What Krakoa era codenames have a chance to stick?

[Nicoclaws]

Monarch and Askani are perfect, tbh.
Kate is already called "Captain Pryde" now.
I HUGELY dislike Monet's change to Penance, as I disliked the Penance plotline they took after Lobdell.
Fang is fine, and I think Psylocke is stuck with it.

[JB]

Monarch and Askani are perfect, tbh.
Kate is already called "Captain Pryde" now.
I HUGELY dislike Monet's change to Penance, as I disliked the Penance plotline they took after Lobdell.
Fang is fine, and I think Psylocke is stuck with it.

Yeah I get the feeling they're just going to leave Psylocke as is.

[Factor]

I like Askani a lot. And I don’t mind most of the others.
M as Penance is just terrible, though. She really didn’t need the “upgrade”.

[Sutekh]

Loved how absurd Goldballs power was, and the name was perfect to go with it. (And, as written, it had great potential, since he could expel the gold balls at high speed and use them as projectiles, and could theoretically learn to create larger ones for defensive applications, or tons of marble-sized ones to create difficult terrain.) Egg? Ew. If they needed someone to create tons of organic tissue, Madrox, Lionel Jeffries, Krakoa itself or that weird 'Fifth Light' kid who went all Akira on everyone were available.

Do not like Monet shifting into Penance. She was already Rogue (flying brick) plus telepathy, why would she ever want the huge downgrade of turning into a Schnikt-Bub?

I do like Daken's change to Fang, though. A name he feels like he's earned, and isn't just his human name, or an slur used by others.

Rachel's change to Askani fits her backstory fine, and is a huge upgrade from Prestige (yuk) or Phoenix (which she's never gonna get to keep when the cosmic fire-chicken is so fickle and flits off to bond with other people).

Sean's change from Banshee to Vox Ignis feels temporary, to me, much like his daughters temporary bonding with the Morrigan. And what is it with that family bonding to supernatural death-entities? Hopefully Black Tom can dodge that bullet.

[protege]

Rachel Summers - Askani



This is one of the latest entries and also one that has a pretty good chance to stick in my opinion. Rachel went through a series of codenames throughout her career and Knights of X recently redefined her powers and role in the multiverse and provided a pretty good explanation on why Askani suits her.

Betsy Braddock - Captain Britain



This is the one that has arguably received the most push from Marvel, as it's not just a new name for the character but an all-new role and a redefined sandbox to play in with Otherworld. This one is very close to Betsy's origins and indeed a bit of a wish come true for her, yet with a mixed reception from fans I wonder if this will truly stick.

Kwannon - Psylocke



Formerly Revenche, Kwannon has been one of the rising stars of the Krakoa era and has been regularly featured in a book, often as the lead, from the very beginning. She even looks poised to join the Uncanny Avengers next year. And yet, all things Marvel being cyclical, one has to wonder, will she get to keep the Psylocke name in perpetuity or will Elizabeth reclaim it eventually?

Are they bringing back uncanny avengers?

[davetvs]

I like Askani for Rachel. It's definitely a step up from Prestige, but I prefer her using Marvel Girl or Starchilde. Fang is good for Daken. I don't remember when/if anybody explained Kwannon using Psylocke as a codename but I'm just going to headcanon that Betsy offered it to her as a gift with which to make her own identity out of the one everyone associates her physical form with.

[thechronic92]

Egg has already stuck

[gonnagiveittoya]

Are they bringing back uncanny avengers?

The FCBD solicit has an Avengers/X-Men team up that will lead into an "Uncanny new team lineup leading into Fall of X", which many speculate is a new Uncanny Avengers team, especially since most of the characters on the cover are former Unity team members. Especially since it's possible the new Captain Krakoa here is Alex

[ETMike1988]

IIRC Because Betsy stoled her life, Kwannon started to use Betsy's former clothes and codename so she can symbolically steal Betsy's life.
But I don't remember which comics Kwannon explained it.
Maybe Excalibur!?

[Uncanny X-Man]

IIRC Because Betsy stoled her life, Kwannon started to use Betsy's former clothes and codename so she can symbolically steal Betsy's life.
But I don't remember which comics Kwannon explained it.
Maybe Excalibur!?

This made me giggle a little. It's funny because in her first (full) appearance, Kwannon showed up at the Institute wearing Psylocke's old Australian-era armor. It's like she can't stay away from Betsy's wardrobe!

[Master of Sound]

Askani, Egg, Cerebella, Monarch will likely stay

Surely hope Kwannon wil be banned Kwannon or Revanche or something else. Otherwise she week be seen as a Betsy copy

I hope Betsy wil be Psylocke again.

Don't think Sean wil continue to be a Ghost Rider ripper off

Did not even know Jean was Marvel Girl AGAIN.

[Nicoclaws]

Yeah I get the feeling they're just going to leave Psylocke as is.

I think the name is definitively attached to the visual now.

[Grunty]

I don't think any of those are going to last.

Some are going up against allready established code names, personal names that overshadowed the characters code name or have the problem that they are tied to current and very specific states of the characters or the fleeting status quo itself.

The following is based on personal observation and opinion.

Fabio Medina - Egg

The character was basicly a joke that got tiresome within the first issue he appeared. Even when his creator tried to flesh him more out into an actual character, there was the issue that he was still created for a specific reaction and that will likely stick with him for the rest of his backround existence.
Trying to change that with a new code name, just draws even more attention to the original problem of the character.

Infact his new code name just changes him from a lame joke towards being a trivial function within a narrative machinery.
Trivial because his "eggs" are basicly worthless without a reality warper turning them into cloning chambers. But if that is actualy necessary to make them usable in that function they could very well take chicken eggs or even stones and create the same function out of them with the same kind of effort.

So of the Five, he is the least important.

Which means the character has not received any kind of elevated role in universe or within the story. Infact he got downgraded from being a joke character on an active X-men team to being a living cog within a narrative device machine.

Jean Grey - Marvel Girl

That was a fight destined to be lost one way or another. If a characters civilian name is known by even casual fans, while you are hard pressed to find even regular readers who still remember the original code name, no attempt at "forcing" said codename back into prominence is going to have much chance of success.

It's either Jean Grey or "Phoenix" to a wider audience and that tends to overshadow Marvel Girl. Especialy since the "Marvel" part is nowdays much stronger associated with Captain Marvel and that part of the comics.

Doesn't help that "Marvel Girl" also doesn't sound right to a character who has become so well established as "grown up". There is a reason why Sue Storm was changed to "Invisible Woman" a long time ago.

Jamie Braddock - Monarch

Again the normal name has become too well established for the character, so it's an uphill battle to establish a code name.

Rachel Summers - Askani

And once again long established and recognized real name dominating over new attempt at code names.

Made more difficult because Mother Askani (as far as i'm aware) is tied to an alternate Rachel Grey in Cable's convulted backstory and doesn't actualy involve the current Rachel.

So she is using a code name that is attached to a version of herself she has no real connection to beyond being alternate versions.

Betsy Braddock - Captain Britain Kwannon - Psylocke

This whole situation is an identity crisis which neither character really profits from and it's uncertain if it can be resolved in this status quo or the next. Unless they decide to fuse Betsy with Kwanon in a new continuity, which is doubtfull to happen anytime soon.

The problem is that the name Psylocke is deeply attached to Betsy Braddock, since it has been her code name long before her redesign occured. However the name is also now primarily attached to the image of a female japanese (super hero comic) "ninja" in specific purple outfit, which is the one that entered wider pop culture.

So Kwanon can never be the "real" Psylocke, since that has been Betsy's codename for decades in publishing history (and it's how she has been named in various adapations that had a much wider audience than the comics), but Betsy can't be the "ninja" anymore, since that is someone else's body.

Meanwhile giving Betsy the Captain Britain title isn't sustainable longterm since publishing history has made it clear that it's primarily Brian's title (other's can obvious take the mantle for a while too, but sooner or later it will snap back to the "classic" holder) and the older Excalibur titles are much more likely to be reread than the recent titles with their short run and limited audience.
It also has the problem of not allowing Betsy to really build her own new identity, but just hand her someone elses.

Once again i don't think this codename deal is going to last long, even if it isn't the most unstable of the lot.

Sean Cassidy - Vox Ignis

Definetly not going to stick.

Akihiro - Fang

This is someone else's identity and it's not even a broadly known one. Still for many X-men comic readers (of which there aren't all too many these days it seems), Daken invokes the image of this specific character. Fang doesn't. So one will come back anyway, while the other will fade.

Kate Pryde - Red Queen

For over 30 years Kitty Pryde is known as Kitty Pryde. If she is lucky some people might remember her longest lasting code name is Shadowcat. Like with Jean her civilian name has entered and firmly entrenched itself among the wider audience's as the definitive name for the character, so it's near impossible to carve that one out and replace it with anything else.

The character is simply too old and too established to still reshape her like they did back during her earlier years. So "Captain Kate" is more likely to join "Ariel", "Sprite" than to permanently replace "Kitty".

[danielsan52]

We had Betsy back for five minutes and then they made her a Captain Britain… ugh.

I hope she gives that mantle back to Brian soon and we get a Lavender Betts back.

[JB]

The character was basicly a joke that got tiresome within the first issue he appeared. Even when his creator tried to flesh him more out into an actual character, there was the issue that he was still created for a specific reaction and that will likely stick with him for the rest of his backround existence.
Trying to change that with a new code name, just draws even more attention to the original problem of the character.

Infact his new code name just changes him from a lame joke towards being a trivial function within a narrative machinery.
Trivial because his "eggs" are basicly worthless without a reality warper turning them into cloning chambers. But if that is actualy necessary to make them usable in that function they could very well take chicken eggs or even stones and create the same function out of them with the same kind of effort.

So of the Five, he is the least important.

Which means the character has not received any kind of elevated role in universe or within the story. Infact he got downgraded from being a joke character on an active X-men team to being a living cog within a narrative device machine.


Made more difficult because Mother Askani (as far as i'm aware) is tied to an alternate Rachel Grey in Cable's convulted backstory and doesn't actualy involve the current Rachel.

So she is using a code name that is attached to a version of herself she has no real connection to beyond being alternate versions.

I agree with you about Egg. When the Five first debuted I thought of him as the most important member because no one else makes the eggs but duh, Proteus makes them viable and he could just as well create his own eggs, or make styrofoam balls from Michael's viable.

As for Rachel, I'll let Askani's Flame or other Rachel fans speak to this but she and Mother Askani are one and the same. This was revisited and reestablished recently in Knights of X:
https://thumbs-us-east-1.myalbum.io/...0890b22e3c.jpg

I think that makes the name perfect for her and I hope it sticks.

Agreed also on Betsy and Kwannon. For their reasons, editorial decided to keep "Psylocke" with Kwannon and considering how much she's been developed I don't see them making a u-turn on that. So they made Betsy CB which works, imo, as temporary so they can circle back to her using the title long ago and publicly failing. In my mind I see her having a successful run this time around and then the mantle going back to her brother. At which point I say just leave her as Betsy Braddock.