Psylocke

Real Name: Betsy Braddok

Powers: A former telepath, Psylocke could manifest her telekinesis in the form of a sword with a blade a molecule thick, capable of slicing through virtually any object due to the sheer force of her will. Also, she exhibited the ability to levitate objects, herself and others, and kinetically manipulate matter. But Psylocke was inexperienced and caused herself great strain performing such feats.

History: Betsy Braddock was the daughter of Dr. James Braddock -- once a denizen of Otherworld, an interdimensional kingdom positioned at the nexus of reality, where science and sorcery exist as one. James Braddock was sent to Earth on a quest to father the champion who would come to be called Captain Britain. His first child, Jamie, seemingly did not inherit the genes that would result in superhuman powers. But Braddocks' next children, the twins Brian and Betsy, helped their father fulfill his mission.

As Captain Britain, Brian became his country's foremost defender, fighting alongside the world's greatest heroes. Betsy developed psychic powers, which she used in service of the British law-enforcement agency known as S.T.R.I.K.E. -- a counterpart of S.H.I.E.L.D., a global intelligence and peacekeeping organization. By day, she was a "face." She dominated the covers of the world's fashion magazines, just as she ruled the runways from Milan to New York. By night, however, she lived a secret life -- serving her homeland as a special agent.

When Brian stepped down as Captain Britain, his sister was persuaded to take up the mantle. But Betsy's career as England's preeminent costumed champion came to an untimely end when one of her brother's foes, Slaymaster, savagely beat her until she lay near death and blind. Realizing that her telepathic abilities compensated for her lack of sight, Betsy traveled to Switzerland to recuperate. There, she became a prisoner of the other-dimensional creature called Mojo, who took control of Betsy's will and gifted her with artificial eyes. Ultimately, she was rescued by Professor Charles Xavier's second generation of students, the New Mutants.

Now known as Psylocke, Betsy continued her evolution as a member of the X-Men, Xavier's outlaw band of heroic mutant adventurers. Her most significant transformation took place when the Chinese crime lord called the Mandarin and the other-dimensional sorceress known as Spiral transplanted her psyche into the body of Kwannon, a Ninja assassin. Likewise, Kwannon's essence came to dwell in Betsy's form. The two women maintained their own distinct personalities, while acquiring each other's memories and skills. For a time, a brainwashed Betsy adopted the guise of Lady Mandarin -- the top assassin for the Hand, a clan of Ninja dedicated to world domination. When Kwannon succumbed to the lethal mutant plague known as the Legacy Virus, Betsy became trapped forever in her new form.

A life-saving encounter with the other-dimensional energy source called the Crimson Dawn resulted in a more subtle, though no less meaningful, metamorphosis. Psylocke's fighting skills and telepathic talents were enhanced -- and she acquired the ability to transport herself and others through shadows, as well as become one with the shadows. Also, the mark of the Crimson Dawn -- a blade-like, red tattoo -- appeared over her left eye. Betsy later sacrificed her psychic powers to forever imprison the telepathic criminal called the Shadow King in her astral shadow form, but subsequently acquired a range of telekinetic abilities.

Soon after, Betsy left Xavier's mansion with a small strike force of fellow X-Men in search of the diaries of the blind mutant seer known as Destiny, which map out human history for the next thousand years. While in Valencia, Spain, the team was captured by the Action Force of the Guardia Civil, that country's national police. Subjected to a battery of tests, the X-Men were released into a technologically fortified maze to gauge the their fighting abilities and mutant powers. Psylocke, the blue-furred Beast and the ability-absorbing Rogue found themselves in the headquarters' control center, separated from their teammates. There, they encountered Vargas -- a criminal claiming to be the first manifestation of the next authentic generation of humanity, the pure and legitimate Homo sapiens superior. Her teammates wounded, Betsy engaged her opponent in a duel to the death ... which ended when Vargas speared his sword through her abdomen. Psylocke's sudden demise left her teammates -- and her lover, Thunderbird III -- to balance the scales and complete the quest for Destiny's missing diaries.