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In medieval European folklore, the incubus is a male demon (or evil spirit) who visits women in their sleep to lie with them in ghostly sexual intercourse. The woman who falls victim to an incubus will not awaken, although may experience it in a dream.

Should she get pregnant the child will grow inside her as any normal child, except that it will possess supernatural capabilities. Usually the child grows into a person of evil intent or a powerful wizard.

Legend has it that the magician Merlin was the result of the union of an incubus and a nun.

A succubus is the female variety, and she concentrates herself on men. According to one legend, the incubus and the succubus were fallen angels.

The word incubus is Latin for "nightmare".

Liderc by Scott Stevenson

In Hungarian folklore, the Liderc is a devil equivalent to the incubus for a man or succubus for a woman. It hatches from the first egg of a black hen placed under the armpit. It carries out tasks such as finding treasure, but eventually grows bothersome because it demands work constantly and is always looking ahead to its next task. It can assume the form of a chicken or human being, but one leg always has a goose's foot. To get rid of him, one must set him on impossible tasks so he quits or dies in rage.