Ghoul

The Ghouls are hastily-bred clones grown in diapause bags dropped in from space and buried in the ground. They are the favored creations of Councilor Vay Hek, who refers to them as his "children."
Ghouls can be found hidden under the ground all throughout the Plains of Eidolon, ready to strike should any Tenno obliviously stumble near their burial grounds. Although they may be found in the plains, they may appear in greater numbers during a Ghoul Purge. Ghouls are also common enemies among other Grineer troops encountered in Olympus, a Disruption node on Mars.
== General ==
The Ghouls are Grineer shock and ambush units, consisting of malformed, defective or partially-developed clones incubated for several days in diapause bags that are buried in the ground, with an emphasis on simplicity and speed of growth over quality and finesse. With toxic and paralytic blood, ghouls remain a threat even after they have died.
They have become a subject of study and research by Sigor Savah, whose encrypted journal fragments provided details about the various Ghouls, and how they are employed by the Grineer.
=== Usage ===
Far from the finest of soldiers, these deformed monstrosities may be lacking in typical qualities like intelligence, sanity or longevity, but their sheer numbers, deadly weapons, and savage and ferocious nature more than make up for it. Their burial process employs the element of surprise, which guarantees that any unlucky adversary will be quickly consumed and defeated.
Ghouls are used in advance of normal Grineer troops to soften up the opposition. However, before the battle begins, the Ghouls must be kept sated or they will turn on and consume any nearby Grineer troops. Ghouls are relentless and incapable of feeling fear, as even massive casualties will be ineffective at quelling any Ghoul advance.
They can mainly be be found employed in the Plains of Eidolon, used by the Grineer as an attempt to reinforce their rule over the Plains, while also using them to attack any nearby militias.
=== Ghoul Alphas ===
Despite their unpredictable and fickle nature, some Ghouls may develop unforeseen mutations, such as advanced higher brain functions. Despite these abilities being rudimentary, they still allow those lucky Ghouls to rise above the others and lead them. Additionally some Ghoul Alphas may rise simply by being more brutal and savage than the rest.
Alphas lead their pack with relentless savagery, and may attempt to cull out any unlucky Ghoul defectors and hold them prisoner for dissection.
=== Biology ===
Draped in shreds of the bags that birthed them, Ghouls are formed from repurposed Grineer gene slurry, and embody the phrase "quantity over quality". Very little, if any attention is given to the development of their higher functions, which cause them to exhibit primitive, animalistic pack behavior. Due to their cheap creation and outside factors, such as malnutrition and environmental poisoning, Ghouls may possess characteristics such as receding gums, exposed bones, distended or pale skin, and may also lack verbal communication skills. The Grineer may also attempt to bolster their Ghoul regiments through the use of growth hormone infusers, which would allow for faster gestation.
Ghouls also have a unique weakness to , a common chemical used in Grineer manufacturing. Despite its benign nature, a large dose of ultra-refined Grokdrul can be quite fatal for any Ghouls that are still developing.
However, despite the Ghouls simple-mindedness and animalistic nature, some Ghouls may be birthed with the cognition complex enough to understand their surroundings and desire to defect from the pack. Some defectors have attempted to contact and seek refuge from dissection at the hands of Dr. Tengus.
All Ghouls have paralytic blood, which is released upon death as a cloud that inflicts and procs on contact. The proc has a reduced duration of 2 seconds, but the proc should be treated with caution as they can quickly sap a Warframe's health, especially in melee combat.
==History==
=== The Ascension ===
Dr. Tengus first created these vicious Ghouls with the help of Councilor Vay Hek. Set during the rise of the Grineer empire, in the Kuva Fortress. Vay Hek and Dr. Tengus discuss how obedient the Ghouls prototype would be to the Grineer, of which the doctor assures so before reminding him that the Grineer Queens themselves will be the audience of their creation.
Playing the "good host," the councilor wears a wig and a ruff before greeting his fellow Grineer generals and welcoming them to his presentation. The Grineer treat him with disdain and disrespect, while the Grineer Queens find his act insulting.
Apologizing, the councilor then shares his own vision to the Queens - A vision where the Grineer conquers the solar system without having to deploy a single ship or carrier, a conquest where an invasion of planets would simply mean seeding a batch of biomass bags from the orbit. He presents the Ghouls to the queens, stunning his entire audience with his creation.
In an act of betrayal, or perhaps as a deliberate stunt to showcase their ferocity to the Queens, the treacherous Tengus kicks Vay Hek into the Ghouls' enclosure, where he is torn apart by the cannibalistic creatures. Impressed by the display, the Queens order Tengus to reconstruct Hek with cybernetics, turning him into the creature the Tenno will eventually encounter.
=== WARFRAME: Ghouls ===
A Grineer army unit led by Captain Vor begins raiding an Ostron village, intending to scavenge any Orokin artifacts left in the vicinity. Unable to find any, the raid unit deems the Ostrons rebelling against them and immediately executes them one by one, destroying their homes and settlement.
Following the ensuing genocide, an Warframe arrives to fend off the Grineer raid and nearly forces them into retreat. Yet, despite the tide of battle turning, the Excalibur chooses to save an Ostron child from danger instead of continuing the fight.
After hiding and tending to the child, the Grineer soon return with their never-before-seen Ghouls to capture the Warframe – dead or alive. The Excalibur is eventually overwhelmed by the continuous onslaught of the Grineer army and their ghouls, prompting the Lotus to seek the assistance of a fellow for reinforcements, .
==Variants==
There are four variants of Ghouls: 
*Ghoul Auger - Carries two drills that they use to attack or drill into the ground to appear in another place.
*Ghoul Expired - Ghouls that have succumbed to malnutrition, and have been turned into suicide troops.
*Ghoul Rictus - Weilds a giant circular saw whose blade can be ejected and literally ridden on.
*Ghoul Devourer - A personal favorite of Vay Hek, they are lumbering giants that carry two wrist-mounted hooks on each hand.
== Trivia ==
*A ghoul is an evil spirit or phantom that robs graves and feeds on dead bodies.
*According to The Ascension webcomic, the Ghoul bags can be deployed from orbit, which will "plant" themselves into the ground. They are meant as a cheap and fast method of a ground invasion of a planet, without requiring the deployment of more advanced troops.
*WARFRAME's first series of comics are named after these breed of clones.
== Media ==
File:Ghouls 2 Augur.png
File:Ghoul Expired.jpg
File:Ghoul Rictus.jpg
File:Ghouls 1 Devourer.png
File:Ghoul Devourer.jpg
File:Dev100-Ghoul.gif
File:Dev101-Ghouls1.gif
File:Dev101-Ghouls2.gif
File:Dev101-Ghouls3.gif
File:Dev101-Ghouls4.gif
File:Ghouls 5 Ghouls.png|Ghouls being planted in diapause bags
File:Ghouls 7 A Tide of Claws and Flesh.png
==See Also==
*WARFRAME: Ghouls - A WARFRAME comic series named after this breed of creatures.
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Category:Grineer
Category:Enemies
Category:Update 22
Category:Plains of Eidolon