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Ghouls are a race of monsters that feed mainly on the flesh of the dead and assume the form of their victims.

Characteristics[]

Ghoul feeding

A Ghoul feeding on Sam.

Ghouls are scavenger creatures that live in graveyards and traditionally feed on the flesh and blood of the dead. Ghouls are not nocturnal, they eat whenever they get the chance. At times ghouls will change their diet and will feed on living humans instead of the dead. Ghouls can also take the form of any person they have eaten, whether the person is still alive or already dead.

The only thing that can kill a ghoul is decapitation or complete destruction of the head. Bashing their brains in works as well.

Ghouls are capable of leaving behind identifiable fingerprints that can be matched to them at the very least while they are using a single form. It is unknown if their fingerprints change as well as their form. In one case, the police were able to match the fingerprints a ghoul left at a bank robbery to that he left at a murder scene. However, he never changed forms in between so it is unclear if his fingerprints would have been different if he'd used a different form.

A ghoul can resume a previous form they have taken as long as they still possess a piece of that person to feed off of. They may also have the favored form of a victim that they use as their regular shape. In one case, the ghoul who had a favored form went so far as to name himself after the man.

Ghouls are also capable diggers, an ability that they use to access bodies in coffins and underground mausoleums. They can dig and fit through small tunnels, often digging many through a graveyard to get their food.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Shapeshifting - Ghouls have the power to transform into any human, though they can only transform into humans they've fed off of, regardless of whether they are still living or dead. Like shapeshifters, ghouls also obtain the memories of the person they are mimicking.
  • Super Speed - Ghouls are said to move faster than humans, at least enough to escape unseen after a surprise attack. In Two and a Half Men, after battling a monster in human form that moved with superhuman speed, Sam listed what creatures could move with supernatural speed; ghouls were first on the list. Sam and Dean learned later that they were hunting shapeshifters and the alpha shapeshifter.
  • Super Strength - Ghouls are stronger than humans. They can overpower a human, but they can also be fought off. In Caged Heat, Dean was able to temporarily hold off two ghouls without using guns or other kinds of weapons. As such they are among the weaker monsters.
  • Super Agility - Ghouls are more agile than humans, one ghoul was able to quickly move through the ventilation shaft to grab Kate Milligan, and later Sam.
  • Enhanced Durability - Ghouls are more durable than humans, as one was able to take a shotgun blast to the torso and was only stunned. However, they are far from invulnerable.
  • Super Senses - Ghouls have a degree of enhanced senses, such as taste, which allowed one ghoul that tasted Sam's blood to sense that it was "different", unknowingly detecting the demon blood in his body.
  • Tunnelling - Ghouls are capable of digging networks of tunnels through graveyards to gain access to corpses.

Weaknesses[]

  • Decapitation - Complete removal or destruction of the head is lethal to a ghoul.
  • Vamptonite - Edgar states the leviathan additive will kill ghouls as well as vampires.
  • Extreme Brain Damage - Enough damage to the head, even without decapitation, can kill a ghoul. Dean states at one point that "bashing their brains in" works as well as decapitation.
  • Demons - Demons are much stronger than ghouls as a pair of ghouls were captured by Crowley's demons.

Known Ghouls[]

Appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • In popular culture, the word "ghoul" is often used for an undead creature that eats freshly buried corpses. However, in Supernatural, ghouls are not undead but a type of monster.
  • The actual ghouls in Islamic lore aren't always dead and are often a devilish form of jinn or demon, believed to be sired by Iblis.
  • In Celebrating The Life Of Asa Fox, Jody Mills reveals that she first met hunter Asa Fox when he came to the Sioux Falls area on a ghoul hunt. During the hunt, Asa identified himself as Agent Fox Mulder to Jody who saw through the lie and helped him kill the ghouls.
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