Demonomicon
Incubus
So, when Graz'zt invaded the Abyss, he took a retinue of Succubi with him. So then he got turned into a demon prince, rememeber? Maybe it was purposeful, and he's actually still working for Asmodeus as a mole. But whatever the case, his devilish armies were converted as well. And the Succubi changed to reflect their new chaotic nature: they became Incubi. Never mind that that makes no sense, since Incubi are the male equivalent of Succubi in real world lore; neither have a definite gender in D&D.
Talk about this Demonomicon excerpt here.
Never mind that that makes no sense, since Incubi are the male equivalent of Succubi in real world lore
Real world lore has no relevance to how it is presented in DnD terms anyway, as it's the game that determines how the creature is used and originates in this case :P. Personally I think it's a very solid monster mechanically and is a hell of a lot more interesting than the succubus is. I really hope the monster vault revisits some of the devils and demons from MM1 and gives them some much needed improvements.
Never mind that that makes no sense, since Incubi are the male equivalent of Succubi in real world lore
I've never really understood this complaint. I mean, isn't it pretty well established by now that D&D often just uses cool names and concepts from real world myth and then mashes them up fairly randomly? In real world mythology, for example, Medusa is the name of an individual gorgon (who are all female), while in D&D medusas are a race (with two genders) of creatures totally unrelated to gorgons, which are nothing like the gorgons from Greek myth. The D&D nagpa are basically the skeksis from The Dark Crystal, but a 'nagpa' in the real world is just a follower of Buddhism who is not a monk or nun. It would be downright boring if D&D limited itself to using real world mythological creatures exactly as they appear in their native mythology.
In the case of incubi and succubi, the strict partition into male incubi who **** human women and female succubi who seduce human men only really became codified in the Malleus Maleficarum in the 15th century. Before that, there were thought to be multiple types of demon and evil spirit who would seduce mortals (of either gender) for various reasons. And there are similar beings in the mythos of various cultures across the world, some of whom are gender-specific and some of whom are not. Just because D&D uses the Malleus names for these creatures doesn't mean it should stick to the Malleus version of how they work or how they're defined.
Anyway, the word 'incubus' comes from the Latin 'incubo', meaning 'nightmare', so the whole 'dream control' thing at least makes sense.
"I'm gonna go ahead and 'Cool Story, Bro...' myself. However, my point stands."
Or, for a different flavor, you could go Zarbon as presented in DBZ Abridged. Hell, Zarbon even had a "Imma **** you, b****!" beast form.
Anyway, I was waiting specifically for this preview and I am not dissapointed. Now I want Demonomicon.
(I need to set up that page with a donation button STAT)
The Malleus version was indeed the idea--Graz'zt's succubi choosing to take on male genders (and beast forms) as the abyss ignited their lust. While the final version doesn't explicity state that, I think the entry implies it in the opening text, the art, the nature of its victims and what happens to them, etc. But, like you said, the way it's written it can also work the way pre-Malleus demons/spirits do. And they get to be demons while remaining intrinsically succubi. DMs may wish to tweak a flavor element to preference, but in the end everybody wins.
As for D&D randomly mashing things up, the random element was definitely the beast stuff, which came about through misinterpreting the lyrics to a Decemberists song (it's "taiga," not "tiger") and deciding that that would only enhance the flavor, in effect casting these demons as insatiable rutters, the implications of which can be... er, yikes. I think ADHadh touched on that, in so many words (love the idea of a "Joker" incubus, by the way).
This was another inspiration, and always worth the read, or reread.
I've never really understood this complaint. I mean, isn't it pretty well established by now that D&D often just uses cool names and concepts from real world myth and then mashes them up fairly randomly? ......
Anyway, the word 'incubus' comes from the Latin 'incubo', meaning 'nightmare', so the whole 'dream control' thing at least makes sense.
I can see both sides of the discussion. On one hand, it's neat to be able to use/fight a classic monster from the stories you heard as a kid, a monster that looks and acts and fights the same way it did in those stories. On the other hand, D&D has to occasionally take a monster to make it's own in a unique way. Most of the time, this incubus included, the altered monster pays service to the myth - which satifies me. It definately helps when there's some underlying support, like your nightmare reference. Kudos on the research Dusk.