"I could more easily do this telepathically from a distance. But I like the thrill of physical combat."when marybeth and christian bradford made the decision to take an extended holiday, the plan was for the two of them to reconnect, to rekindle their marriage. the couple had experienced quite a bit of heartache due to several miscarriages, all of which weighed heavy on the couple. the ceo of bradford enterprises could afford a year-long sabbatical to work on his marriage, regardless of location. but, even a romantic getaway couldn't keep marybeth from connecting with another man, one that she barely knew. it didn't take long before marybeth was pregnant, something that should have been celebrated... but she knew it wasn't her husband's child.
once the young family brought their newborn child home, elizabeth marie bradford was brought to their hometown of maldon. the couple tried many times to have more children, unsuccessfully, and eventually decided to raise beth as an only child. given every opportunity available, beth was brought up in a family filled with love and devotion--and no financial shortcomings. her father was particularly fond of his daughter even as she grew older, though she looked less and less like him. however, he never questioned the issue and decided not to pursue any answers, instead feeling thankful that they had a child that was living, healthy, and intelligent.
as young beth grew into a teenager, her interest in travel and philanthropy flourished. beth was quite smart, and found herself successful in nearly every educational endeavor she took on--the exception being history. (she hated dwelling.) she took a particular interest in her father's company, which manufactured charter planes. nearing the end of school, beth decided that she would pursue education in flying, in hopes that she might work for her father someday. beth enrolled in university, and it was there that she earned her education in aviation. soon after, she earned a pilot's license, which enabled her to fly charter planes--the very ones that her father manufactured.
rather than staying in england, beth found herself looking for citizenship in the states. though she was a pilot, she'd had dreams of becoming a model. she found herself living in california, a pilot during the day and an exotic dancer at night. it wasn't the kind of job that her father would've approved of, but it made enough money to live on. he didn't have to know what she did -- as far as he knew, she was a successful pilot. it was then that beth met joseph, who would become the first serious boyfriend she'd ever had in her life. with a whirlwind relationship, beth did a lot of growing up, including quitting dancing; the two of them soon were engaged. the relationship didn't last long; with his father's death, he'd inherited his father's company. one he'd shut everyone out (including beth), she promptly picked herself up and moved out of their shared penthouse, resuming her dancing career, along with her day job as a charter pilot.
after the unfortunate death of her parents (a plane crash, of all things), beth found herself questioning her whole life. she couldn't bear to be in the business of flying, knowing it was the cause of her parents' deaths. she relied solely upon dancing, as well as the inheritance she'd gained from her parents' life insurance policies. though bradford enterprises was then under her control, she wanted nothing to do with it -- but couldn't bear to let the company be run into the ground. she appointed a board of directors for the company, all of which reported to her for executive decisions. she later opened a dance studio, finally quitting her job as an exotic dancer to teach others.
then, there was pete. the two of them had been friends for years, but it wasn't until then that it became more than friendship. one alcohol-fueled trip to las vegas later, the two of them had married in secret. the secret remained between them for quite some time before the truth came out. after a string of unexplainable disasters in their lives, including the fiery destruction of her dance studio, their marriage fell apart; beth filed for divorce just one week after their first anniversary. a few months later, beth opened a british gastro pub named the bradford. after having some comfortable success with the pub, and learning some interesting truth about her lineage, beth sold all of her shares of bradford enterprises, resolving to spend all her time on the pub.
• has a tattoo of a purple butterfly on the small of her back (effectively a tramp stamp). she regrets it.
• intensely loves spicy food, particularly of the asian variety. sriracha goes on almost everything.
• has an interestingly americanised english accent -- her mum would roll over in her grave if she heard her daughter's accent.
• loves the study of martial arts, but is just getting into it.
• is terrible at keeping plants alive, but has somehow kept two dogs alive (waffles, corgi; chewy, pug)
• recently found out that she was not her father's biological child, and that she has a half brother.
• inherited her father's company after his death, but recently sold her shares after finding out she was not his daughter biologically.
Betsy Braddock was Sir James Braddock's second child, and like her twin brother Brian, her life was secretly manipulated by Merlyn. The twins shared a close connection, but as they matured the adventurous Betsy also grew close to their elder brother Jamie. By the time their parents died, apparently in a lab accident but really murdered by the computer Mastermind, Betsy had become a charter pilot. When Mastermind's agent Doctor Synne tried to kill Jamie, a concerned Betsy fetched Brian, but as she flew them home, Synne's psychic attack caused her to crash. When she awoke, Synne's illusions made Betsy attack her brothers, seeing them as monsters. After Synne was defeated she and Jamie were taken hostage by the Red Skull's agents. Freed by Captains America and Britain, Betsy learned the latter was her brother Brian. Perhaps because of Synne's mental intrusions, Betsy began to develop precognitive powers. She took up modeling, while her powers grew to include telepathy. Agent Matthew recruited Betsy into S.T.R.I.K.E.'s Psi Division, and she became fellow psi Tom Lennox's lover. Because her father had been a member, she was sent to infiltrate the Hellfire Club, but was warned off by Tessa for her own protection.
When the crimelord Vixen secretly usurped S.T.R.I.K.E., she hired Slaymaster to eliminate the Psi-Division before they could expose this. The telepaths fled, but Slaymaster continued to pick them off; only a handful were left when Betsy sensed Brian's return and called on his help. He defeated Slaymaster and the three surviving psi's (Betsy, Tom and Alison Double) moved into the holographically hidden Braddock Manor. In short succession this hideout was found by the Special Executive, Captain U.K. and the Fury; as the last of these battled Brian and the Executive, Betsy foresaw a future where superhumans were imprisoned in concentration camps. Soon the U.K. became a fascist state ruled by the insane reality warper Sir James Jaspers, with S.T.R.I.K.E. "Beetle" squads rounding up those with powers. While Brian confronted Jaspers, the Beetles found the others' hideout. Tom died trying to buy his friends time to escape; Betsy was in Tom's mind when he died, and was captured. After being freed, she was nursed back to health by fellow camp inmate Victoria Bentley, who taught her to use her experiences to strengthen her powers. When Kaptain Briton, Brian's Earth-794 counterpart, tried to rape her, Betsy fried his mind, killing him. The same night, Mastermind informed the twins of their father's non-terrestrial origins, and the Resources Control Executive (R.C.X.) asked them to billet Warpies, children transformed by Jaspers' warp, at the Manor. One of the R.C.X. agents was Matthew, now codenamed Gabriel. Betsy overruled Brian and let R.C.X. and the Warpies move in. When Brian went overseas, Gabriel convinced Betsy to become the new Captain Britain, wearing Kaptain Briton's modified costume. Working with Captain U.K. (Linda McQuillan), the duo became public sensations, but after several months Betsy went solo. Vixen lured her into a showdown with Slaymaster, who brutally beat her, then gouged her eyes out. Brian felt her pain, flew to her rescue and killed Slaymaster. Betsy refused R.C.X.'s offer of cybernetic eyes, preferring to rely on her psychic abilities; she and Gabriel got engaged, and went to Switzerland for Betsy to recuperate.
Betsy was kidnapped from the Alps by Mojo, brainwashed, given cybernetic eyes, and, as "Psylocke," became the star of his new show "Wildways." Brian and the New Mutants rescued her, after which Betsy moved to the X-Men's mansion to recover, exactly where Roma (Merlyn's daughter) needed her to be. When the Marauders attacked the Morlocks, and Sabretooth invaded the mansion, she used herself as bait to lead him away from the injured until Wolverine got there. Impressed by her bravery, Wolverine nominated her to join the X-Men, beside whom she met Mephisto, Dr. Doom, the Fantastic Four, and Horde. The X-Men later battled Freedom Force and the Adversary in Dallas, and, in a televised battle, sacrificed themselves to allow Forge to bind the Adversary; Roma secretly restored them to life, and gave Betsy the Siege Perilous, which they could use if they ever wanted to start new lives. The X-Men moved to the Reavers' Australian Outback base, from where they took on the Brood Boys, Genoshan Magistrates, M Squad, Mr. Jip, the Serpent Society, the Abomination, Master Mold, Nimrod, Nanny, the Orphan-Maker, Zaladane and the Savage Land Mutates. As they were about to depart the Savage Land, Betsy had a precognitive flash of the Reavers killing the team. To prevent this, she sent them through the Siege Perilous.
Betsy reappeared amnesiac on an island near China, where the Hand found her. Matsu'o Tsurayaba, their leader, saw a chance to save his brain-dead lover, Kwannon, and had Spiral's Body Shoppe swap their souls. This inadvertently blended their minds, leaving each with the same memories and telepathic powers. Tsurayaba brainwashed Psylocke and gave her to the Mandarin as his assassin, Lady Mandarin, until Wolverine restored her memories. Back with the X-Men Betsy took on Cameron Hodge, Warskrulls, the Shadow King and cosmic cleaner Edifice Rex; she also informed Brian she was alive. The next few months saw battles against Magneto, Fenris, Mys-Tech (alongside new ally Dark Angel), and a Brood-infected Ghost Rider. Visiting Brian, Betsy helped Excalibur fight Sat-Yr-9 and the now insane Jamie, whom Betsy struck comatose. Encounters followed with the Troll Associates, the Mutant Liberation Front, Stryfe, Omega Red, and the Soul Skinner.
Then Kwannon arrived at the Mansion in Betsy's original body, claiming to be the real Psylocke. Unable to discern which was truly Betsy, both stayed with the X-Men, maintaining an uneasy coexistence, with Kwannon taking the name Revanche. Learning she had the Legacy Virus, Revanche had Matsu'o kill her, after which Betsy regained her soul's missing piece. Having become involved with her teammate Angel, the following months saw her fight the Phalanx, try to reach Jamie's comatose mind, battle Legion in Israel, and combat Gene Nation. When Sabretooth gutted Psylocke, Angel, Wolverine, Doctor Strange and Gomurr the Ancient retrieved a magical liquid from the Crimson Dawn dimension which healed her and gave her new powers, but also marked her with a red tattoo over her left eye. Kuragari, Proctor of the Crimson Dawn, tried to claim Betsy as his bride, but was thwarted with Gomurr and Angel's aid, freeing Betsy of the Dawn's influence. Subsequently she aided Storm against the Shadow King, who tricked Psylocke into initiating a psychic shockwave which disabled all other telepaths, leaving him unchallenged on the astral plane. Her own astral form was destroyed, but her exposure to the Crimson Dawn gave her a new shadow form with temporarily enhanced powers, which she used to trap the Shadow King's core. To keep him trapped she was forced to constantly focus her telepathy on him, effectively rendering herself powerless. After attending Brian's wedding, she was kidnapped to take part in the Coterie's contest of champions. When Apocalypse and his Horsemen sought to gather the Twelve, Psylocke used Cerebro to boost her powers, so that she could use them and still keep the Shadow King imprisoned, allowing her to free the brainwashed Wolverine. Jean Grey's attempt to help Betsy deal with the Shadow King somehow swapped their powers, leaving Betsy telekinetic. With her new abilities Betsy fought Belasco, the Neo, the Goth, and the Prime Sentinels, then aided her brother freeing Otherworld from Mastermind's Warpie army.
After ending her relationship with Archangel, Betsy joined Storm's X-Men team in the search for Destiny's Diaries. In Valencia, Spain, they encountered the enigmatic Vargas who killed her. Later, in a dream, bradford saw Betsy's spirit being snatched by a skulled figure. Much later, Betsy was returned alive to the site of her death. Reunited with the X-Men, she helped them against the Saurian Hauk'ka, Mojo and Spiral. She has also been reunited with Brian during a recent reality storm. It is now known that her brother, Jamie, had brought her back to life to fight a great evil and had reconstructed her to be immune to attacks meant to control her mind, reshape her body, or affect her basic quantum structure. Recently, she has joined the dimension hopping group, the Exiles.
SOURCE: MARVEL.COMCV PARALLELS:
• name: shares first and middle name, last name is similar
• purple butterfly tattoo: when using her psychic abilities, psylocke has a purple butterfly around her eyes
• martial arts: beth has a passing interest, while psylocke is a master martial artist
• love for asian food: a nod to psylocke's asian connections
• england: both were born in essex
• angel: on/off love affair with joseph, aka warren worthington iii
storylines
items & abilities
| unlocked - cv & au: • unveiled (all memories) • cerebro (x-mansion) • x-men hangar (x-mansion) • cavern-x • telepathy • telekinesis |
unlocked - cv only: • katana • 90's uniform |
locked: • precognition • mind control • psionic blasts • psychic knife • psionic shadow • psionic immunity • telekinetic weapons • x-force uniform • astral projection • death uniform • crimson dawn eye tattoo • braddock manor |