Elizabeth Braddock

Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock is the mutant known as Psylocke who possesses the ability telepathic, telekinetic and psionic abilities and can also 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. Psylocke becomes Pestilence, the second of the Four Horsemen of Apocalypse. After En Sabah Nur's defeat, her whereabouts are unknown.

Biography

Original Timeline

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

When all of the mutant's are escaping from Col. Stryker's Island, a girl with purple streaks is seen running with them. Which explains why her name is on Col. Stryker's computer.

X2: X-Men United

Braddock's name appeared on a list of mutants on Col. Stryker's computer when it was accessed by Mystique.

X-Men: The Last Stand

Psylocke is a member of The Omegas who fights with The Brotherhood of Mutants at Alcatraz. She has the ability to teleport through shadows. In the novelization of the movie, she escapes the destruction by Jean Grey by teleporting into the shadows, but she left her teammates Quill and Arclight, whom she aided to kill Warren Worthington II, to die. She was later seemingly killed, along with her teammates Arclight and Quill by the Phoenix Force when they attempt to escape. However, 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.

New Timeline

X-Men: Apocalypse

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 Charles 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 an astral plane, 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 astral plane 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 astral plane crashes and explodes, killing him instantly.

Following Apocalypse's demise at the hands of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm and Magneto, Psylocke leaves the area.

Character traits

Original Timeline

Betsy 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.

New Timeline

Betsy appears to be a follower whose loyalty is only limited to those who can give a her a more interesting offer. This is shown when she abandons her boss Caliban for Apocalypse. She abandons Apocalypse when he disregards the possibly deceased Archangel as useless and is overwhelmed by the combined effort of the X-Men, though her pausing to glare at them indicates she holds 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 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 recruits 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 performer any form of teamwork whilst fighting the X-Men. Unlike Storm and Magneto, she does not join the X-Men or become their ally. Rather, she goes her own way and possibly takes Archangel (if the latter is survived his ordeal as a Horseman) with her.

According to Caliban, Betsy is somewhat envious of Mystique's legacy.

Powers and Abilities

Original Timeline

Powers

Shadow Teleportation: Psylocke demonstrated an ability to teleport into the shadows of objects or beings.
Telepathy: Psylocke used her telepathy to find out what was happening around her after she woke up from a coma.

New Timeline

Powers

Telekinesis: Psylocke can move objects with her power of telekinesis.
- Telekenticly Enhanced Acrobatics: Psylocke can enhance her jumping and agility with her telekinesis.
- Telekinetic Weaponry: Psylocke is able to manifest a variety of weapons from pure magenta psionic energy, which can physically affect the environment. She appears to make her weapons resemble a katana, a chain sickle, a katari and an urumi.
  - Psionic Blades: Psylocke is capable of generating psionic blades.
  - Telekinetic Katana: Psylocke is able to charge her katana with psionic energy, allowing it to inflict more damage and slice through more substances such as an entire car.
  - Telekinetic Whip: Psylocke can generate a whip made from psionic energy, as shown during her fight with Beast.

Abilities

Expert Swordswoman: Psylocke is highly skilled in swordsmanship.

Equipment

Katana: Psylocke can proficiently wield a katana.

Relationships

Original Timeline

Magneto - Ally
Brotherhood - Allies.
X-Men - Enemies.
Warren Worthington II - Enemy.
Callisto - Boss.
Quill - Teammate.
Arclight - Teammate.

New Timeline

Caliban - Boss.
Magneto/War - Ally.
Angel/Death - Ally.
Storm/Famine - Ally.
En Sabah Nur - Master.

Behind the scenes

Psylocke was originally going to be in The Wolverine and Priyanka Chopra was considered for the role, but she was written out of the script.
Before Olivia Munn was cast, Jamie Chung was interested in portraying Psylocke.

Appearances/Actresses

Canon (3 films)
- Original Timeline
  - X2: X-Men United - (Name Only)
  - X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Unknown Actress
  - X-Men: The Last Stand (First appearance) - Meiling Melançon
- New Timeline
  - X-Men: Apocalypse - Olivia Munn

Trivia

In the comics, Psylocke was never part of the Brotherhood. She was a third generation X-Man divided in the blue team.
In the comics she also 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, the only power she displayed was the ability to teleport through shadows.
In the comics, Psylocke's teleporting ability was temporarily granted to her by the Crimson Dawn and is not one of her mutant powers.
According to screenwriter Zack Penn, the character played by Mei Melançon was originally intended to be Kwannon. He stated, "There was some switching of character names later in production, and I'm not exactly sure how Psylocke got thrown into the mix". Melançon further commented that "There was discussion that she was Kwannon... but I can't comment on the final choice made. There were certain aspects of her that were true to Psylocke: the red tattoo from Crimson Dawn and the purple hair". It is therefore speculated by some fans that it was a typo that caused her to be credited as 'Psylocke', similarly to how Quill was accidentally credited as 'Kid Omega'. However, the character has been since officially recognised as Psylocke by Melançon and other cast and crew members, suggesting she is indeed intended to be Psylocke. Brett Ratner has since confirmed this.
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.
Olivia Munn practiced swordfighting in preparation for her role.