Characters / DCAU: Poison Ivy

Batman: The Animated Series character index
Batman and Bat Family (Batman) | Allies | Rogues Gallery Part 1 (The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy) | Rogues Gallery Part 2 | Rogues Gallery Part 3 | Rogues Gallery Part 4: Minions

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Poison Ivy (Pamela Isley)

"It's just the darnedest thing. I have this natural immunity against poisons, toxins, the pain and suffering of others... Go figure."

^{Click here to see her redesign}

^{Click here to see her design in Batman and Harley Quinn}

Voiced by: Diane Pershing, Paget Brewster (Batman and Harley Quinn)

Appearances: Batman: The Animated Series | Superman: The Animated Series | The New Batman Adventures | Gotham Girls | Static Shock | Batman and Harley Quinn | Justice League vs. The Fatal Five

"They can bury me in the ground as deep as they like, but I'll grow back..."

Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley was a botanist who led a secret life as the seductive eco-terrorist Poison Ivy. A deadly temptress who might be the last person you kiss if she decides you have it coming, her ruthless methods frequently landed her in Arkham Asylum.

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A-L

• Actually a Doombot: Poison Ivy is the only character that gets an explanation, albeit loose canon, for her redesign and adjustment in powerset. According to possibly canonical Batman: Gotham Adventures, "House and Garden" is the last appearance of Pamela Isley — the pale-skinned woman with deeper control over plants that appears in TNBA and onward is actually a plant-based clone, who distracts Batman while the real one is shacking up with Dr. Alec Holland.
• Affectionate Nickname: Lovingly referred to as "Red" by Harley. Ivy in turn likes to call her "Harl" sometimes.
• All Women Are Lustful: In a vampish way, yes. Her subjecting someone to her unhealthy embrace is as much about killing them as it is satisfying her Femme Fatale kink. Particularly in "Pretty Poison" where, the moaning sounds Ivy makes while her and Batman kiss are unmistakably that of someone whose climaxing.
• Ambiguously Bi: About as close as you can get on a family-friendly cartoon. She dated Harvey Dent (before he became Two-Face). She kidnapped a man to clone him and use the clone as her husband, but it's never revealed if she genuinely was attracted to him or their "marriage" was just part of the backdrop of her new, allegedly normal life. She also has a habit of flirting with Batman, though she does it even while trying to kill him. All this while she occasionally has a thing going on with Harley Quinn whenever she temporarily breaks up with The Joker.
• Anticipatory Lipstick: Always has a tube of special lipstick handy in case she's in the mood for kissing. While we only see Ivy fetch it from her cleavage once in "Pretty Poison", presumably that's where she always stores it, since her costume lacks pockets.
• Anti-Villain: Especially later on in the series, where she simply wants to settle down and raise a family.
• Art Evolution: Due to the Retool of Batman: TAS into The New Batman Adventures, Poison Ivy was redesigned through the fact that she became more plant-like, with her skin turning pale greenish-white. Her hair is less wavy and a darker shade of red, and her costume is a darker shade of green which no longer looks leafy. She no longer wears green tights and her lips are the same color as her costume.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: According to Word of God, by the time of Batman Beyond Ivy has become a plant-like being and merged with the Amazon Rainforest.
• Ax-Crazy: In her first two appearances. Ivy is deeply unhinged and so fanatical in her environmentalism that she'll murder countless people to - in her view - get revenge for nature. She does mellow out to a degree afterwards; she's still unstable, but much more put-together and rational.
• Bad People Abuse Animals: It's hinted in "Girls' Night Out" that she has no qualms with killing animals for causing harm to plants, as she complains to Harley about the hyenas Bud and Lou marking their territory on her plants and threatens to make them into mulch if they don't stop.
• Badass Normal: In all of her appearances before The New Batman Adventures, her metahuman characteristics were downplayed; the only superpower she displays is a hyper-immune system that makes her immune to toxins but has also left her infertile. She does not have direct control over plants, instead breeding special plants she uses for her crimes, along with using chemistry and a wrist-mounted crossbow.
• Beauty Is Bad: Her sex-appeal is as dangerous as her plants.
• Berserk Button: This lovely yet demented lady has several.
  • Don't hurt her plants.
  • A mild example, but don't spit after she kisses you. In "Pretty Poison" while she lied about intending to share the antidote with Batman before he "hurt her feelings" the insulted face she made when he spat looked very genuine, clearly taking pride in how good a kisser she is.
  • Calling her a "fanatic" is a sure fire way to piss her off.
  • People denying her a chance to kiss them, as demonstrated in "Chemistry" when Tim Drake strains his neck to avoid Pam's puckered lips, her face growing increasingly angry out of frustration as he keeps it up.
• Bespectacled Cutie: As Daphne Demeter.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: The main antagonist of Batman and Harley Quinn along with the Floronic Man, until her Heel–Face Turn.
• Big Damn Kiss: As lethal as they can be Ivy always makes sure her male victims receive a very passionate, smoldering kiss, almost as if it were some sort've twisted Cruel Mercy. Harvey Dent in particular had to take a couple seconds for his mind to switch on again after she snogged him.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: She is this in "Pretty Poison".
  • Again in "Eternal Youth" as Daphne Demeter.
  • Played with in "House & Garden." While her reform and marriage to clone Dr. Carlyle were fake, Pam's desire for a family who loved her wasn't.
• Blue-and-Orange Morality: She apparently considers killing plants just as bad as murder.
• Breakout Character: Although created back in 1966, Poison Ivy remained an obscure villain except only to devoted comic readers. Just like with Mr. Freeze, her inclusion in the series elevated her into the top level of Batman and DC villains, and now every media outside the comics always includes her, showing her significance in DC's franchise.
• But Not Too Bi: While her relationship with Quinn is strictly implicit Poison Ivy acts quite seductively towards men, happily flirting with and kissing them onscreen.
• Captive Date: Her and Batman's "late night rendezvous" during the climax of her debut episode. Ivy had a terrific time during their "date" even giving Bats a goodnight kiss. Unfortunately he had to kill the romantic atmosphere by kicking her in the face. Doubtful there'll be a "second date."
• Casual Kink: At times it seems like she has a low-key lipstick fixation to compliment her more apparent kissing fetish, given that both are often cornerstones of her sultry schemes.
• Characterization Marches On:
  • She started as a pretty hammy activist until she met Harley and became more of a Deadpan Snarker as a Foil to Harley's Genki Girl.
  • On a biological level, in her first appearance she wasn't naturally immune to her rose's poison and had to keep manually reapplying the antidote via her perfume. By the time of her next appearance, she had performed enough genetic splicing on herself to become naturally immune to all forms of toxins.
• The Comically Serious: She is usually the snarky, mature one to Harley's craziness and comical behavior.
• Cruel Mercy: Let's face it, there are far worse ways to die than kissing a lady as beautiful as her. It definitely helps that Ivy gives it her all.
• Cut Lex Luthor a Check: She somehow managed to afford a gigantic mansion with its own power plant and extensive grounds in order to set up a fake health spa for one episode... complete with a staff of women loyal enough to kill on her part and try fighting the Batman, and a greenhouse full of extremely rare, nearly extinct, fully-grown trees found only in the depths of the Amazon.
• Dark Action Girl: Downplayed as she isn't as hands-on as the other rogues preferring to use her seductive wiles and plants to do the work, but she can get physical if need be; she’s shown to be a decent shot with a crossbow.
• Date Rape: If we accept her flirty description of Batman's intrusion into her greenhouse lair as "a late night rendezvous" at face value then Ivy's the kinda woman who won't wait until the 3rd date for a goodnight kiss.
• Deadpan Snarker: Being around Harley gives her a lot of practice.
• Decomposite Character: The comic tie-in for the cartoon revealed the redesigned version of Ivy was Actually a Doombot, as in a plant copy the real Ivy left behind when she fled Gotham City. The copy gradually becomes more and more plant like until it dissolves into a pile of weeds in the arms of Alec Holland, at which point Ivy (looking just as she originally did) explains what happened.
• Disproportionate Retribution:
  • In "Pretty Poison" (the episode that introduces her), she tries to kill Harvey Dent for building a corrections facility on top of a field containing a flower that was endangered. There is no evidence he knew about the endangered flower. She saved the flower before trying to kill him, anyway. Maybe he should've done an ecological survey to check for endangered species and done an environmental impact statement before starting construction, but she could've tried telling him there was an endangered flower before he started building to see if he would alter his plans in response.
  • She gets another one when she runs a spa and send out invitations to millionaires who have done some environmental wrong, turning them into living plants with her treatment. She targets Bruce when his company was planning on tearing down a forest for building space...except Bruce had found out and stopped the plans long beforehand and she never bothered to look further into this. What's more when Bruce lets his butler Alfred and Alfred's girlfriend go in his place as a vacation, Ivy figures she'll make due with him cause someone gotta be punished. She is, like most of Batman's enemies, a lunatic.
• Dissonant Serenity: Usually starts off sounding calm, sultry like a proper, in control noir seductress while disposing of somebody, before raging out whenever her plans start falling apart around her.
  • The best example is in "Pretty Poison." When first approaching a flytrap ensnared Batman whose cracking fangs, struggling for his life, Ivy talks sweetly to him in a breathy tone, playfully treating the encounter like a date. Then, after their steamy kiss, her soft voiced flirting ceases and is replaced with infuriated screaming upon Bats kicking her to the face.
• Distaff Counterpart: Ivy, from her own warped perspective, is one to Batman.
• Does Not Like Men: Although not to the point where she doesn't enjoy seducing them. Most examples are far more straightforward with their misandry. Poison Ivy is playful about it, often speaking romantically to her male victims. A (slight) exception to this is her behaviour in the episode "Harley and Ivy" and even there she isn't above blowing Batman a flirty goodbye kiss while trying to drown him.
• Double Entendre: While not to the Schumacher version's level Ivy isn't above spouting a few seductive one liners, such as when she labelled Batman's intrusion into her greenhouse as "a late night rendezvous."
• Double Standard: Rape, Sci-Fi: Borderline this at times with Batman. How would you legally classify restraining somebody with Vine Tentacles to insistently kiss them? Extraordinary sexual assault?
• Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes: Does this often, usually when acting seductive and flirtatious, really emphasizing her nature as a sexpot maneater.
• Drugged Lipstick: She uses this against Harvey Dent in "Pretty Poison". She later uses it on Batman in the same episode. It remains a consistent part of her arsenal, with varieties designed to either kill, hypnotize or knock out.
• Dub Name Change: In the venezuelan dub, she is correctly named Hiedra Venenosa, her official name in most spanish-translations, but during the episodes of The Adventures of Batman and Robin, she is for some reason named Ortiga (Nettle). She is later called between "Hiedra" and Ivy depending on the episode in The New Batman Adventures.
• Dude Magnet: Has many admirers. Just ask Harvey Dent (initially), Dr. Steven Carlyle (to his regret), Batman (if the Saga CD game cutscenes a.k.a The Lost Episode is canon then he does refer to her as Violet & Lily's "pretty boss" at one point), Scarface (earns him a slap), Jason Woodrue (implicit), The Penguin (addresses her as a "dainty dove"), a bungling sweaty mall security guard (Girls Night Out), three rude catcalling frat boys (Harley and Ivy), a quietly smitten wax museum ticket booth cashier (Gotham Girls), Diego Rivera (a sick environmentalist she tries saving in Batman Adventures #23 who labels her a "goddess"), an Arkham orderly (Adventures #23 again), Mayor Hill's entire security staff she knocks out with kisses (Gotham Girls), a Brazilian teenaged boy (Batman & Robin Adventures #24), several distracted restaurant patrons (Pretty Poison), Robin (by the end of Batman & Robin Adventures #8 Dick didn't seem too upset about being her brainwashed "boy toy" given he got kissed twice by a beautiful woman), and Dr. Alec Holland (Gotham Adventures). Naturally Ivy often exploits this for all it's worth.
• Eco-Terrorist: Unlike most of Batman's rogues, Ivy has little interest in money or power, but instead is obsessed with preserving plant life, and taking revenge on those who she believes have harmed it.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • She actually does seem to love Harley to a degree, particularly in Batman and Harley Quinn where just seeing Harley crying makes her abandon her evil plan, as well as bursting into tears herself and hugging her.
  • Deconstructed in "House and Garden". Ivy wants a family and does love the Carlisles, but the way she goes about it proves to be utterly twisted and disturbed.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Poison Ivy herself is disgusted by the Joker, namely his treatment of Harley, and wants Harley to see how horrible he really is.
  • She's also incredibly hesitant to go along with Jason Woodrue's plan in Batman and Harley Quinn to turn all humans and animals into animal/plant hybrids, especially when Harley informs her that one slip-up could kill all life on Earth, plants included. She decides that the risk of everyone dying outweighs the reward and turns against Jason.
  • It seems she'll only enjoy kissing someone on the lips if they're physically attractive. Whereas with Batman, who she's zero objection whatsoever to passionately making out with, Ivy voiced disgust at needing to repeatedly swap spit with an "old geezer" like Dr. Goldblum to keep him under her control and in "Girls Night Out" she didn't even bother locking lips with the fat, sweaty mall security guard, simply smooching onto two fingers and using them to incapacitate him.
  • If she goes to the trouble of giving you such a deliciously tender Last Kiss don't "rudely" spit afterwards.
  • She's horrified when Joker reveals he plans to grind Catwoman into mulch in "Almost Got 'Im".
• Even the Girls Want Her: Which Harley could probably attest to.
• Evil Counterpart: To Harvey Dent's other girlfriend Grace. Whereas Isley turned out to be a scheming seductress with murder on the brain Grace proves to be a total sweetheart who genuinely loves Harvey.
• Evil Gloating: If Poison Ivy is convinced she has you at her mercy, she won't hesitate to rub it in, such as in "Pretty Poison" when she slowly takes her time attempting to murder Batman, mockingly flirting with him nearly the entire scene.
• Evil Is Hammy: This is quite the contrast between perfect girlfriend Pamela Isley and supervillainess Poison Ivy.
• Evil Redhead: Violent ecoterrorist with red hair.
• Expendable Clone: Her plant "family" gradually mutates before disintegrating, at which point she grows another to take their place.
• Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: There's no question Poison Ivy is a total knockout with vintage pin-up queen good looks. Trouble lies in that she's also an unrepentant maneater and misanthropic eco-terrorist aching to hurt offenders of the natural world in needlessly cruel, horrific ways.
• Falsely Reformed Villain: She is this in "House and Garden".
• Fatal Flaw: Overconfidence. Most of her schemes fail because of this. Typically Ivy'll be so wrapped up in toying with her victim, prematurely convinced of victory, she'll fail to realize the hand they've played until too late. Such as in "Pretty Poison" when Batman pretended to be on the verge of passing out from her kiss so she'd get too close and he could kick her down. Had she lingered into their kiss like her previous one with Harvey, Bats would've actually lost consciousness, ingesting the same amount of rose poison Dent did. Ivy thought it was far more important to taunt him instead. Thus, she lost.
• Faux Affably Evil: She will occasionally flirt with Batman, speaking in a mocking loving voice to him, even as she attempts to kill him. She has even forced a few deep kisses on him with the intent of poisoning him.
• Femme Fatale: Befitting the show's film noir setting Poison Ivy is a very classy, voluptuous dame equally prone to steamy flirtation and cold-blooded murder, with occasional flashes of being redeemable. Her hairdo, voice, curves and attitude perfectly evoke the genre.
• Fetish: Seducing and killing men seems to be hers. While she locked lips with Harvey and Batman to kill them, her pleasured moaning both times betrays Poison Ivy's twisted enjoyment of such sultry acts.
• Fiery Redhead: Ordinarily she's quite serene and sensual, but press her Berserk Button concerning plants, and Ivy'll go from teasing and kissing you to screaming as she fires crossbow arrows at you.
• First Kiss: While not a couple her and Batman shared a truly steamy one in "Pretty Poison." Poison Ivy also intended for it to be a Last Kiss.
• Foe Romance Subtext: Has a heavy amount of this with Batman. Half the time she talks to him like they're a flirting young couple on a date. And, out of all the people Ivy's kissed, Batman's the one she seems to most enjoy doing it with.
• Forceful Kiss: Simply put, the lady likes to snog, consent be damned.
  • In "Pretty Poison" she applies her Drugged Lipstick then saunters towards Batman who, because of his predicament, can't offer much resistance, the flytrap even holding his head steady via two coiled in tendrils. Ivy then comes up to Bats, lays a hand on his face before sliding her other around his neck, shuts her eyes, puckers up, pulls him in and smashes their lips together in a passionate, steamy embrace she deepens before releasing him with a great big "mwah"!
  • Her earlier smooch with Harvey was equally insistent, suddenly grabbing his face, locking lips with him before he has time to react, although unlike Batman he does consent in the end, as well as being left momentarily dazed afterwards.
  • In "Batman & Robin Adventures #8" Ivy ambushes Robin from behind with her Vine Tentacles, wrapping him up so she can playfully rub his chin before making Robin share a hot, hypotonic kiss with her.
  • In "Holiday Knights" she sneaks into a Christmas shindig attended by Bruce Wayne, keeping to the shadows as he backs up underneath nearby mistletoe. As soon as he's within reach Ivy taps him on the shoulder, causing Wayne to turn and upon doing so she nabs his tie, pulling "Brucie" in for a quick peck.
  • In "Adventures In The DC Universe #3" Ivy exploits a cloud of smoke to ambush Bats with a big ol' wet one.
  • In "Chemistry" she attempts this with Batman and Robin but they avoid receiving a "goodnight kiss."
• For the Lulz: Her kissing Batman is equal parts attempted homicide and wanting to make out with him.
• Gaia's Vengeance: Her life's mission is to avenge injustices perpetrated against the floral kingdom by torturing and/or murdering those responsible.
• Garden of Evil: Constantly using these as her lairs.
• Green and Mean: An unpleasant, devious lady wearing green tights.
• Green Thumb: Just like most versions, she is very skilled with creating beautiful plants.
• Guinea Pig Family: Her supposed husband in "House And Garden". Poor Dr. Carlyle.
• Head-Turning Beauty: Is considered strikingly gorgeous In-Universe and out. Nothing encapsulates this better than the scene in "Pretty Poison" when she's departing from the Rose Cafe with a sensuous, hip-swaying gait that makes every guy stop chatting and/or eating to gawk at her.
• Held Gaze: A shorter and more villainous example than usual. As she approaches Batman as he is restrained by her monster plant, ready to plant a poisoned kiss on him, she pauses briefly and stares into Batman's eyes while smirking seductively at him, before quickly laying a hand on his face, closing her eyes, and pulling him into a deep kiss. After she breaks the kiss, she also gazes into his eyes for a moment and gives him a sly grin before pulling apart from him. It is clear though that outside of her usual Foe Romance Subtext, this is just her savoring her moment with Batman to furthur mess with him, with no actual romance involved.
• Heroic Seductress: Averted. This is how Poison Ivy deludedly views herself. Every killer flirtation a necessary step in her plans to save and/or avenge Mother Nature, when in actuality she just enjoys seducing then murdering men with her lips because it's such sultry fun, ergo making her a Femme Fatale at best and The Vamp at worst.
• Hidden Depths: There's more going on with this lethal seductress than initially seems.
  • Ivy may kiss to kill but not only does she truly enjoy doing it she also seems to take pride in her talented lips, as evident by her insulted face when Batman spits, as though she were expecting him to be as pleased with their kiss as she was.
  • The fact she knows how to kiss so well implies Pam might've been busy before the series.
  • For someone who unapologetically loathes mankind Isley is surprisingly adept at knowing what others want to hear, as shown during her seduction of Harvey Dent. She might hate humanity but she still understands it.
  • Her giving lectures at Gotham University on endangered and extinct plant species hints at a desire to discuss and share her life's passion with others.
  • Has a preference for soft, romantic music if the two times we hear "Plant Muzak" playing via radio in her lairs is anything to go by.
  • It's implied she designed and built the wrist mounted crossbow herself, which would take a certain degree of engineering know how.
  • Her iconic, sexy costumes were also of her own design, making Ivy something of a vampy fashionista.
• Hollywood Kiss: Say what will about Poison Ivy, but the woman knows how to kiss. Her and Batman's first snog in "Pretty Poison" was so tenderly passionate it could be mistaken for the cover of a romance novel if seen out of context. One helluva Cruel Mercy indeed!
• Hypocrite: In "Harley and Ivy", Pamela insists she and Harley are a team that fights Double Standards, but her relationship with Harley mirrors the one Harley has with the Joker (albeit not as abusive): Though usually cartoonish and Played for Laughs, Ivy tends to get very easily frustrated with Harley, and uses physically imposing body language and outbursts to get points across to her. Ivy's also not above physically assaulting Harley when it suits her.
  • In addition, Harley is one of the only rogues who has a chance at reforming, but Ivy benefits from enabling her worst tendencies and keeping her on the crooked path.
  • Also, despite her occasional Straw Feminist rhetoric, she's a rapist.
  • Leading off of the above, despite her misandrist leanings Ivy obviously still enjoys the company of men, at least in a twisted, sexual way. Everytime she's pulled a vampish scheme her targets have always been men she quite enthusiastically seduced. She certainly never has to kiss Batman to try ending him, but does so because she loves the act in and of itself.
• Impossible Hourglass Figure: That waistline puts most supermodels to shame. One has to wonder why Chez Gerard didn't just use her as their spokesperson instead of an actual model.
• Insane Equals Violent: Don't be too taken with this sensual beauty. Say or do the wrong thing in front of her and Ivy's calm, sultry demeanor evaporates into hellish bloodthirst.
• Interplay of Sex and Violence: Seduction and murder go hand in hand as a fun, sexy game Ivy relishes playing.
• It Amused Me: Murdering men with a passionate kiss is far more a personal, sexually gratifying indulgence than a necessity.
• Kiss of Death: Her main attack in "Pretty Poison" and a tactic she continues to make use of.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: Unlike practically every Gotham criminal, she knows when Batman is pushed too far. If you count the tie-in comics as canon, after the events of "House and Garden," she went into hiding and left behind several clones to cover her trail. The Ivy in subsequent episodes is thus a distraction for Batman and Harley.
• Lack of Empathy: Not entirely so, but it's rare she'll demonstrate it to anybody not named Harley Quinn.
• Last Kiss: Although insincere, Poison Ivy enjoys adding romantic flare to her smooches, acting like her and her victim are two lovers, savoring a parting kiss at their expense.
• A Lighter Shade of Black: Compared to the Joker, for whom she is a Foil, as she actually does love Harley instead of just pretending in order to manipulate her. "House And Garden" also shows there is at least a small part of her that wants to stop being a villain and live like a normal, decent person, whereas the Joker loves his life of crime.
• Mad Scientist: She specializes in botany and chemistry. And in murder.

M-W

• Madonna-Whore Complex: Pamela hews toward the latter, having weaponized her sexuality, deriving twisted pleasure from flirtatiously ending the lives of men.
• Makeup Is Evil: Lipstick aside Ivy also wears mascara which enhances the seductive quality of her eyes.
• Mama Bear: Since she views plants as her children, it isn't a wise move to injure any in front of her.
• Manipulative Bitch: As sly as she is sexy.
• Massage of Love: Gives a seductive variant to Batman in "Pretty Poison."
• Master Poisoner: Able to make any kind of plant derived poison.
• Misanthrope Supreme: She hates people in general for harming the environment, although there are exceptions to this, such as Harley.
• The Modest Orgasm: While much of what Poison Ivy says and does is predicated around deceit, what isn't phony is the passionate moaning she makes while sharing a fatal kiss with someone, such as with Batman in "Pretty Poison."
• Mood-Swinger: Can switch from flirty temptress to bloodthirsty murderess and back again within seconds.
• Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: Earned a PhD in botany at Gotham University and uses her advanced understanding of the subject matter to create deadly floral abominations and various plant based potions.
• Moral Myopia: The sort've lady who'll give an enraged speech about how someone needs to pay for "murdering" a field of wildflowers but then, immediately, try to kiss someone to death, as shown in "Pretty Poison." Being unhinged, the irony never occurs to her.
• Morality Pet: Downplayed seeing as they're both criminals, but Ivy has a definite soft spot for Harley and she's one of the few people Ivy actually treats well for the most part.
• Most Common Superpower: Very well endowed, which is nicely highlighted by her swimsuit like leotards.
• Motherly Scientist: Pam's at her sweetest whenever interacting with plants, softly cooing to them as though they were newborns.
• Motive Decay: She at first started out as a Well-Intentioned Extremist who killed those that she saw as a threat to plants. In "House & Garden," however, she admits this agenda wasn't at hand when brainwashing and stealing DNA from Dr. Carlysle; she just wanted a family on her terms and money to support them. Later on, her clone is fine with stealing For the Lulz and brainwashing rich people to get their funds.
• Mrs. Robinson: Isn't reluctant to flirt with men younger than herself, such as Robin (Dick Grayson), whose college age.
• Ms. Fanservice:
  • She is a very beautiful, red-haired woman with smoldering green eyes and soft, peach colored lips who wears a very form-fitting bathing suit esque leotard with tights that accentuates her voluptuous yet athletic body, buxom breasts, and long shapely legs. Not to mention a sultry voice evocative of many a 1940s film noir leading lady and a playfully flirty disposition. As a result, one of her main features as a villain is her seductive ability.
  • Taken to the peak in "Almost Got 'Im" where she tries to attack Batman on Halloween with exploding Jack-o-lanterns. Her costume is literally a black strapless one piece swimsuit with no stockings, gloves, or even boots. Happy Halloween indeed!
  • Admittedly Ivy is this no matter what she's wearing, even civilian garb.
• Mysterious Past: We never learn much, if anything, about Pamela's background in the show. She first appears in "Pretty Poison" already fully formed, with no word on what her life was like up to that point. It's left up in the air if Isley's pre-show existence mirrored the comics or not.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Isn't hesitant to get touchy-feely with her victims, as demonstrated in "Pretty Poison" when she slinked behind a flytrap bound Batman to flirtatiously trace his shoulders.
• Non-Standard Character Design: Bruce Timm set out to differentiate Ivy from the other females in the series (not that there were many of them initially) by giving her a lush, more exaggerated hourglass shape and a heart-shaped face. Until the Art Evolution that came on the fourth season, Ivy also had plumper, more defined lips than anyone else. Even after getting a redesign in TNBA, she still stands out - she's shorter than Harley with chalk-white skin and the same exaggerated figure.
• Noodle Incident: This line "what has my sweet little flytrap caught this time?" alludes to Ivy feeding other people to her giant, mutant plant monster during those 5 years she waited to assassinate Harvey Dent. Just who did she kill? And why? The world may never know...
• Not Good with Rejection: Because she normally does it when her victim is either restrained or been seduced Ivy reacts angrily if they're in a position to willfully dodge her lips.
• "Not So Different" Remark: She tries to pull this on Batman, claiming they both punish "evildoers." Batman doesn't always agree with her definition of "evildoer"...
• Not So Similar: Batman and Poison Ivy are both intelligent, resourceful people driven by a life consuming cause and want to make a difference in the world. Even how Isley was first depicted in "Pretty Poison" as a wealthy person with a dual identity mirrored Batman. The key difference is that Ivy is willing to kill and Batman firmly abides by his Thou Shall Not Kill rule.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Looking past Ivy's flora avenging mission, you find alot of her behavior is more to satisfy her sadism. Using, seducing and/or killing men for instance.
• Older Than They Look: Presumably somewhere in her mid to late 30s by the time of Batman and Harley Quinn yet nary a single wrinkle in sight. Her evolving biology might be why.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: Frequently, she'll give people who harm the environment with brutal (and often disproportionate) punishments. The most horrifying example is in "Eternal Youth", where she doses business owners whose companies have harmed the environment with a toxin that leaves them trapped as petrified, sentient trees.
• Pet the Dog: She gives Harley a stamina booster. This would later save Harley's life in Return of the Joker.
• Plant Person: She creates these in "House And Garden" to serve as her "family" and starts to resemble one more and more in TNBA.
• Proud Beauty: Given how much Ivy likes to pose and flaunt her body she can't help but come across as this.
• Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: She brainwashed Dr. Carlysle into marrying her, before taking his DNA — aka raping him — to create clones of him to pose as himself and his "sons". Batman is very disgusted by this, especially when they find the real Carlysle in her greenhouse.
• Really Gets Around: Although it's only mentioned once in "House & Garden" according to Commissioner Gordon she's, offscreen, targeted many wealthy, single men in typical noir vamp fashion.
• Redhead In Green: And constantly surrounded by it, too.
• Revenge by Proxy: Of a sort. She transforms Alfred and his girlfriend not to get to Bruce, but because "someone has to pay for [his] crimes."
• Revenge Myopia: In "Eternal Youth". Not only is killing plants not tantamount to killing humans, but also Wayne was only distantly in charge of the operation for which she tries to punish him and was not any more pleased about the ecosystem damage (when he heard of it) than she was.
• Sadist: All of her crimes have the goal of other people suffering. She is a Control Freak and while most of her crimes fall into Well-Intentioned Extremist territory, at the same time she just enjoys taking revenge on behalf of mother nature. Like Lock-Up, she is a good example of a sadist who truly thinks that their victims had it coming.
• Sanity Has Advantages: Her devotion to plants can be quite crippling at times. Batman has repeatedly exploited this in their heated encounters, most notably in "Pretty Poison" when he threatens to drop Ivy's cherished Wild Thorny Roses into the deep pit he's dangling over unless she surrenders the antidote to her lipstick.
• Sealed with a Kiss: Quotes this to Batman in "Pretty Poison" which adds a layer of faux romance to their kiss.
• Sexy Backless Outfit: All of her costumes expose her back.
• Schrödinger's Canon: The various comic tie-ins and Batman and Harley Quinn all provide contradicting accounts of Poison Ivy's life after The New Batman Adventures. In one, the Poison Ivy that appears in TNBA wasn't even the real Ivy to begin with.
• Significant Green-Eyed Redhead: She is a rare flower.
• Smug Smiler: At least once per appearance.
• Soft-Spoken Sadist: Her honeyed voice doesn't hide her vicious streak.
• The Sociopath: Outright states that she's immune to "the pain and suffering of others" during a flashback in "Almost Got 'Im". That said, she is upset when Harley starts crying in Batman and Harley Quinn, and even gives her a hug, so she may not be as sociopathic as she thinks.
• Stacy's Mom: Pretends to be this in "House & Garden." Someone as glamorously sexy as her sticks out like a sore thumb in mundane suburbia, even with an appropriate wardrobe.
• Stalker without a Crush: Towards Harvey Dent in "Pretty Poison." Whatever affection Ivy showed him was entirely disingenious. She merely wanted to get close enough to string along Harvey for a little while before "sealing his fate." The Wayne/Dent penitentiary headline she kept hung in her greenhouse for 5 years underscores this.
• Straw Feminist: Sometimes portrayed this way. In "Harley & Ivy", she goes on a crime spree with Harley Quinn and claims its all about female empowerment. The episode ends with her being arrested by Detective Montoya and another female cop.
  • Not So Above It All: That said, when she and Harley manage to subject Bruce Wayne to Ivy's mind control dust, they go on a stereotypically girly shopping spree on Bruce's tab.
• "Take That!" Kiss: She seems rather fond of giving these. Is especially passionate about it whenever the person on the other end is Batman.
  • In "Pretty Poison", after she forces a poisonous kiss on Batman while her mutant plant restrains him, she mockingly asks him in a false flirty voice if he's afraid she has cooties when he tries to spit out the poison before laughing at him. When he keeps trying to spit, she says in a fake sad voice that he's hurt her feelings, and now won't share the antidote with him "like she was planning to".
  • In "Almost Got 'Im", as Batman is suffocating in her poison gas, she stands over him while explaining how she has a natural immunity to stuff like "poisons, toxins, and the pain and suffering of others" in a false loving voice, before mockingly blowing him a goodbye kiss and leaving him to die.
  • In "Eternal Youth" she tauntingly smooches the cheek of an industrialist she'd turned into a tree.
  • In "Harley and Ivy", after she and Harley have captured Batman and try to drown him by tying him to a table and pushing him into some toxic waste, Ivy mockingly blows him a goodbye kiss once he's submerged.
  • In "Chemistry" she attempts to use her Kiss of Death on both Batman and Robin during the climax of the episode, with her grabbing Robin to try to force it on him and holding Batman by the chin. Though she is interrupted during both these attempts.
• The Tease: She enjoys leading men on, acting sweet and loving towards them, until it's time for their lips to meet.
  • Greatest example is her behavior in "Pretty Poison." First with Harvey Dent, spending a week wrapping him around her finger, pretending to be head over heels in love, before subjecting him to her lethal kiss and then later on with Batman, playfully greeting him, referring to his nightly intrusion as "a late night rendezvous", rubbing his shoulders and then sharing a deadly, albeit passionate smooch.
• Terms of Endangerment: She likes to refer to Batman as "Darling" in a faux-loving tone, even when trying to kill him.
• Tough Love: In "Harley & Ivy" she spends much of her screentime mocking and criticizing Quinn over her relationship with Joker, but only because he's an abusive creep she wants her to ditch.
• Truly Single Parent: Her immune system prevents her from bearing children, so she creates some of her own, albeit from one unlucky doctor's DNA.
• Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Downplayed. She pretends to be this with clone Dr. Carlyle in "House & Garden." Steven isn't hideous, but rather average looking, whereas Pamela is practically sex on legs with how stunning she is.
• The Vamp: Next to her control over plants, her feminine whiles are her favored weapon.
• Victoria's Secret Compartment: Where she stored her lipstick in the climax of "Pretty Poison."
• Villainous Crush: The subtext baked into her interactions with Batman strongly hints at this. Hell, in "Eternal Youth" she's all but asking him to join her side. Ivy only turns homicidal after he shoots down her offer by labeling her a "fanatic."
  • Oddly she once showed signs of having one towards Bruce Wayne too. In the comic short story "Cruise To Nightmare" Poison Ivy and her henchgirls hijack a cruise liner hosting a charity drive Wayne's attending. Ivy not only flirts with Bruce, but adds how she's now tempted to include him in her haul. Doesn't stop her from ordering her sea wood dragon to knock Wayne overboard into the waters below when he grabs her wrist though.
  Poison Ivy: Poor Brucie. Very cute but very stupid.
• Villainous Face Hold: Batman is her favourite target for this.
  • In "Pretty Poison" when she approaches Batman while he is restrained by her mutant flytrap to kiss him, she lays one hand on his face and gazes seductively at him for a moment, before wrapping her other hand around his neck and pulling him towards her puckered lips, and deepens their kiss halfway through.
  • In "Chemistry", she manages to stun Batman with her spores and bring him to his knees. While he's down, she grabs him by the chin and forces him to look up at her, chuckling at him briefly before leaning in and attempting to kiss him.
    Poison Ivy: Pucker up.
  • In "Eternal Youth" she briefly rubs his chin before starting her Motive Rant for that episode.
• Villainous Friendship: With Harley. Stemming from an early heist, the two develop a rather unexpected big sister-little sister friendship. Ivy is sometimes frustrated by Harley's dimness, but unlike Joker actually seems to care about her well-being (for instance, repeatedly urging her to break up with him).
• Villain Has a Point: Poison Ivy's views concerning the environment, how it needs to be safeguarded, are ultimately true, regardless of her disturbing measures taken.
  • Ivy is entirely right that Harley is better off without The Joker in her life, considering what an absolute Bastard Boyfriend he is to her.
• Villain Respect: Actually holds Batman in high esteem, more so than most men. Even proposing, if in not so many words, a partnership in "Eternal Youth."
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: She fights to save plants, in particular endangered species. It's her methods rather than her objectives that are problematic.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: Or at least the most beautiful within Gotham City. Considering the sheer number of men who've shown attraction to Poison Ivy a strong case could be made of her representing this. During the frat boy encounter in "Harley & Ivy" for instance, they seem far more interested in Pam than Quinn.
• Would Hurt a Child: Proven in "Chemistry" when Ivy attempts to force Tim Drake, then 13 years old, into sharing a "goodnight kiss" with her.

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