Excalibur has a long and storied history. The most famous wielder of the sword was the legendary King Arthur, who supposedly removed it from a magical stone, thereby proving his worthiness to be King of England. However, some legends say that Arthur received the sword from the Lady of the Lake, who may in fact have been Roma, daughter of Merlin. Arthur used the sword to unite England and lead the Knights of the Round Table.

The Sword in the Stone

In modern times, Merlin and Roma presented the injured Brian Braddock with the choice between the Amulet and Sword in Darkmoor, England, a mystical ancient place. Had Braddock known that the sword was the legendary Excalibur, he might have taken it; however, he chose the Amulet instead and was granted a mystical mace for his initial adventures. The sword was then given to Joshua Stragg, who went mad as the Reaver.

Years later, after losing his powers in battle with the Dragons of the Crimson Dawn, Brian was called to Otherworld by visions of the destruction of the Captain Britain Corps. There he found that Roma (in reality the insane construct Mastermind II) was trying to unite the Sword and Amulet, which would give him ultimate power but also destroy the universe, since the two may only be wielded safely by the True King. After discovering the location of the sword, Brian confronted the dragon-man Sir Benedict, the Guardian of Excalibur and defeated him in battle. Entering the sword's hiding place, Brian found that his father was sent to Earth by Merlin to sire the future King of the Multiverse, Brian himself.

Captain Britain and Excalibur

Captain Britain and Excalibur

Brian took the sword, and received a flaming St. Andrew's Cross (the cross on the Union Jack/British flag) across his face, and was also given his powers back by the grotto's computer. Using the sword, Brian defeated Mastermind II, plunging Excalibur into its chest, causing it to explode. Afterwards, Roma turned over guardianship of the multiverse to the new King Britain, wielder of Excalibur AND the Amulet of Right.

More recently, Brian and his wife Meggan appeared to dying single mother Kelsey Leigh and offered her the Choice. Kelsey, having just battled the Wrecking Crew, paying for her defense of Captain America with her life, chose the sword as the more logical weapon, but in doing so was told that she could never reveal her identity to her children. The new Captain Britain appeared to use Excalibur for a short time, but then it seems the sword was replaced with another weapon.

According to information revealed by the Earth X timeline, Excalibur is a primal object of this universe, and we have no knowledge of the details of its creation. The sword was found and used millions of years ago by Prince Wayfarer, an intergalactic traveler who led a band of refugees across space. Wayfarer found the sword inside of a star, whose light blinded him when he removed the object. Wayfarer then used the sword to create the Microverse called Subatomica. How the sword came into Merlin's possession is unknown. It should be noted that the sun was most likely Galactus, who was turned into a star by Mr. Fantastic and somehow got transported back to the beginning of this universe.

In the Earth X timeline's future, King Britain wields Excalibur, but was not asked to turn it over to Mar-Vell when he collected artifacts of power to create his universal Paradise. Unfortunately, Mephisto manipulated events to lower King Britain's guard, and Mephisto was able to grab Excalibur and stab King Britain.