A Hand assassin, a mother, a Hellion. Kwannon, Revanche, Psylocke. Known by many names, in many roles, in many bodies, this mutant telepath debuted in 1993, and has long been an unresolved piece of the X-Men puzzle. After a body swap with the white X-Men member Betsy Braddock, and later death to the Legacy Virus in 1994, the Japanese assassin Kwannon would spend most of her published history as another woman’s body, her memory afforded little personhood.
However, in the age of Krakoa, Kwannon has been afforded a sense of agency like never before, as the main protagonist of the early miniseries Fallen Angels vol 2, her guest appearances in Excalibur, and in a starring role in Hellions. Her journey of motherhood, her origins as a Hand assassin, her uneasy relationship with Braddock, and her forced servitude under Mister Sinister have been explored with beautiful complexity, as the once lost soul reclaimed the title of Psylocke and her identity alongside it.
Like previous entries in our Redesigning series, we tasked fan-artists from #XTwitter with the task of Redesigning Psylocke however they saw fit, with inspirations and aesthetics that are all their own. As a character with relatively little history of her own yet overflowing with potential and a strong need for narrative justice, our artists were excited to tackle the unique challenge that Psylocke presented. Follow these artists for more brilliant artwork of the X-Men and beyond!
[Ed. note: Just an FYI, the last entry here is NSFW. That’s not a value judgement, just don’t want anyone getting in trouble.]
Christian Tomas
“I thought the techwear trend in fashion would be the perfect fit for a character who leans heavily into ninja aesthetics. Gave her extra pockets for utility purposes, lots of straps as an homage to her 90’s bathing suit look, while a mask and tabi shoes round out the look to give her a degree of stealth and anonymity. The top leans more into athletic wear, keeping her entire fit comfortable for action.”
Valentine Smith
“I try to take on these redesigns as a chance to do something different that might not actually make it through a big book. I like to imagine that they’re making those strides toward “mutant clothes” on Krakoa, and there’s just this big warehouse that jumbo has that folks can come by and pick out a few pieces that speak to them, and go from there. Things that can double as “uniform” and personal clothing. I like the idea for Kwannon finally getting to really express herself, and the focal point being this big fluffy coat that, as Zoe Tunnell said when I showed her the design, you KNOW you’re in trouble if it comes off in a fight.”
Luis Ramos-Rosas
“I wanted to go for her usual ninja aesthetic but make it more colorful and stylish. I wanted her to dazzle her targets right before taking them out. As for the hair, I designed her with the side buzzed short, but yet still long enough to give her a ponytail, I definitely took inspiration from Raya and the Last Dragon for that.”
Calvin Lin
“I will always love a tactical look, especially one that is final fantasy inspired! So that’s where I went with this Kwannon redesign, with the zipper and big collar! Also threw in a mask look because we should all be wearing masks!”
Josh Cornillon
“I was inspired by the crisp lines and avant-garde cuts of Alexander Wang’s 2013 spring line, as I attempted to give Kwannon a sci-fi fashion look that would set the stage for her unique and complex history. I wanted to include her daughter as well, suffering the effects of her experience with Apoth and subsequent holding by Sinister, to follow the narrative through-line we’ve seen in the Krakoa era. The vibe is very new wave psychokinetic neoninja.”
Karen Charm
“Thinking about the core of Kwannon’s character – a super stealth assassin – I hit on the idea of basically making her Solid Snake. I also figured because of her powers she wouldn’t need guns and ammo pouches, so wanted to keep the design pretty sleek. There’s bits of some of her past costumes in there too – the Kris Anka X-Force, for one – and also maybe some Evangelion wound up in there too by accident.”
Adam Tisdale
“I wanted to design something that could be used for stealth missions without relying too heavily on the classic ninja design tropes. Even though I wanted to match a simple and sleek aesthetic with Kwannon’s no-nonsense attitude, I still added some extra flair in the scarf to allow the costume to look dynamic and rad in motion.”
Joshua Bruckner
“Now that Kwannon has control of her body again, I wanted to liberate her from the visual elements that tied her to Betsy Braddock. I pushed gray instead of black, gave her comfortable pants for stealth missions, and ditched the famous 90’s swimsuit and red sash. She’s got an edgier haircut, and coloration and psychic effects more reminiscent of a moth than a butterfly. This is a Kwannon defiantly reclaiming her body and image.”
Héctor Barros
“I got the inspiration from the original depictions of the goddess Guanyin (known as Kwannon in Japan) as having multiple arms. I thought it suited her past with Spiral. I also wanted to make a design that felt like an evolution of her classic look.”
Johnny Bugge
“My motivation was really going back to the cheesy neon goth moment superhero films had in the early 2000s. I wanted her to have a ridiculously fun stealth suit outfit that showed less leg than her original costume, but still had some fun cut out action!”
Bradley Clayton
“Kwannon managed to make it out of the 90s without patches but only because she didn’t have room in the bathing suit. I’ve rectified that here and expanded her solid red and black/dark purple color scheme out a little further. I think the stripes of her 90s look are so iconic so I kept it as a sort of guiding light and gave her a cool mask for deep cover missions and such.”
Alex Buckland
“I really wanted to give Kwannon something that was her own while still being recognizable as Psylocke. I didn’t want it to be something she-with-purple-hair-who-will-not-be-named would wear. I also had her cut her hair due to the years of purple hair dye; girl needs to help that hair heal!”
Kal Huset
“So for my design I wanted to do something more akin to athletic wear. I drew a lot of inspiration from the Street Fighter character Chun Li. I feel like I’m more known for kind of crazier redesigns so I wanted to dial this one back and go a little bit of a simpler route for Kwannon, which kind of seems like it suits her anyways.”
Kenneth Laster
“I had a lot of different stuff I wanted to throw into this design and all of the things together turned into Final Fantasy Kwannon . There’s a bit of street fashion, a bit of warrior styling, and a dash of superhero design sensibilities mixed together. Also Kwannon with bangs felt right.”
Rosi Guillen
“With my Psylocke design I tried finding middle ground for what is attractive and appealing to me and what is practical, I made a Kwannon that would easily blend into the shadows and also cast off her outer layer and fit in at a party.”
Dani Kinney
“First an foremost I wanted something that was kinetic, something that I’d used on panel had interesting angles of the tanto and the katana, the flow of kimono. I wanted it to be casual but also tiddies out. If her cheeks could be clapping freely in the wind for 20+ years, she deserves to let the gals breath a bit.”
