18 Different Types Of Submissives – Traits & Examples Explained

In this guide, you'll learn about 18 distinct types of submissives, complete with examples of the typical behaviors that go along with each one.

What Type of Sub Are You?

Getting familiar with the different submissive types can help you pinpoint your own preferred flavor of submission. It's also useful for finding a compatible partner, since certain dominant types pair better with certain sub types.

There's plenty of room to experiment here — people are complicated creatures. If no single type below fully captures who you are, you might recognize pieces of yourself across several categories, or even all of them. You don't have to squeeze yourself into one neat submissive box. The same holds true for doms.

Safety first – Don't forget to build in BDSM rules like safe words and aftercare, so your play stays safe no matter which sub type describes you or your partner.

What Types of Subs Are There?

This list isn't exhaustive, but it captures the most common submissive types you're likely to encounter or read about within the BDSM lifestyle.

Nearly every submissive type also has a dominant counterpart worth knowing. With that in mind, you might also want to check out our companion guide on 19 different types of doms.

1. Submissive Brat

From the outside, a brat submissive might not look obedient or particularly submissive at all. But look closer, and you'll notice this type loves pushing buttons — purely as part of the game. Doing so earns the brat attention from their partner, often called a brat tamer, and that attention is the real payoff for the brat.

3 Examples & Ideas For Being A Submissive Brat

1. Talking back – when given out to
2. Disobeying orders – when instructed to do something
3. Resisting – as your dom restrains you

Go in-depth: Brat BDSM Guide

2. Service Sub

Among the most common submissive types, service subs find fulfillment in completing tasks for their dominant. That can mean practical, everyday stuff — chores, errands, bills.

But service subs are also typically expected to serve sexually, sometimes in very particular, prescribed ways. Acting as human furniture, kneeling on command, or dressing their dominant are examples that lean more specifically into service submission and BDSM.

Browse these submissive tasks for ideas well-suited to a service sub and their partner — though they'll work for other submissive types too.

7 Examples of Being a Service Sub

1. Cooking – and serving meals, letting their partner eat first or choose the menu
2. Serving and refilling drinks – to their partner or guests; can include sampling the drink to ensure it's correct
3. Sexually servicing – their partner or guests
4. Cleaning – home, business, vehicles, clothing, and even bathing the dom
5. Childminding – can be part of the dynamic
6. Planning – for parties, vacations, or other events
7. Taking pride – in the tasks they do for their dom

3. Submissive Princess

A submissive princess wants adoration and worship first — only then does she hand over control to her dominant. It's not about lacking respect for her partner; she simply holds herself in high regard.

Don't confuse this with a pillow princess, an LGBTQ+ term describing a woman who'd rather receive pleasure than give it.

Side note: Dominants who prefer to give pleasure are known as Pleasure Doms.

3 Examples of Playing a Submissive Princess

1. Wanting to be cared for and coddled – as befits their opinion of themselves
2. Resisting slightly – with pouting and whining
3. Expecting – to be treated like royalty, including pampering from their dominant

4. Bottom

Bottoms take in stimulation, but often only for the length of a single session. They tend to enjoy sensation without necessarily identifying as submissive, so D/s dynamics and taking orders usually aren't part of the deal.

Related: How to Have a Sexy and Functional D/s Relationship

4 Examples of Bottom Behavior

1. Receiving sensation and stimulation – sensual/soft or more painful
2. Asking for stimulation – power play isn't necessarily involved
3. Regaining control – after a scene ends
4. Negotiating limits – before a scene (BDSM contracts can help)

5. Masochist

A masochist genuinely craves pain — sometimes quite literally. Take it to the extreme and you get a pain slut, someone who seeks out intense pain specifically. Masochists don't necessarily hand psychological control over to their partner, though.

4 Things a Masochist Sub Might Do

1. Misbehaving or fighting back – to encourage physical punishment
2. Enjoying play punishments – spanking, impact play, etc.
3. Trying painful kinks – needle play, knifeplay, fireplay, etc.
4. Asking for more – intensity or stimulation

6. SAM

A smart-assed-masochist, or SAM, blends traits of a pain slut and a brat. They tend to show their playful, sassy side mostly (or only) to their partner. SAMs push further than typical brats, though, because they're genuinely chasing pain — physical or emotional.

3 Common Traits of a Smart Assed Masochist

1. Talking back – making sarcastic jokes, mocking their dom, questioning them, and general mouthing off
2. Making faces – smirking, etc.
3. Turning away – when their partner is talking or demanding attention

7. Break Me Sub

Brats mostly talk back, and SAMs bait their partner into reacting, but a "Break Me" submissive takes it further into actual physical struggle. Sometimes called a combative bottom, this sub needs a dominant strong, sharp, and quick enough to "break" through — that's what unlocks their submission.

3 Signs of a Break Me Sub

1. Resisting – physically until restrained
2. Fighting Back – pushing and potentially kicking, hitting, etc.
3. Running – from their partner

Learn: 103 submissive things you can say to your dominant.

8. Model Submissive

A submissive model enjoys looking good and putting it on display. They might avoid activities that leave visible marks since it could ruin their look, gravitating instead toward things that show off their appearance or let them see themselves in the moment.

This type may not actually be all that submissive underneath it all. Some love playing the part for the camera without necessarily obeying orders, taking pain, or engaging in bondage otherwise. Of course, someone can absolutely be both a model and a genuinely active submissive.

Read next: How to be a good sub.

9 Aspects of Model Submission

1. Dressing up – in kinky gear
2. Posing – for the camera
3. Buying or borrowing gear – for photoshoots
4. Being bound – for photo purposes
5. Attending events – to work with brands, other models, or photographers
6. Promoting – brands, products, or services
7. Posting on social media – to promote themselves and share their work; could include selling videos or images
8. Watching – in the mirror or on a screen (tips for having sex in front of a mirror)
9. Recording – their activities, even if they don't watch it later

9. Slave

A slave stays in submissive mode around the clock, handing over all control to their partner. Slaves typically live within 24/7 or total power exchange (TPE) relationships.

4 Behaviors of a BDSM Slave

1. Asking permission – to masturbate, cum, eat, speak, or use the bathroom are all common
2. Obeying orders – both explicit and implicit
3. Surrendering control – completely
4. Being sexually available – at all times

10. Pet

Pet subs range from ponygirls and boys to pups, kitties, and beyond. They mimic their chosen animal and bond with their owner accordingly. Each pet type comes with its own set of norms and expectations, so that's worth keeping in mind here.

8 Behaviors for Pet Submissive Roles

1. Wearing costumes/accessories – collars, harnesses, ears, tails, muzzles, riding gear, leather or fur gear, etc.
2. Posing/moving – on all fours, on a leash, while connected to a hitching post, etc.
3. Drinking/eating – out of a dish, water bowl, etc.
4. Obeying – takes simple commands that are commonly given to animals, including responding to riding crops, etc.
5. Sleeping – in a kennel, at the edge of the bed, on the floor, etc.
6. Making animal noises – neighing, meowing, barking, or pawing
7. Cleaning themselves – licking themselves, even if it's only pretend
8. Playing – with balls or other toys, pets would enjoy

Find out more about pet play.

11. Domestic Discipline Bottoms

Domestic discipline, or DD, overlaps with BDSM in some ways, though many wouldn't classify it as BDSM outright. It's really a lifestyle geared toward running an orderly household, where the man/husband/father holds control over his wife/partner and children. Spanking shows up frequently in domestic discipline, even where other BDSM elements don't.

DD tends to be a traditional, fairly conservative lifestyle that can align with a family's religious values, with the husband seen as steward of the household's spiritual wellbeing.

Related: What is a submissive wife?

4 Duties of Domestic Discipline Bottoms

1. Caretaking – of house and children
2. Receiving punishment – especially spanking
3. Obeying – her husband
4. Praying – and being devout

12. Bedroom Submissive

Bedroom submissives have no interest in a broader BDSM lifestyle or relationship structure. They simply enjoy relinquishing control within the bedroom, then returning to "normal" the moment they step outside it. Submission is welcome, as long as it comes with a built-in time limit — any expectation of submitting outside the bedroom isn't part of the deal.

You might also hear this called a sex sub.

4 Things a Bedroom Submissive Does

1. Being bound – for sexual purposes.Find out more in our Bondage Guide.
2. Receiving stimulation and impact – including sensual domination, impact play, etc.
3. Taking orders – for the duration of the scene only
4. Providing sexual pleasure – through oral, vaginal, manual, or anal sex – learn how to prepare for anal sex

Related: Intense hand job tips.

13. Finsub

Short for financial submissive, a finsub cedes control of their finances to a findom or findomme. You'll sometimes hear "paypig" used, typically describing a male finsub paired with a findomme.

Financial domination translates easily to online dynamics and long-distance relationships.

5 Traits of a Finsub

1. Paying a dominant – in cash, goods, services, debt repayment, housing, etc.
2. Obeying – orders of the findom
3. Being humiliated – by their findom, can include other humiliation play and verbal abuse
4. Providing access – to financial accounts, etc.
5. Asking – for the use of their own money similar to a stipend or allowance

14. Rope Bunny

Subs who love being tied up are sometimes nicknamed rope bunnies, and they live for the feel of rope against their skin. Rope bunnies tend to be female, paired with a male rope top (often called a "rigger"), though that pairing isn't set in stone.

3 Ideas for Rope Bunnies

1. Being bound – can require great patience for longer ties
2. Posing – for photos
3. Using safe words – at any sign that something is wrong

15. My-Dom-Can-Do-No-Wrong Submissive

This type says less about how a sub behaves with their dom and more about how they act around everyone else. This sub assumes their dominant has unmatched experience and knowledge.

That belief often stems from the sub's own inexperience or naivety — sometimes the dom is just as green. Think of it as a submissive variation on new relationship energy: exciting, but easy to get carried away with. This particular type can also come across as a bit grating to others.

4 Traits of This Type of Submissive

1. Talking about their doms – incessantly and retelling stories about the doms
2. Devoting themselves – entirely to their partners
3. Withholding opinions – or taking on their dom's opinion
4. Disregarding other's arguments – without an inordinate body of "proof"

If you're worried this type is especially vulnerable to abusive partners, that worry is justified. It works fine when the dominant treats them well, but this sub can easily overlook red flags and end up in a genuinely dangerous situation. Anastasia Steele from the Fifty Shades novels is almost a textbook illustration of this pattern.

Mentorship from more experienced kinksters can go a long way toward protecting newer submissives from this trap.

16. Slaver-Than-Thou

You won't have to guess whether someone fits this type — they'll announce it themselves. They're a 24/7 submissive (or slave) and believe everyone else should be too, otherwise they're not "real" submissives.

3 Examples of The Slaver-Than-Thou Submissive Type

1. Disliking being called a submissive – and not a slave
2. Proclaiming 24/7 submission best – loudly and often; often viewing themselves as more submissive and sacrificing more than others
3. Avoiding safe words – because they believe "true submissives" should have one; may not set one at all

17. True Submissive

Some subs lean hard into every classic submissive trope, earning them this label. They're usually newer to the lifestyle and eager to prove themselves, which can create its own set of problems.

5 Examples of "True" Submission

1. Serving dominants – or anyone, not just their own
2. Ignoring red flags – in their desire to be submissive
3. Putting others' needs above their own – even when they should prioritize themselves
4. Acting timid or docile – makes them easy to control or abuse
5. Avoiding interaction – or isolated as an attempt to submit without stepping on any toes

18. Submissive in Training

Being a submissive in training can mean a couple of different things, not all tied to a specific personality type. It might describe the early stretch of a relationship where a dominant is laying out their expectations, or it could describe someone learning submission outside of a relationship altogether, to prepare for one down the line. There's real overlap between the two.

9 Behaviors of the Submissive-in-Training

1. Learning – about general BDSM communities, etiquette, and expectations from others and media
2. Experimenting – with different types of submission to learn what kind of sub you are
3. Receiving punishment – for errors (ideas for BDSM punishments)
4. Improving after mistakes – which are bound to happen
5. Observing other subs/relationships – if possible
6. Looking inward – to find their own needs, goals, and inner strength
7. Seeking protection – from their dom or trainer
8. Creating a training plan – including a timeline, individual steps, and space for practice
9. Keeping a journal – to track feelings and experiences, perhaps allowing their dom to read it

Now that you've got a feel for the different submissive types out there, you probably have a clearer sense of what kind of submission fits you — and what to steer away from. If you're dominant, you may even recognize the submissive type that draws you in most. Use this list to look for a compatible partner or to weave elements of submission into your own lifestyle and relationship, and explore your sexuality more authentically along the way.

March 24, 2023