Lionheart (comics)

Avengers (106 items)
list by bombshellbarba

Kelsey Leigh was a single mother with two young children who lived in South-East England. She was a schoolteacher who taught English literature and history. Back when she was married, thugs invaded her home, robbing her family and gang-raping her. She fought back, hurting one of her rapists, and he cut her face with a broken bottle in revenge, scarring her permanently. Meanwhile, her husband, Richard, was too paralyzed with fear to help her. His guilt over that incident led to the dissolution of the marriage.

One fateful day, her family found themselves on the front line of a battle between the Avengers and the Wrecking Crew. Thunderball rendered Captain America unconscious and Kelsey selflessly put herself between the fallen Captain and the Wasp and their attacker, using the downed hero's shield. While the shield was indestructible, Kelsey wasn't, and the shock from the blows inflicted terrible injuries; she died en route to receiving medical attention.[volume & issue needed]

Kelsey awoke to find herself in a ring of standing stones, where she was met by a vision of Brian Braddock (Captain Britain), currently ruling Otherworld, and his wife, the elemental shapeshifter Meggan. To save Britain from the evil Morgan le Fay, he passed the mantle of Captain Britain to Kelsey. Her heroic act of bravery had earned her a second chance to live and to defend her home. As was Braddock before her, Kelsey was given the choice between the Sword of Might and the Amulet of Right. However, unlike when Braddock made the choice, Kelsey was only presented with the choice between sword or amulet, and she was not informed of their symbolic importance. Kelsey, desperate to see her children again, and not seeing how a necklace could defend anything, chose the sword, the path of violence. Instantly, she was transformed into the new Captain Britain, only to discover that her decision meant that if she ever revealed who she was to her children, it would cost their lives.

Shortly afterward, she returns to Earth accepting an offer to join The Avengers - which she does, under the codename, Lionheart.