Real name: Sean Cassidy Other known aliases: None Occupation: Teacher and hero. Current group affiliation: Generation X (co-leader). Past group affiliations: X-Men, Factor Three Major enemies: Ogre, Black Tom Cassidy. First appearance: X-Men #28 Origin: Description: Sean is a man in his early 40's with green eyes and blonde hair. He stands 6' tall and weighs 170 lbs.
Characteristics
10 STR 0
14 DEX 12
13 CON 6
12 BODY 4
13 INT 3
14 EGO 8
13 PRE 3
14 COM 2
7 PD 5
6 ED 3
4 SPD 16
8 REC 6
26 END 0
24 STUN 0
Characteristics Cost: 68
Powers, Skills and Equipment
15 Sonar
20 EC (Sonics) (30),Restrainable(-1/2)
20a) 12D6 EB (Sonics),vs physical defense 6
15b) 3D6 Flash,Hearing Group,Linked(-1/2),"to Energy Blast.",0
END(+1/2) 0
18c) 18" Flight (Sonics),x64 Non-Combat,Concentrate(-1/4) 4
5 5 Flash Defense,Hearing Group
15 5/5 Force Field (Sonics),0 END(+1/2) 0
5 8 Mental Defense
4 +7 PRE,"Booming Voice",Concentrate(-1/4),Only to effect
people, not to resist.(-1/2)
3 Ultra Hearing (Sonics)
3 Bugging 12-
3 Bureaucratics 12-
3 Climbing 12-
3 Computer Programming 12-
3 Concealment 12-
3 Conversation 12-
3 Criminology 12-
3 Deduction 12-
3 Electronics 11-
3 Forgery 11-
4 2 Levels: with EB.
3 Mechanics 11-
3 Navigation 11-
3 Paramedic 12-
3 Streetwise 12-
3 Stealth 12-
3 Tactics 12-
2 WF,Small Arms
8 4/4 Armor,OIF(-1/2)
Powers Cost: 182
Disadvantages
Base Points: 100
5 Distinctive,"Irish accent.",easily concealable,minor
10 Distinctive,"Mutant",easily concealable,major
20 Hunted,"by mutant hating groups",as powerful,non-combat
influence,harsh,appear 11-
20 Normal Stats
15 Psych Lim,"Code vs. killing.",common,strong
20 Psych Lim,"Protective of Generation X.",very common,strong
5 Rivalry,"With White Queen.",professional
15 Secret ID,"Sean Cassady"
10 Unluck,2D6
Disadvantages Total: 120
Experience Spent: 30
Total Points: 250
Explanation of the conversion:
History: Sean Cassidy was born as the heir to the castle and estate of Cassidy Keep, Ireland, as well as a small fortune. After graduating from Trinity College, Dublin, with the degree of Bachelor of Science, Cassidy became a detective at Interpol, the international law enforcement organization. By the time he married Maeve Rourke, Cassidy had risen to the rank of Inspector at Interpol. Although Cassidy had discovered his mutant powers in his adolescence, he kept them secret, even from the rest of Interpol.
However, Cassidy's powers were known to his disreputable cousin Black Tom Cassidy, who had discovered that he himself was a superhumanly powerful mutant. Sean and Black Tom had long been rivals, especially over the love of Maeve Rourke,
before she ultimately married Sean.
Sean Cassidy was assigned by Interpol to a top secret mission which required that he stay out of touch with his family for a considerable amount of time. When he left on the mission, Maeve was in her first month of pregnancy, although neither Tom nor Maeve knew it at the time. Their daughter, Theresa, was born during
Sean's absence. Maeve took the infant Theresa with her on a visit to her
relatives in Armagh in Northern Ireland. While she was there, Maeve,
an innocent bystander, was killed by an explosion caused by
terrorists. No trace of Theresa was found by the authorities, and
they and Maeve's relatives assumed that Theresa had also been killed
in the explosion. In fact, however, Black Tom Cassidy had been
present at the scene of the explosion and had secretly carried
Theresa off with him. Black Tom suspected that Theresa might develop
superhuman mutant powers as she grew older, and therefore he intended
to raise her secretly so that he might exploit her powers himself.
On returning from his mission, Sean Cassidy was informed that his
wife was dead. Those who knew that Theresa had been born decided not
to inform Sean Cassidy that Maeve had had a daughter in order to
spare him further grief. At first Cassidy attempted to escape his
despair over this news by throwing himself into his work at Interpol.
Eventually, however, the still melancholy Cassidy left Interpol to
become a freelance operative, and as time went on, he found himself
engaged in criminal activities. The legal authorities never
discovered that Cassidy was guilty of crimes, but the mutant known as
the Changeling did, thanks to the technology of the subversive
organization of superhumanly powerful mutants and their underlings
known as Factor Three. The Changeling contacted
Cassidy, whom Factor Three's technology had also identified as a
superhumanly powerful mutant, and invited him to join the
organization. Cassidy was appalled upon learning of Factor Three's
goals and adamantly refused. However, the Changeling and his
superior, the so-called Mutant Master, agreed that Cassidy's powers
and knowledge of the workings of law enforcement agencies were too
valuable for Factor Three to lose, and so they sent their agents to
capture Cassidy. Factor Three had a headband containing explosives
placed around Cassidy's head. If Cassidy defied their orders, the
headband could be detonated by remote control; it would also detonate
if Cassidy attempted to remove the headband himself. Furthermore,
Factor Three put Cassidy, who went by the code name of Banshee, under
the supervision of one of their trusted human agents, the Ogre. The
Banshee thus felt forced to obey Factor Three's commands, and,
accompanied by the Ogre, performed various criminal missions for the
organization.
While in New York City on a mission for Factor Three, the Banshee
clashed with the original X-Men, who captured both him and the Ogre.
The X-Men's leader, Professor Charles Xavier, used a psionic "mental
bolt" on the Banshee's headband which prevented the detonation
mechanism from functioning so that the Banshee could remove it. Once freed
of the headband, the Banshee told the X-Men
all that he knew about Factor Three. Later, the Banshee discovered
Factor Three's secret European headquarters, only to be recaptured.
But the Banshee participated in the X-Men's battle with the Mutant
Master, and it was the Banshee's powers which exposed the Mutant
Master as an extraterrestrial.
The Banshee returned to an honest life, and time passed without
major incident for him, except for his brief captivities by the
Sentinels, and by the second Secret Empire. Professor Xavier later
invited the Banshee to join the X-Men when he was recruiting new
members to battle the menace of Krakoa. The Banshee
remained in the X-Men for some time. It was during this time that he
met Xavier's silent partner, the Scots geneticist Moira MacTaggert.
Cassidy and MacTaggert soon fell in love, but while Cassidy was based
at Xavier's mansion, MacTaggert was based at her mutant research
center on Muir Island off the coast of Scotland.
While in Japan the X-Men found themselves in battle with Moses
Magnum, a criminal mastermind who had been endowed with psionic power
to cause earthquakes. Magnum unleashed tremendous psionic energy in an
attempt to create seismic waves great enough to cause a chain reaction
that would destroy Japan. The Banshee simultaneously used his powers
to create waves of vibratory force that would cancel out the waves of
force that Magnum was creating. The Banshee succeeded to the extent
that only small uninhabited islands in the vicinity of Magnum's base
were destroyed. However, the tremendous strain that the Banshee had
placed upon his powers in performing this heroic feat seriously
damaged his vocal cords. Cassidy soon regained his ability to speak,
but his superhuman sonic powers, which were dependent on his vocal
cords, appeared to have been destroyed.
Cassidy accompanied the X-Men to Muir Island where they battled the
menace of Proteus, Moira MacTaggert's mutant son, who at one point
took his mother prisoner. Proteus was defeated, and the
experience of seeing the woman he loved in danger made Cassidy realize
that he wanted to stay by her side. Therefore, Cassidy retired from
the X-Men, and he and Moira MacTaggert divided their time between
Cassidy Keep and Muir Island. Cassidy briefly returned to aid the
X-Men against operatives of Arcade during an emergency situation when
most of the X-Men were simultaneously engaged in conflict with an
android which Doctor Doom had created in his own image.
Later, the X-Men battled Black Tom Cassidy, his partner the Juggernaut, and Theresa, who had developed sonic powers of her own, which she used under the alias of Siryn. Theresa felt obliged by her
duty toward Black Tom, the man who had raised her (and whom she called "uncle" out of respect, although they are actually cousins), to assist him in his crimes. After they were defeated by the X-Men, Black Tom gave Theresa a letter to Sean, explaining that she was his daughter. Sean and Theresa were joyfully united at Xavier's mansion.
Banshee is now the co-headmaster at the Massachusetts Academy, where he teaches young mutants in the use of their powers alongside Emma Frost.
Note: In the alternate future that Phoenix III comes from Banshee was the head of the New Mutants when she was a member.
Note: In the alternate time line depicted in New Warriors #11 to #13 Sean was a member of the mutant underground lead by Magneto.
Powers: Sean Cassidy is a mutant who has the same powers as his daughter Siryn, but who cannot use them in as many
ways as she can. His powers function in the same way that hers do: he creates powerful sonic waves with his voice with which he can achieve various effects, often with the assistance of limited psionic abilities which function only in unison with his sonic power. The Banshee can use his sonic powers to propel himself through the air in flight, to shatter solid objects.
Links to other Banshee pages:
Character created by Marvel Comics.
Champions rules conversion by Mathew R. Ignash - mathewignash@comcast.net.
Last Updated - September, 2002
Note: In the 1996 Generation X film Banshee was played by Jeremy Ratchford.
