Ghoul

Ghouls are a type of undead creature within the novel ''Dark Blaze. ''They are the weakest of the strigoic creatures and can only be killed by severe head injuries.

Ghouls were originally humans who were sired by a strigoii and instead of transforming into another strigoii, they became a braindead slave.

Usually, ghouls are used as cannon-fodder by their strigoic overlords and are considered extra bodies only. The only ghoul who has been seen to be more than a lowly slave would be Theodore.

Ghouls are the only strigoic creatures that do not hunger for blood out of necessity, they do so out of instinct.

Background:
Due to the vagueness of the ghoul mythos, Darryl M. Finch-Ellis decided to go in a new direction with his version of ghouls. Instead of making them based entirely on the Arabic lore, he mixed their identity with that of the zombies seen in George A. Romero's universe and connected them with the strigoic creatures.

Origins:
Humans who were infected with strigoium, however, with many believing because they are not virgins, they became braindead slaves to their sires instead of free-thinking strigoii.

Characteristics:
Ghouls look how they used to before they died except they continue to decompose and lose the pigmentation in their skin. They are slackjawed slaves to their strigoic masters and can be seen as quite clumsy and in a perpetual state of drunkenness, although that is just their delayed motor skills at work.

Appearances:
Various ghouls are seen within Dark Blaze.

Powers & Abilities:

 * Increased strength.
 * Increased sense of smell.
 * Immortal.

Weaknesses:

 * Holy water.
 * Fire.
 * Silver.
 * Regular weaponry.
 * Head trauma.
 * Cast-iron.
 * Palo Santo.
 * Mountain Ash.
 * Chloroform.
 * Direct sunlight.

Trivia:

 * Ghouls are based on the zombies made famous by George A. Romero and not so much on the ghouls of Arabic Mythology.
 * Theodore's initial role, as explained by Finch-Ellis, was to give somebody who Hadrian could talk to without having somebody argue back to or counter his thought process. Theodore was a key to unlocking information within Hadrian's world without drawn out dialogue.
 * Constable E. Poe is named after Edgar Allan Poe who wrote about ghouls in his Gothic poem "The Bells".
 * Constable W. Beckford is named after William Beckford who wrote about ghouls in his Gothic novel "Vethek."
 * The ghoul named Sid Newman mentioned by Ian Platt is a nod to the ghoul Sidi-Nouman.