A succubus (plural succubi) is a type of demoness referenced in various works of fiction.Blood thirst: 100 years of vampire fiction ed. by Leonard Wolf. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Literature
Thomas Middleton's 1605 play A Mad World, My Masters, the philandering Master Penitent Brothel is tempted by a succubus assuming the form of his illicit partner, using song and dance in a failed attempt to seduce him. Honoré de Balzac's early 1800s short story "The Succubus" concerns 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.Balzac, Honoré de. "The Succubus" 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's 1962 short story "The Likeness of Julie" portrays a succubus named Julie (later adapted into the TV film Trilogy of Terror) Irving A. Greenfield's 1970 novel Succubus has the ancient demon hitching a ride on a woman marrying an archeologist In Poul Anderson's 1971 novel Operation Chaos, the protagonists are visited shortly after being married by a succubus/incubus who changes genders in its attempts to seduce both of them. Tanith Lee's 1976 short story The Demoness features a pale red-haired woman in an isolated tower who seduces men and vampirically drains them of their thoughts and emotions. It was first published in Lin Carter's The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 2. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America later included it in the Fantasy Hall of Fame in 1998. Kenneth Rayner Johnson's 1979 novel, The Succubus, outlines the story of a male afflicted by the incarnation of the demon Lilith. Alfred Bester's 1979 short story, "Galatea Galante", describes its title character, a young woman genetically engineered to order by an arrogant but brilliant geneticist, as possessing the powers of a succubus through a genetic anomaly deliberately introduced in her creation. Unbeknownst to either of them, she seduces her creator while they are both asleep and is impregnated by him. Stephen King's 1982 novel The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, and the rest of The Dark Tower series, Roland encounters a succubus in a circle of stones while following the Man in Black. This succubus then later helps an incubus in impregnating Susanna Dean with Roland's child, Mordred, a villain in later books. Toni Morrison's 1987 Beloved novel's protagonist, Beloved, has been discussed in academic works as a modern use of this theme."Figurations of Rape and the Supernatural in Beloved" by Pamela E. Barnett. PMLA, Vol. 112, No. 3 (May 1997), pp. 418-427 JSTOR"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." In For Love of Evil (1988), by Piers Anthony, succubi, including Lilith, make up the Kingdom of Hell, which reflects Dante's Seven Circles of Hell. Eric (1990) by Terry Pratchett (from the Discworld series) has a small reference to succubi, in which a demonologist describes how his grandfather spent his entire life trying to summon one, only to succeed in conjuring a Neuralger, a female demon that has a headache every night. Ray Garton's 1991 novel The New Neighbor tells the story of a family who has an attractive new neighbor move in across the street. She turns out to be a succubus. In Laurell K. Hamilton's 1993 Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter series, the main character, Anita Blake, finds herself becoming a succubus. In Orson Scott Card's 1996 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 2000 series Dresden Files are described as succubi and incubi. One of these incubi is the major supporting character Thomas Raith. Once (2001), written by James Herbert, has a description of a "demon form" succubus. Jonathan Stroud's 2003 series Bartimaeus Trilogy describes a succubus as a kind of demon preferred by male magicians, and also that Mr. Tallow might be the offspring of a magician and a succubus. The Felix Castor series (2006) by Mike Carey, features a succubus who takes the name Juliet, gives up feeding on men and enters into a lesbian relationship while working as an exorcist. 2007's 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. In the 2008 novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer, the three original sisters of the Denali coven (Tanya, Kate, and Irina) were revealed to be the originators of the myth of the succubus, as they would seduce men and drain them of blood following intercourse. The three sisters also appear in the Breaking Dawn films, but their history as succubi is not mentioned. 2009 or earlier, Georgina Kincaid, a 21st-century urban fantasy novel series by Richelle Mead, features succubus Georgina Kincaid trying to find a vampire hunter. In Vitelli Grigorowski's The Secrets of Witch Falls novel series, succubi are the main characters and antagonists. In James Blish's After Such Knowledge trilogy series, arms manufacturer Dr. Baines' secretary is seduced by a succubus demon. In Andrzej Sapkowski's novel The Lady of the Lake, a succubus appears living among humans in Beauclair, Geralt's friend, the vampire Regis, falls in love with the demon. In Barton Paul Levenson's novel "The Celibate Succubus" (2013), a succubus named Delilah, fearing punishment for showing compassion to a victim, flees Hell and winds up working for an anti-demon organization connected with the Catholic Church. In the novel "Shadows of the Teutons" by Russian writer Alexey Ivanov (2021). The book takes place in two eras: in the middle of the 15th century in the capital of the Teutonic Order, Malborg, and in May 1945 in Pillau. In 1457, the Polish knight Kajetan Klichovsky makes a pact with Baphomet and undertakes to obtain the sword of Satan Liguet, which belongs to the Teutonic Order. If he fails to fulfill the condition, a curse will fall on his family: only one person will survive in each generation. A distant descendant of Kajetan, historian Vincent Klichovsky, tries to find the sword to lift this curse. He has to deal with the Nazis (the sword ended up in the hands of the escaped Gauleiter Koch) and the Soviet special services. In the medieval era, there is a succubus - the maiden Sigelda, raised from the grave in the Cemetery of the Beheaded by the antagonist to help him take possession of Satan's sword.
Film Necronomicon – Geträumte Sünden (a.k.a. Succubus (1968), Jess Franco The Devil's Nightmare (1971), Jean Brismée Spectre (1977) television film by Gene Roddenberry; the main character Sebastian is lured by a succubus in the opening minutes of the episode The Unholy (1988) a priest's fight with a succubus Def by Temptation (1990) feature film directed by James Bond III follows a succubus who preys on Black men, drawing the attention of a young minister-in-training, his childhood friend, and a homicide detective. The Haunted (1991) television film based on The Smurl Family haunting drama, Jack Smurl is visited and raped by a succubus. Serpent's Lair (1995) The Ninth Gate (1999) a mysterious succubus-like girl (self-described as a Fallen Angel) helps the protagonist find satanic engravings. Her origin is vague enough and behaviour specific enough to suggest she is now a succubus. Saint Sinner (2002), a 19th-century monk is sent to the 21st century to retrieve two succubi that he unleashed Flesh for the Beast (2003) Demon Hunter (2005) features a succubus as an antagonist. Umbrage (2009) about how the ancient succubus Lilith is brought to the world by a magic mirror Jennifer's Body (2009) Megan Fox portrays a teenage cheerleader-turned-succubus who kills the boys in her town Case 39 (2009) Jodelle Ferland plays a little girl named Lilith, who is a succubus and can create illusions to torment her victims V/H/S (2012) the segment Amateur Night features three friends who run afoul of a succubus, played by Hannah Fierman, who is listed in the credits as Lily, apparently a reference to Lilith Under the Skin (2013) Though the main character is literally an alien, she/it shares many similarities to succubi: it takes the form of a human woman, lures men with sexual seduction, and then uses men for personal gain (which often leads to the death of the seduced man). Siren (2016), a spin-off of the aforementioned V/H/S, focuses on the same succubus, played by Hannah Fierman Suicide Squad (2016), Enchantress The entity that inhabits June was previously named Succubus, and in the film she allies with her brother Incubus Reflection of Darkness (2024), Succubus was the original controversial name for the movie, depicting "The Devil in female form" In the film the female succubus demon appears at one point in male form as a deception and not a male version of the demon. Generally the male counterparts are referred to as Incubus
Television 1975 February Kolchak: The Night Stalker episode 16 "Demon in Lace", a succubus is the cause of the mysterious deaths of men 1989 Superboy season 1, episode 25 "Succubus" features a succubus, played by Sybil Danning. 1990 October (to April 1991) She-Wolf of London episode features a succubus who could cause immediate and extreme aging in her victims. 1996 April X-Files episode "Avatar", Assistant Director Skinner has troubles with a succubus that he has seen since he served in the Vietnam War. 1996 December The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest episode "Eclipse", Jonny and Jesse try to save Hadji from a succubus-like creature. 1997 March Poltergeist: The Legacy episode 23, "Black Widow", the group encounters a succubus which is unkillable and develop feelings for the character "Nick"; they are only able to stop her by using enchanted chains that sap her strength followed by dumping her in a river. 1997 In the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Favorite Son", Harry Kim is drawn to a planet inhabited by women who could be described as genetic succubi; they implant genetic material in men on other worlds using a retrovirus, drawing them there to have their DNA extracted for reproduction, only to be killed in the process. 1999 In "The Succubus", the April 21, 1999 episode of the animated comedy series South Park third season, Chef falls in love with and plans to marry a succubus. The boys defeat her by singing the love theme from The Poseidon Adventure backwards. 1999 November 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 razor-sharp tongue who sucks all the testosterone out of a man's body. They were previous witches who made a pact with darkness to keep themselves from heartbreak. 2004 October Hex, the demon Malachi turns the women he has sex with into slaves, which Ella Dee refers to as "succubi". 2014 November In the Sleepy Hollow episode "Heartless", Henry Parrish summons a succubus to suck the life force out of victims to then be used as nourishment for the demon Moloch. 2005 November Masters of Horror episode, Jenifer, a policeman succumbs a succubus-like female who can entrance men in spite of her hideous appearance. 2007 March to September "Blood Ties" An Incubus was featured in an episode 2008 May Reaper episode "Cancun", Sock (Tyler Labine) 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. By the end, Sock says that he only has a few years left to live.