Feral ghoul

Feral ghouls (also known as mindless zombies,In-game name in Fallout. (PRO CRIT.MSG (Fallout)) ghoul crazies,In-game name in Fallout 2. (PRO CRIT.MSG (Fallout 2)) feral necrotic post-humans,Doctor Barrows terminal entry in Fallout 3. zombies or simply ferals) are ghouls that have lost their ability to reason and have become aggressive. Much prejudice from ordinary humans against ghouls who retain their mental faculties is due to the widespread assumption that this feral state is the inevitable condition of every ghoul.
==Background==
===Biology===
The degeneration into a feral state (referred to as ferocious post-necrotic dystrophy) is not fully understood. It is known that it is a result of a degeneration of the brain (which is not affected by the regenerative mutation of the spinal cord) and emerges following the atrophy of higher brain functions, accompanied by an increased level of aggression and appetite. When the loss of capacity for thought is complete, a ghoul is considered feral.Fallout 4 loading screens: "While they can easily be mistaken for zombies, Feral Ghouls are actually horribly irradiated humans whose brains have rotted away, causing madness."Tenpenny Tower terminals; Exploration Database, Feral Ghouls The factors that may cause a ghoul to enter this state are unclear, but anti-social or isolated ghouls are more susceptible to it.Underworld terminals; research terminal, Study Of Ferocious Post-Necrotic Dystrophy Exposure to intense radiation may also be a factor; feral ghouls have no body heat and emit lethal levels of radiation, indicating that feral ghouls are for all intents and purposes dead, their functions sustained only by their high irradiation. This allows them to survive for centuries, relying only on the energy provided by radiation, at the expense of a horrifying, emaciated appearance. The process is irreversible.The Lone Wanderer: "I need more details... What's the breach all about?"M.A.R.Go.T.: "Internal visual sensing equipment is detecting numerous unidentified persons in the southeast tunnels area. The individuals have damaged metro equipment and refused dialogue with our security units. In accordance with U.S. Security Statute A567/B, the use of deadly force has been authorized."The Lone Wanderer: "Can you tell me more about these unidentified persons?"M.A.R.Go.T.: "My apologies. My sensing equipment in that area must be damaged. My equipment indicates the persons possess no internal body heat and are emitting lethal levels of radiation."(M.A.R.Go.T.'s dialogue)Little Yangtze terminals; Little Yangtze Log Terminal, Elijah's Journal - Day 2
===Behavior===
Feral ghouls have generally apparently lost all capacity to reason. They are thought to be driven purely by what remains of their survival instincts, clustering in groups and attacking whatever disturbs them with relentless fury. When provoked, they all rush the source of the disturbance, usually a living creature from the wasteland, and try to attack using their limbs. The degeneration of the central nervous system means they cannot use tools (unless recently ghoulified)Camp Searchlight ghouls though it also means they will attack with full force, without the natural human limiters on muscle use. Ghouls will call out to other ferals with a screech, typically causing the entire pack to swarm the target.
Feral ghouls often cluster together in dark, cool environments, like sub-basement-levels or underground areas, only occasionally leaving their normal hunting grounds. However, the myth that ferals fear light is false. Occasionally, one or two ferals may be encountered out in the open.
Frequently, ferals of all types will wander from place to place, occasionally suffering from clonic seizures and stopping at fallen prey to feed, but will immediately attack any and all non-ghoul creatures they come across. On occasion, they have even been known to attack non-feral ghouls.Gabe (Fallout 4) They will often sniff, screech or lash out at other ferals. Upon detecting a non-ghoul, most ferals will make a high-pitched gurgle or screech, setting out to search the area. Upon sighting prey, they will often scream once more, alerting any nearby ghouls and attack. There is no rank or pecking order to these attacks; all attack at the same time in a rampant onslaught. Because of this, in enclosed areas like Vault 34, it is very easy to get overwhelmed. Feral ghouls mainly attack with their hands, slashing and smashing in an insane fury. Some feral ghouls can be seen to use weapons, such as the trooper ghouls in Camp Searchlight, likely indicating that they have only gone feral recently.
Ferals have also been shown to possess a sense of self-preservation, as one known occasion they actively fled a Brotherhood of Steel onslaught. In the same locale, a cluster of ferals was kept relatively docile when fed regularly.
An Enclave officer once encountered a group of docile feral ghouls and captured one for study after it followed him to base.Enclave field report Ethyl, Meat, Atom's Champion and the Sun of Atom are nonverbal ghouls with the appearance of "feral ghouls" who live peacefully among their communities.
===Ghoul mask===
One interesting note on ferals is that they seem to be fooled by very rudimentary means. The ghoul mask, seemingly nothing more than the hollowed-out head of a ghoul or several pieces of a human/ghoul head sutured together, still seems to deter ferals from attacking.
When wearing the ghoul mask (or using a Stealth Boy) the player character can observe relaxed feral ghouls' actions, including twitching, bending down, having fits or sniffing the air. If one is wearing the ghoul mask, ferals will often turn their head to the side and stretch their necks when nearing them, as if they are confused.
Roy Phillips, who originally possesses the mask, states if one gets too close to the ghouls, they will "sniff" the player character out and attack, even with the mask on. Regardless of this advice, the ghouls will not attack unless one removes the mask or provokes them with hostile action.
==Variants==
===Feral ghoul===
:TV series article: Feral ghoul (TV series)
Feral ghouls (also known as mindless ghouls, ghoul crazies or zombies) are the basic feral ghoul variant, wearing only a pair of tattered shorts and noticeably weaker than standard human opponents, they are easily dispatched with one or two headshots from any decent weapon or a solid hit from a decent melee or unarmed weapon. Despite their shrill noise and remarkable speed, they are only truly a threat when they have the advantage of numbers, or when the player character is at a low level. Some feral ghouls come in different colors as well as different types. The colors are different depending on how the human looked before turning into a feral ghoul.
===Feral ghoul roamer===
Some feral ghoul roamers in the Capital Wasteland wear what appears to be the remains of old combat armor, and are somewhat tougher than standard feral ghouls, requiring more damage to be dealt to put them down. However, in the Mojave Wasteland, ghoul roamers appear no different than the standard feral ghoul. They are not very common but can be found in groups of up to five in places containing lots of ghouls, like the Museum of History.
===Feral ghoul reaver===
Feral ghoul reavers appear in the Fallout 3 add-ons Broken Steel and Point Lookout and also can be found in Fallout: New Vegas in the Mojave Wasteland. They are much more combat-worthy than other ghouls and wear what appears to be the remnants of metal armor. They also have the ability to rip radioactive gore out of themselves and hurl it like a grenade. Aside from the damage they can inflict, they also have great endurance and boast one of the highest HP totals in the game, being able to survive even attacks from the Fat Man. Their lunge attacks (much like a deathclaw) can send anyone a good distance back, and can even cripple or kill a high-level player character very quickly.
Even at point-blank range and with the Sniper, Gunslinger and Commando perks, the V.A.T.S. chance for hitting a reaver's head will never go above 74% in Fallout 3.
In Fallout: New Vegas, reavers are simply a tougher and more aggressive variant of feral ghouls, having somewhat higher Hit Points than a glowing one. They have also lost their ability to throw radioactive gore, and their damage is not nearly as high as it was in Fallout 3, they can be killed as if they were any other feral ghoul.
===Charred feral ghoul===
One of the strongest variants of feral ghouls, this ghoul is covered by a thick layer of rust, giving it a natural armor and drastically increasing its resistance to damage.
===Glowing one===
Glowing ones or luminous necrotic post-humans are ghouls who absorbed so much radiation that they glow in the dark, becoming living conduits of radiation. In daylight, they simply appear to be incredibly pale feral ghouls, but in the darkness, they glow with a vivid yellow-green hue, their opaque skeletons clearly visible as in an X-ray. Approaching a fallen glowing one can cause minor exposure to radiation, so they can still be dangerous to humans even after their death.
They are often considered outsiders even by other (non-feral) ghouls, they are also one of the rarest of the feral ghouls. While there are many glowing ones that kept their normal human intellectual abilities in New California, it seems that nearly all of them in the Capital Wasteland and the Mojave Wasteland have become feral.
The Capital Wasteland and some Mojave Wasteland glowing ones can also emit an incandescent wave of radiation at will from their bodies, which they use to heal themselves and any surrounding ghouls while damaging their enemies. Even though being considered outcasts, other feral ghouls seem to follow them, as they are attracted to the lethal doses of radiation the glowing ones emit from their bodies.
All glowing ones in Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas, and Fallout 4 are feral with the exception of Jason Bright and Oswald the Outrageous.
The Last Son of Atom kidnapped Isolde's daughter Dawn and transformed her into a mutated giant called the Great Glowing One.
In Los, the glowing ghouls are among the members of the Church of the Lost, a ghoul cult dedicated to the protection of the Corporate Vault. They are not feral, as feral ghouls do not appear in Brotherhood of Steel.
===Swamp ghoul===
Swamp ghouls are feral ghouls that exclusively inhabit the swamps of Point Lookout. Swamp ghouls wear tattered shorts similar to those commonly worn by tribals. They are found in large numbers in and around the Turtledove Detention Camp. They exhibit characteristics similar to those of normal feral ghouls, but their skin's general appearance is more of a gray color and they are also considerably weaker. However, the swamp ghouls tend to appear in greater numbers than their Capital Wasteland counterparts.
===Fog ghoul===
This variant of ghoul only found on the Island and mutated as a result of the Island's radioactive fog. Fog ghouls are much paler than their more common brethren found in the Commonwealth, with black burns on certain parts of their skin and fishing nets draped over their chest. Their eye sockets are quite large, with the eyes sunken in, and their teeth are permanently gritted, exposing the gums, which seem inflamed, and the teeth sunk in as well. Black soot is also smeared across their faces.
===Endless walkers===
The Endless Walk is the punishment in which a ghoul from the Reservation is stripped of every worldly possession, including clothing, and sent marching into the wasteland. No ghoul has ever come back from the Endless Walk (after being exiled from the Reservation, Otto Stead was saved by Governor Dodge at Hoover Dam). Another source of endless walkers in the Boulder area is the crater, the remains of what was once NORAD.
Not all endless walkers end up radscorpion food, at least not at first. On those rare occasions when one survives more than one year in the wasteland, they turn into wandering, voracious creatures on an endless quest for flesh. Due to their prolonged, open exposure to the scorching desert sun, high radiation and other hardships of the wasteland, these ghouls, who were banished naked from the Reservation, look like walking, sun-bleached chunks of beef jerky. Their constant exposure to the hot sun and high levels of radiation has caused their skin to toughen into natural, hardened leather, but at the same time, their ability to reason has been completely lost.
==Notable feral ghouls==
Notable feral ghouls	Notable feral ghouls 	Notable feral ghouls
Fallout 3 	Fallout 3 	Fallout 3
Ethyl 	Mr. Keller 	Meat
Samuel 	Stefan 	Atom's Champion
Mother Curie III 	Sun of Atom 	
Fallout: New Vegas 	Fallout: New Vegas 	Fallout: New Vegas
Overseer 	Overseer 	Overseer
Fallout 4 	Fallout 4 	Fallout 4
Bob Stanson 	Bradley Ramone 	First mate
John Hatfield 	Jon Elwood 	Tim Shoots
Wayne Gorski 	Wilfred Bergman 	Pre-War Sanctuary residents
Frederick Gibbons 	Patrick Gibbons 	Steven Gibbons
Victoria Gibbons 	Security chief Andersen	Julian
Johnny Morton 	Rod Stoddard 	Roy Ward Baker
Wally Mack 	 	
Fallout 76 	Fallout 76 	Fallout 76
Agent Kensington 	Freddie Lang 	Harvey Tinley
J47 	Billy 	Cole
Lucas 	Red 	
==Notes==
According to Three Dog and Diamond City security, ghouls prefer dark areas, often underground or under the cover of the night sky.Three Dog: "Those Feral Ghouls that prefer the dark, dank underground? They ARE basically mindless zombies. So kill as many as you damn well please."(Three Dog on GNR)Diamond City security officer: "Feral Ghouls like to hide in the dark. Makes night patrol a real fright-fest."(Diamond City security; Exterior dialogue)
==Behind the scenes==
* The creature voices of the feral ghouls throughout Fallout 3, Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 were performed by Bethesda Softworks audio director Mark Lampert.Just Curious Show: Audio Director - Mark Lampert Part 2 (28:43)
* The feral ghouls in Fallout 3 were modeled by Jonah Lobe. He also used scans of packaged meat to texture the ghouls.Jonah Lobe on Twitter
==Gallery==
===Fallout 3===
FO3 feral ghoul.jpg|A feral ghoul in Fallout 3
Taft tunnels with ghouls.jpg|Feral ghouls in the Taft Tunnel
Keller Senior.jpg|Mr. Keller, a feral glowing one in the National Guard depot
Meat and Ethyl.jpg|Meat and Ethyl, tamed feral glowing ones in Underworld
Samuel.jpg|Samuel, an alpha male feral glowing one near Isabella Proud's camp
Stefan friendly.jpg|Stefan, The Surgeon's feral glowing one test subject in the Red Racer factory
Atoms Champion.jpg|Atom's Champion, a friendly feral ghoul reaver in the Holy Light Monastery
Sun of Atom.jpg|Sun of Atom a friendly feral glowing one in the Holy Light Monastery
Mother Curie III Ghoul.jpg|Mother Curie III after mutating into a feral ghoul reaver at the Megaton ruins
Ghoul mask.png|Ghoul mask
Ghoul concept.jpg|From The Art of Fallout 3
Feralstory.jpg|Fallout 3 feral ghoul concept art
===Fallout 4===
Ghoul.png|A feral from Fallout 4
PinkGhoul.png|A pink feral ghoul at Suffolk County Charter School
Bob Stanson.png|Bob Stanson, the former manager of station 1 at Dunwich Borers
Bradley Ramone.png|Bradley Ramone, the former manager of station 3 at Dunwich Borers
John Hatfield.png|John Hatfield, the former manager of station 2 at Dunwich Borers
Tim Shoots.png|Tim Shoots, the former manager of station 4 at Dunwich Borers
Director.png|Jon Elwood, the former director of Cambridge Polymer Labs
Wayne Gorski.png|Wayne Gorski, as a feral ghoul in the root cellar of his old cabin
Fo4 former Sanctuary neighbors.png|The Sole Survivor's former neighbors as feral ghouls
Fo4 - Crewman.jpg|The Yangtze's Crew mutated into feral ghouls
First Mate ghoul.jpg|The Yangtze's first mate, mutated into a glowing one
Frederick Gibbons.jpg|Frederick Gibbons, a feral ghoul encountered at the Cranberry Island Bog
Patrick Gibbons.jpg|Patrick Gibbons, a feral glowing one encountered at the Cranberry Island Bog
Steven Gibbons.jpg|Steven Gibbons, a feral ghoul encountered at the Cranberry Island Bog
Victoria Gibbons.jpg|Victoria Gibbons, a feral ghoul encountered at the Cranberry Island Bog
Fo4VW Andersen.png|Security Chief Andersen, the former security chief of Vault 88
FO4VW Julian.png|Julian, a feral ghoul found in Vault 88's incomplete atrium
Johnny Morton.jpg|Johnny Morton, a feral ghoul in the Hub 360 Hubris television studios (Creation Club)
Rod Stoddard.jpg|Rod Stoddard, a feral glowing one in the Hub 360 Hubris film set (Creation Club)
Roy Baker.jpg|Roy Baker, a feral ghoul in the Hub 360 Hubris film set (Creation Club)
Fo4 Wally Mack Tunnel Snakes Rule! CC.png|Wally Mack after mutating into a feral glowing one in the Fens Way station (Creation Club)
===Fallout 76===
FO76 Feral ghoul variants.png|Different types of feral ghouls in Fallout 76
FO76 Feral ghoul J47.jpg|J47, a feral ghoul encountered in the Charleston Capitol Building's DMV
FO76WA Harvey Tinley.png|Harvey Tinley, a feral ghoul encountered in Clarksburg
Freddie Lang.png|Freddie Lang, a former raider turned feral glowing one in Blackwater Mine
FO76NW Billy.png|Billy, a corroded glowing one in Vault 94
FO76NW Lucas.png|Lucas, a corroded glowing one in Vault 94
FO76NW Red.png|Red, a corroded glowing one in Vault 94
FO76WL Agent Kensington.jpg|Agent Kensington, a feral glowing one at Solomon's pond
===Fallout: Wasteland Warfare===
FOWW,GhoulsSetOverview.webp|Feral ghouls and glowing ones in Fallout: Wasteland Warfare
FO Store Creature Expansion FeralGhouls.jpg
Fo-promo-creature-expansion-5-low-res orig.jpg
=== Magic: The Gathering ===
Fallout Magic Feral Ghoul.png|Feral Ghoul
Fallout Magic Feral Ghoul (Extended Art).png|(Extended Art)
File:Fallout Magic Feral Ghoul art.jpg|Card art
Fallout Magic Zombie Mutant token.png|Zombie Mutant token
File:Fallout Magic Zombie Mutant token art.jpg|Card art
==References==
Non-game
Category:Ghouls
de:Wilder Ghul
ja:Feral ghoul
pl:Zdziczały Ghul
pt:Feral ghoul
ru:Дикий гуль
uk:Дикий гуль
zh:狂屍鬼