Succubus Skin Curiosity

[TentakelnBitte]

Depictions of succubi vary wildly, but I've noticed a trend that doesn't seem to have a purpose or origin that I can find:

Dark tinted hands, feet, calves, and forearms.

Examples:

Spoiler

 

It came to my attention when cleaning up my Skyrim textures (but is not Skyrim specific). I have a mod from 2015 called "Succubus Skin", with no readme or credits, and all it does is add an overlay that tints your limbs darker. I have no idea where it came from and most likely just randomly downloaded it when looking for succubus stuff.

 

But... why? What does this have to do with succubi specifically? Is it supposed to be a "tell" that gives away what they are? Painted on stockings/gloves? Burns from being in Hell? Blood pooled in their limbs (assuming they're vampires/undead)? Bloodstains from tearing someone apart? Or just a neat trend someone drew once that everyone is copying? It's a neat aesthetic, but I'm trying to find the reasoning behind it.

 

Unrelated, mostly, I also tried looking into the ecchi anime quirk of blushing knees, elbows, and shoulders, but that ended up a similar dead end. The best explanation I could find was some studio that used it as a shortcut for adding "detail" to otherwise blank/boring areas, and it just caught on/was copied to death. 

[Pamatronic]

Just as anyone else, i can only speculate on this, but Im pretty sure this is a purely artistic thing used by modern artists.

 

Since there is very limited consent on what exactly a succubus even is, I don't think there is not much point in trying to assign any meaning to it.

My best guess is, that it serves the same purpose as stockings or arm-gloves. which is to create some contrast and thereby increase visual appeal.

[Sakyazel]

I think there is no unifying aswer it depends on the specific character. Most succubi I've seen in porn dont have this feature, but many do. It resembles dragon girls where scaly limbs help visualize that they are demi-human while the body itself remains more conventionally attractive-human like. So maybe sometimes succubi -dragons -horns -wings -hell are just associated subsconsiously in the artist. Or its just the preferred way for them to show demi-human features, they are used to it beacuse of animal girls (ears-tail-paws etc).
However, long thighs /long heeled boots, long gloves are fetish items, they sort of accentuate the naked body, put it in contrast .So in many cases it can be an attempt to show that these are sexualized beings. But as you said sometimes it an be used to represent their dangerous nature (claws, control of fire etc.)
I prefer my succus more human like, wings look silly for me but horns and tail are important.

 

[27X]

Actually your pics ARE outfits except for Vydija, whose limbs are colored with literal blood.

 

Succubus were original just portrayed as people then people with glowy eyes, then people with red skin and then as /satyrs and fauns with wings/ which is where the general two tone motif comes from. Everything else is cyclic. The reason you see japanese succubi with two tone has nothing to do with classical throwbacks and everything to do with thigh/elbow high bulge/snap fetishes.

[Kitty]

Originally, the lore for a succubus was that 'she' was actually a demon of some form or another (true form is fairly vague, varies widely, and there's really not a lot of citable lore on this) who would appear to men (women got visits from incubi) to seduce them in their dreams.

 

Depictions of them for much of history therefore were usually highly attractive women, usually with few if any 'extra' or demonic features.  I suspect over the centuries, two factors have largely contributed to quite a variety of shifts and outright differences in representation today, which would be the interpretations of the artists in question (always subject to all sorts of variation), and the blending and incorporation of similar, but different 'source' material.

 

The Qarinah, for example is a similar myth with Arabic origins, but often said to appear in the form of a cat, dog, etc...

The  Yakshini from Hindu and Buddhist origins are again, similar though not quite the same thing...

And of course the Chinese have the Yaoguai, which I suspect get rolled in somewhat to encompass things like succubae, as the succubus derives from Latin-based cultures which aren't nearly as old as Chinese culture dates back.

 

Now you take modern day into account, where artists (and by extension modders) are from a vast array of nations, origins and cultures and some blending and re-defining of a lot of traditional archetypes was pretty much a given.

 

Personally, I prefer the 'mostly human' versions, with some wings, maybe mild demonic/vampiric features.

Spoiler

Good example.  Though of course, diversity is good, and it is of course all a matter of taste and style.  ^_^

[Mr. Otaku]

It depends on what the artist is trying to portray and convey. Succubus aren't a real thing so the idea that there can be a rigid description/portrayal of it doesn't have much ground. Any lore around it is a valid lore if the author polished it enough. I can very well write about vampires that don't fear the sun or garlic, or i can write about vampires who follow those popular tropes. Usually there is a trend in these portrayals and that's where the forearm/calves thing comes from but it really is based on what the artist feels the best about.

 

Sometimes they're part of the outfit, sometimes they're part of the body, sometimes it's both, sometimes the character in question can transform from human to succubus/demon along with many different combinations. Look up Mirajane Strauss who's a very good example of when these combinations are put together in one blend.

[TentakelnBitte]

Cool, thanks for the input everyone!

(I didn't see the notification for this, so didn't find the replies for ages orz)

 

I figured it was just an artistic trend, especially since they do vary to wildly, but wanted to make sure I wasn't just missing something. 

 

My favorite version is just regular human, with wings, horns, a tail, and goat legs. Basically, a non-red "Satan"/devil or a less furry Baphomet lol. The tinted limbs thing caught my attention since opera gloves & stockings ARE great, the texture pack just seemed odd. While blue skin definitely doesn't come to mind when I picture a succubus, that's another trend I appreciate   : ) 

[sweforce]

I never really thought about the darker arms/legs but yes now when is is mentioned. Sure I seen depictions where gloves/stockings are worn or hooved legs with some fur on.  Strictly, folklore speaking the succubus and the incubus are supposed to be the same actually genderless creature and they just choose what role they want to fill at the moment. 

 

My own preference thou, like if used in a game is to split the succubus and incubus into two different creatures with with the same gender flipped roles but also slightly different abilities. This is because I like the common fantasy lore with how the lower planes may counquer worlds and convert their populations into demons. This will  also allow for the possibility of small groups of uncorrupted survivours that have uncorrupted versions of their demonic counterparts abilities. Most likely thease abilities where indeed seen as useful by the lords of hell and as such are the very reason why they where counquered.

 

For apperance I go with the human with hooves, somewhat claw like hands, horns, tails and perhaps wings as their true form apperance but with a shapeshift ability to appear completly human.