Succubus (Castlevania)

The Succubus is a recurring foe in the Castlevania series, most often appearing as a boss but sometimes seen as a regular enemy. It must be noted that each game features a different succubus, and that each boss battle against a succubus provides an emotional challenge for the protagonist.

In folklore, succubi are female demons who magically seduce men, most often in their dreams, to drain their life-force. Their portrayal in the Castlevania games is very faithful to the legends, but it insists on the deadly seduction and makes them somehow linked to vampires. Although a different creature, the games feature a regular enemy called the Lesser Vampire which presents similarites with succubi, looking like a (mostly female) bat-like monster.

Succubus are powerful, cunning and deceptive demons who mostly use their shape-shifting powers to lure the heroes before attacking them. They enjoy to play with their preys' emotions and revel in their torment, and mostly act in a flirtatious way. Also, each significant succubus seems to have a high position among their lord's henchmen.

Symphony of the Night
The most memorable succubus featured in a Castlevania game, and a big fan favourite, appears in Symphony of the Night. She is one of the four most powerful bosses found in the regular Castle, along with Olrox, the somehow optional Granfaloon, and Richter Belmont who is controlled by Shaft to serve as the Lord of the Castlevania. She awaits the primary protagonist Alucard in what seems to be a strange saving point, but is in fact an entry towards the nightmare she created. There, she traps Alucard in his memories of his mother's execution and distorts them to convert him to the side of Evil, by making his mother tell him to hate humans. However, Alucard sees through her deceit and battles the Succubus to the death. When defeated, the Succubus understands that her foe is the son of Count Dracula and begs for mercy. However, she learns the hard way that Alucard treasures his memories of his mother more than anything. Outraged, he kills her and traps her soul forever within her own oniric domain.

The Succubus is at level 25. She is very powerful and can put up a serious challenge, so it his advised to confront her at a level matching her own. Her main tactic is to divide herself in about twelve succubi who shoot several energy balls that fly around Alucard. Alucard must target the real Succubus, the only one who does not shoots energy balls. The Succubus will also expand the claws on her wings like spears and fly at close range to curse Alucard and drain his life-force.

It must be noted that the Succubus in among the fallen bosses that Dracula summons during the final battle, before crushing them and draining their blood to heal himself.

Lament of Innocence
Another Succubus appears before Dracula's rise as the King of the Night, under the orders of his predecessor the Vampire Lord Walter Bernhard. This blonde Succubus rules over the Ghostly Theatre and is one of the five gardians that Leon Belmont must defeat to reach Walter and save his betrothed Sara Trantoul who has been abducted. She appears before Leon assuming Sara's aspect to make him drop his guard, and attempts to stab him from behind. She almost succeeds but he escapes her trap at the last second. The Succubus then taunts him, saying that she finds him attractive in misery and that she would enjoy owning him for eternity. Enraged Leon fights and kills the Succubus, whose dying words reveal that Rinaldo Gandolfi, the alchemist aiding Leon, was also a victim of Walter's sick game.

The Succubus is quite powerful but not that hard to defeat. She flies around the room and attacks by conjuring poisonous plants from the ground, by wrapping her wings around her body to charge like a drill, by surrounding herself with a tronado to charge towards Leon, by firing three pointed projectiles of energy, and by creating two doubles of herself to attack. (Leon must find the real one.) Leon must dodge her attacks and strike her repeatedly. When her life-points run low, the Succubus will conjure spiked vines from the ground to track down Leon and will fire a long lasting, pointed beam.

A similar looking Succubus appears as a character in the Castlevania Pachislot games, spin-offs of the Dracula's Curse and Curse of Darkness games featuring mini-games of symbols sequences.

The Adventure ReBirth
The remake of Castlevania the Adventure features a boss of undetermined specy who could be either a succubus and a lesser vampire; as she uses magic like the succubi and conjures bats like lesser vampires. She attacks by conjuring a swarm of bats infused with purple energy, or five similar swarms of bats counter clockwise around her; by summoning living shadows that move along the ground; and by shooting four blue fireballs on each side which make fire to erupt where they land, leaving little place to dodge.

As regular enemies
Succubi appear as regular enemies in several games, being very similar to the monster called Lilith. (Which is also based on a deadly temptress from legends.) In Aria of Sorrow, Dawn of Sorrow and the medley game Harmony of Despair, they first appear under the aspect of a female protagonist, and the heroes must strike them to reveal their true form. They mostly try to fly at close range to absorb the heroes' life-force. In Portrait of Ruin, the succubi fight in the same way but do not transform, instead taunting the heroes as they come close.

It must be noted that in Aria of Sorow, the primary protagonist Soma Cruz (who is the good reincarnation of Dracula) must equip the souls of the Succubus, the Flame Demon and the Giant Bat when fighting Graham Jones to unlock the real ending. These three souls being the symbols of Dracula's powers. The Succubus representing his power to drain life-force, the Giant Bat representing his vampiric nature and his demonic transformation and the Flame Demon representing his power over Hellfire.

Magnus
There is only one inccubus portrayed in the Castlevania series. Contrary to his female counterpart, he does not appear in games and does not appear as a seducer, being more malevolent and ambitious. Also, his power is linked to his claws and breaking them render him powerless. This male demon is called Magnus and serves as the main antagonist in the radio drama Castlevania: Nocturne of Recollection, a sequel to Symphony of the Night whose place in canon is hard to define.

Just like the Succubus of Symphony of the Night, to whom he might be related, Magnus seeks to turn Alucard to the side of Evil. However, he fully knows who Alucard is and uses elements of his past to torment him. His ultimate goal is to make Alucard the successor of Dracula and the new lord of the Castlevania. Magnus enslaves Lyudmil, a vampire who was Alucard's friend and servant during his human life and sends him in a killing spree; while he tries to separates Alucard from his love interest Maria Renard. He also abucts a young vampire hunter named Alexis, who created a potion able to kill demons. In the end, Magnus and Lyudmil confront Alucard, Maria, Richter Belmont, Alexis and his friend Cyril. Alucard manages to free Lyudmil from Magnus' control and in turn, he reveals the inccubus' weakness, leading to his defeat.