Alternative versions of Psylocke

Alternate versions of Psylocke

The "Red Queen" version of Psylocke with Wolverine and Magneto in Wolverine: Days of Future Past #3 : "Chain Reactions" (art by Joe Bennett)
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Captain Britain, vol. 1 #8 (December 1976)
Created by Chris Claremont and Herb Trimpe (Earth-616)
See also Psylocke in other media

In addition to her mainstream incarnation, the Marvel Comics character Psylocke (Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock) has had been depicted in other fictional universes and alternate timelines. These alternative representations usually differ considerably from the details and events of the main story set on Earth-616, without affecting that story's narrative continuity.

Age of Apocalypse

The "Age of Apocalypse" (Earth-295) incarnation of Psylocke was created by Akira Yoshida and Chris Bachalo. She is an Asian ninja (wearing a mask), though no explanation is given as to the circumstances of her ethnicity. She possesses the ability to generate psychic blades (an ability that the Earth-616 Psylocke only manifested after switching bodies with Kwannon) that can affect physical matter as well as living beings. She frees the captured X-Men and has a brief reunion with Logan, for whom she bears an obvious grudge.[1] Psylocke later battles Dagger, defeating her quickly, and uses her psychic blades to counteract the brainwashing of some of the X-Men; first on Jean, who is released from Mr. Sinister's influence, and then on Kirika, which allows the young mutant to remember that Logan and Mariko Yashida are her parents. At the end of the series, Psylocke and the other Japanese members of the X-Men (Sunfire, Kirika, and Silver Samurai) depart for Clan Yashida's refugee colony in New Japan.[2]

Age of X

In Age of X (Earth-11326) storyline of X-Men: Legacy, Psylocke, created by Mike Carey and Clay Mann, Psylocke is still in her original body of Elizabeth Braddock, having never switched with Kwannon. She is depicted as a member of the Force Warriors, a select group of telekinetics who rebuild the telekinetic shields that protect Fortress X on a daily basis. Prior to the mutant/human conflict she lived a privileged life among the upper class of British society, similar to her Earth-616 counterpart. Along with others (such as Megan Gwynn and Jonothon Starsmore "Chamber") was part of a general expulsion of X-Gene positive families from the United Kingdom. The plan was to exile them on a series of small islands in the Irish Sea, but was foiled when the Irish separatists bombed one of the ships carrying the transportees. The Mutant Liberation Front seized control of the other ship (with Chamber on-board) and was ultimately able to berth it at the Canadian port of Saguenay. As a member of the Force Warriors, Betsy used her telekinesis in concert with the other members to rebuild the walls around Fortress X every evening in preparation for the next morning's attacks. She is in a relationship with the Age of X version of Iceman.[3]

Days of Future Past

The dystopian "Days of Future Past" (Earth-811) storyline was created by John Francis Moore and Joe Bennett. Psylocke has not only the Crimson Dawn tattoo over her left eye, but also additional tattoos on the right part of her face. Psylocke is first seen as a mysterious hooded female that sneaks up undetected behind Logan and telepathically destroys his consciousness. She is the new Red Queen and one of the Lords Cardinal of the new Hellfire Club. Psylocke is seen by Shinobi Shaw’s side as they watch the trapped Scarlet Witch. As Shinobi brags about world domination, Betsy reminds him that without her help he would not have been so lucky and he tells her that her name is never far away from his thoughts and that they will rule the world side by side. Suddenly, Psylocke cries out in pain and says that Wolverine has reawakened and that Emma Frost is responsible for bringing him back.[4] She summons the female ninja Midnight (Amiko Kobayashi) and instructs her to kill Wolverine, in spite of their past together.[5] Baron Zemo makes his way back to Shinobi and Elizabeth to celebrate their victory, just as Magneto makes his way into their base. Betsy senses betrayal from one of the workers, whom she stuns with her psychic knife and find out to be Jubilee in disguise. As she is preparing to kill Jubilee, Synch and Leech use their combined powers against Psylocke to intervene. Wolverine finally knocks her down with one punch, commenting that during the years she has grown a bit “rusty” with her martial arts skills. She is taken back to Emma Frost’s base of operation and Emma later tells Jubilee and the rest of the team that Betsy will be transferred back to her brother in England as soon as her recuperation is completed.[6]

In Excalibur, the Earth-9620 Psylocke has no tattoos at all and her eyes are completely blue, with no visible iris or pupils. One thing that connects these two storylines with each other and with the original Days of Future Past, is the death of Warren Worthington (Angel). Psylocke is a member of the underground resistance against Black Air, the security service that rules Britain. She is first seen as part of the Excalibur team that goes on a mission to rescue Douglock from the Black Air headquarters. Inside the Black Air HQ, Psylocke fights off techno-organic Brood replicas and uses her psychic knife to open up a neural linked brain-lock. Inside the locked room, she finds herself trapped together with the rest of the team. What happens to her afterwards is unknown. This story, "Days of Future Tense," revealed the final fate of the "Days of Future Past" timeline's Excalibur team.[7]

Exiles

Several versions of the character appear in the Exiles comics:

Earth X

It is unknown if the Betsy Braddock version of the Earth-X (Earth-9997) future timeline ever switched bodies with the Japanese assassin Kwannon or if the effect was undone somehow, but she was entirely European when she was brought to Otherworld to further hone her telepathic and precognitive powers under Merlyn and Roma’s tutelage. Her abilities boosted, Psylocke's telepathic signature, the butterfly image, was much bigger than before and constantly “on,” bathing her head in bright, pink light.[13] Her training completed, she rejoined her brother, King Britain, on Earth at some later point, as she, Merlyn and Doctor Strange used their powers to weaken Mephisto, allowing Brian to kill him.[14]

House of M

In the House of M reality (Earth-58163) created by the Scarlet Witch, Betsy found herself as Princess Royal named Elizabeth Glorianna Braddock, sister to the monarch of Britain. In fact, Betsy was actually the rightful heir of the throne, being a few minutes older than her twin brother Brian, but she had stepped down in his favor, as she preferred traveling and adventuring with her lady-in-waiting, Rachel Summers. Nevertheless, she still had an Asian body, and possessed the same powers as the Earth-616 Psylocke.[15]

MC2

Although not seen on-panel, Psylocke's counterpart of the Marvel Comics 2 universe (Earth-982) was at least mentioned. Apparently, this Psylocke acted as a godmother to Wild Thing, the daughter of Wolverine and Elektra, and she also trained her in the use of her psychic powers. Wild Thing had no real claws but psionic ones that she could use in similar ways to Psylocke's psychic katana.[16]

Millennial Visions

Several versions of the character appear in the X-Men: Millennial Visions comics:

Ultimate Marvel

In the World Tour story arc of Ultimate X-Men (Earth-1610), Agent Betsy Braddock was created by Mark Millar and Adam Kubert. She was introduced as a colonel for the British Secret Intelligence Service along with her partner Agent Dai Thomas. As in the mainstream Marvel Universe, Betsy is the twin sister of Brian Braddock, who is now a member of the European Defense Initiative (the European Union's equivalent of the Ultimates), code named Captain Britain. Her father, Professor Sir James Braddock, is still alive in the Ultimate universe, and oversees the EDI's super-soldier program. She is a telepath and, judging by her own assertion, the most powerful in England. The "psychoblast" power she possessed in her British form in the Earth-616 universe was manifested as a "psychic grenade" that she "detonated" in the minds of others. Agents Betsy Braddock and Dai Thomas, were assigned to aid Xavier in his search for his son, David, a powerful mutant who could physically possess the bodies of others and manipulate reality. During the investigation, however, Agent Thomas was killed and Betsy's body was possessed by David, who set about wreaking havoc and killing innocent humans while in her body. She eventually managed to resist his control, albeit briefly, and pleaded with Xavier to kill her. Xavier could not bring himself to do so, but Colossus dropped a car on her, killing both Betsy and David Xavier.[19]

Betsy's consciousness survived, however, somehow moving into the comatose body of a Japanese girl called Kwannon. Kwannon was glad to be able to move on to the afterlife, and willingly gave Betsy her body. Betsy regarded her near-death experience as intensely fascinating. The change has also led her to bear a less formal look, as she was seen after her body-switch with a number of cosmetic piercings. She somehow retained her telepathic powers in Kwannon's body and even gained the new ability to create a blade that can cut through most materials, even a Sentinel. She was said to be aiding in the formation of S.T.R.I.K.E., the British division of S.H.I.E.L.D.[20] Later, though, she was revealed to have been working undercover for Charles Xavier as a spy investigating the activities of Fenris.[21]

Betsy officially joined the X-Men as Psylocke. Her employment with S.T.R.I.K.E. had ended because the body she currently inhabits is that of a minor, making her too young to serve as a government agent. She was recruited by Bishop into his new X-Men after angrily informing Cyclops that he had turned his back on the X-Men and the good they can achieve after he refused to help a group of mutants being attacked by Sentinels solely because he thought it would make the Xavier Institute look bad.[22] Bishop later referred to Psylocke as his wife, when the Fenris twins threatened to kill her. Psylocke confronted Bishop about his comments about their future marriage, and from what he says, it is implied that Psylocke was killed before Bishop traveled back in time.[23] Eventually, Bishop is stabbed and killed by Wolverine.[24]

Xavier returns from the future revealing himself to be alive and Psylocke begins living at the Xavier Institute as a student. She is seen again after the Ultimatum wave hits New York. While the main X-Men go after Magneto, she stays at the Institute.[25] When Reverend William Stryker attacks the school planning to kill every student, Psylocke uses Cerebro to send a telepathic message to any mutant that can help save them. Ultimately, she survives the school massacre alongside Rogue, Toad, and Firestar,[26] though, for some reason, she and Toad are listed among the deceased in the final issue of Ultimatum.[27] She has sided with Mach Two to leave Reservation X which was given to Kitty by President Captain America after the fight with the Sentinel, but Kitty won the vote to stay as the leader of Reservation X.[28] She was then seen manipulating Rogue by using telepathy while she is sleeping, teasing her about Quentin Quire.[29]

Uncanny X-Force

Several versions of the character appear in the Uncanny X-Force comics:

The Earth-12928 version of Psylocke, an elderly woman known as Magistrate Braddock, was created by Rick Remender and Julian Totino Tedesco. In this reality, Evan Sabah Nur ascended and became Apocalypse, the greatest threat the Earth had ever faced, which forced Wolverine to create an X-Force composed of various heroes. Together, they managed to defeat Evan and save the world. In order to prevent someone like Evan from threatening the Earth again, X-Force were elected as the new rulers of Earth. Psylocke, in her Asian body, became the leader of X-Force and the world. They first killed every villain and criminal, and then began killing people preemptively, as soon as they made up their minds to commit a crime. At some point Elizabeth and Logan fell in love. When X-Force from the past came to the future, Psylocke ordered X-Force to track them down and send them back. The past Psylocke, horrified with the future, decided to kill herself in order to prevent it from happening. Magistrate Braddock began fading from existence, but the past Psylocke was saved, which prevented her death. Magistrate Braddock spoke to her past self, talking mostly about their loss of Warren and Fantomex, before sending her and the rest of X-Force back to the present.[32]

What If

Several versions of the character appear in the What If comics:

Psylocke of Earth-21993 was created by Kurt Busiek and Tod Smith. Her past history mirrors that of her Earth-616 counterpart until just after she crossed through the Siege Perilous. After Charles Xavier escaped Skrull activity and returned to Earth, she is among the many teams of X-Men gathered by Xavier, who express his disapproval with the state they had left human/mutant affairs in his absence. This meeting erupts into violence due to an argument between Cable and Xavier over what direction to take. Psylocke joins the other X-Men in attempting to incapacitate Cable and the New Mutants, but the New Mutants flee. Following Cable's assassination of Xavier, Psylocke joins a group of X-Men led by Wolverine in tracking the New Mutants down to their new headquarters, where, as she battle the remaining New Mutants, Wolverine kills Cable. Wolverine then leads his team of X-Men on a mission to slay all their enemies. After killing Mr. Sinister and his Nasty Boys, Psylocke has enough with the mindless killings and defects over to another team of X-Men led by Storm. By this point, the U.S. government unleashed the Sentinels in response to Magneto taking over Washington. Betsy comes across Storm just as most of the X-Men on her side either defected over to Magneto, or found themselves killed or captured by the Sentinels. Realizing that current events might lead up to the nightmare future (Earth-811) where mutants have been either enslaved or wiped out by the Sentinels, Storm and Psylocke seek to try and talk Magneto into stopping his aggressions. Breaking into the United States Capitol, Psylocke and Storm attempt to warn Magneto of the possible apocalyptic future ahead of them, but he scoffs at the idea and attempts to destroy another attacking squad of Sentinels. Mentally detecting that one of them carried a nuclear warhead, Psylocke attempts to warn Magneto, but she is too late. The bomb goes off, killing them all.[40][41]

Other versions

See also

References

  1. ↑ X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #4 (May 2005)
  2. ↑ X-Men: Age of Apocalypse #6 (June 2005)
  3. ↑ X-Men: Legacy #245 (April 2011)
  4. ↑ Wolverine: Days of Future Past #1 (December 1997)
  5. ↑ Wolverine: Days of Future Past #2
  6. ↑ Wolverine: Days of Future Past #3 (February 1998)
  7. ↑ Excalibur, vol. 1 #94 (February 1996)
  8. ↑ Exiles #1 (August 2001)
  9. ↑ Exiles #42 (April 2004)
  10. ↑ Exiles #94 (July 2007)
  11. 1 2 3 4 New Exiles #11 (November 2008)
  12. ↑ New Exiles #7 (August 2008)
  13. ↑ Universe X #2
  14. ↑ Paradise X #12
  15. ↑ Uncanny X-Men #463 (October 2005)
  16. ↑ Wild Thing #1–5
  17. 1 2 3 X-Men: Millennial Visions #2000 (August 2000)
  18. ↑ X-Men: Millennial Visions #2001 (January 2002)
  19. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #16–19
  20. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #32
  21. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #83
  22. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #84
  23. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #86
  24. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #90
  25. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #98
  26. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #99
  27. ↑ Ultimatum #5
  28. ↑ Ultimate Comics: X-Men #19
  29. ↑ Ultimate Comics: X-Men #20
  30. ↑ Uncanny X-Force #5 (April 2011)
  31. ↑ Uncanny X-Force #18 (February 2012)
  32. ↑ Uncanny X-Force #28 (September 2012)
  33. ↑ What If? Vol 2 #75 (July 1995)
  34. ↑ What If? Vol 2 #106 (March 1998)
  35. ↑ What If? Vol 2 #34 (February 1992)
  36. ↑ What If? Vol 2 #77 (September 1995)
  37. ↑ What If? Vol 2 #1 (July 1989)
  38. ↑ What If? Vol 2 #69 (January 1995)
  39. ↑ What If? X-Men Deadly Genesis #1 (February 2007)
  40. ↑ What If? Vol 2 #46 (February 1993)
  41. ↑ What If? Vol 2 #47 (March 1993)
  42. ↑ X-Men Forever Vol 2 #10 (December 2009)
  43. ↑ Marvel Graphic Novel #66 (December 1990)
  44. ↑ Ultimate X-Men #87 (December 2007)
  45. ↑ Marvel Mangaverse: X-Men #1 (March 2002)
  46. ↑ New Avengers Vol. 3 #14
  47. ↑ Gambit Vol 3 #24 (January 2001)
  48. ↑ Marvel Apes #2 (November 2008)
  49. ↑ Marvel Universe Vs. Wolverine #1 (August 2011)
  50. ↑ X-Men: The End #1 (October 2004)
  51. ↑ Bullet Points #5 (May 2007)
  52. ↑ Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe (November 1995)
  53. ↑ Wolverine Vol 3 #70 (February 2009)
  54. ↑ Uncanny X-Men #462 (September 2005)
  55. ↑ 5 Ronin #4 (May 2011)
  56. ↑ Astonishing X-Men Vol 3 #45 (February 2012)
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