, and give up-close poison kisses to foes which, in turn, fall apart.

• Poison Ivy appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Cyndi Williams. Sketches of her are viewable on the official website.
• Poison Ivy is a playable character in the multiplayer online battle arena game Infinite Crisis, with Tasia Valenza reprising her role from the Batman: Arkham series.

Lego DC series

• Poison Ivy is a playable character in Lego Batman: The Videogame with her sound effects done by Vanessa Marshall. Her abilities are double jump, immunity to toxins, poison kiss (which only works on enemies right in front of her), making guards open love doors (not mind-control), and she is the only character that can make plants grow. She works for the Riddler, and is the fourth boss of Chapter 1 "The Riddler's Revenge." She appears in the hero story right after Two-Face is defeated where she aids in the Riddler's escape from Batman and Robin by dropping a seed right in front of him and making a giant vine grow under his feet, lifting him onto a rooftop where Poison Ivy stands. In the Riddler's side of the story, the Riddler assigns her to get some mutated vine seeds from the Botanic Gardens. The two of them attempt to sneak past Commissioner Gordon. However, the Riddler learns the hard way that stepping on flowers provokes her, and makes her yell at him, getting Commissioner Gordon's attention. After they get the seeds, she stays with the plants, and plays with them, including hugging a tree and lying in falling, red flowers that form into a heart, but not before giving the Riddler the seeds. Back in Batman's side of the story, the dynamic duo finds her, and she drops 3 seeds on the ground; one of them grows into a tiny plant that barks like a puppy dog, but when Robin aims at it, it grows into a giant plant with Poison Ivy riding inside of it, starting the boss fight. The other seeds grow into monster plants as well, and they spit out seeds that become Poison Ivy's goons, and either hero has to attack them until they become lego pieces that they need to use to build bombs to blow one of the plants up (but the explosions can hurt the heroes too) and Poison Ivy moves into another. After the second plant blows up, Poison Ivy doesn't move into the third one, but she can't be damaged until that one blows up. After all her goons are gone, she can defeated simply by attacking her. After she's defeated, she appears to be injured, and Robin has compassion on her, and attempts to check on her. Unfortunately, it turns out to be a trick, and she has a flower spray love gas at him which makes him fall in love with her. Batman throws a Batarang at her, and tries to make Robin snap out of the love gas (which he does by himself when they chase the Riddler). In the ending cutscene, Poison Ivy is seen in her cell in Arkham Asylum caring for plants. She's the only female boss that's not featured as a miniboss.
• Poison Ivy appears in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Laura Bailey. In the third level, "Arkham Asylum Antics" she rides around on Bane's Mole Machine along with the Penguin and Bane himself. She appears as an optional boss. Once again, she is fought at the Botanic Gardens. Before the fight, she whips a vine around and says, "It's time to go green."
• Poison Ivy appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Tara Strong. She appears in side quests alongside Swamp Thing. A trophy on the PlayStation 3 version, "Queens of Crime," requires the player to set both free play characters as her & Harley Quinn. This is also the first & currently only Lego Batman game that doesn't feature her as a boss.
• Poison Ivy appears in Lego Dimensions. She is featured in The Lego Batman Movie adventure pack as the second boss.
• Poison Ivy appears as a both a main character and a boss in Lego DC Super-Villains, with Tasia Valenza reprising her role from the Batman: Arkham series.

Batman: Arkham

Further information: Batman: Arkham

Poison Ivy appears in the Batman: Arkham series voiced primarily by Tasia Valenza.

• Poison Ivy makes her first appearance in Batman: Arkham Asylum. This iteration's appearance is revamped to a naked-goddess persona, wearing only an orange prison-issued shirt and foliage panties, and her appearance is also more plant-like having green skin, with vine-like growths and leaves on her body. She acts as the penultimate boss. She first appears in the Penitentiary, begging to be released from her cell so she can help her "babies"; she can apparently feel the pain Doctor Young inflicted on the island's plants while creating a Venom-plant hybrid in order to create the Titan drug. She is later released by Harley Quinn, after which she makes a beeline for the Botanical Gardens. Batman later tracks her down. After some convincing (by way of crushing one of her vines when it tries to attack), she tells Batman that the molds growing in Killer Croc's lair can be used to create a Titan antidote. After Batman leaves, the Joker arrives and gives Poison Ivy a double-dose of Titan, causing her plants to sprout up randomly and grow to massive proportions, wreaking havoc across the island and destroying the makeshift Batcave in the sewer systems. When Batman returns to stop her, Poison Ivy attacks with spore projectiles, hypnotized guards, and an enormous mutated plant-monster. Batman eventually defeats her, and she can later be seen being returned to her cell.
• Poison Ivy makes her next appearance in Batman: Arkham City. Her design remains the same except for a crimson colored shirt. She has taken up residence in an abandoned hotel within Arkham City's districts, isolating herself from humanity and relying on thugs seduced with plant toxins for protection. Late in the game's storyline, Poison Ivy forges a shaky alliance with Catwoman in return for an unusual favor following a brief fight. She promises support from mutated plants if Catwoman will break into Hugo Strange's heavily guarded TYGER vault and recover a rare flower which was seized from her upon incarceration. After the player has successfully completed this stage however, Catwoman spitefully reneges on their agreement by destroying the plant rather than attempt escape with it. Poison Ivy is misled into blaming Strange for this calamity and subsequently swears revenge on Gotham City. Her plant shop she owned in her former life can also be located in Arkham City, serving an actual purpose during one of Catwoman's gameplay missions. Poison Ivy also appears in Batman: Arkham City Lockdown, voiced by Amy Carle.
• Pamela Isley is alluded in Batman: Arkham Origins. She is hinted at when the player locates a plant shop owned by her. It is assumed she has yet to undergo her Poison Ivy transformation during this game's time period. The DLC "Cold Cold Heart" also alluded to her via her ID at GothCorp's check-in area.
• Poison Ivy next appears in Batman: Arkham Knight. Her design has been altered: her long hair has been cut short and tied above her head, her pigmentation is now a light tint of the color, giving her a more human appearance. Originally, as seen in Harley Quinn's story mission, she was first imprisoned at the Blüdhaven police station, but was soon rescued when Harley fought the entire police department, as well as Nightwing. Poison Ivy attended Scarecrow's meeting with the other villains, but refused to join in. As a result, Scarecrow had her knocked out and placed in gas chamber to have the new Fear Toxin used on her. However, Batman knocks out the guards and Poison Ivy proves immune to the toxin, allowing Batman to take her to the Isolation Cell at the GCPD. Batman is forced to work together with her in order to stop Scarecrow's citywide fear toxin by helping her awaken two ancient trees that had long since gone dormant. She helps save the city, but sacrifices her life in the process. She dies and disintegrates in Batman's arms after her final act of redemption, stating 'Nature... always... wins". Later in the game, a red flower can be found on the location of her death.

Injustice series

• Poison Ivy is alluded in Injustice: Gods Among Us. One of her poisonous plants is an interactable item in the Arkham Asylum stage. Poison Ivy is seen as an unplayable support card in the game's iOS version depicted with her New 52 look, and is mentioned on different S.T.A.R. Labs missions.
• Poison Ivy appears as a playable character in Injustice 2, once again voiced by Tasia Valenza. In the game's story mode, she allies herself with the Society to take over the planet, disappointed that Batman's reform from the Regime wasn't environmentally friendly. She battles her fellow Gotham City Sirens, Harley Quinn and Catwoman (or Cyborg depending on who the player chooses). In her single player ending, Poison Ivy makes Brainiac collect every city on Earth, then kisses Brainiac, killing the Coluan with her poison. She then uses the Earth's plant life to rule the planet.

Miscellaneous

• Poison Ivy appears in "The Flower Girl", a story in Batman Adventures vol. 2, #16. In the story, Poison Ivy is dying from the effects of her own toxins, and makes her way to Dr. Holland, who is practicing science in a remote rural cottage. She pleads with Holland to save her life, but he explains to her that there is nothing he can do. Shortly after, she dies in his arms, and collapses into a pile of dead plants. Moments later, another Pamela Isley, whose character design matches her appearance in Batman: The Animated Series, appears. She states that the Ivy who died is a vegetable creature that she had created as a distraction for Batman, in order to start a new life.
• The character also co-starred in the three-issue comic book miniseries Harley and Ivy, and was given her swan song in The Batman Adventures comic book series, which contains stories about Batman's adventures in Gotham City after a break from the Justice League.
• Poison Ivy is portrayed by Jaime Lyn Beatty in StarKid Productions' web-musical, Holy Musical B@man!.

See also

• List of Batman Family adversaries

Further reading

• Daniels, Les. Batman: The Complete History. Chronicle Books, 1999. ISBN 0-8118-4232-0
• Beatty, Scott, et al., The Batman Handbook: The Ultimate Training Manual. Quirk Books, 2005. ISBN 1-59474-023-2

External links

• Poison Ivy on DC Database, a DC Comics wiki
• Poison Ivy on the DC Animated Universe Wiki, an external wiki
• The Origin of Poison Ivy – www.dccomics.com
• Poison Ivy on the official Superman/Batman Adventures homepage
• UGO's World of Batman – Gotham Girls: Poison Ivy