Kwannon is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, usually affiliated with the X-Men. She has been closely entwined with Betsy Braddock, with whom Kwannon was body swapped for 25 years of publication history. She first appeared in X-Men #17 (February 1993). At the time, the white Braddock had been in an Asian woman's body for some time (now established as Kwannon's); a new person, looking identical to the original Betsy, arrived claiming she was the real Betsy. Braddock and Kwannon had a psychic link that resulted in the woman in both bodies believing she was the 'real' Betsy Braddock. It was initially left ambiguous as to which of the two was the real Betsy and which was the real Kwannon, but it would later be established that a body swap had indeed occurred, with Kwannon in Betsy's body. In stories published during this period, the character used the moniker Revanche while believing herself to be Betsy, and went by Elizabeth Braddock to distinguish herself from the other Betsy. Kwannon would later die and recover her original memories. After being resurrected in her original body in the 2018 storyline "Hunt for Wolverine", Kwannon became the current Psylocke, while Betsy also returned to her original body and became the new Captain Britain.
In her initial appearances, the character was depicted as a former assassin for the Hand with low-level empathic telepathy abilities and the power to generate a psionic sword. Since the franchise-wide relaunch Dawn of X, Kwannon has been featured as Psylocke in Fallen Angels, Hellions, Marauders, and Uncanny Avengers. Since the X-Men: From the Ashes relaunch, Kwannon has appeared as a member of Cyclops' core team in X-Men as well as headlining a self-titled Psylocke solo ongoing series.
Publication history The mindless body of Kwannon originally appeared as the apparently transformed body of Betsy Braddock in Uncanny X-Men #256 (December 1989), written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Jim Lee. Braddock was a British woman, but passed through the Siege Perilous, a magical portal that relocated people and rewrote their memories. She got amnesia, took on the appearance of a Japanese woman, and also gained ninja powers. Years later, new writers explained that this new identity was actually a different person she had been body-swapped with, instead of her original white body having been altered to appear Asian, as depicted in the original comic.
Kwannon first appeared as a new character separate from Psylocke in X-Men (vol. 2) #17 (February 1993), created by writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Andy Kubert. The story established that Betsy and Kwannon had their minds linked to explain both of them now having both Betsy's psychic powers and Kwannon's assassin training. In X-Men comics of 1993–1994, she presented as a second Betsy Braddock going by the codename Revanche and the civilian name Elizabeth, with it being kept ambiguous as to whether Betsy or Elizabeth was Kwannon, both women having a "psychic lock" (psylocke) of the other in their minds. In X-Men (vol. 2) #31 (1994), this uncertainty ended with Elizabeth's death due to the Legacy Virus, wherein she recovers her memories as Kwannon on her deathbed. Much of the early narrative surrounding the character of Kwannon was confused by continuity errors created by Nicieza, who had failed to read The Uncanny X-Men #255, which depicts the character of Psylocke being discovered on the shores of an island by ninjas of The Hand. Kwannon's origin described in X-Men (vol. 2) #22 directly contradicted this scene, so subsequent comics introduced a convoluted series of events to explain away this and other inconsistencies. The original body of Betsy Braddock which she had come to possess is later briefly resurrected by The Sisterhood in The Uncanny X-Men #509, without Kwannon's spirit.
Kwannon is later resurrected permanently and returned to her original body in the final pages of the 2018 limited series Hunt For Wolverine: Mystery In Madripoor #4, and she resurfaces in the 2019 series The Uncanny X-Men (vol. 5) #16.
During the Krakoan Age, Kwannon took on the mantle of Psylocke as part of the new Fallen Angels team alongside Cable and X-23. The relaunch was written by Bryan Edward Hill and penciled by Szymon Kudranski. After the conclusion of the Fallen Angels mini series, Kwannon was featured as the field leader of Mister Sinister's Hellions in the series of the same name written by Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia. Kwannon was later featured as a member of the Marauders as the team was refocused on their mission of mutant rescue in the series relaunch by writer Steve Orlando.Marauders Annual #1
As part of the X-Men: From the Ashes relaunch, Kwannon headlined the ongoing series Psylocke (vol. 2) written by Alyssa Wong with art by Vincenzo Carratù, spun out of Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman's X-Men (vol. 7), which featured Kwannon.
Fictional character biography Kwannon is first seen as the prime assassin of the Japanese crime lord Nyoirin and lover of Hand assassin Matsu'o Tsurayaba. With the criminal interests of Nyoirin and the Hand quickly coming into conflict, Kwannon elicits a promise from Matsu'o that they will fight to the death rather than betray their respective lords. During a duel at the estate of Nyoirin, Kwannon eventually falls from a cliff; with her physical injuries and lack of oxygen while underwater causing her to become brain-damaged and comatose. Nyoirin, who possesses an unrequited love for Kwannon, bids that Matsu'o take her to the Hand to be healed, with the promise that he will not cross their organisation again.X-Men (vol. 2) #22 (May 1993). "You are both Kwannon and both Elisabeth Braddock. The essential question is -- can either of you ever truly become whole again? And more... do you desire to?" The Hand is able to use their scientific and mystical resources to keep Kwannon's body alive, but is unable to resuscitate her mind.X-Men (vol. 2) #31 (April 1994)
Betsy Braddock body swap
Around this time, the Hand discovers Betsy Braddock washed ashore on one of their bases in the South China Sea, suffering complete amnesia after having passed through the Siege Perilous.Uncanny X-Men #255 (December 1989) Matsu'o and Nyoirin discuss placing Kwannon's mind in Betsy's body, which will require the use of the Mandarin's rings. It is revealed that Kwannon possesses low-level telepathic abilities that make her mind capable of withstanding direct contact with the mind of a powerful psychic such as Betsy.
Matsu'o strikes a deal with Spiral to ensure Kwannon's body is healed enough to survive the stresses of the procedure. The healing process, which involves magic and the alien technology of Spiral's Body Shoppe, results in Betsy and Kwannon's DNA intermingling and genetically transforming them both into mixed-race Eurasian females with similar facial features, eyes, purple hair, and telepathic abilities. Both women are also now able to create psychic weapons - Betsy a blade of focused telepathic energy from the back of her right hand, and Kwannon a psychic katana construct.
Betsy briefly operates as the Mandarin's assassin before breaking free and rejoining the X-Men.Uncanny X-Men #258 (February 1990) Meanwhile, Spiral meets with Nyoirin, heavily implying that Betsy's former body now contains the remnants of Kwannon's mind. Seizing this opportunity, Nyoirin takes this body back to his estate, nursing Kwannon back to physical health, while at the same time retraining her and feeding her lies regarding her history and identity.
At Nyoirin's behest, Kwannon, believing herself to be the true Elizabeth Braddock, travels to America, infiltrating the X-Mansion and showing enough skill with her telepathy to mask her mind from Jean Grey, Charles Xavier, and Betsy.X-Men (vol. 2) #20 (May 1993) Confronted by Charles Xavier and the X-Men, Kwannon states that she is the real Betsy Braddock, and that the Psylocke they are harboring is an imposter sent by Nyoirin to assassinate them all.X-Men (vol. 2) #21 (June 1993)
Kwannon, now known as Revanche, travels to Japan with Betsy, Beast, and Gambit to find answers regarding her past, but they do not find anything useful. Psylocke agrees to let Jean Grey probe her mind, with Jean finding that she and Revanche have been fused on a fundamental level across both bodies, that both Betsys are both Kwannon and Elisabeth Braddock merged as one in two bodies as a "psychic lock" (psylocke). While on a mission with the X-Men's Blue team, Revanche reveals she is suffering from the Legacy Virus, a virus that is fatal to mutants.X-Men (vol. 2) Annual #2 (October 1993)X-Men (vol. 2) #27-28 (December 1993 - January 1994)
The Legacy Virus increases Revanche's powers, restoring her memories. Revanche then confronts Matsu'o, who denies any involvement with her and Betsy's situation. With her death imminent, Revanche begs Matsu'o to kill her, to which he complies. Her death is felt telepathically by Psylocke and Archangel, while some of the telepathic energy she wielded is imprinted onto Matsu'o.
Resurrection During the "Hunt for Wolverine" storyline, Psylocke's soul is absorbed by Sapphire Styx, leaving her body dead. As Psylocke's soul escapes, she instinctively reforms a new body, identical to her original body. Later, Kwannon is revealed to be returned to life in her original body. She ambushes a henchman in Viper's penthouse, manifesting one of Psylocke's psychic knives.
Dawn of X In the new status quo for mutants post House of X and Powers of X, Kwannon is amongst the gathered mutants of Krakoa to celebrate their new lives. She is seen by Betsy Braddock, but they avoid reuniting.Excalibur (vol. 4) #1 (December 2019) Still trying to find her place in this new era, she becomes part of a loose group of mutants that include Kid Cable and X-23, as the Fallen Angels.Fallen Angels (vol. 2) #1-6 (January - March 2020)
Soon after, she assumes a leadership role in another team of outcast mutants: the Hellions, alongside Havok, John Greycrow (formerly Scalphunter), Empath, Wild Child, Mister Sinister, and Nanny and Orphan-Maker.Hellions #1 (May 2020) When Betsy arrives on Krakoa, she actively avoids Kwannon due to their past history and corrects several people who attempt to refer to her as Psylocke. During Excalibur, Betsy is accidentally transported into the body of Queen Elizabeth III, an alternate reality version of herself. In this reality, Kwannon is the ex-wife of Angel, the Queen's lover, and reluctantly helps Betsy find her way to Otherworld so that she can return to her original universe. Betsy attempts to find out more about the life of this Kwannon but, after Kwannon reads her mind and finds out about their history, she becomes angry and sends Betsy away. When Betsy returns to her original reality, her teammates suspect that the woman presenting as Betsy is not the real one. As Rogue and Rictor search Apocalypse's lab for answers, they are attacked by Betsy but are saved by Kwannon, who states that it is not the real Betsy Braddock. Kwannon joins a magic ritual that aims to reunite Betsy's consciousness with a clone body but, when this fails, she releases Betsy's consciousness, much to the anger of Excalibur. Kwannon states that only she will be able to find Betsy and heads into Otherworld, where she locates Betsy's consciousness attacking a village. The two battle psychically, with Betsy stating that she is in too much pain over her failures and over what she did to Kwannon. Kwannon explains that neither of them were at fault for Betsy taking over her body and that there is no way to "fix" what had happened, rather they both just have to accept that there will always be a connection between them. Kwannon then takes Betsy's soul back to their original reality and returns it to her body, bringing her back to life and ending their previous animosity.Excalibur (vol. 4) #16-20 (February - June 2021)