If you aren't familiar with the characters, check this out first:
| Nightcrawler | Shadowcat | Captain Britain | Meggan | Wolfsbane |
| Douglock | Colossus | Pete Wisdom | Daytripper | Phoenix II |
| Kylun | Cerise | Widget | Feron | Micromax |
After the apparent death of the X-Men in the "Fall of the Mutants," Shadowcat and Nightcrawler, both convalescing on Muir Island, along with Captain Britain and his lover Meggan, rescued Rachel Summers (Phoenix) from Mojo's Warwolves and Gatecrasher's Technet upon her return to our dimension. Realizing the need to preserve Xavier's vision of human/mutant coexistence, they formed Excalibur as the European extension of the dream. After battling the Warwolves and the Crazy Gang, the team chased Rachel to New York and participated in "Inferno," where Meggan was transformed into the Goblin Princess by N'astirh and Rachel was nearly trapped in a mannequin's body and married to the demon Crotus. Following their return to England, Excalibur encountered the Lightning Squad, a version of themselves from a Nazi-dominated world, and embarked (unintentionally) on the "Cross-Time Caper" through many alternate dimensions, thanks to the robotic Widget.
Finally returning home after being brought to Otherworld, Excalibur faced the Warwolves, teamed up with the Avengers to keep Dr. Doom from conquering Limbo, and took the Technet in after their leader, Gatecrasher, abandoned them. Meggan and Rachel took a leave of absence after Brian was taken into the custody of the Otherworld Corps for his altercation with Kurt. Alone with the Technet, Kurt forged them into an effective force capable of dealing with a superpowered threat detected by F.I.6, a British covert organization. Kylun, a mutant boy sent into another dimension by Widget, returned as a great warrior pursuing his nemesis Necrom, the very threat F.I.6's espers had warned of. Feron, a descendant and namesake of the first being to commune with the Phoenix Force sought Rachel out in order to claim his "birthright," the Phoenix, from her. When he could not, he stayed with Excalibur and added his magical abilities to their already powerful group. An alien named Cerise also joined Excalibur and quickly became close with Nightcrawler.
Upon the return of the rest of the team, Necrom attacked and Excalibur, aided by Roma, the Celestial Guardian, halted the Cosmic Convergence, a plan set in motion by Merlin to gain control of ultimate power. The team then learned that their entire existence up to that point had been part of a great plan set up by Merlin and Roma, including the Cross-Time Caper and a dream-state meeting with Merlin himself, in order to train them to aid (in Merlin's case) or stop (in Roma's case) the Convergence.
Immediately after, Rachel, wounded in her cosmic-scale battle with Necrom, left Earth with the Phoenix force to heal. Excalibur met the X-Men for the first time since their return to "life" and then were captured by the Resource Control Executive, led by Nigel Orpington-Smythe. Along the way, Kurt and Cerise confessed their love for each other. After the team foiled the R.C.X's plans, Phoenix returned and at the urging of Widget/Kate Pryde transported Excalibur to the alternate timeline of "Days of Future Past" where she was born. The team defeated Master Mold and the Sentinels and journeyed back to our time, taking up residence in Braddock Manor following the destruction of their lighthouse in the Cosmic Convergence.
Along the way, Captain Britain was lost in the timestream and Meggan retreated into catatonia in her grief. Kylun went to find his parents and Cerise was arrested by the Shi'ar for crimes against the Empire. When Colossus was injured and joined Magneto's Acolytes, Kitty tricked him into coming down to Muir for treatment. Excalibur moved to Muir to help Moira MacTaggert with her research into the Legacy Virus and to become a figurative scalpel, removing problems before they become disasters.
When Brian began to use Rachel's time-travel abilities to attempt to return to the present, Rachel switched places with him (with Amanda Sefton's help) in the timestream and was thrown into the far future where (she fought Apocalypse as the Mother Askani - defunct Askani timeline) she was eventually rescued by Cable. Meggan came out of her catatonia and Brian returned as Britanic, with visions of the future rampaging through his head. Excalibur became embroiled in the Phalanx Covenant and gained the company of the techno-organic Douglock, who was soon followed by Wolfsbane.
Pete Wisdom accompanied Excalibur on a mission to Genosha. He then quit his job at Black Air and also joined the team, and became Kitty's boyfriend on a mission into a Black Air facility. Shortly thereafter, Colossus came back and attacked Wisdom in a fit of jealousy and rage. Peter stayed with the team and aided them in their defeat of Black Air and the Hellfire Club. Brian returned to being Captain Britain, but seemed to be torn between being a hero and being a scientist. In the aftermath of Onslaught, Excalibur faced a world even more scared and hateful of mutants than ever before.
Captain Britain's final battle came against the Dragons of the Crimson Dawn, ancient beings who sought to use Brian's power to open a gateway to their shadow realm and transform Earth. Expending the last of his power, Brian defeated the Dragons, but lost his abilities, apparently for good. Though engaged to Meggan, he set off to heal and to try and cope with his loss. Excalibur continued to fight for the dream, in the hope that it will someday become a reality. Kitty took a leave to help S.H.I.E.L.D in a crisis, and then returned to face the Nightmare and the Bamfs, who had kidnapped Lockheed. Kitty and Pete broke up, and Wisdom left.
Moira secluded herself in her lab, vowing not to come out until she found a cure for the Legacy Virus, and she was joined by Rahne, who leapt into the lab as it sealed. They were soon let out by Douglock, who remembered that Zero had given him the cure months before. The team then helped Sabra defeat Legion's personalities in Israel and went in search of Professor X, who had been captured during Operation: Zero Tolerance. After months away, Brian finally returned and set a wedding date only one week hence. The team was preoccupied with parties and shopping, most notably for Meggan's dress. After a little tension regarding Meggan's feelings for Colossus, the wedding proceeded without a hitch on Otherworld. However, the joy was sobered by Kurt, Kitty, and Peter's announcement that they were going to rejoin the X-Men and continue to look for Professor Xavier. Excalibur disbanded, but like the sword of ancient legend, may yet rise again to defend Britain in her hour of need.