Ghouls are a variety of monster that come from Arab folklore. The English word comes from Arabic الغول al-ghūl (al- is the definite article "the").

The Arabian ghoul is a desert-dwelling, shapeshifting demon that can transform itself into the guise of an animal, especially a hyæna. It robs graves and feeds on the flesh of the dead, or on young children. They also lure travellers into the desert wastes to slay and devour them.

The star Algol is also named after this creature from Arabian legend.

In the weird fiction of H. P. Lovecraft, a ghoul is a member of a nocturnal subterranean race. Once human, their adherence to an exclusive diet of dead human flesh has mutated them into horrific bestial humanoids. As frightening as they are to the human characters in Lovecraft's fiction, they are not truly monsters; they only prey on the already-dead, and in some stories they are able to carry on intelligent conversations with the living. Richard Upton Pickman, a noteworthy Boston painter who disappears under mysterious circumstances in the story, "Pickman's Model," later appears as a ghoul in the novella, "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath."

In the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons, ghouls are monstrous undead humans who reek of carrion. In addition to dead flesh, they capture and eat the unwary living. They can paralyze their prey with a touch; only elves are immune. The ghast is similar, but worse: even elves can fall victim to their paralytic power.

In the role-playing game Shadowrun, ghouls are a mutation caused by a virus known as HMHVV, specifically the Krieger strain. While not undead, they do exhibit vampiric behavior. Ghouls must consume about 1% of their body weight in raw human flesh each week and have a mild allergy to sunlight that inhibits them slightly, but does not harm them. They are physically blind, but their astral/physical dual-nature allows them to perceive the astral plane, and they are also endowed with enhanced senses of smell and hearing. Ghouls are especially sensitive to foreign substances within their bodies, making the use of cybernetic implants difficult for them. Their strength and body are greater than a normal human's, but their intelligence and charisma suffer. Finally, they also show total immunity to the VITAS plague. Some ghouls regress to a feral state after the change, while others retain their sanity. Those who remain sane will often have extreme plastic surgery performed in order to pass for human, and replace their blind eyes with new cybernetic eyes.

In the World of Darkness, a fictional RPG multiverse created by White Wolf Game Studio, a ghoul is a human who has been given the blood of a vampire to drink and has gained an extended lifespan and supernatural powers as a result. Vampires often take ghouls as servants, since the process of drinking the vampire's blood creates a bond of loyalty and affection from the ghoul to the vampire.

In the PC game Warcraft III, Ghoul are the standard fighting unit for the Undead and lumber gatherers.

In the anime and manga series Hellsing, ghouls are zombie-like creatures created when a vampire feeds on the blood of a non-virgin.

See also

• Jikininki

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