Succubus in fiction

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 This article needs additional citations for verification.
Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

A succubus is a type of demoness referenced in various works of fiction.[1] [2]

A summoned succubus minion from the game World of Warcraft.
A summoned succubus minion from the game World of Warcraft.

Contents

[edit] Literature

  • Honoré de Balzac wrote a short story called "The Succubus" concerning a 1271 trial of a she-devil succubus in the guise of a woman, who, amongst other things, could use her hair to entangle victims.[3]
  • Charles Williams's 1937 novel Descent into Hell portrays an academic who consciously rejects the potential affections of a real woman in favor of a physically identical but perfectly obedient and pliable succubus.
  • Richard Matheson wrote a short story called The likeness of Julie which portrayed a teenage succubus named Julie.
  • The character of Beloved, the protagonist of Toni Morrison's Beloved has been discussed in academic works as a modern use of this theme [4][5]
  • In Orson Scott Card's novel Treasure Box, a witch conjures a succubus who represents the dreams and desires of the protagonist in order to convince him to open a mysterious box.
  • The White Court of vampires in Jim Butcher's Dresden Files are described as succubi and incubi. One of these incubi is the major supporting character Thomas Raith.
  • Kenneth Rayner Johnson's 1979 novel The Succubus outlines the story of a male afflicted by the incarnation of the goddess Lilith.
  • Succubus Blues is a 2007 urban fantasy novel by Richelle Mead. Succubus Georgina Kincaid is trying to find a vampire-hunter.
  • Hell on Earth, a dark paranormal series by Jackie Kessler, stars the succubus Jezebel, who runs away from Hell, hides on Earth as an exotic dancer, and learns the hard way about being mortal.
  • "Twilight" a vampire fantasy series by Stephenie Meyer. A vampire coven in Denali: Tanya, Kate, and Irena, are the originals behind the succubus myth.
  • In the novel Operation Chaos by Poul Anderson, the protagonists are visited shorly after being married by a succubus/incubus who changes genders in its attempts to seduce both of them.

[edit] Games

Succubi often appear in fantasy fiction and role-playing games as beautiful, scantily-clad women with bat wings. Succubi are prominent in the sexual aspects of fantasy fandoms.

  • The Darkstalkers series of video games has two characters, Morrigan and Lilith, who are succubi. These characters also appear in several other Capcom titles, in particular cross-over fighting games.
  • In World Of Warcraft, players who choose the Warlock class can summon a succubus as one of their controllable demons. She is depicted with bat wings, dark hair, pale red skin, hooves instead of feet, and a barbed tail. Her abilities include "Seduction," a skill which renders humanoid monsters and players immobile.
  • In Diablo, succubi are among Diablo's closest companions. Their appearance has caused some controversy because of their moaning and scant clothing.
  • In Devil May Cry 3, Dante is almost seduced by, yet manages to fight against, a succubus named Nevan. Her appearance is that of a seductive woman with long red hair covering her breasts, and with her lower body shrouded in bats. Amongst others, her attacking methods include striking her opponent with lightning.
  • In Planescape: Torment, Fall-From-Grace (or "Grace") is a chaste succubus priestess who can join the player's party. A beautiful blonde woman with bat wings, she is the only healer in the game and may be a potential romantic interest for the player's character. Fall-From-Grace is voiced by Jennifer Hale.
  • In Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, a succubus appears as a monster in Level 2 at the Maze of Tribulations. Her attacks include Charm Person, which causes the chaos status ailment on male party members.
  • The fourth boss of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the Diabolical Cubus Sisters, seems to stem its name from the last five letters of "succubus". Their nature in the game is quite similar to that of the succubus, in that they entice the protagonist Link in saving them so in the end they could steal his life force.
  • In Final Fantasy Tactics as well as throughout the series as Altima the Unholy Angel during the last battle of the game.
  • In the MMORPG, The Matrix Online Succubi are Merovingian/Exile-affiliated NPCs in The Matrix Online. They take the appearance of a beautiful woman and either have a purple, red, or green see-through dress with matching long hair and eye colors.
  • In the MMORPGs City of Heroes and City of Villains, succubi are members of the Circle of Thorns arcane enemy group and appear as red-skinned women with small horns and thigh-high boots. Their powers include Come Hither (confusion), Entrance (hold), Hellish Bolts, and Blackclaw (combat attacks).[1]
  • In the real-time strategy (RTS) game Warrior Kings, succubi are a unit available to Pagan players through the Henge (which are constructed by the High Priestess). Succubi are able to charm enemy units, thus making them switch to your side, possess a unit and make him commit acts of heresy to stop opposing peasants from working and send enemy units into a rage, where they will attack anyone near them.
  • In the Playstation 2 games Disgaea: Hour of Darkness and Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, Succubus are a class of demon that have the appearance of a lightly-dressed woman with horns and bat wings, much like that of Morrigan Aensland from Darkstalkers. They also have comically large breasts.
  • Succubi are encountered as strong enemies in Overlord. A particular succubus queen is responsible for the corruption of one of the seven fallen hero antagonists in the game, each of whom embody one of the seven deadly sins -- the sin in this case being lust. They attack by seducing the players minions, then capturing them, and flying away and killing them one by one.
  • Succubus and Succubus Mistress appear in Heroes of Might & Magic V. Both are units in Inferno faction. They have red skin, wings, horns, claws and hoofs instead of feet. Succubus Mistress also has fire instead of hair and more intense red skin . Both units are magic units and attack from distance
  • In Warlords Battlecry II, Succubi are flying units available to the Daemon race. The daemon's Titan is also a very large blue succubus named Balora (or at least seems to be).
  • In Persona 3, there is a persona, who's called Succubus. She can be created in the Devil arcana at level 52. With Incubus too in your list, they can cast the Dreamfeast, which charms all enemies with high odds.
  • In Lost Kingdoms & Lost Kingdoms II a succubus is one of the monsters the protagonist must fight against and can capture and use via mystic cards. It appears as a thin pale scantly clad woman with batwings.

[edit] Film and television

  • Succubus: Hellbent a movie about the ancient Lilith as she attempts to hunt down the direct descendent of Adam and can only be stopped by the direct descendent of Eve.
  • Succubus: The Demon a man grieving over the loss of his wife attempts to raise her soul, only to instead summon a succubus.
  • In the X-Files episode "Avatar" Assistant Director Skinner has troubles with a succubus that he has seen since he served in the Vietnam War.
  • In the Charmed episode "She's a Man, Baby, a Man!," Prue becomes a man in order to attract a succubus who is murdering local men. The succubus is portrayed as a beautiful woman with a forked tongue.
  • One episode of She-Wolf of London featured a succubus who could cause immediate and extreme aging in her victims.
  • In the television show Hex, the demon Malachi turns the women he has sex with into slaves, which Ella Dee refers to as "succubi."
  • The H anime "Viper GTS" features three succubi who have sex with men in the mortal realm (including each other) in order to steal their souls. Angels in heaven realize the souls stolen by the succubi are not able to reincarnate, so they travel to hell and try to "purify" the female devils with a huge orgy in order to sap them of their sexual strength.
  • In the 2007 film version of Beowulf, Grendel's mother is depicted as a succubus (played by Angelina Jolie) who has children by the kings of Denmark (apparently naturally) who grow up to be monsters of varying kinds who afflict the kingdom.
  • The pilot for the tv series SPECTRE in 1977 by Gene Roddenberry. The main character of Sebastian is lured by a Succubus in the opening minutes of the episode.
  • In the television show Reaper episode Cancun, Sock falls for a succubus who feeds off human life and whenever she kisses him, he gets a rush of energy but loses a year of his life.
  • Poltergeist The Legacy, a television show about a group that hunts the supernatural encounters a Succubus in episode 23 "Black Widow". Which is un-killable, and develops feelings for the character "Nick". they are only able to stop it by using enchanted chains that sap her strength and dumping her in a river.

[edit] Comics

  • Lilim in "Lilim Kiss" is a succubus.
  • In "Mark of the Succubus" there is a world of demons and the main character is a succubus called Maeve.
  • Udon comics created amongst other titles by capcom a Darkstalkers comic that ran for six issues and a trade paperback. In the comic itself the Succubus Morrigan Aensland plays a large role, her other half Lilith is seen only briefly in the Belial prequal and on the cover of some of the issues. Udon has implied it intends to continue the Darkstalkers comics in the future.

[edit] Music

  • Joey Ramone, lead singer of The Ramones, wrote a song called "Succubus." It was rejected by the band because they did not know what a succubus was.
  • Utah based band N!temareTheory claim their name derives from an ancient succubus
  • Steely Dan's song Two Against Nature includes a description of a succubus, "Madame Arzulie, she come last night, bang you silly but leave a nasty bite."

One night I was dancin' with a lady in black, wearin' black silk gloves and a black silk hat. She looked at me longin' with black velvet eyes, she gazed at me strange all cunning and wise. Then I saw the flesh just fall off her bones, the eyes in her skull was burning like coals. Lord, have mercy, fire and brimstone. I was dancin' with Misses D.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Blood thirst : 100 years of vampire fiction ed. by Leonard Wolf. New York : Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 0195115937
  2. ^ Clute, John; John Grant (1999). The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. St. Martin's Griffin, pg. 908. ISBN 978-0312198695. 
  3. ^ Balzac, Honoré de. "The Succubus."
  4. ^ "Figurations of Rape and the Supernatural in Beloved" by Pamela E. Barnett. PMLA, Vol. 112, No. 3 (May, 1997), pp. 418-427 JSTOR
  5. ^ "Utopias Limited: Post-sixties and Postmodern American Fiction" by DeKoven, Marianne. MFS Modern Fiction Studies - Volume 41, Number 1, Spring 1995, pp. 75-97 MUSE "Sethe's miraculous milk drains off into the succubus Beloved has become ."