Sy Borgman is one of the main characters of Harley Quinn. He was once a government agent whose body was enhanced with state of the art robotic limbs. That was a long time ago, however, and it's a race to see what falls apart first - Sy's antiquated hardware or Sy himself. Still, the retired superhero (who once answered to the name of Sy-Borg) befriend Harley Quinn in the comics and it seems he'll be doing the same in the show.
Appearance[]
Sy is an elderly man with a severely retreating hairline, making him nearly entirely bald on top. His white hair covers the sides of his head and the lower top of his scalp. He has bushy eyebrows and a reddish aquiline nose. Sy's clothes consist of a mustard yellow button-shirt, light brown slacks, a wristwatch, and a pair of rectangular red glasses. He uses a wheelchair. His most noticeable features are his right grey metal arm and left metal leg.
After dying and being resurrected as A.I. he appears only on screens although looks like his regular self.
Biography[]
Background[]
Sy is an ex-CIA agent who moves around via wheelchair, and many parts of him, most noticeably one of his arms and legs, have been replaced with bionics. When he was a CIA agent, his main job was to be a "go-to cleaner" whenever a mess happened, and they needed someone to get rid of the corpses. As a result, he did several unsavory things worldwide, mostly in Asia, making him a war criminal. He once asked his sister and top CIA scientist, Mirielle, to create a "Monkeypus" hybrid creature to aid him in his missions, but the experiment went wrong and turned Mireille into a tentacle monster.
In his final mission in 1984, the CIA, taking notice of a new hit toyline, had him undergo a procedure using an experimental technology, turning him into a "transchanger", with the ability to turn into a sedan, albeit painfully. He later became a landlord and rented an apartment to Poison Ivy.
Season 1[]
"Finding Mr. Right"[]
- Main article: Finding Mr. Right
Sy Borgman burst into Poison Ivy's apartment, threatening to evict her unless she stopped Harley's Crew from messing up the apartment, and started listing the rules, but Ivy simply closed the door on his face, because it seemed like he was "gonna get racist". Later, he arrived with a formal eviction notice, due to King Shark having stayed in the apartment, referring to him as a "pet", which was not allowed.
"Being Harley Quinn"[]
- Main article: Being Harley Quinn
Sy was showing a couple around the apartment when he found Ivy, Harley, Doctor Psycho, Clayface and Shark King lying seemingly dead on the apartment floor which he assumed was "another suicide cult" when in reality they had just traveled into Harley's mind. He called over old colleague Golda to dispose of the bodies and the two reconnected over the old days. They carried the bodies to an abandoned mall to cremate them in a pizza oven. The gang returned to their bodies just in time before they got burned alive. Golda left, saying this was "Peru all over again". Meanwhile, Harley was looking around the mall and realized it was the perfect lair for her but Sy tried to convince her they would have to pay 100 grand a month but Harley threatened him, saying she's offering a dollar and won't kill him for almost burning them alive. He agreed on one condition, that they would let him come along on some of their heists as today had made him feel alive again.
"You're a Damn Good Cop, Jim Gordon"[]
- Main article: You're a Damn Good Cop, Jim Gordon
Sy helped Harley and the crew steal King Tut's body from a museum but she got frustrated when she discovered KGBeast had been nominated for the Legion of Doom while they hadn't so she asks the crew for ideas. Sy suggests calling his old friend Hank Kissinger as he's sure he has a few war crimes he never pulled off, however, Harley dismisses the idea stating even though they're criminals they're not war criminals. Harley instead gets the idea to rob WayneTech.
Later, the rest of the crew return to the lair and Sy comes in with some extra gear saying he's ready for the heist before he realizes he has already missed it.
"L.O.D.R.S.V.P."[]
- Main article: L.O.D.R.S.V.P.
As Harley and her crew received an invitation to visit the Legion of Doom as potential new members, Doctor Psycho rejoiced at possibly getting to move of "this shithole", referring to the mall, which upset Sy who came to defend it. at that moment, the mall started shaking at the oceanic roars coming from beneath the mall, although Sy dismissed it, as well as voicing his disinterest at the Legion of Doom. As Sy and Doctor Psycho stayed behind, the rumblings continued while Sy kept denying even hearing it.
When it continued he then tried to assert that it was "just the pipes", at which point a pink, fleshy tentacle erupted from the ground, grabbed Doctor Psycho, and smashed him against the ground and ceiling repeatedly. Sy finally admitted that there "may be a giant tentacle monster in the basement". Doctor Psycho wanted to kill "that noise making abomination" immediately, even arming himself with a harpoon, but Sy insisted that it wasn't an abomination and was in fact his own sister, telling him the story of how she ended up that was. Sy then took Psycho to Mirielle, seeing her face-to-face for the first time in 35 years
Doctor Psycho used his telepathic powers to restrain her while Sy was sobbing beside him and begged for forgiveness. Harley Quinn, Clayface and King Shark then suddenly fell through the floor. Doctor Psycho filled Harley in as Sy continued to sob with guilt, and King Shark suggested that Sy should talk to Mirielle. Doctor Psycho decided to "be your Whoopi" and translate telepathically between Mirielle's thoughts and Sy Borgman's words. Sy apologizes for Mirielle's predicament, but she claimed that it was not being transformed into a tentacle monster that angered her, but rather the decades of abandonment and of Sy closing himself off to her that had made her angry.
Psycho continues translating, saying, "I always thought no matter how bad it got, you'd never give up on our friendship." This prompts Mirielle, and Sy tells her that he should have come to her before but feared that she wouldn't forgive him. At this point, Mirielle then picks Sy up with a tentacle and hugs him gently. Overjoyed, Sy claims he needs no translation for the hug. He says he should never have kept Mirielle trapped in his basement and promptly frees her. Mirielle joyfully surges out of the basement and into Gotham, although they watched in horror as Mirielle immediately begins destroying helicopters, attacking cars, and eating civilians.
"Bensonhurst"[]
- Main article: Bensonhurst
Harley films Sy falling asleep on his wheelchair and driving around in circles and sends it to Ivy, writing "Dead or sleeping? LOL" in an attempt to reach out to her after they fell out in the previous episode when Harley ditched her for the Joker.
"Harley Quinn Highway"[]
- Main article: Harley Quinn Highway
TBA
"Devil's Snare"[]
- Main article: Devil's Snare
TBA
"The Final Joke"[]
- Main article: The Final Joke
TBA
Season 2[]
"New Gotham"[]
- Main article: New Gotham
Sy enjoyed the chaos of Gotham City following the Joker's defeat, likening it to Vietnam after America pulled out. He nearly went into a flashback, but Harley snapped him out of it and discarded what he said. He later tried to bring it up again, once more edging toward a flashback, but Harley angrily told him to stop.
Later, when Harley is kidnapped by the Injustice League, Sy Borgman tried in vain to rescue her with the rest of Harley's crew, failing for two months straight until they finally decided to follow Clayface's plan. Sy's job was to provide a distraction, which he did by creating smoke and by loudly singing "happy birthday" to The Penguin at his party (even though it wasn't his birthday). This allows the rest of the crew to steal Harley's block away, and although they get bogged down in pursuit, Sy arrives to push Harley along with his motorized wheelchair. This goes well until two goons smash Sy aside, forcing the other crew members to hold them off.
After doing so, Sy resumes pushing Harley, using a blow-torch to free Harley's swinging arm so that she can join the fight. He continues pushing her until her momentum allows her to outpace him, smashing through several goons in the process and even getting thrown by Doctor Psycho into more goons. However, this allows The Penguin to seal off a door and separate Sy from Harley. Eventually, they managed to break through the door, only to find Harley covered in blood as she finished off The Penguin.
"Catwoman"[]
- Main article: Catwoman (episode)
- ❝ There's no reason to freak out over a lost prisoner. Unless... you've built a report in order to gain their trust to break them, but in the process they've broken you. I guess what I'm sayin' is, did anyone fall in love with the Riddler? Come on. Show of hands. ❞
- — Sy Borgman
Sy along with the rest of Harley's crew notice that the Riddler who was held captive at Gotham Mall had gone missing. Sy assures everyone that the loss of a prisoner is nothing to panic over as long as none of them had fallen in love with him but his ramblings went largely ignored. Doctor Psycho instructed them to spread out to find him. While flying around the Mall, Sy saw something moving and on Doctor Psycho's command, shot who turned out to be Psycho himself with a tranquilizer dart. When Harley returned the crew told her about Doctor Psycho loosing Riddler, with Sy calling him a "schmuck", questioning why he was even in the crew. Although soon enough they noticed the Riddler had returned willingly.
"Dye Hard"[]
- Main article: Dye Hard
Sy Borgman noticed when Harley came back depressed after the events of "Bachelorette", and although he tried to give her heartfelt advice about "feeding your soul", she ignored it and went off to have sex with a stranger. Later, he notices Doctor Psycho in the Gotham Mall, and berates him for leaving the crew, but Doctor Psycho just gives him instructions for feeding the Riddler before leaving. After that, he went with Clayface and King Shark to Wayne Tower after receiving a text that he thought was from Harley.
He fought on Harley's side and was unaffected by Doctor Psycho's attempts to control his mind, due to metal plates in his head. Although he was overwhelmed, a missile shot from the Batplane temporarily overwhelmed Doctor Psycho - but they couldn't break free of the dome. Realizing this, Sy stood up and prepared to sacrifice himself to blast a hole through it, telling Harley that this was "feeding my soul". He left Harley his mechanical eye, and then turned to Doctor Psycho. He mocked him, and then launched into the sky, colliding with the shield in a titanic explosion that completely disabled it.
"Lovers' Quarrel"[]
- Main article: Lovers' Quarrel
Sy Borgman survived the death of his body by transferring his consciousness into the eye that he gave to Harley. When she plugged it into a TV, he came on screen, alive and well within the technology. At Harley's questioning, he explained that he resisted Doctor Psycho's mind control because the CIA created an anti-mind-control device that they jammed into his skull. Without the necessary components, it'd take some time to reproduce them, so Sy set Kite Man to work and walked him through the process.
After finishing the device, Sy had Kite Man run it, which allowed Sy to get out into the internet to assume control of his household appliances. Using them, he created two anti-mind-control devices for Kite Man to give to Harley.
"Something Borrowed, Something Green"[]
- Main article: Something Borrowed, Something Green
Sy attended Poison Ivy and Kite Man's wedding on a television screen.
Season 3[]
"A Thief, a Mole, an Orgy"[]
- Main article: A Thief, a Mole, an Orgy
To be added
Personality[]
Sy cannot tell the difference between a pet and human with animal features, having decided to evict Ivy and Harley's gang after King Shark started living with them. He is known to be cold and bitter to Ivy. But however, when he joins Harley’s crew, he becomes friendlier and nicer to her after being part of the team. He also seems to be quite chaotic at times, forgetting or suddenly recalling important things, likely due to his age.
Powers and Abilites[]
Powers[]
- Cybernetic Enhancements: Sy has numerous cybernetic enhancements granting him several powers.
- Transformation: Sy is able to transform into a car.
- Mechanokinesis: After Sy became an A.I and Kite Man upgraded him he gain an ability to control the machines around his house.
Abilities[]
- Expert Spy: He was a CIA spy during his youth.
Media Appearances[]
Season 1
- "Finding Mr. Right"
- "Being Harley Quinn"
- "You're a Damn Good Cop, Jim Gordon"
- "L.O.D.R.S.V.P."
- "Bensonhurst"
- "Harley Quinn Highway"
- "Devil's Snare"
- "The Final Joke"
Season 2
- "New Gotham"
- "Catwoman"
- "Batman's Back Man (cameo; pictured)
- "Dye Hard"
- "Lovers' Quarrel"
- "Something Borrowed, Something Green" (cameo)
The Eat. Bang! Kill. Tour
- "Journey to Love" (cameo; pictured)
Season 3
- "A Thief, a Mole, an Orgy"
Trivia[]
- In the comics, Sy Borgman shared an apartment with Harley. Here he instead owns the apartment building where she lives.
- He and Mirielle were both CIA agents who went through experiments. Sy became a "Transchanger" who can transform into a car, and Mirielle accidentally turned into a tentacle monster.
- After his death in "Dye Hard" it was theorized that he could still be alive as he gave Harley his cybernetic eye, which might contain his consciousness. This was proven to be true in "Lovers' Quarrel" which showed his consciousness can be accessed by plugging a phone jack into a TV. He used this to upgrade to a stand mixer to help Kite Man finish the mind control blocker to fight against Dr. Psycho.
