Elizabeth Braddock (Earth-616)

The Braddock Family[]

Sir James Braddock, a denizen of the extradimensional Otherworld, was sent by Merlyn to Earth-616 to father the champion destined to become Captain Britain. In England, Sir James established a distinguished career as a research scientist, married Lady Braddock and set up home at Braddock Manor. They welcomed their first child, Jamie, whose subverted genetic makeup prevented him from becoming the hero Merlyn had expected. Approximately a decade later, the Braddocks were blessed with twins, Elizabeth, affectionately called "Betsy", and Brian.^[65] During her childhood, Betsy idolized her older brother Jamie for his adventurous lifestyle as a racing driver. His interests aligned more closely than those of his twin, Brian.^[4][66] As a teenager, she ventured to New York City to pursue a career in modeling. Her telepathic mutant powers were triggered in a traumatic event, which left her incapacitated for weeks.^[67] However, the consequences of her mutant activation remained undisclosed, and she seemed not to be able to recognize or fully access her powers in her early adult years.

Tragedy struck when Braddock's parents perished in an explosion caused by the malfunctioning computer Mastermind.^[68] After this, she started working as a charter pilot.^[1] Upon learning that her brother Jamie had been injured in a suspicious incident involving his racing car at Braddock Manor, she promptly informed Brian, who had in secrecy become Captain Britain. Betsy flew Brian back to the Manor, but their journey was interrupted by Dr. Synne's psychic abilities, which caused the plane to crash.^[1] Fortunately, both survived the ordeal. However, Dr. Synne mind-controlled Betsy, compelling her to attack her own brothers. Nevertheless, the Braddock brothers overpowered her.^[69] After the incident, Betsy was taken to the nearby Morder Research Centre, unwittingly falling into the clutches of one of Synne's agents, Dr. Ramsey.^[70] Brian ultimately defeated Synne, and Dr. Ramsey's true allegiance as an agent of the Nazi Red Skull was revealed. Betsy and Jamie were taken hostage,^[71] but were rescued by Captain Britain, and his ally Captain America.^[72] Some time later, Betsy experienced a precognitive dream warning her of an impending attack on Brian by the lunatic Lord Hawk,^[73] an indication of her psychic abilities as a mutant.

S.T.R.I.K.E. Psi Division[]

Braddock quit the charter business and returned to modeling,^[74] which proved to be a resounding success, earning her international acclaim.^[30] As her psychic abilities developed, she established a mental connection with a Psi agent of S.T.R.I.K.E. and caught the attention of Agent Matthew, with whom she embarked on a brief romance after joining the espionage organization. Later on, Braddock became the lover of fellow Psi, Tom Lennox.^[2] Maintaining her modeling career as a cover for S.T.R.I.K.E., she once attempted to infiltrate the enigmatic Hellfire Club, an organization her father had been a member of. However, her attempt was thwarted by Tessa.^[30] At the Hellfire Club, Braddock was also introduced to the charming mutant playboy Warren Worthington III.^[12]

While Brian adventured in America and in Otherworld, Betsy lost touch with him. He returned in time to aid her when S.T.R.I.K.E. Psis were targeted for assassination by Slaymaster, hired by the notorious crime-lord Vixen as part of her scheme to seize control of S.T.R.I.K.E.. After seeking refuge in Braddock Manor, Betsy, Lennox, and Alison Double had to flee when Brian and his allies, Saturnyne and the Special Executive, confronted the hero-killing, extra-dimensional cybiote known as the Fury.^[56] Afterwards, the insane reality-warper Mad Jim Jaspers held sway over Britain, and Betsy and her friends hid out in London.^[7] Lennox met his demise while Betsy and Double were captured by Jaspers' forces.^[75] The two women were imprisoned in a concentration camp until Jaspers' reign was brought to an end, thanks in part to the efforts of Captain Britain. Betsy, who had shared a psychic bond with Lennox during his final moments, met Victoria Bentley at the camp, where she harnessed the trauma she had endured, ultimately using it to fortify her psychic powers under Bentley's guidance.^[76]

R.C.X.'s Captain Britain[]

Back home at Braddock Manor, Betsy reunited with her brother,^[77] who fought a counterpart of his from another reality, the sadist Kaptain Briton. Briton won the encounter and impersonated Brian, while the real Brian was taken by the extra-dimensional mercenaries from Technet to Briton's fascistic reality.^[78] Briton tried to sexually assault Betsy, but she resisted and fried his brain with her psychic abilities, killing him instantly.^[79] Subsequently, R.C.X., the agency which had replaced S.T.R.I.K.E., came to Braddock Manor seeking Captain Britain's aid to take care of the Warpies, children who were genetically altered by Jaspers' attack. One of the agents who made the approach was Betsy's old flame, Matthew (now using the codename Gabriel). Brian refused to work with them, much to Betsy's rage. R.C.X. were advised by the computer Mastermind to trick Brian and his girlfriend, Meggan, into leaving Braddock Manor.^[80] After doing so, Gabriel persuaded Betsy to replace her brother as the new Captain Britain.^[57]

Donning Kaptain Briton's costume, Betsy Braddock had her strength magnified and was enabled to fly as the new Captain Britain. The hero Captain UK trained her in crime-fighting skills, and they acted as partners for several months. Captain UK eventually opted to let Betsy follow a solo career as Captain Britain. Soon after, the Vixen lured the new Captain Britain 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 and killed Slaymaster, once again taking up the Captain Britain mantle.^[57] Betsy was offered new cybernetic eyes by R.C.X., but refused, preferring to rely on her telepathy to see. She later accepted Gabriel's proposal of marriage, and the engaged couple traveled to the Swiss Alps, where they hoped she could recuperate in peace.^[58]

Psylocke[]

Tragically, Braddock was kidnapped from the Alps by the extradimensional interlopers Mojo and Spiral, being surgically given artificial eyes. Mojo mentally controlled Braddock, renamed her Psylocke and had her star in his popular new show, the Wildways. He used Psylocke to lure children around the world into joining his junior team, the Bratpack. When Mojo captured some of the New Mutants, students from the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the rest of the group went to the TV show reality to save their teammates. Braddock was found and rescued by Cypher and Warlock. She chose to stay at Xavier's, also home of the X-Men, since her powers were mutant in origin.^[5] The implanted bionic eyes were revealed to be cameras when Mojo regressed the X-Men to X-Babies to film their adventures. Braddock and the New Mutants battled the de-aged X-Men to break them free and defeat Mojo.^[8]

During the massacre of the Morlocks, Braddock was in charge of helping the wounded and of telepathically monitoring the X-Men who were in combat against the Marauders.^[81] After the first strike, Braddock faced the savage Sabretooth in a brawl throughout the X-Mansion that destroyed Cerebro, the X-Men's mutant detector. Impressed by Braddock's courage, the battle-ravaged X-Men offered her a position on the team, which she accepted under the code name Psylocke.^[19] Next, Psylocke fought Malice with the X-Men.^[82] This was followed by a confrontation on Muir Island between Juggernaut and the newest X-Men members Psylocke, Rogue, Dazzler, and Longshot, which served as a baptism of fire for them.^[83] Back in New York, the X-Men's 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. Unexpectedly, Havok showed up to check on the team, and Storm ordered Psylocke to erase the event from his memory. Due to Professor Xavier's mental defenses, he resisted. Psylocke suggested killing Havok instead, much to his horror, although he ultimately joined the team.^[84]

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 and were cast. Psylocke was transformed into a metallic warrior as her heart wished for physical invulnerability. She sacrificed herself to slow Horde. Wolverine, empowered to godhood, rejected this illusion, returning the X-Men and their friends home.^[85] Soon after, the X-Men briefly made Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco, their new hideout when tracking the Marauders, who at the time hunted Madelyne Pryor. Psylocke mainly acted as the psychic link between the members of the group.^[86]

Fall of the X-Men[]

When the X-Men searched for a missing Storm at Forge's Eagle Plaza in Dallas, they were opposed by Freedom Force. During the fight, a rift opened in the sky followed by a maelstrom of bizarre events. The X-Men and Freedom Force formed a temporary alliance to save the citizens of Dallas. Psylocke then recognized Roma, the ruler of Otherworld, in Colossus' recent memories. Gaining access to the Starlight Citadel, the X-Men battled the monstrous entity called the Adversary and sacrificed their lives to imprison him with a spell cast by Forge. These events had been broadcast on TV, and the world believed the heroes to be dead. Roma restored the X-Men to life, an opportunity for the team fully go underground.^[87] The group resurfaced in Australia, occupying the former Reavers' hideout. With the Reavers thrown out, Roma presented the X-Men with the Siege Perilous, a gem that cast a teleporting portal which granted any person who walked through it judgment and a new chance at life.^[54]

To prevent herself from being a physical liability to the team, Psylocke acquired an invulnerable body armor that Wolverine ordered from Landau, Luckman & Lake.^[88] During this period, the X-Men battled the Brood in Denver^[89] and Magistrates in Genosha.^[90] In the Reavers' hideout, Psylocke had various interactions with her teammates: during a training session, she psychically freed Carol Danvers' personality from Rogue's mind,^[91] and, to pass the time, she would pose for Colossus' paintings.^[92] When a demonic invasion was unleashed by a corrupted Pryor, Psylocke played a central role by telepathically assisting the X-Men into probing into Jean Grey's memories to solve the mystery behind the crisis.^[93]

Accompanying Carol Danvers, in Rogue's body, to her old apartment, Psylocke was attacked by the killer machines Master Mold and Nimrod. Senator Robert Kelly witnessed his wife being killed during the battle, and Psylocke attempted to ease the pain of her passing. The Master Mold merged with Nimrod and got lost with Rogue by being dragged into the Siege Perilous.^[94] The X-Men had additional losses: Longshot left to find clues of his origins, and Storm was apparently killed by Nanny.^[95] Psylocke assumed a leading role for the remaining X-Men, much to Havok's dislike, as he regarded her as an unscrupulous telepath.^[96] The remaining X-Men led by Psylocke went to the Savage Land following a call for help from Polaris. On the Savage Land, Psylocke had a premonition about the X-Men being slain by the Reavers.^[97] She opted to transport the X-Men through the Siege Perilous rather than face the threat of the Reavers, now led by Donald Pierce. To convince Havok to go through the Siege Perilous, she confirmed his suspicions and telepathically forced him to do so. Due to Psylocke's actions, the X-Men were no more.^[98]

Assassin Ninja[]

From the Siege Perilous, Psylocke emerged on an island in the South China Sea. In one of her more bizarre encounters, the amnesiac psychic was captured by Hand crime lord Matsu'o Tsurayaba.^[53] He hoped to use her telepathy to restore his comatose lover, an assassin psychic known as Kwannon. The process was carried out by Spiral, the owner of the Body Shop, who chose to have the two women switch bodies as part of a sick game. In the body of a lethal ninja warrior, Psylocke was brainwashed into becoming Lady Mandarin and operating for a client of the Hand, the Mandarin,^[4][99] in Hong Kong as his right hand. Her mission put her against Wolverine and his sidekick, Jubilee.^[100] After recognizing his former ally, Wolverine lowered his defenses and allowed the dark Psylocke establish psychic contact with him, which restored her free will.^[101] The experience left Braddock and Kwannon physically switched and mentally merged in a permanent fashion.^[102] As such, Psylocke adopted a more offensive fighting style, having the body and training of a lethal assassin ninja and relying on her telepathy in the form of a psychic knife to hurt her opponents.^[100]

Joined by Wolverine and Jubilee, Psylocke sailed to Madripoor, where they were targetted by Hardcase and the Harriers. Wolverine was captured, prompting Psylocke to enlist the help of Jubilee, despite the incompatibilities the deadly ninja and the disrespectful child shared. They were successful, defeating the mercenaries and freeing Wolverine. It was revealed that Wolverine had planned his own capture as a way to train his two associates in team play.^[103] The Hand operated in Madripoor, leading Psylocke, Wolverine, and Jubilee to fight them. By allying themselves with the Black Widow, the mutants learned Tsurayaba planned to make an alliance with the Fenris twins. After managing to stop the villains, Psylocke realized they were imposters and the situation had been forged to protect the real business deal in an undisclosed location.^[104]

After learning the New Mutants had been captured by the Genoshan government, as part of a plan envisioned by Cameron Hodge, the trio of mutant adventurers travelled to Genosha and rejoined the X-Men to put Hodge down.^[105] Back to the X-Mansion in Westchester, Psylocke had to cope with the drastic changes she had undergone. There, she and Jean Grey were attacked by the Shadow King.^[106] Some time later, the X-Men retrieved Professor Xavier from the Shi'ar Empire, after fighting Skrulls, when Psylocke was momentarily replaced by a Skrull.^[107] Once more led by Professor X, the X-Men faced the Shadow King on Muir Island, and Psylocke fell into his vile clutches. With the Shadow King defeated, X-Factor merged into the X-Men.^[108]

Revanche[]

As a member of the reformed X-Men, Psylocke became part of Cyclops' Blue Team, in a brand-new team dynamics. In their first mission, they clashed against her former ally in the X-Men, Magneto, and his supremacist Acolytes.^[109] In a subsequent crisis, Matsu'o Tsurayaba and the Fenris targeted the X-Men using the Soviet ghoulish assassin Omega Red, who kidnapped Wolverine to acquire the Carbonadium Synthesizer.^[110] For the ensuing rescue mission, Psylocke was psychically controlled by Tsurayaba and the Hand thanks to a post-hypnotic suggestion, and betrayed the X-Men, being forced to work alongside Sabretooth against Wolverine.^[111] In fact, she proved her loyalty to the X-Men, since she only pretended to be under Tsurayaba's influence only to betray her captors after learning about the Carbonadium Synthesizer. Thanks to her intervention, the X-Men were able to rebel and ruin their enemies' plans.^[112]

In between her missions as an X-Man, Psylocke travelled to England^[113] to attend a party held by her brother Brian, now part of the British super-hero team Excalibur. The Braddock twins had the opportunity to converse about their upbringing and recent struggles and profound changes. The party was interrupted when Psylocke psychically felt Brigadier Sandy Stuart being murdered by her brother, Jamie, under orders of Mastrex Opul Lun Sat-Yr-Nin.^[114] With his recently discovered mutant powers and being mentally detached from reality, Jamie easily subdued Psylocke. Since Meggan was immune to Jamie's powers, Psylocke was able to stab Jamie's brain with her psychic knife, forcing the brother she used to adore into a catatonic state.^[115]

Back at the X-Mansion, Psylocke was shown to be attracted to Cyclops. She started to flirt with her leader, attempting to seduce him.^{[116][113][117][118]} The situation escalated when they shared a kiss, suggesting an affair. 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, dueled Psylocke and won. After revealing her face, she claimed to be the real Betsy Braddock.^[10] The X-Men were not able to confirm which woman was the real Betsy Braddock and went to Japan to meet Lord Nyoirin,^[119] a crime lord who Kwannon claimed to be Psylocke's master. Little did this trip help in answering questions about Psylocke's true identity.^[102]

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.^[120] Revanche had Tsurayaba kill her before the virus could, still in Psylocke's original body. As Revanche died, her telepathic powers reached their peak due to the infection, revealing the full truth about the body swap. She also absorbed all of her memories and her personality traits from Psylocke's mind. Betsy Braddock lived, certain of her identity, but was trapped in Kwannon's body.^[59] While Psylocke went through this identity crisis, she got close to her fellow teammate, Warren Worthington III, a.k.a. Archangel. Together, they investigated the new Black King of the pompous Hellfire Club, Shinobi Shaw. Shaw wished to force Worthington into his Inner Circle as the White King. Psylocke helped her teammate by knocking out Shaw with her psychic knife.^[121] Eventually, recognizing they had much in common as both had experienced radical changes, body and soul, Braddock and Worthington started a relationship.^[122]

Crimson Dawn[]

While held captive in the X-Mansion, Sabretooth nearly killed Psylocke when she protected Boomer from his brutal advances.^[123] Wolverine, Archangel, Doctor Strange, and Gomurr the Ancient went on a quest to deploy the mystical force of the Crimson Dawn elixir to save Psylocke's life. As a result of the cure, a distinctive red mark was imprinted on her left eye.^[124] The Crimson Dawn enhanced her fighting and telepathic skills, allowing her to teleport through and merge with shadows, but it also had a profound impact on Psylocke's personality, making her more reticent and distant from Archangel and the other X-Men.^[125] Kuragari, the conqueror of the Crimson Dawn realm, attempted to corrupt Psylocke and turn her into his dread queen. However, Psylocke and Archangel defeated the tyrant together. Afterwards, they retired from their activities as X-Men, permanently leaving the Xavier Institute.^[126]

At Storm's request, Psylocke assisted the X-Men on a mission in Africa, where her recently acquired teleportation abilities derived from the Crimson Dawn proved to be crucial. Unbeknownst to the X-Men, the apparent mission was a ruse orchestrated by the Shadow King, who manipulated Psylocke into generating a psi-wave that neutralized mutant telepathy, granting him total dominion over the astral plane. Despite the deadly nature of his assault, the Crimson Dawn preserved Psylocke's life once more, also rendering her imperceptible to telepathic detection. In a foolish miscalculation, the Shadow King extended his powers to broadly, inadvertently exposing his personal nexus. Seizing this opportunity, Psylocke imprisoned the Shadow King within her own mind, sacrificing her telepathic powers as a result.^[127]

Death and Resurrection[]

Psylocke acquired robust telekinetic powers following an exchange of powersets with Jean Grey, who consequently inherited Psylocke's telepathic power.^[128] Lacking precise control over her recent telekinetic abilities, she rejoined the X-Men to hone her skills. She found herself drawn to the team's new member, Thunderbird.^[129][130] Meanwhile, Psylocke and Archangel struggled to salvage their deteriorating relationship, even embarking on adventures together, including a battle against the Twisted Sisters.^[131] Still, Archangel ultimately admitted their relationship had hit a dead end, leading to a break-up. In the wake of their separation, Psylocke became a member of Storm's X-Men squad, no longer attached to the Xavier Institute, and started a relationship with Thunderbird. The new team embarked on a quest to search for Destiny's prophetic diaries.^[132]

When Brian Braddock experienced nightmares at Braddock Manor, Meggan called Psylocke to help him. Brian confessed to his sister he had lost his confidence as Captain Britain. Before anything could be discussed, they learned from Captain UK that Roma had gone mad and endangered Otherworld. There, Psylocke was imprisoned by the Warpies she had once protected. Soon the Braddocks learned who was behind the attack: the computer Mastermind, who had impersonated Roma and used the Warpies to gain control over the Sword of Might and the Amulet of Power. Psylocke broke free for Mastermind was not aware of her new telekinetic powers. With Mastermind defeated, Brian assumed Otherworld's throne.^[133]

In Valencia, Storm's X-Men were captured by the national police.^[28] 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.^[34] 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.^[134] Initially, the X-Men were cautious of Psylocke's presence and kept her restrained, until they were attacked by the Hauk'ka. Psylocke joined forces with X-23 to rescue the team on the Savage Land.^[135] 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.^[35]

Experiencing visions of her brother Jamie, Psylocke grew closer to her teammate Rachel Grey, who also 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.^[136] There, as Lady Elizabeth Gloriana, she was sister to the King of England Brian and Lady Rachel Grey acted as her bodyguard. They were influenced into finding a reality breach that represented a threat to all existence,^[137] which was fixed at the expense of Meggan's sacrifice.^[138] Confirming Psylocke's suspicions, Jaime claimed he had been responsible for her resurrection for he needed assistance against a group known as the Foursaken. They adored the menacing First Fallen, a polar opposite of the Phoenix. When resurrected by Jamie, Psylocke was rebuilt to be immune to reality warping, being forged into the weapon her brother needed against the First Fallen.^[139] The Foursaken and the First Fallen were defeated by Psylocke, and Jamie's whereabouts were unknown after he apparently sacrificed himself to safely return Psylocke home.^[140]

Exile[]

Immediately after M-Day, Psylocke and other X-Men flew to London to help Captain Britain deal with the after-effects of the Decimation and the death of his wife, Meggan. There, they were attacked by a dark Charles Xavier and his five original X-Men from an alternate reality. This led the mutant group Excalibur to be reformed.^[141] In another battle between Excalibur and the evil X-Men, Psylocke learned that Xavier was in fact the Shadow King, who had been freed from her mind after her death. Psylocke confronted him but was suddenly ripped from the time-stream^[142] by Heather Hudson as a result of Roma's machinations, finding herself in the Panoptichron, the Crystal Palace, headquarters of the Exiles. The Exiles were a group of heroes who traveled across different realities to prevent the collapse of the Multiverse.^[61]

In the Crystal Palace, she met an alternate version of Sabretooth, a man she hated in her native reality.However, this Sabretooth proved to be a noble hero, and they quickly became close to each other. Recruited to the Exiles, Psylocke helped the team save their teammates from a version of Hydra led by Susan Storm and Wolverine.^[27] During the mission, Psylocke had to face a version of one of her deadliest foes, the Slaymaster. The Exiles finished their mission at the cost of Hydra escaping through the Multiverse.^[143] As an Exile, Psylocke was integral in the group's restructuring as several members left to pursue their own lives elsewhere.^[144]

Many of the Exiles had personal ties to Earth-616 and decided to make a visit, meeting Excalibur at a party. The reunion was interrupted when Captain Britain was mortally wounded by Rouge-Mort. Psylocke took her brother and Excalibur to the Crystal Palace, where they noticed an attack in course against the Multiverse, carried out by Jim Jaspers, now merged with the Fury. When investigating the problem in the Starlight Citadel, Psylocke learned Merlyn had orchestrated the incidents. While Captain Britain battled Jaspers, Psylocke struck against Merlyn, with the Braddocks ultimately emerging victorious against the villains. In the end, Psylocke decided to stay with the Exiles, realizing how crucial the job they did for the Multiverse was.^[145]

Psylocke and Sabretooth became co-leaders of the Exiles and engaged in an unresolved romantic relationship.^[146] The team was still being hunted by Hydra,^[147] with Slaymaster being specifically interested in massacring alternate versions of Betsy Braddock across realities.^[37] In one of their adventures, Psylocke led the Exiles to Earth-80827. Upon their arrival, Psylocke was possessed by remnants of Lady Mandarin, her alternate self from that reality who had just been killed by the Slaymaster. Psylocke met Lady Mandarin's master, Ogun, who trained her into becoming his new assassin, transforming her into the warrior who would best her aggressor.^[148] In a following mission, Psylocke finally faced the Slaymaster, but, before his defeat, he escaped again.^[149] She eventually slew him on the streets of Earth-616 London, finally stopping his cross-reality massacre of her counterparts.^[150]

Utopia[]

The Exiles disbanded, and Psylocke was found between dimensions by Madelyne Pryor's Sisterhood, who brought Braddock's original body from Kwannon's grave and transferred Braddock's mind back to it. Brainwashed, Psylocke joined the Sisterhood in attacking the X-Men. However, she overcame her brainwashing, being restored to Kwannon's body as her original body was fatally wounded by Dazzler. Psylocke returned to the X-Men while Pryor perished.^[151] 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.^[25] As the X-Club returned to the present, Psylocke helped them relocate the X-Men to the island of Utopia, as a reaction to Norman Osborn's hunt for mutants on American soil.^[152]

In need to provide a second burial of her original body, Psylocke took her own 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.^[153] At his hideout mansion, Psylocke was impeded from reaching him by Yukio. Knocking Yukio out, Psylocke met the Jinn, who also wanted Tsurayaba dead and agreed with a team-up.^[154] In another of Tsurayaba's hideouts, they found him in miserable condition and learned he had arranged for his own death.^[155] Throughout the years, Wolverine had gradually mutilated Tsurayaba for his participation 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.^[156]

On Utopia, Psylocke was part of several missions and events. She witnessed the death of Dr. Yuriko Takiguchi, a dear friend to her;^[157] stood for Utopia against an attack by Predators X;^[158] assisted in a telepathic operation against a Void fragment;^[159] teamed up with Wolverine, Colossus and Fantomex to combat the New U-Men;^[160] confronted a newly resurrected Proteus on Muir Island;^[161] and was on the team responsible for retrieving and returning Hope to Utopia, fighting Bastion's Human Council in the process.^[162]

Death of Apocalypse[]

Following the return of Hope, Cyclops ordered the disbanding of the secret killing squad X-Force. Wolverine had apparently disassembled the squadron but turned to his closer allies to continue X-Force in secrecy. Psylocke joined the reformed X-Force with Deadpool, Fantomex, and her former lover Archangel.^[23] Braddock and Worthington rekindled their relationship as she helped him control his Horseman of Death persona. The team's first objective was to stop the resurrection of Apocalypse, a personal interest for Archangel, as one of his former Horsemen.^[49][62] The team battled Clan Akkaba and the Final Horsemen of Apocalypse on the Moon. Psylocke faced off War, who fell in love with her as Fantomex psychically misdirected him into it. This allowed her to get to Apocalypse's chambers, where she learned the villain had been resurrected as a child, which prevented her from killing him in cold blood. While X-Force debated Apocalypse's fate among themselves, with Psylocke protecting him, Fantomex shot him dead, leaving the group profoundly affected and divided by their actions.^[163]

In one of their following s, X-Force learned the Reavers were back, now led by Lady Deathstrike. Their intel suggested the Reavers planned to attack Utopia. Psylocke was conflicted, not only because the Reavers had been responsible for her entering the Siege Perilous in the past, but also because she found herself elated by killing opponents such as them. While the rest of X-Force battled the Reavers in the Australian Outback, Psylocke followed some of them who had teleported to Utopia. There, she slaughtered them without being spotted by any of the X-Men, proving to be a truly merciless assassin.^[164]

Age of Archangel[]

When Deadpool went missing during a recon mission at a military base in Tennessee, Psylocke and X-Force reencountered one of her worst adversaries, the Shadow King. Psylocke fought the Shadow King on the astral plane, while Fantomex protected her body, since he was immune to Shadow King's psychic influence. The Shadow King probed into X-Force's darkest secrets and learned about Apocalypse's assassination. Moreover, he was also able to secretly free Archangel's dark personality, undoing the psychic therapy Psylocke had gone through with him.^[165] Apocalypse's death had triggered an ascension protocol within Archangel to transform him into the new heir of Apocalypse. X-Force became aware of this situation after Worthington tried to kill a reporter to whom the Shadow King had delivered files on the secret team.^[166]

Having imprisoned Archangel in their headquarters, Cavern-X, X-Force traveled to the alternate Age of Apocalypse under the direction of McCoy, the Dark Beast, seeking to claim a Life Seed to counter the Death Seed within Archangel. Initially, the group clashed with the X-Men from that universe, who regarded McCoy a villain. The conflict was de-escalated by Psylocke, who recognized Sabretooth from their time in the Exiles. Abandoned by Dark Beast, X-Force teamed up with the X-Men to collect a Life Seed and return to their world. During the difficult mission, Psylocke and Fantomex shared a kiss, a result of a discussion sparked by Fantomex, who had accused Psylocke of being in a distant and cold relationship with Archangel. Unexpectedly, upon their return to their home reality, X-Force encountered Archangel, who had been freed by the Dark Beast and had Cavern-X overrun by Clan Akkaba.^[167] As X-Force was massacred by Archangel's forces, Psylocke personally faced him off, missing a hit on purpose, unable to finish him. Surrendering herself, Braddock hoped to appeal to whatever was left of Warren Worthington in the evil Archangel.^[168]

After reaching the Akkaba Metropolis, Archangel revealed his plan to Psylocke. Using Genocide and the Doom Fountain, he would scour all life from the world, replacing it with new life evolved from the Life Seed. As a test run, a small town in Montana was destroyed and regrown as the Tabula Rasa area with the World technology.^[169] Subsequently, when X-Force led to the demise of the Final Horseman of Death, Archangel determined to replace him with Psylocke, using a Death Seed gathered from the Dreaming Celestial to transform her into his deadly lackey. The process was successful and Betsy Braddock was transformed into the new Horseman of Death.^[170]

The remaining X-Men from the Age of Apocalypse reality joined the war against Archangel thanks to Fantomex. The version of Jean Grey of that world managed to restore Psylocke's mind after her psi-shields were downed, due to her being tricked into believing she had killed Fantomex. Grey's intervention expanded Psylocke's telepathic abilities immensely. Psylocke and Fantomex then fought Archangel to the death, with Psylocke stabbing Worthington with the Life Seed and supposedly ending him. To ease his demise, she created a telepathic illusion in which Worthington experienced a full and happy life by her side. As Braddock mourned Worthington's death, he resurfaced, but with no memory of who he was. She attempted to rekindle their relationship until realizing the person she had loved was gone forever and only a tabula rasa remained to bloom something new.^[171]

Following the schism between Cyclops' and Wolverine's factions of the X-Men, Psylocke remained both a member of X-Force as an ally of Wolverine, as well as being assigned to a reckon team on Utopia as an agent for Cyclops.^[172][173] The Tabula Rasa area was still something to be dealt with; to solve such a problem, Psylocke went to Cyclops' X-Tinction Team, which investigated the mysterious alien environment. During the mission, Magneto recognized that what had transpired in Tabula Rasa had the involvement of X-Force, a secret he was glad to share with Psylocke only.^[174]

As a member of Cyclops's reckon team, Psylocke took part in several critical missions. The first involved investigating an arms deal in the Chechen Republic, where Sentinels were stolen by a third party.^[175] She later tracked down a missing Jubilee in the South China Sea, becoming embroiled in a conflict between Noferatu and the Forgiven.^[176] The team was also sent to Chechnya to confront a mutant monster, during which they uncovered a precursor to modern mutant DNA—Proto-Mutants. This discovery deeply affected Psylocke.^[177] Alongside Domino, she infiltrated a religious cult, the Heavenly Path, headquartered on a cruise ship.^[178] The team continued investigating the proto-mutant situation, eventually befriending Gabriel Shepherd, a proto-mutant. However, as Storm withheld crucial information from Cyclops, tensions rose, culminating in the dissolution of the reckon team.^[179]

Lady Britain[]

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.^[180]

Wearing the Lady Britain uniform, Psylocke rescued Fantomex from the Corps. The fugitives went to the Forest of Sorrows. In order to save Fantomex from the anti-reality serum, Psylocke made a deal with Krokwel, giving up her ability to feel sorrow. Fantomex was safe for the moment, until they were ambushed by his enemy, the Skinless Man. Psylocke, Fantomex and the Skinless Man had a complicated history together: Fantomex had caused the Skinless Man to be arrested by Otherworld's forces, where he was sentenced to have his skin removed by Psylocke's father. A vengeful Skinless Man ripped Fantomex's face off, and Psylocke intervened by poisoning him. The duo then headed to assist X-Force, who were in the Otherworld fighting the inter-dimensional invasion while searching for their missing teammates.^[181]

As Psylocke joined the fight, she learned that the goat-demon who led the invasion was a future version of Jamie. She asked Brian to put their brother down, since millions of souls were being reaped by Jamie every second. Brian refused to do so, and Betsy telepathically forced him to kill their brother in order to prevent his tragic future from happening. As Jamie died, Betsy acknowledged that Brian knew how necessary what she had done was. Nevertheless, he chose Betsy as executioner while he remained a hero.^[66] After her brother's funeral, in need of feeling something, Braddock finally surrendered to Fantomex's romantic advances.^[182]

Final Execution[]

Afflicted by what happened, Psylocke decided to leave X-Force. At her apartment, she was kidnapped by the Shadow King, who was a member of a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, formed by several opponents of X-Force who had learned about their activities. They kidnapped Evan, Apocalypse's clone created by Fantomex, and intended to force him to rise as the new Apocalypse, proving X-Force as a failure. Shadow King telepathically tortured Psylocke until she was rescued by Fantomex, who gave her his telepathy-blocking hood and let himself vulnerable. He managed to send Psylocke away with his flying saucer E.V.A., but was killed by the Skinless Man.^[183]

E.V.A. took Psylocke to Cavern-X, where the creature Ultimaton reverted to his original programming of killing mutants after Fantomex's death, snapped the teleporter Gateway's neck and self-detonated. Psylocke managed to send X-Force away by telepathically hacking into Gateway's teleportation powers before they could be hurt.^[184] X-Force was transported into the future, where Evan had ascended as Apocalypse. Deathlok explained that this forced Wolverine to assemble an X-Force team to kill the new Apocalypse. Led by Psylocke, now known as Magistrate Braddock, X-Force had killed all of the world's criminals and telepathically tracked and terminated people before they committed crimes in a preventative manner.^[185]

When Wolverine and X-Force from the present were unrepentant about this course of action, Deathlok attempted to kill them to prevent this totalitarian future from happening. He failed when he was destroyed by the future X-Force. Psylocke escaped and decided to eradicate this future by killing Magistrate Braddock, her future self. She realized that this would not save the present, since she would still commit the same mistakes. To ensure Fantomex's sacrifice meant something, Psylocke carried on her final execution: suicide, by stabbing herself through the gut with her own katana.^[185] Being interrupted by future X-Force, Psylocke failed when she passed out and was saved by her team-mate Nightcrawler. Healed from her injuries, Psylocke debated with her future self before being sent to the present with X-Force.^[186]

Back to the present, X-Force headed to Genosha to save Evan from the Brotherhood. In their first strike, Psylocke telepathically subdued Mystique. X-Force argued about whether or not to kill Evan should he become Apocalypse.^[187] Wolverine and Psylocke sneaked into the enemies' underwater base. Wolverine handled most of the enemies while Psylocke furtively searched for Evan and Deadpool. She was ambushed by the Shadow King and purposely gave herself temporary amnesia to escape his attack in the astral plane.^[188] Psylocke then caused Omega White to absorb the Shadow King's psyche, leaving him trapped in a comatose body. The Brotherhood was defeated. After freeing Evan's mind, she decided not to claim the Shadow King's life, departing from the Brotherhood's base with X-Force and Evan. Leaving her katana behind as it sank into Hammer Bay, Psylocke vowed never to kill again.^[189]

In Otherworld, Betsy reconciled with Brian. Back on Earth, she was met by Wolverine, who told her there was still one complication left unsolved with X-Force. They left in E.V.A. and met Deadpool at White Sky Headquarters, where Fantomex emerged from a cloning machine with two other Fantomexes: one of them villainous, called Weapon XIII, who teleported away, and the other one a female called Cluster. Since all of Fantomex's three brains were intact, E.V.A. had planned for his revival, but Deadpool operated the machine recklessly, generating an individual body for each brain. Psylocke left with Fantomex and Cluster to meet Mother in the French Alps, where Psylocke and Fantomex shared a tender kiss, starting a new chapter of their lives without X-Force.^[190]

The Great Corruption[]

In the war between the X-Men and the Avengers, Psylocke initially aligned herself with the X-Men and engaged in a battle against Daredevil.^[191] At some point, a group of X-Men were possessed by the Phoenix, being transformed into Phoenix Five.^[192] Psylocke joined forces with them to confront Mister Sinister in Sinister London.^[193] Eventually, as the Phoenix Five proved to be mentally and morally unstable, Psylocke left Utopia and switched sides to support the Avengers against the Phoenix. The final confrontation resulted in the death of Professor Charles Xavier.^[194]

Since X-Force was no more, Braddock went on to live a frivolous life alongside Fantomex in Paris. She was eventually persuaded to embark on thieving endeavors with him. However, she realized at some point that the man she had fallen in love with was fragmented, and Cluster actually represented the best parts of him. Engaging in a romantic relationship, Psylocke and Cluster excluded a jealous Fantomex from their affairs. In retaliation, Fantomex betrayed Psylocke during a theft at the Louvre Museum, leading to the death of some guards, much to her despair. Devastated, Psylocke was cast out of Fantomex's life and sought solace at Wolverine's Jean Grey School.^[195]

However, she was soon dismissed from teaching at the Jean Grey School by Wolverine due to her anger issues. As an alternative, Psylocke teamed up with Storm and Puck on a mission concerning a drug dealer in Los Angeles, who turned out to be Spiral. Braddock instinctively attacked her former oppressor, while Storm and Puck found a telepath girl named Ginny, who was the "source" of Spiral's telepathic drug.^[9] As Spiral teleported away with Ginny, the three heroes were interrupted by Bishop, who returned from the future possessed by the Demon Bear.^[196] Psylocke, Storm and Spiral decided to save Ginny from Bishop. When Psylocke telepathically tracked and stabbed Bishop with her psychic knife, she found out his psyche was not only inhabited by the Demon Bear,^[67] but also by another presence possessing Ginny. As Ginny vanished, Psylocke decided to settle matters with Spiral for good, after many years of aggressions. In the end, when push came to shove, Psylocke decided to absolve Spiral.^[197]

In search for answers, Psylocke learned that the Demon Bear and the other presence, a Ghost Owl, had infiltrated Bishop's mind in the future. While Psylocke fought the Demon Bear on the astral plane, her body was stolen by Cluster,^[198] who expected Psylocke to rescue Fantomex from Weapon XIII. Psylocke was unexpectedly rescued by Spiral, who confessed to have been deprived from real connections. Psylocke ultimately forgave Spiral, ending a long cycle of feuds between them. Back to the astral plane, Psylocke exorcised Bishop from the Demon Bear, incorporating it to her own powers.^[199] With Bishop safe, Psylocke decided to rescue Fantomex alongside Cluster. On Madripoor, they were ambushed by Weapon XIII's misdirection powers and were kept captive by him.^[200] Weapon XIII was in love with Psylocke to the point of devotion, and she tricked him into believing she also wanted Fantomex dead.^[201] She was brought to Fantomex, and they discussed their tumultuous relationship, but Weapon XIII intervened when Psylocke could not harm Fantomex. After the conflict was over, Cluster and Fantomex decided to be merged together again, though Psylocke seemed not to be interested in maintaining their relationship anymore.^[202]

Bishop claimed that the terrible Ghost Owl, a.k.a. the Revenant Queen, planned to liberate an army of psychic doppelgängers known as revenants in Los Angeles. The revenants hunted Bishop down, creating revenant versions of Psylocke, Storm, and Puck^[203] who were defeated. Spiral then revealed the Revenant Queen was a future version of Cassandra Nova.^[204] An uncanny formation of X-Force was reassembled to combat Nova as Los Angeles was trapped into a psychic prison. Cassandra Nova started a ritual to liberate the revenants, and Psylocke was captured, losing her control over the Demon Bear to Nova.^[205] Nova recreated Psylocke's revenant as Braddock's original body and offered her body back in trade for an alliance.^[206] Trapped in the revenants' underworld, Psylocke sacrificed the Demon Bear to expel Nova from Ginny's body. Without a body of her own, Nova had no choice but to possess the body she had created for Psylocke. Psylocke bonded Cassandra Nova to this new body, managing to physically kill Nova with her katana. Braddock not only broke her vow of not killing, but also lost the chance of having her original body back. As Nova died, her macabre ritual was undone.^[207]

Destructive Habits[]

Back to the Jean Grey School, Psylocke operated as a security guard for the mutant sanctuary. There, she joined an all-female squadron led by Storm. This squad specifically dealt with diverse threats, such as artificial life-form Arkea,^[208] a future version of the Brotherhood,^[209] a new formation of the Sisterhood,^[210] and Shogo's mysterious father.^[211] During this time, Psylocke also mentored a small group of students in Danger Room sessions, crafting scenarios to explore their fighting abilities.^[212] Storm's team also helped S.W.O.R.D. in dealing with Deathbird^[213] and fought dark versions of Krakoa.^[214]

Knowing Bishop had returned led his former victim Hope to Los Angeles in seek of revenge. As they met, they were captured by Stryfe, causing Storm and Psylocke's X-Force to clash with Cable's X-Force. The teams realized they shared an enemy in Stryfe, joining forces to free Hope and Bishop. Stryfe was defeated and X-Force disbanded. Psylocke sought out Cable and offered her services to his outlaw initiative.^[215] A new X-Force was put together after a mutant-related terrorist incident in Alexandria had placed Hope in a coma. Intel suggested that an arms dealer named Volga was behind the incident, since he created artificial mutants to serve him as weapons. Once again alongside Fantomex, Psylocke came to completely despise him.^[216] Moreover, contrary to her former vow, she became addicted to killing, growing more bloodthirsty, self-loathing, and broken by the day. Resorting to killing in X-Force was the only way she could feel anything at all.^[217] Volga was apparently defeated, which exposed some of X-Force's secrets. Their newest member MeMe was in fact Hope in disguise, something Braddock knew all along, but kept from her teammates at Hope's request. Moreover, it was revealed that Cable died and was reborn in a cloned body on a daily basis,^[218] something that Psylocke saw as an escape for her tormenting and conflicting feelings^[47] since they started a sexual relationship with no strings attached as he had only one night to live.^[219]

X-Force briefly met Pete Wisdom's MI13 in Afghanistan, when Psylocke personally handled her sister-in-law, Meggan. The two groups joined forces to defeat Volga's remaining forces. Wisdom told Cable and Psylocke about the Yellow Eye; an agency specialized on spying mutants.^[220] X-Force chased the Yellow Eye on the track for Volga, but was betrayed by an insane Fantomex, who had been driven by his feelings of superiority. Fantomex held a personal grudge against Psylocke, since she had rejected and diminished him. Using Volga's technology, he improved his body, easily overpowering Psylocke. As he was about to shoot her dead, he was knocked out by Domino, who had been in Yellow Eye's custody.^[221] Psylocke then turned her attention to Yellow Eye's leader, Mojo. Having surviving Domino's attack, Fantomex emulated Archangel's powers to harass Psylocke.^[222] X-Force escaped, and, back to their base, Psylocke broke down in tears in front of Domino due to the path of violence she had walked.^[223] Fantomex followed X-Force, and Psylocke used her psychic knife to downsize his ego, the source of his insanity. Once again, Psylocke ultimately chose not to claim her opponent's life.^[224]

Inhuman War[]

In the wake of a massive anti-mutant uprising due to the discovery that the Terrigen Mists in the atmosphere were harmful to mutants, a desperate Magneto found a mindless Archangel falling from the sky, something he believed to be a sign to reform the X-Men.^[225] His first recruit was Psylocke, who not only agreed with a more direct approach to the Terrigen crisis than Storm's X-Haven, but was also interested in keeping track of Magneto's actions and in tending to Archangel.^[226] In their first mission, Magneto's X-Men investigated Someday Corporation, that profited from mutants' despair, and fought the Dark Riders, who targeted mutant healers. During their fights, Psylocke telepathically kept this mindless Archangel on a leash, hoping to recover his memories in the process. Psylocke eventually realized Magneto's modus operandi differed drastically from what she was used to, since he kept being overly secretive.^[227]

Having got a hint about what had happened to Archangel, Psylocke asked for Magneto's help to go to Green Ridge, Colorado, where they found a wingless Worthington kept by Clan Akkaba, now led by Genocide.^[228] As she investigated, Psylocke crossed paths with Fantomex, secretly on Magneto's payroll. As there was still bad blood between them, they engaged in a fight. Psylocke preferred to knock Fantomex out rather than ally herself with him again and learned that a choir of Archangel clones had been created.^[229] Gravely wounded by the choir, Psylocke called out for Archangel,^[230] and he merged with Worthington again, obliterating the choir in the process. Having Fantomex as a secret X-Man undermined Psylocke's relationship with Magneto even further; nevertheless, she chose to stay with his X-Men to help Archangel.^[231] During the second superhuman war, Psylocke and Magneto had an additional conflict, as Magneto judged the inhuman Ulysses to be a threat to mutantkind. Storm's X-Men opposed his view, supporting Captain Marvel's plan of weaponizing his abilities instead. Psylocke briefly left Magneto's X-Men to aid Storm's team. After the conflict between the two factions of X-Men ceased, Psylocke confronted Magneto about her being merely one of his pawns rather than a true ally.^[232]

The last straw for Psylocke came to be when Magneto was revealed to be part of the Hellfire Club^[233] and invited Psylocke to be their Black Queen. Though furious for being kept in the dark about Magneto's alliances with Fantomex, Mystique and now Sebastian Shaw, Psylocke still helped the Hellfire Club attack Someday Corporation, as they started weaponizing mutants.^[234] Someday was dismantled, and Psylocke rejected the Hellfire Club's offer and left the X-Men. She warned Magneto that, though she believed in his methods, she would watch his actions as an avenging angel.^[235] Acting solo for a while, Psylocke dealt with menaces to mutantkind, such as Omega Sentinels, Sauron, and the Nasty Boys. She was followed by Mystique under Magneto's orders. Her way of defeating and punishing Mystique was restoring her damaged psyche, curing her of her volatile personality.^[236] With the end of the war between the X-Men and the Inhumans, Magneto's team of X-Men disbanded. Knowing that Magneto ignited the war, Psylocke made good on her promise and killed him with her psychic katana after a violent combat in the Savage Land. Walking away alone, she recognized the X-Men were better off without both Magneto and her.^[237]

Mindkiller[]

Psylocke was in London when psychics all over the globe were targeted for death. She resisted the attack and sent a psychic call for help. Fellow X-Men who were relatively nearby went to her rescue, namely Bishop, Angel, Rogue, Gambit, and — though not directly invited — Fantomex, Old Man Logan, and Mystique. These X-Men broke Psylocke free from a psychic trap woven by the Shadow King. She was urgent in sending the X-Men to the astral plane to destroy the Shadow King before he could complete his psychic incursion.^[238] On the astral plane, the X-Men found Charles Xavier trapped by the Shadow King.^[239] Meanwhile, in the physical world, the Shadow King possessed several people, creating an army of slaves. Psylocke was forced to guide Angel into freeing the Archangel persona, so he could detain the Shadow King's minions.^[240] The X-Men seemingly killed the Shadow King on the astral plane and Charles Xavier returned to life in Fantomex's body, calling himself X and greeting a shocked Psylocke upon his return.^[241]

Meeting Fantomex on the astral plane, Psylocke was informed he believed Xavier deserved to be back for being a nobler man. Psylocke left the astral plane showing tenderness towards Fantomex. Back in the real world, the Shadow King's infection did not simply vanish as he died, since Proteus was freed by it.^[242] Psylocke and X joined forces to reach Proteus. While Psylocke gave him the benefit of the doubt, X was adamant about killing him. This disagreement allowed Proteus to strike at them, merging their minds and bodies.^[243] Psylocke only recovered herself by having Archangel as an anchor.^[244] As the X-Men tried to stop Proteus from bringing the astral plane to the physical world, Psylocke and X telepathically destroyed him.^[245] However, the Shadow King was hidden inside X's mind, and Psylocke led the X-Men to battle him again. As X recovered, he linked Psylocke's mind to those of all psychics in the world, expanding their telepathy and allowing her to repair the astral plane as he killed off the Shadow King. X forced the X-Men to forget about his existence, but decided to let Psylocke know he was back and that he had a new dream.^[246]

Disassembled[]

When Wolverine's body disappeared from his final resting place,^[247] 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.^[248] Finding herself inside Sapphire Styx's mind, Braddock fought her way back with assistance from a fragment of Wolverine's soul the villainess had absorbed years earlier. Psylocke destroyed Sapphire Styx from the inside, and used the remaining soul power left behind to recreate her original body, molecule by molecule. Psylocke was finally herself again, no longer attached to Kwannon's destiny.^[249] She then rejoined the X-Men, returning to the Xavier Institute.^[42]

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 crisis, leaving Psylocke confused.^[250] Madrox's actions were succeeded by unexplained phenomena the X-Men went to assess. In these missions, Psylocke telepathically coordinated the X-Men alongside Jean Grey.^[251] Madrox's actions were orchestrated by Legion, who wanted to prevent an insane Nate Grey from rewriting reality using the Life Seed.^[252] Psylocke recognized Angel as one of Nate Grey's Horsemen of Salvation after they destroyed the X-Mansion. To free Angel from Nate Grey's control, Psylocke shockingly freed Archangel from the depths of his mind, ruining their relationship forever.^[253] She also sent Bishop into Legion's psyche to save some mutant students trapped within it. However, this freed Nate Grey, who gained control over Legion's body and powers.^[254] During the fight, Psylocke and a resentful Archangel teamed up to liberate Storm from Nate Grey's influence. Then, Psylocke linked a large group of telepaths to down Nate Grey's defenses, allowing Jean Grey to reach him. As a consequence, he created a pocket reality and trapped dozens of X-Men in it.^[255]

In this reality, everyone on Earth was a mutant and any intimate relationship was strongly discouraged or illegal. Psylocke was a member of Department X, the police force in charge of investigating and arresting dissident mutants.^[20] In one of their assignments, Department X captured love criminals Luke and Nezumi Sen, who was pregnant, something for which they did not have a protocol to follow. Psylocke used her psychic powers to confirm the pregnancy, leaving the group shaken by the situation.^[256] Later, while working alone together, Psylocke confronted her colleague Blob about his feelings towards her, offering to erase them, which he refused. Psylocke confronted the Blob at his home where she shared an intimate memory with him^[257][258] and started to question Department X's activities. When detaining another criminal mutant, she only pretended to wipe his memories, being backed by the Blob. They started to share relaxing moments together in secrecy, commiserating over their feelings for one another.^[259] With the Blob's support, Psylocke released all the trapped love memories of those they had imprisoned, terminating her connection to Department X.^[260] When Nate Grey returned all the mutants to their mainstream identities, Psylocke and the Blob returned together.^[261]

Krakoan Champion[]

Much radically changed for Braddock with the foundation of a mutant nation on the island of Krakoa. Being granted citizenship, she moved to the island after a period living with her family at the Braddock Academy. Since Braddock learned Kwannon had also returned to her original body, she gave up her Psylocke identity, as it had been attached to the image of the woman whose body she had worn. In addition to this resurrection, her older brother Jamie also came back to the living through Krakoan Resurrection Protocols. Another shadow from the past was Apocalypse, a government member of the Quiet Council of Krakoa, who had interest in accessing Otherworld and sought for Braddock's help. Simultaneously, Captain Britain, who was aware that Otherworld faced a crisis, also contacted his sister. The Braddock twins traveled to Avalon, where they were attacked by Morgan Le Fay. Brian fell under Morgan's control, and Betsy Braddock reassumed the mantle of Captain Britain by claiming the Amulet of Power.^[3]

The new Captain Britain was brought to Krakoa by mutants assembled by Apocalypse, who went to the ruins of the Braddock Lighthouse, a beacon to Otherworld.^[262] After failing to recover Brian, the group returned to Earth,^[263] where the British Crown recognized Betsy Braddock as the official new Captain Britain, with Pete Wisdom as her contact. Braddock extended her position to her mutant colleagues, recreating Excalibur as the official liaison between the United Kingdom, Krakoa and Otherworld. As a consequence, Captain Britain became a target to the reformulated Coven Akkaba, now an anti-mutant organization with ties to Morgan le Fay and Otherworld. As Excalibur protected Britain from being invaded by beasts from the Otherworld,^[17] Apocalypse completed a ritual to invade Morgan's castle in Camelot. He had manipulated Excalibur to fall into a combat against Morgan in a plan to guarantee a mutant Captain Britain and a mutant-ruled Avalon. The conflict was to be solved in a duel of champions: Betsy, for Krakoa, versus Brian, for Morgan. In a brutal fight, the new Captain Britain slew her brother. Triumphant, Apocalypse appointed Jamie as Avalon's monarch. Betsy also demanded Jamie to resurrect Brian. Though Betsy assumed Brian would step back as Captain Britain, he refused to since he had succumbed to Morgan's dark influence. Betsy Braddock became the true and only Captain Britain.^[264]

Apocalypse then assigned Excalibur to retrieve Warwolf carcasses to complete a ritual that would allow him to spy on the Starlight Citadel in Otherworld. Tracking the remaining Warwolves, they clashed with Cullen Bloodstone, who had bought the beasts ultimately claimed by Excalibur.^[265] Marching to the Starlight Citadel, Captain Britain earned the aversion of its ruler, her former ally Saturnyne.^[266] Saturnyne's priestesses fought back, but Excalibur managed to invade the Starlight Citadel, where they planted a Krakoan gateway.^[267] In the Starlight Citadel, Saturnyne and Captain Britain discussed the past and the future of the Captain Britain Corps.^[268] Apocalypse's true motivations for reaching Otherworld involved retrieving his family, who had left long ago for the hellish dimension of Amenth with Arakko. Unexpectedly, Apocalypse's children betrayed him and planned to invade and consume Krakoa, being led by Annihilation. Facing an imminent conflict in her dominions, Saturnyne set off a tournament, with ten swords from each land, Krakoa and Arakko. In the prophecy for the tournament, Betsy Braddock's name was recited among the Swordbearers of Krakoa.^[269] Part of the challenge comprised collecting the swords. The three Braddock siblings visited the Starlight Citadel to collect Betsy's prophesized sword. Since Saturnyne desired to have Brian as the champion of a reformed the Captain Britain Corps, Betsy and Brian pretended to fight over Captain Britain's mantle, tricking Saturnyne into crafting the Starlight Sword for Brian after Betsy destroyed the Amulet of Power. Betsy ultimately stole the sword and joined the tournament as Captain Britain.^[18]

Captain Britain's first and only challenge was against an Arakkii opponent, Isca the Unbeaten. Surprisingly, as a result of a spell cast by Saturnyne, Captain Britain was shattered to pieces in the middle of the battle.^[270] Saturnyne intended to recreate the Captain Britain Corps with the spell, being horrified to see the image of Betsy instead of Brian as her champion. The spell brought upon several alternate versions of Betsy Braddock who went on to help the X-Men fight the forces of Amenth.^[271] With the Corps reassembled, Braddock's spirit bounced between realities, being switched with an alternate version of herself, Queen Elizabeth III.^[272] With that reality's Angel's and Kwannon's help, she managed to return to Otherworld.^[273] At the Braddock Lighthouse, a cloned body created by Jamie Braddock was possessed by an unknown usurper, attracting the attention of Excalibur and Psylocke.^[274] As Braddock's spirit was retrieved by Elspeth Braddock, the Captain Britain Corps sought for Excalibur's help to return her spirit to her body. As a resurrection ritual performed by Rictor failed, Psylocke set Captain Britain's spirit free and hunted her mind in Avalon. The two women finally had the opportunity to discuss their sorrowful connection. Psylocke offered to host her psyche, and Captain Britain was fully resurrected. Soon after her return, Excalibur learned her body had been previously possessed by Malice.^[14] Captain Britain and Psylocke, with newfound sympathy for Malice's situation, tracked her down on Krakoa and telepathically battled her. Malice was then resurrected in her original body, earning a second chance at life.^[275]

Otherworld War[]

During the Hellfire Gala, Reuben Brousseau, one of Coven Akkaba's highest ranking members and ambassador for the British government, rejected Krakoa's sovereignty and Captain Britain's legitimacy. With Excalibur no longer welcome in Britain, Rictor reshaped the Braddock Lighthouse as the Braddock Isle, no longer attached to Great Britain.^[41] In Otherworld, on the other hand, Captain Britain was reluctantly accepted by Saturnyne to take care of diplomatic affairs. Initially sent to the Holy Republic of Fae, Excalibur was sent to check on Merlyn, who acted dangerously antagonistic after losing his position at the Starlight Citadel to Saturnyne. Although briefly imprisoned, Excalibur escaped Merlyn's clutches.^[276] Back to Braddock Isle, Captain Britain was approached by Doctor Doom, who wished to access Otherworld. In an unusual team-up, Doom was escorted to the Valley of Wailing Mists, where they found Castle Le Fay missing. The shrunken castle was located in Mad Jim Jaspers' Crooked Market, where an army of mutant-killing Furies attacked. Overcoming the fight and having Doctor Doom's gratitude, Captain Britain linked the recent hostilities against Avalon to Merlyn's schemes.^[277] Merlyn had damaged the perception on mutants among Otherworld's courts to undermine Saturnyne's rule. Tackling the Starlight Citadel with an army led by King Arthur, Avalon's former ruler and father of the erratic mutant Mordred, Merlyn's forces were confronted by Excalibur, who battled for right of mutants in Otherworld.^[278]

Initially overpowered, Captain Britain had Excalibur retreat to Avalon and Krakoa, where she was able to reconnect with her teammates from S.T.R.I.K.E. Psi Division. Returning to the Starlight Citadel, Excalibur and the Captain Britain Corps warred against Merlyn's forces. Negating the Citadel's magics with a spell, Merlyn had Braddock lose her Captain Britain powers, though she emerged victorious in a hand-to-hand combat against King Arthur and escaped with Saturnyne. The Citadel still fell under Merlyn's control, as Captain Britain and Saturnyne fell through the cracks of the interdimensional rift that had separated them from Merlyn's army.^[279] They eventually escaped the trap, but Merlyn invaded Avalon and forced the mutants to retreat to Earth. With Coven Akkaba's and Morgan's assistance, Merlyn destroyed any access to Otherworld. Wielding the Starlight Sword, Captain Britain went to Otherworld by herself to fight in the war, being ultimately trapped with her enemies.^[280]

The courts of Otherworld were mostly controlled by Merlyn as Captain Britain had her Corps secretly survive in the Lavender Keep, hidden in the Floating Kingdom of Roma Regina. The Corps saved mutants who faced danger in Otherworld during the war. Captain Britain asked Roma for help in assembling an army to resist Merlyn. Roma gifted Captain Britain with a quest instead, a story to be told featuring ten knights. Through the Voltus Glade, Braddock recruited her champions from Krakoa, the Knights of X, whose mission was to find the Siege Perilous.^[11] In between ardent conflicts, Roma suggested Captain Britain to have some of the Knights of X assist Gia Whitechapel in Blightspoke.^[281] From there, the heroes marched to the vampire reign of Sevalith to get information about the Siege Perilous from the Horseman of Death. The magical item was linked to the court of Mercator, ruled by Mr. M. Captain Britain reassembled her allies in the Crooked Market, where Merlyn brutally attacked them, causing the death of Gambit.^[282] With this sacrifice, Captain Britain was able to access Mercator. Influenced by the Siege Perilous, Braddock faced her insecurities as the new leader of the Captain Britain Corps. Rachel Summers psychically helped the Knights of X overcome the Siege Perilous and, as she greeted Braddock back from the illusions, the two shared a passionate kiss. Mr. M greeted them and explained Mercator itself was the Siege Perilous,^[283] through which Braddock resurrected Gambit and forged a way between Krakoa and Otherworld. Counting with an army of Krakoans, Captain Britain witnessed Merlyn's army perish. In the Starlight Citadel, Captain Britain executed Merlyn for his crimes and declared not to be bound to either Saturnyne or Roma. Leading the Captain Britain Corps and having Rachel Summers, the sacred Askani, at her side as a guide to venture the timelines, Betsy Braddock decided to keep peace as a champion for the Multiverse no longer bound to the Starlight Citadel.^[40]

In her own homeland, Braddock's reputation as a hero suffered a blow due to the manipulations of Morgan, her servants from Coven Akkaba, and Micromax while, across the Multiverse, Furies hunted Captain Britain Corpsmen, suggesting a connection between the Furies from the Infuri, the Everforge, and the media crisis in the United Kingdom. In response to a Fury attack on Captain Pretani from Earth-5411, Braddock assembled the Corps and found Morgan to be the mistress of the Furies. Her plan was to replace Betsy Braddock with a Captain Britain who would answer to Coven Akkaba.^[284] Lizzie Braddock from Earth-76 was Morgan's next target, but Askani foiled the sorceress's scheme alongside Captain Britain. Unfortunately, Morgan managed to corrupt Lizzie Braddock's partner, Captain Carter, instead. Nevertheless, Captain Britain freed Carter from Morgan's influence. Instead of corrupting a version of Elizabeth Braddock, Morgan changed plans and had the Furies themselves take on the Captain Britain mantle.^[285] A Fury rebranded as Captain Britain launched an attack on Brian and Meggan, prompting Captain Britain to intercept it telepathically as Coven Akkaba further damaged her credibility. Seeking allies, Betsy Braddock reached out to Tony Stark,^[286] who assembled the Avengers to incapacitate the Fury. Unexpectedly, Jamie Braddock restructured Morgan's castle in British lands, which strengthened her power with the protection of Doctor Doom.^[287] In an effort to avoid an open confrontation with Morgan and prevent war with Doctor Doom, Captain Britain had Wisdom's S.T.R.I.K.E. new Psi division infiltrate Morgan's castle. During the mission, Askani convinced the Infuri leadership to strike at Doom's forces instead, redirecting their aggression. Ultimately, Captain Britain used Faiza Hussain's Excalibur to mystically link Morgan to the British Isles, ending to her lust for chaos. With peace restored, Captain Britain finally could focus her energy on protecting the Multiverse with the Captain Britain Corps.^[288]

X-Corps Unlimited[]

During the Hellfire Gala, the anti-mutant organization Orchis marred the celebration by massacring most of the X-Men and banishing the mutant population through teleportation. Additionally, they framed mutantkind for the incident, thus reinforcing physical and legal violations against mutants, which resulted in the consistent hunting and prosecution of mutants all around the globe.^[289] With her people in danger, Captain Britain returned to Earth in an attempt to diplomatically exert her influence in the United Kingdom to help mutantkind. Simultaneously, she secretly operated in X-Corps, a network of mutant survivors who resisted Orchis' plans by rescuing victims.^[16] However, Orchis was assisted by the succubus Selene, who manipulated the Externals into going to their war.^[290] Selene's actual powers involved siphoning mutants' souls for a ritual that would empower her known as the Ascension.^[291] As the crisis escalated, Captain Britain publicly declared her support to fight for mutantkind, being directly opposed by Orchis. After retreating to Braddock Isle with Rictor and Shatterstar, she decided to violently counter the complacent British government.^[292] The trio raided a mutant containment facility only to find it occupied by the Externals, who had murdered the agents there.^[293] An intense battle ensued^[294] followed by the Externals fleeing. The British police attacked the mutant heroes in ignorance, prompting Captain Britain to renounce the United Kingdom.^[295]

X-Corps tried to protect mutants from the Eternals, but had their systems hacked by Gideon.^[296] The attack caused X-Corps' floating base to fall. Captain Britain telepathically coordinated Rictor to prevent the falling base from crashing onto the ocean.^[297] After Gideon was defeated,^[298] X-Corps marched to Nova Roma to put an end to Selene and her macabre plans by freeing the mutants in captivity.^[299] When they fought the Externals, Captain Britain dueled Saul in his dragon form.^[300] By plunging her psychic knife on his skull, Captain Britain was able to incapacitate Saul.^[301] However, Selene advanced her ritual, ascending as a deity.^[302] X-Corps broke her connection to the chronomancer Tempo to depower her and pave a way for victory.^[303] Selene's defeat coincided with Orchis being eradicated. After leaving X-Corps, Braddock returned to Rachel Summers' side.^[304]

From the Ashes[]

Following the fall of Krakoa and the resolution of the conflict with Orchis, Betsy Braddock returned to live at Braddock Manor, which was restored to its original location in Essex, England. With her girlfriend, Rachel Summers, by her side, Braddock intended to take time for themselves.^[15] Since Summers' resurrection following her death at the hands of Professor Xavier,^[305] she struggled to maintain her physical integrity due to her psychic powers' instability. To ease her condition, Braddock shared the burden of containing the exceeding energy, in secrecy. Additionally, Braddock also created a tranquil and private mindscape modeled after the Braddock Lighthouse for them to enjoy.^[306]

Their respite was short-lived as they were contacted by Forge to join his his new initiative. His mission was proactively preventing threats before they could occur based on a predictive mechanism called the Analog. Initially declining the invitation due to its secretive methods, Braddock reluctantly agreed to join the team at the recommendation of Summers, who dubbed the fledgling team X-Force. X-Force's first mission involved addressing a world-threatening fracture node in Japan, where an organic weapon that had escaped containment ravaged the district of Sorachi-Shi.^[15] A subsequent mission took them to Wakanda, where they were affected by a mystical disturbance. Despite her attempts to resist with her own Otherworld magic, Captain Britain and her teammates were transformed into medieval versions of themselves. They were ultimately freed by Forge and Sage.^[307]

In Phnom Penh, Cambodia, X-Force was confronted by Nuklo. Braddock and Summers restrained him psychically and, in his mind, uncovered the source of his mental regression. Despite their efforts, they were overpowered.^[308] X-Force then entered the Temple of the Dragon's Breath, which held the Well of All Things — a dimensional portal. Donning her Captain Britain armor, Braddock opened a portal to Otherworld and led X-Force to the Everglades, where they found Nuklo and numerous dimensional rifts threatening civilians, forming an alliance with the Man-Thing in the process.^[309] A following mission in Quebec had X-Force team up with an alternate team of Avengers to stop Nuklo from opening a dimensional nexus. As they fought through monsters and reached the nexus, team member Surge sacrificed herself to seal the rift and stop Nuklo, putting strains on the controversial group.^[310]

Recovering in their mental sanctuary, Braddock and Summers' peace was shattered the alchemist La Diabla invaded, trapping Summers and halting her progress. Braddock manifested her psychic sword to ambush La Diabla in a battle of wills. With Froge's assistance, Braddock ultimately expelled La Diabla and freed Summers.^[306]

Betsy Braddock is a powerful mutant psychic, manifesting a vast and ever-changing array of telepathic^[2] and telekinetic abilities^[311] that have evolved and grown throughout the years.^[312] Her innate gifts are complemented by the magical attributes of the Captain Britain empowering mantle, granting her flight and boosted physical capacities,^[57] which she wielded at different stages of her life.^[3]

Telepathy: Possessing formidable mental powers, Braddock has the ability to interact with, affect and manipulate the minds of other sentient beings over distances.^[2] When employing her telepathy, a distinct butterfly-like image often materializes around her face.^[19] When facing adversaries, she tends to use her telepathy aggressively.

• Psychic Knife: Described as the focused totality of her psychic powers, Braddock can create razor-sharp psychic blades on her fists by intensely channeling and focusing psychic energy. These blades can be plunged directly into the minds of her targets, causing immense disruption^[100] and potentially lethal effects.^[156]
• Psychic Blasts: By projecting powerful psychic force bolts, Braddock is capable of inflicting pain, confusion, unconsciousness, or even death upon her victims.^[79][279]
• Astral Projection: By projecting her consciousness from her physical body, Braddock can traverse astral planes and even the physical world.^[313] On the astral plane, she can mentally create psychic objects and manipulate the aspects of her environment, including battles against other psychics.^[5][165] Under the influence of the Crimson Dawn, her astral form was totally undetectable.^[314]
• Telepathic Shadow: With the telepathic suggestion of being ignored by others, Braddock can mask her presence from others. She can extend these defenses to others around her as well. Her abilities can go undetected and are very difficult to track, even by very powerful telepaths such as Shadow King.^[187]
• Illusions: Braddock can mentally fabricate illusory sensations, experiences, events and memories that have no factual correlation on the minds of others.^{[91][25][315][187]}
• Mind Control: By mentally imposing her will over the minds of others, Braddock is ultimately capable of controlling their actions as a puppeteer.^[316]
  • Paralysis: More specifically, Braddock is able to induce temporary mental and physical paralysis.^[317]
  • Memory Erasure: Braddock can erase any awareness of particular memories or cause total amnesia.^[84]
• Telepathic Detection: Enhanced psychic senses enable Braddock to track other sentient beings in her immediate vicinity by their unique psychic emanations, especially if they pose a threat to her well-being.^[318] She also can scan large areas and track her vicinity,^[54] as well as detect the psyches of the inhabitants of a city to learn of their location and condition.^[83]
• Telepathic Immunity: After being resurrected by her older brother Jamie, Betsy Braddock exhibited immunity to certain psychic abilities such as mind reading^[134] and illusions.^[319] However, in some incidents, she has been shown to be prone to be affected by other telepaths.^[320][321]

Telekinesis: Ever since exchanging abilities with Jean Grey,^[128] Braddock has been able to psychically manipulate and control the physical aspects of matter, allowing her to move and levitate objects and living beings. Although she can move objects from a distance and fly as other telekinetics do, she has shown little inclination to do either in combat situations. Her telekinesis are described to be robust, in the sense she found easier to use her telekinesis in forceful ways, usually by crafting energy weapons.

• Telekinetic Weapons: Braddock's telekinesis has great versatility, as she has used it to construct psychic weapons that damage a target either physically, mentally or both at some point. She has shown skill in using creating multiple types of psychic weapons that differ in size and power, which she uses in combat. Her telekinetic manifestations produce visible radiance in the physical world, which can be used as a makeshift light source in areas of darkness.
  • Telekinetic Sword / Katana: Braddock can manifest a telekinetic sword composed of raw psychic energy at will,^[311] which functions to disrupt neural pathways or cut through matter with precision.^[322] Her telekinetic sword is strong enough to harm beings more powerful than herself.^[36] While inhabiting Kwannon's body, her sword usually manifested as a katana.^[311] After returning to her original body, she produced a sword more similar to a European knight's sword in its fashion, often used alongside a strong telekinetic shield.^[250]
  • Telekinetic Crossbow/Bow and Arrows: Showing more versatility when it comes to her psychic constructs, Braddock can create energy bows and arrows, which she uses to attack her targets from a distance.^[323][324]
  • Telekinetic Spiked Flail: One manifestation of Braddock's telekinetic abilities was once a spiked flail which she used to destroy a wall.^[325]
• Force Field: Braddock is capable of creating telekinetic shields of all sizes to deflect / decelerate incoming attacks.^[131] She can alter their sizes and strengths to her will.^[326] More recently, she has been shown a preference to shape her main field as a solid shield that resembles those wielded by medieval knights.^[250]
• Telekinetic Flight: Personalizing her telekinetic abilities in such a way to propel herself through the air, Braddock can fly at variable speeds,^[327] an ability she declares to enjoy exploring a lot.^[328]
• Concussive Blasts: Braddock can release powerful blasts or bursts made of telekinetic force that on the lowest level can stun targets but on the highest level can destroy entire mountains.^[327][134]
• Telekinetically Enhanced Condition: Using her telekinesis, Braddock is able to enhance her speed, strength, agility, and fighting skills to superhuman levels.^[327][131]
• Telekinetic Invisibility: By using her telekinesis to skew light around her body, Braddock has shown the ability render herself invisible.^[329]

Precognitive Dreams: Braddock's psychic abilities originally manifested as precognitive dreams.^[2] She was able to predict that her twin brother Brian would be attacked by Lord Hawk^[73] and that the Reavers would kill her and her X-Men teammates.^[97] It is unknown if this ability remains in the present.

Reality Warp Immunity: After being resurrected by her older brother Jamie, Betsy Braddock was changed at a quantum level in order be resilient to the multiversal entity called the First Fallen.^[330] Her personal being gave her immunity to being affected by different forms of magic, telepathy, and alterations to the space-time continuum, as well as imperceptibility to similarly empowered beings.^[326] Apparently, she has lost such resistance, considering she has been affected by the actions of reality shapers, such as Legion,^[331] Proteus,^[161][245] and X-Man.^[332]

Otherworlder: As a half-Otherworlder, Betsy Braddock has the potential to manifest additional abilities unusual to ordinary humans due to her unique origin.^[65]

Master Martial Artist: Originally, Braddock had advanced training as a fighter from S.T.R.I.K.E..^[30] As an X-Man, she was taught in combat in constant training sessions, with Wolverine and other X-Men.^{[91][327][121][30]} After swapping bodies with Kwannon, she acquired all the fighting knowledge the deadly assassin had, being classified as a master martial artist, though the specific fighting arts she had mastered have never been revealed. Presumably, as a ninja, she is skilled in various ninjutsu techniques.^[335] Even though she is known as a ninja and worked for the Hand as one, her fighting skills and techniques far surpass those of the average Hand Ninja^[100] or Crimson Dawn Undercloak.^[336] Her skills have been said to rival those of a ninja grandmaster.^[337] As an Exile, Braddock has also received additional training from Sabretooth^[338] and Ogun that vastly developed her skills in this area.^[339] She is also very well versed in the use of ninja weapons, stealth methods, silent movement, infiltration, concealment, escape and evasion, covert methods, ninja espionage, and ninja acrobatics.^[164] After returning to her original body, Braddock has assumed different methods to battle, being closer to those of medieval combat.^[250][279]

Master Telepathic Combatant: As a telepath, Braddock takes advantage of her powers in a fight, by, for instance, reading her opponents' movements seconds before they make them, giving her the opportunity to counter-attack faster.^[100] She can also use her telepathy to mask her presence from other people, humans and super-humans alike.^[340] She can create telepathic illusions to distract and incapacitate her enemies while fighting them.^[341][279] Braddock has declared she has fewer inhibitions about executing enemies if necessary.^{[342][343][207]}

Advanced Telekinetic Combatant: As a telekinetic, Braddock can use her powers to augment her strength and speed,^[327][131] which made her fighting skills strong enough to outmatch other superhumanly strong opponents, like Sabretooth.^{[327][35][27]}

Trained Pilot: Braddock worked as a charter pilot, being experienced in controlling airplanes.^[1] On several occasions, she was tasked of piloting the X-Men Blackbird.^[118]

Lack of Skill: Having been imbued with huge telekinetic powers later in her career as an adventurer, Braddock struggled to exhibit fine control over her abilities. Although her power levels were high enough to destroy mountains, she found herself facing difficulties in telekinetically affecting smaller objects for more delicate tricks.^[327] It is not clear if Braddock still has limitations concerning her fine telekinetic control.

Telepathy / Telekinesis Balance: The strength and stability of Braddock's telepathic and telekinetic powers is said to depend on how much she is using the other, since using both at once makes it hard for her to focus and lowers the level of power.^[344]

• Captain Britain's Uniform: As Captain Britain, Braddock wears a special magical uniform that provides her several abilities.^[31][13][3] The uniform is used by all members of the Captain Britain Corps^[345] and it acts as a beacon and a battery for the mystic energies of Otherworld.^[346] Braddock can cast the uniform only when she is in possession of either the Amulet of Power (currently destroyed) or the Starlight Sword.^[18][279] Braddock's first Captain Britain uniform had been originally worn by the corpsman Kaptain Briton.^[57]
  • Flight: Captain Britain has the ability to self propel herself through the air,^[31][347] being able to reach supersonic speeds.^[348]
  • Superhuman Strength: Wearing a Captain Britain uniform, Braddock acquires increased strength.^[57] The current limits of her strength are not assessed and remain unrevealed^[349] although it is known that her first uniform enabled her to lift 90 tons.^[350]As an example of her augmented strength, she was once able to destroy firearms with her bare hands.^[57]
  • Superhuman Durability: As Captain Britain, it seems that Braddock manifests enhanced durability.^[349] She was able to jump from the top of the Braddock Lighthouse falling several meters to the ground with no injuries.^[262] Assuming she manifests similar abilities her brother did when wearing Captain Britain's uniform, it might be assumed this is due to the uniform emitting a surrounding force field over her body.^[351]
  • Superhuman Reflexes: As Captain Britain, Braddock's reflexes are enhanced to superhuman levels.^[348]

• Starlight Sword: To enter the Otherworld contest, as one of the Swordbearers of Krakoa, Braddock tricked Saturnyne into forging the Starlight Sword, a replacement for the Amulet of Right as the conduit of her Captain Britain's powers. The Starlight Sword was crafted from a piece of the Starlight Citadel, being made of a weighless material.^[18]
• Psylocke once owned a katana named Shurayuki, that was forged in Japan a thousand years ago and given to her by an unrevealed friend.^[9] She used to telekinetically charge her katana with psychic energy.^[354] It is unknown if Braddock kept her katana after returning to her original body.
• Various telekinetic weapons.

Formerly Krakoan Gateways,^[3] X-Men Blackbird, a flying Bentley roadster,^[17] Magik,^[353] Gateway (from Earth-295), Gateway (from Earth-616) and her former charter plane.^[1]

• Originally, Psylocke had her own body transformed to resemble an Asian woman rather than having her mind transferred to the body of another individual. X-Men (Vol. 2) writer Fabian Nicieza declared he had misinterpreted the original story during his research, resulting in the creation of Kwannon as a separate character.^[355] Currently, Kwannon is the character wearing the mantle of Psylocke.^[356]

• Betsy and Brian Braddock have a subconscious psychic bond, allowing the twins to sense when the other is in crisis.^[73][57] Betsy once severed this bond before during a period of distance between the two, but eventually reconnected it.^[13] For a time, she also shared a psychic link with Wolverine.^[100][111]
• Although Betsy is slightly older than her twin brother Brian, she chose to support him as the heir, as that responsibility did not align with her adventurous spirit.^[357]
  • Even though they are twins, Betsy still affectionately calls him her “baby brother”.^{[357][150][358]}
• Creator Chris Claremont once stated that Psylocke was originally turned Asian only for the Acts of Vengeance story arc; after a good response from the audience to Jim Lee's design for Asian Psylocke, he decided to keep going with the redesign.^[359]
  • Psylocke's return to her original body could have happened many years prior to her actual comeback. Claremont intended to have her resurrected in her original body in the X-Treme X-Men series, which ended in 2004, but the editorial staff had several restrictions for characters returning from death at the time. This would change a few years later, when Joss Whedon was allowed to resurrect Colossus in Astonishing X-Men, paving the way for Claremont to bring Psylocke back. Claremont kept her in her Asian body, however.^[360] In the Sisterhood story arc from Uncanny X-Men #508-511 by Matt Fraction and in the Age of X event by Mike Carey, Braddock was temporarily seen in her original body, insinuating possible returns that did not end up happening.
• Uncanny X-Force's writer Rick Remender stated in interview that Psylocke's powerset consisted of her being a "burgeoning Omega-level telepath," with no mention to any telekinetic abilities.^[361] In Remender's stories, Psylocke was never seen using telekinesis.
• In her earlier appearances, Betsy Braddock was depicted with both blond and brown hair.^[362] Her iconic purple hair was first introduced many years later in Daredevils #3, in which she justifies her decision of dying it as a modern fashion statement. In Uncanny X-Men #255, when emerging in a mental landscape as a child and as an adult, Braddock is also portrayed with her original blond hair.
• Psylocke was once stated to be the third most powerful telepath on Earth, without counting Stryfe.^[22]
• The name "Psylocke" ([ˈsaɪ.lɑːk] SEYE-lok) is assumed by some fans to be a wordplay with the words "psyche", "key" and "lock". As "psyche" is pronounced as "psy-key", "Psylocke" would be pronounced as "psy-lock". This interpretation is further supported by Uncanny X-Men #256, an issue focused on Psylocke's transformation into an assassin ninja, which is aptly titled "The Key That Breaks the Locke."
  • Psyche, the Greek goddess of the soul, is usually portrayed with a butterfly hovering over her head, similar to the butterfly effect Psylocke manifests when using her telepathic powers.^[363][364]