Codename:
Psylocke
Real name: Elizabeth
(Betsy) Braddock
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 155 lbs
Place of Birth: Braddock
Manor, England
Relatives: Sir James,
Sr. (father, deceased), Brian (Captain Britain, brother), James, Jr. (brother)
Past: Psylocke was
born a powerful telepath. Originally she was a model, and simply a psycho-blaster
with the ability to read minds. When her brother Brian gave up the mantle
of Captain Britain for a time, Betsy took over, but her career ended when
she was blinded by Slaymaster, an enemy of her brother's. Eventually Betsy
was given bionic eyes by Mojo, who used them to spy on the X-Men. Betsy
joined the X-Men around the time of the Mutant Massacre, and valiantly
defended the wounded against Sabretooth. After the X-men died in Dallas,
Wolverine got her Betsy an armored costume to protect her physically during
battles. However, after going through the Siege Perilous Psylocke was used
by the Hand and Lord Nyoirin, an Asian crimelord, to reassemble the mind
of his assassin, Kwannon, who had been injured in a fall. However, Matsu'o
Tsurayaba, Kwannon's lover, cut a deal with the time-dancer Spiral and
Betsy's mind entered Kwannon's body. Her mind was slightly merged with
Kwannon's and, with the help of Spiral's Body Shoppe, their bodies were
made genetically identical. "Psylocke" was given Kwannon's Asian body and
martial arts training, and worked for the Mandarin until a plunge into
Wolverine's psychosis knocked her out of the brainwashing. At that point,
she manifested her power in the form of a psychic knife that she would
plunge into an opponent's head to knock them out. In reality, there was
only a part (albeit the majority) of Betsy in Kwannon's body, believing
herself to be Psylocke. When the remainder of Betsy (including her body)
returned as Revanche (who was really Kwannon) and subsequently died from
the Legacy Virus, Revanche returned the rest of Betsy's mind and power
to Psylocke and took the missing parts of Kwannon into herself. Later on,
as Sabretooth began his escape from the X-Mansion, Psylocke attempted to
stop him, but was critically wounded. To save her life, her lover Archangel,
along with Wolverine, Gomurr the Ancient, and Dr. Strange, journeyed into
the dimension of the Crimson Dawn to retrieve some of the magical liquid
to save Betsy's life. As a result of her exposure to the Crimson Dawn,
Psylocke gained the ability to "teleport" through shadows. This new chance
at life came with a price, however. The evil Kuragari usurped control of
the Crimson Dawn and tried to make Psylocke into his bride. Fortunately,
Gomurr and Angel were able to return the balance to the Dawn and break
Kuragari's hold on Betsy. Months later, the Shadow King tricked Psylocke
into initiating a telepathic shockwave that disabled telepaths all over
the world, leaving the King in command of the astral plane. Although her
astral form was destroyed, Betsy emerged in a new "shadow form" that was
certainly a by-product of her exposure to the Crimson Dawn. Invisible to
the Shadow King, Betsy was able to free the X-Men he had captured and then
taunted the Shadow King until he over-extended himself by trying to corrupt
every mind on the planet. Betsy was then able to telepathically contain
the Shadow King's core, but at a great cost: to ensure that the Shadow
King would never be able to escape, Psylocke was forced to permanently
shut down her telepathy. Recently, Psylocke gained telekinetic power from
Phoenix, and no longer has her telepathy. She is powerful enough to move
giant beams and fly, but she still has control and stamina problems. She
also seems to have lost the ability to teleport between shadows. At the
same time, Betsy began flirting with fellow teammate Thunderbird III, much
to Warren's chagrin, leading to his breaking up with her when he realized
they really had very little in common. Shortly thereafter, Psylocke joined
other members of the X-Men on a secret mission to find the lost Books of
Truth, prophecies written by the precog Destiny.