“The future. Survival anywhere. We surpass the norms.”— Set, on ghouls.
Ghouls are living creatures mutated by radiation, rather than killed by it. The mutation process, referred to as ghoulification, has different effects depending on the species and individual circumstances. In humans, this typically results in an extended lifespan, if not functional immortality, real-time regeneration of wounds allowing for reattaching limbs,[1] and immunity to direct damage resulting from irradiation. However, it also renders them infertile and changes their appearance, resembling rotting corpses,[Non-game 1] burn victims,[2] or walking corpses.
As a result, ghouls are frequently discriminated against in the wasteland, especially in the more populated areas, where many were driven to madness by the change and became feral. Many prefer to live in their own communities, though they will still refer to themselves as ghouls. Doc Barrows, a ghoul doctor and scientist, used the term "necrotic post-humans" to refer to his own kind.[3]
Ghouls were first introduced in Fallout and have appeared in every entry in the franchise since, though their appearance and properties of ghoulification were subject to change. The process of ghoulification is not exclusive to humans and has been observed in other species, such as bears and gorillas.
What is the process of mutation into a Ghoul called in Fallout?
In Fallout, becoming a Ghoul involves natural FEV contamination or FEV2 application on contaminated humans. The mutation manifests as brain degeneration, higher brain function atrophy, and heightened aggression and appetite. A Ghoul is deemed feral when thought capacity is lost. Anti-social tendencies, isolation, and intense radiation exposure can trigger this state.
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What are some of the effects of ghoulification on humans in Fallout?
Ghoulification in Fallout transforms humans into ghouls, also known as necrotic post-humans in the Capital Wasteland. This change results from extreme, long-term radiation exposure, damaging the skin, flesh, and ligaments. Despite their zombie-like look, ghouls' flesh isn't rotten. Some retain their humanity, while others lose higher cognitive functions, becoming mindless, radiation-resistant cannibals. Ghouls are immune to radiation's negative effects and live longer. Some can become a glowing one or a glowing feral due to radioactive poisoning, emitting radiation and lacking body heat.
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Do Ghouls in Fallout have an extended lifespan?
Ghouls in Fallout do possess an extended lifespan. Radiation impact slows their aging, leading to a significantly expanded lifespan, the extent of which is not fully known. Despite being created in the Great War of 2077, Ghouls are still present in Fallout 4's timeline (2287). However, they are predominantly sterile.
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What are the benefits and drawbacks of becoming a Ghoul in the Fallout universe?
In the Fallout universe, Ghouls gain radiation immunity and extended lifespans due to their bodies' mutation and adaptation to radiation. However, they suffer from skin necrosis, lesions, and rot, resulting in an appearance likened to undead creatures. This leads to discrimination, with slurs like 'zombie' being common. Ghouls may also become a glowing one or a glowing feral, emitting radiation and lacking body heat due to radioactive poisoning.
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Are Ghouls in Fallout immune to radiation damage?
Ghouls in Fallout, transformed humans resembling walking corpses, are immune to radiation's harmful effects. Their immunity results from the mutation process. Accumulated radioactive poisoning can cause some ghouls to become glowing ones or glowing ferals, emitting radiation.
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Background[]
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. However, there is a small, unique group of individuals born before the Great War, due to the increasing refinement of medical sciences. This allowed controlled exposure to radiation to ghoulify pre-War people identified as capable of going through such a change, first experimentally, then as a means of obtaining immortality and radiation immunity in anticipation of the New World.[Non-game 2][4] Beyond controlled irradiation, biochemical means were also sought to trigger this transformation, for example, in the Commonwealth.[5] Its known side effects are why Hancock sought out the last remaining dose.[6]
New California[]
Necropolis, the single largest ghoul city in New California until 2162.
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.[Non-game 3] 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.[Non-game 4] 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.[Non-game 5]
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.[Non-game 6] This has led to a great migration and the eventual founding of a number of ghoul and ghoul-friendly settlements,[7] including Broken Hills in 2185,[Non-game 7] the NCR state of Dayglow around 2189,[Non-game 8][Non-game 9] and Gecko in 2235. Though problems with equality continue, ghouls are increasingly seen as equal members of society, though their numbers steadily dwindle.[Non-game 10]
In the Mojave Wasteland, they can be found in small amounts throughout the region, but no town is completely dedicated to them. There are usually a few ghouls living among humans in various communities performing jobs in order to survive, such as the guard Beatrix Russell and the comedian Hadrian, both of which are in Freeside. The only known community of ghouls in the region is the Bright Brotherhood, a religious faction located in the REPCONN test site, founded and led by an intelligent glowing one named Jason Bright, who wants to leave Earth and go into space to find a "new world," a promised land foretold by Bright himself. There are also several ghoul rangers occupying Ranger Station Echo, implying some level of acceptance of ghouls serving in the NCR. In contrast, Caesar's Legion does not allow ghouls (along with other mutants) within their ranks, but do allow ghouls to live in their territory, such as Raul Tejada who traveled from Two-Sun to the Mojave. To Caesar, ghouls and other mutants are irrelevant to his plans to push westward.[Non-game 11]
In 2277, in the Divide, nuclear warheads triggered by the Courier's delivery of an automated nuclear launch device exploded and triggered rapid ghoulification of the Legion and NCR forces engaged in battle there. The Divide flayed them alive, causing them to become dead men walking, marked for death, sustained only by the intense radiation that permeates the area.[8] As they never appear outside the Divide, due to the necessity of staying near radiation sources to remain alive, the marked men became a legend in the wasteland, like the Sierra Madre, the Burned Man or the Big Empty.[9]
East Coast[]
The Slog, one of the most prosperous farms in the Commonwealth and ran entirely by ghouls.
The densely urbanized East had a great concentration of American population and was strongly affected by the nuclear fallout. People who took shelter in areas affected by it experienced radiation poisoning; those who did not die became ghouls. Within a year, the first ghouls began to appear and with them, the first fledgling settlements, like Underworld in Washington, D.C., which existed as late as 2277.[10] Although in areas like Appalachia, ghouls were quickly sought out and exterminated, no matter what relation they may have had with others before they became ghouls.[11] Another population of ghouls, transformed Chinese operatives stranded on American soil, chose to sequester themselves from the wasteland.
In other areas, like the Commonwealth, ghouls cohabited with humans. The most noticeable example was Diamond City. Ghouls were a part of the city's population from its foundation in the 2130s to the 2282 election. Diamond City was gripped by a wave of racism, thanks to a candidate by the name of McDonough. He ran for the city's mayor on the Mankind for McDonough platform and won the election thanks to the votes of the Upper Stands citizens. After his election, ghoul citizens were evicted. Entire families were thrown out of the city by their human neighbors, straight into the surrounding ruins to perish without a cap to their name.[12] Those that survived scattered across the region. A refugee called Wiseman founded the Slog, the foremost tarberry farm in the Commonwealth.[13] Many found refuge in the settlement of Goodneighbor.
After the War, a pre-War mall known as Valley Galleria became a haven for ghouls in Appalachia, referred to by survivors as "the Changed."[14] Led by Lucy Harwick, ghouls sheltering in the Galleria welcomed others like them to travel there and be accepted with "open arms, and more importantly, open hearts."[15] However, because of his experiences with feral ghouls, Duncan McKann would murder Lucy Harwick and several others in a single-minded pursuit for revenge, eliminating one of the only havens before human extinction in the region due to the Scorched Plague at the turn of the century.[11]
Due to persecution by humans, many of them organized and made an expedition to the Capital Wasteland prior to 2102 to join a settlement of other ghouls.[16][17][18]
After the mass migration and resettlement of Appalachia in 2103, ghouls returned alongside other humans, working with them to rebuild the work. Some examples include Eugenie, who worked for the Blue Ridge Caravan Company. Mordecai McCoy would find steady work entering radioactive areas to scavenge goods and a general handyman around The Wayward. Gunther Jenkins and Betty Hill worked for Patricia Myers at Nuka-World on Tour. However, due to the prevalence of ferals, ghouls would still face discrimination. The two main settlements of Appalachia, Foundation and Crater, had their own reasons; Settlers came from the destroyed northwest and accordingly had a shoot on sight policy (which would be readily amended once a ghoul was identified as sentient, which would require one to mask up to enter the town),[19]Craterraiders were more open on account of Lucky Lou, but he had to deal with Lev's enmity; the Russian raider despised Lou and manipulated him into suicide attempts, suggesting that he'd inevitably go feral.[20][21]
One of the largest concentration of ghouls in Appalachia was not American, but Chinese. Unlike the Morgantown facility, infiltrators based in the Deep escaped the notice of Enclave forces in the Whitespring bunker. Despite surviving the War in the cave system beneath Whitespring, they underwent ghoulification, allowing them to continue Operation Trinitite indefinitely, operating in hostile territory with no hope of resupply. These communist soldiers remained loyal to the People's Liberation Army, in particular due to the influence of a pre-War commander as loyal as they were terrifying.[22] Despite being trapped thousands of miles away from home, they continued their mission to acquire the Motherlode mining robot,[23] presumably to tunnel into the Whitespring bunker and capture it for the People's Republic of China. The mission was ongoing as of 2103, though with limited success.[24]
Another community of ghouls formed in Vault 63, in the Skyline Valley region. After the Great War, issues with the massive Vault stretching beneath the region resulted in many of its inhabitants being turned to ghouls. As the single largest community in Appalachia, it has suffered greatly from the issue of feralization, focusing research on trying to find a cure. Due to a lack of success, many of the dwellers were either sedated or put in a state of suspended animation.[25] The pride of the Vault's overseer, Hugo Stolz, has led to the emergence of The Lost, a unique ghoul variant formed by a combination of ghoulification and weather experiments conducted in the Skyline Valley.[26]
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)[27] and in the correct amount.[28] 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.[29][30] 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.[Non-game 1]
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.[31] The actual transformation can take anywhere from hours,[32][33] to weeks,[34] to as much as a year, depending on exposure levels.[10] 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.[35][36]
Although some ghouls were born before the War, the majority of 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; for example, at Camp Searchlight in 2281, an attack resulted in the town becoming blanketed by intense radiation, turning a majority of the NCR troopers stationed there into ghouls. Camp Searchlight also demonstrated the role of trauma in the effects of the transformation; it can cause a mental breakdown in the victim, causing a rapid degeneration of higher thought processes, and leading them to become feral.[37] Particularly severe irradiation can lead to the creation of glowing ones.[Non-game 1]
In contrast, controlled mutation can result in a much better survival rate. Controlled irradiation still damages the appearance, but doesn't seem to trigger the risk of going feral.[28][Non-game 2] Biochemical means allow for the preservation of a ghoul's appearance, at least in the short term. An experimental radiation drug can trigger rapid mutation in a human, but without changing their appearance.[38] However, the accumulating damage will change the ghoul's appearance over time, especially as the regeneration overcorrects and leads to scarring and other cosmetic damage.[39] However, this does depend on the type of the drug.[5][6]
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.[40]
Examples of affected species can be found throughout post-War America from New California to the East Coast. Known pre-War individuals include Ruzka, a circus bear that was performing around the Point Lookout area, and the Beast of Beckley, a legendary wolf known to roam Appalachia. 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.[41]
Species that may experience ghoulification include:
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.[27][42] 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. A significant number of ghouls remains alive as late as 2296, nearly 220 years after the Great War, though many run the risk of feralization.[43]
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.[44][45] Especially when they combine their original skills or education with this experience; The Ghoul combines his Marine training with two hundred years of working as a bounty hunter,[46] though at the cost of carrying the most traumatic memories with them for the entire duration.[31]
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. [38][47] The altered ghoul physiology is boosted in the presence of radiation, resulting in a rate of regeneration pushed even further.[48] Ghouls may still use stimpaks for healing, but regular medical care combined with their regeneration makes them optional.[49] In theory, a ghoul could survive anywhere, which is what made Set proclaim them the next step in human evolution.[50] However, ghoul regeneration cannot heal all conditions: for example, Hugo Stolz, who was born blind, remained blind after becoming a ghoul.[51]
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,[52] even simple needle and thread is enough to ensure a lost finger will knit itself back with a ghoul's hand.[53] Ghoul organs may even be compatible with regular humans due to this regeneration, leading to some being captured, sold, and slaughtered for their organs.[54][55]
The regenerative effect of ghoulification also allows for further mutations and changes to occur. The marked men of the Divide, become sustained by radiation, allowing them to survive being flayed alive by Divide storms, but without descending into a feral state.[56][57] An even more dramatic change occurred when the ghoul residents of Vault 63 were exposed to the meteorological experiments of Hugo Stolz; rather than being killed by striking lightning, their altered physiology allowed them to contain the energy of the lightning, permanently trapping it within their bodies.[58] This changed them on a fundamental level, causing them to perceive the world as pulses and wavelengths. While this has restored a form of eyesight for Hugo Stolz, other victims were rendered psychotic, likely as a result of the mental stress of their altered worldview and the pain of the electricity they were charged with.[51]
Immunity to radiation and disease[]
Ghouls are immune to the direct degenerative effects of radiation,[48] allowing them to stride through even the most intense pockets of radiation without issue[59] (although it is considered a possible risk factor in feralization).[59] This does not mean radiation doesn't affect them; ghouls still accumulate it and may even begin to glow at sufficient concentrations.[60][Non-game 1] Glowing ghouls directly experience radiation as warmth, and lower levels of background radiation are considered chilly, with some joking they may develop frostbite.[61]
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.[62]
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[49] or payment for services rendered.[63][64]
Food and water consumption[]
The mutated physiology still requires ghouls to provide adequate nourishment for their body, especially water[65] and food. The loss of smell allows ghouls to eat food humans would consider repulsive,[66] which coupled with the resilience of their digestive tract allows them to subsist on any edible items.[Non-game 12][67] The ability to ignore the taste resulted in some ghouls engaging in cannibalism, consuming the flesh of other humans[68] and even ghouls, with one of these being The Ghoul's "ass jerky."[69]
The Ghoul going on a drug and alcohol binge. The same mutation that allows him to live for centuries also diminishes the effect of drugs, requiring much larger doses.
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.[citation needed][70]
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, there have been four confirmed cases of ghouls over nearly 220 years after the Great War, who experienced deprivation of food, water and even air for extended periods of time and coming out no worse for the wear. This sliver of the ghoul population includes:
Woody, who was exhibited as a mummy for weeks while in a state of deep sleep that same year,[72]
Billy Peabody, who survived the Great War trapped inside a refrigerator, surviving for 210 years until 2287,[73]
The Ghoul, who survived being repeatedly buried in a chained coffin for up to a year at a time.[74]
The precise reasons for this ability are not understood, however, they may be connected to a form of hibernation.[75][76] All four of these ghouls still retain the requirement for nourishment under normal circumstances and experience thirst and hunger like any other ghoul.[77][47]
Complications[]
Appearance[]
A significant drawback of ghoulification is the changes in appearance. Ghouls are disfigured by radiation,[59] 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[78] 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,[79][80] a burn victims,[60] or a rotting zombie[31] with exposed muscle, blood vessels, and in extreme cases even bone and internal organs.[81] 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.[82][83][84] The loss of the nose in particular greatly limits their ability to experience smell.[66]
Dean Domino, a particularly motivated ghoul and talented pre-War singer. The transformation granted its usual longevity, but spared his vocal chords.
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.[85] 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.[86]
Health issues[]
Other results of the change are widespread necrosis,[87] rot,[31] and other degenerative conditions like arthritis,[88] cataracts, and glaucoma.[89][90] Feralization and dementia can happen immediately.[91][92] 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.[93]
Three feral ghouls emerge to threaten Lucy MacLean and the organ harvesters.
The greatest complication a ghoul can experience is feralization, described by Barrows as ferocious post-necrotic dystrophy. 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.[94] 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.[37] 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.[95][96]
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.[97] 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. Several examples of individuals living in groups yet still transforming include the co-workers and partner of Oswald Oppenheimer, while he himself did not transform.[98] The crew of Captain Zao succumbed to turning feral aboard the Yangtze while the captain retained his faculties.[99]
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.[98][99] 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.[37] Highly intelligent individuals and highly motivated ones may also experience lower risk of feralization.[100]
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.[101]
Individual genetic factors: Some ghouls may also be simply immune to feralization; despite being one of the most dangerous and single-minded ghouls in existence, The Ghoul still started manifesting symptoms of feralization.[69]
By the late 23rd century, a drug was created that allowed ghouls to stop the degenerative processes. Administered orally, the drug would immediately bring the ghoul back to their normal self. Properly medicated, a ghoul can live for decades with access to the medication. However, it is both expensive and rare, in particular in New California after the fall ofShady Sands.[102] Isolated groups have continued to manufacture it in limited quantities, and making bank on desperate ghouls in the absence of law and order.[69] A ghoulification serum, or "elixir," shared the same appearance with the contents of the inhaler vials, and may be connected to ghouls in some fashion.[38]
Glowing[]
The transformation of a ghoul into a glowing one (luminous necrotic post-human), 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.[103][Non-game 13] Luminous ghouls are usually feral, due to the damage to their nervous system and the time it takes to accumulate the radiation,[103] though ghouls may develop luminescence before degenerating into a beast-like state, like the glowing ones of Necropolis, the Gecko reactor, Jason Bright, Oswald Oppenheimer, and Hank.
Sterility[]
Ghouls retain their genitals, which includes the penis[104] and testicles in male ghouls.[105][106] They also retain their sex drive and capacity for engaging in intercourse[107][108][109] and some humans have a ghoul fetish.[87] However, ghouls are sterile and cannot procreate like humans. Any children they may have are either adopted[110] or were mutated into ghouls alongside their parents.[111]
This was well known, and formed a basis for the religious tale of Saint Monica, reported to be an unmutated child of ghoul parents.[112]
Discrimination[]
Lucky Lou from Fallout 76 is tied up and left to die mauled by a savage animal.
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.[113] However, some daring souls (like Keri Lee of Crimson Caravan) 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.[114] Others believe ghouls to be carriers of disease, without ever having examined one,[115] 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.[116] This was the basis for the eviction of ghouls from Diamond City and the driving force behind McDonough's bid for mayor. His first act of office was issuing the Anti-ghoul decree of 2282, leading to a pogrom and the expulsion of the ghoul population of the City.[117]
Broken Hills was an ambitious example of radical acceptance; an experimental community founded by Marcus, a former Unity soldier, in order to try and establish a way for mutants and ghouls to live side-by side.[Non-game 14] However, the largest systemic effort to accept ghouls was implemented by the New California Republic, which extended legal protection to mutants, including ghouls, in 2205, and included Dayglow, a predominantly ghoul state as part of its federation.[Non-game 15] Laws also allowed a significant number of ghouls of both genders to serve in the ranks of the New California Republic Rangers, with the bulk of them being accorded veteran status due to their resilience and experience in combat.[118] While some retrenchment happened after the Fall of Shady Sands and withdrawal of the NCR from New California, with towns like Filly banning ghouls,[119] the tolerant attitudes persisted in areas of significant NCR presence, like Griffith Observatory.[120]
On the opposite end was, Vault City a textbook example of hostility towards ghouls, rooted in racial prejudice. Since the atomic reactor in Gecko had damaged shielding,[121] waste from the power plant started leaking into the local groundwater around 2239[122] and it eventually led to serious poisoning of the whole reservoir.[123] Harold learned that a hydroelectric magnetosphere regulator was needed for the repair job, but no such part could be found in Gecko, so attempts were made to contact Vault City. However, the messengers were shot on sight by the Vault City Guard, marking the beginning of an official policy to shoot all ghouls on sight.[124]
The situation worsened when Vault City residents started to believe that the ghouls had deliberately poisoned the groundwater, accusing them of terrorism against Vault City and demanding that they should be punished.[123] The first citizen of Vault City, Joanne Lynette, even tried to hire someone who was willing to help stop the Gecko problem by any means necessary.[125] As a result, while both communities had something the other wanted, power in Gecko and medical facilities that could help ailing ghouls, perhaps even fix some of the changes they experience in Vault City, the situation was at an impasse due to prejudice.[126]
In regions away from New California, ghouls likewise experience a variety of attitudes. For example, in the Mojave Wasteland, ghouls are generally seen as equals and share both the misery of poverty[127] and the prominence of the stage[128] on equal terms with humans. Of course, not everyone is as egalitarian as the people of Freeside and New Vegas. The New Vegas Strip doesn't permit the entrance of ghouls or other mutants unless under the supervision of a human visitor,[129] or with permission from a higher-up.[130] The Bright Brotherhood is a cult centered around Jason Bright, formed in response to suffering its members experienced at the hands of humans.[131] In some areas, ghoul lynchings also happen,[132] while in others ghouls are considered a possible threat and are fired upon, like in Washington, D.C., where Lyons' Brotherhood of Steel members will routinely open fire on ghouls sighted in the city.[133]
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.[134] Even in the tolerant Underworld, some inhabitants have threatened Doctor Barrows over his research into ghoulification and its causes, claiming that "ghouls are ghouls and humans are humans."[135] 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.[136]Roy Phillips, a disgruntled ghoul from the Capital Wasteland, obsessed with seizing Tenpenny Tower for himself. His increasingly threatening behavior when refused entry by Chief Gustavo led to suspicions that he might attack the Tower directly,[137] only confirming the security chief's belief that all ghouls are walking ticking bombs.[138]
Variants[]
Necrotic post-human (ghoul)[]
A ghoul in Underworld named Charon
Commonly referred to as ghouls, these men and women are no different from regular humans when it comes to intellect or personality. Ghouls possess the ability to talk, and they normally wear clothing, as well as carrying and using weapons. Ghouls often refer to humans as "smoothskins."[139]
These ghouls also find terms such as "shuffler" and "zombie" to be offensive.[140][141][142][143] The phrase is also used to threaten ghouls.[144][145] Those bigoted towards ghouls use the two phrases interchangeably, stating that ghouls should be killed before they "go zombie" due to radiation destroying their brains.[146][147] Some ghouls have embraced the phrase, such as those in Set's Zombies gang.[148] Similarly, Raul Tejada uses the word zombie when referring to a nickname of his, "Raul the Ghoul, the zombie vaquero of Mexico City."[149]
Of course, being people, hostile and murderous intelligent ghouls do exist, for the same reasons hostile and murderous intelligent humans exist.
A highly irradiated ghoul that has absorbed enough radiation to develop bioluminescence, glowing a ghastly green color that's especially visible in the dark. They are colloquially known by most as "glowing ones," and are often considered outsiders even by other ghouls.[citation needed] Glowing ones are predominantly deranged or feral, especially considering the prolonged isolation usually necessary to acquire that much radiation. See this section for more details.
The original glowing ones of Fallout are seen in two places. Most are the remaining dwellers of Vault 12, hidden beneath Necropolis. This Vault population are able to speak articulately, but have been driven mad.[150] They are not hostile unless provoked. Additionally, several glowing ones can be seen in cages at the church above ground, where they are not known to speak. Both groups are ostensibly under the protection of Necropolis. In Fallout 2, most of the technicians at the Gecko power plant are glowing ones.
From Fallout 3 onwards, glowing ones are almost always feral. They are particularly difficult in combat due to their resilience, as well as their ability to suddenly discharge radiation from their body in a burst that heals ghouls and harms their enemies. The Sun of Atom is a glowing one worshipped by the Children of Atom in Broken Steel. Jason Bright from New Vegas and Oswald the Outrageous from Fallout 4 are intelligent glowing one characters. Oswald is capable of resurrecting ghouls as well as teleportation, and attributes both abilities to magic.
These are ghouls who have irreversibly transitioned to a feral state, sustained only by radiation they absorb. Ferals are invariably hostile to living creatures (with the exception of other ghouls) and tend to cluster together in packs. Feral ghouls are among the more unfortunate mutants whose minds have deteriorated from prolonged radiation poisoning, becoming instinct-driven savages, attacking anyone and anything relentlessly, save for other ghouls. They are roughly divided into groups according to the danger they pose:
Regular feral ghouls wear torn, shredded civilian clothes and are very easy to dispatch.
Feral ghoul roamers and stalkers are often wearing rags or no clothes at all. They are considerably tougher than a normal feral ghoul and considerably more dangerous with their attacks.
Feral ghoul reavers are the most deteriorated form of a feral ghoul, wearing bits of metal armor and metal flight suits. Radiation has melted and fused entire segments of their body, making them incredibly tough to dispatch. In Fallout 3, even worse is the fact that reavers have no self-preservation instinct and will readily rip out its radioactive guts and throw them at their targets.
Withered, gangrenous, rotting, and charred feral ghouls are the rarest of feral ghoul subtypes and the most dangerous given their resilience to being dispatched and considerably deadly attacks.
The Lost were created in 2095 as the result of the first activation of the Vault 63 weather machine. Because Vault 63 was not fully complete when the Great War struck, its inhabitants were exposed to radiation, with those that survived becoming ghouls. Over time, the ghoul inhabitants began to go feral and sought to reverse the process with experimental science. By pure chance, the Vault researchers discovered that the weather machine in the meteorology sector was able to temporarily alleviate, if not reverse, the effects of feralization.[151]
A unique subtype of the ferocious necrotic post-human, marked men are indigenous to The Divide area. Wounded by the subterranean nuclear detonations of 2277 and flayed alive by the resulting storms of the Divide, marked men are sustained only by the high background radiation that permeates the area, which keeps the regeneration going despite otherwise fatal damage to their bodies. As a result, the marked men cannot leave the Divide, and have developed a unique culture due to retaining a semblance of cognition. Despite still being cognitive enough to carry weapons and utilize advanced tactics such as constructing outposts and utilizing guard towers, they are still immediately hostile to any and all outsiders that venture near.[56]
Chinese remnants[]
Chinese remnants, Chinese spies, soldiers, and special forces units trapped in the United States following the Great War. Some may believe that they are still in a state of war, continuing to follow old objectives sent to them pre-War by the People's Liberation Army. Some fight for survival. Among the remnants of Appalachia, non-feral ghouls are occasionally seen working with apparently feral ghoulified countrymen, even coordinating with them in combat.[152]
"The future. Survival anywhere. We surpass the norms." – Set talks about ghouls
"There ain't any ghouls but old ghouls. We're all sterile, see, but we're incredibly long-lived. We're the first and last generation of ghouls." - Typhon
"Without medical technology, all of us ghouls are going to die off in the next 20 years, anyway." - Gordon
"With silver-bells and cockleshells and… Boy, you are dumb, aren’t you? Severe radiation. That’s how. How do you think? You know, many bombs go boom, flash of light and heat, flesh burns off, but you don’t-quite-die-type severe radiation?" - Wooz
"Not bad, still in one piece... well except for that one that got away, but I'll find it, no worries." - Patchwork
"I don't have to tell you that Bright's group has got some fine-looking ghoulettes in it! Eh... or maybe I would have to tell you."
“I know we treated him as a ghoul, but not a Necropolis one. He may have been irradiated before or after. All I remember was that he went in there with the guy whose name I forget (the one who fell into the vat and became the Master), and only Harold came out. Harold's memory is totally whacked, btw.
...most people don't know when they get irradiated, so he [Harold] just may not know what happened to him. I do know that radiation and FEV do not mix. Mutants are immune to radiation effects, but an irradiate human is killed by exposure to FEV. So one thing is sure: Harold is not a mix of radiation and FEV. He's got to be one or the other, and I think he's a ghoul.”— Tim Cain, Fallout Bible 5
A ghoul is described as "Bloodman" in an old Fallout concept art piece.
Virtually every Fallout game includes ghouls in some capacity. Fallout Tactics had ghouls in the The Belt, including a nuclear weapon-worshiping cult in Kansas City. Both Quincy and Springfield also have some ghoul occupants, while Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel included ghouls in Los who turned after being locked outside the Corporate Vault. Later, in the same city, the Church of the Lost was created by former vault dwellers that had become ghouls.
There is some inconsistency across the series whether the word "ghoul" should be capitalized, even within the same games.
Van Buren would have included two more ghoul types:
Endless walkers: Ghouls exposed to the harsh conditions of the American Southwest for too long will become what is known as an endless walker. Years of the desert sun has cooked their brain, destroying the cerebrum and turning any normal ghouls that undergo the process feral. They are cursed to endlessly walk, forever searching for something to quiet their insatiable appetite. Their skin has hardened into a natural leather, making them more resilient.
Born ghouls: Through cruel experimentation on humans by Dr. Sebastian at the Reservation, born ghouls were created. They are ghouls who have not mutated from humans, but who were actually born into ghoul-dom. There would be only three known born ghouls.
Among Fallout developers, Tim Cain stated that ghouls are only a result of radiation, consistent with an understanding of the science of radiation as it stood during the 1950s, Chris Taylor said that a mix of both radiation and FEV was involved. While Chris Avellone initially supported the latter view in his Fallout Bible,[Non-game 16] he was later convinced to support the radiation-only version.[Non-game 17][Non-game 18]
According to Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 voice director Kal-El Bogdanove, ghouls who have recently ghoulified have less raspy voices.[Non-game 19]
In folklore, a ghoul is a monster or spirit that is associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh.
↑The Lone Wanderer: "So, you're the town drunk, huh? " Patchwork: "Why yes! Yes I am! And... PROUD! Proud of it! I mean, if I weren't, I'd probably just spend a lot more time cry... crying... you know? Here I am... drunk... falling apart liter- literally! I lost my damn finger last week! Doc put it back on though... bless him... " The Lone Wanderer: "You're losing parts? Like... body parts? " Patchwork: "Yeah... it happens... a lot, actuall.. actually. All the time. But I'm getting' better... I think... Just keep an... eye out for 'em... but not my eye, those ain't never fallen out yet... " (Patchwork's dialogue)
↑ 5.05.1The Sole Survivor: "What's your story, Hancock?" Hancock: "My favorite subject. I came into this town about... a decade ago? Had a smooth set of skin back then. While I was busy making myself a pillar of this community, I would go on these... like ... wild tears... I was young...Any chems I could find, the more exotic, the better. Finally found this experimental radiation drug. Only one of its kind left, and only one hit.Oh man, the high was so worth it. Yeah, I'm living with the side effects, but hey, what's not to love about immortality?" The Sole Survivor: "You're immortal?" Hancock: "Well... not exactly. Ghouls just age really, really slow. Something about the rads, maybe? Who knows..." (Hancock's dialogue)
↑ 6.06.1The Sole Survivor: "Running from yourself? What do you mean?" Hancock: "Well, I mean, I didn't always look this good. The drug that did this to me, that made me a Ghoul, I knew what it was going to do.I just couldn't stand looking at the bastard I saw in the mirror anymore.The coward who'd let all those Ghouls from Diamond City die. Who was too scared to protect his fellow drifters from Vic and his boys.If I took it, I'd never have to look at him again. I could put that all behind me. I'd be free. Didn't seem like a choice at all.Turns out it was just me running from somethin' else in my life." (Hancock's dialogue)
↑Refinery supervisor: "{102}{}{You see a ghoul. Its skin looks like it’s ready to slough off the creature. It also looks like it’s readily accepted by the other townsfolk.}" (HcRSUPER.msg)
↑The Courier: "I've never seen corpses mutilated like that." Ulysses: "Even as the fires here burned them from within... the winds of the Divide tore their skin, exposed them... screaming... to the sky. And just as the Divide tears at them, so they tear at each other, for sport - like some tribal scarification. Falling back to their history, maybe.No matter what they suffer...the radiation, fire of the Divide, sustains them. Makes them stronger." (Ulysses' dialogue)
↑Dead Money loading screens: "The Sierra Madre is a legend, like the Big Empty, the Burned Man, and the rumors of survivors from the Divide."
↑ 10.010.1The Lone Wanderer: "So, how did you end up as a Ghoul?" Carol: "I don't know how it happens. Doctor Barrows says it was radiation. All I know is that people kept showing up here in the museum. After things calmed down above ground, we tried to live down here as best we could. After a while, things got strange. My skin started to get dry and flake off. Everyone's did. It took a while, months, maybe a year. But sooner or later, everyone ended up like this. Some of them went crazy. Some of us just accepted it. After a while, other Ghouls would find their way in here and Underworld just sort of grew. No one bothered us down here, and we were happy enough to leave them alone. And once my Greta showed up, it was a good enough life for me." (Carol's dialogue)
↑The Sole Survivor: "Thanks. You're not so bad yourself." Hancock: "I never get many complaints.It's just real rare these days, find someone who's not just willing to take things the way they're handed to them.Too many good folks not willing to get their hands dirty and too many assholes taking advantage of it.Look at what happened to Diamond City. Before McDonough took over, it was a half-decent place to live.A little stricter than I usually go for, but not terrible. I thought he and I had a pretty happy childhood.But then he decides he's gonna try and get elected with his anti-Ghoul crusade - 'Mankind for McDonough.'Before ya know it, you got families with kids lining up to drag folks they called 'neighbor' out of their homes and throw 'em to the ruins." The Sole Survivor: "How could they do something like that?" Hancock: "There'd always been a pretty big gulf between the folks living in the stands and folks down on the field.McDonough ran on it because he thought enough of those Upper Stands assholes would vote for him. Guess he was right." The Sole Survivor: "It could have gone worse. At least they left with their lives." Hancock: "And how long do you think those folks lasted in the ruins? The city condemned those Ghouls to die. Cowards just got someone else to pull the trigger.I remember storming into his office above the stands after the inauguration speech. He was just standing there, staring out the window, watching as the city turned on the Ghouls. He didn't even look at me, just said:'I did it, John. It's finally mine.'Should have killed him right there, but I don't think it would have changed anything. Instead I pleaded with him, begged him to call it off.He said he couldn't. He had nothing against the Ghouls. He was just carrying out the will of the people. And he couldn't betray the voters.And then he smiled. That hideous, fucking mile-long smile. He never smiled like that when we were kids. I didn't even recognize him." (Hancock's dialogue)
↑Wiseman: "Welcome to the Slog! We're the only Tarberry bog in the Commonwealth. So what do you think of the place?" The Sole Survivor: "The Slog? How'd you come up with that name?" Wiseman: "We didn't. It was the caravan traders who started that. I started this place a few years back but couldn't think of a name for it. Then, one day, one of the traders pulls up after it's been raining for hours, and says he's never had to slog through so much mud in his life. I asked him if it was worth it, and he said for the best tarberries in the Commonwealth, it was definitely worth it. Working' here's like a slog through the mud. It's tough going and you'll get dirty doing it, but at the end of the day, it's worth it. You've probably noticed it's only ghouls around here. I used to live in Diamond City, until that rat bastard mayor threw me and all the other ghouls out.I decided that we ghouls should have a place where we could feel welcome, and that's mainly why I started up this farm." Wiseman's dialogue)
↑Once Penelope Hornwright is recruited for the Settlers portion of Wastelanders, she comments on having to wear a full mask disguise in order to enter Foundation.
↑A Vault Dweller: "It's bad enough he wants to die without you trying to kill him." Lev: "Who do you think put idea of going feral into Lou's head? Much easier to get away with it if he kills himself." (Lev's dialogue)
↑Vault Dweller: "Someone tracked you down? Who?" Mochou: "Another pre-war asset, very loyal to the cause. They only come here occasionally to check up on us... but trust me, you don't ever want to meet them." (Mochou's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "What did I just do, exactly?"
Hilda: "It's complicated. To understand, I need to tell you what the actual purpose of this facility was, before the Lost.Those vats contain sleeping residents from our Vault... Back when we faced our first crisis of the mind... Going feral.Before the Lost, 'feralization' was the only real threat to our happiness here. It was running rampant and we were desperate to fix it. My Papa was one of the volunteers. He showed early signs of going feral, and offered to go under... be a test subject for cures. He was also that last patient you ran the experiment on."
↑Vault 76 dweller: "What really happened here? The Lost, the storm?" Audrey Stolz: "I don't blame you for trying to wrap your head around things. With all that happened along the way, it's been hard to remember how it all connected. It all started with 'going Feral,' though. That was the root of all our worries after the bombs. The only real threat we faced. By pure chance, we learned that exposure to the weather machine had a reversing effect on the symptoms... but only for a brief time. My father... decided that he saw enough. That the machine would be the solution. He took it into his own hands, and doomed us all. While we were called away to a phony meeting in the Atrium, he snuck my ailing mother to the machine, and introduced the Lost to the world. A few decades later, after our research once again showed early signs of progress... he did it again. This time, going further than before. Thus, the storm, the shattered grounds, the Vault opening and freeing the Lost to roam the surface. Time and time again, that lunatics obsession to control the uncontrollable endangered all of us. His impatience always putting us at risk. You put that to rest... but we're still dealing with the remnants of his actions... Seems like nothing can stop the Lost or the storm now."
↑Irradiation messages: "{1000}{}{You feel very nauseous.}
{1001}{}{You feel very nauseous, and after some mild vomiting, slightly fatigued.} {1002}{}{You are very fatigued, the vomiting does not stop, and your recovery time is impaired.} {1003}{}{You are hemorrhaging violently. You are very sick, and your hair is falling out.} {1004}{}{You are hemorrhaging violently and continuously. The vomitus is stained red from your blood. Your skin is falling off of your bones.} {1005}{}{There is bleeding from your intestines and you have severe diarrhea. You feel bloated and are in intense agony.} {1006}{}{You have died from radiation sickness.}" (OBJ DUDE.MSG (Fallout))
↑ 31.031.131.231.3The Chosen One: "{115}{}{Tell me about this place.}" Wooz: "{160}{}{Not much to tell, really. Just a bunch of ghouls clinging tenaciously to the ass-end of life.}" The Chosen One: "{161}{}{No, I meant tell me about this bar.}" Wooz: "{440}{}{Well, the Harp’s named after a favorite hangout that I used to have before the war. I guess it’s just a reminder of times past. Sort of a joke on the only way we’re going to get a better deal, too.}" The Chosen One: "{441}{}{Before the war? But that was a long time ago.}" Wooz: "{460}{}{It sure was a long time ago. How do you think ghouls are made? You think some of us just got up one fine day and said to ourselves: "Gee, I wonder what it’d be like to have my flesh rotting off my fucking body?"}" The Chosen One: "{461}{}{Well, no, I didn’t. Say, how do you make a ghoul?}" Wooz: "490}{}{With silver-bells and cockleshells and… Boy, you are dumb, aren’t you? Severe radiation. That’s how. How do you think? You know, many bombs go boom, flash of light and heat, flesh burns off, but you don’t-quite-die-type severe radiation?}" The Chosen One: "{491}{}{Uh well, I mean…}" Wooz: "{500}{}{Well, I didn’t think so. Fuck you very much for bringing back all those intensely painful memories. Asshole. We’re a town of fucking leftovers -— slightly overcooked leftovers.}" (Wooz's dialogue)
↑Raul Tejada: "After the fire, I knew my sister and I couldn't stay at Hidalgo Ranch anymore. The refugees still wanted me dead - they even put a bounty on me. I remember how scared Rafaela was. I told her if she came with me, we'd see the vaqueros - she used to love the rodeo, especially the trick riders. We figured maybe we could find help in Mexico City - we were young, we didn't know what had happened, really. We didn't understand about the bombs." The Courier: "Wasn't Mexico City basically annihilated in the Great War?" Raul Tejada: "I don't think it was as hard hit as DC or Bakersfield, but it was bad enough. By the time we got there, the city was a radioactive ruin. Still, the city was full of looters, already forming into the beginnings of raider tribes. Crime was bad before the War, but now it was a nightmare. We were living like scavengers, scraping by on what little food we could find, always looking for medicine for my burns. And then, of course, the radiation started to kick in, turning me into this handsome devil you see before you." (Raul Tejada's dialogue)
↑ 38.038.138.2Snake oil salesman: "This elixir I have concocted heals all. And I mean everything. But I must warn you, the taste: not great." Thaddeus: "Just give it." Snake oil salesman: "Okay. (Thaddeus inhales) I'm sorry! But the results... Yes? The results."
Thaddeus: "Holy shit. Holy shit! Ah, thank you."
Snake oil salesman: "Sure thing, buddy boy."
Thaddeus: "Ah... Do you know where I can find a radio tower? I have to make contact with my base."
Snake oil salesman: "Yes, I believe there's one yonward. Past the big crater in the middle of the Shithole. It's near a town that used to be called Shady Sands."
Thaddeus: "Shady Sands? That place is radioactive as hell."
Snake oil salesman: "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore, do you, buddy boy? Toodles and anon." (The Radio)
↑Fallout TV series, Season 1, Episode 7: "The Radio": Visible scarring on Thaddeus' neck as the arrow wound closes and heals.
↑The Lone Wanderer: "Gah! Fuck! What are you?" Gob: "I guess they don't have a lot of Ghouls in the Vault. Haven't you ever seen a Ghoul before?" The Lone Wanderer: "No. What's a ghoul?" Gob: "Well, not all of us got the chance to hole up in a nice cushy Vault when the bombs fell. A bunch of us got stuck out here in the world, and got a full on blast of heat and radiation -- turned us into a pack of walking corpses. Near as I can tell, we age slower than you. A lot slower. There are even a few Ghouls that were alive during the war. Of course, with a face like ground Brahmin meat, you can imagine that folks don't take too kindly to us." (Gob's dialogue)
↑The Courier: "Exactly how old is Keely?" Angela Williams: "I couldn't get her to say. But she talked about the war - the great war, when the bombs fell - like she'd been there. So I'm guessing... pretty old. Two hundred years? Maybe more."
↑The Courier: "The scientists here must have made some useful discoveries." Keely: "Oh, they did. I've taken extensive notes of all their successful experiments. Their research won't go to waste. As for the file erasure..." (Keely's dialogue)
↑ 49.049.1The Lone Wanderer: "What sort of payment are we talking about?" Winthrop: "Well, we got Stimpaks, but the Doc keeps us healed up, so we don't really need 'em. So I could trade one of those for five bits of Scrap Metal. We also got us a TON of RadAway and Rad-X. I mean, what good is it to us? But I'll trade you either one for five bits of scrap. Your choice." (Winthrop's dialogue)
↑Vault Dweller: "{1001}{}{Ghouls}" Set: "{1101}{Set301}{The future. Survival anywhere. We surpass the norms.}" (SET.MSG)
↑ 51.051.1Vault 76 dweller: "How did you find me? I thought you were blind."
Hugo Stolz: "Apologies for the confusion. I often forget just how unusual my situation has become. I was born blind, and lived that way even after becoming a 'Ghoul', as you put it. However, as I've mentioned, an accident at this facility altered me. Not unlike the 'Lost' that wander the surface. I see the world in pulses, wavelengths -- a universe of violent synaptic connections carving out and outlining every object and person. Navigation is trivial for me now. I was able to spot you in these sacred grounds even from my office. To the 'Lost;, I imagine this vision is a curse, a terrifying cataractous cloud that distorts their world. To me, it is a new life. Needless to say, I don't find myself bumping into things while getting around the Vault anymore." (Hugo Stolz's dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "So, you're the town drunk, huh?" Patchwork: "Why yes! Yes I am! And... PROUD! Proud of it! I mean, if I weren't, I'd probably just spend a lot more time cry... crying... you know? Here I am... drunk... falling apart -- liter- literally! I lost my damn finger last week! Doc put it back on though... bless him..." The Lone Wanderer: "You're losing parts? Like... body parts?" Patchwork: "Yeah... it happens... a lot, actuall.. actually. All the time. But I'm getting' better... I think... Just keep an... eye out for 'em... but not my eye, those ain't never fallen out yet..." (Patchwork's dialogue)
↑Sorrel Booker: "You know why these boys brought you in?" The Ghoul: "Cause I fucked up a poor, defenseless gang-affiliated organ dealership?" (The Trap)
↑Fallout TV series, Season 1, Episode 4: "The Ghouls": Price tags for ghoul organs are seen on the freezers at the mart.
↑ 56.056.1The Courier: "Radiation may keep them alive in areas so physically punishing, it would kill others - even ghouls." Ulysses: "[SUCCEEDED] There's truth in your words,in what I've seen of their tactics, movements - recovery. Those wounds - they couldn't live otherwise. The Divide winds have torn the skin from many of them - may be the radiation is the only thing keeping them walking. Make camp near silos... warheads. No way to cleanse the radiation - makes them hard to kill there, have to draw them out." (Ulysses' dialogue)
↑The Courier: "If they've become ghouls, the radiation would strengthen them. Heal their wounds - not the scars." Ulysses: "[SUCCEEDED] There's truth in your words,in what I've seen of their tactics, movements - recovery. Those wounds - they couldn't live otherwise. The Divide winds have torn the skin from many of them - may be the radiation is the only thing keeping them walking. Make camp near silos... warheads. No way to cleanse the radiation - makes them hard to kill there, have to draw them out." (Ulysses' dialogue)
↑Hugo Stolz: "Did you know that lightning can reach temperatures hotter than the surface of the sun? Energy beyond that of a star, and yet we can survive being struck by it. The Lost, myself, my... Cassidy. We live with it inside us. Dancing, colliding, beautifully and violently. Invisible forces taking form... right here... inside. In a fervent embrace. Chaos contained."
↑ 59.059.159.2Vault 76 dweller: "What's it like being a Ghoul?" Mort: "I mean, it's got it's advantages. Main one is that radiation rolls off me like water off a duck's ass. Can stride through a blast zone like it's a spring breeze. Also means I can survive in situations that'd turn a normal person into a TV dinner. The major downside... well, shit, you're looking at it, right? Head-to-toe disfiguration. There's also... well, you've might've seen them. Not all Ghouls are... sane. Not sure how it happens -- why some Ghouls lose their minds and others don't. But ever since I turned, there's always this nagging feeling, just at the back of my mind… ...that I have to feast on humans!... seriously? Nothing?Shit. I thought it was funny. Overall, though, being a Ghoul, mixed bag. Can't say I'd recommend it as a lifestyle choice."
↑ 60.060.1Ghoul citizen: "{100}{}{You see someone whose skin has been very badly burnt.} {101}{}{You see a ghoul citizen of Gecko.} {102}{}{You see someone whose skin seems to have been burned with radiation. That much radiation looks as though it should have killed it, but it seems well enough.} {110}{}{The person you see is glowing faintly. Its skin seems to be badly burnt.} {111}{}{You see a Glowing One citizen of Gecko.} {112}{}{You see someone who has been exposed to so much radiation that it is glowing faintly. That much radiation looks as though it should have killed it, but it seems well enough.}" (GCFOLK.MSG)
↑Glowing one (Gecko): "{120}{}{I just love the warmth here.} {121}{}{It feels wonderful here.} {122}{}{I don’t know what I’d do If I had to live elsewhere.} {123}{}{I love the feel of radiation in the morning.} {124}{}{At least I never need a nightlight.} {125}{}{(holds his glowing finger out to you) Phone home.} {126}{}{You know, if you shut the door, I don’t glow anymore.} (...)
{131}{}{Atomic powered heating... gotta love it.} {140}{}{Thanks for fixing the reactor. It’s a little cooler now, but not too bad.} {141}{}{Brrr... thanks for fixing our reactor.} (...)
{150}{}{I can’t remember when the reactor ran this well.} {151}{}{It’s downright chilly in here today.} {152}{}{Brrrr, I’m freezing.} {153}{}{I think I’ve got frostbite or something.} {154}{}{Does it feel cold to you?}" (Gcrglow.msg)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "Full house today, Doc. What's wrong with everybody?" Barrows: "I don't know yet. Some kind of virus that attacks the body on a cellular level. I've never seen anything like it. It's strange, because Ghouls are immune to almost any known disease." (Barrows' dialogue) Note: These lines are spoken should the questProject Impurity have been completed.
↑Percy Crump: "{133}{}{This big ole chest of antee-radee-ation medicine shore ain't doin' me no good. Jist about a hunnert-sumpin' years too late fer me ta use it. Heh, heh, heee. Here ya go, I'm findin' that friends is worth more'n more every year. Thanks...friend.}" Chosen One: "{134}{}{I was glad to help you and Woody. Thanks for the meds.}"
↑Percy Crump: "{149}{}{Well, I know where I kin get ahold of a heck of a lot of pre-war stock of, jan-u-wine, Rad-X and RadAway. Don't do me no good no how, but I figure that outgha be worth sumpin to a smoothy like you. You gonna take the job fer me or not? I'll only pay ya off if'n I know Woody's safe.}"
↑Ghoul leader: "{132}{}{You aren't thinking of taking the Water Chip from us are you?}" The Vault Dweller: "{135}{}{Why?}" Ghoul leader: "{136}{}{If you take the Water Chip from us, then we will all die. With our water pump broken we need it to survive.}" (LEADER.MSG)
↑ 66.066.1The Lone Wanderer: "What happened to the other Tenpenny Tower residents?" Michael Masters: "Heh. Roy decided to take out the trash. I'm glad I lost my sense of smell. You'll want to stay clear of the basement storage room." (Michael Masters' dialogue)
↑Courier: "How have you survived?" Harland: "I'm not delicate. Radroach meat for protein, condensation off the pipes for water, and I do my business over in the far corner. I wouldn't say it's been comfy." (Harland's dialogue)
↑Eg. Set and other Necropolis ghouls making consistent references to eating humans.
↑The Lone Wanderer: "Ultrajet? That some sort of super chem?" Murphy: "I suppose you could say that. Ultrajet is almost double the potency of Jet... perfect for Ghouls. Jet barely affects us you see. Only trouble is it's almost impossible to gather the ingredients together. Say, you might be able to help me with that!" (Murphy's dialogue (Fallout 3))
↑Fallout TV series, Season 1, Episode 1: "The End": The Ghoul stumbles out of his coffin groggy and sleepy, before shaking it off.
↑Percy Crump: "{136}{}{Well you see, I had a friend, name o' Woody. That Woody, he can sleep like nobody I ever did see. What's worse, he likes to travel. Really likes to kick up the dust that one does.}"
↑The Ghoul: "Damn, y'all done got me working up a appetite. (...) Well, I'd offer you one of these cherry tomatoes, but you got a hole in your neck." (The Target)
↑Snowflake, Desmond Lockheart, as well as several ghouls in Fallout 4 and Fallout 76 have full heads of hair, and Raul Tejada and Desmond Lockheart again have facial hair.
↑Gordon: "{100}{}{You see another ghoul. He appears to be preoccupied.}" "{101}{}{You see Gordon of Gecko.}" "{102}{}{You see a very nicely dressed ghoul with his hair slicked back.}" (Gordon's dialogue)
↑Wooz: "{100}{}{You see a tall ghoul with long hair.}" "{101}{}{You see Wooz.}" "{102}{}{You see an extremely tall and lanky ghoul with long hair.}" (GCWOOZ.MSG)
↑Both speak with natural voices as part of their peformances.
↑ 87.087.1The Courier: "Turns out there are customers looking for someone just like you." Beatrix Russell: "Weirdos into bullwhips and necrosis, eh? Doesn't sound half-bad... What am I thinking? I'm no whore, and I ain't about to hand my ass over to some penny-ante hustler like he owns me." (Beatrix Russell's dialogue)
↑Raul Tejada: "Sure, boss. You lead the charge, I'll follow as fast as my arthritic, rotting knees can carry me." (Raul Tejada's dialogue)
↑Raul Tejada: "Sorry, boss. Must be my glaucomas acting up again." "Don't worry, boss, with my cataracts you only sort of look like the bad guys." (Raul Tejada's dialogue)
↑The Courier: "I think it's good that he's retired. Out of sight, out of mind." Raul Tejada: "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Guys like us can't compete any more." The Courier: "Guys like us?" Raul Tejada: "Did I say us? I meant "him." Guess my eyesight isn't the only thing that's going." (Raul Tejada's dialogue)
↑Year: 2108 - August 22nd 10 sets of tracks 1/2 mile NE of canyon entrance. Barefoot??? August 23rd Saw them through scope. Corpses walking around. Finally gone crazy. Dementia maybe. August 24th I'm not crazy, they're real. Goddammit they are real. Rushed me the moment they saw me, snarling like animals. They look like corpses but don't smell rotted. I'll be putting them out of their misery. Doing for them what I never could for myself. September 3rd The last of them. All gone.
↑Eric: "{100}{}{You see a greasy, sweating man.}" "{101}{}{You see Eric.}" "{102}{}{You see a greasy, sweating man. He looks quite miserable.}" The Chosen One: "{115}{}{Why are the flies coming here?}" Eric: "{124}{}{They come here because for some odd reason I exude fly nutrients. My body is rich with food for them, and this sweating just makes it worse.}" The Chosen One: "{125}{}{That's just plain nasty. Why not take a bath or something?}" Eric: "{128}{}{I've tried that. I've tried everything. The only thing that keeps the flies off me is not to sweat... and when I don't have enough power to keep cool, I can't.}" (Hceric.msg)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "What does it mean to "go feral?" "
Hilda: "I'm sure you've run into their like before. It's when our kind goes from just sounding gruff and radiated to... snarling, teeth-gnashing monster. We don't know why it happens, who it can happen to, or if there's any way to cure it, but... Well, that last part is what were trying to figure out."
↑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)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "What did I just do, exactly?"
Hilda: "It's complicated. To understand, I need to tell you what the actual purpose of this facility was, before the Lost.Those vats contain sleeping residents from our Vault... Back when we faced our first crisis of the mind... Going feral.Before the Lost, "feralization" was the only real threat to our happiness here. It was running rampant and we were desperate to fix it. My Papa was one of the volunteers. He showed early signs of going feral, and offered to go under... be a test subject for cures. He was also that last patient you ran the experiment on."
↑ 99.099.1Zao: "But now I must... warn you. There is danger. Wei xian! Old crew... still down there. Not okay like their captain. Worse. They do not harm me. But they will kill you! I... I cannot kill them. Still, they are my crew. My family. Jia ren, all of us. But you must do what you must do." (Zao's dialogue)
↑Vault 76 dweller: "You're a ghoul! What happened?" Bethy Mangano: "You noticed! Just what a lady likes to hear. "Hi, I can't help but notice you're a monster". Fair enough. I was exposed to rather more radiation than a person should be without being directly impacted by sharp or blunt objects. So, I survived, but was fundamentally transformed. Happily, I kept my wits about me, unlike the poor, ravenous souls that lurk nearby."
↑Vault 76 dweller: "Why haven't you already vented the reactor chamber?" Digger: "The radiation made all of them into feral ghouls. If I take any more, it might happen to me too."
↑Roger: "Hey, you-you don't happen to have any vials, do you? Just one little puff and I'll be back on my feet. You know I'm good for it."
The Ghoul: "I'm sorry, Roger. I'm all out."
Roger: "That's okay. That's okay. Though, um, you and your smooth-faced friend, you, um... might want to clear out... before things get ugly. I did okay. Twenty-eight years since I first started showing."
The Ghoul: "Oh, hell."
Roger: "Not as long as you, though. You've outlasted us all. How long since you first started wastelanding?"
The Ghoul: "A long time."
Roger: "That's a lot of vials."
The Ghoul: "Well, I've always been good at making money, Roger." (The Ghouls)
↑Ghoul combat taunt: "{1694}{}{Gee, if there were any female ghouls I'd be angry with you.} " (COMBATAI.MSG (Fallout 2)
↑The Courier: "You don't look like the other ghouls from Bright's group." Harland: "Guess the outfit gives that away, huh? I never did buy into that religious mumbo-jumbo with the robes and all that shit. It gets lonely out in the wastes, okay? And I don't have to tell you that Bright's group has got some fine-looking ghoulettes in it! Eh... or maybe I would have to tell you... Anyway, I helped them out, and they kept me supplied with ammo and pleasant company." (Harland's dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "Have you ever heard of a guy named Gob?" Carol: "Gob? Yes, of course! He's my son... well, not really, not like you would think of a son. We Ghouls don't really work like that, but I love him like he's my own! Do you know him? Have you seen him? Is he alright?" (Carol's dialogue)
↑Typhon: "{101}{}{You see Typhon, son of Set.}" The Chosen One: "{150}{}{Who are you?}" Typhon: "{155}{}{I'm Typhon. Y'ever hear of Set? He used to run the old-time town of Necropolis. I'm his son. Got born before the radiation hit us, so I grew up mutated. Ain't never been any other way for me.}" (Typhon's dialogue)
↑Clifford: "She was born in Great Lanta on the shores of the ocean. Her parents were both ghouls. That's right; I said ghouls. That she was conceived at all was a miracle. That she was born unafflicted was an even greater miracle." (Clifford's dialogue)
↑The Vault Dweller: "{1012}{}{Necropolis}" Tycho: "{1112}{}{The City of Death is well named. It lies in what used to be the little town of Bakersfield. Now, though, it's home to ghouls and worse.}" (Tycho's dialogue)
↑The Vault Dweller: "{165}{}{Necropolis}" Keri Lee: "{179}{}{Watch your ass, Necropolis isn't a very friendly place.}" "{180}{}{Set's the leader of the town. At least he was the last time I was there.}" "{181}{}{That town's full of skags! Well, I better get you going.}" (Keri Lee's dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "How would you feel about having a few Ghoul neighbors?" Julius Banfield: "I'm not sure. My first responsibility is the health and welfare of the residents of Tenpenny Tower. Ghouls often carry diseases due to radiation damaging their immune systems." The Lone Wanderer: "Sure they look a little weird, but they're not diseased vermin." Julius Banfield: "Well, umm. I guess I must confess... I've never examined a Ghoul up close... you're right. I shouldn't make assumptions." The Lone Wanderer: "I don't suppose you've consulted any Ghouls on your little theory?" Julius Banfield: "Well... not exactly. But my colleagues have published papers...I suppose I someone ought to verify their findings... Perhaps I'll do that. Who knows? I might even finally get published!" (Julius Banfield's dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "What the hell's a Ghoul anyway? Some kind of diseased human?" Gustavo: "You serious? You don't know what a Ghoul is? A goddamn disaster waiting to happen that's what they are. Sure, maybe you can get over the fact they look like someone took a cheese grater to their face. But it's what you don't see that's the problem.The radiation slowly eats away their brain, then they go zombie on you. It's better for everyone to kill them before all that, if you ask me." (Gustavo's dialogue)
↑The Chosen One: "{114}{}{Hello, Harold. What do you do here?}" Harold: "{121}{hld3}{Wha-whatever it takes to keep this place together. Better job on it than me.}" The Chosen One: "{122}{}{This place is coming apart?}" Harold: "{127}{hld4a}{Well, sorta. Our atomic reactor’s a mite...sensitive. The people I got running it mean well, but... well, they are not the sharpest tools in the shed. If you know what I mean.}" (Harold's dialogue)
↑The Chosen One: "{186}{}{"Trying times?" What do you mean?}" McClure: "{220}{}{Things have been tough these last two years. The NCR has been getting more aggressive in their attempts to get Vault City to join the Republic.}" "{221}{}{They tell us that if we were to join, they would be able to defend us from the raider attacks on our city. As of late, these raider attacks have become more brutal.}" "{222}{}{On top of all of this, we have ghouls in Gecko contaminating our groundwater.}" (Vcmclure.msg)
↑ 123.0123.1The Chosen One: "{208}{}{What can you tell me about Gecko?}" Gregory: "{219}{}{Gecko? It's a filthy shantytown to the north, inhabited by those creatures, those... "ghouls." They're responsible for poisoning our groundwater, you know! It's an obvious act of terrorism against Vault City!}" The Chosen One: "{220}{}{How are they poisoning the water?}" Gregory: "{223}{}{Their shantytown is built around the remains of an old atomic power plant... a plant they SOMEHOW started up again and that is now leaking radiation! Those creatures need to be driven out and that plant shut down!}" (Gregory's dialogue)
↑The Chosen One: "{262}{}{Vault City wouldn’t give you the part? Even if it means that the groundwater won’t be polluted anymore?}" Harold: "{274}{hld53}{Well, they’d only help us if they thought it was in their own best interest to do so. Huh. Not much chance of that happening.}" The Chosen One: "{275}{}{Hmm, you may be right. Still if someone could convince them that they should help you….}" Harold: "{276}{hld54}{They shoot ghouls on sight. Makes conversation a bit tricky.}" (Harold's dialogue)
↑The Chosen One: "{337}{}{Is there some way I could become a Citizen?}" Joanne Lynette: "{287}{lyn034a}{You may speak with Proconsul Gregory. He has authority to administer the Citizenship test. He can be found in the meeting room down the corridor.}" The Chosen One: "{291}{}{I'll go talk to the Proconsul, then.}" Joanne Lynette: "{288}{lyn034b}{Or... there IS another way to become a Citizen...}" The Chosen One: "{289}{}{Another way? What is it?}" Joanne Lynette: "{339}{lyn044}{Rather than taking the test, you could prove your commitment to the Vaults in a more... substantial way. As an Outsider, you are in a unique position to resolve a difficult...situation for us.}" The Chosen One: "{340}{}{What kind of situation?}" Joanne Lynette: "{354}{lyn047}{There's a town... if you could call it that... to the northeast of our city. It is filled with... creatures that are polluting the groundwater with dangerous radiation.}" The Chosen One: "{355}{}{How are they poisoning the groundwater?}" Joanne Lynette: "{362}{lyn049}{Those... things... are operating a damaged atomic power plant. You see, THEY are immune to radiation...they don't care that they are slowly killing us with their poisons.}" The Chosen One: "{356}{}{What do you want me to do about it?}" Joanne Lynette: "{358}{lyn048}{Disable their plant, permanently, so that they cannot cause any more damage.}" The Chosen One: "{359}{}{Sounds easy enough. I'll be back when the situation's... "resolved."}" (Joanne Lynette's dialogue)
↑The Chosen One: "{115}{}{What do you do here?}" Lenny: "{160}{}{W’well, I h’help H’harold mostly. Wh’when people get hurt, I h’help them out.}" The Chosen One: "{341}{}{What else did you say you did here?}" Lenny: "{340}{}{I h’help H’harold administer the town. Th’there’s always more p’paperwork to do.}" The Chosen One: "{163}{}{You can heal people?}" Lenny: "{200}{}{Well, b’before the W’war I w’was a doctor.}" The Chosen One: "{201}{}{Before the war? But that must have been almost 160 years ago.}" Lenny: "{210}{}{That's t’true. B’but the radiation seems to have g’given us g’ghouls a longer life-span. ‘Course, it took almost eveything else away.}" The Chosen One: "{211}{}{Took things away?}" Lenny: "{220}{}{W’well, y’yes. We look l’like f’friggin’ f’freaks. We d’don’t have any skin, for Chrisakes.}" The Chosen One: "{221}{}{Well, I guess you have seen better days.}" Lenny: "{230}{}{Y’you c’could say that. I’d trade in all those years to b’be a n’normal person again.}" The Chosen One: "{231}{}{Well, not much hope of that, I suppose.}" Lenny: "{240}{}{If those f’fools in Vault City w’would share their medical technology, I’m sure we could c’cleanse the excess r’radiation and heal ourselves.}" The Chosen One: "{241}{}{They won’t help you?}" Lenny: "{250}{}{Y’you’ve been to Vault City? Then you t’tell me wh’what you think the chances of g'getting h’help from those bigots is. M’might as well watch a p’paper dog chase an asbestos c’cat through hell.}" The Chosen One: "{251}{}{I’m sorry to hear that, but I think you’re right. Let me ask you about something else.}" (Lenny's dialogue)
↑The Courier: "What's the "Great Journey"?" Jason Bright: "We wish to escape the barbarity of the wasteland, especially the violence and bigotry of its human inhabitants. The creator has promised to my flock a new land: a place of safety and healing... a paradise in the Far Beyond. Preparations for the Great Journey were nearly complete when the demons appeared." (Jason Bright's dialogue)
↑Raul Tejada: "Cheer up, kid. It's not that bad. Sure, your skin rots off and you start to stink like a public toilet after Cinco de Mayo, but... umm...." Kyle Edwards: "What? How is that not bad? In fact, how could it get worse?" Raul Tejada: "Well, assuming you survive the radiation sickness, the lynch mobs, and the possibility of going feral, one day you'll get old and decrepit, like me." Kyle Edwards: "Oh god!" Raul Tejada: "What? Was it something I said?" (Raul Tejada's and Kyle Edwards' dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "Isn't it dangerous being this deep into the city?" Tulip: "Not really. The Super Mutants leave us alone. I guess whatever they do that turns people like them doesn't work on us. The Brotherhood of Steel will fire on us if we're out in the open, but they don't bother us down here. We've had some Raiders and Slavers poke their heads in, but we've got Charon and Cerberus and everyone else to take care of them. I guess when it comes down to it, being this far out of everyone's way is a good deal for us." (Tulip's dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "Hmph. I thought Ghouls hated humans." Graves: "Humans have too many misconceptions. Some of us don't get along with humans, but the majority of us are learning to live with our differences. I only wish that the humans in the Capital Wasteland felt the same way. It would make life so much easier... Anyway, I am taking too much time speaking with you when I should be working. If you need anything, let me know." (Graves' dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "Why not?" Graves: "Well, some of the Ghouls in Underworld object to what the Doctor is doing. They think Ghouls are Ghouls and humans are humans. Like we were meant to be this way. Some have even threatened the doctor. I'm afraid one day something might happen to him." (Graves' dialogue)
↑The Vault Dweller: "{1016}{}{Necropolis}" Killian Darkwater: "{1116}{Kill80}{That city's death. I sent two patrols down there and neither one of them returned.}" (KILLIAN.MSG)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "How's that Ghoul situation coming along?" Gustavo: "That damn Roy Phillips won't take no for an answer. Keeps showing up, looking for a handout. He and his kind aren't wanted. End of story. If I were a betting man, I'd place a stack of caps on him trying something violent soon. And that would make Tenpenny nervous. I don't like it when Tenpenny gets nervous. But I can't spare the manpower to go hunt down Roy Phillips and his band of misfits, or I'd gladly end this thing once and for all." (Gustavo's dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "You're all bigots." Gustavo: "Your bleeding heart is liable to get you in a lot of trouble one day. Look kid, eventually all Ghouls go zombie on your ass. It's only a matter of time. Kill them when you find them. It's a win-win. You put them out of their misery, and save someone else from getting torn apart. " (Gustavo's dialogue)
↑The Lone Wanderer: "What can you tell me about Mister Crowley?" Greta: "He's an odd one. Why just a few months ago he decided he didn't like people calling us zombies. No Ghoul likes to be called a zombie, but Crowley was going up to humans and almost daring them to do it." (Greta's dialogue)
↑Lone Wanderer: "All true, except for the part about the mutants, the water and the whore." Crowley: "Ha, ha! I like a human that knows his place. Too many of you think we're all just zombies. They don’t know, or don’t care, that we’re just as human as they are inside. We bleed! We hurt! We regret! And you know what really pisses me off? They think the only way to kill us is to shoot us in the head, like in the old zombie stories, and that will put us out of our misery. Hey, I know! Maybe you could help me even the score." (Crowley's dialogue)
↑Chosen One: "On second thought, I must have a hole in my head for wanting to buy drinks for a bunch of rotting zombies." Wooz: "Zombies? Fuck you! We’re ghouls. Zombies are a type of undead with no free will. Although we share certain physical characteristics -- most notably, the rotting flesh and characteristic morbidity -- we are creatures of free will. Allow me to demonstrate. (Wooz' dialogue)
↑Children of the Cathedral guard's dialogue: "I dunno. I can tell you one thing, whatever you can say about the religion, they're not amateurs. They came in and organized this place like clockwork. This isn't just another band of mindless zombies."
↑Courier: "You cheapass zombie. You need to pay my extra fee." Grecks: "[FAILED] Hey, I'm tapped out, man. I've got nothing left but the clothes on my back." (Grecks' dialogue)
↑Lone Wanderer: "What the hell's a Ghoul anyway? Some kind of diseased human?" Gustavo: "The radiation slowly eats away their brain, then they go zombie on you. It's better for everyone to kill them before all that, if you ask me." (Gustavo's dialogue)
↑Lone Wanderer: "Okay. What's the plan?" Crowley: "Not everyone is as sympathetic to Ghouls as you are. In fact some humans are downright bigots. They treat us like zombies, calling us brain eaters and shufflers. Well, I'm going to make them pay. Uh...before I get into the details, you don't have anything against killing do you?" (Crowley's dialogue)
↑The Vault Dweller: "So what are you doing here?" Ganger: "I'm supposed to make sure no one goes by. Dis is Zombie house." The Vault Dweller: "What's a Zombie?" Ganger: "Not a what . . . A WHO. We are the Zombies. If we do good, Set'll make us one of his guards. Now that's all I'm gonna tell you." The Vault Dweller: "Nah, I want to go in." Ganger: "I don't think so. Get out before I call the boyz over and dance on your face." The Vault Dweller: "Is that a threat?" Ganger: "It was. Now it's a fact. ZOMBIES!" Ganger: "HEY, ZOMBIES, WE GOT US A PUNCHIN' BAG!" (Ganger's dialogue)
↑Courier: "Where'd you get that Vaquero outfit?" Raul Tejada: "I found it in a costume shop. It was sort of my calling card, you know? "Raul the Ghoul, the zombie vaquero of Mexico City." (Raul Tejada's dialogue)
↑Glowing one: "{102}{}{The liquid clear no longer flows. Without the flow we all take final rest.}" (VALTGLO.MSG)
↑Vault Dweller: "What kind of 'hope' did you see?" Hugo Stolz: "By chance we discovered that time spent near the weather control device had side effects. Positive ones: they seem to quell the symptoms of feralization. It was the only path forward. The only research that bore fruit." (Hugo Stolz's dialogue)
↑ 1.01.11.21.3Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets p.36: "Ghouls" "Ghouls were once humans, but they were caught outside of a protective Vault when the bombs dropped. The same radiation that turned their flesh into parched leather has given them an incredibly long life span. Those closest to the blast zones are still so radioactive that they continue to glow. These Glowing Ones, as they're called, have had some of their intellect burned away as well. Shunned by the people of the Wastes, most Ghouls have little to live for."
↑ 2.02.1Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.69: "Desmond the Ghoul Before the bombs dropped, Desmond was a player in international intelligence at the highest levels. Desmond's motives and obsessions have been scarcely affected by the apocalyptic devastation of the planet. Desmond and those he would consider his peers knew for some time that the Great War was inevitable. Desmond himself could have been directly involved in the actions leading up to the nuclear exchange. Facing the nuclear holocaust, global leaders and members of the intelligence community made their personal bids for survival in the new world. F.E.V., cryogenic stasis, AI consciousness, even—in Desmond's case—controlled exposure to normally lethal doses of radiation were among the wildly risky and experimental techniques pursued in the name of survival in a world without modern infrastructure. Old rivalries and vendettas were not forgotten in the ashes of nuclear winter. Those who managed to survive quickly set about doing what the bombs had not—wiping out any remnants of the Old World that may be a threat to personal and political agendas. Now, even so long after they should all have died naturally, these scattered figures seek power and jealously guard their secrets. Desmond's mission has long since ceased to be political or ideological. He knew—as experience has proven tenfold—that as long as any of his colleagues lived, he would be hunted. His purpose is simple: kill or be killed." (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
↑Fallout Bible 0: "2083 Summer The city of Necropolis founded by the ghoul survivors of Vault 12 (and the US citizens that fled to Bakersfield when the bombs fell)."
↑Fallout Bible 0: "2084 Spring Set takes control of Necropolis, wresting control from the original Overseer. The Vault 12 Overseer, not willing to take a dirtnap, is driven north and history loses sight of him."
↑Fallout Bible 0: "2157 The Master learns the location of the Bakersfield Vault, Vault 12, and sends a detachment of super mutants there to seize the vault. Many ghouls are snapped like twigs in the attack, and Set finally parleys with the super mutants, telling them that the ghouls are the Vault survivors the super mutants are looking for. The super mutants, angered at failing to find an intact Vault, set up a small garrison at the watershed to watch the inhabitants and insure Set's... cooperation in the war to come."
↑Fallout Bible 0: "2185 Fall Marcus and Jacob, along with the trail of ghouls, humans, and super mutants, found the community of Broken Hills."
↑Fallout Bible 5: "14. One thing - what's happened to Junktown? Was it just too little to be it's own state? Or maybe it has managed to survive as an independent enclave inside NCR, a hive of scum and villainy, so to speak. And what kind of folks would live in Glow? After all, that place must still, well, glow, at least somewhat. Ghouls? Junktown became part of NCR as part of the state of Shady, and it was one of the first provisional states, considering it was one of the first (and most trustworthy) of the Shady Sands trading partners during its early formation. Its alliance with Shady Sands did cause some alarm from the caravans in the Hub, but it didn't hurt the Hub communities any... and the Hub eventually became part of NCR as well. As for the Glow (or the state of Dayglow), most of the state is actually north and west of the glow, but they are still able to see the Glow from their borders. A number of ghouls are rumored to live there now, as part of the Great Migration from Necropolis - once the ghouls learned of West Tek, they were eager to see if they could scavenge technology from the abandoned center. Some ghouls formed partnerships with scavenging companies from New Adytum and the Hub and have built quite a profitable corporation from their salvage efforts. At least one super mutant, a refugee from the Cathedral, was also rumored to be working with the ghouls and humans in Dayglow."
↑Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.41: "New California Republic The New California Republic was born from the remnants of the survivors of Vault 15 and the small walled community they founded, Shady Sands. Under the leadership of Aradesh, and with the assistance of the Vault Dweller (who saved Tandi, Aradesh's daughter and a future president of the NCR), the community prospered. Trade routes with other settlements allowed cultural exchange, and a movement to form a national entity gradually took root and won popular acceptance. In 2186, the town of Shady Sands changed its name to 'New California Republic' and formed a trial council government to draft a constitution. Four more settlements joined the council, and in 2189 the NCR was voted into existence as a sprawling federation of five states: Shady Sands, Los Angeles, Maxson, Hub, and Dayglow. By post-apocalyptic standards, the NCR is a paragon of economic success and good ethical character: political enfranchisement, rule of law, a reasonable degree of physical security, and a standard of living better than mere subsistence are daily realities for it's 700,000+ citizens. Currently, the NCR in a state of transition, with rapid economic growth and a sea change in political leadership endangering its grand humanitarian ideals. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Mojave, where the occupation of Hoover Dam has improved access to electricity and water, but at the cost of straining its budget and embroiling its armed forces in a morally corrosive imperialist project. The NCR government's aim is to annex New Vegas as the republic's sixth state. While it already controls Hoover Dam, its treaty with Mr. House and the three families compels it to allot one-fifth of the dam's electrical and water production to local use free of charge. Adding injury to insult, the NCR is locked into protecting New Vegas from invasion by Caesar's legion even as it receives not one cap in tax revenue from the Strip's highly lucrative resort operations. NCR citizens in the Mojave have largely come here for economic reasons, whether as paid citizen soldiers or as prospectors and fortune-seekers." (Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide faction profiles)
↑Fallout Bible 0: "2235 While there had already been a small number of ghouls in Gecko at this time, more come to the area, and the town of Gecko is formed. The new influx of ghouls bring scavenged technology and know-how, and the power plant in Gecko becomes operational later that year. Vault City looks upon their new neighbors with growing concern." "2238 Harold arrives in Gecko, and (with a lot of shaking of his head) he does his best to help the ghouls with the running of the Nuclear Power Plant."
↑Question: "No ghouls or supermutants in ceasars legion....explain" Joshua Sawyer: "It's hard to brainwash people who have been alive for a hundred+ years. More importantly, non-feral ghouls and SMs are also a tiny fragment of the population. Caesar doesn't really consider them to be that relevant in the overall struggle for the Mojave." Josh Sawyer Formspring answers
↑Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition p.75: "Greta Greta and Carol have been together for a long time. In fact, it was Greta who convinced Carol to open Carol's Place. Carol takes care of the desk while Greta cooks and serves the food. Well, most humans wouldn't call it food, but Ghouls have superhuman intestinal fortitude." (Fallout 3 Official Game Guide Game of the Year Edition Wasteland Census)
↑Fallout Official Survival Guide p.107: "Glowing Ones" "These are ghouls that have been irradiated so badly they actually glow. You may find some of these living incandescent bulbs in the sewers beneath the Necropolis, or in cages, as light sources, in Set's palace. If they get too close to you, you can take hits from radiation."
↑Fallout 2 Official Strategies & Secrets p.150: "Broken Hills provides all the uranium that Vault City and Gecko need for their atomic power plants. The radiation-resistant ghouls and mutants that live and work in Broken Hills make ideal uranium miners since they are not affected by exposure to radiation. Unfortunately, since Vault City will deal only with humans, the miners must use human traders as their intermediaries. These human salesmen charge the miners an exorbitant commission for their work. Tensions in this multiracial community have risen to a fever pitch because the human merchants have been accused of outright theft of the fruits of the miners' hard-earned labor."
↑Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide Collector's Edition p.457: "Equality By law, the NCR prohibits persecution and discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, or religious belief (so long as said religion does not advocate violence). Legal protection of Ghouls and other mutants was added in 2205, though enforcement of these rights has been spotty. For the most part, the NCR's practices live up to its ideals, but there has been some retrenchment since the death of President Tandi. Aaron Kimball's popularity was amplified by a reactionary undercurrent, especially among males, calling out a need for a "strong man" to lead the NCR forward. In the years since Kimball took office, male military officers have been promoted disproportionately to females, and discourse arguing the differences between males and females has reappeared." (Fallout: New Vegas Official Game Guide; Behind the Bright Lights & Big City)
↑Kal-El Bogdanove on Reddit: BillyH666: "One nitpick I have is of the Unknown Ghoul holotape in Harper's Ferry (Safe Haven I think?). Supposed to be a ghoul but the voice is silky smooth. Doesn't seem to match up :P" TheYoungGriffin: "Havent gotten there yet, but maybe it's because it's still a relatively fresh ghoul. All the ones we meet in later Fallout games are hundreds of years old." KalElBogdanove: "Hi! Voice director for the game here. You are correct! Light texture is the result of a fresh ghoul. Thanks for playing!"
Fallout 76 will feature playable ghouls in a future update, set for release in early 2025. Fallout Tactics and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel both previously featured pre-made playable ghoul characters (ghoul recruits and Cain, respectively), but Fallout 76 will be the first game to allow the player character to become a ghoul.
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