History Main / OurGhoulsAreCreepier

* In the anime/manga series {{Hellsing}}, ghouls are zombie-like creatures that are created when a "chipped" (technological) vampire drains a victim to death, or, [[AdaptationDecay in the manga]], where a vampire drains the blood of someone who is not a virgin. If fatally wounded, they instantly crumble to dust. They are under the control of the vampire who bites them, eat human flesh, and are ''just'' intelligent enough to use firearms.

* The IAmLegend film has "Darkseekers", aggressive and light-sensitive humans mutated by a cancer cure, who are essentially mutant ghouls. In the [[AdaptationDecay original book]], they were just vampires.

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** Ghasts, a far more deadly species that coexists in the dreamland underworld with ghouls, are described as semi-humanoids with hooves, [[EyelessFace no eyes]], and kangaroo-like legs. Though "ghast" originally was a synonym for "ghost", the word is often used to describe ghouls or, a type of ghoul, in other media, possibly due to HPL's influence.
*** They ''do'' have eyes, described to glow in the dark. They lack distinct forehead and nose, however.

** Care to clarify that? There '''is''' no such thing as "the light of the new moon"; a new moon is when the side of the moon that faces Earth is not exposed to sunlight. If you can see "the light of the new moon," then you must be floating somewhere in space.
*** The author in Tales of Mu took a stance where "science" and just about everything related to it is the equivalent of magic in our world right down to treating "mechans" like the crazy stereotypical Wiccan/Witches/etc and saturday morning mecha cartoons that very closely mimic saturday morning cartoons/anime involving magic from the real world. According to chapter 46 "the moon is a circle affixed to a crystalline sphere in the vault of the heavens." At one point the author tried to describe why one of the characters doesn't need to (but could) eat even though there was no biological end result to the eating except for potentially throwing up when sick. It basically amounted to that's the way it works, it doesn't burn up or get used for anything the food just goes away at some point after eating it.
** "The light of the new moon" could just be a poetic way of describing a situation where the new moon is in the right position to be hypothetically visible with no clouds or other obstacles in the way. Like being exposed to the light of the ''full'' moon, only in dark. It actually makes a kind of sense in a magical universe, and ''Tales of MU'' is definitely set in one of those.
*** Except the new moon is at its apex in the sky around noon, so it wouldn't be dark at all.
** That depends on the definition used, actually. "The original meaning of the phrase new moon was the first visible crescent of the Moon, after conjunction with the Sun." - Wikipedia
** Considering how often ghouls are depicted as being able to see in the dark, perhaps the "light of the new moon" that animates them is light that's traveled from sun ''to Earth'' to moon, then back to Earth again. If they can see in pitch-black burrows under graveyards, they might well be able to see that, too.

** In ''Pickman's Model'', ghouls are depicted as horrible and potentially dangerous canine-humanoids, capable of growing to titanic sizes, who live in a complicated network of underground tunnels and raid graves for food from the bottom up. They also leave their own young as [[ChangelingFantasy changelings]] in the place of human children. The young ghoul grows up to resemble a human, but retains a ghoulish mindset, while the fate of the human child is vague.

* In Fritz Leiber's ''Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser'' stories, ghouls are a humanoid race that just so happen to have transparent skin, muscles, and organs, giving them the appearance of [[DemBones animated skeletons]] . . . oh, and they just so happen to be cannibals too.

-->--Edgar Allen Poe

-->--Edger Allen Poe

* ''TheWitcher'' has quite Lovecraftian ghouls, albeit without culture or language. According to the novel they originate from the "division of the spheres" that brought magic into the world, making them an existence outside the natural order, though what exactly this means is unknown beyond the implication that the Witchers could theoretically hunt them to extinction with no averse effects to the native ecology.

* In DungeonCrawl, they are [[LoadsAndLoadsOfRaces one of the many playable races]], as well as an occasionally encountered monster. As a race, they get all sorts of wonderful immunities and abilities, but they gain experience slowly, and they need to constantly eat meat, preferably rotten.

* ''Less'' creepy example: In the folktale of The Ghul's Daughter, a ghul shows mercy to a human girl whose family have been murdered, and gives her some of his powers. An OlderThanDirt subversion of AlwaysChaoticEvil?

* [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie Ghouls]] - Flesh-eating undead, either your standard zombie [[NotUsingTheZedWord by another name]], or a specific zombie derivative. When the two coexist, the ghouls will generally be the more bestial and savage of the two, and more willing to eat rotten flesh. Perhaps the zombie will be subject to magical control, like the old voodoo zombies. Garden-variety corpses [[OurWightsAreDifferent re-animated by spirits]] may count as these.

* [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie Ghouls]] - Flesh-eating undead, either your standard zombie [[NotUsingTheZedWord by another name]], or a specific zombie derivative. When the two coexist, the ghouls will generally be the more bestial and savage of the two, and more willing to eat rotten flesh. Perhaps the zombie will be subject to magical control, like the old voodoo zombies. [[OurWightsAreDifferent Re-animated corpses]] may count as these.

* [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie Ghouls]] - Flesh-eating undead, either your standard zombie [[NotUsingTheZedWord by another name]], or a specific zombie derivative. When the two coexist, the ghouls will generally be the more bestial and savage of the two, and more willing to eat rotten flesh. Perhaps the zombie will be subject to magical control, like the old voodoo zombies. Monsters made from re-animated corpses may count as these.

* [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie Ghouls]] - Flesh-eating undead, either your standard zombie [[NotUsingTheZedWord by another name]], or a specific zombie derivative. When the two coexist, the ghouls will generally be the more bestial and savage of the two, and more willing to eat rotten flesh. Perhaps the zombie will be subject to magical control, like the old voodoo zombies. Re-animated corpses may count as these.

* [[OurZombiesAreDifferent Zombie Ghouls]] - Flesh-eating undead, either your standard zombie [[NotUsingTheZedWord by another name]], or a specific zombie derivative. When the two coexist, the ghouls will generally be the more bestial and savage of the two, and more willing to eat rotten flesh. Perhaps the zombie will be subject to magical control, like the old voodoo zombies.

** This troper suspects that D&D based it on Romero. D&D ghouls are stupid but free-willed, they have a dangerous bite, they eat people, and they can kill people and make them into ghouls. D&D zombies have none of these traits and are more like voodoo zombies.
** Actually, D&D ghouls have above-average mental stats. Making them smarter than most humans.

** The [[spoiler: Trogs who inhabit the Pitt]] are even more ghoulish in appearance, being pale and aggressive quadrupedal mutants who are descended from normal humans.
*** Should note, [[spoiler: those Trogs were driven insane by abuse and mutated, normal Trogs are friendly hillbillies who look more like humans but with yellow skin]]
*** [[{{Nivenus}} This Troper]] hates to tell you but ''Van Buren'' is not, strictly speaking, canon. I believe Bethesda's official word on the subject is something along the lines of "[[BroadStrokes elements are canon]]."
**** Do swampfolk of Point Lookout qualify as well, then? They are mutated, cannibalistic rednecks after all.

* The ''AnitaBlake'' series, [[OrSoIHeard or so we have heard]], contains some variety of ghoul. TheOtherWiki says they were the result of evil rites being performed in a graveyard, and that they formed animalistic packs.

* In R.L. Stine's ''[[{{Goosebumps}} Attack of the Graveyard Ghouls]], ghouls are depicted as noncorporeal green mists that were humans at one time, and are able to steal bodies.

* HarryPotter has ghouls, although they are merely harmless, non-sentient humanoid pests that take up residence in Wizard attics. The Weasleys' had one living in their attic [[spoiler: with which they made a deal in Deathly Hallows, to be disguised as a diseased Ron so he could hunt Horcruxes during the year, while the Ghoul moved in to Ron's room, he was quite happy]].