Betsy Braddock

Captain Britain Betsy Braddock in Excalibur v4 #1.

Betsy Braddock is a female comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Elizabeth Braddock in Captain Britain v2 #13.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock was a female human who was the daughter of James Braddock, Sr. who unknown to her was an inhabitant of Otherworld. (Captain Britain v2 #7) She was the twin sister of Brian Braddock and had an older brother in Jamie Braddock. (Captain Britain v1 #8)

Unknown to Betsy, Brian was one day chosen as this Earth’s champion by Merlin and his daughter, Roma, from Otherworld. Brian then became Captain Britain and, only shortly afterwards, Betsy alerted him that their brother Jamie was in trouble as he had an accident. Immediately, Brian followed his sister to the airport, since the fastest way to get to Jamie was by plane and Betsy worked as a charterpilot. (Captain Britain v1 #8) Fortunately, Jamie was not badly hurt, but it turned out that a villain had caused the crash and now he hypnotized Betsy into attacking her brother. However, Captain Britain was able to uncover the villain’s identity and Betsy was restored to normal. (Captain Britain v1 #10) She was with her brother Jamie when the pair were taken hostage by agents of the Red Skull. The pair were later saved by Captain America and Captain Britain which was when Betsy and Jamie came to the learn that the latter was really their brother Brian. (Captain Britain v1 #21) Betsy was 16 years old when she first moved to New York when she began her modelling job. It was around this time that she began to develop migraines that were the result of her telepathy manifesting. During the first use of her powers, she could not block the minds of millions of people which left her locking herself in her apartment for a month. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #3)

Afterwards, her telepathic abilities began to grow stronger until she was contacted by a telepathic agent working for S.T.R.I.K.E. that was the British version of S.H.I.E.L.D.. At the time, the organization was establishing a Psi Division similar to the one in the U.S. with Betsy being recruited for it. She accepted where she began to work for them over the next few years where she came to learn more about her telepathic abilities. Later on, the agency came to be infiltrated by a rival criminal organization headed by the Vixen. Operatives were placed in high ranking positions but one threat to their infiltration was from the telepaths of the Psi Division. This marked them for elimination where several of their number were murdered with Betsy and the survivors being forced to go on the run. This saw her reaching out to her brother Brian Braddock who she had not seen for years and wanted to get his help in his superhero guise as Captain Britain. (Daredevils v1 #3) Around this time, she was assigned the mission of infiltrating the Hellfire Club where she looked to attract the interest of its Lord Imperial Sir Gordon Philips and the rising Black King Sebastian Shaw. The young Braddock was overconfident in her talents and abilities to succeed in the mission but was warned off by Tessa who stated that Betsy was ill-prepared for this task leading to her abandoning the mission. (X-Treme X-Men v1 #3)

Betsy continued her modelling career and secretly served the psi-division of STRIKE, until the organization was infiltrated by agents of the Vixen, a British crimelord. As the psi-division posed a threat to her plans, she hired the Slaymaster to kill them one by one. This time, Betsy knew better than to act alone and contacted her recently returned brother, Brian, for help. By the time he arrived, only Betsy, her lover Tom, and a blind woman named Alison were still alive of the psi-division. All other members had already been killed by the opponent. With the help of the telekinetic Tom, Captain Britain defeated the villain and afterwards Betsy and her friends moved into Braddock Manor. (Daredevils v1 #4) Later, Great Britain was hit by a reality warp caused by Sir James Jaspers. In the altered reality, super-beings were incarcerated in concentration camps, forcing Brian and his friends to go undercover. Betsy used her precognition ability to tell the others when it would be safe to leave their hide-out to search for food or medicine, but not before long they were discovered. Tom sacrificed himself, attacking the soldiers telekinetically to buy the others enough time to get away, but through their mindlink Betsy felt the psychic backlash when he died. Frightened and almost catatonic, she was easily captured and put into a concentration camp. (Mighty World of Marvel v2 #9)

A few days later, an old friend from Betsy's STRIKE days returned and told her about a new organization called R.C.X. They wanted to deal with the Warpies problem; mutated children that were being born all over Britain as an after effect of the reality warp. Betsy allowed the Warpies to be moved into the manor, which caused a heavy argument with her brother, who left the family home in anger. (Captain Britain v2 #9) Wearing Kaptain Briton's costume magnified Betsy's strength and enabled her to fly. The hero Captain UK trained Betsy in crime fighting skills, and they became partners for several months. Captain UK eventually opted to let Betsy follow a solo career as Captain Britain. Soon after, the Vixen lured Betsy into an ambush, where Slaymaster brutally blinded her. Brian felt his twin's pain through the psychic bond they shared. He came to Betsy's rescue, killing Slaymaster, and once again took up the Captain Britain mantle. (Captain Britain v2 #13) Betsy was offered new cybernetic eyes by R.C.X., but refused, preferring to rely on her telepathy to see. Betsy later accepted Gabriel's proposal of marriage and the engaged couple travelled to the Swiss Alps, where they hoped she could recuperate in peace. (Captain Britain v2 #14)

X-Men

From there, she was captured by Mojo and Spiral, who held her captive for about a year. This saw her being surgically given artificial eyes. Mojo mentally controlled Braddock, renaming her Psylocke. Having her star in a popular new show, the Wildways, he used her to lure children around the world into joining his junior team show, the Bratpack. When Mojo captured some of the New Mutants, the rest of the group went to the TV show reality to save their teammates. Braddock was found and rescued by Cypher and Warlock, and chose to stay at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, home of the X-Men, as her powers were mutant in origin. (New Mutants Annual v1 #2) Her bionic eyes were revealed to be cameras that allowed Mojo to record everything she saw and broadcast it as TV shows in his Mojoverse. When the X-Men shows became an outstanding success, Mojo tried to turn them into his loyal servants by reducing them to childhood and raising them anew. Luckily, they were saved by the New Mutants. During the fight, Betsy learned of the purpose of the bionic eyes, but she decided to keep it secret. Over the next few days, Psylocke discovered, through her telepathy, that Doug Ramsey of the New Mutants was in love with her. Even though she had similar feelings, she did not explore their relationship further since he was under age. (X-Men Annual v1 #10)

During the Mutant Massacre, Betsy helped the X-Men in every way she could. She used her telepathy to ease the pain of the wounded Morlocks and also scanned for intruders, which was how she discovered Sabretooth attacking the mansion. He nearly took her by surprise, but she fought back and led him on a wild chase through the mansion, luring him away from any of the injured people. Finally, when Logan intervened and kept Sabretooth busy, she used the distraction to slip past his psychic defenses and extract information on the mastermind behind the massacre – Mister Sinister. Betsy's performance impressed the X-Men so much that they offered her the opportunity to join the team officially. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #213)

Shortly afterwards, the continued presence of the Marauders forced the X-Men to go underground. Back in New York, X-Men leader Storm decided that, in order to safeguard their friends and families from their many enemies, the X-Men should go underground as a proactive strike force. Unfortunately, reserve X-Man Havok stumbled in, right as the team were discussing this plan. In order to protect themselves, Psylocke erased the incident from his memory. However, trained by Professor Xavier, Havok's psi-shields proved to be too strong. He was having strange dreams of being attacked by the X-Men, so he went to New York again and tracked them to the Morlock tunnels. Psylocke dared not tamper with his mind a second time, fearing she might permanently damage it. The X-Men wondered what to do, as Havok knowing of their location would have endangered their plan, especially if he fell into the Marauders' hands. Going a little bit over the edge, Psylocke even suggested killing him, but the others reminded her that this would make them no better then the villains. Hearing all this, Havok felt that he was needed and fully rejoined the team, though he was suspicious of the purple-haired telepath who had violated his privacy by invading his mind. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #219)

When Brian and Meggan visited Betsy at the X-Mansion, the X-Men were abducted by Horde, who planned to use them to retrieve the Crystal of Ultimate Vision from the Citadel of Light and Shadow, where it was hidden. Illusions of each of the X-Men's most wished desires were cast. Psylocke was transformed into a metallic warrior as her heart desired physical invulnerability. She sacrificed herself to slow Horde down. Wolverine, empowered to godhood, rejected this power, returning the X-Men and their friends home. (X-Men Annual v1 #11)

After defeating the Reavers, the X-Men took the cyborgs' Australian Outback base as their own headquarters. Soon, Psylocke thought herself to be a liability to the team in physical battles, which is why Wolverine requested an armored bodysuit for her through his contacts, providing Betsy with some sort of protection. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #232) Isolated in the Australian Outback, Betsy formed a close relationship to Colossus where she even posed naked for him doing sketches. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #240) Following the Inferno conflict, the team began to break apart. Longshot went off on a search for his inner balance, Wolverine spent more and more time as Patch in Madripoor, Rogue was sucked into the Siege Perilous and Storm was apparently killed. Tensions lay bare and old conflicts flared up again. Havok once again accused Betsy of reading his mind without being invited and her explanations that it was sometimes hard to screen other thoughts seemed insufficient to him. Havok also was not pleased when she assumed command of the team, but he had to admit that of the few remaining X-Men she was the most capable person for the job. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #249)

While the last four X-Men were on a mission in the Savage Land, Betsy experienced a precognitive flash of the Reavers defeating the X-Men in Australia; most were killed and she herself turned into a Reaver too. When Gateway teleported them back to the Australian Outback without warning, Betsy knew that she had to make a quick choice, as she could already sense the cyborgs approaching. She suggested it was best to disband the team and walk through the Siege Perilous. Dazzler and Colossus were easily convinced, even though they probably would never see each other again in their new lives. Only Havok opposed her choice, so Betsy used her telepathy on him to make him enter the mystical doorway too. Ironically, with this act, she once more violated his personal rights and actually proved his suspicions about her to be true. After the three X-Men were gone, Psylocke too escaped into the Siege right as the Reavers arrived. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #251)

Utilizing her telepathy in the form of a psychic blade and now sporting Kwannon’s martial arts training, Betsy performed several missions for the Hand and their ally the Mandarin, until one assignment pitted her against her former comrade, Wolverine. When she hit him with her psychic blade, the feedback showed her his memories of her former self, enabling her to break free from the brainwashing. She helped Logan and his new sidekick, Jubilee, stop the Hand’s imminent plans and then fled with them. Although Betsy’s dream finally became reality, for now she was a true warrior, she blamed herself for the unknown fates of her teammates, whom she had sent through the Siege Perilous. If the changes that had happened to her as a result of this decision were any indication, the other three X-Men might have found themselves in equally bad or even worse scenarios. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #258)

After a few adventures in China and Japan, Psylocke, Logan and Jubilee headed to Genosha when the news reported the capture of the New Mutants during the crisis known as the X-Tinction Agenda. Wolverine and Betsy posed as Magistrates, but their cover was soon blown by former teammate Havok, who had been transported to Genosha by the Siege Perilous. Amnesiac and confused, he was easily manipulated into serving the state. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #271) After Cameron Hodge, the mastermind behind the Genoshan government, was defeated, the X-Men reunited and returned to New York. Back in Westchester, with the X-Men no longer pretending to be dead, the time had come for each of them to get in contact again with friends and family. Only Betsy was hesitant. When she had last been separated from her brother for a time, he was startled by her simple change of having purple-dyed hair. Ironically, the hair was still purple, but everything else had changed this time and these changes were more than skin-deep. No one knew for sure that there wasn’t some part of the Hand’s brainwashed conditioning left and, despite his best efforts, Forge could not come up with a way to undo the changes to Psylocke or fully diagnose her. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #273)

Soon afterwards, Psylocke’s loyalties were put to the test. Shortly after the original five X-Men re-joined, the team found themselves under attack by Fenris and Matsu’o Tsurayaba. During the battle, Matsu'o used a post-hypnotic command, causing Betsy to switch sides and oppose the X-Men. Her entire team ended up captive, but it turned out that she was only feigning obedience. Thus, it was shown that Psylocke had truly overcome her brainwashing. (X-Men v2 #7)

The situation escalated when they shared a kiss making it seem that the pair were about to embark on an affair. However, Cyclops rejected her and claimed he was committed to Jean Grey, who later questioned Psylocke in the Danger Room about the situation. Unexpectedly, Kwannon interfered, fought Psylocke and won, claiming to be the real Betsy Braddock. (X-Men v2 #20) Since neither Logan’s enhanced senses nor Xavier’s telepathy could tell which one was the real Betsy, the X-Men traveled to Japan for answers, but from Nyoirin and the Hand they only got half-truths. (X-Men v2 #22) Her ambiguous identity left Psylocke off balance for weeks as she tried to reconcile her memories and behavior with who she believed herself to be. She cemented a deep and lasting friendship with Hank McCoy around this time, when Beast remained steadfast in his belief that she was Ms. Braddock, regardless of any claims to the contrary. (X-Men v2 #29) Only when Revanche was infected with the Legacy Virus, which brought her powers to their peak, was she able to see clearly through the lies in her head and knew that Psylocke, even though in the Asian body, was the one, true Betsy Braddock. Upon dying, Revanche returned the rest of Betsy’s mind and power to Psylocke and took the missing parts of Kwannon into herself. (X-Men v2 #32)

Jean helped Betsy to refine her telepathic abilities she regained from Kwannon. During the training session, Betsy confessed that, even though her flirtation with Scott was influenced by parts of Kwannon’s mind, she too found him attractive, but now she found a new love in another teammate, Archangel. (X-Men v2 #39)

Kwannon returned with the X-Men and joined the team as Revanche, causing immense discomfort between her and Psylocke in the team. Not long after, Revanche contracted the Legacy Virus. (X-Men Annual v2 #2)

Archangel broke up with Psylocke, admitting their relationship had hit a dead end. After the break-up, Psylocke joined Storm's X-Men squad and started a relationship with Thunderbird. The new team left the Xavier Institute to search for Destiny's diaries. (X-Men v2 #109)

Warren and Betsy took a leave of absence to have some time to heal, but the magical elixir changed Betsy more than what was at first visible. To alert the team of the unexpected regression of Archangel’s wings she appeared in the mansion via her new ability to melt in and out of the shadows. Also, personality-wise, she grew colder and more distant. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #338)

When the X-Men received an urgent summons to travel to Africa, Storm asked Psylocke to shadow-teleport them there. Opposed by what appeared to be Ananasi, a trickster god, the X-Men really fought the Shadow King. On the astral plane, he tricked Psylocke into initiating a telepathic shockwave that disabled telepaths all over the world, leaving the Shadow King in command of the astral plane. Although her astral form was destroyed, Betsy emerged in a new "shadow form" that was a by-product of her exposure to the Crimson Dawn. Invisible to the Shadow King, Betsy was able to free the X-Men he had captured and then taunted the Shadow King until he over-extended himself by trying to corrupt every mind on the planet. Betsy was then able to contain the Shadow King’s core telepathically, but at a great cost. To ensure that the Shadow King would never be able to escape his prison inside her mind, Psylocke was forced to permanently focus her telepathic powers on keeping the Shadow King imprisoned, never to use her telepathy again. (X-Men v2 #78)

When Jean learned of this condition during the Twelve crisis, she opted to help Betsy dealing with it; this yet undocumented experiment [set in the six month gap] misfired, resulting in a power-switch between the two women. Jean acquired all of Betsy’s telepathic potential, adding to her own, even the shadowy astral image, while Psylocke now possessed Jean’s telekinetic power. (X-Men v2 #100)

In Valencia, Storm's X-Men were captured by the national police. (X-Treme X-Men v1 #1) Psylocke was separated from the team with Beast and Rogue, when Vargas suddenly showed up intending to kill Rogue, for a passage in Destiny's Diaries claimed he would be finished by her. As the last one standing, Psylocke dueled Vargas to protect her friends, but was impaled through the chest and ultimately killed. (X-Treme X-Men v1 #2)

Resurrection

Months later, Psylocke mysteriously appeared out of the blue in the exact spot she had been murdered, without the Crimson Dawn. Storm's X-Men were contacted to retrieve her. After running severe tests, her identity was confirmed. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #455)

Joining Storm's X-Men, Psylocke was reunited with her friends in a changed world, where Cyclops and Emma Frost ran the Xavier Institute, presumed dead teammates Colossus and Rachel Grey were alive, and Jean Grey was deceased. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #460)

Experiencing visions of her brother Jamie, Psylocke formed a friendship with her teammate Rachel Grey, who experienced similar sightings. Jamie's machinations proved to be real when the Scarlet Witch rewrote the entire reality: though Grey tried to protect herself and Psylocke in the White Hot Room, Jamie forced them into the reshaped reality. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #462)

Following her experience with the Sisterhood, Psylocke regained her telepathy. Next, she traveled back in time to assist the X-Club in their research to reverse the effects of M-Day. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #512)

In need to provide a second burial of her original body, Psylocke took her corpse back to Tokyo, where it had been originally buried. At the cemetery, she was attacked by ninjas sent by Matsu'o Tsurayaba. She survived the attack and decided to put Tsurayaba down for good. (Psylocke v1 #1) At his hideout mansion, Psylocke was impeded from reaching him by Yukio. Knocking Yukio out, Psylocke met the Jinn, who also wanted Tsurayaba dead. (Psylocke v1 #2) In another of Matsu'o's hideouts, they found him in miserable condition and learned he had arranged for his own death. (Psylocke v1 #3) Throughout the years, Wolverine had gradually mutilated Tsurayaba for his part in Mariko Yashida's death. His attack on Psylocke was actually an elaborate suicide scheme. A violent confrontation between Psylocke and Wolverine took place, and Wolverine ultimately gave up fighting for Tsurayaba's life. Before leaving, Wolverine mentioned Psylocke's recent death wish attitude. Psylocke finally put Tsurayaba out of his misery by stabbing him with her psychic knife. (Psylocke v1 #4)

X-Force

Psylocke in Astonishing X-Men v4 #1.

She resumed her relationship with Warren Worthington III with the two being a couple once more as they formed a new incarnation of X-Force alongside Wolverine who brought in Fantomex onto the team whilst Angel had hired Deadpool. (Wolverine: Road to Hell v1 #1) Elizabeth was also helping Warren in controlling the ruthless Archangel persona that was embedded in Worthington and keeping it under control. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #1) The teams first assignment was to infiltrate a Clan Akkaba stronghold after they received reports that the secret society had resurrected Apocalypse in the form of a clone. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #2) This led to the teams confrontation with the Final Horsemen who were the boys protectors. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #3) She was abducted by the Horseman War who had been smitten with Psylocke due to the mental misdirections of Fantomex which she used as an opportunity to render him unconscious. Elizabeth then entered into the chambers of Apocalypse to kill her target only to discover that he was a young boy currently whereupon she intended to take him away so he could be raised differently. Thus, she opposed her fellow X-Force members that had come to assassinate the child. This resulted in her fighting against Warren who intended to kill the boy as he believed the child was destined to become Apocalypse once more. During the fight, he managed to overpower Wolverine and Psylocke where he nearly killed the child but relented as he saw the horror in the act he was about to commit. The team then decided to take the boy away to be raised elsewhere but whilst their attention was diverted the young En Sabah Nur was shot in the head and killed by Fantomex. X-Force then quickly departed the Ship as it was making a matter transport to another site. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #4)

Back to normal, she and Fantomex battled Archangel who managed to overpower the pair where he attempted to plant the Life Seed once again. Betsy recovered where she confronted him once again where she used all her strength in a powerful telepathic onslaught that knocked her opponent down briefly. However, she failed to use the Life Seed on Archangel which would have purged the Death Seed from his body. Archangel was distracted when Evan Sabahnur entered into the fight where the young clone of Apocalypse battled Warren but failed to defeat the Dark Angel. The fight did distract him allowing for Betsy to sneak up on and stab Archangel with the Life Seed which destroyed the Death Seed but was overwriting his life. Dying from the attack, Betsy spoke to Warren telepathically where the two declared their love for one another with her crafting a dream where the two married, had children and died together. She was then forced to leave Warren's body behind during the destruction caused to the area. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #18) Though dead, the Life Seed in his body came a new being born in the place of Warren Worthington III named Angel who had no memory of his predecessor. Betsy came to struggle in her encounters with him as she knew Warren was dead but came to see his body still animated by a new soul. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #19) After sending Worthington to the Jean Grey School, Psylocke and Fantomex were kidnapped from Cavern-X by the Captain Britain Corps. Psylocke was shocked to see her brother Jamie alive and working with Brian in the Corps. The Braddock brothers confronted their sister over her assassin actions as a member of X-Force. They also offered her original body and her inherited mantle as Lady Britain, in a moment Otherworld was being invaded by inter-dimensional forces. Meanwhile, for having killed the child Apocalypse, Fantomex was put on trial by the Corps, who used Brian's reformed psychic connection to his sister as evidence. Fantomex was sentenced to death by injection with an anti-reality serum. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #20)

In the months afterwards, she remained with Fantomex and his female counterpart Cluster where the three stayed together in Paris. Elizabeth was deeply in love with Fantomex but resented having to spend time with Cluster though decided to give her a chance. In this time, Fantomex pushed Betsy to indulging in the life a thief and as his misdirection powers had gone to Weapon XIII he lacked his old powerset and had need of Psylocke's telepathy as a substitute. The three of them conducted a burglary in France where during their escape Elizabeth lost her footing and nearly fell but was saved by Cluster. They returned to their hideout but the theft was something that Betsy did not enjoy despite Fantomex trying to push her into this career. This caused her to be unhappy with him and she decided to have a moment alone. She was then visited by Cluster who revealed that after their brain was split between three bodies that each embodied different traits of the original Fantomex. It was then that Betsy realised that Cluster held the love Fantomex had for her with her and Cluster sharing a kiss together. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #7)

ResurrXion

Kitty Pryde assembled a group of X-Women — including Psylocke — to confront Magneto in his base of operations in Madripoor, since they determined he was a potential suspect. The mutant heroines were ambushed by a local crime ring, Viper's Femme Fatales. The psychic vampire Sapphire Styx absorbed the entirety of Psylocke's soul at once, leaving her body dead. (Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor v1 #1)

Whilst her mind was trapped inside Sapphire Styx, Betsy came upon the various souls the supervillain had absorbed with one being a lingering trace of Logan. Once there, she managed to rally the energies of the people she had consumed alongside Logan's to shatter her foes body and molecularly re-forge her own which she did in her original form. (Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor v1 #4)

As a member of the X-Men, Psylocke grew close to Angel again. When the X-Men were caught amidst a riot ignited by Jamie Madrox, Psylocke and Angel helped to control the mob. Angel mysteriously vanished during the conflict, leaving Psylocke confused. (Uncanny X-Men v5 #1) Madrox's actions were succeeded by unexplained phenomena the X-Men went to assess. In these missions, Psylocke constantly coordinated with Jean Grey telepathically. (Uncanny X-Men v5 #2)

House of X

Coming to terms with her life, she began to abandon her life as Psylocke and looked to settle on Krakoa. Once there, she learnt that her brother Jamie had been resurrected with him content to remain in the Mutant nation developing there. Around this time, she was informed of a crisis occurring in Otherworld around a Krakoan gateway that sprouted in that realm. Betsy accompanied her brother Brian Braddock to investigate where the learnt Morgan le Fay ruled the lands as Regent-Queen where she saw the Krakoan gateway as a defilement of her realm. Thus, she declared war on Mutants and magically controlled Brian Braddock to turn against his sister. Before being sent away from Otherworld, Betsy was given the Amulet of Right by Brian thus transforming her into the new Captain Britain. (Excalibur v4 #1)

As part of the prophecy, Betsy as named as one of the sword wielders of Krakoa and she was to wield the Starlight Sword. However, the blade forged as by Saturnyne was meant for her champion who she had chosen to be Brian Braddock and she intended to stripe Betsy Braddock from her position as Captain Britain. Knowing this to be the case, the Braddock siblings orchestrated a ruse to distract Saturnyne long enough for Betsy to claim the Starlight Sword which she took to the gathering ground on Krakoa where she and her brother Brian joined the other sword wielders as they waited for the upcoming Contest of Swords. (Excalibur v4 #13)

During the dinner, she was with her brother Brian Braddock when he attempted to have a private talk with Saturnyne where he requested Arrako be disqualified from the tournament for an attempted poisoning against the Krakoan champions. Saturnyne refused his request as Wolverine had attempted to kill her thus showing that Krakoa had also attempted to cheat in the tournament. (Marauders v1 #15) She then prepared for the match when Isca met her and told Betsy not to humiliate herself in their fight with her considering this to be 'friendly' advice to her opponent. The pair later had their match in Avalon with it being officiated by her brother King Jamie Braddock. Initially, Betsy managed to get an advantage and hit her opponent with a telekinetic shield thus drawing blood from Isca. However, then her sword along with her body shattered seemingly killing her thus leading to the first victory by Arakko. (Excalibur v4 #14)

She awoke to find herself in another reality where she had taken the place of that Elizabeth Braddock. On this world, the Braddock's were the royal family that ruled England with her father having once been its monarch. Later on, her counterpart came to succeed him and took the throne as Queen Elizabeth III where she had Pete Wisdom as her Prime Minister. Finding herself in the royal bedchambers, she learnt also that her counterpart was involved with Warren Worthington III of this reality with their relationship having sparked an interest from the public over the Queen being with an American. Betsy Braddock came to reveal her true nature to Warren where she decided to return to her Earth through the Otherworld portal at the Lighthouse. To aid her, Worthington requested his ex-girlfriend Kwannon accompany Betsy to the site as it was the base for British intelligence and converted into a stronghold. Together, the pair broke into the site where Betsy attempted to use this as an opportunity to apologise to Kwannon for taking her body in her own reality. Braddock then went through the portal and materialised on Earth-616 in the waters around her world's Lighthouse. (Excalbur v4 #17)

Captain Britain was later called to Otherworld by Saturnyne to attend a meeting of the regents of the different realms. Whilst there, Merlyn decided to bring his grievances before the group where he claimed that Saturnyne was an ill-fit ruler and that under her watch that their world was nearly destroyed by the 'witchbreed'. Thus, he attempted to foster discontent and unrest among the regents against her with Saturnyne allying with Betsy Braddock against their mutual enemy. (Excalibur v4 #22)

Overview

Personality and attributes

After being brainwashed by the Mandarin, she came to serve as his personal assassin and enforcer where she came to be known as the Lady Mandarin. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #256) Her ties to the Captain Britain Corps still somewhat remained and in one instance she was referred to as Lady Britain. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #20) After her brother lost the title, Betsy came to succeed Brian as the new Captain Britain. (Excalibur v4 #1)

During her time as a model, she began to change the color of her hair to purple. (Daredevils v1 #3) She began to abandon the name Psylocke after returning to her original body. (Excalibur v4 #1)

Betsy was known to participated in fox hunting with her father and older brother Jamie. (Uncanny X-Force v1 #23) In her youth, she looked up to her older brother Jamie and his adventurous lifestyle with her loving his cars. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #256) She once worked as a charter pilot and had some skill flying airplanes. (Captain Britain v1 #8)

Her father was James Braddock, Sr. where she was unaware of the fact that he came from Otherworld. (Captain Britain v2 #7)

She had a twin brother who was Brian Braddock where it was said that they wielded the power of Otherworld in their genes. (Captain Britain v2 #7) She and her twin brother Brian were said to be close yet sometimes acted like strangers. (Captain Britain v1 #8)

Isolated in the Australian Outback, Betsy formed a close relationship to Colossus. She even posed naked for him doing sketches. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #240)

Powers and abilities

Elizabeth Braddock in Astonishing X-Men v4 #1.

As a result of her parentage, she was only half-human. (Captain Britain v2 #7) She was noted for being a telepath and a precog. (Daredevils v1 #3) Her abilities first came to manifest when she was 16 years old where this first manifested as migraines before developing into telepathy. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #3) Betsy came to be regarded as the third most powerful psychic on the planet. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #17)

Braddock could use her telepathy to read and project thoughts over long distances. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #221) She came to receive training in her telepathic abilities when she worked for S.T.R.I.K.E.'s Psi Division. (Daredevils v1 #3)

She could manifest a telekinetic sword composed of raw psi-energy at will. (X-Men v2 #100) Braddock began to experiment in testing the limits of her new powers as she was shown to be capable of manifesting telekinetic shields and swords for use in fights. (Uncanny X-Men v5 #1)

In Kwannon's body, Braddock refined her telepathic abilities with the help of Jean Grey who helped train her. (X-Men v2 #39)

Betsy was experiencing in flying airplanes with her first working as a charter pilot. (Captain Britain v1 #7)

As Psylocke, she was once given a sword named Shurayuki that was forged in Japan a thousand years ago with it being given to her by an old friend. (Uncanny X-Force v2 #1)

She later came to wield the Starlight Sword that was crafted by Saturnyne and was made from a piece of the Starlight Citadel itself. (Excalibur v4 #13)

Notes

• Psylocke was created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe where she made her first appearance in Captain Britain v1 #8 (December, 1976).
• Writer Chris Claremont noted that, "So—the idea was to put everything back the way we found it, originally. But then, looking at what Jim had created—visually—she looked so cool. “Heck it, we can fix it later.” I mean, Jim, Jim will be around for three years, and then we’ll get a new artist and we’ll fix it. In the meantime—let’s go with it! And see what happens. See where it leads. Sometimes you have a plan, sometimes you have an inspiration. The one thing I didn’t consider anywhere in this equation was “What if I’m the one to go, and not Jim."
• Writer Chris Yost commented on her powerset being, "She's not shadow melding, she's maybe a little telekinetic. She's got high level telepathy, which she can focus into a psychic knife. She's got the muscle memory of being a bad-ass ninja assassin, so she can move, knows martial arts, and is lethal with a katana. That's it."
• Rick Remender stated on X-Position that the character was, "Burgeoning Omega-level telepath and stealthy ninja. I see Betsy as having telepathic abilities akin to Jean Grey’s prior to the Phoenix merger, with the ninja skills of a high Hand operative. That is it."

Alternate Versions

• In Uncanny X-Force v1 #28 (2012), an alternate version of her known as Magistrate Braddock appeared as a native to the reality of Earth-12928 in the Multiverse.
• In Excalibur v4 #16 (2020), an alternate version of her known as Queen Elizabeth III appeared as a native to the reality of Earth-TRN904 in the Multiverse.
• In Captain Carter v1 #1 (2022), an alternate version of her known as Lizzie Braddock appeared as a native to the reality of Earth-TRN944 in the Multiverse.

In other media

Television

• In X-Men, Psylocke appeared in the fourth season of the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Tasha Simms.
• In Wolverine and the X-Men, Psylocke appeared as a minor antagonist in the animated television series episode "Time Bomb" where she was voiced by actress Grey DeLisle.

Films

• In X2: X-Men United, Psylocke was referenced in the 2003 live-action film.
• In X-Men: The Last Stand, Psylocke appeared as a minor antagonist in the 2006 live-action film where she was portrayed by actress Meiling Melançon.
• In X-Men: Apocalypse, Psylocke appeared in the 2016 live-action film where she was portrayed by actor Olivia Munn.

Video games

• In X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, Psylocke appeared as a playable character in the setting of the fighting video game where she was voiced by actress Jane Luk.
• In Marvel Heroes, Psylocke appeared as a playable character in the MMORPG video game.
• In Deadpool, Psylocke appeared in the setting of the third-person shooter video game where she was voiced by actress Melissa Disney.
• In Marvel: Contest of Champions, Psylocke appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game.
• In Marvel Future Fight, Betsy Braddock as Psylocke appeared as a playable character in the setting of the mobile video game.

Appearances

• Captain Britain v1: (1976)
• Daredevils v1:
• Captain Britain v2:
• X-Men:
• Uncanny X-Men v1:
• X-Treme X-Men v1:
• Psylocke v1:
• Uncanny X-Force v1:
• Uncanny X-Force v2:
• X-Men:
• Astonishing X-Men:
• Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor v1:
• Uncanny X-Men v5:
• Excalibur v4:
• Fallen Angels v2:
• Marauders v1:
• Knights of X v1: (2022)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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