Captain Britain
Cover to the Captain Britain tradepaperback. Art by Alan Davis. Captain Britain (Brian Braddock), also briefly known as Britannic, is a comic book superhero in Marvel Comics' universe.
The Captain Britain character first appeared in Captain Britain Weekly, a Marvel UK title written by Chris Claremont in 1976. Later, he was succesfully revived in the early 1980s. Alan Moore and Alan Davis produced a notable story sequence which attracted critical attention resulting in the launch of a monthly title featuring the character.
Later, he appeared for years in Marvel US' comic, Excalibur.
Biography
Following a motorcycle accident, physics student Brian Braddock was recruited by Merlin to be the superhero Captain Britain, a role he felt himself unsuited for. He joined forces with Spider-Man and the Black Knight early in his career, then returned to Britain first as a lone hero and then as part of Excalibur.
Every Earth in Marvel Comics' multiverse has its own Captain Britain who is expected to defend that version of the British Isles and uphold its local laws. For example, on one Earth the Nazis won World War II, so its Captain Britain ("Hauptmann Englande") upholds the Nazi regime. On another Earth, mutants have been eradicated and Captain Britain runs a league of enforcers who hunt down any remaining mutants. In some of these alternate universes Captain Britain is the alternate version of Brian Braddock, in others it is someone completely different. The Earth of the "normal" Marvel Universe is called "Earth-616".
Brian has two super-powered siblings: his twin sister Elizabeth (Psylocke of the X-Men), and his older brother Jamie, once a playboy, now a madman with the ability to bend reality to his will. He is married to Meggan, an empathic shapeshifter. At one point he learned that his father, like Merlyn, was originally from another dimension, alternately called "Avalon" or "Otherworld". It has been suggested that Brian, like his siblings, is a mutant.
Some sources suggest that he may be a recovering alcoholic, but this is unconfirmed - that opinion seems to come almost exclusively from his behavior at a time when he believed his sister dead.
He has recently transferred the powers and mantle of the Earth-616 Captain Britain to a woman named Kelsey Leigh, remaining the ruler of Otherworld (with the powers imbued by that role).
Powers and abilities
Brian Braddock has superhuman strength, the ability to fly, and near-invulnerability. However, all of his abilities are localized to Britain; if he goes abroad for too long a time, he grows sick and weak. His costume acts as an antenna and battery, allowing him to retain his powers no matter how far he goes from Britain. He is also a scientist, though he rarely has the opportunity to exercise his training as a physicist.
Originally, his powers were linked to the Amulet of Right, worn around his neck, and he depended on a mace-like Star Sceptre to fly. Later on Merlyn changed his costume just before he entered an alternate Earth (Earth 238), removing the Amulet and the Sceptre, granting him superhuman strength in addition to his previous abilities, and placing the powers in his new costume. Not long after that he was killed by the Fury and had his body remade by Merlyn, who chose this point to make his powers innate, with his costume merely serving as a "battery" and amplifier.
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