In medieval legend, a cambion is the half-human offspring of the union between a human male and a succubus, or of an incubus and a human female.

Creation

The cambion is a still birth that shows no sign of life outside of being alive, meaning that the child has, for example, no pulse and no breath. This continues until the child is about seven years old, where it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate one from a human. A cambion is usually devilishly cunning, and angelically beautiful, able to persuade even the most strong-hearted individual to do his or her bidding. Most cambions have evil tendencies due to their demon parent. Caliban, the son of the witch Sycorax in The Tempest by William Shakespeare, is a cambion.

According to the Malleus Maleficarum, demons, including the incubus and the succubus, are incapable of reproduction:

Due to this inability to create or nurture life, the method of the creation of a cambion is necessarily protracted. A succubus (that is to say the female of this particular brand of demon) will have sexual relations with a human male and by doing so acquire a sample of his sperm. This she will then pass on to an incubus. The incubus will, in his turn, transfer the sperm to a human female and thus impregnate her. Why this should result in anything other than a perfectly normal child is not discussed.

The text goes on to discuss at great length the arguments for and against this process being possible, citing a number of biblical quotations and noted scholars in support of its arguments, and finally concludes that this is indeed the method used by such demons.

Popular culture

In the fantasy roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons the word cambion refers to a male "half-fiend", a cross between a fiend and another creature, often a human.

References

fr:Cambion

See also

• Incubus
• Succubus
• Mooncalf
• Homunculus
• Changeling
• Hanyo