Psylocke: Bio, Origin & History

Real Name: Elizabeth (Betsy) Braddock

First Appearance: As Elizabeth Braddock (Only in UK): Captain Britain #8 (December, 1976)

First Appearance in U.S.A.: New Mutants Annual #2 (October, 1986)

First Appearance as Psylocke: Uncanny X-Men #213 (January, 1987)

Powers: Telepathy, Telekinesis, Force Fields, Telekinetic Weapons, Telepathic Tracking, Psionic Knife, Mind Control, and Astral Projections

Affiliation: X-Men, X-Force, Horsemen of Apocalypse, X-treme X-Men,

Enemies: X-Men Enemies

Love Interests: Angel (Warren Worthington III), Tom Lennox, Thunderbird 2, Phantom X, and Cable

Did You Know: The name Psylocke is actually a pun. It refers to the opening of a ‘Psy’- Lock.  You would need a ‘Psy’-Key to do it.  Psylocke is a psyche. She opens the lock of the mind because she is the key.

A Little History

The origin of Psylocke is anything but straightforward.

Betsy Braddock or Psylocke is one of the foremost telepaths in the Marvel Universe. Her abilities include but are not limited to creating weapons from her powers, telekinesis and, of course, telepathy. Like most mutants, Betsy was born with her powers. Her powers, however, manifested late in life only appearing late into her teen years.

When she first appeared, very little was known about her. All that was apparent was that she was the sister to superhero, Captain Britain or Brian Braddock. An accomplished flyer, Betsy was flying Brian in a plane when the villain, Dr. Sin caused her to experience strange dreams and visions. This resulted in the plane crashing to the ground. Luckily, both Betsy and Brian survived.

Eventually, Betsy pursued a career as a fashion model. During this time, she would use her powers very little. However, after Brian gave up the mantle of Captain Britain, Betsy was convinced to take up the role. As Captain Britain, Betsy had an encounter with the villainous Slaymaster. During this battle, she was severely beaten and blinded. Just as she had been blinded, her brother, Brian showed up. While he was too late to prevent the misfortunes against Betsy, he was able to see to it that Slaymaster would never harm her again.

Later in that same year, she adopted the name Psylocke and was enslaved by the powerful being, Mojo. While enslaved, Mojo restored her site, Betsy manager to escape and upon her escape, took up home in Professor Xavier’s Institute for the Gifted. During a battle with the ferocious Sabretooth, Psylocke proved her worth and was admitted as a full member of the X-Men.

A series of events led Psylocke to gain amnesia. While an amnesiac, her mind was transferred into the body of Japanese Assassin, Kwannan. After a brief stint as Lady Mandarin, an encounter with Wolverine refreshes her memory and she resumes her life as Psylocke.

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