Psylocke

In the revised timeline, Psylocke is a mutant who possesses psionic powers. She is able to projecting purple psychic energy, usually into the form of an energy blade that can burn through metal. She is an enforcer for the information broker Caliban. Betsy becomes Pestilence, the second of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. After En Sabah Nur's defeat, her whereabouts are unknown.

In the original timeline, Psylocke is a member of the Omegas who fights with the Brotherhood of Mutants at Alcatraz. She has the ability to teleport through shadows.

## Contents

* Biography
* Original Timeline
* X-Men: The Last Stand
* Revised Timeline
* X-Men: Apocalypse
* The Westchester Incident
* Personality
* Powers and Abilities
* Relationships
* Original Timeline
* Friends
* Enemies
* Revised Timeline
* Friends
* Enemies
* Trivia
* Behind the Scenes
* References
* External links
* Navigation

## Biography

### Original Timeline

#### *X-Men: The Last Stand*

When the mutant "cure" was created, Psylocke and the other Omegas protested against it and later joined the Brotherhood of Mutants in an attempt to destroy it. The Omegas later participated in the battle of Alcatraz Island. During the fight, Psylocke helped capture Warren Worthington II and attempted to kill him by throwing him off of a balcony. However, his son saved him before he could hit the ground. When Phoenix began to destroy Worthington Labs with her disintegration wave, Psylocke and the rest of her teammates were disintegrated while trying to escape.

### Revised Timeline

#### *X-Men: Apocalypse*

After the timeline was changed by Wolverine, the changes caused Psylocke to be born several decades earlier. For an unknown length of time, Psylocke was the assistant of Caliban, a mutant who could locate other mutants. The two would eventually get approached by Apocalypse and Storm, who were in search of new members to recruit to their cause. However, after the two threatened Caliban, Psylocke held both mutants at knifepoint with her blades. Amused, Apocalypse convinced her to join them before giving the mutant more power and a new uniform. Psylocke would then accompany the two as they recruited Angel and Magneto.

Upon capturing Xavier and seizing control of Cairo, Apocalypse prepares to transfer his consciousness into the mutant while ordering his followers to protect him. When a group of mutants led by Mystique arrive aboard a jet, Psylocke gets into a fight with Beast which ultimately culminates in her getting thrown onto a rooftop.

Later, as the mutants rescue Xavier and attempt to flee, Angel and Psylocke manage to get onto the jet as it takes off. However, thanks to Nightcrawler's ability to teleport, the heroes escape, leaving the two mutants behind on an aircraft heading towards the ground. Although Psylocke manages to get blown off, Angel is unable to escape as the jet crashes and explodes. While Psylocke manages to survive, she was knocked out unconscious after falling, Mystique assumes her identity and is on the way to save her teammate Quicksilver from being executed by Apocalypse.

Following Apocalypse's demise at the hands of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, and Magneto, Psylocke leaves the area, not joining the X-Men.

### The Westchester Incident

In 2028, Charles Xavier developed Alzheimer's and suffered a massive seizure that injured 600 people, and killed 7 mutants, including several members of the X-Men. It is unknown if Psylocke was among those who were either killed or injured.

## Personality

In the original timeline, Psylocke appeared to harbor a hatred towards humans and was involved in the assault on Alcatraz. She attempted to murder Warren Worthington II as he pioneered the cure.

In the revised timeline, Psylocke appears to be a follower whose loyalty is only limited to those who can give her a more interesting offer. This is shown when she abandons her boss, Caliban, for Apocalypse. When Apocalypse is overwhelmed and defeated by the combined efforts of the X-Men, she leaves, though pausing to glare at them, which indicates that she may hold a grudge against them. She appears to enjoy killing or at least a challenging fight as she never uses her telepathy and only used her psionic powers for weaponry construction. Thus this limitation allows her to fight more gracefully which she appears to enjoy. She possesses a killer instinct as she does not hesitate to hold a sword at Apocalypse and Storm when they confront Caliban and she sadistically attempts to strangle Beast. Notably, when Apocalypse takes the Horsemen to the Auschwitz concentration camp, she along with her teammates seem to view their surroundings with surprise and also disgust, indicating that, for all her loyalty to Apocalypse, she seemed displeased being at the site of a prior genocide.

She appears to be on friendly or at least civil terms with Angel as she suggests Apocalypse to recruit him. Though she is clearly surprised at Angel's injury and profane rejection, she does not seem pleased to see Angel in his depressed state and appears slightly horrified at his agonizing transformation, but also extremely impressed by Archangel's demonstration of his new power. Also of note is that she and Archangel are the only Horsemen to perform any form of teamwork while they fight the X-Men. Unlike Storm and Magneto, she neither joins the X-Men nor becomes their ally, rather she goes her own way.

## Powers and Abilities

* Revised Timeline
* Original Timeline

### Powers

* **Psionic Energy Manipulation**: Psylocke is able to create, shape and manipulate psionic energy which she can use for a variety of effects, mostly creating weapons out of it or enhancing other weapons that she carries with her such as her katana.
	+ **Psionic Blades**: Psylocke was capable of generating psionic blades.
	+ **Psionic Katana**: Psylocke was able to charge her katana with psionic energy, allowing it to inflict more damage and slice through more substances such as an entire car.
	+ **Psionic Whip**: Psylocke can generate a whip made from psionic energy, as shown during her fight with Beast.
* **Enhanced Agility**: Psylocke has demonstrated agility beyond that of regular humans.
* **Telepathy**: Psylocke is a telepath and is able to manipulate other's people minds however she wants. It is unknown how powerful this ability is because she can create psychic energy.
	+ **Illusion Projection**: Psylocke was able to hide herself by creating an illusion that she was part of the wall in order for her to surprise her targets and then attack them.
	+ **Shadow Teleportation**: Psylocke had the ability to teleport through shadows.

### Abilities

* **Skilled Acrobat**: She appears to acrobatic enough to keep up with Beast and correct herself in mid air when falling from a plane.
* **Expert Swordswoman**: Psylocke exhibited proficiency in using a katana and a whip composed of psionic energy. She appears to be skilled in Kendo, and Ninjutsu as implied by her usage of a katana (Samurai sword) and whip (which function similar to a Ninja's chain sickle). She appears to also know Gatka and Kalaripayattu as suggested by her creating a psychic Katari (Hand dagger used in Gatka) and Urumi (Sword Whip used in Kalaripayattu).
* **Expert Martial Artist**: Psylocke is highly trained in martial arts and unarmed combat, making her an efficient killer.

## Relationships

### Original Timeline

#### Friends

* Brotherhood of Mutants - Former Teammates
	+ Magneto - Former Boss
	+ Pyro †
	+ Juggernaut
	+ Multiple Man
	+ Omegas
		- Anole
		- Arclight †
		- Ash
		- Avalanche
		- Callisto †
		- Glob Herman
		- Phat †
		- Quill †
		- Spike †
		- Starfish
		- Vanisher

#### Enemies

* Jean Grey † - Former Teammate and Killer
* Professor X - Former Mentor turned Enemy
* Warren Worthington II - Enemy and Attempted Victim
* Humans - Enemies
* Kavita Rao † - Enemy
* X-Men - Enemies
	+ Angel †
	+ Beast †
	+ Colossus †
	+ Iceman †
	+ Shadowcat
	+ Storm †
	+ Wolverine - Savior turned Enemy
* Deadpool † - Enemy
* William Stryker † - Former Captor and Enemy

### Revised Timeline

#### Friends

* Apocalypse † - Former Leader
	+ Horsemen of Apocalypse
		- Angel † - Former Friend and Teammate

#### Enemies

* Caliban † - Former Boss
* Magneto - Former Teammate
* Storm - Former Teammate
* Beast - Enemy
* Cyclops - Enemy
* Havok † - Enemy
* Jean Grey - Enemy
* Moira MacTaggert - Enemy
* Mystique - Enemy
* Nightcrawler - Enemy
* Professor X † - Enemy
* Quicksilver - Enemy

## Trivia

* Psylocke's real name, Elizabeth Braddock, has never been mentioned in any of the films, but it appears on the Department of Domestic Security and Defense computers in *X2: X-Men United*.
* In the novelization of *X2: X-Men United*, Psylocke makes a cameo as one of the mutants affected by Cerebro 2 during a fashion show. When she wakes up from her coma, Psylocke uses her telepathy to figure what is going on when Cerebro 2 begins affecting humans.
* *X-Men: The Last Stand* co-writer Zak Penn has stated that the character portrayed by Mei Melançon was not named Psylocke in the original script. In a Q&A, he claimed: "There was some switching of character names later in production, and I'm not exactly sure how Psylocke got thrown into the mix."
* In the novelization of *X-Men: The Last Stand*, it was revealed that Psylocke used her powers to teleport herself away from Jean's attack while the others were killed. However, the canonicity of this has not been confirmed.
* Psylocke was originally going to be in *The Wolverine*, and Priyanka Chopra was considered for the role, but she was eventually written out of the script.
* According to Bryan Singer, the mutants Rachel Summers, Psylocke, Deadpool, Nightcrawler, Gambit, and Jubilee were meant to appear in *X-Men: Days of Future Past*, but were cut out for running time purposes.
* Before Olivia Munn was cast, Jamie Chung was interested in for the role of Psylocke.
* It was revealed shortly after the release of *X-Men: Apocalypse* that Olivia Munn had signed a multi-movie deal with Fox, meaning Psylocke may appear in upcoming films.
* In an interview with Bryan Singer, he revealed he worked extensively with Olivia to craft a backstory of the character, which wasn't explored in the film.
* Olivia Munn practiced swordfighting in preparation for her role.
* In the comics, Psylocke has the ability to generate purple energy blades made from her psychic powers. Mei Melançon stated the film version of the character would also have these powers. However, despite Melançon's statement, the only power displayed was the ability to teleport through shadows. The psi-blades weren't incorporated into the deleted scenes either.
	+ In the comics, Psylocke's teleporting ability was temporarily granted to her by the Crimson Dawn and is not one of her mutant powers.
	+ As of *X-Men: Apocalypse* of the revised timeline, Psylocke is much closer to her comic book counterpart, and she is able to generate psi-blades and other telekinetic weapons.
	+ Never explicitly stated in *X-Men: Apocalypse;* Psylocke psychic abilities were alluded to briefly after Mystique threatened Caliban and directed him to *"Ask his psychics what will happen...*"; to which Psylocke responded.
* Psylocke's characterization of the silent fighter henchmen to the primary antagonist is similar to Mystique in the original trilogy.
* Psylocke is the only Horseman to make it out of the Battle of Egypt as Angel died, while Magneto and Storm switched sides with the X-Men.
* Her winking and flirtations with Beast during their fight in Egypt may be a reference to their relationship in the comics, as they briefly dated and flirted with each other throughout the Uncanny X-Men run.
* In the comics, Psylocke is British Caucasian. However, she is portrayed as Asian in other versions due to her infamous body swap with a Japanese mutant named Kwannon aka Revanche.
	+ In the comics, after Revanche's death from the Legacy Virus, Psylocke remained trapped until her death and resurrection where her brother James Braddock recreated her original body.
	+ Interestingly whilst Psylocke is British Caucasian, most fans remember her as Asian due to her body swap with Revanche. However in the UK, Asian refers to South Asians as opposed to the USA where it is used for East Asians. This may be the reason why Indian actress Priyanka Chopra was considered for the role.
	+ Despite the fact that Priyanka Chopra did not portray Psylocke. In the TV show, *Wolverine and the X-Men* (which is loosely based off the films), Psylocke is depicted as British Asian (South Asian) as opposed to British Caucasian or Japanese like the comics.

## Behind the Scenes

* Julia Rekaikyna was a stunt double for Olivia Munn in the role of Psylocke.

## References

1. ↑ First Q/A answers released from Penn | The SuperHeroHype Forums

## External links

* Psylocke on the Marvel Wiki
* Psylocke on Wikipedia