Poison Ivy

Poison Ivy is an enemy of Batman. She is depicted as one of the world's most prominent eco-terrorists. She is obsessed with plants, botany, and environmentalism. She uses toxins from plants and her own bloodstream for her criminal activities, which are usually aimed at protecting the natural environment. She creates love potions that ensnare Batman, Superman, and other strong-willed individuals. Fellow villain Harley Quinn is her recurring partner-in-crime and possibly her only human friend.

Pre-Crisis
Pre-Crisis, Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley, a promising botanist from Seattle, was seduced by her high school professor 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: Life in Seattle and Gotham
Following the merging of realities during the cosmic event known as the Crisis on Infinite Earths, her origins were revised. Pamela Isley grows up wealthy with emotionally distant parents. She later studies advanced botanical biochemistry at a university with Alec Holland under Dr. Jason Woodrue. Isley, a timid, shrinking violet, 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 from these poisonings, driving her insane. Later Woodrue flees from the authorities, leaving Pamela in the hospital for six months. Enraged at the betrayal, Pamela suffers from violent mood swings, being sweet one moment and like poison 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.

Taking the costumed persona of Poison Ivy, she begins a criminal career and sets out to show her power over men. Her first scheme involved threatening to release her suffocating spores into the air unless the city meets her demands. The Batman, who appears in Gotham that very same year, thwarts her scheme, and she is incarcerated in Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane. From this point on, she has a kind of obsession with Batman, he being the only person she could not control. Over the years, she develops plant-like superpowers, the most noticeable being a lethal toxin in her lips; she is able to literally kill with a kiss. Poison Ivy escaped from Arkham Asylum again and again, more often seducing her guards in order to make her getaway. She soon became a frequent member of Batman's Rogues Gallery, often committing robberies to fund her cause for preservation of all plant life. Poison Ivy soon came into conflict with many other heroes in her insane quest, such as Superman and Wonder Woman. She fought the Justice League at least once and joined the Injustice Gang to help oppose them.

Poison Ivy also offered her talents as a one of the world's leading experts on plant properties to the Secret Society of Super-Villains, although in recent years she appears to have left the team.

She hated all of humanity in many ways for the damage they had done to the world's flora. She allowed herself to temporarily sideline her mission to join the Suicide Squad. Under the direction of Amanda Waller, she served on several missions.

Ivy later took control of a Central American nation, seducing it's dictator and using him as a puppet tool with which she used to rule the country. Amanda Waller had revived the Suicide Squad and wanted her to rejoin the team. On their next mission to free Count Vertigo from another small dictatorship, Ivy realized she could use Vertigo for her own means and could rule the dictatorship herself.

Poison Ivy later stated 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-powered 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, even maternal traits. When Gotham City is destroyed in an earthquake, rather than fight over territory like most of Batman's enemies, she holds dominion over Robinson Park and turns it into a tropical paradise. 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; however, she abandons Catwoman to be killed by Killer Croc, and Batman is able to keep Superman busy in a fight 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, 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 Ivy. With the intervention of Batman, however, she is saved. Ivy is left in critical condition, and the whereabouts of Harvest are unknown.

In Countdown 37, the 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.

In the "Battle For The Cowl" storyline, she is coerced by 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, she is operated on by some of the most gifted surgeons in the world, including Doctor Mid-Nite and Mr. Terrific. 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 for 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: they demand that Catwoman reveal to them the true identity of the original Batman. Boneblaster then suddenly breaks into the apartment and the three of them have to move after they defeat him.

Eventually, Ivy, Harley, and Catwoman 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 the Alisa into keeping her mouth shut about her true identity, telling her that she will change her mind about sparing her life if she reveals the secret to anyone.

Teams and alliances
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 Lex Luthor'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.

She is friends with the Joker's sidekick Harley Quinn. Unlike most villain team-ups, their partnership seems to be genuinely rooted in friendship, and Ivy sincerely wants to save Harley from her abusive relationship with the Joker. Ivy sympathizes with Harley, as Harley is mistreated by the man she loves, just as Ivy was by Jason Woodrue. She has expressed disdain for the Joker, primarily due to his treatment of Harley.

Despite having different motivations than the rest of Batman's rogues gallery, Ivy is not above forming alliances with the other villains if it suits her goals.

Powers and Abilities
The dangerous experiments placed a deliberate overdose of plant and animal based toxins into her blood stream that make her touch deadly and allowed her to boost her immunity to all poisons, viruses, bacteria, and fungi. This immunity also includes Joker venom. Some comics have even gone so far as to depict her as more plant than human, breathing CO2 and requiring sunlight to survive.

Ivy is known to be able to seduce men and women alike, often using pheromones to do so; she is even able to use these to control Superman, although she requires kryptonite for them to work.

She specializes in hybrids and can create the most potently powerful toxins in Gotham City. Often these toxins are secreted from her lips and administered via a kiss. They come in a number of varieties, from mind-controlling drugs to instantly fatal narcotics.

In some adaptations, she can control plants with her mind. For example, while in Arkham, she is able to manipulate and animate plants, using roots to form supports for a tunnel she and another inmate named Magpie are digging to escape, and also spawning glowing fungi to entertain Magpie.

Poison Ivy is identified by the Swamp Thing as a being with an elemental mystical component, who he calls the 'May Queen'. Writers have not referred to her in this way in quite some time.

In Batman: The Animated Series, her only physical power is an immunity to poison, and when using a poisoned kiss, she uses lipstick poisoned by toxins extracted from a plant. She admits to having a "hyperactive immune system" which prevents her from having children. In The Batman, she can even exhale mind-controlling spores in the form of a blown kiss.

In other media
Poison Ivy never made any appearances in other media prior to her debut in the fifth episode of Batman: The Animated Series, "Pretty Poison", in 1992. The series popularized the character to the point of being featured as a main villain in the live action film Batman and Robin in 1997.

Batman & Robin
See: Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman)

DC animated universe
In the DC animated universe, Poison Ivy was voiced by Diane Pershing. The initial character design for Poison Ivy in Batman: The Animated Series was provided by artist Lynne Naylor, who also helped design nearly all of the other female characters for the show. She drew Ivy to look distinctly different from the rest of the female characters, giving her a softer, cherub-shaped face. Bruce Timm mentioned in his audio commentaries that Ivy was meant to look shorter than the other recurring female villains and that her appearance was meant to evoke the image of a "wood nymph".

Batman: The Animated Series
See: Poison Ivy (BTAS)

The New Batman Adventures and beyond
In the second series, she was aesthetically revamped to look more plant-like, her skin turning grayish-white. Ivy 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". She apparently survives the shipwreck and returns in several spin-off series, including Static Shock, and the Gotham Girls web-toon, in which she held a co-starring role. The character also co-starred in the three-issue comic book miniseries Harley and Ivy, and was given her swan song in the critically acclaimed Batman Adventures comic book series, which contains stories about Batman's adventures in Gotham City after a break from the Justice League.

Justice League
In the episode "A Better World", on the Justice League series, Poison Ivy appears only once, in a lobotomized form in an alternate universe. She is a prisoner at Arkham Asylum, and she is also allowed to work as the prison's gardener. 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.

The Batman
See main article Poison Ivy (The Batman)


 * Piera Coppola voiced Poison Ivy in the animated TV show, The Batman, complete with a new origin and rose-like hairstyle and dress, and with stronger ties to Barbara Gordon. In this incarnation, Poison Ivy is a high school student and environmental activist, but she was also Barbara Gordon's best friend. Prior to her first appearance, she was sentenced to a youth detention center repeatedly for delinquent acts during her protests. She convinces Barbara to help her with her "protests," which were actually scouting missions on polluting companies for her hired mercenary, the corporate saboteur Temblor. She uses a voice scrambler in order to recruit Temblor to carry out her missions of ecoterrorism. During one such mission, a plant mutagen (referred to as "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 name Poison Ivy, before being stopped by Batman and Barbara in her debut as 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.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold


Poison Ivy appears in the Batman: The Brave and the Bold episode "Chill of the Night!", voiced by Jennifer Hale. Ivy appears among other villains in an auction for a supersonic weapon held by arms dealer Joe Chill. When a terrified Chill asks the villains for protection against an enraged Batman, and somewhat admits his role in creating him, Ivy and the others attempt to murder Chill. The villains were foiled by Batman.

Video games
Poison Ivy has appeared in most of the Batman video games over the years. She appeared as a boss in Batman: The Animated Series, The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Super NES, The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega CD, Batman: Chaos in Gotham, the video game adaptation of the movie Batman & Robin, Batman Vengeance and Batman: Dark Tomorrow. In most of these games Ivy does not fight Batman directly and usually watches in the background while Batman fights one of her plant monsters. In The Adventures of Batman & Robin for the Sega CD and Batman: Vengeance, Diane Pershing reprised her role from Batman: The Animated Series. You are able to play as her in Lego Batman: The Video Game.

You can only play as Pamela when not in Poison Ivy form on Lego Batman: The Video Game for DS.

She also has a cameo appearance in Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, where she appeared as a hallucination along with the Joker, Harley Quinn, and Mr. Freeze if the Scarecrow manages to gas the player. There was also an unlockable 3D Model of her in the Trophy Room.

Batman: Arkham Asylum
See: Poison Ivy (Batman: Arkham Asylum)

Poison Ivy appears in Batman: Arkham Asylum in the later stages of the game, imprisoned in the Penitentiary section of Arkham Island. She is reluctantly freed by Harley Quinn, after begging to be released from the cell due to feeling "the plant's pain" and re-appears in the Botanical Gardens where Batman tracks her down. She tells Batman where an antidotal plant for the Titan formula can be found, though she is later fought when Ivy threatens to overrun Gotham with her mutant plants. In the final battle she joins with a giant mutant plant, standing in the mouth and directing the battle. Batman defeats her and she is seen tumbling alongside the giant plant into the collapsing Gardens. She is later seen at the final scene of the game, being taken back to her cell within the Penitentiary.

Like Bane and Killer Croc, Ivy is not necessarily allied with the Joker in the game, though she does attempt to hinder Batman's progress around Arkham Island. Her cell in Penitentiary appears to be exclusive to her special abilities, having walls of glass to contain her grasp over plants.