A character in Shakespeare's Macbeth, a Scottish general whose ghost haunts the title character.
The name comes from Scottish tradition via Shakespeare's play (1606). The historical figure was likely based on a genuine ancestor of the Stuart kings, though the ghost storyline is purely theatrical invention.
Banquo's ghost is so famous in theater that actors refuse to say the play's real name—they call it 'The Scottish Play' instead, and Banquo's ghost scene became one of the most copied supernatural moments in all of drama.
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