Psylocke

FIRST APPEARANCE (AS ELIZABETH BRADDOCK): Captain Britain #8 (December 1976)
FIRST APPEARANCE (AS CAPTAIN BRITAIN): Captain Britain #12 (December 1985)
FIRST APPEARANCE (AS PSYLOCKE): Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 #213 (January 1987)

Betsy Braddock was Sir James Braddock's second child, and like her twin brother Brian, her life was secretly manipulated by Merlyn. The twins shared a close connection, but as they matured the adventurous Betsy also grew close to their elder brother Jamie. By the time their parents died, apparently in a lab accident but really murdered by the computer Mastermind, Betsy had become a charter pilot. When Mastermind's agent Doctor Synne tried to kill Jamie, a concerned Betsy fetched Brian, but as she flew them home, Synne's psychic attack caused her to crash. When she awoke, Synne's illusions made Betsy attack her brothers, seeing them as monsters. After Synne was defeated she and Jamie were taken hostage by the Red Skull's agents. Freed by Captains America and Britain, Betsy learned the latter was her brother Brian. Perhaps because of Synne's mental intrusions, Betsy began to develop precognitive powers. She took up modeling, while her powers grew to include telepathy. Agent Matthew recruited Betsy into S.T.R.I.K.E.'s Psi Division, and she became fellow psi Tom Lennox's lover. Because her father had been a member, she was sent to infiltrate the Hellfire Club, but was warned off by Tessa for her own protection.

When the crimelord Vixen secretly usurped S.T.R.I.K.E., she hired Slaymaster to eliminate the Psi-Division before they could expose this. The telepaths fled, but Slaymaster continued to pick them off; only a handful were left when Betsy sensed Brian's return and called on his help. He defeated Slaymaster and the three surviving psi's (Betsy, Tom and Alison Double) moved into the holographically hidden Braddock Manor. In short succession this hideout was found by the Special Executive, Captain U.K. and the Fury; as the last of these battled Brian and the Executive, Betsy foresaw a future where superhumans were imprisoned in concentration camps. Soon the U.K. became a fascist state ruled by the insane reality warper Sir James Jaspers, with S.T.R.I.K.E. "Beetle" squads rounding up those with powers. While Brian confronted Jaspers, the Beetles found the others' hideout. Tom died trying to buy his friends time to escape; Betsy was in Tom's mind when he died, and was captured. After being freed, she was nursed back to health by fellow camp inmate Victoria Bentley, who taught her to use her experiences to strengthen her powers. When Kaptain Briton, Brian's Earth-794 counterpart, tried to rape her, Betsy fried his mind, killing him. The same night, Mastermind informed the twins of their father's non-terrestrial origins, and the Resources Control Executive (R.C.X.) asked them to billet Warpies, children transformed by Jaspers' warp, at the Manor. One of the R.C.X. agents was Matthew, now codenamed Gabriel. Betsy overruled Brian and let R.C.X. and the Warpies move in. When Brian went overseas, Gabriel convinced Betsy to become the new Captain Britain, wearing Kaptain Briton's modified costume. Working with Captain U.K. (Linda McQuillan), the duo became public sensations, but after several months Betsy went solo. Vixen lured her into a showdown with Slaymaster, who brutally beat her, then gouged her eyes out. Brian felt her pain, flew to her rescue and killed Slaymaster. Betsy refused R.C.X.'s offer of cybernetic eyes, preferring to rely on her psychic abilities; she and Gabriel got engaged, and went to Switzerland for Betsy to recuperate.

Betsy was kidnapped from the Alps by Mojo, brainwashed, given cybernetic eyes, and, as "Psylocke," became the star of his new show "Wildways." Brian and the New Mutants rescued her, after which Betsy moved to the X-Men's mansion to recover, exactly where Roma (Merlyn's daughter) needed her to be. When the Marauders attacked the Morlocks, and Sabretooth invaded the mansion, she used herself as bait to lead him away from the injured until Wolverine got there. Impressed by her bravery, Wolverine nominated her to join the X-Men, beside whom she met Mephisto, Dr. Doom, the Fantastic Four, and Horde. The X-Men later battled Freedom Force and the Adversary in Dallas, and, in a televised battle, sacrificed themselves to allow Forge to bind the Adversary; Roma secretly restored them to life, and gave Betsy the Siege Perilous, which they could use if they ever wanted to start new lives. The X-Men moved to the Reavers' Australian Outback base, from where they took on the Brood Boys, Genoshan Magistrates, M Squad, Mr. Jip, the Serpent Society, the Abomination, Master Mold, Nimrod, Nanny, the Orphan-Maker, Zaladane and the Savage Land Mutates. As they were about to depart the Savage Land, Betsy had a precognitive flash of the Reavers killing the team. To prevent this, she sent them through the Siege Perilous.

Betsy reappeared amnesiac on an island near China, where the Hand found her. Matsu'o Tsurayaba, their leader, saw a chance to save his brain-dead lover, Kwannon, and had Spiral's Body Shoppe swap their souls. This inadvertently blended their minds, leaving each with the same memories and telepathic powers. Tsurayaba brainwashed Psylocke and gave her to the Mandarin as his assassin, Lady Mandarin, until Wolverine restored her memories. Back with the X-Men Betsy took on Cameron Hodge, Warskrulls, the Shadow King and cosmic cleaner Edifice Rex; she also informed Brian she was alive. The next few months saw battles against Magneto, Fenris, Mys-Tech (alongside new ally Dark Angel), and a Brood-infected Ghost Rider. Visiting Brian, Betsy helped Excalibur fight Sat-Yr-9 and the now insane Jamie, whom Betsy struck comatose. Encounters followed with the Troll Associates, the Mutant Liberation Front, Stryfe, Omega Red, and the Soul Skinner.

Then Kwannon arrived at the Mansion in Betsy's original body, claiming to be the real Psylocke. Unable to discern which was truly Betsy, both stayed with the X-Men, maintaining an uneasy coexistence, with Kwannon taking the name Revanche. Learning she had the Legacy Virus, Revanche had Matsu'o kill her, after which Betsy regained her soul's missing piece. Having become involved with her teammate Angel, the following months saw her fight the Phalanx, try to reach Jamie's comatose mind, battle Legion in Israel, and combat Gene Nation. When Sabretooth gutted Psylocke, Angel, Wolverine, Doctor Strange and Gomurr the Ancient retrieved a magical liquid from the Crimson Dawn dimension which healed her and gave her new powers, but also marked her with a red tattoo over her left eye. Kuragari, Proctor of the Crimson Dawn, tried to claim Betsy as his bride, but was thwarted with Gomurr and Angel's aid, freeing Betsy of the Dawn's influence. Subsequently she aided Storm against the Shadow King, who tricked Psylocke into initiating a psychic shockwave which disabled all other telepaths, leaving him unchallenged on the astral plane. Her own astral form was destroyed, but her exposure to the Crimson Dawn gave her a new shadow form with temporarily enhanced powers, which she used to trap the Shadow King's core. To keep him trapped she was forced to constantly focus her telepathy on him, effectively rendering herself powerless. After attending Brian's wedding, she was kidnapped to take part in the Coterie's contest of champions. When Apocalypse and his Horsemen sought to gather the Twelve, Psylocke used Cerebro to boost her powers, so that she could use them and still keep the Shadow King imprisoned, allowing her to free the brainwashed Wolverine. Jean Grey's attempt to help Betsy deal with the Shadow King somehow swapped their powers, leaving Betsy telekinetic. With her new abilities Betsy fought Belasco, the Neo, the Goth, and the Prime Sentinels, then aided her brother freeing Otherworld from Mastermind's Warpie army.

After ending her relationship with Archangel, Betsy joined Storm's X-Men team in the search for Destiny's Diaries. In Valencia, Spain, they encountered the enigmatic Vargas who killed her. Later, in a dream, Bishop saw Betsy's spirit being snatched by a skulled figure. Much later, Betsy was returned alive to the site of her death. Reunited with the X-Men, she helped them against the Saurian Hauk'ka, Mojo and Spiral. She has also been reunited with Brian during a recent reality storm. It is now known that her brother, Jamie, had brought her back to life to fight a great evil and had reconstructed her to be immune to attacks meant to control her mind, reshape her body, or affect her basic quantum structure.

After the return of Hope Summers, Cyclops ordered the disbanding of X-Force. Wolverine returned to his teammates and declared that X-Force would continue but no one would know. Psylocke initially joined the re-formed X-Force. Betsy and Warren rekindled their relationship after joining the team, as she was helping him to control his Death/Archangel persona. Warren also built a new secret bunker in Sedona, Arizona, Cavern-X, which was the base of operations for X-Force, but seconded as an emergency base for the X-Men should they need it. The team's first mission was to stop the resurrection of Apocalypse. The team was attacked by the Final Horsemen of Apocalypse and War fell in-love with Betsy as she psychically manipulated him. When the team got to Apocalypse, they learned he was resurrected as a child and no one was willing to kill him. While X-Force fought among themselves, Fantomex killed Apocalypse.

Apocalypse's death triggered an Ascension Protocol within the Death Seed that Apocalypse had planted in Warren to turn him into Archangel. He began to become, in essence, a new Apocalypse. X-Force became aware of this after Warren tried to kill a reporter, to whom Shadow King had delivered files on the secret team. To prevent his ascension, X-Force traveled to the Age of Apocalypse under the direction of Dark Beast. They sought to claim a Life Seed to destroy the Death Seed within Warren. Teaming up with the X-Men of that universe, they managed to claim a Life Seed and return to their world, but not without unfortunate casualties for the X-Men. However, they had been tricked; Dark Beast had been working for the Ascended Archangel all along. They returned to find Cavern-X overrun by Clan Akkaba, with Archangel at its head. X-Force had procured a Life Seed, which was exactly what Archangel desired and was crucial in his plans for the world. In the ensuing battle Wolverine was gravely injured by Genocide, the son of Apocalypse. Psylocke surrendered herself, hoping to appeal to whatever was left of Warren.

Archangel revealed his plan to Psylocke as they reached Clan Akkaba secret base in the North Pole. Using Genocide and the Doom Fountain, he would scour all life from the world, replacing it with new life grown from the Life Seed. As a test run, a small town in Montana was destroyed and regrown as Tabula Rasa. When X-Force's actions led to the demise of the Final Horseman of Death, Archangel determined to replace him with Psylocke. Gathering a Death Seed from the Dreaming Celestial, he transformed her into his own Death.

The remaining X-Men from the Age of Apocalypse reality arrived to aid X-Force and the Jean Grey of that world managed to un-brainwash Psylocke's Death persona and trap it in her mind. X-Force finally managed to defeat Archangel's servants as they fled from the battlefield. She and Fantomex fought Archangel to the death as Psylocke stabbed Warren with a Celestial Life Seed, supposedly killing him. Betsy mourned for killing the love of her life, although Warren soon reappeared with no memory of who he was. Psylocke attempted to rekindle her relationship with him but gave up when she realized that the person she loved was gone forever.

After these events, she and Fantomex were kidnapped by the Captain Britain Corps. The Corps put Fantomex on trial for killing the child Apocalypse by using Brian's connection to his sister, Psylocke, as evidence. Fantomex was sentenced to death by injection with an anti-reality serum. This made Psylocke furious for using her memories without her consent and she interrupted the trial to save Fantomex from being executed.

X-Force came to rescue Psylocke and Fantomex as they learned that the Otherworld was being invaded by inter-universal forces. Wolverine and his team chose to aid the Captain Britain Corps. During the battle, Fantomex was seriously injured. In order to save Fantomex from the anti-reality serum, Psylocke and Krokwel made a deal to give up her ability to feel sorrow. They were later ambushed by the Skinless Man. Fantomex and the Skinless Man had a complicated history together: Fantomex stole his skin and used it as sentient bullets in the past. The Skinless Man came back for revenge, ripping Fantomex’s skin off. Psylocke was able to intervene by paralyzing the latter's body. They were able to escape and head to assist the Corp and X-Force.

Elizabeth Braddock dropped the Psylocke alias and assumed the mantle of Captain Britain from her brother Brian after he fell under the control of Morgan le Fay. She currently is in a tournament against the swordsbearers of Arakko.