The Banshee is one of the types of ghosts found in the recent indie hit, Phasmophobia, thought the monster has been featured in various games and media for a long time. Its famous for its shrieking cry, and ghostly, feminine appearance. From Runescape to World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons to Fable, the banshee has lent its name to the horrific reaper hybrids in Mass Effect 3, and vehicles in the Halo series. It has been a species, a power, a ghost, a supervillian, a battle suit and an an antagonist throughout its media lifetime.

But where did it come from?

A Banshee is attributed to the Irish, its name is a romanization of ben síde, and the Scottish ban sith which translates roughly to “fairy woman” or “woman of fairyland”. Despite being named as a fairy, the banshee still tends to have a ghostly appearance, and opinions vary on in the creature is a true fairy, or a ghost of sorts. The image varies between a spectral appearance, an old withered woman, and a young lady. Most feature eyes reddened from continually weeping. How a banshee looks is not as important as what the banshee does.

Famous for its loud, ear-splitting cry, banshee’s keen as a sign of coming doom. According to lore the banshee is not a creature that is inherently antagonistic. To be more accurate, the banshee is a death omen, heralding the coming of the end, but not the cause of it. The intensity of a banshee cry is ear-splitting, audible for miles and full of mournful sorrow. It cries beneath the windows of houses soon to be struck by tragedy, the wails a warning to be watchful, and get ones affairs in order. It cries at the river, washing blood from its robe, or armor for those unlucky enough to see it. Seeing a banshee, rather than hearing it, is seen as an omen of the viewers death. The nature of a banshee as a death omen has not always translated well into its modern versions, and many games feature it as a ghostly enemy, the cause of death, rather than a supernatural alarm.

Phasmophobia banshees are a good example of this twist in the original lore. Each ghost you hunt in the game will try to kill you while you wander the house, finding clues to help you understand the nature of the spirit haunting it. Each ghost has its own particular special trait, and the banshee’s is at least a nod to the origin. The banshee picks one player, and focuses on them as their extra special favorite, the one they always try to kill, are more active around, and will seek out even when others are easier to hunt. This hat-tip to banshee’s being single-mindedly focused, one player among a possible for having their doom foretold. We see a similar slant towards doom foretelling in the Teen Wolf version of a banshee, where the ability to see a coming death is an ability with the name, and shares little else.

While Phasmophobia features the banshee’s selective nature, most other representations of a banshee favor its ghostly appearance, and shrieking cry. Runescape, World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons, the Final Fantasy franchises and many more depict banshee’s as undead, typically spectral in nature, with some weaponized wail. As a nod to the fairy folk, many of these also make banshees the lamenting, angry spirit of a dead elf, which are traditionally fae in nature.

Addmittedly, my favorite version of a banshee is the sci-fi version from Mass Effect 3. These banshees are corrupted Ardak-Yakshi, a specific Asari mutation. That reason I enjoy them so much has a lot to do with its atmosphere, and with a banshee’s cry being its calling card, that cry, atmosphere is important. The Asari are the all-female figured race of the franchise, and are the most elf-like. They live long lives, have a unique and powerful connection to space-magic, and are figures of grace and knowledge. The Reaper corruption is about as close to undead as one can get in this universe, and these Asari get transformed into large, thin, shrieking powerhouses. They are hard to kill, boasting teleportation, one hit kills, and powerful biotics. But the cry. The Mass Effect banshee’s wail isn’t damaging, though its cry is also timed with its more powerful abilities. There is few enemies more dangerous than the banshee, and its cry carries. Nothing has filled me with more dread in that game than hearing that cry and knowing a Banshee had entered the arena. Its echo carries, the sound design of it adding that much more dread in encountering this dangerous creature.

The banshee is a long-standing, and often vilified creature of lore. From omen of death, to vicious killer, what’s your favorite banshee?