Succubus
This article is about the creature. For the Dark Eldar unit, see Succubi.
Succubi are one of the oldest forms of monstergirls in Western culture, being that they are naughty she-demons who visit people in the middle of the night to have sex with them. They began in medieval Christian tradition as an explanation for morning wood, wet dreams and unexplained pregnancies (courtesy of their male equivalents, incubi - said in some lore to actually be succubi shapeshifted into male forms after they harvested semen by having sex with some man), and have developed from there.
Common attributes; really horny and/or very good at sex, and shapeshifting. Many modern portrayals portray them as able to weaken or even kill people with a touch/by kissing them/by having sex with them, since they're supposed to be scary demons and "sexy woman who willingly jumps your bones in the middle of the night" isn't as scary now as it was back then. Succubi are also the go-to "demonic monstergirls" of the modern era; since they're supposed to be all about sexing people anyone, it's not that big of a jump, and succubi are probably the most likely candidates you'll see for "good" demon type characters (for example, lawful good succubus paladin Eludecia or Fall-From-Grace).
Daemonettes are one of the more fucked-up incarnations of succubi in modern culture, being not only sex-crazed she-demons, but also soul-eating monsters AND sadomasochistic psychopathic killers, so they love to mix sex and violence in ways that they really, really shouldn't be mixed.
Succubi in D&D
Naturally, in Dungeons & Dragons, succubi have been around since the beginning.
Originally, they were classified as Demons, on their basis of being all about tempting mortals into sins of passion. Since these were the days of alignment-based grid-filling, naturally, they got a Devil counterpart, the Erinyes. They also had a half-fiend offspring unique to them; the female Alu-Fiends, who served as contrast to the always-male, tanari'ri-fathered cambions, though after 2e "cambion" became a more general term for a half-fiend in general.
In 4e, Demons and Devils were separated from their former alignment-based nature. Demons became elemental forces of destruction and madness, whilst Devils became corruptors and soul-harvesting manipulators. For this reason, the succubus moved over to the Devil side, since "seduces mortals into giving up their souls" is closer to the devils' schtick than it is the demons' "destroy everything, drive people insane, let the multiverse burn!" The Erinyes remained in this edition, and was still a devil, but became a ruthlessly disciplined warrior-bitch instead of a seductress, which is fitting since their name comes from the Greek spirits called the Furies who were divine punishment for particularly nasty shit. A dedicated "Ecology of the Succubus" article in Dragon Magazine #417, prefaced "Fallen Angels", explained that the World Axis version of the succubus originated as Angels of Love. These Angels were damned by a combination of reverence for Asmodeus and a deep yearning to be free to spread love as they saw fit, rather than coaxing and manipulating love and passion only as the gods themselves commanded, and when their well-intentioned revolt was punished, their feelings of desire were corrupted into a deep, yawning void in their souls - hence the infamous draining kiss of the succubus.
In 5e, succubi got separated from the Demon/Devil divide entirely. They're now a Neutral Evil race of soul-harvesting hedonists who can be found throughout the Lower Planes, happily living alongside demons, devils, yugoloths, rakshasas or whatever so long as they get to keep getting their rocks off. Given their alignment-free nature they've become something of a counterpart to the angels employed by various Good deities. Eirenyes remain Devil warrior-bitches, which as mentioned above is more in line with their mythological basis.
Whether or not their classic male counterparts were a thing varies from edition to edition, and even sourcebook to sourcebook. Incubi have variously been described as either "exactly like succubi, but male instead of female", "there are no incubi, there are just succubi who prefer to wear male bodies", or "they're an entirely separate species of demon".
For example, in 3.5 and Pathfinder, succubi who had male identities and preferred male forms existed, but there were also "true" incubi, who were a separate species and described as basically psycho-rapists, since "of course" a fiendish incarnation of male sexuality will be all about forcing itself on others.
In 4th edition, incubi are succubi who followed Graz'zt to the Abyss and were corrupted into demons; they're still charmers and manipulators, and in fact this is the one incubus in D&D that isn't about straight up rape, but instead charms and manipulates a victim before killing them, just like a common succubus. 4e incubi are master shapeshifters, capable of becoming a humanoid, a beast, or a self-aware dream as they see fit. They use their dream-form to infiltrate the minds of slumbering victims, tempting and manipulating them, coaxing them into the arms of their humanoid forms, all the while assuming beast form to hunt, terrorize and slaughter freely elsewhere. They serve Graz'zt as scouts, assassins and other agents of disrupting, building clusters of broken-souled, lust-addled victims who will do anything for their master's embrace... and are ultimately consumed when the incubus' hunger for blood and souls is piqued by their corruption.
In 5e, succubi and incubi are exactly the same, being just two sexes of the same fiendish race.
In 3.5, there is a specialized species of "upgraded" succubi called the Lilitu, and they have their own Demon Queen, Malcanthet.
Gallery
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How to avoid getting raped in your sleep by a succubus.
