succubus
Sign in to savethumb|upright=1.2|Depiction of a succubus in "My Dream, My Bad Dream" by , 1915 A succubus () is a female demon who is described in various European folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity. The establishment and perpetuation of such a relationship enables the production of a hybrid child known as a cambion, but at the expense of the man, whose mental and physical health will deteriorate rapidly, eventually resulting in his death if the succubus continues courting him for a protra
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A succubus is a female demon from European folklore who appears in men's dreams to seduce them, with repeated encounters leading to sexual activity that supposedly harms the man's health and can eventually kill him. The concept mattered historically as part of how people explained nightmares, nocturnal emissions, and mysterious illnesses, and it remains culturally significant in folklore, literature, and popular entertainment.
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7 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- In folklore
- Ability to reproduce
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.2|Depiction of a succubus in "My Dream, My Bad Dream" by , 1915 A succubus () is a female demon who is described in various European folklore as appearing in the dreams of male humans in order to seduce them. Repeated interactions between a succubus and a man will lead to sexual activity. The establishment and perpetuation of such a relationship enables the production of a hybrid child known as a cambion, but at the expense of the man, whose mental and physical health will deteriorate rapidly, eventually resulting in his death if the succubus continues courting him for a protracted period.
In modern representations, a succubus is often depicted as a beautiful woman seductress or charming, rather than as demonic or frightening, to attract people instead of repulsing them. The male counterpart of the succubus is the incubus. Historically, folkloric belief in succubi was motivated by distressing nighttime phenomena, chiefly wet dreams and sleep paralysis.