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Psylocke
Textless variant cover of Excalibur (Vol. 4) # 19, depicting both characters associated with the codename Psylocke: Betsy Braddock (left) and Kwannon (right). Art by Mahmud Asrar and Matthew Wilson.
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain (vol. 1) #8 (Dec. 1976) Debut as Psylocke: New Mutants Annual (vol. 1) #2 (Oct. 1986) Kwannon: X-Men (vol. 2) #17 (Feb. 1993) Debut as Psylocke: Fallen Angels (vol. 2) #1 (Nov. 2019)
Created by	Chris Claremont (writer) Herb Trimpe (artist)
Characters	Betsy Braddock Kwannon
Psylocke
	Psylocke #1 (2009) featuring the body-swapped Betsy Braddock version of the character, art by David Finch and Jason Keith.
Series publication information
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Limited series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	Nov. 2009 - Feb. 2010
Number of issues	4
Main character(s)	Psylocke (Betsy Braddock)
Creative team
Writer(s)	Christopher Yost
Penciller(s)	Harvey Tolibao
Inker(s)	Paul Neary
Colorist(s)	Jay David Ramos

Psylocke is the name of two connected fictional mutant superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics, commonly in association with the X-Men.

The first character to use the Psylocke moniker, Betsy Braddock, was a supporting character in stories focusing on her twin brother Brian, adopting the codename upon joining the X-Men. For 29 years of publication history, the character was body-swapped in-story with the assassin Kwannon.

Kwannon took on the moniker to become the second Psylocke after both women returned to their respective bodies and Braddock claimed the mantle of Captain Britain.

In addition to their presence in numerous X-related team titles over the decades, both iterations of Psylocke have been featured in various limited series and one-shots. In 1997, Betsy Braddock, as Psylocke, appeared in the 4-issue team-up series Psylocke and Archangel: Crimson Dawn. Additionally, she starred in the one-shot X-Men: Sword of the Braddocks #1 in 2009 and the solo 4-issue series X-Men: Psylocke in 2010. During the Krakoan Age, Kwannon as Psylocke appeared in various team books such as the Hellions (2020) and Marauders (2022) and then starred in the one-shot X-Men: Blood Hunt – Psylocke #1 in 2024. As part of the X-Men: From the Ashes relaunch, Kwannon as Psylocke is set to star in a new solo ongoing series starting in November 2024.

Publication history

Betsy Braddock

Created by writer Chris Claremont, Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock first appeared in Captain Britain #8 (Dec. 1976), with Captain Britain #10 (Dec. 1976) as her first cover appearance, published by the Marvel Comics' British imprint Marvel UK. In New Mutants Annual #2 (1986), Claremont integrated Betsy Braddock into the X-Men franchise. After being rescued by the New Mutants and taking up residence at their mutant-training academy, Braddock is formally invited to join the X-Men and officially adopts the codename Psylocke, becoming an enduring fixture of the team over the next three decades.

In a 1989 story, an amnesiac Betsy is kidnapped by The Hand, who brainwash her and physically alter her to take on an East Asian appearance. Under the name Lady Mandarin, she briefly becomes the Hand’s supreme assassin. While her memories return, she retains her new appearance and skills, including the ability to manifest the focused totality of her telepathic power in the form of a “psychic knife.” A 1993 story by Fabian Nicieza would retroactively establish that Braddock’s changed appearance was the product of a body swap between Braddock and the assassin Kwannon.

In the Claremont-written X-Treme X-Men #2 (2001), the character dies, her comic book death lasting until 2005's Uncanny X-Men #455. During the Hunt for Wolverine storyline, the psychic vampire Sapphire Styx absorbs the entirety of Braddock’s soul, leaving her body dead. After destroying Sapphire Styx from the inside with assistance from a fragment of Wolverine’s soul, Braddock reconstitutes her original body with the villain’s remaining soul power.

During the Dawn of X, Braddock subsequently took up her brother Brian’s former title of Captain Britain, forming a new iteration of Excalibur with Apocalypse, Gambit, Rogue, Jubilee, and Rictor, to protect the Kingdom of Avalon.

Kwannon

In Kwannon’s first appearance, using the codename Revanche, she traveled to the United States to confront Braddock, believing herself to be the real Betsy Braddock due to amnesia caused by the body swap. She discovered that she was formerly The Hand’s prime assassin before incurring brain damage and falling comatose as a result of a battle with her lover Matsu’o Tsurayaba, a high-ranking member of the Hand. In hopes that, due to Kwannon’s low-level psychic abilities, the powers of the high-level telepath Betsy Braddock would be able to save her life, Tsurayaba sought the help of the sorceress Spiral, who instead transferred the women’s minds into each other’s bodies rather than simply recovering Kwannon.

After accepting that she is not the original Betsy Braddock, Kwannon becomes a member of the X-Men, shortly thereafter contracting the Legacy Virus. As the disease progressed, Kwannon’s psychic abilities increased, allowing her to clarify her own distorted memory. Choosing to die on her own terms, Kwannon confronts Tsurayaba, who complies with her request to kill her rather than waiting to succumb to the disease.

Following the Hunt for Wolverine, when Braddock was restored to her original body, Kwannon was reborn in her original body as well. Claiming the codename Psylocke for herself, Kwannon became a citizen of the mutant nation of Krakoa. After the apparent murder of her long-lost daughter by a threatening artificial intelligence called Apoth, Psylocke assembled a new team of Fallen Angels with X-23 and Cable. After finding out that Apoth was using children to disseminate a technological drug called Overclock, Mister Sinister modified Overclock to allow Psylocke to interact with Apoth in a cyberspace, killing Apoth, whose remains she delivered to Mister Sinister in exchange for his assistance in keeping this extrajudicial mission a secret from the Krakoan Quiet Council.

Following the Apoth incident, Psylocke was assigned to monitor Mister Sinister’s new team of Hellions, composed of mutants considered too violent or troubled to assimilate into Krakoan society. The character was later featured as a team member in the Marauders (vol. 2) as the team was refocused on their mission of mutant rescue. Following the fall of Krakoa, Kwannon will headline in the upcoming ongoing series Psylocke (vol. 2) written by Alyssa Wong with art by Vincenzo Carratù. This solo series will be spun out of events in Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman's X-Men (vol. 7) where Psylocke is a team member.

Race swap controversy

Psylocke was initially the code name of Elizabeth Braddock, a British woman. However, in a Marvel storyline of 1989, Acts of Vengeance, she was "physically transformed into an Asian woman by a villain seeking to brainwash her and turn her into an elite assassin for a group of ninja warriors." This has been criticized as racially insensitive or stereotypical by multiple fans and critics. For example, Anna Lam calls her new form a "fetishized Asian sex object in the style of the classic Dragon Lady of the 1930s." Chris Claremont, the writer of the story, has said that this transformation was originally simply a disguise but became semi-permanent because most fans embraced it. The artist for the story is Jim Lee, a Korean American.

The subsequent storyline of 1993, written by Nicieza, mitigates the issue because subsequently the East Asian Psylocke and the white Psylocke are two distinct women (Kwannon and Betsy Braddock, respectively).

Collections

Other versions

Ultimate Universe

During the "Ultimate Invasion" storyline, Maker traveled to Earth-6160 and remade it into his own image. In Hi no Kune, it's Psylocke is a Kanon Sainouchi who is a senior at Idori High School that Hisako Ichiki and her friends go to. She is an expert fencer and her brother Tatsuya is a police officer. When both of them find a briefcase containing human parts in them, Kanon later finds out that Tatsuya was visited by #Ultimate Universe|Emperor Sunfire's minion Viper who had him sign a non-disclosure agreement. She is later confronted on the streets by Tatsuya about the leaked video and advises her to turn her phone off or else they'll both be "deleted".

Demon Days

This version of Psylocke is an adventurous Japanese samurai woman named Sai, who is accomapnied by a wolf named Logan. Set in ancient era of Japan, both yokai and humans used to coexist together, until the avarice within humans caused a conflict between both species. She is requested by the village which a young archer girl Tsuki hails from to kill Venom Symbiote infected Orochi, with the help from a red oni Hulkmaru, in exchange to restore peace between humans and yokai once more.

In other media

Psylocke has been featured in media other than comic books, including the 1992 X-Men animated television series, Wolverine and the X-Men, a variety of video games, as well as film portrayals by Meiling Melançon in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand and by Olivia Munn in the 2016 film X-Men: Apocalypse. In video games, Psylocke's notable appearances include the Marvel vs. Capcom series, the Marvel: Ultimate Alliance games, and as a purchasable outfit in Fortnite Battle Royale.

While the identity of Psylocke is Betsy Braddock, whose appearance based on her time inhabiting Kwannon's body in most other medias, a video game Marvel Rivals marks the first time to feature a different Psylocke, whose identity is Sai from 2021's Marvel Demon Days comic Universe.

References

1. DeFalco, Tom; Sanderson, Peter; Brevoort, Tom; Teitelbaum, Michael; Wallace, Daniel; Darling, Andrew; Forbeck, Matt; Cowsill, Alan; Bray, Adam (2019). The Marvel Encyclopedia. DK Publishing. p. 282. ISBN 978-1-4654-7890-0.
2. New Mutants Annual, vol. 1 #2
3. Uncanny X-Men #256–258 (1989)
4. X-Men, vol. 2 #31–32
5. ^ Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor (2018)
6. X-Men, vol. 2 #17-18
7. ^ X-Men, vol. 2 #31
8. X-Men, vol. 2 #32
9. X-Men Annual, vol. 2 #2
10. X-Men, vol. 2 #27-28
11. Fallen Angels, vol. 2 #1
12. Fallen Angels, vol. 2 #5-6
13. Hellions #1
14. Marauders Annual #1
15. "SDCC: Psylocke to headline solo title from Marvel in November 2024". Popverse. 2024-07-27. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
16. Brooke, David (2024-07-27). "New 'Psylocke' X-Men series details revealed". AIPT. Retrieved 2024-07-28.
17. Deman, p. 55.
18. Quoted in Deman, p. 55.
19. Deman, p. 55.
20. Ultimate X-Men Vol. 2 #7-8. Marvel Comics.
21. Demon Days: X-Men (2021) - Marvel Comics
22. Goslin, Austen (April 17, 2020). "Cable and the X-Force are coming to Fortnite". Polygon.
23. SacrilegeGG, SacrilegeGG (October 4, 2024). "Who The Hell Is... Psylocke". Rivals.Fan.

Bibliography

• Deman, J. Andrew (2023). The Claremont Run: Subverting Gender in the X-Men. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-4773-3075-3.

• Marvel Comics female superheroes
• Fictional swordfighters in comics