"I once met a raving drunk who claimed he had wrestled with a succubus — a demonic creature that possesses the form and face of a beautiful woman. He said she cursed him and tore out the heart of his friend before he made a narrow escape! Really, young men are given to such exaggeration these days..."
"There are legends of women dressed in scarlet, dancing through the forests at night or in the dark alleys of city streets. To see them means that the succubi are hunting their next victim."
Succubi are beautiful and seductive demons, and so tempt mortals into evil and to death.[1] The figure of a Succubus is perfect and smooth, with milky skin, coupled with demonic bat wings and a smooth, thorny dress. While capable in combat, Succubi prefer to seduce mortals with subtle machinations, only to kill them and drag their souls into Hell. The separation of the soul is usually carried out through poison, a dagger in the dark, or some other easy betrayal to separate the soul from the flesh.[1]
A Succubus
Succubi possess an incessant craving for blood, especially that of human men.[2] For millennia, succubi have taken pleasure in enslaving thralls by twisting their desires into soul shattering compromises. Once bound to a succubus service, no captive breaks their bond without losing their humanity.[3] Legends exist of women dressed in scarlet, dancing through forests or stalking alleys at night; a sign that Succubi are on the hunt for their next victim. Before they strike, many Succubi warn their victims of their true nature—a glimpse of demonic wings, a hint of sharpened teeth, a flash of a forked tongue...anything that will seem dangerous to humans. However, their victims rarely flee, for while lust is a Succubus's weapon, it is the thought of tasting something forbidden that truly ensnares their victims. The allure of pleasures beyond mortal flesh is a sweet honey that drowns out any sense of caution. This allure goes down to the physical level, as wearing bits of a Succubus's wings, teeth, or other body parts as jewelry makes it easier for the wearer to seduce anyone.[4]
In open combat, Succubi take to battle with a passion and a joy not often seen in demons. They are fast and mobile in combat, preferring to weaken their prey from a distance with a diabolical curse. Once their prey is weakened, the Succubi move in for the kill, slashing viciously with their long, curved talons.[2] Gathered in a clutch, a Succubi pack can send nigh inexhaustible streams of destructive magic sufficient to overcome most foes.[1]
Variants[]
A multi-limbed Succubus
Variants of Succubi exist, including the following:
Snow Witches: These Succubi enjoy the chase, and are more given to use Hell-brewed love potions to capture slaves of the opposite sex. When in doubt, a Snow Witch reads a slave's entrails as an augury.
Hell Spawn: These Succubi know no other pleasure than the delivery of a screaming soul to Hell. Birthed in pain, Hell Spawn strive to make all others suffer as they do.
Soul Burners: These Succubi have mastered the essence of terror and pain.[1]
History[]
They served as the handmaidens of Andariel,[2] and Adria theorized that she was responsible for their creation, sculpting these demons into their forms. She taught her minions the art of seduction. Later, their use was perfected by Azmodan.[4]
Succubi appear in Diablo I. Archbishop Lazarus uses Succubi as his personal guards below Tristram. They are then encountered in the later levels of the game. Originally Hell Spawn were Demon type but were then changed to Animal type in Hellfire.
Succubi attack using the spell Bloodstar, but unlike the spell players can learn, it does not consume their health. The projectile's color corresponds to the different colors of blood. As the succubi have no melee attack, they flee if the player closes in on them, making them infamously troublesome for melee attackers, especially the Warrior. Succubi appear in three other variations: Snow Witches, Hell Spawn, and Soul Burners, whereas Succubus is the regular form.
Succubi appear in Diablo II, specifically in Act V. Their appearance has changed slightly, and they actually utilize their wings for flight. They are clothed, and have a stabbing tail.
The Succubus' infamous curse returns, this time under the moniker of "Blood Mana." However, they will only cast it on players that have greater than or equal mana to life. If the opposite is true, Succubi will cast a curse that halves defense.
Besides normal Succubi, there are four other variations: Vile Temptresses, Stygian Harlots, Hell Temptresses, and Blood Temptresses.
If you have more life than mana, instead of casting Blood Mana, Succubi will cast a curse that halves your Defense. This is raised to 65% in Nightmare, and 85% in Hell.
There are no super unique succubi (besides Hell's Belle, which has been removed from the final version of the game, but is still present in data files).
Development[]
Succubi have an unused color palette in the game files.
The Hell Tempress was called "Blight Wing" at some point of development, as they have that name in beta tbl. and txt. files.
"For millennia, succubi have taken pleasure in enslaving thralls by twisting their desires into soul shattering compromises. Once bound to a succubus service, no captive breaks their bond without losing their humanity."
Ashen Servitor: This variant is mainly seen in the Realm of Damnation. Their appearance and attack pattern is similar to that of the normal succubus, save for the small on their heads. Their blood stars lack the fire damage of standard succubi. They are highly resistant to fire.[8]
Vile Temptress: Their main feature is their golden wings, horns and the whips they carry. They always start a battle by using their whips to create an AOE poison pool on the ground around themselves which heals them. They mainly attack with their whips which also deal poison damage, though they occasionally shoot blood stars.
Hell Rider: This is a creation of Skarn through the warped fusion of two Ashen Servitors. It takes the appearance of a mounted beast with the "rider" looking like an emaciated servitor, and the "mount" a bat-like beast. It attacks with sonic attacks (from the rider) and fire breath (from the mount).
Succubi are back in Diablo III as handmaidens and daughters of the Maiden of Lust. They can be found in different areas of Act III and IV, respectively in the Arreat Crater and in most areas of the High Heavens. Their appearance is different from that in the first two games, but like in Diablo I, they literally fight completely unarmored.
As seductive and deadly as usual, the Succubi possess their signature Blood Star attack. Prior to patch 2.2.0, it used to apply a curse on damaging hit, reducing Armor by -35% for 5 seconds. Because of that, the Succubi used to be support attackers, not too deadly by themselves, but they did make it much easier for all other monsters to kill a hero, especially towards classes that rely on Armor instead of all resistances as their major form of protection.
The Succubi with their Blood Stars clearly visible.
Succubi are fragile, and killing them is only problematic if they are hiding behind their more resilient allies. The damage of a Succubus's attacks is low, but their Blood Star homing projectiles are moving erratically with changing speed, making them rather unpredictable for avoidance, and may make slight changes to trajectory to home at enemies. Avoid large groups of other monsters accompanied by the Succubi, or separate them for easier dispatching. Remember Succubi can fly over the impassable terrain and even have a 'backflip' move that frequently allows them to escape melee combat.
There is a mini-event in Tower of the Cursed involving several Keep Guards mind-controlled by the Succubi as they are being prepared to be sacrificed to Cydaea. Upon the death of their tormentors, these guards join the hero to help with clearing the rest of the tower. Sadly, though, they cannot last long against the monsters in the tower, especially Champion/Rare packs.
This section contains facts and trivia relevant to this article.
A Succubus
Despite Succubi often fighting without any armor to cover their upper body in the first and third game (and on artworks), no organization has ever demanded Blizzard Entertainment to make 'censored' versions of these monsters in either of the three games. According to Lylirra, who commented on the issue, all three Diablo games have an M rating (Mature, 17+ on ERSB), which allows nudity and gore.[10]
If one looks closely at a Succubus model in Diablo III, their "wings" are actually made from their own hair.
Apparently incubi exist, but are rarely mentioned, if at all seen in the series. Some incubi can be seen amongst the Ashen Servitors summoned by Ophinneb the Skin-Veiled.
A group of incubi
Oddly, in the second game, unlike the first and the third, Succubi have bright feathered wings and long, thick, almost lash-like tails. In the first game, they have no tails at all.
Etymology[]
In the Western medieval legend, a succubus (plural succubi) is a demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman to seduce men in dreams to have sexual intercourse. They draw energy from the men to sustain themselves, often until the point of exhaustion or death of the victim. Similarly, there are also demons called incubi, the male version of succubi. However, incubi have only been mentioned in the Diablo series so far.
The word "succubus" comes from an alteration of the Late Latin succuba meaning "strumpet". The word itself is derived from the Latin prefix "sub-" which means "below, underneath", and the verb "cubo" which means "I lie". So a succubus is someone who lies under another person, whereas an incubi (Latin "in-" in this case stands for "on top") is someone who lies on top of another person.
