Banshee The first banshees were former elf women who had been returned to a horrible , spectral existence . More recently , they have arisen from females from other races and a few rare men . Appearance . Physically , they appear as spectral elven women , with wild flowing hair and long talon - like hands . Banshees have the unsettling ability to force their way into the bodies of living creatures , thus replacing the creatures ' spirits with their own . Banshees are able to shift back and forth from different bodies at will . They come in various hues of blue and purple - from the lightest sky blue to the darkest purple - and have glowing blue eyes . They apparently have no legs and instead have a blueish orb or sphere of energy , using it to float in mid - air . Most of them sport a see - through frock and large bracelets . Lore . When the Burning Legion and the kaldorei clashed in the War of the Ancients , 10 , 000 years ago , many night elf women fell . Their brutal murders returned them as banshees , and for millennia they wandered the world in lamentation , losing ever more of their dwindling sanity . Eventually , the Lich King , Ner ' zhul , learned of their existence and recruited them into the Scourge . Banshees fought in the Third War alongside other undead , and when Arthas attacked Quel ' Thalas , he found that he could make banshees of high elves as well . Banshees are undead spirits , many of them from high elves who were taken and enslaved by the Lich King after his conquest of Quel ' Thalas . While under Ner ' zhul ' s control the banshees were kept just aware enough so that they could experience the pain , desperation and anguish of their existence , and were then filled with a desire to spread that pain among the living . Most known for their chilling and deafening screams , banshees can also cast a number of curses . After the Third War , the Lich King lost control of some of the banshees , including their queen Sylvanas Windrunner . Not long after Arthas raised her as a banshee , she broke from his control , taking fellow banshees with her . She regained her physical body and established the Forsaken . This act gives many banshees hope , and a strong cadre of free banshees can now be seen serving with the Forsaken . Most banshees still remain enslaved to the Lich King ' s will though , and can be found throughout the Plaguelands . Many wild , unaffiliated banshees exist . It is thought that some banshees wandered Azeroth long before the Scourge , and were subjugated to the Lich King ' s will . This is supported by the presence of Banshees in ancient kaldorei ruins throughout Kalimdor , like Dire Maul . Warcraft III . " Banshees were once beautiful female Night Elves who were brutally murdered by demons during the fall of Kalimdor . Their restless spirits were left to wander the world for many ages in silent , tortured lamentation . Over the years they became jealous of the living and seeded a deep hatred for all life . Yet when the Lich King , Ner ' zhul , became aware of them , he gathered them together and promised them vengeance upon the living . Ner ' zhul gave them terrible voices so that the living would finally hear their timeless anguish . " " Thus , the Banshees have pledged themselves to the Undead cause and serve as valuable warriors in the Scourge . The spectral Banshees can fly and are fond of hammering their enemies with tortured blasts of sonic force . Their unnerving , unholy screams can be heard from miles away . " - " Mojo Stormsnout ' s Warcraft III Strategy Guide " Relation to Dark Rangers . Sylvanas Windrunner , the first high - elf banshee ever created by the Scourge , later regained her physical form to become a dark ranger . It is not explained how exactly this occurs , but it is implied that it had to do with Sylvanas replacing former elven ranger druidic knowledge with necromancy . Sylvanas ' dark ranger form has been compared with dark elves by some fans , a race thought to have been the basis of her physical form , however this is unconfirmed . Though its partially implied in Horde Player ' s Guide , where dark rangers are considered cousins to high elves , and the idea of converting to " dark " is given . Dark elves do not exist in the Warcraft universe as such , though Ul ' haik Hadanot is an example that the potential for a similar race is possible . Non - elven banshees ? Although uncommon , according to " Manual of Monsters " , it appears that it is possible for human women , and even men from other races , to become banshees upon their undeath . Blind Mary and Nissa Agamand may be examples of such . Their undead model appears fully elven like other banshees . However , it may be just a matter of Blizz ard not making special in - game models for those characters , and they may in fact just be ghost s , although most ghosts would use the model of a transparent form of their race . In Warcraft III , the enemy known as " ghost " , seen in places such as the Barrow Deeps , used the banshee model as well . Myth . It is very likely that banshees in the Warcraft universe are modeled after . Both the Irish and in - game versions are depicted as ghastly . In Warcraft III , banshees were equipped with a ranged attack that resembled sound waves , reminiscent of a banshee ' s characteristic wail . However , the banshees in Warcraft are generally evil , while Irish ones are not commonly mourning the future or recent deaths of people of original Irish heritage in their name , i . e . O ' or Mac .