Ghoul

Ghouls are living creatures that have been mutated by exposure to radiation, rather than killed by it. This mutation process, referred to as ghoulification, has demonstrated different effects depending on the subject's species and their individual circumstances. In humans, ghoulification typically results in an extended lifespan (if not functional immortality), enhanced regeneration of wounds such that severed limbs can be reattached and maintain full function, and a natural immunity to physical damage from radiation exposure. Conversely, their condition renders them infertile and changes their appearance, described as resembling rotten flesh, burn victims, or walking corpses.

As a result of their mutation, ghouls are commonly considered a separate species and thus a frequent target of discrimination in the wasteland, especially in areas of dense human population. Many are driven to madness by their physical transformation and the suffering they endure because of it, becoming feral ghouls that have lost all sense of rationale and regressed to animalistic instinct, attacking any non-ghouls they come across. Many non-feral ghouls prefer to live in their own communities away from humanity, though will still refer to themselves as ghouls. Xenophobic rhetoric against ghouls has included the use of the word "zombie" as a pejorative referring to their appearance.

Ghouls are unique post-humans with a variety of advantages and disadvantages. The bulk of their population was created by the radiation unleashed during the Great War or exposure to high levels of radiation in subsequent generations. Pre-War media depicted creatures similar to ghouls, as well as a film that expressly named such creatures as "ghouls", rather than their pre-War zombie namesake.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Ghouls are created when a human with a compatible biology is exposed to high levels of ionizing radiation of the right type (eg. gamma radiation) and in the correct amount. Precisely what determines which humans undergo ghoulification is not known, even centuries after the Great War. Most people who suffer radiation poisoning die a horrifying death due to a combination of violent hemorrhaging and widespread necrosis. Ghouls suffer the same effects, but also develop a mutation that results in super-powered regeneration of their bodies, allowing them to survive damage that would kill regular humans. This also results in their monstrous appearance; exposure to radiation still damages their bodies, leading to exposed muscle, flaking skin, and damaged connective tissue, including the loss of nose and ears.

The more violent the exposure, the worse the effects; ghouls who are created as a result of surviving nuclear blasts will usually be twisted by burns and other damage caused by the explosion, resulting in a generally much more horrifying appearance, with exposed bone, asymmetric deformations, and extensive, seemingly rotting wounds. The actual transformation can take anywhere from hours, to weeks, to as much as a year, depending on exposure levels. Age is also a non-factor, people with the capacity to become a ghoul can change as early as a pre-teen into old age.

Ghouls were created by the Great War and resulting exposure to nuclear blasts or nuclear fallout, with some created over the subsequent centuries by exposure to high levels of radiation. The effects of the transformation can cause a mental breakdown in the victim, causing a rapid degeneration of higher thought processes, and leading them to become feral. Particularly severe irradiation can lead to the creation of glowing ones.

Non-human Ghouls

Ghoulification is not unique to humans and is a possible mutation for various families of animals. Animal ghouls seem to share all the disadvantages and advantages of becoming a ghoul as a human does, this includes rapid hair loss, the deterioration of the epidermis, severe cataracts and glaucoma of the eyes, elongated life-spans, as well as transforming into glowing ones through extended exposure to radiation.

Examples of affected species can be found throughout post-War America Roaming alpha mongrels can also be found to be wearing dog collars from their previous domesticated lives. Even non-native species, such as gorillas may become ghoulified. It is also believed by some caravan guards that blue ghoul whales exist.

Extended Lifespan

Due to a mutation within the autonomic nervous system following exposure to gamma radiation in specific combinations (technically, ionizing radiation with wavelengths below ten picometers), the normal process of decay in the neurotransmitters along the spinal cord is disrupted.[34][49] The effect of the mutation is an extended lifespan. Ghouls can be considered functionally immortal, as unless they are killed due to violence or in accidents, they can live for centuries, though many run the risk of feralization.

As ghouls retain their normal cognition and are generally no different than humans in terms of intellect, many ghouls benefit from their extreme lifespan and are capable of amassing skill and knowledge far beyond the ability of regular humans, especially when they combine their original skills or education with this experience.

Supercharged Regeneration

The mutation also greatly increases the regeneration rate of the ghoul body, allowing it to heal even the most complicated wounds, such as a foot crushed to a pulp by a power armor's foot, and even lethal injuries like an arrow to the neck, as long as the nervous system remains intact. The altered ghoul physiology is boosted in the presence of radiation, resulting in a rate of regeneration pushed even further. Ghouls may still use stimpaks for healing, but regular medical care combined with their regeneration makes them optional. In theory, a ghoul could survive anywhere, which is what made Set proclaim them the next step in human evolution. However, ghoul regeneration cannot heal all conditions: for example.

Regardless, the regeneration is strong enough to allow for lost body parts to be reattached even long after they were removed from the ghoul. Once fixed in place, the ghoul's body will simply regenerate the tissue and restore functionality. While a medical professional is usually preferred, even simple needle and thread is enough to ensure a lost finger will knit itself back with a ghoul's hand. Ghoul organs may even be compatible with regular humans due to this regeneration, leading to some being captured, sold, and slaughtered for their organs.

Immunity to Radiation and Disease

Ghouls are immune to the direct degenerative effects of radiation, allowing them to stride through even the most intense pockets of radiation without issue (although it is considered a possible risk factor in feralization). This does not mean radiation doesn't affect them; ghouls still accumulate it and may even begin to glow at sufficient concentrations. Glowing ghouls directly experience radiation as warmth, and lower levels of background radiation are considered chilly, with some joking they may develop frostbite.

A ghoul is also immune to most common diseases that affect unmutated humans. However, that doesn't mean ghouls are immune to all diseases, and diseases of the mind (not just feralization) can still affect a ghoul.

An indirect benefit is that ghouls have no need for most medicine, especially Rad-X and RadAway, allowing them to freely use such goods for trade or payment for services rendered.

Food and Water Consumption

The mutated physiology still requires ghouls to provide adequate nourishment for their body, especially water and food. The loss of smell allows ghouls to eat food humans would consider repulsive, which coupled with the resilience of their digestive tract allows them to subsist on any edible items. The ability to ignore the taste resulted in some ghouls engaging in cannibalism, consuming the flesh of other humans and even ghouls.

However, their mutated physiologies have drawbacks; recreational drugs like Jet have a diminished effect on their physiology, requiring double doses or increased potency to work. This is likely because of the regenerative properties of ghoulification.[citation needed] The neurotransmitters that would be firing at an accelerated rate during the use of a drug like Jet in a normal human would be quickly dealt with in the ghoul's body. This likely applies to all types of drugs, stimulants and depressants, that are not radiation cures or preventers.

There are exceptions to the need for food and water; the regenerative properties of their mutated bodies can sustain them in the absence of either. While this is consistent with feral ghouls, who are technically dead, sustained only by radiation. The precise reasons for this ability are not understood, however, they may be connected to a form of hibernation.

Complications

Appearence

A significant drawback of ghoulification is the changes in appearance. Ghouls are disfigured by radiation, at a rate influenced largely by the manner of their exposure; the more radiation received in a short amount of time, the more drastic the changes. Outward symptoms of ghoulification are more gradual with chronic exposure. In general, ghouls experience loss of skin and connective tissue in a manner similar to leprosy. Their outward appearance may end up looking like a noseless mutant with skin resembling tanned leather, a burn victims, or a rotting zombie[38] with exposed muscle, blood vessels, and in extreme cases even bone and internal organs. Ghouls generally lose hair along with the skin, though this varies due to the unpredictable nature of the change. Some may retain their head and facial hair, even allowing it to be stylized. The loss of the nose in particular greatly limits their ability to experience smell.

Vocal cords and the larynx are also usually affected by the change, resulting in a raspy voice; though again, this varies, such as the vocal cords experiencing only minor degradation when ghoulification begins, resulting in a far less raspy voice, compared to those who have experienced it for far longer. It appears that a ghoul's pre-transformation occupation and its impact on their health may play a role, as performers like Cooper Howard or Dean Domino retained mastery of their voices without significant degradation.

Health Issues

Other results of the change are widespread necrosis, rot, and other degenerative conditions like arthritis, cataracts, and glaucoma. Feralization and dementia can happen immediately. In fact, this necrosis can be exacerbated by a phenomenon whereby rotting flesh around sweat glands exudes macronutrients, which attract flies that further digest and consume the tissue of the ghoul.

Feralization

The greatest complication a ghoul can experience is feralization. This process results in the atrophying of higher mental functions, leading to an irreversible degeneration into a feral creature that attacks living beings on sight, with the sole exception of other ghouls, feral or not.[101] The mechanism of degeneration is a degeneration of brain functions (which is affected by standard regeneration, but not the mutation of the spinal cord) and their atrophy, leading to an increased level of aggression and appetite. When the loss of capacity for thought is complete, a ghoul becomes feral. The long-term effects destroy the body, which may alternatively bloat or waste away, as a feral ghoul no longer experiences normal physiological processes, sustained entirely by accumulated radiation. As a result, they emit no body heat and take on ambient temperature.

While the mechanism of feralization is well understood, the precise factors that cause it are not. This has been a problem for ghouls over the centuries, with numerous attempts to figure out a way to prevent feralization or cure it once symptoms of its onset were identified. If possible, ghouls were placed in suspended animation pending research.[104] Risk factors that may increase the rate of a ghoul going feral include:

• Social isolation: Anti-social or isolated ghouls are more susceptible to it, however, even communities of ghouls may succumb to it.
• Lack of focus or poor mental state: Ghouls of exceptional willpower or with an intense focus may retain their faculties, even if others around them succumb to feralization. Likewise, the trauma of ghoulification can cause a mental breakdown in the victim, causing a rapid degeneration of higher thought processes, causing them to become feral. Highly intelligent individuals and highly motivated ones may also experience lower risk of feralization.
• Exposure to intense radiation: While ghouls are immune to radiation, extensive exposure may contribute to the degeneration of mental state, if not directly affecting the brain matter.
• Individual genetic factors: Some ghouls may also be simply immune to feralization.

Glowing

The transformation of a ghoul into a glowing one, occurs when the organism of a ghoul ceases filtering radioactive particles from the blood, resulting in bioaccumulation and the gradual appearance of bioluminescence as a result. Luminous ghouls are usually feral, due to the damage to their nervous system and the time it takes to accumulate the radiation, though ghouls may develop luminescence before degenerating into a beast-like state.

Sterility

Ghouls retain their genitals, which includes the penis and testicles in male ghouls. They also retain their sex drive and capacity for engaging in intercourse and some humans have a ghoul fetish. However, ghouls are sterile and cannot procreate like humans. Any children they may have are either adopted or were mutated into ghouls alongside their parents.

Civilization and Culture

History

In California, ghouls were the first group of survivors to begin rebuilding civilization; the inhabitants of Vault 12 beneath Bakersfield founded the Necropolis in the summer of 2083. Less than a year later, in 2084, Set wrested control of the settlement from the original overseer and instituted his own reign, characterized by delusions of grandeur. The city would eventually decline, starting with the attack by Unity in 2157, who expected to find an unopened Vault in the ruins of the city. After many ghouls were killed in the assault, Set negotiated peace with the super mutants, after explaining that the ghouls are indeed the vault dwellers. The recovery operation failed, but Unity established a stronghold in the town to ensure Set's cooperation and watch for humans.

It would finally be destroyed and most of its population killed in a retaliatory expedition by the super mutants, sent to the city after the Vault Dweller raided the Vault and recovered the water chip, eliminating the super mutant garrison in the process. This has led to a great migration and the eventual founding of a number of ghoul and ghoul-friendly settlements, including Broken Hills in 2185, the NCR state of Dayglow around 2189, and Gecko in 2235. Though problems with equality continue, ghouls are increasingly seen as equal members of society, though their numbers steadily dwindle.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The attitude towards ghouls in the wasteland varies from acceptance, through indifference, to outright hostility. This is predicated on a variety of factors, though a lot of anti-ghoul sentiment is caused by inexperience and ignorance. For example, in New California of 2161, ghouls were almost legendary creatures, as their population had isolated itself within Necropolis, leading to the rise of rumors about terrifying zombies living within its borders. However, some daring souls managed to make inroads and secure lucrative trade relationships with the ghouls of the city (or skags, as the Hubbers referred to them), managing to overcome their prejudices. Others believe ghouls to be carriers of disease, without ever having examined one, while others believe that all ghouls are inevitably bound to become feral and pose a threat to people around them, though this sentiment has some truth to it.

Ghoul Attitudes

The situation is not helped by the ghouls themselves at times. Ghoul minds are fundamentally human, which includes developing misconceptions and prejudices of their own. While a majority of ghouls learned to live with their mutations, some don't get along with humans due to persecution and become belligerent. The harshest example was Set, the leader of Necropolis, who purposefully had most of the patrols entering the city killed, as was the case with two patrols Killian Darkwater sent into it, and practiced cannibalism.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Human

Lifespan

Immortal