Zombie vs. Ghoul
April 28, 2012 5:12 PM Subscribe
What is the difference between a Zombie and a Ghoul?
All mythological or fictional descriptions are valid, I'm looking for a functional 'big picture' difference, a synthesis of numerous examples. Any mythology, horror film, game system, etc. will do.
All mythological or fictional descriptions are valid, I'm looking for a functional 'big picture' difference, a synthesis of numerous examples. Any mythology, horror film, game system, etc. will do.
They both hunger for human flesh. Bu the ghoul usually lives underground, in burial mounds or whatever. It's not always undead, I think they were originally, mythologically a type of Jinn. Ghouls are typically smarter and longer lived than zombies, which tend to be dumb, and decay. Ghoul-ism isn't classically contagious, I don't think, but in most games and such (D&D, Shadowrun) they are contagious. Ghouls tend to have heightened senses, while zombies tend to be less generally aware.
Zombies have a ton of different descriptions, but they almost always used to be human (undead), infectious, and hunger for human flesh. They can be fast, slow, viral, radioactive, magical, most things.
posted by Garm at 5:39 PM on April 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
Zombies have a ton of different descriptions, but they almost always used to be human (undead), infectious, and hunger for human flesh. They can be fast, slow, viral, radioactive, magical, most things.
posted by Garm at 5:39 PM on April 28, 2012 [1 favorite]
There is some literature that suggests a human can become a ghoul after a long period of dieting on dead human flesh. Ghouls, in general, seem to prefer dead folks, while zombies have come to be defined by their desire for the fresh stuff, particularly braaaaiiins.
posted by ronofthedead at 5:43 PM on April 28, 2012
posted by ronofthedead at 5:43 PM on April 28, 2012
Best answer: Big picture, eh? Let's take a look at a few select points in the history of the concepts:
Zombies:
Derive from various African folk beliefs about witches or sorcerers capturing and enslaving human souls, filtered through Haitian voodoo.
Before Night of the Living Dead, generally depicted as mindless, unkillable brutes under someone else's control -- sometimes a voodoo practicioner or witch doctor, sometimes a mad scientist or alien. Post-NotLD, there often isn't anyone in control, but there's usually still an emphasis on the zombies' mindlessness.
In D&D, zombies are low-level undead created our of corpses by means of the spell Animate Dead. They specifically lack a will of their own, and obey simple instructions from the person who animated them.
Ghouls:
Derive from Arabic folklore, where they're shape-shifting demons that lure people out into the desert to kill and eat them. They entered Western culture through stories in the 1001 Nights. The earliest references to them have no notion that ghouls are undead or formerly human, although they're frequently mentioned in conjunction with graveyards, where they lurk to devour the dead.
H. P. Lovecraft, who depicts them as intelligent and articulate humanoids with sharp teeth and slightly canine features, describes at least one ghoul that used to be human. But even there, it seems more like he mutated into a ghoul while still alive as a result of his cannibalistic urges than that he died and rose again as a ghoul.
In D&D, ghouls are undead, and slightly higher-level than zombies. They're intelligent and self-willed, and new ghouls are created through infection: their claws can give people "ghoul fever", and people who die of ghoul fever rise as ghouls themselves.
It's worth noting that the zombies in Night of the Living Dead are referred to in the film not as zombies but as ghouls. They were flesh-eaters without a master, and that fit better with people's notion of ghouls at the time.
So, the key features, as I see it:
The chief defining features of a zombie are mindlessness or a lack of will, and being created from a human corpse.
The chief defining feature of a ghoul is eating corpses.
A creature that combines these features could be either a zombie or a ghoul, although people today will probably be more inclined to describe it as a zombie, because that's the more familiar model.
posted by baf at 6:07 PM on April 28, 2012 [11 favorites]
Zombies:
Derive from various African folk beliefs about witches or sorcerers capturing and enslaving human souls, filtered through Haitian voodoo.
Before Night of the Living Dead, generally depicted as mindless, unkillable brutes under someone else's control -- sometimes a voodoo practicioner or witch doctor, sometimes a mad scientist or alien. Post-NotLD, there often isn't anyone in control, but there's usually still an emphasis on the zombies' mindlessness.
In D&D, zombies are low-level undead created our of corpses by means of the spell Animate Dead. They specifically lack a will of their own, and obey simple instructions from the person who animated them.
Ghouls:
Derive from Arabic folklore, where they're shape-shifting demons that lure people out into the desert to kill and eat them. They entered Western culture through stories in the 1001 Nights. The earliest references to them have no notion that ghouls are undead or formerly human, although they're frequently mentioned in conjunction with graveyards, where they lurk to devour the dead.
H. P. Lovecraft, who depicts them as intelligent and articulate humanoids with sharp teeth and slightly canine features, describes at least one ghoul that used to be human. But even there, it seems more like he mutated into a ghoul while still alive as a result of his cannibalistic urges than that he died and rose again as a ghoul.
In D&D, ghouls are undead, and slightly higher-level than zombies. They're intelligent and self-willed, and new ghouls are created through infection: their claws can give people "ghoul fever", and people who die of ghoul fever rise as ghouls themselves.
It's worth noting that the zombies in Night of the Living Dead are referred to in the film not as zombies but as ghouls. They were flesh-eaters without a master, and that fit better with people's notion of ghouls at the time.
So, the key features, as I see it:
The chief defining features of a zombie are mindlessness or a lack of will, and being created from a human corpse.
The chief defining feature of a ghoul is eating corpses.
A creature that combines these features could be either a zombie or a ghoul, although people today will probably be more inclined to describe it as a zombie, because that's the more familiar model.
posted by baf at 6:07 PM on April 28, 2012 [11 favorites]
Ghouls usually are humanoid carrion-eaters, living in small, isolated groups. They're not necessarily undead and often seem to be a living species.
Zombies are corpses that been reanimated by some means (magic, toxic waste, etc.) and seek to kill or devour the living. Their human victims become zombies through infection if they're not consumed.
[On preview, baf said it better.]
posted by Boxenmacher at 6:10 PM on April 28, 2012
Zombies are corpses that been reanimated by some means (magic, toxic waste, etc.) and seek to kill or devour the living. Their human victims become zombies through infection if they're not consumed.
[On preview, baf said it better.]
posted by Boxenmacher at 6:10 PM on April 28, 2012
In White Wolf's original World of Darkness tabletop multi-game RPG setting, ghouls were ordinary mortals who had been fed (and often become addicted to) a vampire's blood without first having a vampire suck out their blood to the point of death. While they would gain some small measure of vampiric power, they weren't fully converted, and therefore, didn't suffer from that setting's standard list of vampiric weaknesses. While this is a departure from the other mythologies described above, it does still dovetail in with one key aspect, ghouls being defined by what they consume.
The oWoD setting never dealt directly with zombies much, except as generic antagonists created by magic (by either Vampires or Mages). One minor Vampire Bloodline, the Samedi, were zombie look-alikes, but otherwise had the same powers and weaknesses of vampires. Wraith: The Oblivion, did feature re-animated corpses, called Risen, but these did not much resemble zombies, but instead seem to have been modeled on J.O. Barr's Crow stories. The other major form of oWoD walking dead were Mummies, but again, they don't fit the standard zombie tropes. About the only oWoD game where you might regularly encounter cinematic-style zombies is Hunter: the Reckoning, due to that game's specific skewed viewpoint of the setting, designed to help veteran players unlearn their previous player knowledge.
posted by radwolf76 at 6:46 PM on April 28, 2012
The oWoD setting never dealt directly with zombies much, except as generic antagonists created by magic (by either Vampires or Mages). One minor Vampire Bloodline, the Samedi, were zombie look-alikes, but otherwise had the same powers and weaknesses of vampires. Wraith: The Oblivion, did feature re-animated corpses, called Risen, but these did not much resemble zombies, but instead seem to have been modeled on J.O. Barr's Crow stories. The other major form of oWoD walking dead were Mummies, but again, they don't fit the standard zombie tropes. About the only oWoD game where you might regularly encounter cinematic-style zombies is Hunter: the Reckoning, due to that game's specific skewed viewpoint of the setting, designed to help veteran players unlearn their previous player knowledge.
posted by radwolf76 at 6:46 PM on April 28, 2012
Ghouls become that way before death, zombies after.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:06 PM on April 28, 2012
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:06 PM on April 28, 2012
I'm just sad no one pulled out the Monster Manual before this was marked solved.
In case it becomes important in the future, Gygax's main difference seems to be that Ghouls are cunning, and seems to be a virus, and they are "undead".
Zombies are undead, and magically animated.
I'd type out the sections but probably no one needs that much info, and I think I'm a little high from cracking open the 1E MM for the first time in a decade.
posted by Mezentian at 12:33 AM on April 29, 2012
In case it becomes important in the future, Gygax's main difference seems to be that Ghouls are cunning, and seems to be a virus, and they are "undead".
Zombies are undead, and magically animated.
I'd type out the sections but probably no one needs that much info, and I think I'm a little high from cracking open the 1E MM for the first time in a decade.
posted by Mezentian at 12:33 AM on April 29, 2012
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by FirstMateKate at 5:37 PM on April 28, 2012