History Main / OurBansheesAreLouder

* In ''Manga/TheAncientMagusBride'', Silver Lady was originally a banshee who's entire clan died and thus herself was on the verge of death until Spriggan took her to Elias' house when it was under the care of another who followed the old ways and transformed into a [[HouseFey silky]].

* Franchise/DCComics has Jeanette, of the Comicbook/SecretSix, and Franchise/{{Superman}}'s foe the Silver Banshee. The banshee of the DCU are typically mystical in origin, receiving immortality, superstrength, and a hideous scream that can kill those who hear it.
** In order to affect you, Silver Banshee has to know your TrueName. Her power doesn't work on Superman because she doesn't know his birth name is neither Superman nor Clark Kent, but Kal-El -- or, at least, it won't kill him, but it will intense pain. An absurdly loud sound, at close ranges, being heard by someone whose ears are sensitive enough to pick up a whisper from across the city? ''Not fun.'' However, if she ''does'' know your true name, her scream is less "standard sonic attack" and more "BrownNote as you're forced to relive her botched beheading".
** In ComicBook/TheNew52, Silver Banshee gets reimagined, this time a girl who inherited [[CursedWithAwesome a family curse]], and became a friend of Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}. She retains the hideous scream, which now [[MakeMeWannaShout lays waste to anything around]], but also gets the power to speak any language, even alien or animal, after hearing only a few words. Her father, who she inherited the curse from, became one of the undead, feeding on others' souls.

* Creator/MarvelComics' Banshee was a male mutant with yelling and [[NotQuiteFlight bizarre flight powers]]. His daughter, incidentally, was originally called Siryn. Having accepted her father's death, Siryn has [[LegacyCharacter taken on his name]] -- including a LampshadeHanging that she was never quite sure why he named himself after a female spirit in the first place. ''ComicBook/XMen'' writer Roy Thomas actually meant for Banshee to be a woman, but Creator/StanLee decided that a male character would be better. When Siryn was created, Thomas' reaction was "that was what Banshee was supposed to look like all along!" So, with Siryn's taking on the name, the Banshee he'd created has finally arrived... and it only took thirty years. But hey, {{Legacy Character}}s can take a while.

[[folder:Fanfic]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'' represented menopause as a banshee with sharp teeth. However, she is nice and friendly (if a bit wild and frightening, much like the kids' hormone monsters), and she advises Barbara that this next chapter of life is ''hers'' to live. (And that she can now enjoy sex without having to worry about getting pregnant again.) She helps Barbara to stand up for herself, and to escape from a sinkhole that ended up destroying half of [[OnlyInFlorida Florida].

* In ''WesternAnimation/RoswellConspiracies'' Banshees are an all female race of aliens with the ability to fly and shoot energy blasts. They also have the ability to tell when a person is in danger of being killed.

* ''Shadowfae'', by Erica Hayes, features banshees with [[EnthrallingSiren siren-like abilities]]. These banshees seem to be a type of [[TheFairFolk fae]] with a [[MagicMusic magical affinity]] for sound rather than death, although they can kill with a [[MusicalAssassin song]] or [[MakeMeWannaShout scream]] if they want to. They can also cast a variety of spells through song, [[CompellingVoice manipulate humans]], and secrete venom from beneath their tongues that they can use as an [[KissOfDeath additional weapon]] besides their voices. Their magical affinity for sound gives them [[SuperSenses preternatural hearing]] but also gives them the ability to [[RequiredSecondaryPowers filter sounds so they don't get overwhelmed by auditory stimuli]], as well as enhancements to their inner ear that give them extraordinary balance and agility. They all look like attractive human women, but with unusually colored [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair hair]] and [[TechnicolorEyes eyes]], and usually their eyes and hair are of different but unnaturally bright neon or metallic colors. They are known for being violent, lustful, and usually [[AxCrazy just a little psychotic]], and in one book, a banshee is employed as an enforcer and bodyguard for a supernatural version of the mob. They are born with innately magical voices, but their magic can be taken from them by some other kinds of supernatural beings who [[PowersAsPrograms use the banshee's voice magic for themselves]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' features a villainous banshee who is one of [[TheFairFolk Oberon's Children]]. She has a small cameo in a second season episode when she refuses to answer Oberon's summons; as punishment, she's dragged back by the Weird Sisters and gagged indefinitely.

* In ''Webcomic/TalesOfTheQuestor'', the banshee are ghostly revenants who also serve as [[http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00485.html heralds and messengers the Unseleighe court]], and also [[http://www.rhjunior.com/totq/00461.html mark the course of a Wild Hunt.]]

** Another potential source of inspiration for the Banshee's blood curdling screams comes in the form of the screeches and screams of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl barn owl,]] one of the most common owls and most widespread birds on Earth. Since barn owls have a thick layer of feathers that helps them hunt almost completely silently, someone walking in the dark would likely have no idea they were in the company of a barn owl and his or her mate or offspring until they heard its screams. Considering that these calls can be quite prolonged, especially if the owl is agitated, it's quite easy to imagine that wanderer being scared out of their skin by the sudden noise. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHz2FTZadqQ Here's a healthy adult female barn owl giving her best scream.]] Now imagine ''that'' [[NightmareFuel sound]] coming out of nowhere in the dead of night. Sweet dreams.

Here we have the ghostly women who originate from Myth/CelticMythology. They are usually noted for their voices, which are either [[OneWomanWail hauntingly hypnotic wails]], or blood-curdling screams. Traditionally, hearing a banshee wail is a PortentOfDoom, though this is often SadlyMythtaken for the wail itself being a [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic attack]] or BrownNote that ''causes'' death, which to be honest is [[RuleOfCool a lot cooler]] and [[RuleOfScary a lot scarier]], and makes for an actual legitimate antagonist.

** Another potential source of inspiration for the Banshee's blood curdling screams comes in the form of the screeches and screams of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl barn owl,]] one of the most common owls and most widespread birds on Earth. Since barn owls have a thick layer of feathers that helps them hunt almost completely silently, someone walking in the dark would likely have no idea they were in the company of a barn owl and his or her mate or offspring until they heard its screams. Considering that these calls can be quite prolonged, especially if the owl is agitated, it's quite easy to imagine that wanderer being scared out of their skin by the sudden noise. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHz2FTZadqQ Here's a healthy adult female barn owl giving her best scream.]]

* Creator/MarvelComics' Banshee was a male mutant with yelling and [[NotQuiteFlight bizarre flight powers]]. His daughter, incidentally, was originally called Siryn. Having accepted her father's death, Siryn has [[LegacyCharacter taken on his name]] -- including a LampshadeHanging that she was never quite sure why he named himself after a female spirit in the first place. ''ComicBook/XMen'' writer Roy Thomas actually meant for Banshee to be a woman, but Creator/StanLee decided that a male character would be better. When Siryn was created, Thomas' reaction was "that was what Banshee was supposed to look like all along!" So, with Siryn's taking on the name, the Banshee he'd created has finally arrived... and it only took thirty years. But hey, {{Legacy Character}}s can take a while.

* ''ComicBook/DeathVigil'': Banshees' screams are enough to blow Sam halfway across a graveyard and paralyze him until Bernie intervenes.

* ''VideoGame/{{Archon}}'' features the Banshee as a Dark unit, the equivalent to Light's Phoenix in mechanics while being the strategic opposite of the Valkyrie. Both are fast moving units with an area of effect attack to damage foes- represented as the Banshee's wail with an accompanying single pitch note. While not as powerful as the Phoenix's immolation burst, it compensates by letting the Banshee move during the attack.

* ''WesternAnimation/RoswellConspiracies'' has a banshee as a main character.

* In [[Myth/CelticMythology Irish and Scottish folklore]], the banshee (or ''[[SpellMyNameWithAnS bean-sidhe]]'') is a [[TheFairFolk fairy-woman]] and often guardian spirit of the old Gaelic families who can [[PortentOfDoom foretell death]] in "her" family; she [[HowlOfSorrow wails]] and [[OneWomanWail cries]] through the night to warn the family that one of them will soon die; if the family hears her crying three nights in a row, they know that they should begin planning a funeral. As she can foretell death in the family that she protects, the banshee is also [[DeathWail grieving]] with the family as well as warning them of impending death. When multiple ''mná-sídhe'' (plural of ''bean-sidhe'') are heard wailing at once, it foretells the death of an important political or religious figure. She is heard more often than seen, and most often the banshee is depicted as old and menacing, but she can also appear as a strikingly beautiful woman of any age that suits her.

** Another potential source of inspiration for the Banshee's blood curdling screams comes in the form of the screeches and screams of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn_owl Barn owl]], one of the most common owls and most widespread birds on Earth. Since barn owls have a thick layer of feathers that helps them hunt almost completely silently, someone walking in the dark would likely have no idea they were in the company of a barn owl and his or her mate or offspring until they heard its screams. Considering that these calls can be quite prolonged, especially if the owl is agitated, it's quite easy to imagine that wanderer being scared out of their skin by the sudden noise. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHz2FTZadqQ Here's a healthy adult female barn owl giving her best scream.]]

* ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'' has the Cyhyraeth, a notorious BeefGate with incredibly powerful attacks, the ability to inflict the Curse status, and a slew of resistances that cover most available early-game weaponry and Shards.

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'': The ''Blood and Wine'' expansion has banshees as enemies. [[PaletteSwap Appearance-wise and in functionally]] they are a specter enemy similar to higher wraiths like the noon and night variant, but with a sonic scream that can stun Geralt and the ability to [[MookMaker summon skeletons]] to harass him. Lorewise they are closer to the original folklore: they are drawn to death and misfortune and weep over it, but despite not being particularly malicious they are still considered a bad omen.

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'': The ''Blood and Wine'' expansion has banshees as enemies. [[PalleteSwap Appearance-wise and in functionally]] they are a specter enemy similar to higher wraiths like the noon and night variant, but with a sonic scream that can stun Geralt and the ability to [[MookMaker summon skeletons]] to harass him. Lorewise they are closer to the original folklore: they are drawn to death and misfortune and weep over it, but despite not being particularly malicious they are still considered a bad omen.

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'': The ''Blood and Wine'' expansion has banshees as enemies. Functionally they are a specter enemy similar to higher wraiths like the noon and night variant, but with a sonic scream that can stun Geralt and the ability to [[MookMaker summon skeletons]] to harass him. Lorewise they are closer to the original folklore: they are drawn to death and misfortune and weep over it, but despite not being particularly malicious they are still considered a bad omen.

** "Keen" comes from the Gaelic verb "caoin", meaning "to cry/weep, to mourn" and its active article "caoineadh" ("weeping", "crying", "wailing") can also be translated as "elegy/lament". The caoineadh itself was often composed and performed in an improvised way, with at least one keening woman (bean chaointe) hired to lead the rest of the mourners, who generally joined with the chorus. The caoineadh generally consisted of [[StockCharacter stock poetic]] elements (the genealogy of the deceased, praise for the deceased, emphasis on the sorrow of those left behind etc.) set to vocal lament. [[http://www.keeningwake.com/keening-tradition/ The few people who have heard the last of the professional keening-women describe and even imitate them here.]]

** "Keen" comes from the Gaelic verb "caoin", meaning "to cry/weep, to mourn" and its active article "caoineadh" ("weeping", "crying", "wailing") can also be translated as "elegy/lament". The caoineadh itself was often composed and performed in an improvised way, with at least one keening woman (bean chaointe) hired to lead the rest of the mourners, who generally joined with the chorus. The caoineadh generally consisted of [[StockCharacter stock poetic]] elements (the genealogy of the deceased, praise for the deceased, emphasis on the sorrow of those left behind etc.) set to vocal lament.

Here we have the ghostly women who originate from Myth/CelticMythology. They are usually noted for their voices, which are either [[OneWomanWail hauntingly hypnotic wails]], or blood-curdling screams. Traditionally, hearing a banshee wail is a PortentOfDoom, though this is often SadlyMythtaken for the wail itself being a [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic attack]] or BrownNote that ''causes'' death, which to be honest is [[RuleOfCool a lot cooler]] and [[RuleOfScary a lot scarier]].

They are also prominent in Irish legends, where many of the more well-known banshee stories come from, as being a type of fairy typically connected to a single family. Banshees are one of the worst examples of SadlyMythtaken, as, believe it or not, their crying was actually due to ''[[HowlOfSorrow mourning]]'' for members of the family who were ''already'' about to die, which often served to ''[[DeathWail warn others]] of their loved one's death''; if she's screaming at all, she's screaming in ''grief'' rather than as a threat and she herself means no harm, as it's [[JustDoingMyJob only her job to warn the family]]. It was actually a privilege for a family to have a Banshee. There have been stories of banshees haunting families even as late as the 19th Century. And, as often in the original folklore, the fairy woman might be explicitly described as a ghost; TheFairFolk were a little unclear about the edges.

* The [[Myth/CelticMythology Irish and Scottish]] tradition of [[DeathWail keening]] (singing a lament combined with wailing) over the body during the funeral procession and at the burial site is strikingly similar to the death wail of the Banshee

They are also prominent in Irish legends, where many of the more well-known banshee stories come from, as being a type of fairy typically connected to a single family. Banshees are one of the worst examples of SadlyMythtaken, as, believe it or not, their crying was actually due to ''[[HowlOfSorrow mourning]]'' for members of the family who were ''already'' about to die, which often served to ''[[DeathWail warn others]] of their loved one's death''; if she's screaming at all, she's screaming in grief rather than as a threat and she herself means no harm, as it's only her job to warn the family. It was actually a privilege for a family to have a Banshee. There have been stories of banshees haunting families even as late as the 19th Century. And, as often in the original folklore, the fairy woman might be explicitly described as a ghost; TheFairFolk were a little unclear about the edges.