Succubus
| Succubus | |
|---|---|
 David C. Sutherland III's depiction of the succubus from the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual | |
| General information | |
| Size: | Medium |
| Alignment: | Chaotic evil |
| Type: | Outsider, Demon (Devil, fourth ed). |
| Subtype: | Chaotic, Extraplanar, Evil, Tanar’ri |
| First appearance: | Eldritch Wizardry (1976) |
A succubus is a female demon. The male equivalent is an incubus.
The succubus is a type of tanar'ri demon. The succubus is one of the earliest monsters to be included in the game, having appeared under the demon entry in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement (1976).[1]
Ecology
The objective of succubi is to tempt men to have sex with them. They do this for their own purposes, and it typically yields a dead mortal or a pleased demon lord (in some cases, when succubi are used as assassins, both ends result).
Environment
Succubi are native to the Abyss.
Typical physical characteristics
A succubus in its natural state is in the shape and form of a beautiful human woman with demonic features, such as bat-like wings, tiny horns, and/ or a tail. However, the succubus may shape-shift into many forms. They often appear in the guise of a human woman without demonic features.
In the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons, it was established that a succubus shapechanged into male form was known as an incubus. However, in the third edition of D&D, the succubus is the female form of the incubus (i.e. the succubus and the incubus are the female and male manifestations of the same type of demon). The creation of incubi as a separate demon type was featured during the fourth edition events of the Blood War.[2]
Alignment
In first and second edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and third edition Dungeons & Dragons, succubi are chaotic evil. However, in fifth edition, they are instead neutral evil.
Society
Succubi are tanar'ri demons, and they are quite numerous. Many are under the command of the Abyssal Lord Graz'zt, but most are ruled by their "Queen," Malcanthet. In Dungeons & Dragons the female child of a succubus and a human is traditionally called an "alu-demon" and the male child a "cambion" (though the latter term can be applied to any demon-mortal offspring). However, the offspring of an alu-demon or cambion, as a result of a union with a human, has no specific name but falls into the larger category of tiefling.
Succubi are featured prominently in the Planescape games.
Permutations
Though in previous D&D editions succubi were Chaotic Evil demons, under fourth edition D&D rules the succubus is a devil, and its alignment is evil. Succubi serve more powerful fiends as spies or assassins. In fifth edition, succubi are Neutral Evil.
Publication history
The succubus is based on the succubi from Western medieval legend.[3]
Original edition
The succubus appeared under the demon entry in the Eldritch Wizardry supplement (1976).[1]
Basic edition (B/X or BECMI)
This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the succubus, which is known as the whispering demon, first appearing in the Immortal Rules set, in the DM's Guide to Immortals (1986).[4] The whispering lesser fiend appeared in the Wrath of the Immortals set, in "Book One: Codex of the Immortals" (1992).[5]
First edition
The succubus appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977).[6]
Second edition
In this edition, demons became known as tanar'ri, with the succubus lesser tanar'ri appearing first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Outer Planes Appendix (1991),[7] and then reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).[8]
The succubus lesser tanar'ri also appeared for the Planescape campaign setting in the first Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (1994).[9]
Third edition
The succubus (tanar'ri) appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000);[10] in this edition, the name demon is resumed, and tanar'ri are now considered a sub-type of demon.
Savage Species (2003) presented the succubus/incubus as both a race and a playable class.[11]
Third edition (v3.5)
The succubus appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).
Fourth edition
The succubus appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), although in this edition, succubi are classified as devils and appear under the "devil" entry.[12] A great many succubi were stranded in the Abyss at various points of the Blood War – these were corrupted and became ferroliths and incubi.[13]
Fifth edition
The succubus appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2014). In this edition, they are neither demons nor devils, instead being Neutral Evil fiends that are found on all the Lower Planes.
Other publishers
In Pathfinder the analogous Neutral Evil "succubus" is the erodaemon.
Reception
The succubus is described as an instance of the sexist tropes the game draws on which presented female sexuality as inherently dangerous.[14]:17, 94
Rob Bricken of io9 identified the succubus as one of "The 12 Most Obnoxious Dungeons & Dragons Monsters".[15]
Demons like the succubus were considered among the "standard repertoire of "Monsters"" of the game by Fabian Perlini-Pfister.[16]
Other media
Video games
Fall-From-Grace is a succubus, a notable character from the Planescape: Torment role-playing video game.
D&D miniatures
The succubus appears in the D&D Miniatures: Blood War set #59 (2006).
References
Notes
Citations
- ↑ a b (1976) Eldritch Wizardry (1st ed.), Lake Geneva, WI⧼colon⧽ TSR
- ↑ Incubus Demonomicon Excerpts. Wizards of the Coast.
- ↑ DeVarque, Aardy. Literary Sources of D&D.
- ↑ Mentzer, Frank. Dungeons & Dragons Set 5: Immortal Rules (TSR, 1986)
- ↑ Allston, Aaron. Wrath of the Immortals (TSR, 1992)
- ↑ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
- ↑ LaFountain, J. Paul. Monstrous Compendium Outer Planes Appendix. (TSR, 1991)
- ↑ Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1993)
- ↑ Varney, Allen, ed. Planescape Monstrous Compendium Appendix (TSR, 1994)
- ↑ Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)
- ↑ Eckelberry, David, Rich Redman, and Jennifer Clarke Wilkes. Savage Species (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
- ↑ Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
- ↑ Mearls, Mike, Brian R. James, Steve Townshend. Demonomicon (Wizards of the Coast, 2010)
- ↑ Clements, Philip J. (December 2019). Dungeons & Discourse: Intersectional Identities in Dungeons & Dragons (PhD). Retrieved September 22, 2020.
- ↑ http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-12-most-obnoxious-dungeons-dragons-monsters-1628502769
- ↑ Bornet, Philippe (2011) Religions in play: games, rituals, and virtual worlds, Theologischer Verlag Zürich, p. 282 Retrieved on 19 December 2019. ISBN: 978-3-290-22010-5.
Bibliography
| This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wikipedia (view authors). |
Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index
The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.
| Topic | Type | Description | Product | Page/Card/Image
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amquessol (Succubus) | Non-player character | Dragon magazine #336 | 82 | |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus, D&D 5e | 128 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Deities & Demigods (1st & 2nd printing), AD&D 1e | 133 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Dragon magazine #356 | 67 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Dungeon magazine #147 | 58, 64, 70, 74 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | GDQ1-7 Queen of the Spiders | 70, 71, 82, 83, 117, 128 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Monstrous Compendium - Planescape Appendix I | 109 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | AD&D Monster Cards, Set 4 | Not Numbered |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | MC8 - Monstrous Compendium - Outer Planes Appendix | Insert (Tanar'ri, Lesser-Succubus) |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Monster Manual 1, AD&D 1e | 18 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Monster Manual 1, D&D 3.5e | 47-48 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Monster Manual 1, D&D 3.5e (Premium Edition) | 47-48 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Monster Manual 1, D&D 3.0e | 41, 43-44 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Monster Manual 1, D&D 4e (Deluxe Edition) | 67 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Monster Manual 1, D&D 5e | 284-285 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | Manual of the Planes, AD&D 1e | 65 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes, AD&D 1e | 92, 93 |
| Demon, Succubus | Monster | Native of: Abyss, Astral, | PHBR5 - The Complete Psionics Handbook | 124 |
| Red Shroud (of Broken Reach) (Succubus) | Non-player character | Dungeon magazine #147 | 84 | |
| Tara (Succubus) | Non-player character | Female, Demon, Succubus, | OP1 Tales of the Outer Planes, AD&D 1e | 92, 93 |