Banshee is a mutant with a sonic scream. Born in Ireland, he pursued a career in Interpol, the X-Men, Generation X as Co-Headmaster, and X-Corp as founder. He is also Black Tom Cassidy's brother
Early Life
Sean Cassidy was a young rich mutant with undiscovered powers. His parents died, leaving him and his cousin Black Tom Cassidy with a huge fortune and the castle they had grown up in, called Cassidy Keep, although as Sean was the rightful heir, he gained all of it. The castle was a strange place, where leprechauns lived under the protection of the Cassidy Family. Both Sean and Black Tom were mutants; Sean's power was a sonic scream.Sean got a job with Interpol whilst he was still a young man. After visiting a concert in Northern Ireland, Sean missed the last train home and had to hitch a ride. He was picked up by a corrupt policeman, who thought he was scouting for the IRA and intended to arrest him. He was saved by a young woman on a bike named Maeve Rourke. At one point in their journey back to Cassidy Keep Maeve's bike got damaged, and Sean flew her the rest of the way. Maeve wasn't scared by his mutant powers at all. When he got back home, he introduced her to Black Tom. Both men were smitten by her.
Eventually Sean won Maeve's heart. Even though he loved her too, Black Tom agreed to be Sean's best man at the wedding, since he wanted to have the best happen to Maeve. Shortly after the marriage, Sean went away on a mission for months, and while he was gone, Maeve discovered she was pregnant and gave birth to their daughter, Theresa Cassidy. Maeve died soon after from a bomb, so Tom had to take care of Theresa. Sean returned and was devastated, and was livid at Tom for not taking care of Maeve. Sean knocked him into a chasm that broke his leg before Tom could tell him about his daughter. Tom was vengeful, promising to get revenge on Sean and never tell him about his daughter.
After Maeve was killed, Tom buried himself in his work, although didn't tell anyone about his powers. On one of his earliest missions, Sean had to guard a weapons specialist named Patrick Lipton whilst he took his new weapon to Rome. On the way there, the train was attacked by the terrorist group HYDRA. Lipton and Sean got out of the train and attempted to clear the tracks so the train could move again. Before they could, Sean was shot by a HYDRA agent, causing him to accidently let loose a sonic scream as he fell. Lipton knew that he couldn't let HYDRA know about Sean's sonic scream, so killed the HYDRA agents who had seen it and offered his services to HYDRA in return for Sean's life.
Another of Sean's missions with Interpol involved catching a serial killer. Unfortunately his superiors didn't believe there really was a serial killer, and Sean had to go rogue to find and catch the killer. Whilst Sean searched for the killer, he was aided by a mysterious man who was afraid of a genetic war. The mysterious man told Sean that the killer would be found at Cassidy Keep. Years later, Sean would meet this mysterious man again, only this time he would be calling himself Magneto. Sean was joined at Cassidy Keep by Inspector Magrite Devreaux, who believed him now about the killer. The killer was a Russian called Arkady, who wished to be killed so that he could stop being the Russian government's pet mutant. Sean refused, so Arkady infected Magrite Devreaux with his death spore virus to give him motivation. Sean emptied his gun on Arkady, who he believed was sent to prison. Unfortunately, he was put in a special ops program that turned him into Omega Red.
At some time, Sean was working with the New York Police Department. One evening, Sean and his partner noticed Harry Leland enter a party, where they found Emma Frost also attending. Emma was accosted by some men, and Sean ignored his orders and ran to join the fray. Sean and his partners found the men dead. The trail led to the sewers, where Dark Beast had taken Emma, needing her help. Sean assumed that Emma was in danger, and attacked Dark Beast. Emma telepathically stopped Beast from attacking back and wiped everyone's memories of the incident. Sean managed to get evidence on Black Tom's illegal activities shortly after this, and sent him to prison. Sean still didn't know about Teresa, who was at boarding school at the time.
Sean's last Interpol mission was a rather delicate one. Sean and his partner Daniel Peyer had to infiltrate the mansion of a gangster named Almadovar and retrieve information from him. The operation had been prepared for years. Right after Sean used his sonic powers to deactivate the security systems, Almadovar found him. He would have shot him if the mercenary Deadpool hadn't appeared and shot Almadovar, who had a price on his head. Even though Sean was saved, the mission was now blown, since they needed Almadovar alive. After this operation, Sean quit Interpol, and went freelance.
Factor Three, a villain team, discovered him and their leader, Changeling invited him to join. Sean was horrified and refused, but Factor Three tricked him and set explosives next to his head. He was forced to do their bidding, or they would detonate the explosives. After working for them for a long time, Sean ran into the X-Men on a mission in New York. Professor X easily disarmed the bombs and Sean, codenamed Banshee, helped the X-Men stop Factor Three. Banshee was kidnapped by the Sentinels a few months later, and the X-Men saved him again. Professor X asked him to join the X-Men when the original team was captured by the living island known as Krakoa, who wanted to feast on them. Banshee, Sunfire, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Storm, Thunderbird, and Wolverine all managed to stop Krakoa and save the original X-Men. These seven (minus Sunfire, who quit) formed a new team of X-Men after the original team left (with the exception of Cyclops, who stayed on as team leader). Banshee was reluctant at first, as he was much older than the rest of the X-Men, but Professor X managed to convince him to stay.
Over the next few weeks, Banshee became a well-like member of the group, as well as something of a back-up leader for if Cyclops or Professor X were not around. Soon Xavier's old colleague Moira MacTaggart joined the X-Men as their housekeeper. Banshee fell in love with Moira, and the two grew close quite quickly. After a few adventures with the team, Banshee received a letter from his lawyer, explaining that he had inherited Cassidy Keep fully for himself. The rest of the X-Men and Banshee went there for a holiday, not realising that it was a trap set up by Black Tom Cassidy and Juggernaut. The two had been given exotic weaponry by a villain known as Erik the Red. Black Tom and Juggernaut's plan was to capture Xavier, which they attempted by torturing the X-Men until he arrived. The X-Men wouldn't have won if it wasn't for Storm, who overcame her claustrophobia and saved them. The two groups fought on the battlements of the castle, until Black Tom fell down to the sea, followed by Juggernaut, who didn't want to lose his only friend.
Months later, Banshee and the X-Men were stranded in Japan after making their way there from the Savage Land. Whilst all they wanted was Sunfire's help to get back to the US, they had to fight a terrorist named Moses Magnum. Moses Magnum was threatening to trigger earthquakes that would destroy Japan if he wasn't given control of it. The X-Men snuck into his base, but Magnum defeated most of them then went to trigger his earthquakes. Banshee worked out that the earthquake would be triggered by an intense beam of energy, and that he could stop it with a wall of sound. Banshee managed this feat, but as a result his vocal cords were damaged and he lost his powers. He stayed with the group for a while, until the group traveled to Muir Island to combat the threat of Proteus, Moira MacTaggart's deadly mutant son. After the battle, Sean decided that he'd stay with Moira, since without powers he was no good to the X-Men. He didn't cut off his ties completely though; Banshee helped the X-Men when Arcade's partner Miss Locke kidnapped several of the X-Men's friends, using the skills he had developed as an Interpol agent to make up for his lost powers.
Siryn
Shortly after helping with the Murderworld situation, Sean was greeted by a girl at Professor Xavier's school, who gave him a letter to read. The letter explained that she was Banshee's daughter Theresa Cassidy, who Sean didn't even know existed. She had thought Tom was her father, and she was overjoyed to learn of her real father's existence. Siryn felt she needed to help Tom with crimes, but she decided not to, and joined Sean and Moira on Muir Island.
One day, Banshee was kidnapped from Muir Island by James Proudstar, who was the brother of John Proudstar, the X-Men who had died before Banshee's eyes. James blamed the rest of the X-Men for John's death, and wanted to use Banshee as a hostage against them. Sean managed to talk John into giving it up, as he didn't want to be a murderer.
Banshee and Moira MacTaggart later helped Morlocks who were stationed at Muir Island. After the Mutant Massacre, the few surviving Morlocks were sent to Muir Island, along with the newer members of the X-Men. Whilst they were all there, Banshee taught them a bit about battle skills and teamwork.
Banshee's powers temporarily came back later thanks to Moira. Moira had been hypnotised by a rebuilt Master Mold into creating a virus called the Retribution Virus, which was designed to kill mutants. Sean was one of the first mutants to be affected and was kidnapped and taken to Master Mold's base for further studying. Eventually Moira, Cyclops and Callisto (the leader of the Morlocks) managed to find and save Banshee. Moira was free of Master Mold's influence, and created a cure for the virus. The cure kicked Banshee's systems into overdrive as it destroyed the virus. As a result, his powers temporarily came back. Banshee soon used these new powers to save Polaris, who was trapped on a sinking ship.
Banshee's powers came back for good soon afterwards. The mutant hating Reavers, led by Donald Pierce, invaded Muir Island and shot Banshee straight in the heart. Amanda Sefton managed to use her magic to teleport Banshee to the infirmary of Muir Island before he died, and once there, the Morlock healer healed him back. His touch not only healed Banshee's chest wound, but it also restored his powers completely.
Thanks to Forge and Freedom Force, Muir Island survived the Reavers attack, but there were casualties on both sides. After the fighting was over, Banshee asked Forge to design a new security system for the island whilst he looked for the X-Men. The X-Men had been believed killed in Dallas, but Polaris had informed Banshee that they were still alive. Banshee asked Forge to accompany him on this trip. Once again, Moira began acting strangely, making harsh decisions and dressing rather sharp. Forge and Banshee were going to board a plane for Cairo, Egypt, when they changed their plans at the last minute. The plane was shot out of the sky, and it appeared that Moira had set them up, as she was the only person who knew about them being on the plane.
Sean and Forge went to the ruins of the school in Westchester, where they unexpectedly met Jean Grey and a group of Morlocks, led by Masque. Masque and his Morlocks manged to captured Jean and Sean, and disfigured them with his powers. Jean's arms turned to tentacles, and Banshee now had no mouth, with meant he had no powers. If it hadn't been for Forge, who had recorded their genetic codes, they wouldn't have been able to change back to how they had been. During this little adventure, Banshee and Forge also ran into Colossus, who had amnesia and couldn't remember his time as an X-Man. Colossus was an artist, and Banshee decided to leave him alone and let him enjoy his fame.
Banshee reunited with Storm and her new companion Gambit at the ruins of the mansion, before meeting up with other X-Teams during the X-Tinction Agenda. After the X-Tinction Agenda, these X-Men decided to stay as a team, with Banshee a member of it. Banshee found out that Moira was still acting as strangely as she had been when he communicated with her via a holographic com-link. Shortly afterwards, Sean and the X-Men were called in to the Shi'ar Empire to help Professor X and his lover, Princess Lilandra. After the adventure, Banshee told the Professor about Moira's behaviour. Professor X mindscanned Banshee to find out that Moira, as well as most of the inhabitants of Muir Island, had fallen under the Shadow King's influence. It took the combined effort of the X-Men as well as X-Factor to stop the Shadow King. Banshee had to fight his loved ones, including Moira and Theresa, who had pretty harsh words for him, reminding him of his past failures. After the Shadow King was defeated, Banshee and Moira helped with the reconstruction of the mansion and the X-Teams, whilst Theresa joined X-Force.
Moira left the X-Men shortly afterwards, as it had been revealed that she had tampered with Magneto's DNA several years ago. She left out of guilt, and Banshee also left the X-Men to find where she had gone. Banshee soon found out that she was fine without him, and so not knowing what to do, he decided to have a holiday on the Canary Islands. Banshee eventually returned to the X-Men, where Moira was too, as she had wanted to help cure the Legacy Virus. The two decided to keep their romance going, but it was hard as both had different duties and responsibilities.
Around the same time, Banshee rekindled his relationship with his daughter. When he visited X-Force, he suggested that a father-daughter bond might be too much to ask, but that they could still be good friends. This proved to be a good choice when their paths crossed later. Black Tom Cassidy had a virus which was slowly turning him to wood, and it seemed that the only way to cure it was with Deadpool's healing factor. Whilst Siryn helped Deadpool in the fight, Sean asked Daniel Peyer (his old Interpol friend, who was now a high-ranking officer) for a clue on their whereabouts. Daniel still held a bit of a grudge for the Almadovar job Banshee had stuffed up, so he claimed that he knew nothing. Eventually Banshee worked it out on his own, before helping Deadpool and Siryn, and made sure that Black Tom got the cure before he went to prison.
Back with the X-Men, Banshee noticed that Jubilee was having trouble fitting it. Wolverine was temporarily gone, so Jubilee didn't have her mentor there, and the other X-Men were too busy in between missions to worry about her. Sean also was around when Emma Frost woke from her year-long coma. He hadn't fought her with the X-Men before, so he felt a bit of sympathy for her when she found out that her students had died.
A few days later, when Banshee returned from a trip, he noticed that the X-Men were all acting strangely. Upon investigation, he found out that they had been abducted and replaced with the Phalanx. Banshee freed Emma Frost, Jubilee and Sabretooth, the last non-Phalanx members in the mansion, and teamed up with them to save the teenagers that the Phalanx were experimenting on. They managed to track the Phalanx to a freighter, but were trapped by a techno-organic creature. The only way deemed possible for it to be defeated was for one of the teenagers, Blink, to use her teleportation powers to cut it to pieces. Unfortunately, she was caught in the effect of her teleportation too, and was also killed.
Generation X
Within the first few months of Generation X being created, Omega Red returned from Banshee's past, wanting to kill him for his part in his creation. Omega Red nearly killed Banshee, and if it weren't for Emma Frost holding his life energies together telepathically, Banshee probably would have died. Whilst Emma was helping Sean, Chamber managed to defeat Omega Red, as he was immune to his death spores. Sean's cousin Black Tom escaped from prison shortly afterwards, and revealed that he had mutated into a being that was more plant than human. Black Tom wanted revenge on Sean for taking away Teresa from him, so decided he would take away Generation X in return. Black Tom ordered Sean to kill Emma Frost or he would never return the kids to Banshee. Banshee didn't want to kill Emma, but she forced him to because she didn't want to be responsible for the death of more children. Once Emma was seemingly dead, Black Tom revealed that he had never intended to return the children, as they were already far away. Penance, the only Generation X member not captured by Tom, managed to stop him long enough for Banshee to escape.
Luckily Emma had survived, so Banshee and Penance made plans with her to find the missing children. Unfortunately, they had to stay undercover, as Operation: Zero Tolerance had been activated and Sentinels were everywhere. Without the proper resources, it looked as if Banshee and Emma would be unable to find Generation X, but one of their enemies, Emplate, offered them a deal: in return for Penance, he would reveal where the students were. While Banshee disagreed to the deal, Emma pretended to agree, but Banshee thought she really was agreeing. As a result of this, Banshee told Emma to keep away from the school. Luckily, Generation X soon managed to find their own way home, and with everything how it should be, Banshee took the opportunity to visit Moira MacTaggart on Muir Island, who by now was the only non-mutant with the Legacy Virus. Moira and Sean spent some time together before she realised the importance of finding a cure to the Legacy Virus, and locked herself in her lab until she discovered a cure. Banshee did the only thing he could for her: he encouraged her and told her he would wait for her. Upon his return to the school, Emma hit him in the face for the way he had treated her. Banshee apologised and the two returned to their headmaster duties.
Banshee was shocked to find out that his daughter had lost her sonic powers in a fight with her fellow teammate Feral. Feral had severely damaged Teresa's vocal cords, so Teresa could no longer use her sonic powers. Instead of being with her father, who had gone through a similar experience, Teresa went to stay with a distant aunt to cope with her loss.
Around Christmas, Black Tom and Juggernaut returned, and attacked Generation X with there newest charge: The real Mondo, as opposed to the clone that was a member of Generation X. Mondo wanted revenge against Emma's sister, Cordelia, whilst Black Tom wanted revenge on Banshee as usual. Generation X beat the villains, but they still managed to escape, which left Sean thinking that Black Tom had another youngster to corrupt, just as he had partially corrupted Teresa.
When Emma went broke, the school had to accept some human students to pay the bills. This didn't go very well, as Emma's sister Adrienne (who was staying at the school) egged on the students's anti-mutant ideas. One night, Adrienne planted bombs around the school, and Generation X member Synch was killed trying to disarm them. After his death, this gave Banshee something of a wake-up call, who realised that they had to start training the kids differently, and be more proactive.
Sean got a bit of a shock when he tried calling Moira MacTaggart on Muir Island, only to be redirected to the Xavier Institute, where Professor X informed him that Moira was dead. Just a few days earlier, the mutant terrorist Mystique had blown up her lab whilst she was still in it. This shock affected Banshee severely; just a few days later, he couldn't concentrate in battle and had to be saved by his student Skin. To cope with Moira's death, Sean soon started drinking, which led to Generation X disbanding, as neither of their teachers were fit to teach (Emma Frost was becoming nastier).
X-Corps
After a lot of soul-searching, Banshee finally gave up alcohol, and found a way to make his life worthwhile once more. Sean founded the X-Corps, which were supposed to police mutant activities. X-Corps had some brainwashed members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, as well as some old Generation X members, who wanted to keep an eye on Banshee. Unfortunately, Mystique had infiltrated the X-Corps, and she soon cut Sean's throat before taking over the team. After the Generation X members stopped the Brotherhood members, X-Corps disbanded.
Death
During the X-Men mini-series, Deadly Genesis, Banshee was contacted on Muir Island by Beast, asking if Moira had any old files that might have given them and idea about where Charles Xavier had disappeared too. He finds nothing, but as their conversation is about to end, Banshee sees a figure through the window, and runs out, believing it to be Moira.He follows "Moira", and she leads him to a cabin where she opens the door, and then she fades into thin air. Banshee enters the cabin, where a computer is switched on. He pulls a CD out from the shelf marked "Charles Xavier's Notes: Important". He plays the tape, and for an unknown reason at the time, we see Moira bad mouth and curse about Charles Xavier.
Banshee then catches a plane to America, and on the plane, he speaks to Nightcrawler who's at the mansion, and explains that he doesn't know what it means (talking about the CD). Vulcan is listening in on their conversation from the Blackbird, and Nightcrawler and Wolverine leave the mansion to go and pick Banshee up.
Banshee gets his luggage from the over-head compartment, and just as he's about to leave the flying plane (presumably he was going to fly out of it to Nightcrawler and Wolverine who are waiting for him just outside the airport). Someone behind him then spots a jet, and Banshee notices that it's the Blackbird and can see that it's going to hit them. He quickly takes off his over-clothes to reveal he has his suit on underneath, and opens a door on the plane that's facing the Blackbird.
He jumps out of the moving plane and tries to use a sonic scream on the Blackbird to stop it, but because his voice is still damaged, he is unable too. and the two planes collide. Banshee smashed through the window screen of the Blackbird.
His body was later buried at the Institute next to Sway and Petra. His grave reads:
"Sean Cassidy ,Banshee, Beloved Comrade"
Inheritance
Before Banshee died, he filmed a video for his daughter, Siryn, explaining that Cassidy Keep is now her's and he wanted to leave her something else, something special his father left him: an old pipe.
Characteristics
Gender - Male
Height - 6'
Weight - 180 lbs
Eyes - Blue-green (Hazel)
Hair - Reddish-blond
Powers and Abilities
Banshee's mutant power was his ability to generate huge amounts of sonic energy using his voice. This 'sonic scream' had a variety of uses. Banshee could use it to fly, create concussive or disintegrating energy blasts, create force-fields, shatter certain materials by using different wavelengths of sound, or cause his enemies to become disoriented, nauseous, or even unconscious. He could even use sonic pulses to let him move very fast.
Alternate Versions
Age of Apocalypse (Earth-295)
In this reality, Sean is a member of the X-Men, albeit retired. But Magneto convince him to to joined the fight against Apocalypse. He has proven to be a valuable ally, as he fought the horseman Abyss twice, the latter confrontation of the two being their last, as Banshee sacrificed himself to destroy the horseman.
House of M (Earth-58163)
In this reality, Banshee is the member of the Marauders, the Genoshan black ops team.
Earth-9997
Earth X Banshee died fighting Black Tom Cassidy.
Other Media
Generation X TV/Movie
Banshee was played by Jeremy Ratchford. Banshee was the mentor of the Generation X and the headmaster of the Institute alongside with Emma Frost. he is focusing more on the team's teamwork. They fought a mad scientist who aims to have psychic powers.Emma Frost received a signal from Cerebro about a mutant named Jubilee. She then woke up Banshee and warned him that she will enter his mind if he won't do so. Th two have safely intruded Jubilee's location with the use of Emma's mental illusions. The two convinced her mother to admit her daughter to the institute for her own safety.
As Jubilee together with a fellow neophyte named Angelo undergone analysis for their enrollment in the Institute, Banshee was assigned for Angelo. The two then found it hard to deal with their new classmates which caused a fight between them. Banshee then surfaced and stopped them with his sonic scream.
One day, banshee offered the team to have a day outside the Institute, yet, with his supervision. Refrax then told him that they were old enough for a daddy figure to drive for them. The team then found a riot with a peer in that place which caused them to be imprisoned. With Emma's ability to fool persons with her mental powers, she have successfully took the students out.
Back to the Institute, the team was scolded and was attempted to be expelled by Emma. Banshee then told her not to be too strict to the students and that what happened to the former Hellions would not happen to them.
As Skin was later stuck in a mental dimension with Tresh, the team have made a plan on saving him through Emma's mental powers. Tresh is about to throw M on fire but luckily, Banshee caught her, saving her life. He then gave Tresh a sonic scream.
With Skin's heroism to defeat Tresh, they thought that he was dead with the villain. Jubilee attempted to follow him but Banshee stopped him. Following his defeat, the team was back to normal.
X-Men Animated SeriesX-Men The Animated Series
As Black Torn Cassidy with the help of Gladiator and Juggernaut abducted Lilandra, the X-Men have attempted to save him by Professor X mentally contacting her. The Gladiator then intervene and destructed their mental connection. All that Professor X can remember was a dragon and a stag. Moira thought that his vision has no significance about Lilandra until Banshee told them that his vision is the trademark of the Cassidy family. He accompanied the X-men to their castle and found his younger brother Black Torn after defeating some zombies. The two brothers then fought but none of their powers will work against each other so they have no choice but to fight each other fist to fist. All the X-Men had a hrd time fighting against Black Torn's alliances for the strength that they possess. The situation only ended when Jean Grey appeared in the scene while being consumed by the Phoenix.
| Super Name: | Banshee |
| Real Name: | Sean Cassidy |
| Aliases: |
Sean Cassidy Madame Banshee Irish |
| Publisher: | Marvel Publishing |
| Gender: | Male |
| Character Type: | Mutant |
| 1st Appearance: | X-Men #28 |
| Appears in: | 255 issues |
| Birthday: | |
| Died: |
|
Generation X
Before We ever seen the X-men on the Big screen Marvel Gave Us a 1996 made for Tv movie Called Generation-X. This group of young ...
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