BANQUO

one of the Scottish generals who with the title character serves King Duncan in William Shakespeare's Macbeth. At the outset of the play Banquo, in Macbeth's company, is informed by three witches that he will beget kings. Later in the play, the memory of this prophecy prompts the ambitious Macbeth to hire killers who manage to assassinate Banquo but allow his son Fleance to escape.