BANSHEE
Earth-295

Real Name: Sean Cassidy

Occupation: Freedom fighter

Group Membership: X-Men (Blink/Clarice Ferguson, Exodus/Bennett du Paris, Dazzler/Alison Blaire, Iceman/Bobby Drake, Magneto/Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, Morph/Kevin Sydney, Nightcrawler/Kurt Darkholme, Quicksilver/Pietro Maximoff, Rogue/Anna Marie Lensherr, Sabretooth/Victor Creed, Storm/Ororo Munroe, Sunfire/Shiro Yoshida, Wild Child/Kyle Gibney)

Affiliations: Bishop, Destiny (Irene Adler), Charles Lensherr, Jamie Madrox, Nanny, Sentinel fleet

Enemies: Abyss (Nils Styger), Apocalypse (En Sabah Nur), Brotherhood of Chaos (Arclight, Copycat/Vanessa Carlysle, Madison Jeffries, Spyne, Yeti), Infinites (prelate Delgado, unidentified others), Madri

Known Relatives: Terry Rourke (daughter, deceased), Maeve Rourke (wife, deceased), Black Tom Cassidy (cousin)

Aliases: "Irish" (nickname used by Abyss)

Base of Operations: formerly the Xavier Estate, Dead Zone (once known as Westchester, New York);
    formerly the underground X-Compound, Kentucky;
    formerly the mountains of New Mexico;
    formerly Mount Wundagore, Transia;
    formerly Cassidy Keep, County Mayo, Ireland

First Appearance: Astonishing X-Men I#1 (March, 1995)

Powers/Abilities: Banshee's mutant powers revolved around his control of sound. His primary ability, acoustikinesis, allowed him to create powerful sonic waves with his voice. His devastating sonic scream could shatter solid objects and let him propel himself through the air at subsonic speeds by "gliding" over soundwaves. Banshee could scramble electronic systems with a high pitch wail or disorient large groups by affecting their inner ear balance. He could also knock people out by by manipulating the fluid in their ear. Banshee had superhuman vocal stamina, allowing his lungs, throat, and vocal cords to withstand extreme strain. He was immune to the effects of his own powers and could project his "wail" while also carrying on a conversation. Banshee was an experienced fighter and a trained police officer with an expertise in forensics. 

Height: 6'0"
Weight: 170 lbs.
Eyes: Green
Hair: Strawberry blond

History:

(Amazing X-Men I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Former Interpol agent Sean Cassidy found himself joining Magneto's X-Men during the early days of Apocalypse's rise to power. Using his vocal powers as Banshee, Cassidy served Magneto for years, but he finally tired of constant combat and was granted early retirement (see comments).

(Amazing X-Men I#2 (fb) - BTS) - Faced with multiple crises including the mutant Bishop's claims that this reality was never supposed to be, Magneto needed all the help he could get. He put out a call to Cassidy, imploring him to temporarily return to active duty by telling him it's "better to die on your feet than live on your knees". Unable to refuse an old friend in his time of need, Sean dusted off his Banshee costume and reported to the X-Men's hidden base on the Xavier Estate in the Dead Zone.

(Astonishing X-Men I#1) - Later that night, Sean attended Magneto's briefing during which he and the other X-Men learned of Bishop's claims that their reality was a mistake that needed to be corrected. While the team tried to swallow the notion that their entire life might be the result of a cosmic mistake, Blink and Sunfire teleported in from their scouting mission to Chicago which ended in a major battle against Apocalypse's forces. Before Blink could close her portal, prelate Delgado poked his head through to determine he location of the X-Men's base. Blink closed the portal, killing Delgado in the process. She and Sunfire then reported their findings: the cullings have resumed on a massive scale, carried out by Holocaust himself.

(Amazing X-Men I#1 (fb) - BTS) - While Rogue and her team of X-Men flew to Chicago in their shuttle to try and stop Holocaust, Banshee joined Quicksilver's squad as his second in command in preparation for a very different mission. They were tasked by Magneto to go to Maine to help the Eurasian Human High Council evacuate as many humans as possible. Magneto had agreed to assist their approaching Sentinel evacuation fleet which was bound to arrive in Maine.

(Amazing X-Men I#1 - BTS) - Because Sentinels were programmed to attack all mutants, the X-Men first had to introduce a computer virus into their mainframes that would cloak them from their sensors. The team devised a strategy to breach the robot's defenses, using Dazzler's hard light powers to practice on a Sentinel she generated. The plan started with Banshee using his high pitched wails to scrambled their opponent's electronic systems long enough for the others to breach the mainframe and insert the disc with the virus.

(Amazing X-Men I#1) - After three trial runs, observed by Bishop, young Charles Lensherr and his robotic Nanny, they continuously came up up a few seconds short which troubled the team. If they couldn't render themselves invisible to the Sentinels, they could not carry out their work. The dilemma made Sean regret his decision to come out of retirement. However, Magneto would hear nothing of his team's excuses. He ordered them to Maine, which was Iceman's cue to start converting everyone's matter to moisture so he could fast travel with them.

(Amazing X-Men I#1) - Banshee's shriek shattered his teammate's icy tendrils before they could touch him. In his experience, that method of travel proved too draining for everyone. He proposed that the team's fliers carried the others. That was vetoed by Magneto who instead allowed Exodus to remember that his powers included teleportation. Exodus transported everyone to the woods of Maine where they soon ran into the thousands of human refugees headed for the evacuation zone.

(Amazing X-Men I#1 - BTS) - Banshee and the others waited with the evacuees while Storm took down the defense monitoring tower off the coast of Newfoundland to allow the Sentinel fleet to pass by undetected. They were unaware that the Madri and the Brotherhood of Chaos were hiding among them.

(Amazing X-Men I#1) - When the Sentinel fleet arrived, the X-Men were forced to improvise to try and get the virus into the robots' mainframe. They were successful, though the Sentinels still attacked and destroyed Iceman. Much to their horror, they realized the technopathic Brotherhood member Madison Jeffries had altered the disc's programming to recognize the Brotherhood as friendlies instead. The Brotherhood ordered them to surrender.

(Amazing X-Men I#2) - Unimpressed by the Brotherhood's threats, Banshee had Exodus fire several blasts that dispersed their foes. Then Storm returned, blanketing the area with cascade lightning that interrupted the approaching Sentinels. This bought Banshee time to go after the Madri priest who was trying to escape back to his ship. Banshee flew through the woods trying to locate the vessel, ultimately stumbling upon the craft and finding the Madri had been murdered and crucified. Banshee wanted to investigate, but was then faced by Abyss, Apocalypse's newest Horseman who happily admitted he'd slaughtered the Madri for failing in his mission. Abyss horrified Banshee by revealing he held one of the human refugee children captive inside his body. Sean offered himself for the child's freedom, but Abyss explained he wanted Quicksilver because he "had a score to settle with that arrogant speedster."

On his way back to the others, Banshee witnessed Abyss' power when the villain sent out a psionic tremor that caused the human refugees extreme agony. Part of Sean was glad that he wasn't the one who had to face the villain. After telling Quicksilver about the Horseman and his demands, Pietro wanted to go alone, but Storm insisted that she accompanied him.

(Amazing X-Men I#2 - BTS) - Quicksilver and Storm freed the child and defeated Abyss by making him turn in on himself. The X-Men then reunited the boy, Jeremy Graves, with his parents, while they assisted with the ongoing Sentinel evacuation effort.

(Amazing X-Men I#3 - BTS) - The X-Men used the Madri's ship to fly back to the Xavier Estate, unaware that the place had been attacked by Apocalypse and his Infinites who kidnapped Magneto and Bishop.

(Amazing X-Men I#3) - When Banshee and the others landed, they immediately spotted the signs of battle, ultimately finding Magneto's abandoned helmet among the destroyed Infinites. Iceman discovered the corpse of the teleporting Infinite Vanisher in the Morlock tunnels. Banshee examined the remains and concluded he died from laser fire that could only have come from Nanny's weapons array. Quicksilver ordered Exodus and Dazzler into the tunnels to look for Charles and sent out Iceman to find Rogue.

(Amazing X-Men I#3 - BTS) - Banshee and Storm waited at the estate while Quicksilver rushed out to Apocalypse Island to shake down renowned information peddler Angel (Warren Worthington) for any clues on Magneto and Bishop's whereabouts.

(Amazing X-Men I#3) - Quicksilver returned to Banshee and Storm with troubling information: Bishop and Magneto had been separated, forcing him to choose whether to save his father or a stranger. Because he knew Bishop was vitally important to Magneto's plans, he took Banshee and Storm to Quebec where Bishop was being interrogated at the Madri Temple.

(Amazing X-Men I#4) - While Storm freed Bishop from the religious order, Banshee and Quicksilver sneaked into the temple to look for Jamie Madrox, whose mutant cloning abilities were used by Apocalypse to create the Madri. Banshee made short work of the guard when he knocked him out by scrambling the fluids in his inner ear with a hypersonic signal.

(Amazing X-Men I#4) - When they encountered Madrox, mentally addled and barely functional as a result of extensive experimentation, Banshee wondered if they had the right to kill a helpless man even if it meant ending the threat of the Madri. Before they could continue this ethical discussion,  they were attacked by Abyss who had been tasked by Apocalypse to oversee Bishop's questioning. Abyss gleefully mocked Banshee for all the fear he sensed in him, revealing he was terrified of "dying and living and everything in between". Banshee girded himself, firing back that a man with no fear is a foolish man.

(Amazing X-Men I#4) - When Abyss continued to taunt them with threats of their impending deaths, Banshee got fed up. He ordered Quicksilver to get Madrox and the others to safety. Then, conquering his own fear of death, he dove into the form of the perplexed Abyss where he unleashed the full force of his wail. Banshee's continued sonic shrieks tore up the villain's insides, seemingly killing Abyss and trapping Sean Cassidy inside the pocket dimension.

(Age of Apocalypse I# 2 & 3 (fb) - BTS) - Eventually, Sugar Man and Dark Beast recovered genetic material from Sean Cassidy and several other deceased mutants to create clones. The villains then decided which ones they were going to properly resurrect using energy they fed off of the Celestial lifeseed. Banshee never made the cut.

(Strange Academy I#14 (fb) ) - Jericho Drumm showed his class at Strange Academy images of Earth-295 during the Age of Apocalypse as part of his lesson on time travel and the major impact even minor changes can have. The school's time travel advisory prohibited students from visiting Earth-295 during the Age of Apocalypse without a faculty member or sorcerer present.

(Rise of the Powers of X I#5) - Banshee was among the many deceased mutants from countless realities whose souls were summoned to the White Hot Room by Earth-616's Jean Grey to help her and the Phoenix finally defeat the multiverse spanning threat of Nathaniel Essex.

Comments: Created by Roy Thomas, Werner Roth, Dick Ayers;
    adapted by Scott Lobdell, Joe Madureira, Dan Green & Tim Townsend.

Considering Earth-295's divergence point from Earth-616 is the death of Charles Xavier, this means that technically Earth-295's Banshee largely had the same past as his Earth-616 counterpart. However, since this has not (yet) been confirmed on panel, it's not included in the profile.

As such, not much is known about Banshee's time with the X-Men. He must have served a good long while if he was already retired by the time Age of Apocalypse got underway. However, it's hard to tell who he served with because he's never included in any of the flashback stories set before X-Men: Alpha. The only glimpse we got was a throwaway panel from Strange Academy I#14 which saw Banshee serve on a team with Blink, Iceman, Morph, Rogue, Sabretooth, Sunfire, Storm and Wild Child.

Also... where in the world (literally) would the man have retired to? Apocalypse controls at least half of North America, there are active cullings going on left and right, every mutant inevitably gets targeted and he can't even go home to Cassidy Keep because of the Great Atlantic Sea Wall. It's enough to make you scream...

If you ask me (and of course you didn't) it would have made more sense if Banshee had retired from active duty to help Colossus and Shadowcat train the next generation of mutants over in the Rockies. That would have explained Magneto's odd decision in Generation Next I#1 to drop everything in the middle of a crisis to travel cross country to Colorado. If Banshee had been stationed there, he wouldn't simply have showed up to give Kitty and Peter their marching orders in person. It would also better explain why Banshee suddenly showed up in time for Magneto's big speech in Astonishing X-Men I#1.

But I can see why the creators might have decided against this: it would have made Earth-295's Banshee too similar to his 616 counterpart who had just started teaching Generation X.

All locations mentioned are Earth-295, unless otherwise specified.

Profile by Norvo

CLARIFICATIONS:
Banshee of Earth-295 should not be confused with

• Banshee of Earth-616, the original Sean Cassidy--X-Men I#28
• Banshee of Earth-10579, Theresa Rourke taking up the mantle--What If II#9
  
• Banshee, gunslinger from the Old West--Wild Western I#39/2
• or any other "Banshee" characters

Images: (without ads)
Amazing X-Men I#4, p15, pan3 (main)
Amazing X-Men I#1, p6, pan4 (close up)
Amazing X-Men I#2, p10, pan4 (flying)
Amazing X-Men I#3, p15, pan3 (examining Vanisher)
Amazing X-Men I#4, p17, pans1&2 (sacrifice)
Age of Apocalypse I#3, p6, pan2 (clone)

Appearances:
Astonishing X-Men I#1 (March, 1995) - Scott Lobdell (writer), Joe Madureira (pencils), Dan Green & Tim Townsend (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Amazing X-Men I#1 (March, 1995) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Amazing X-Men I#2 (April, 1995) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Amazing X-Men I#3 (May, 1995) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Amazing X-Men I#4 (June, 1995) - Fabian Nicieza (writer), Andy Kubert (pencils), Matt Ryan (inks), Bob Harras (editor)
Age of Apocalypse I#2 (June, 2012) - David Lapham (writer), Roberto De La Torre (pencils & inks), Jody LeHeup & Nick Lowe (editors)
Age of Apocalypse I#3 (July, 2012) - David Lapham (writer), Roberto De La Torre (pencils & inks), Jody LeHeup & Nick Lowe (editors)
Strange Academy I#14 (February, 2022) - Skottie Young (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils & inks), Tom Groneman & Nick Lowe (editors)
Rise of the Powers of X I#5 (July, 2024) - Kieron Gillen (writer), Luciano Vecchio (pencils & inks), Jordan D. White, Lauren Amaro (editors)

First Posted: 01/04/2025
Last Updated: 01/06/2025

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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