diff --git a/mercurial/commands.py b/mercurial/commands.py
--- a/mercurial/commands.py
+++ b/mercurial/commands.py
@@ -240,8 +240,7 @@ def backout(ui, repo, rev, **opts):
     if op1 != node:
         if opts['merge']:
             ui.status(_('merging with changeset %s\n') % nice(op1))
-            n = _lookup(repo, hex(op1))
-            hg.merge(repo, n)
+            hg.merge(repo, hex(op1))
         else:
             ui.status(_('the backout changeset is a new head - '
                         'do not forget to merge\n'))
@@ -1698,7 +1697,6 @@ def log(ui, repo, *pats, **opts):
     if opts["date"]:
         df = util.matchdate(opts["date"])
 
-
     displayer = cmdutil.show_changeset(ui, repo, opts, True, matchfn)
     for st, rev, fns in changeiter:
         if st == 'add':
@@ -1763,7 +1761,7 @@ def manifest(ui, repo, rev=None):
             ui.write("%3s " % (m.execf(f) and "755" or "644"))
         ui.write("%s\n" % f)
 
-def merge(ui, repo, node=None, force=None, branch=None):
+def merge(ui, repo, node=None, force=None):
     """Merge working directory with another revision
 
     Merge the contents of the current working directory and the
@@ -1777,9 +1775,7 @@ def merge(ui, repo, node=None, force=Non
     revision to merge with must be provided.
     """
 
-    if node or branch:
-        node = _lookup(repo, node, branch)
-    else:
+    if not node:
         heads = repo.heads()
         if len(heads) > 2:
             raise util.Abort(_('repo has %d heads - '
@@ -2478,7 +2474,7 @@ def unbundle(ui, repo, fname, **opts):
     modheads = repo.addchangegroup(gen, 'unbundle', 'bundle:' + fname)
     return postincoming(ui, repo, modheads, opts['update'])
 
-def update(ui, repo, node=None, clean=False, branch=None, date=None):
+def update(ui, repo, node=None, clean=False, date=None):
     """update or merge working directory
 
     Update the working directory to the specified revision.
@@ -2498,36 +2494,11 @@ def update(ui, repo, node=None, clean=Fa
             raise util.Abort(_("you can't specify a revision and a date"))
         node = cmdutil.finddate(ui, repo, date)
 
-    node = _lookup(repo, node, branch)
     if clean:
         return hg.clean(repo, node)
     else:
         return hg.update(repo, node)
 
-def _lookup(repo, node, branch=None):
-    if branch:
-        repo.ui.warn(_("the --branch option is deprecated, "
-                       "please use 'hg branch' instead\n"))
-        br = repo.branchlookup(branch=branch)
-        found = []
-        for x in br:
-            if branch in br[x]:
-                found.append(x)
-        if len(found) > 1:
-            repo.ui.warn(_("Found multiple heads for %s\n") % branch)
-            for x in found:
-                cmdutil.show_changeset(ui, repo, {}).show(changenode=x)
-            raise util.Abort("")
-        if len(found) == 1:
-            node = found[0]
-            repo.ui.warn(_("Using head %s for branch %s\n")
-                         % (short(node), branch))
-        else:
-            raise util.Abort(_("branch %s not found") % branch)
-    else:
-        node = node and repo.lookup(node) or repo.changelog.tip()
-    return node
-
 def verify(ui, repo):
     """verify the integrity of the repository
 
@@ -2733,8 +2704,7 @@ table = {
          _('hg grep [OPTION]... PATTERN [FILE]...')),
     "heads":
         (heads,
-         [('b', 'branches', None, _('show branches (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
+         [('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
           ('r', 'rev', '', _('show only heads which are descendants of rev')),
           ('', 'template', '', _('display with template'))],
          _('hg heads [-r REV]')),
@@ -2745,7 +2715,7 @@ table = {
          [('p', 'strip', 1,
            _('directory strip option for patch. This has the same\n'
              'meaning as the corresponding patch option')),
-          ('b', 'base', '', _('base path (DEPRECATED)')),
+          ('b', 'base', '', _('base path')),
           ('f', 'force', None,
            _('skip check for outstanding uncommitted changes'))] + commitopts,
          _('hg import [-p NUM] [-m MESSAGE] [-f] PATCH...')),
@@ -2775,8 +2745,7 @@ table = {
          _('hg locate [OPTION]... [PATTERN]...')),
     "^log|history":
         (log,
-         [('b', 'branches', None, _('show branches (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('f', 'follow', None,
+         [('f', 'follow', None,
            _('follow changeset history, or file history across copies and renames')),
           ('', 'follow-first', None,
            _('only follow the first parent of merge changesets')),
@@ -2797,8 +2766,7 @@ table = {
     "manifest": (manifest, [], _('hg manifest [REV]')),
     "merge":
         (merge,
-         [('b', 'branch', '', _('merge with head of a specific branch (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('f', 'force', None, _('force a merge with outstanding changes'))],
+         [('f', 'force', None, _('force a merge with outstanding changes'))],
          _('hg merge [-f] [REV]')),
     "outgoing|out": (outgoing,
          [('M', 'no-merges', None, _('do not show merges')),
@@ -2813,8 +2781,7 @@ table = {
          _('hg outgoing [-M] [-p] [-n] [-r REV]... [DEST]')),
     "^parents":
         (parents,
-         [('b', 'branches', None, _('show branches (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('r', 'rev', '', _('show parents from the specified rev')),
+         [('r', 'rev', '', _('show parents from the specified rev')),
           ('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
           ('', 'template', '', _('display with template'))],
          _('hg parents [-r REV] [FILE]')),
@@ -2916,8 +2883,7 @@ table = {
     "tags": (tags, [], _('hg tags')),
     "tip":
         (tip,
-         [('b', 'branches', None, _('show branches (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
+         [('', 'style', '', _('display using template map file')),
           ('p', 'patch', None, _('show patch')),
           ('', 'template', '', _('display with template'))],
          _('hg tip [-p]')),
@@ -2928,9 +2894,7 @@ table = {
          _('hg unbundle [-u] FILE')),
     "^update|up|checkout|co":
         (update,
-         [('b', 'branch', '',
-           _('checkout the head of a specific branch (DEPRECATED)')),
-          ('C', 'clean', None, _('overwrite locally modified files')),
+         [('C', 'clean', None, _('overwrite locally modified files')),
           ('d', 'date', '', _('tipmost revision matching date'))],
          _('hg update [-C] [REV]')),
     "verify": (verify, [], _('hg verify')),