Incubus (demon)

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This article is about a type of demon; see Incubus for other meanings.

In Western medieval legend, an incubus (plural incubi) is a demon in male form supposed to lie upon sleepers, especially women, in order to have sexual intercourse with them. They are also believed to do this in order to spawn other Incubi. The Incubus drains energy from the woman it performs sexual intercourse upon in order to sustain itself. In most cases it either kills the victim or leaves the victim in very weak or fragile condition. A female version was called a succubus.

There are a number of variations on the theme around the world. In Zanzibar, Popo Bawa primarily attacks men and only in their own beds. El Trauco, according to the traditional mythology of the Chiloé Province of Chile, is a hideous deformed dwarf who lulls nubile young and seduces them. El Trauco is sometimes invoked to explain sudden or unwanted pregnancies, especially in unmarried women. In Hungary, a Liderc can be a Satanic lover that flies at night and appears as a fiery light, a will o' the wisp, or as a bird of fire. A Mara is a kind of malignant female wraith in Scandinavian folklore believed to cause nightmares.

1 Etymology
2 Elaborations on Legend and Incubi in Popular Culture
3 Mundane explanations for the legends
4 See also

[edit] Etymology

The word is derived from the Latin prefix in- which in this case means on top and cubo, which is latin for "I lie". The word (incubo) translates into "I lie on top".

[edit] Elaborations on Legend and Incubi in Popular Culture

In legend, incubi were sometimes said to conceive children. The half-human offspring of such a union is a Cambion. The most famous legend of such a case includes that of Merlin, the famous wizard from Arthurian legend. Incubi and succubi were said by some not to be different genders but the same demons able to change their sex. A succubus would be able to sleep with a man and collect his sperm, and then transform into an incubus and use that seed on women. Their offspring were thought to be supernatural in many cases, even if the actual genetic material originally came from humans. Stephen King series The Dark Tower explores this idea. More common legend, however, professes that the incubus and succubus are demons of completely different gender. Though many tales claim that the incubus is bisexual, many others say that it is heterosexual and to mate with a man causes the demon to melt to death; this is the only way to kill the otherwise immortal beings in many tales. Though counter to the melt theory, there are also numerous stories involving the attempted exorcism of incubi or sucubi who have taken refuge in, respectively, the bodies of men or women. Exorcism, though usually effective, typically does not succeed in dispelling an incubus or succubus. This may be because of the measure of lawlessness this type of demon portrays, or lack of care, or simply pure ignorance.

Incubi have been part of modern popular culture in other ways. They were among creatures of the White Witch present at the killing of Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In Incubus, a film starring William Shatner, the main character is tempted by a lusting succubus in order to corrupt his pure soul. An Incubus is later summoned to destroy him. In the MMORPG, Ragnarok Online, an Incubus is a powerful monster which can be found on several floors of the Geffenia dungeon.

Mancubus is a demon race in the First-Person Shooter game, Doom, as well in its sequels.It is a grotesque cross between an Incubus and a Succubus, resulting in an obese, cybernetic humanoid demon, handling two fireball launchers.Other than the name, it doesn't share any similarities with the fictional demon.

In the 2006 book Trail of an Incubus by Iliya Englin the incubus is portrayed as a different humanoid species, outwardly human but with far greater longevity and physical strength. Their intelligence is about the same or greater than human, albeit with certain blind spots. They hate humanity for displacing them from the top of the food chain, and their character traits give rise to traditional demonic myths - an enemy moving amongst us, intelligent, resourceful and hostile – and in constant search for human virgins.

The Alice Merridew novel Aka Shinema chronicles a tale of an incubus king.

In addition, Incubus is the name of several bands, with the most well-known being the alternative rock band Incubus.

[edit] Mundane explanations for the legends

A number of mundane explanations have been offered for the origin of the Incubus legends. They involve the Medieval preoccupation with sin, especially sexual sins of women. Victims may have been experiencing waking dreams or sleep paralysis. Also, nocturnal arousal, orgasm or nocturnal emission could be explained by the idea of creatures causing an otherwise guilt-producing and self-conscious behavior. Such an explanation could obviate guilt as the one became the victim of forces beyond one's control.

Victims may, willingly or unwillingly, have had sexual encounters with people. Women who were pregnant but either unmarried or engaged in an extra-marital affair could accuse an incubus of fathering the child. Purported victims of Incubi could have been the victims of sexual assault by a real person. Rapists may have attributed the rapes of sleeping women to demons in order to escape punishment. A friend or relative may have assaulted the victim in their sleep. The victims may have found it easier to explain the attack as supernatural rather than confront the idea that the attack came from someone they trust.