#warrenbetsy

Elizabeth Braddock

She likes to exert power in bed. Betsy might love it when she actively exerts control over her bed partner, part of it is in her strong nature, and part of it is born out of a need to reassert control after she’s been manipulated too many times in her life.

She’s not much into being submitted or give control. For an healthy stable relationship, she needs her partner to be willing to be the one to give up control, or at least not need to be the more dominant in the couple. She can do with a partner who is at her same level, but not with someone who is heavily dominant in nature - they clash and can’t last longer than few weeks.

Betsy is an high-sexual woman. Especially since the body change, she indulged her sensuality in ways she didn’t before. As the choice to wear for years a revealing leotard can prove. (Either influenced by Kwannon or not, up to you and your views on the body swap and Kraoka’s era that established Kwannon was alive in Betsy)

Betsy is flirtatious. When she’s committed in a relationship, she’s faithful, but she likes to play and flirt a bit with other people nonetheless. Just for the thrill of it.

She’s bi. She mostly likes and is drawn to the male spectrum, but she had lesbian experiences back in her teenage years, when she came to New York for her modelling career.

She’s not poly. She accepted and thrown herself in a three-way relationship with Fantomex and Cluster because both were part of the Fantomex she had fallen for. But she’s not interested in polyamory nor looking for an open relationship. It’s just not her thing, although she’s got an open mind and can’t promise she won’t change her mind if the right people happened.

Different sizes for two different bodies. Her Caucasian body and Kwannon's body have different sizes. She had to start her wardrobe from scratch when she returned home after the body-swap, and she had to start again once she got her original body back in Madripoor. It was an hassle, if you ask her, and the second time it happened it pained her a bit for many of her dresses were high-fashion and tailored on Kwannon's body. But it gave her an excuse for more shopping, which wasn't too bad. Canon. In Excalibur #20 Betsy tries out old dresses but they don't fit, while they are said to fit Kwannon. Meaning that they have different sizes.

Different sizes for two different bodies, part 2. Kwannon's is barely 1.70cm while Elizabeth is a whopping 1.80cm. Betsy was spared the need to relearn her balance the first time because she still was brainwashed, but she wasn't spared the second time - when she rebuilt her original body. This is purely headcanon, as it clashes with canon. Canon is contradictory on this, though. 1. During Kwannon's return as Revanche in 1993 Uncanny/X-Men titles, up to her vanishing from the books, while they don't have much scenes in which they are properly standing next to each other, they look like the same height. 2. Not much later, Betsy starts to date Warren. Since then, Betsy has been drawn only way shorter that Warren. Warren, on paper, is only 3 centimeters taller than guides assign to Betsy. 3. Marvel Guides state that Betsy is 1.80m in both her bodies. 4. In Excalibur #20, the first time we can see Betsy and Kwannon together, they don't have many scenes in which to gauge their height, but from a scene where they're walking off the Council, they look the same height. 4. Same issue, Betsy points out that her old dresses don't fit her because they weren't made for her legs (but Kwannon's). Hinting that they are of different heights. 5. Same issue. Malice's memory. Inconsistent. Alternatively Betsy or Kwannon is taller. Anyway. I reject the very idea that Betsy and Kwannon are of the same height because, while I can see the choice to have them mirror of each other, it does sound ludicrous that Kwannon is that much tall. First, such a height, while still not common in Caucasians, it's even more rare in Japanese people. Second, I don't see a woman of such a height being a proficient ninja. My opinion. Besides, it makes for a more interesting hurdle for Betsy - need to learn how to move and live after suddenly loosing inches (or, when she's back in her original body, regaining them). A way to work around this could be that Kwannon's original body is indeed shorter than Betsy's Caucasian. When she was returned from death by her brother Jamie, the body has been modified - neither Caucasian, but neither Kwannon's. It kept all the skills that came with Kwannon's original body, but with a more imposing height. This way Kwannon, when she awakes in Madripor, is as tall as Caucasian Betsy is, and they now are of the same height. Still doesn't agree with canon, as on Utopia and in Uncanny X-Force Betsy is drawn shorter than Warren. In X-Men: Disassembled, back in her original body, is finally shoulder to shoulder to Warren.

Sex

Different bodies, different needs. Not only because of the different size, but the two bodies react differently to sensual and sexual stimulation. What she may like in her original body don’t agree with the Asian body. Things she discovered to like in the Asian body suddenly weren’t giving her anything (or, worst, made her uncomfortable) when she was back in the Caucasian body. Positions she enjoyed in one, dislikes in the other.

She squirts (when Caucasian). In her English body, when precisely stimulated, she squirts. The first time it happens, it’s both a surprise and a shock. She shivers for a solid minute, blinking stupid.

She had/regained sensitive boobs. In Kwannon’s body, she liked her boobs to be heavily played; once she regained her original body, she discovered that she doesn’t want her boobies to be played too much.

The Asian body is more flexible, even in bed. When back in her original body, Betsy discovers she can’t bend or do things that came more natural in the Asian body. Her considerable taller height doesn’t help.

Betsy likes to be on top. Her favorite position is any that allows her to set the pace or get control of the intercourse. She might have a preference for the Kneeling Amazon position because it’s empowering for her.

She isn’t shy of using her powers in bed. If her partner consents, she can (and will) make use of her powers to enhance the sexual experience. With her telepathy she can better gauge reactions and modify her actions accordingly, and even stimulate pleasure centers.

She had made a man orgasm by using her psyonic powers. At the same way, she can deny a man the orgasm.

She isn’t shy of using her powers outside the bed. She’s the kind of woman who would use telepathy as the enhanced version of sexting and sex calls. If her partner is willing, and they’ve set boundaries comfortable for each, Betsy likes to tease her partner by sending through “dirty” thoughts or plant images into her partner’s mind to arouse them.

She made sex on the astral plane once. To this day she still maintains it was a mistake, but a glorious one and an experience she’s doesn’t disavows. She’s not one of the biggest fan of Emma Frost but she was the only telepath in Utopia when she was brought back by the Goblin Queen. Emma offered herself if Betsy wanted to talk about her experience, acting as a telepathic counselor. Might be an itch that Betsy felt the need to scratch, or perhaps the wine, but it happened. Betsy discovered that pleasure - and orgasm - on the astral plane are a lot more powerful and shaking that the ones in the physical plane. Perhaps too much, to not risk becoming addicted. Unfortunately, the numbers of telepaths able to project themselves on the astral plane and strong enough to maintain the projection up to reaching an orgasm can be counted on one hand - and none of which she would want to sex up in the astral plane, so the experience is doomed to never be repeated. (I’m not a fan of her relationship with Rachel, and their current characterization is too vanilla for me: I don’t get the feeling they’re “kinky” enough to be comfortable in thinking something like this could be done or to actually try.)

Warren Worthington III (abridged list - full bulleted list here)

He is a convinced strictly hetero, but he tried getting and giving a blowjob/handjob.

He doesn’t have specific sexual positions preferences. As long as he’s comfortable and his wings not constrained, any position is fine for him. He has some he likes more than others, like everyone, but not so much to stop him from enjoying sex in others.

He’s more than willing to let his woman pick the position.

He's not distressed by being dependent from Betsy. It might be scaring, to need Betsy's presence in his life to stay balanced, but he doesn't feel emasculated. Besides, it all leads to fantastic sex. Canon. Fantomex jabs at Warren for this in Uncanny X-Force #8.

He's not scared by Betsy's power levels. It's not easy to feel balanced when loving a gifted mutant. Even harder when you are dating the third most powerful telepath on Earth. But he never feels inferior. Nor he feels emasculated in the least. Canon. Fantomex jabs at Warren for this in Uncanny X-Force #8.

He likes it when his women top him. He isn’t that insecure to feel emasculated if his lover asserts some command - in bed or outside.

He’s not fan of restrains in bed. His experience with being cuffed (and almost raped) left him an unresolved trauma that makes him uncomfortable at the idea of having a partner cuff him. Betsy helped him to work out this trauma and he has partially overcome it since. But he tried only with Betsy, and he never made an attempt with any other partner he might have had after her - nor he isn’t interested in trying.

Together (romance)

They practice D/s as a form of therapy. With Archangel always looming in the darkness of his mind, Warren has to exert strong control of himself during all of his wake hours and that drains him, especially in hard days such as when fights and tense situations arise. When that happens, Betsy takes him down gently. Warren entrust himself to Betsy, knowing he’s in good hands and that he knows she’ll take care of him. While other men in is same position (rich, powerful, high-pressure jobs) search for a strong hand to handle them to release from the tension, Warren actually needs it to keep Archangel in check.

Betsy is the only telepath Warren ever allowed to see his (broken) memories of the painful transformation at the hands of Apocalypse.

Betsy never shared with Warren what she remembers about her time as Lady Mandarin, nothing about the pains to get to accept a different body as her own or to understand she suddenly was two halves of two different people but not whole, nothing about the memories of Kwannon, nor anything about her death experiences. She tends to either be jealous or unwilling to share, with her manipulation or forced changes experiences.

Candy Southern and Thomas Lennox. For the sake of honesty, they share memories of each biggest past(lost) love. Warren shared his memories about Candy, including the painful moment of her death and the even more painful of her return as a tool for Cameron Hodge’s war against him. Betsy has showed Warren about Tom, and made Warren feel but a shadow of what she felt when Tom was killed while they had been in telepathic contact.

Warren’s mind is always open for Betsy. They have set boundaries for Betsy’s telepathy, as it is healthy for a relationship in which one has psyonic powers and the other is a psy-null. Betsy strove to respect Warren’s privacy, even when the situation called for the easier solution to read Warren’s grief straight from his mind or to get answers when Warren’s reticence to speak had him meet Betsy’s question with silence. Warren, in kind, has learned that he can trust Betsy with his mind, so Betsy has open access to it. Warren had been taught by Xavier how to shield his mind from intrusions, and how to shield memories and thoughts he wants to keep safe from telepathic fingers, but he gradually lowered those shields.

They might join minds during sleep. It’s Betsy’s mind that reaches out for Warren, and it happened more than once that Betsy found herself slipping into Warren dreams, either as a spectator or with an active involvement - her mere presence having a changing effect on the whole scenario.

A psychic rapport was starting during X-Force. The more Betsy spent time in Warren's mind and joined to him, the more she instinctively reached out, and her powers were creating the first, fleeting strands for what would've been a full psychic rapport that could've become stable and permanent if properly nurtured. Unfortunately - or, rather, fortunately - Archangel worked against that; the link never blossomed and was completely burned away when the Life Force reset Warren's mind.

Warren is the more reserved of the two. Both in gestures and nature. He’s not shy or insufferably introverted - quite the contrary. But he’s more protective of his relationships and doesn’t feel like showing himself too much affectionate in public. He doesn’t shy away from kisses and the likes, but he wouldn’t go much over than that. Betsy on the other side might have a little exhibitionist strike in her. Not as to make sex in public, but she might be more willing to have some PDA were people can see them.

The weight quarrel. Once she regained her original body, Betsy took offense with Warren’s body. One day they were comparing physical data to pass time, and she discovered that, despite being heavily built on the shoulders and equipped with sixteen feet spanned wings, Warren weights 5 lbs less than her, the former top model wearing the 8 UK. She still hasn’t accepted this. She has nothing against her own body, and loves Warren’s every muscle, but it’s unnatural that a man built like Warren and with those assets, weights only 150 lbs - hollow bones and genetically unable to store excess fat be dammed.

They’re almost the same height. After years in which Betsy had to stand on her toes to kiss Warren, is a welcome (and disorienting at the same) change to stand at Warren’s same height - she’s one inch shorter than him. Luckily for her, Warren isn’t one of those men who feels threatened or put off by a woman tall like him, nor considers heels a slight to his honor (quite the contrary, he loves her in heels).

Betsy cuts Warren's hair. And, on top of that, she could tell the real Warren from a perfect duplicate one just by looking at his head. -> One would think it's a joke on Betsy's part, but Warren's lack of reaction - he actually reacts, but to the absurdity of using hairstyling as "a scientific approach" - suggests she was serious. Canon, as per Uncanny X-Men #375. For as much as it makes no sense that it would happen, especially when the guy is a billionaire who likely goes to one of those saloons where 1k it's just to get his hair washed... it's a cute thing.

After loosing Warren, Betsy couldn't sleep in their bed at the X-Cavern anymore. After the tragic events of the Dark Angel Saga, with Warren gone, Betsy couldn't even step into the room she shared with Warren, so she moved into another bedroom that wouldn't hold the memories of them together. The same where she invited Fantomex. In Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game - X-Men Expansion there's the map of the X-Cavern, and Betsy is given her own room. I'm of the idea that Betsy didn't get her own room when she joined X-Force, as she has rekindled her romance with Warren back then, and they shared their bed (as seen on panel). The room she and Warren share, and the room where Betsy has sex with Fantomex, are too generic to be told apart.

Halloween or other costume-themed parties. They do matching costumes. Betsy is the most excited and Warren just tags along just because he's a submissive boyfriend likes to see Betsy happy.

1. Eros and Psyche One time, they do the Eros and Psyche duo. Which means Warren is stuck with going basically naked, with only a floating strip of fabric covering him, for all the duration of the party. At least Betsy speared him and didn't flash around her boobies, like Psyche is usually depicted ("I'm not dear Emma Frost, I have more class!"). Although never confirmed by authors, is it believed that the name Psylocke is a play of words including Psyche, from the Greek mythology, goddess of soul and often depicted with butterfly wings. Psyche is the lover and then wife of Eros, the god of love (also called Cupid).

2. The suit swap. They did dress as each other. Betsy complained for the weight of the fake wings all the time, amusing Warren no end. For Warren's sake, I hope they didn't do this when Betsy was still rocking the ninja onepiece. Even someone whose power is to be beautiful would be ludicrous with that one.

They talked about marriage. Before everything went downhill, a week before Archangel took over, Warren blindfolded Betsy and brought her to a butte near the X-Cavern, where they made love and planned their future. They agreed that, once the issue with Archangel was permanently fixed and X-Force completed their mission, they would take some time for themselves, away from active duty in the X-Men, and they would finally marry. -> A proper marriage wouldn't change anything in their life and how they act toward each other. I think it would just mean jokes from their friends (mostly Bobby Drake) about Warren being Mr. Braddock, Betsy being the one to wear the trousers or Warren being the housewife of the pair. In Uncanny X-Force #19 Betsy leads Warren to the place where, as per her words, they "made plans for the future". While the exact wording leaves it up to the reader, I think that the hint was "marriage". I can't see any other explanation other than this.

Together (sex)

Warren allows Betsy to do him things he would never allow any other woman. Warren trust completely Betsy, not only because he loves her and knows her, but because, thanks to her telepathy, Betsy knows exactly when to push and when to stop. At times before even Warren himself can acknowledge.

Erotic massages. As both lovers of massages, it was natural for them to bring the practice in their intimate life. Betsy might have it easier, with her telepathy aiding her, but they both learn first and then master the techniques of both relaxing massages and then the art of erotic massage. They might never become professionals masseurs, but they know each other too well and that’s all that matters. Yes, those massages when both are naked and the masseur gently brings the other to orgasm.

Nuru massage It’s the natural evolution of their passion for erotic massage so they eagerly embrace this technique as well. A Nuru Massage is a Japanese erotic massage technique where a masseuse rubs her body against the client's body while both of them are naked and covered with massage oil.

Besty is the wilder beast in bed. Betsy, as a former British woman of aristocratic ties, is believed to be the more reserved. Warren, on the other side, has the fame of a womanizer. People tend to believe that Warren is the kinkier of the two. Quite the opposite. Despite his fame, Warren is pretty much chill on sex and is less experienced than people - including those closer to him like the Original Five - think he is. Betsy, on the other hand, has tried more things since she first masturbated herself as a teen, and is always ready to try and experience new things to see if they might turn out to be a new kink of hers.

They practice pegging. The first time it’s just Betsy suggesting and Warren going for it - out of curiosity, to spice up a bit their sex life. Betsy does some research and properly prepares Warren - who does trust Betsy enough to entrust himself in her hands, but still is a bit tense about his first penetration. Warren didn't dislike it, he got some pleasing endorphin buzz, Betsy went crazy on the power surge of being on the penetrative side, and came just for the new perspective of pounding Warren (and his very nice ass) in a doggy position - and came another couple of times for the stimulation of the mechanical act of thrusting. The first orgasm is quite intense, and Betsy has to drape herself on Warren’s back to regain some breath while trembling and panting. Warren started to relax and found some pleasure too late - Betsy by then had already come like three times and was about to drop, exhausted and wrecked. Warren didn’t come until Betsy slipped a hand under him and pumped him a whole minute. Warren, who is one besotted birdman who would do almost anything to make sure Betsy is satisfied and sexually sated, agreed on doing it again. The second time they get a better hang around it. Perhaps he was more relaxed, perhaps because he knew what to expect, but Warren definitely enjoys the ride this time and doesn’t need to be masturbated all the time to come. A bit of stimulation is welcome, but not necessary. Since then, pegging is part of their sexual life (not to say they do it every time or it’s a set date, it depends on the mood). Betsy might have the time of her life in selecting new dildo to play with Warren. (she might indulge her own fantasies with some Bad Dragon as well). She eventually learns how to construct her own penis with tk. It’s a whole different feeling - for the both of them.

Dildo, FeelDoe, Bad Dragons, vibrators and more. There’s an healthy use of devices in their sexual life.

Dominance and submissiveness. Neither of them are into BDSM but they don’t dislike consensual power exchange, most of the times with Betsy on the dominant role.

They use restraints - but only of the telekinetic kind. Warren doesn’t accept cuffs of straps, they still feel too close to what Callisto put on him. Betsy has discovered that Warren responds quite differently, and in a good way, if the restraints are made of her tk. They have a different feel than leather one, and don’t trigger Warren’s trauma.

They regularly make sex through telepathy. Given their hectic lives, between being part of various X-Teams, managing a multi-billion conglomerate and personal relationships to nurture, it’s not uncommon that they find themselves separated for long periods of times - either Warren in New York for his business obligations and Betsy in UK with her brother’s family, or both serving in two different teams. Betsy’s powerful telepathy helps keep them connected, replacing the need for a phone, but also comes handy when they miss more than each other’s voice. It’s always Betsy to start with the flirting and teasing. With time Betsy has managed to chip away at Warren’s more private nature, teaching him the perks of telepathic sex. Which is akin to the glorified version of videocall sex. They cannot make sex on the astral plane, because Warren can’t project himself. Telepathic sex has the perk that it that cannot be hacked and pics/text cannot be given to gossip magazines. Other powerful telepaths could get a peek, though, if Betsy was distracted and her shields failed her. (or through Warren’s more unprotected mind).

1. Jean Grey, the what if

Jean is his first everything. The first girl he felt mature love for. The first to not fall for him. The first to like - and hate - him for what he is (was), behind the looks or wealth. The first to offer him pure, disinterested friendship. She is the reason why he strove to become a better person, why he learned to be less self-centered. She’s the drive that made him grow up.

Jean is... Jean. How can someone describe the complexity and paradox that is Jean Grey? Fire and water, life and death, weakness and strength, omega powers and humbleness. Far from perfection and yet elected as the role model from a whole community, painted as a saint, but fierce as a demon. The soul of the X-Men, the star that lit their path even from dead. The woman who was offered the cosmos, who held galaxies in her hand and nursed timelines back to life, but chose to stay earthbound. The woman who was offered ascension to more than mere godhood but chose to stay mortal. The woman who said no to a force older than the universe itself that wished to be one with her. But Warren met Jean when she was none of this, when she still was a girl trying to find her place in the world and eager to prove that she could be a power to reckon with.

Jean is his first love. He had his flings before a pair of wings sprouted from his back and changed his life forever. He never lacked flocks of girls who threw themselves his way. He could name a few, but he would eventually forget some. His looks, his status, his success in any sport he decided to apply himself - girls were eager to be with him. He was a self-centered teenager who knew he was beautiful - he felt it natural, it felt it was his right, to have beautiful girls fight for his attention. And he may have liked them, but with none of them he pretended there was more than mere attraction. Again, teenage flings. Never he had applied to himself the term lovestruck until Jean Grey came into his life.

Sure, when she arrived at the Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the only girl in a class of four boys, it wasn’t love. She was beautiful, she was smart, she was witty. An eye-catcher that hid a brilliant mind under a head full of red hair. Unbothered by her being the only girl, amused by the way they all flocked around her in a race to impress her. Love was the last thing that buzzed in his mind, back then.

But then somehow it happened. Sexual attraction softened, morphed into genuine interest and then more. As they went from teens to adults, as he grew from boy to man, his feelings for Jean changed as well. The easier years. Before the Phoenix, before Apocalypse. When the very idea of a second class at the school was distant. When they still felt but a tight group of five adults who had known each other since forever, when the idea of splitting up was unbearable, when they still felt nothing could break them up, that they would never go separate ways - that somehow they would all find their place in the world but find themselves together at night, and eventually grow old but always together.

Jean has always been a woman who made her interest known. She didn’t play hard to catch. She didn’t wait for a man to court her - she didn’t want it either. When Scott tip-toed around her, she reached out, making her own feelings clear but, at the same time, waiting for him to come at his own pace. And Warren stood on the sideline. Aware that he would always be the third wheel. It was hard for him, to back down - it was the first time for him, a lesson to be learned.

For years he felt the second best. The one Jean would chose, should Scott be unavailable - the one she would turn to, should Scott loose his mind and turn her down. The one she would've picked had Scott never tried so hard to hide his interest. The man she would marry, had Scott backed down. Perhaps something did happen between them, when Jean returned, when Scott was torn between the love for the woman he always wanted and duty toward the wife he built a family with, when Jean felt rejected by the man she expected to marry. There was an underlying current. And if only Candy wasn’t there, if only Scott... Many ifs.

Now he knows better, though, Now he knows that spot in Jean’s heart belongs to Logan. There is no need to see them share intimacy to understand that Logan has a place in Jean’s life that he’ll never have. Too different from Scott to appeal to her when they were barely adults thrown in a world that would spit them out, too similar to appeal the her wilder side, the one that burns with fiery and feral passion.

He doesn’t care. He accepted long time ago that Jean was never meant to be at his side as lover. Jean was meant to be at his side as a friend. Jean is his best friend. One of the few Warren ever allowed in his discreet life. One of the few privy to his secrets, one of the few that he shares his thoughts with. Together they are two fifth of the First Class, the originals. And each of them has a special place in each other’s life. But Jean will always come first. He likes to think he’s her best friend too. She’s full of friends to rely on, fellow X-Women she searches for a comforting hug or ask out for a date if she needs to take her mind off things, but he’s her oldest, the one she’ll find whenever she feels to share her mind about some private matter. If she needs to vent about Scott, he’s the first she goes to. Bittersweet. But Warren feels himself honored to be that person for Jean.

And yes, he might’ve been happy with Jean at his side. And he would’ve made sure to make her happy. He would’ve never made the same mistakes Scott did - he would’ve never jumped into a relationship with a Jean look-alike after burying her, he would’ve never jumped into Emma Frost’s arms with Jean sleeping every night beside him, breathing and gloriously alive. But the ship is long sailed - or, to be more accurate, never existed to start with.

He wouldn’t trade their friendship for any timeline in which they eventually got together. If one of the eternal beings that rule the Omniverse came to him with an offer to live a life where Jean chose him over Scott, he wouldn’t accept. Sure, he’d be tempted, but in the end he would refuse. Loyal friends, especially the kind like Jean’s, are harder to come by than potential lovers or wives. But he can’t deny that, at times, he wonders how different his life could’ve been, had Jean that faithful first day picked him instead of Scott.

*

2. Candace Southern, the wife that’ll never be

Candy was his real first love. They’d been childhood friends, they dated, on and off while he tried to juggle between his vapid, rich disguise and his secret identity as X-Man. Her unintentional involvement during the first tragedy of his life, the murder of his father, had him cast her out of his life, her presence and closeness during the second tragedy, the death of his mother, cemented her place at his side. Outside of the X-Men, she’s the first, since he debuted in the public as the Avenging Angel, to discover his secret mutation, the first to accept whom he really is without the need to have a mutant gene herself. Not only she accepted it, but embraced his uniqueness. Brave and reckless, she’s the first human ally the X-Men earn - unbothered by the secret, immediately ready to throw herself in the fray to protect them.

She was there when they all believed Charles Xavier had died, and they were left to face the world alone, deprived of the guidance of their patron. She was there when he met the new recruits, mutants who could fly on top of having other abilities, and he suddenly felt outdated, when he felt he could be discarded. She was there when the two classes tried to accommodate each other in the school, and Warren felt redundant. She was there when the first class disbanded to let the second class step in, and Warren felt adrift. She was there when, without the X-Men to take up his life, he found himself with too much time to fill. She was there when, with the first class scattered around, he had to relearn what privacy meant, with no shared bathrooms or nosy roommates. She was there when he suddenly found himself richer than he ever though he could be, with no idea how to manage such a scary inheritance all by himself.

Theirs has been a strong relationship, friends, partners. She was her right-man(right-woman), the brilliant business leader whom he could entrust his own fortune while he soared high, tailing any villain that threatened the world. Same background, same approach to life, both willing to enjoy life at its fullest and never shy about embracing the perks of their upbringing. Candy not only accepted his mutant status but embraced it, with everything it entailed - dangers included. Eager to be part of his world, she plunged headlong in his adventures, never backing down, never asking him to stop. No matter the dangers they both faced, she never requested he choose between her or his lifestyle. Despite everything that happened to him (Heather’s mental manipulations, his blindness, the tragedies), her time as team leader for the Defenders it’s perhaps the best time in which Warren managed to have his private and mutant life to coexist. If only he hadn’t been too young, too self-absorbed, too busy being the high-flying angel to consider to keep his feet on the ground... if he hadn’t been turned upside-down by Jean’s return and the conflicting feelings such miracle brought in his heart, he would’ve asked her to marry him. Candy would’ve been the perfect woman to be forever at his side. In a world where being the lover of a mutant doesn’t make you a target, in which non-mutants aren’t doomed to die between the arms of their mutant partner, Candy would’ve been the right woman to grow old with.

Too much went wrong with her, his life went downhill since that day she walked out of him. A part of him at times wonders how his life would've been if he had been given the chance to explain, to reassure Candy that there was no reason to be jealous of Jean, that his heart, for how disoriented and conflicted, in the end belonged to Candy. If only he sat down with Candy and explained her his heart tribulations, if only he had been honest with her since the beginning of the X-Factor project... If Candy had been there, she would've noticed Hodge's machinations before it was too late. She was always the more perceptive of the two. Who can say how different things would unfold, with her alive and at his side.

Her loss is a scar. The wound has healed, he can think back to her and not cry. He isn’t scared anymore by the photos of her he stashed away when it felt too hard for him to see them. But the scar will never vanish, and her name is forever branded on his heart. A part of him will forever belong to Candy. His innocence, the carefree Warren Worthington III who felt entitled to own the whole world in his hand, is gone with her and forever belongs to her. It feels just right that he fell from the skies the same day he lost her, that he fell into Hell the day she stormed out of his life forever.

Does he hate that death doesn’t work on criminals, that death can’t keep Hodge, but Candy will never return? Yes. Does he hate that killers and mass-murderers can be brought back to life thanks to the resurrection protocols while Candy will never be able to return? Yes. That he was regenerated and kept alive even when he was killed and meant to die? Yes. But Candy was no mutant, and for humans death is final - she’s forever gone. And perhaps it’s best she stays that way. It’s best that she rests in peace, with no one ever having the ability to twist and manipulate her like it happens to them mutants, who can’t achieve peace even in death. She was returned to him once, a pawn to strike him, a weapon to hurt him. It was enough. Besides, she wouldn’t like the Warren he has become. She would never accept the brutality, the violence he employs. She would never find in herself any reason to stay with him, after seeing - knowing - Archangel and what he entails. She would be disgusted, horrified, by the things he did, by the blood on his wings. Better she rests, never to be condemned to the knowledge that the man she loved has fallen from heaven, that he’s become a bringer of death.

Somewhere, in the thousands of timelines out there, there must be an alternate Earth in which Candy never doubted of his love, Jean’s presence didn’t come between them, and Hodge never betrayed them. Or an Earth in which he never jumped on the X-Factor project, where he didn’t listen to Hodge’s ideas. Where Jean never met the Phoenix and died, or survived and retired in marriage with Scott, or Hodge died in a car accident before plotting his betrayal. Somewhere, there must be a Warren Worthington who had the chance to live his life with Candy to the very end. At times he finds himself wishing to search for it, to explore all the realities out there, to become an Exile and jump from timeline to timeline, just to know if there’s a Warren out there who is truly happy.

*

3. Charlotte Jones, the regret

Charlotte is a stain, something he's ashamed for and will forever be ashamed for. Not for her, never for her - but for him, because everything was his fault. He was in a bad place back then and not really himself, Charlotte was a life jacket, an hand held out, an offer. Someone who saw the angel behind the monster. Someone who was willing to accept that new Warren, unlike all his friends who just wanted the old Warren back.

She helped. Scraps, morsel of a real life. A woman different from Candy. Gruff, not born of rich, used to work hard to get by, an everyday warrior. A punch from reality for the wealthy privileged white boy who never got to know the hardship of the everyday life for those who can’t fly high and see everything from the sky. Her closeness allowed him to find back the man he thought Apocalypse killed, her patience to work out his mood issues. She saved him - more than she could ever think.

He had come to love little Timmy. Seeing him fight against his own condition was an example for him to fight back Apocalypse’s manipulations, an example to learn to accept his new self - the blue skin, the metallic wings that felt estranged to him like an artificial limb he rejected.

But, in the end, Charlotte was just a police officer. And he needed more. The high flying Archangel soared between goddesses and omega mutants, how could he stay earthbound? She had her own issues, and couldn’t hold his own burdens as well. His depression, his moods. It was too much.

She was never asked if she wanted to take that burden, though - he just drifted away, closing himself off, facing his own inner demons and forgetting everyone else. She tried. She reached out for as long as she could. But at some point she gave up, unwilling to forever yap at his leg for a morsel of attention from the man she though was her boyfriend. A relationship can work only if both the parties care and fight for it, and Warren soon lost the will to fight. Ghosting Charlotte was the easiest way, for an angel that felt too blue to embrace happiness.

He still feels bad for how it ended, for how he vanished on her instead of manning up and break up vis-a-vis. He would like to cling to excuses, to blame the hectic life of an X-Men, to hide behind Magneto and the Phalanx and every other thing that happened, every danger that fell on them. But the truth is that he wasn’t in the right mind to care for his romantic life, he was just tired of everything and he barely held himself together as an X-Men. He still feels bad. But he can't change his past. They met a couple of times. She was closed off and annoyed they happened in the same place. She has every right to clam up and get rude to him. He was an asshole, he deserved to be treated as one. He will never fault Charlotte for not forgiving him.

He wonders how Timmy is doing. He wished he could help him, be the silent patron that tends to his needs, to pay for his tuition. But Charlotte would never allow him. When he vanished, he vanished on Timmy too after all. He had been tempted, though. To fly to the block where she lives, find a good spot on a near roof and wait for Timmy to walk on the street below, to make sure he’s fine and he still has that bright smile on his face. But he doesn’t feel like handling that rejection, the risk of Timmy raising his head and see the man perched like a hawk to check on him. He likes to think back to Timmy as the boy he left the last time he opened his wings and took flight from Charlotte’s window. Besides, Charlotte would come to have his ass, should he show up to Timmy out of the blue.

He learned from that mistake though: he broke up with Betsy as soon as he understood their relationship was stagnating, before they would eventually drift apart.

*

4. Paige Guthrie, the mistake

Paige is... Well. Let's say he was hurting and confused. Very very confused. He's not one to repudiate the past, for everything that happened to him - good or bad - is what made him the man he is. For all the things he would erase, there are worse things than a wrong relationship that was started on the wrong premises. They fell for each other and so be it. Although, nowadays, he can't understand how that even happened. They really were too much different. In any other moment of his life it would've never happened. But he was mourning Betsy, in a time when death was forever. And Paige was there, reaching out, willing to help him and ready to stomp her feet on the ground and force-pull him out of the self-pity mood he was wallowing in. And Paige too, she was in no good place. Rebounding off her failed romance with Starsmore, perhaps she thought that with someone older than her things would be different, that she wouldn’t be forced to be with someone who kept self-sabotaging his own love life. She took a look at him and thought he was different, that the only Original who was public and proud about his mutation would be the farthest from a Gen-X whose mutation took out half of his face and chest.

Not to say they didn’t have a good time, while it lasted. But, why. He didn’t act like himself, or perhaps not like the himself he had been since that moment. In a way, with Paige he was back to be the first Warren, the teenager - the Warren before the tragedies that forever marred his sunny nature. The Warren of the First Class - before Candy, before his uncle, before everything. He acted immature, he didn’t act like the responsible adult one would expect from someone who is a founder of the X-Men and a businessman who sits on a multi-bilionaire fortune, runs a Fortune 100 company and is stockholder in too many places for him to even remember.

Only when he was at his lowest, memory-less and naive, he had stopped as low. Sex in the sky right above Lucinda Guthrie’s nose? What the hell was he thinking? This is something sixteen-years-old Warren would do, what the pre-mutant socialite would do - not [twenty/third-something-I-hate-you-timescale] Worthington!

He got much flack from Bobby because of this, but even someone who knew him as much as Bobby admitted he was different with Paige, younger - an attitude that had been stripped out of him by Apocalypse. Perhaps this is why nobody stepped in, why none of his oldest friends planned an intervention to save him from embarrassing himself. Why, other than Bobby’s jabs, he was left alone.

Paige did make him feel younger and carefree, in a way that he had forgotten. And for that, he should be grateful to her. But he was no more a teenager, and he should’ve been more mature than that. More mature than giving in. He should’ve stuck to his role of First Class and team leader to Paige’s Generation X, two different generations, too much age difference. With hindsight, he should’ve listened to Stacy X. He owes Miranda an apology: she said those things because she wanted to get into his pants, sure - still, she was right. All in all, it was a phase that didn't last much and he won't talk about it.

He might be embarrassed about how he acted, but Paige doesn’t deserve ill feelings. She was there when he unknowingly needed someone like her, after all, and never shied away. Fought for what she wanted, when he was playing hard to catch and clinging to what he felt was ethically right to do (which was not make a move on Paige) - and he must give it to her, the girl is a warrior.

When they eventually drifted apart, they did so in good ways. There’s no avoided glances and stunned silences if they are assigned to the same team, there is the right amount of closeness and camaraderie one would expect from fellow X-Men. They don’t greet each other with kisses nor they hug after a tragedy, but he is a private person and he isn’t big on gestures - but, should she need a hug, he wouldn’t shy away, and she would do the same for him. He couldn’t ask no more, for a relationship that had been an error from his part.

*

5. Elizabeth Braddock, the other half

Elizabeth is and will always be his soulmate. He might feel silly to say it aloud, and he likely will never admit it even in the privacy of his mind, but deep inside he knows it.

Both born privileged, both proud of their mutation, both magazine material, both striking handsome. If someone had to come up with a more perfect pair, they couldn’t draw one better assorted than them. White or blue, Asian or English, it doesn’t matter. They would be the pet of gossip, guest to the best glamorous events, they could be the king and queen of New York if only they wanted. If only they weren’t mutants, actually. Or, at least, if their affiliation to the X-Men and mutants weren’t public - or if people were enamored with mutants as they are with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four or anyone else on the side of angels who has superpowers and isn’t named Spider-Man.

Both manipulated by others.

But Betsy has always been the strongest of the two. Where he reacted to what Apocalypse did with gloom, by turning depressed and introverted, by wallowing in self-pity or venting his rage on himself, she reacted to each manipulation by getting more determined and hard, by not letting the pain drag her down, by focusing that rage in her moves, using it to strengthen her tk knife. For months, after he returned into the X-Factor fold, he fought his metal wings, he rejected their power, he avoided mirrors for the fear of meeting his own blue reflection, he pretended that Warren Worthington was no more, dead like his wings. She, after regaining control of her mind and back to the X-Men, immediately made use of her acquired ninja abilities and adapted her mutant powers to efficiently use them in conjunction with the new fighting skills, turning an already deadly body into an even more deadly warrior. And she accepted the differences in her body, she focused on what good it came with, she didn’t clung to what she lost. Unlike him, who had to break one heart, watch her dead girlfriend die again between his arms and be kicked in the face by his best friend (not to mention bloody Mystique), before understanding that he had to reclaim his whole life and accept that it didn’t matter the hue of his skin or the metal protruding out of his shoulders where feathers once had been - that Warren Worthington III, the High Flying Angel, was still down there, even if he now soared on metal wings.

Together they faced everything. They endured and survived, they died and resurrected. Always bouncing back to each other. As if some uncanny force bound them together. They hurt each other, every time. Unwilling. Forced by the events, forced by others. They aren't good for each other, because they indulge and worsen each other's addictions. They're good for each other, because they are the other’s rock. Forces like death, time, mystical powers and Apocalypse didn’t manage to keep them apart; stress, different attitudes, different goals and stagnation did.

Betsy isn’t a woman to settle down. She constantly needs excitement, she needs to live life at its fullest. She craves for the adrenaline that fights pump in her vein, she needs to always be at the center of the field. Ninja or mutant, she doesn’t bode well with monotony. He’d sign any contract that granted him a quiet life in which to enjoy his money, soar the sky and retire in the night to sleep near the woman he loves. He always returns to the X-Men, no matter how many times he promises himself that this is the last time, that this is the final retirement. But she can’t stay away from adventure - if the X-Men disbanded and mutants suddenly had no more enemies, she would find other ways, other teams, other allies and foes. She would hop literally to other worlds and times. Not even death managed to force her to stay put and rest. Not even Krakoa managed to make her stop and rest.

And then Archangel, the dark shadow he carries within himself came. He, the one who rejects and fights Betsy, the only one who stands between them. The reason why she twice returned to him, the reason why she leaves everything to fight his own battle, to protect the Angel from the Archangel in Archangel’s never-ending battle for supremacy over the man Warren Worthingon. And eventually he won. He didn’t manage to break them apart the first time, he drew them closer. He didn’t manage to break them apart the second time, when Betsy lied with the enemy in order to get to him. He didn’t manage to break them apart the third time, when it were His wings that saved her from being consumed by the darkness of the Shadow King. But He got his revenge, Archangel won the very moment Warren found a way to get rid of Him. And Betsy had to call forth Archangel to save Angel from himself - and the whole world with him.

They have drifted apart now. They didn’t break up, not like other people do. One day they were besotted with each other, happier than ever, an English woman finally back in her own original body and a smitten bird eager to get to know a woman finally complete. The next Nate Grey came and turned their own little world upside down. And then, Krakoa. As he said, he eventually bounces back to the X-Men and she can’t stay away from the field. If only they’d staid in Colorado, if they haven’t returned to the fold... would their history be different, then? Would they be part of the few that Nate left behind, to pick up the pieces in a world where suddenly all mutants where considered dead and gone? Who knows. But they didn’t. They were on the front line. He switched sides. She used her tk knife to force him back to her. He shouted to her, he reluctantly helped the X-Men. And then. Then, they both got sucked in that twisted utopia, and they never recovered from that. And now they’re strangers. They barely exchange glances when they’re in the same place, they barely nod each other in greeting before parting ways again, each headed to their own way. They never stop and talk to each other - there's never the chance. They don't know how. Too much was done to them, too many changes. It’s like a wall has been build between them while they were too busy to notice, and they both don’t seem interested in tearing it down. Or perhaps it’s just that they don’t know. Or perhaps they are scared to see what awaits on the other side.

It’s like a lifetime has passed by since the last time they were close, and now they’ve become two different people - gone are the X-Woman who fought with tk weapons and the X-Man who patrolled the skies. He traded his uniform for high-fashion suits, and she traded her trademark pinks for the Union Jack colors. He put aside his mutant abilities to use what is in his blood instead, she stripped of her very mutant name to build herself another identity. He left the aerial fights for the equally brutal economic battlefields, she this Earth for the Omniverse. They have become strangers now - the CXO and the Captain Britain, the man with the duty to keep X-Corp floating and Monet in check, and the woman in charge with the security of Otherworld saddled with the overbearing presence of the less fashionable, more annoying lost sister of Emma Frost.

And now Betsy apparently found love again with someone else. Warren is void and tired. He feels like he failed yet another woman. That it just isn’t in him to keep a woman. That he’s doomed to eventually be alone, that anyone he falls for eventually will leave him for greener pastures. He’s bitter. But is also happy for her. He’s not cruel, he’s not heartless. He’s not that kind of asshole who wishes ill or failure to the woman who had once been his out of spite. Nor he is annoyed that his former girlfriend now swings for the other spectrum. They all have met and fallen for aliens, gods or cosmic forces - what’s gender, compared to this?

Of all the people he knows, Betsy is the one who deserves peace and happiness the most. After all she endured, she’s entitled to. So, if she’s found the right person to find peace with, then so be it. If Rachel is the person who can bring out the good in Betsy, or even just give her a slice of happy married life, then so be it. He knows Rachel - she’s not one he would call friend, they don’t share a close bond and is little more than a fellow X-Men to him, but he knows her enough to know she’s good inside. Perhaps a bit troubled, a dark past that at time resurfaces - but who, between them X-Men, can call himself truly innocent and clean? Rachel is strong and stands for what she considers right. She’s not scared to take sides, even against her own friends - he would know, she was one of the few who sided with them time-displaced five, when everyone (Betsy included) were hunting them, unwilling to listen to what they had to say. Rachel will be a good partner for Betsy. With Rachel, Betsy won’t fall in her old habits. There won’t be an Archangel lusting for blood who will drag her back into black-ops missions and killing sprees. It doesn’t mean that it doesn’t feel a pang of pain whenever he sees records of them together, fighting or making a guest apparition to some gala. That he doesn’t feel the need to avoid his eyes whenever they show up together in Krakoa and his keen sight spots a flaming head or familiar purple hair in the crowd. Eagle eyes are both a blessing and a curse, at times. He remembers himself that the past must stay in the past, that it’s time to look at the future ahead. That he moved on from Candy, and he can move on from Betsy as well.

But within, he feels that they aren't done. That somehow they’ll eventually fall back in their old paths. As if they were somehow doomed, struck in a loop they can’t escape, no matter how hard they run or fly. They are connected and forever be. That is nothing neither Archangel, nor Otherworld, can change.

*

+1. Laura Kinney, once forgotten

Laura is what was never meant to be. If Hank hadn’t plucked their younger selves from their time to throw them in a dark future, nothing with Laura would’ve happened. Laura has always been a child to his eyes. A child born out of pain, created to be nothing but a killing machine. Warren had known her as such, the feral female, younger counterpart to Logan - silent and cold, troubled and obedient. A reliable partner, for a black-ops squad made of killing machines. Wrong place for her, right for everyone else involved. They never clicked but they didn’t disagree either. Both too reserved, too stuck in their own killing machine mind, both prisoners to their own darkness. They worked well together, they protected each other’s back, they even supported each other. Yet, they barely exchanged few words. No matter that she lived in his house, hanged around in his kitchen - or saved his life on the field. He didn’t spare a thought to her, when they reshuffled the team and Logan put his foot down on her being out of the team - they lost a killing machine, but they were getting Betsy out of the exchange, and that was all that mattered at the time. And then everything went to hell.

To this day, he can’t explain how they fell together.

He doesn’t know what Laura saw in him. How Laura could see the teenager Warren and separate him from the adult Archangel of Death Laura had worked with. Perhaps she understood that they were as different as they could come, that the teenager Angel had nothing in common with that Warren Worthington but the genetic makeup. Perhaps he had changed in the meantime and he hadn’t known. She was one of the few young mutants they hanged out with in their future. He’s always been a socialite, back then - always a flirt. He was young and still foolish. Perhaps he unconsciously searched for someone different from him to ground him. Perhaps for once he wanted to help a broken person. Or perhaps it was the meeting the first girl to not fall for his charms - Jean Grey all over again.

They were sun and moon, carefree and troubled, light and dark. Yet, for some time it worked. Against all odds Laura returned his feeble feelings and they spent quality time together, like only a pair of teens involved with the X-Men can. He managed to make her smile. And he liked it. With him, she was less gloomy, at times he could see her eyes shine with some of the lightheartedness she was robbed her whole life. Twice he even managed to steal her a laugh. She compensated for his hot-headedness and his impulsivity.

But then he ruined it all. In his desperate attempts to escape his fixed destiny, he put a wedge between them. But how could she understand? To know that you have your fate presented to you, to see whom you will become, the horrors... Nobody ever had the galls to look him in the eye and explain how he ended up to be a Warren who believed himself an angel. Why he would gain metallic wings. Why he would drastically change in body and mind. Why he would loose himself. Everybody glossed over, everybody avoided his questions. He was left with what the cold files told him, and his mind to fill the gaps. He didn't share his fears with her, and Laura didn't reach out. To be fair, she didn't know how to. And he didn't give her any chance. His choice to keep the Black Vortex modifications was the start of the ending.

And then secrets built up. With hindsight she could've helped him, had she trusted in her. She had known the Warren who had been (the Warren he was doomed to become), and she knew too well the burdens of fury and a drive to commit violence. But he didn't trust her. And she was right to give up on them. They drifted apart. And in such a sour way that, by the time them five were about to return to the past, he and Laura didn't even exchange a word - not a farewell, not a goodbye. But theirs had always been a hopeless thing, something with an already written expiration date. A relationship he forgot, until the block on his memories fell.

He took the time to thank her for putting up with his younger self. For not telling him what she knew about his future. He asked her permission for a hug. Not as paternal figure, not as a brother, but not a distant lover either. He recalls with melancholic affection that brief time in which they were happy, when he felt that with Laura he could fix all the wrongs in the world - when he got a respite from the X-Men and returned to be the Avenging Angel, not alone but standing alongside a Wolverine.

Laura has Logan. But he promised he would be there for her if she ever needed help. As a friend. As a fellow X-Men who every day has to fight the darkness within.

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Notes

Jean I see the potential for this pair in early Silver Age X-Men and later X-Factor, and I could see a (better) evolution of Scott's character in which he overcomes Jean's death, and - even if he's understandably conflicted with Jean's return - eventually stays with Maddie because he might've fallen for Maddie out of her likeness with Jean, but he's come to genuinely love her; the pain of seeing her die has forced him to mature and their love belongs to the past, as the "high-school" romances. In this case, Jean and Warren get closer. But this would mean Warren breaking up with Candy for Jean, which... no. It's disappointing that in the only What If...? in which we see Jean picking Warren during the First Class era, everything is portrayed as a bad fanfiction, with Scott leaving the X-Men and becoming evil.

Candy Candy is... Candy. My endgame is Warren/Betsy, but Candy is almost there. Wherever Warren goes, Candy goes too (I have two Warren/Betsy AUs - a medieval fantasy and an 1800s historical - and Candy gets her part in Warren’s life in both, shaping him and leaving a hole that Betsy has to struggle to fill. In the fantasy Candy is the reason why Warren doesn’t give Betsy a chance and rebuffs Betsy’s every attempt at building a bridge between them). If Marvel really wants to stick to Betsy/Rachel even after Howard leaves and Betsy ends up in other hands, then my dream would be to have Candy return - she’s not a mutant, but a retcon is behind the corner, should an author want to head that route (as proven with Moira McTaggart), and it’s not that in Marvel universe non-powered people never return from dead anyway.

Charlotte I liked them. But they really were too different to work on the long run. When X-Factor folded back into X-Men, authors had Warren act like a dick toward Charlotte. I think Warren would be the guy who went and broke up, instead of ghosting a girl. But he was in a bad shape, so it works. I personally know how it feels to let things drift and avoid confrontation and then wake up one day and realize too much time has passed and the train has left and you can’t get back and fix things (or, really, just close them as they should). Still, a dick. I would’ve loved it any authors hinted that Warren paid a scholarship, founded his medical cures or even invited Timmy to fly on mechanics wings in that X-Men Unlimited story. I was one of those who hoped the Archangel-wannabe Cherub of Children of the Atom was Timmy. Sadly, I was disappointed. Part of me is tempted to ignore that the guy is actually called Gabe and has nothing to do with Timmy.

Paige I think what I feel about her is heavily reflected in her chapter. I’m not a rabid hater (the “sex in the air right above momma Guthrie’s head” scene notwithstanding) but I feel we could remove that portion of his romantic life from Warren’s history and not miss/loose anything (although this pairing deprived us of more flirting and panel presence of Stacy X who was unceremoniously scraped off). They were attracted to each other out of the blue (especially him; Paige had every reason to be JUST physically attracted but he? They probably never shared a panel before since Gen X debuted), then together one moment, and the next they had fallen out and their relationship never be mentioned or hinted at again. For the best, I think. It was so poorly executed that it’s hard to salvage anything of that ship. I tried my best.

Betsy As a hard Warren/Betsy shipper, it’s very difficult for me to accept Betsy/Rachel. How it came to be, and especially with how the Betsy/Warren remains unresolved (the confrontation with alternate!Warren is too little and too ambiguous to satisfy anyone who ever cared for the ship) doesn’t help, but it’s how it’s portrayed (in every issue they have to be shown holding hands, kiss, exchange love confessions or flirt) that irks me. I can’t speak for other hetero ships, but Betsy/Warren didn’t need this amount of “in the face” to work - and Wildstorm/DC Apollo/Midnighter neither. It’s as if the author doesn’t trust her writing and/or has to make sure the readers don’t forget that “these two queer women are a couple” - or wants to be sure the readers don’t have any way to ignore their queer status. It’s not that I have something intrinsic against Betsy and Rachel per se, but I just know that - now that she’s been paired with a woman - Betsy will be forever stuck on the “lesbian” side of the mutants. No matter that she has been straight for most of her comic tenure (with the bi-ness ambiguous at best with her thing with Phatomex/Cluster). I am one for bi!Betsy, actually. But the majority of Rachel/Betsy fans (or at least the more vocal, the ones who seek queer representation in any form no matter the characters involved and if their previous canon history allows for this, some who staid with Howard only because of the promise of the queer couple, some who barely knew who Betsy was or never liked the character and jumped on for the pair only, some who gush on butch!Rachel despite Rachel never being buff - or tall like English!amazon!Betsy either) seem at times to forget that Betsy isn’t lesbian but bisex: if in the future an author decided to stray from this narrative, the backlash would be massive. Marvel wouldn’t want to be accused of queer erasure because Betsy left her (butch) Askani for a man. That’s why I fear Howard put a tombstone on Warren/Betsy. Nowadays, there’s no turning back once a character is portrayed as queer, bi-erasure is still strong. Tiny Howard, by making Rachel jealous of Saturnyne but not of Peter or any other man Betsy has to do with (including recently Tony Stark, who is a womanizer and the kind of man Betsy used to dig), doesn’t help. Objectively, one could think Rachel is only jealous of women because it’s her first lesbian relationship and she’s insecure. But the message the reader gets is that Rachel is only jealous of women because she doesn’t perceive men as a “threat” - as in, Betsy doesn’t care for men (like Warren was jealous of Betsy close to Neal Sharra but not of any X-Women Betsy hung out with). I have this feeling that Howard did this move to establish Betsy as different from Kwannon - she was given a character that was mostly blank, since everything we had come to know of Betsy was given to Kwannon (name, butterfly, powers, looks, attitude, roles within the X-Men - Kwannon got everything in the divorce!), and in hindsight the choice to make alternate!Warren married and divorced from Kwannon further strengthen this (Warren, and Neal and all the men she flirted, fucked or kissed, are Kwannon’s Betsy - Betsy’s Betsy is Rachel). At this point I resigned to the fact that Betsy will never return with Warren. But accept the reality doesn’t make it easier to swallow it. All in all, I tried to respect the new pair nonetheless and paint Warren as an understanding, decent man who still loves dearly Betsy and knows he has to let her go (she’s already gone - she has to let his feelings for her go, that’s what I mean).

Laura I’m in the minority that didn’t dislike Warren/Laura. I maintain that they had potential but it was a)poorly executed and b)at some point the authors weren’t interested and gave up. As with everything from the time-displaced!O5, canon never referenced to them again. I like to think Laura has put her thing with Warren in the list of fallen relationships of her life, but has understood that they were never meant to be in the first place and, with time, learned to appreciate the small goods things she got from that time. Warren, on the other hand, might be conflicted. He got to know Laura as an adult but then had a romance with her as a teen. But he might be conflicted on everything that happened during that time - the infodump of memories, once Jean’s block fell, must have been insane and, of all, the ones of his thing with Laura were far from the worst.

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Notes Since the last time I rambled about them in June 2021, not only Betsy and Warren didn't interact, but Betsy met and alternate!Warren who is engaged with an alternate!Betsy and then ended up in the arms of another, while Warren vanished after X-Corp was cancelled.

Most useless manip ever. But I've been in a very bad mood because of Warren current status in the X-Corner (well, last three years were a prolonged drought but Dark X-Men was the last straw) and I had the urging need to do something for him, since canon doesn't. I'll die on the Warren/Betsy ship.

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Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip) Took way more hours than it's worth wasting on an idiocy like this. The work behind the scenes is more than what you'd expect when you have to characters that you have to paste near each other. Betsy's ribbons were cut on one side, so I had to replace them. Also, I changed a bit the pose of her legs, which are open wider in the original art. In the first version, Warren and Betsy weren't this close, so I had to move Warren's right arm because it was seen behind Betsy - now the hand is just floating with no sense (even if you don't see it). General corrections here and there to mask spots that needed to be hidden (on wings and the inner jacket). Also, I had to trace over all the borders. Had fun in adding my and Mr. Dauterman's names in the background, as if we had been sponsors of the event. :D Eventually I made another version in which I heavily modified Warren, but that will debut in the future (when, who knows).

No AI involved. All made with a mouse, not pens involved (that would've have shortened the time). Also not background removal apps or other apps involved. Just Photoshop CS2.

Credits Arts by Russel Dauterman, released as two Design cover variants, respectively Hellions #12 for Angel and S.W.O.R.D. #6 for Captain Britain. X-Force background art released by Marvel as call background - artist and colorist unspecified.

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About his wings

His wings need preening. He likes to lay on his side, or on his stomach, and have fingers run through the feathers to groom them. It's very soothing and akin to a very relaxing massage if done in the right way. Feathers obviously can’t feel, but the skin under them is very sensitive. - Is a very personal act, he allows only the people he has a stronger bond with to do it. O5 yes, Ororo (with all due respect) not so much. - Unless he really needs to preen some spot and he’s in a hurry, especially if during battle he received some damage to some important spot of feathers, and he cannot get to it by himself. Then he might ask some other fellow X-Men even if they aren’t on best-friends terms. But in such a case if would be an emergency need with no “bonding” meaning. - Candy and Betsy are obviously the people he liked the best to groom his wings because the act allowed for much intimacy, akin to having one’s (significant) partner brush one’s hair but even better because sensations. Especially Betsy, because by then he just got his feathers back after years (Marvel timesliding scale WTF) of his metal wings.

Having big wings takes a tool on his back. The muscles on his back, but especially trapeziuses and rhomboids, get the brunt on the whole flying thing, and by the end of the day - especially if he has used his wings for intensive activities  - he might need a massage to unknot the muscles.

His wings can ache. With time and training he strengthened both his muscles and his wings, but when he was still a young student he could overstrain himself. Don’t ask the how, I’m not an ornithologist, but this is canon as per X-Men: First Class (2006).

He molts. Given the size of his feathers, it becomes quite messy when he does. Ask the O5 about when Warren molted for the first time since arriving at the school - his wings were still in “juvenile” status and his molt was massive. Bobby likely freaked out, thinking Warren was sick and about to die. Also, since molting requires huge amount of energies, Warren overeats when is about to or has started molting. -  Although the longer feathers must make for an interesting quill stationary item. Xavier must have kept one and placed it on his desk, and people - when his mutant status was still a secret - always asked to which bird might belong that odd quill, because they couldn’t think of a bird as big that could produce such a feather that is all white. That he molts is canon - although it must’ve been some one-line thrown around as a joke/jab by Bobby in either First Class or some other O5-retelling. Anyway, it’s something that feels like belonging to Bobby’s mouth. Bobby references(complains) to Warren molting in his hand-notes on the frontispiece of X-Men: First Class (2006) #2. Update: in Uncanny X-Men #169 Candy asks Warren if he's been molting because she finds a feather on the floor. It's hard to tell if she's joking or if she knows Warren molts.

His wings are bigger than they look. Since he spends most of his time on the ground keeping his wings neatly folder or half folded, and when he has them spread to fly he’s usually high in the sky, people don’t have any idea how much big those wings actually are and are pretty much speechless if they get the chance to see the wings spread open up close. Reading data about his wingspan (officially 16ft., but I feel they should be bigger since the albatross reaches 12ft) is all fine, but see their majesty in flesh (feathers) is another story. 

His wings can in fact kill. He can moderate the strength with which he might hit with his wing, but a full blow at maximum impact force can cause serious injuries and, on vital spots like chest or head, even immediately kill an adult. The strength in his wings can also put someone through a wall. Canon, but seldom used in canon. Seen in Excalibur and also in X-Men #103, where he thinks that "The wings of a goose can break a man's arm. Mine can do a lot worse".

His wings generate a massive air displacement. He can control their power, he can glide with the elegance of a classic dancer, barely touching the ground with the tip of the shoe, or land with the heaviness of a Power House that cracks the ground, he can not ruffle one’s hair if he wants, but he can knock a person down with the massive air displacement of his wingspan if he needs to. Canon as per Thunderbolts #27 (where it's said that a single beat almost bowls the Thunderbolts over) and Gambit Annual 2000 (where "the backwash of his wings" has Gambit loose grip and fall into the air). I don’t know if you ever had a close encounter with a bird, especially one on the medium to bigger sizes range. I was grazed by both a flying/diving hawk and an owl during a show (it was part of the show that the hawk grazed the head of the spectators), and wow!

He can fly by making almost no sound. His feathers don’t have the unique structure that characterizes the feathers of owls, so he’s not completely silent when he flaps his wings, but he has learned how to calibrate the pace and strength of the flapping to be as almost completely silent. If he comes downwind, not even people with superhuman senses can hear him before he’s landed on them. Canon as per X-Force (2008), when even Wolverine doesn’t hear him and only notices Warren’s arrival when Warren’s almost literally on his head. The owl aforementioned from the show? Silent as a tomb, so to speak. If it wasn’t for the air displacement, or the looming shadow, you didn’t even tell an owl grazed your head.

He can also be untracked by smell. He knows how to fly and use air streams to avoid his smell be detected by the heightened-senses like the ones of Wolverine. Canon as per X-Force (2008), but also Uncanny X-Men (2016) #11 when Sabertooth in full hunting mode doesn't notice Archangel hovering over his head for many minutes.

He can hover without beating his wings. By using the wind he can hover in place with virtually no movement from his wings besides small adjustments.

He can keep his head perfectly steady during hovering mode. Thanks to vestibulo-ocular reflex, which uses rotation detectors in inner ear, and the opto-kinetic reflex, which uses motion detectors in the retina eye, he can stabilize his head. This way he can maintain a motionless field and stay focused on whatever captured his attention. Like the Red Hawk in this video (original on Instagram).

He doused flames with his wings. Although he did so when raining, he likely could douse a small flame by the power of the air generated by the flapping of his wings alone. Canon as per Psylocke & Archangel: Crimson Dawn miniseries.

His feathers are waterproof. While he doesn’t like it to fly when it pours, he can if necessary: it’s just harder, takes up more resources and it’s more difficult because of the different structure of air. When he takes a bath or gets wet, he needs to shake with mild strength his wings to get rid of the excessive water in order to take flight, but he’s not completely impeded like a normal bird when their feathers are soaked. I don’t care that technically he would need to manually preen his feathers with oil that a gland should produce. Let’s pretend the oil is produced somewhere where the feather is attached to the skin and naturally spreads on the feather, like it happens for sebum and hair. In Iceman & Angel Bobby believes Warren cannot fly because his feathers are wet and birds can't fly when they have their feathers wet, but Warren points out that he's not a bird. And then takes flight.

His wings can break bones. The old tale “swans can break bones” might be a myth, but his wingspan and weight make Warren a little bit more dangerous than a swan; also, his bones (while still hollow) are bigger and therefore harder. Canon, or wouldn’t be cited on Warren’s page at Marvel Fandom. The fact his wing are less delicate than the ones of the average bird must be canon, although never specified: else, he would spend most of his X-Men times in bed with his wings immobilized to help them heal.

His wings reflect his emotions. His wings move, shift and twitch unconsciously, they are alive in the same way an arm or feet are, and they seldom are completely still. When he’s angered his wings tend to twitch no-stop, when he feels threatened they unfold, in an unconscious way to make him look more dangerous - like many birds including the dreaded swans. When he’s sad, lonely or hurting, the wings fold around him like a shield, when he’s feeling good, happy or is having a good time, the wings are loose, not completely folded but not spread either. Someone who has had the time and closeness to get to know Warren well can understand how he’s feeling by “reading” his wings and posture like one could do with someone’s face, making it easier for them to read Warren - as Warren has learned to hide his emotions and control how his reactions play on his face.

He prefers to sleep in king-size beds not (only) because he’s an entitled billionaire. Back when he was a teen student hiding his new mutation at the Academy he learned how to sleep with his wings tightly folded. When he became a student at Xavier’s he wasn’t afforded a bed bigger than his four peers, and he became used to not let the size of his wings interfere with his sleep, but king-size beds allow him to stretch a bit his wings. And, since he can afford to buy one or rent suites, he’s never forced to sleep in small cots anymore. With time Xavier started to offer different bed sizes to each different mutants he collected, but at the times of the First Class all rooms were equally fitted.

He makes for an unique sharing-bed experience. He isn’t annoying when sharing a bed, and stays on his side, but even when folded his wings tend to take up much space. His wings might be pleasing during winter, and sleeping back to back makes like sleeping against a breathing, living duvet; in summer, however, sharing a bed with him it’s absolutely a nightmare. Also, because of his wings, it’s uncomfortable for him to pull up blankets to his shoulders, meaning anyone sleeping against his back can’t properly cover themselves up to the neck either.

His bedrooms are minimalist - and at the very least wingspan width proof. Having to replace decorative objects because he had a nightmare and he knocked down that designer glass lamp from the night stand with a wing or that antique vase in the living room when he stretched out a bit after returning from a long day making some billion eventually annoyed the hell out of Warren and figured that a minimalist approach to his house(s) fitted better his mutation. Or at least the night stand needed to be moved back by a good two meters. This might’ve become a reason for conflicts with Betsy when they started living together: Betsy loves luxury houses as much - and perhaps even more - as Warren (given her high-class English upbringing), and she didn’t really appreciate that, when it came the time to renovate the damaged SoHo loft, Warren wanted to turn it into some kind of minimalist advertise from AD magazine.

Body characteristics & abilities

He’s stronger than he looks. All his upper body is built for flying, meaning each muscle is developed to generate the strength necessary to get him airborne. Canon as per Excalibur (2005) #11/#12, but sadly never picked up again.

He’s stronger than he looks, part 2. Since he’s built to withstand the friction of high-speed flight, his tissues makes him more durable than an average human, and impact forces have less effect on him. Canon, or wouldn’t be cited on Warren’s page at Marvel Fandom.

He has superior stamina. Make of that what you wish. *winks* Canon, or wouldn’t be cited on Warren’s page at Marvel Fandom.

Bird vision. While his powers aren't technically related to birds, his eyes are similar to those of birds.

His sight is on par to the one of a eagle, for visual acuity and long distance vision, and his eyes can withstand the higher heights and high-speed winds that would damage human eyes. Canon (in X-Men #101 says his sight is better than any raptor). Sadly never reminded the reader enough. Most of the time is left unsaid, and other characters seems to have super sharp sight when they actually shouldn't because it's not one of their powers, so the reader might infer that Warren's sight is equal to Rogue's or any other flying brick. Bird facts: Birds have twice to five times the photoreceptors compared to a human.

His sight is enhanced for the darker environments. Canon. In X-Men #74 he says he sees everything in the dark. Bird facts: The owl can see a prey, lit by a light compared to the one of a candle, from 350 meters.

His eyes allow him to perceive rapid movements better than humans and also detect slow moving objects better than the ones of a human.

His perception of magnetic fields is light dependant, providing him directional information.

His eyes have more receptors than humans, allowing him to be UV-sensitive, so he can see more nuances and light contrasts. He has also tetrachromatic vision, instead of trichromatic.

The anatomy of his eyes gives him a good binocular vision with accurate judgement of distances, and also improved distance vision in hazy conditions.

He can breathe at high velocities or altitudes, and copes better with low temperatures both in air and on the ground. Canon, but never underlined enough. This is likely a characteristic to all mutant fliers, though, since no flier passes out for lack of oxygen when high up in the sky.

His body is developed to make him withstand the low temperatures of the higher altitudes, so he copes better in low temperature environments than the average human/superhuman. Canon, but never underlined enough. Same as above.

He can fly great distances on the power of his wings. He’s canon stated to be able to “fly at 150 miles per hour (240 kph) without the help of a tail wind for up to half an hour”, but what about the length he can fly? A female hawk wearing a tracker traveled from South Africa to Finland in just 42 days, for an average of 230km/day. Warren should be able to do so as well, if not more (given his bigger span and general size)

He can feel the winds and changes in the atmosphere. As he is built to fly with wings, he can instinctively find the better currents and knows how to use tail winds. He can also feel when a storm is coming and from where direction. Canon, as per Uncanny X-Men #375.

He's build for height, speed and elegance. Before sprouting his wings, he showed a natural skill in many sports, allowing him to excel at the many schools he boarded, making him their sports star in both high jumping and track meets, while his dancing abilities attracted girls. These skills of his turned out to be obsolete, in light of his flying abilities, but could still beat many of his peers in such competitions. Canon, related to his early life/pre-Xavier material.

He's a talented diver. His body is built for dives in air but he has a natural skill for water diving as well, since he possesses all the skill necessary to become a competitive diver: strength, flexibility, kinaesthetic judgment and air awareness. He's elegant and quick in twists and somersaults and instinctively enters the water at a perfect vertical angle, with little to no splash, wings tightly closed behind his back. His first time with high diving happened the first year at Xavier's, when he was dared by one of the boys to plunge-dive like a sea bird, but it then became a fun activity whenever the class had access to the private outdoor pool that Xavier had fitted with a platform for the students, so they can use diving as an exercise to learn to control the fall. Jean and Warren found themselves diving together, she from the platform and him from mid-air, and they eventually became an unofficial diving pair, turning a fun activity into powers training: Jean refined her tk by using it to control the twists and angle of plunging, helped by Warren who did the motions and had her imitate him. Only his big wings and his mutant status - that immediately disqualifies from competitive sports - prevents him to even be considered a natural talent in this discipline. A scene that could imply Warren dives in the pool is seen in Marvel's Voices: Pride (2021).

He doesn’t get fat. His body naturally has less fat than an average healthy human and doesn’t store excess fat. He might stress-eat, but he doesn’t loose his peak form. Some people have all the luck, really... Canon, but never underlined enough.

He really is beautiful. He almost literally has the face of an angel. He is the very epitome of handsomeness (at least for Western canons) and his body has perfect proportions like out of the masterful hands of the likes of Michelangelo. According to canon, everyone turns their head when meeting him or at least the first thing they notice is how handsome he is - even during fight. Emma Frost described him as a god - and Emma is not a woman who would say such things for any good-looking boy around. Canon, but never underlined enough, especially when everyone - minus Toad and Blob - are drawn to be handsome top-models out of a fashion magazine. He should be THE handsome in the group, not drawn like any other blonde white character and virtually not distinguishable from Steve Rogers or Alex Summers or a visor-less, hair-bleached Scott Summers. "(...) Warren looked like a god. An Xavier picks you? To lead." is what Emma says in Astonishing X-Men #14.

He has many scars. His body is patterned with the scars left by Apocalypse's tampering. He also has two scars, left from the wings amputation: the wings grew back, but the skin still bears the mark where the first, original pair protruded. When he was reborn on Krakoa, he lost all scars he might have acquired in his life.

He has a small tattoo, in the shape of Betsy's telepathy butterfly. Betsy's death was a shock to Warren, who struggled to overcome the loss. To remember a woman he deeply loved, and whom he thought he would never see again, he decided to have her distinctive mark, the telepathy pink butterfly, tattooed in both an homage and memento. - When Candy was killed, Warren was in a bad shape. Besides, his body had been twisted and he had troubles to recognize himself in that blue-skinned guy that looked at him through the mirror. So he never thought of tattooing Candy's name, or something symbolic that would remember of her. Although Betsy died few weeks/months before Warren regained his pink skin (and with that any trace of Apocalypse's touch had apparently be canceled), he already had grown out of Apocalypse's shadow during The Twelve. Feeling truly himself again, it somehow came natural to him to have Betsy's mark forever branded on his skin. - The body he was regrown in Krakoa doesn't inherit any non-genetic changes, which means he doesn't have this anymore. Which is ironical: he lost the tattoo when he and Betsy definitely parted ways. Position to choose, but I'd pick a spot usually hidden by clothes but where he can easily see the tattoo without the need of mirrors or contorsionism.

As an X-Man / superhero

His wings aren’t an appendix, a plus, but a limb. This means that what in other artificially winged characters is a matter of training, to him comes natural. This includes also use thermals and soar like birds. What Sam Wilson is depicted doing, especially when he uses the wings as a shield or weapon, Warren does it - and likely better [Sam is a trained fighter who gets artificial mechanical wings as backpack, it will never be the same as having two pair of wings grow out of your shoulders] - Yes, most of what Sam does is better done with the techno-organic wings, but you get what I mean.

He’s one of the best aerial fighters in the whole Marvel Universe (I’d dare say the best, but I’m not sure where the quote came specified “the best” or even if it is canon in some official Handbook at all).

He outmaneuvers most of the Marvel flyers with ease; when he still was a teen beat both Iron Man and Human Torch (then authors forgot this and dumbed him down to make him easy flying prey of virtually ANYONE) Canon. As Haweye points out in Thunderbolts #27, "He's so maneuverable on those wings of his, he's making Moonstone and Songbird look like they're in slow motion".

He's very, very fast. Usually people, seeing his wingspan, underestimate how much fast he can be. Canon, as per Thunderbolts #27 and Gambit Annual 2000, but sadly never underlined enough.

He as enhanced reflexes. While his mutant abilities grant him a faster than human average reflexes, his record is the result of the intensive training as X-Men student. His top reaction speed is 0.01 second, four times faster than the fastest recorded in a F1 race (0.04 seconds). His average is 0.1, twice of the reaction time for an F1 pilot recorded in an off-track challenge. This allows him to be super quick in changing direction or turning mid-flight and also grants him an almost supernatural ability to avoid any obstacle or treat in a literal blink even when flying at his top speed.

He's very agile. Usually people, seeing his wingspan, underestimate how agile he can be while flying. He's unrivaled in a crowded environments such as city skies and even in small confinements as closed spaces like warehouses. He easily beats any maneuverable flying machine. Canon, as per Thunderbolts #27, Gambit Annual 2000 and Excalibur (2004), but sadly never underlined enough.

He's learned to use the environment to his own advantage. Once he outsmarted easily Moonstone by dodging at the very last moment, using her own speed against her. Canon, as per Thunderbolts #27, but sadly never underlined enough.

His evasive patterns cannot be beat. Nothing man-made can follow him through evasive pattern when he can combine fast speed and flying low to the ground, especially when he has trees and vegetation at his disposal. Canon, as per Uncanny X-Men #375, where he beats a flying saucer tailing him.

He trained in aerobatics. Implied by Hawkeye in Thunderbolts #27.

He thinks in 3D. Since his body is literally made to facilitate flying, his brain is wired to always think in three dimensions when he’s in the air. While other flying characters had to slowly get used to move in the air and remember they have to take into considerations three dimensions instead of two, it came easier to him (and the thousands of hours training in the danger room during his time as student honed those skills)

He does everything a bird can, especially a bird of prey, but better. He has a natural sense of direction, he can dive to attack like a falcon, turn midair at top speed, fly between two close obstacles without even slowing down, and so on. (movie Warren canon does that as well) First one canon way back from Avengers #53, rest as per Excalibur (2005) #11/#12 (either explicitly stated or implied), but sadly never picked up again.

He comprehensively studied birds. When his wings sprouted he tried to make sense of it by consulting ornithology books. He's proficient in bird anatomy and behavior. He used birds as masters, learning about the different hunting and attack methods that birds, specifically bird of prey, employ. While maneuvers can come instinctive to him, much he has learned by watching bird videos and reading about birds. In X-Men: First Class he mentions learning from seagulls how they crack open clams and applies this method in a fight.

He comprehensively studied birds, part II. He's no hummingbird, and his wings are massive and with a different anatomy, but Warren managed to achieve the maneuverable flight of hummingbirds, including the ability to hover.

He's often underestimated. Enemies who haven't had to do with him before believe all he can do is good look and fly. Either men and women had eventually learned that he can do much more - all the while still looking handsome like a god.

Other bits

He’s one of the few X-Men who was a genuine superhero on his own before getting recruited by Xavier.

He turned down Avengers membership. He was offered at least two times. Stated by Steve Rogers in The Heroic Age: Heroes Handbook series, which is written as if they were journals from Steve Rogers. Natasha Romanoff asked Warren and Bobby to join a new Avengers team in Avengers Annual '99 but, as the request came after the Avengers' believed death against Onslaught, they both believed that their presence in an Avengers team would be of no good.

He's a member of the Hellfire Club. Membership is passed down through household, and he inherited his after the death of his father. He visited once with Candy, who was a member as well, but they didn't like the place and never returned. He used his membership to arrange invitations for the X-Men to a party that lead to Jean's corruption and to Dark Phoenix. When he was a boy, his father used to bring him to the New York branch, and it was here that he became friends to Shinobi Shaw, Sebastian Shaw's son. Sebastian always liked Warren's attitude, a "spark - a fire, the eye of the eagle" that didn't see in Warren Jr.. The first reference to Warren's membership is in Uncanny X-Men #132, but further exploration was seen in X-Men #29, with Warren's first time at the club with his father shown in Logan: Shadow Society, and his first visit as a full member in Uncanny X-Force #17.

He lost both his parents because of his uncle. Burtram Worthington, his uncle, killed Warren's father and, time later, he attempted to get his hands on the Worthington fortune by courting and proposing to Warren's mother. His plans backfired when Warren with the O5 intervened, and Warren's mother, who Burt had been poisoning, died before the marriage could be celebrated. Both times, when the death happened, Warren was with Candy. Ironically, Burtram Worthington worked as a criminal under the name "Dazzler". The death of Warren Jr. happened in Ka-Zar (1970) #2. Kathryn's death happened off panel sometime before The Champions runs, and was developed only in 2000 in X-Men: The Hidden Years.

He had a fling with Black Cat. During the Superhero poker night in which he was invited, Warren found himself sitting near Felicia Hardy, who started to heavily flirty with him, eventually even physically clinging to him. Their farewell is Felicia giving him her cell number to be "reached anytime of the day", and to Warren's "what about the night?" Felicia meows. Canon, as per Spectacular Spider-Man (2003) #21. Technically, at the time of this issue, Warren was still with Paige - though off panel (as he was out of the X-Men). Paige and Warren were still together months later, as per Excalibur (2004).

He's on best-friend terms with Dazzler. They dated for a brief while, then Alison "friend-zoned" him, but Warren remained at her side as friend. Life eventually separated them, but they still have affection for each other. Sadly, no author remembers that Warren was a recurring presence in Dazzler's solo title in the 80s. The only subtle references of their closeness is during Necrosha crossover, where she ask him what happened to his wings (he's sporting the metal wings).

He's on best-friend terms with Dazzler, update. Alison wrote a not-complimentary song about him, "Rich Angel". But, as she's keen to specify, "he and I are cool now". Canon, as per Dazzler (2024) #1.

He and Betsy first met years before she joined the X-Men. Despite what people think, their first meeting didn’t happen when all mutants returned to the fold after Muir Island. They didn’t met each other the first time during Inferno either. The first time Warren and Betsy met was at the Hellfire club. Back then Betsy still worked for S.T.R.I.K.E and Warren had just inherited his parents’ fortune and publicly revealed his mutation. It was Betsy to ask him out with telepathy and they spent few minutes speaking through mind, until Brian returned and together the Braddocks left. They clearly were both physically drawn by each other. Canon, as per Uncanny X-Force #17.

He had two twin children, Uriel and Eimin, with Final Famine Horseman Ichisumi that got pregnant when Warren ascended as new Apocalypse. They went bringing literal destruction of planet Earth - only Havok's Avengers managed to revert their plan. No one involved (notably Wolverine, Havok and Rogue) thought to ever enlighten Warren of their existence or their fate (to their defense, Warren at the time was memory-less); they didn't tell any other X-Men either (Psylocke included). Marvel Database is adamant that, by the end of the arch in Uncanny Avengers #22, Daken and Grim Reaper are holding the corpses of the Twins. I never got the impression the Twins were dead, they could be just passed out. Why would Daken and Grim Reaper save their corpses? To do what? It would make sense that they are saving them from the wreckage of the Mutant Ark. I know, Eimin says "we'll die together". Their death would also explain why we never saw of them again - but they also were Rick Remender's original characters, so it could be that no other author was interested in picking them up and then they went were minor characters go when their authors move on. Anyway. I feel entitled to ignore what's not even clearly stated on canon and pretend they might be alive, if I need it for my own headcanons.

He doesn't remember his Ascension. By the time he got his memories and persona back, time had passed and the people who knew the secret had moved on. Neither Logan nor Betsy thought that Warren had the right to know the things he did while he descended into darkness, nor the genocide he committed when he ascended as the new Apocalypse. To this day, Warren still doesn't know about Tabula Rasa, nor that he'd been chosen by Apocalypse has his heir. Even the memories of his time in the second X-Force team are fuzzy at best: he knows he chose to keep X-Force running after Scott shot it down, he remembers Phantomex taunting him and flirting with Betsy, and he knows he killed and maimed at Betsy's side, but he isn't aware of the true extent of the horrors they committed. Canon? Anything X-Force related has stopped to be referenced after the Tabula Rasa arch in Uncanny X-Men and Uncanny Avengers faced the fallout of the Dark Angel saga. Warren never hinted at remembering his time as part of a hit squad, nor said or done anything that would imply he remembers he had been a mass-murderer. Update 2024: Warren mentions the Twins in Heir of Apocalypse, implying that as some point he either remembered or was told about the events of Dark Angel Saga.

He's been often a damsel in distress. Back in the early 80's he was the damsel in distress to make a mutant woman shine. In Dazzler's solo title he usually needed Dazzler's help to be saved. In Uncanny X-Men he was kidnapped and set for a forced marriage (and following non-con first wedding night sex), saved by a knightess (Storm) that had to duel with the villain (Callisto) to save him.

He's been close to be sexually abused. Callisto boldy admitted she was looking forward to their first night. He has to thank Storm who saved his feathered ass from non-consensual sex.

He's not as vapid as people who don't know him believe at first look. He might have played up his socialite image to better hide his Avenging Angel identity, but he isn't a himbo. At times he pretends nothing is working upstairs, especially when he’s in the middle of a though deal, because it helps him take his enemies by surprise.

He's a very private person. Even with his closest friend, he's not one to open up or speak his mind. Especially about things that are painful for him. It took him weeks/months to open up with Bobby about Betsy, and he just admitted that he dreamed about her during his death experience in Scotland. Canon, as per Uncanny X-Men #416/#417.

He hides pain by keeping himself busy. The more is suffering, the more he throws himself in either fighting or his business in the hope to forget the pain. It never works. Canon, as per Uncanny X-Men #415.

His Aerie was originally located in New Mexico. In the region of the Rocky Mountains (as per X-Factor #1); specifically, above the town of Elijah. Later, it was retconned as a ski cabin style mansion in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. An explanation could be that, after everything that happened with X-Factor, Warren couldn't return to the Aerie because of the memories of Candy - here they lived together when he retired from the X-Men, here they set the headquarters for the New Defenders with Candy as leader, she was the one to oversee the refurbishing after the place was destroyed in the Defenders last battle against Moondragon. Needing to start from scratch, he searched for another place. Either he already owned the place in Colorado or acquired it/renewed it to be his new refugee away from the cities. The new Aerie doesn't fully replace the old one: New Mexico climate allowed for an outdoor pool and a sunbathing terracee (which made the Aerie a summer place), while Colorado one is more suited for winter and skying (this Aerie is built in a sky cabin style). But Warren needed a newer place - this time to keep secret, location undisclosed so to enjoy full privacy. He has kept the New Mexico mansion: everything Candy left him is there, all Candy's belongings he owned, be them forgotten in any of his houses or acquired, have been collected there. He never returns there though - and he never brought Betsy there either: the New Mexico mansion belongs to his past, to Candy. As the Colorado mansion will be forever part of his life with Betsy. The New Mexico Aerie is referred as "summer home" in The Incredible Hulk Annual (1978).

He has a lot of other places to stop by, I. He has an apartment in Manhattan, New York. He and Candy were staying there, when the Morlocks kidnapped Angel to bring him to Callisto. It's unclear if this is the same penthouse where he and Betsy are seen returning to, when they are attacked by the Twisted Sisters. Seen in Uncanny X-Men #169. Later in X-Men #105.

He has a lot of other places to stop by, II. There's a family estate in Colorado, build on three levels atop of a mountain or a rock. He and Betsy spent some time there after she was recovering from her ordeal with the Shadow King and the loss of her powers. Seen in Uncanny X-Men #375.

He has a lot of places to stop by, III. He has a loft in Soho, where he lived for a time with Elizabeth while she was recovering from the Crimson Dawn. Canon, as per X-Men #67 and Psylocke and Archangel: Crimson Dawn.

He has a lot of places to stop by, IV. His family owned a beachfront house with private beach in Southern Florida they almost never used. He was meant to get some vacation there with his friends, but he and Hank were caught up in shenanigans and got to face the Lizard, while Scott, Jean and (partially) Bobby enjoyed it. Seen in X-Men First Class #1.

His and Candy's properties, I. He (and Candy) owned more than one place in San Francisco. A house on Tamalpais in Marin, one in Presidio Heights, a condo in the Nob Hill neighborhood and possibly others. Warren offers the Defenders a place to stay while their headquarters are fixed. They eventually choose San Francisco and the place in Nob Hill, a luxury house. It's unclear which belongs to whom. Canon, as per Defenders #133.

His and Candy's properties, II. He (and Candy) owned a house in Paris. It's unclear if they owned it together, or if it belonged to one of them: both Warren and Candy speak like a married couple who own things together. Canon, as per Defenders #133.

He renounced a portion of his life force for Betsy. When Warren took the Crimson Dawn to save Betsy, he didn't know that an equal force would have to be given back in order to keep the balance. This lead to an unbalance that allowed Kuragari to raise into power and corrupt Betsy. When Betsy succumbed to the power of the Crimson Dawn, Warren gave up some of his life force to repay his debt to the Crimson Dawn, in order to stop Kuragari from claiming Betsy's soul as payment. Which means that, technically, he shortened his life span - to what extent, is unknown. Canon, as per Psylocke & Archangel: Crimson Dawn, but never referenced again outside of the miniseries.

He's not repulsed by the idea of dating a more powerful partner. It didn't happen often, as he dated most outside of the mutant corner, but he never allowed the powers of the mutant gifts to scare him away from a possible partner or deter him from a crush.

Birds flock after him. There has been some incident in which birds decided to follow him. Warren always feels guilty, because he doesn't lead them they way they want to go. Mentioned in X-Men: First Class.

He was invited to Captain Britain's wedding. Other than the mutants who have been part of the first Excalibur incarnation, Warren - as then fiance to Betsy - is the only X-Man who was invited to Brian Braddock's wedding. You should stop everything you're doing and read Excalibur #125 if you haven't already.

He's friend with Dane Whitman, the Black Knight. They go way back, according to Dane's daughter, Jackie. They don't have any "rich heroes handshake", by the way. When Jackie had reason to believe she could be a mutant and needed some help, she asked her dad's butler if he knew any mutants, and the butler suggested Warren's name. The fact the two "go way back" is canon as per Jackie's words in Legion of X #8.

He's allergic to Doctor Strange's tea. After a mission together, the X-Men stayed at Doctor Strange's house for a tea, that made Warren break out in a rash. The tea was good, except for the rash part. Canon as per X-Men: First Class: Finals #4.

Powers and abilities

He came into the possession of a soulsword, taken from an alternate Magik, although it was never explained if it had some powers once removed from Ilyana's hand; he wielded it like a sword, albeit more sturdier. It lasted few issues - and Warren's presence in Uncanny X-Men followed suit no longer after.

He cannot communicate with birds. Despite what people think, he can't speak nor understand birds. It gets tiring to repeat it, at some point. Implied in canon, but Warren thinks explicitly about him not being able to understand an eagle in Defenders #139.

Xavier taught him to shield his psy-null mind from mental intrusions. He wouldn’t resist a “brute force” blast from an Omega telepath such as Jean at her fullest, if she wanted to take him down or control of him, but he knows how to keep his own mind safe from suggestions, even from powerful telepaths such as Xavier himself. Canon, as the whole Red Triangle protocol seen during the 2023 Hellfire gala. But it comes natural to think Xavier taught all the psy-null mutants to protect their minds at the best they could. Scott, during Utopia, was shown having a way to hide thoughts in a black box that was inaccessible even to Emma Frost. Perhaps not to such a level, but all psy-null X-Men should have at least a minimum defense against telepathy.

In his Archangel/Death form, he can smell death. It's a bit unclear how it works, if he can sense the smell of someone who is dying (as in body decaying) or what.

In his ascended Archangel form, he was considered a cosmic force and a celestial. Quoting Age of Apocalypse!Jean: "You are not the only cosmic force to corral life and death, celestial"

In his ascended Archangel form he attracted the phoenix. The Phoenix belonging to Age of Apocalypse!Jean briefly betrayed Jean picking Archangel instead, because at the time he was working to bring death and rebirth, what the phoenix desired the most.

Despite Marvel Office forgetting, he should still have the power of the Black Vortex inside his body. I refuse to believe that by cutting the flame wings he lost what was a cosmic power.

The fire wings weren't just a big flame. His wings weren't made of a pair of single flame, but were full wings made of fire feathers. And he could also throw the feathers, like Archangel does with the metal flechettes. Canon treated the wings as made of flame, but I think making them a pair of "realistic" wings made of flaming feathers would've looked cooler. And also allowed him to make more focused attacks, like throwing one feather to hit something - and not doing a big swoop with a gigantic flame.

If Marvel Office insists on making Warren - even after literally died and cloned back to life - have his Archangel/Death persona, then it would also make sense that inside of him there’s still at least a small piece of the Death Seed.

The power of the Life Seed, the one that made memory-less!Warren come up with light swords and resurrection powers, might have run out, but there should still be some piece of Life Seed in him, albeit powerless.

One could argue that he was entitled to some Crimson Dawn powers. Betsy was cured with it, and consequently got powers + the mark, but how was she cured? By Warren giving up the part of Betsy's soul Betsy entrusted him when they fell in love. But, in the Crimson Dawn mini, it was revealed that the bargain was faulty, and it should've been his the soul given to the Crimson Dawn (and he gives up a part of his soul). Shouldn't this mean that he should get something out of the Crimson Dawn? Also - he was warned that, by doing so, he would give up to part of his lifespan (Betsy showed concern, he said he was fine and he'd do it again for her). Never picked up again. Plus Betsy' soulmate is clearly Rachel Summer, right? *irony*

There also was the light form he took during Apocalypse: The Twelve that came out of nowhere as part of... well, it's not really explained.

Imagine the amazing things authors could come up with if they remembered and decided to fit Warren with three cosmic/celestial powers.

Well, nowhere the comic implies they even said hello to each other (I'm mildly angered about it). Just let me indulge myself? I mean, nowadays a Warren/Betsy fan has to do with what little is given. So, I’ll pretend they were hanging out. This manip has actually been made because after I saw this panel my shippy heart missed a beat and I wanted them alone (and not in the middle of a crowd).

I feel this is rushed (I leave any manip of mine to decant some weeks before feeling ready to post them), but I wanted to post this before Planet-Size X-Men and X-Corp #2 are released, in the (vain) hope that the panel meant that they do talk and the scene is show in one of the titles above (making therefore this manip obsolete and useless). I mean, in Excalibur Betsy's back almost touches one wing (and it's doubtful it belongs to someone else's rather than Warren) and, since the Gala is re-told in all of the titles, I hope this means that at sometime they do interact. (please, Tini: you promised you'd deal with the whole Warren/Betsy elephant in the room! I refuse to acknowledge you meant it with the Betsy's in Queen!Betsy's body founding an half-naked alternate!Warren hanging around in the Queen's rooms like the glorified handsome lover he is).

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Transparent png because backgrounds are overrated. You are free to take it to make icons, have fun with adding backgrounds. I did waste an embarrassing huge time on this. I would like to be credited or at least let me know, so I can see what you did! And if you need a frame-less version, just ask: I added it because it looked too empty without it.

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Tec stuffs (aka Behind The Manip) Abused of the copy/paste and clone stamp tool, plus the help of other Dauterman's arts (see credits under the manip), to turn an actual panel into some kind of pin-up. This is what I did while fighting with a mouse that keeps hiccuping: removed the flute from Betsy's hand and therefore reconstructed a small part of her chest plate; fixed what was missing of Betsy's sleeve after removing Emma Frost from the scene; removed the flashing light of Jean's telepathy on both foreheads, added Betsy's floating telepathy butterflies and, especially, redone almost all of Warren's left wing (and partially his covered arm) because there was a guest in that spot and also a telepathy balloon to cover his magnificent wings.

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Credits All arts (pencils/inks) belong to Russel Dauterman, with colors by Matthew Wilson. Original art from X-Men (2019) #21. Some missing parts taken from the Dauterman's Connecting Variants (Betsy's Excalibur #21, Warren's X-Corp #2) and from his design sketch for the Hellfire Gala Angel (released as a Design Variant for Hellions #12).

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