Name: Psylocke (Elizabeth “Betsy” Braddock)
Height: 5’11” (both bodies)
Weight: 155 lbs. (both bodies)
Description: Human who has had two bodies. Her first body’s eyes were blue until gouged out and replaced with purple cybernetic eyes. Her second body has purple eyes. Her first body’s hair color was originally blonde and dyed purple. Her second body has black hair that’s often dyed purple. Psylocke is often dressed in either purple or black ninja-like gear including a katana and a ribbon-like sash at the hip, but has dressed as Captain Britain before officially becoming “Psylocke”. Psylocke can form psionic blades with her hands that glow purple, and often sports purple psionic energy while using her telepathy.
Occupation: Charter Pilot, Professional Model, Agent of S.T.R.I.K.E., X-Man, Captain Britain, Assassin
Known Residence: Braddock Manor, England/X-Mansion
Powers and Abilities: Psylocke can form a telekinetic katana, or direct her powers through
her fists to strike as if she had superstrength; she is immune to telepathic probes or attacks. Psylocke’s original powers were precognition, telepathy, mental blasts, mind control, and generating illusions. After her resurrection, Betsy was briefly invisible to all detection devices. She can form a “psychic knife” to stun or kill opponents. The Crimson Dawn gave her the power to teleport through shadows, and to become virtually invisible. After swapping powers with Jean Grey, Betsy could create force fields, move objects with her mind, and generate energy blades. Psylocke is a skilled martial artist and a trained pilot.
Her Captain Britain costume gave her superhuman strength, flight and a force field.
History: Elizabeth was born and raised in Maldon, Essex, England, alongside her twin brother Brian (Captain Britain) and older brother Jaime. Betsy began developing precognitive powers, which eventually manifested into full psychic powers including telepathy. After a stint in S.T.R.I.K.E.’s Psi Division, Betsy takes up the mantle of Captain Britain while her brother Brian is away. She teamed up with Captain UK and became a sensation until the villain Slaymaster lured her into a trap that ended with Slaymaster gouging Betsy’s eyes out. Her brother Brian flew in and killed Slaymaster rescuing Betsy, who had the chance to get cybernetic eyes, but she refused preferring to rely on her psychic abilities instead.
Betsy heads to Switzerland to recuperate after losing her eyes, and she is promptly kidnapped by Mojo, brainwashed and given cybernetic eyes anyways. She took up the name Psylocke and became the star of Mojo’s show “Wildways” before Captain Britain and the New Mutants rescue her. She’s moved into X-Mansion to recover, but soon after Sabertooth attacked the mansion. Aiding Wolverine in a fight against Sabertooth, Psylocke uses her telepathy to gather important information from Sabertooth that would lead the X-Men to Mr. Sinister. Wolverine was impressed by Psylocke’s bravery and nominated her to join the X-Men.
After joining the X-men, Psylocke fought Mephisto, Dr. Doom, the Horde and many others, before eventually waking up yet again an amnesiac on an island near China, found by the Hand who was led by Matsu’o Tsurayaba. Matsu’o used Psylocke telepathy in an attempt to save his brain dead lover Kwannon, not knowing that the process would give both women half of Psylocke’s powers, Betsy and Kwannon swapped bodies. Psylocke now in the body of Kwannon became the Hand’s new top assassin Lady Mandarin and she had learned to focus her telepathic power into a “psychic knife”. Her first mission pitted her against Wolverine. When she attacked Wolverine, she saw herself and who she was in his memories, which allowed her to break the Hand’s control and escape with Wolverine.
Psylocke returned to the X-Men’s blue team, led by Cyclops. Kwannon in Psylocke’s old body eventually appeared claiming to be the real Psylocke. Unable to tell who was the real Psylocke, both stayed on with the X-Men for a brief time before Kwannon dies, restoring Psylocke’s full power. She briefly has a relationship with Angel.
Psylocke is killed by Sabertooth, but is restored by the Crimson Dawn, giving her the power to teleport through shadows, marking her with a red tattoo over her left eye. She developed a colder personality but now had even more power to help the X-men against villains such as the Shadow King.
Jean Grey and Betsy end up swapping powers, giving Psylocke telekinesis. She joined Storm’s X-Treme X-Men for a while before dying while protecting Rogue and Beast from a man named Vargas. She was buried at the Braddock family estate in England.
A year later Betsy awoke where she had died and returned home to the X-Men and began to help them fight against Mojo and Spiral. She reunites with her brother Brian in House of M. You find out her older brother Jaime reached back through time to stop her spirit from passing into the afterlife, and in doing so renders Psylocke even more powerful than before. Her new power allows her to save the X-Men from the First Fallen, but results in her older brother’s death.
While going to inform Captain Britain of their brother’s fate, Betsy ends up fighting the Shadow King again, which ends with Psylocke being teleported interdimensionally to the Nexus of All Realities, where she joins the Exiles, heroes gathered from several realities to defend the Omniverse. She faces off again Slaymaster from Earth-1720 who ends up going on a murdering rampage, killing Betsy Braddock in every reality he visited. After learning to face her fears, Psylocke finally confronts Slaymaster and kills him in Earth-616. Psylocke get involved with Exiles teammate Sabretooth, and continues her mission as an Exile.
After another kidnapping this time by Madelyn Pryor’s Sisterhood and a battle with the Hand and Matsu’oYashida, in the aftermath of X-Men: Second Coming, Wolverine selects Psylock to join the X-Force. Her first task is to begin helping her ex Warren (Angel) control the Archangel part of his mind. When the Shadow King returns, he helps release the Archangel persona from Warren, and begins his ascension into Apocalypse. The X-Force then travels to the Age of Apocalypse to find a Life Seed to cleanse Warren. Psylocke’s hesitation to kill Archangel leads to her transformation into the Horseman of Death. Jean Grey ends up stopping this transformation, and unlocks an untapped power in Betsy’s mind, making her a full-fledged Omega level telepath after these events. Psylocke then stabs Archangel with the Life Seed, killing Warren and creates a new being in his likeness.
After the breaking of the X-men, Psylocke stays with Cyclops on Utopia, but secretly stays with X-Force, helping Wolverine whenever he needs. She becomes Cyclops’ lead spy and spy hunter on the X-Men Security team. Her brother Captain Britain learns of her activities with X-Force, and pulls her to Otherworld to find that her older brother Jaime is still alive and has Fantomex prisoner. Betsy takes up the mantle of Lady Briton and is forced to kill Jaime, rescuing Fantomex.
As a member of Cyclops’ Extinction Team, Psylocke takes the side of the X-Men vs the Avengers once the Phoenix Force was heading towards Earth. She is currently in an All-Female X-Men Team that consists of Psylocke, Storm, Rachel Grey, Jubilee and Rogue.
*Enter below for a chance to win 1 of 3 Psylocke Hero Pack Keys for Marvel Heroes. Winners will be announced here on this page on June 26th.
Where to find Psylocke!
First Appearance: (As Elizabeth) Captain Britain #8 (1976) written by Chris Claremont; (as 
Captain Britain) Captain Britain #12 (1986); (as Psylocke) Uncanny X-Men #213 (1987); (as Lady Mandarin) Uncanny X-Men #256 (1989)
Recommended Comics: Psylocke 1-4: “Kill Matsu’o” (Yost/Talibao), New Mutants Annual #2 (First joins the X-Men), X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks One Shot (Claremont/Clark) Excalibur #2/X-Treme X-Men #3 for Origin story
Other Media: X-Men: The Animated Series, Wolverine and the X-men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, Buttery signature by Kaioni (song), Vidoe Games: X-Men 2: The Fall of Mutants, Wolverine (1991), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse, X-Men: Children of the Atom, X-Men 2: Clone Wars, Marvel Super Heroes, X-Women, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, X-Men: Mutant Academy 2, X-Men: Next Dimension, X-Men Legends, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 1 & 2, Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, Marvel Avengers Alliance, Marvel: War of Heroes, Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign, Marvel Heroes, LEGO Marvel Super Hero’s
*Article by Everett Harn