History
The origins and past history of Captain Britain are similar to that of his Earth-616 counterpart.
Early Life[]
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Brian chooses between the Amulet of Right and Sword of Might
Brian Braddock was a student of science, who found himself facing the mythical beings Merlyn and Roma after a brush with death. Brian was given a choice between two powers; the Amulet of Life and the Sword of Death. Brian chose the amulet, and became the superhero Captain Britain.[2]
Brian used his powers to protect the world, but as a man of science he was unprepared for the supernatural horrors he now found himself facing. Unable to handle this burden, Brian committed suicide, only to find himself in Otherworld fighting alongside the Black Knight. Brian died again in Otherworld, and was reborn in an alternate reality where a being known as the Fury had killed every hero on Earth. Brian died again in this world, but was restored to life when his patron Merlyn reconstructed his body and sent him to hunt down and destroy the Fury and its creator. In the course of events that followed, Brian would learn of the Omniverse and the multitude of alternate realities that existed within it.[2]
With his mind now given over wholly to magic and impulse, he met and fell in love with the mutant shapeshifter Meggan, and the two eventually married. Alongside Meggan, Brian formed the superhero team Excalibur.
Mutation of Humanity[]
After Black Bolt secretly released the Terrigen Mist into Earth's atmosphere, the entire human population of Earth began to mutate. This, combined with a meat shortage, which led to global starvation, threw the world into chaos. In the wake of these disasters, the new mutated humanity turned to established superhumans for leadership, believing that those with experience in governing their powers would be the most capable of governing the new mutated populace.
At some point around this time, Brian was given the son of Black Bolt and Medusa, rulers of the Inhumans, as a ward. Brian raised the boy as his own, and he grew up to become the next Black Knight, stoic defender of Britain.
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Brian kills the Grey Gargoyle
Brian became the ruler of Great Britain, now under the name of King Britain. In time, Brian's domains grew to encompass most of Europe. When order was slowly restored to the world, Britain entered into an alliance with Russia, using their navy to distribute Russia's vast agricultural surplus to the world, defended by their biologically engineered army of Union Jacks.[3][4] King Britain also came into possession of the Dragon Man android and used it as a steed. When Crusher Creel was destroyed by the Vision in Washington, D.C. after he killed the Avengers, a part of Creel was given to King Britain, to prevent Creel from ever being reassembled.[5]
Brian continued to lead Excalibur, but the group would ultimately meet its end against the Grey Gargoyle, who used his powers to petrify them, leaving them trapped in a block of stone. Maddened by rage, Brian killed Grey Gargoyle, realizing too late that he had effectively condemned Excalibur to an eternity as stone, since with the villain dead, no one could no undo the petrification.[2]
In time, Brian began to harbor doubts about his choice of the amulet instead of the sword. In the coming years, he came to realize that it was not a choice between the two, but that he was supposed to have chosen both. Brian rectified his mistake and retrieved the sword, now at last becoming complete.[2] He also sought and discovered the mythical blade Excalibur, said to be able to cut through stone. Brian had hoped to use it to free his petrified teammates, but in the end could not bring himself to do so, since he was unsure whether the blade would free them or kill them.[5]
Earth X[]
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Brian as King Britain
Some time after the mutation of humanity, the Skull, a teenager with the power to control the mind of anyone he encountered, launched a campaign to take over the United States of America. Marching at the head of an army of mind controlled superhumans, he quickly made his way to New York. Captain America came to Britain in search of aid in stopping the Skull. King Britain committed himself and his troops to the fight. While their first attempt at stopping the Skull was a failure, leading to Brian and his allies falling under the Skull's control, Captain American soon managed to ambush and kill the Skull, freeing Brian.[6]
This was shortly followed by the arrival of the Final Host of Celestials, who had come to purge the Earth of all life to protect the infant Celestial growing within Earth's core. The Celestials were defeated by Galactus, who destroyed the embryo and spared Earth.[7]
Universe X[]
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Brian leads Mar-Vell into the Siege Perilous
Following the death of the Celestial embryo, Earth's mass was greatly reduced. The planet's poles shifted, and the Earth underwent massive environmental changes, with Great Britain being transformed into a tropical paradise. Following the death of Tony Stark and his Iron Avengers in the battle against the Celestials, Brian aided the Vision in rebuilding them. The Iron Avengers, now led by the Black Knight became the defenders of Britain.[8]
Brian also opened his home to the Inhuman royals, chief among them the widowed Queen Medusa.[2] Later, when the Kree hero Captain Mar-Vell was reborn and embarked on a quest to collect items of power, he came to King Britain for help in obtaining the Book of Vishanti and the Book of Darkhold, which were being held by Merlin in the Siege Perilous. Brian guided him into the Siege, where Merlin aided them.[2]
Shortly afterwards, his kingdom was attacked by the Tong of Creel, seeking to collect the piece of the Absorbing Man which had been in King Britain's possession for years. In spite of all their resources, they failed in stopping the Tong from getting what they sought.[9]
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The wedding of King Britain and Queen Medusa
The Tong rebuilt Creel, who nearly destroyed New York City before being convinced to use his powers to transform into Vibranium in order to restore the Earth's mass and save the planet from imminent destruction. Meanwhile, Mar-Vell succeeded in his quest to kill Death herself, leaving the population of Earth unable to die.[10]
Paradise X[]
Sometime afterwards, King Britain proposed to Medusa of the Inhumans to unite the kingdoms of both humanity and the Inhumans. Soon after their wedding, their wedding night came to a dramatic end when Captain U.K. and a Grey Gargoyle from another reality managed to free the members of Excalibur trapped in stone. Unbeknownst to Brian, this was a plot by Mephisto, who hoped to sow disorder by resurrecting Meggan. With Meggan's return, the validity of Brian's marriage to Medusa was called into question.[11][12]
Brian struggled with his love for Meggan, his growing feelings for Medusa, and his sense of duty, but out of duty he ultimately chose to honor his marriage to Medusa over that with Meggan.[13][14]
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Brian kills Mephisto
Mephisto's plot finally culminated in his unleashing Jude the Entropic Man onto Britain, and his leading an army of Deviants to claim Excalibur in a bid to take over the world. Meggan sacrificed her life disguised as King Britain, giving the real King, Medusa, Black Knight, and Ransak the Reject the time to defeat the Deviants and kill Mephisto.[15]
With Mephisto defeated, Brian struck a deal with Jude. Jude would be granted an island of his own where he could grant the gift of death to those who desired it, while Brian swore he would deliver those who sought the gift to Jude.[15]Attributes
Weaknesses
Paraphernalia
Equipment
Weapons
Transportation
See Also
- 24 appearance(s) of Brian Braddock (Earth-9997)
- 2 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Brian Braddock (Earth-9997)
- 6 image(s) of Brian Braddock (Earth-9997)
- 1 quotation(s) by or about Brian Braddock (Earth-9997)
- 1 victim(s) killed by Brian Braddock (Earth-9997)
Links and References
References
- ↑ Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #2
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Universe X #2
- ↑ Earth X Sketchbook #1
- ↑ Earth X #3
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Earth X #9
- ↑ Earth X #11
- ↑ Earth X #12
- ↑ Universe X #0
- ↑ Universe X #5
- ↑ Universe X #X
- ↑ Paradise X #0
- ↑ Paradise X #3
- ↑ Paradise X #7
- ↑ Paradise X #9
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Paradise X #12