Feral Ghoul (Fallout 3)

Feral ghouls are creatures found in the Capital Wasteland in 2277. They are ghouls who have lost their sanity and ability to reason, making them aggressive to anyone who isn't a ghoul. Feral ghouls are partially responsible for human wastelanders' discrimination toward ghouls who have retained their mental faculties. They are referred to by Three Dog in one of his broadcasts as "mindless zombies".

Gameplay attributes
Feral ghouls often give a loud low-pitched screech or growl before attacking enemies. This can be helpful in dark places or areas with objects blocking the player's view, especially in the metro system and the Dunwich Building. As with normal ghouls, ferals are extremely resistant to radiation; this makes a glowing one especially dangerous when encountered with regular ferals, as they constantly emit radiation which will heal the others.

Feral ghouls attack with no strategy; they rush foes in one massive onslaught. At first, they attack with a running over-the-head strike. When close to an enemy, they will swipe at it horizontally.

Feral ghoul
The basic feral ghoul variant in Fallout 3 wears only a pair of tattered shorts and is noticeably weaker than standard human opponents. They are easily dispatched with one or two headshots, or a solid hit with a decent weapon in close quarters combat. Despite their noisy shrieks and remarkable speed, they are not much of a threat unless they outnumber the player, or when their character is at a low level.

Some feral ghouls come in different colors as well as different types. Some are a "healthy" pink color, while others are a grimy gray color. Their skin colors are different depending on what ethnicity they were prior to ghoulification.

Notably, feral ghouls can drop the rare pass cards in blue and red colors, and they have the highest chance in the game for a creature to drop them, 1.5%.

Feral ghoul roamer
Wearing the remains of pre-War combat armor commonly used by the National Guard and US Army, roamers are likely ghoulified troops who were deployed in the DC area when the bombs fell. The majority of them can be found in abandoned Metro tunnels and buildings, where people who couldn't gain entrance to vaults often sought refuge.

Although what remains of their armor gives them some protection, roamers can still be brought down quickly with most weapons. However, they do have a tendency to appear in small groups and can be dangerous to a low-level player. Their armor can't be taken even after they are killed.

Feral ghoul reaver
Feral ghoul reavers, introduced by the Fallout 3 add-ons Broken Steel and Point Lookout, are extremely strong ferals clothed in what appears to be the remains of metal armor. Reavers' skin may, upon close inspection, appear to bubble and burn, emitting radiation and dark green smoke. If a reaver is killed by a critical hit from an energy weapon, the smoke will continue to emanate from the remains.

Tougher than other ghouls and more than twice as durable as a sentry bot or deathclaw, reavers are one of the most formidable enemies in the game. They are extremely quick, and their lunge attack can knock the player back some distance. Even high-level players may, if not careful, be quickly crippled or killed by a reaver's powerful melee attacks.

Reavers have the unique ability to throw pieces of their own body at a target. These chunks, thrown with deadly accuracy, explode like a grenade and can easily cripple limbs.

Reavers (unlike deathclaws) seem to be highly perceptive and can detect player characters in Sneak mode, even those wearing a Stealth Boy or Chinese stealth armor, or both. The feral ghoul reaver can be a massive threat to low level players, easily killing them in a few hits.

Glowing one
Glowing ones are feral ghouls that have absorbed massive amounts of radiation. Their irradiated skin is a pale translucent green that continually produces a soft glow. Their legs are draped in similar rags that the standard version of a feral ghoul would wear. They are reportedly "looked down" upon by other ghouls, which is interesting, seeing as the radiation that they emit heals other ghouls.

In battle, they sometimes release a massive burst of radiation, severely injuring and irradiating enemies and healing any other nearby feral ghouls. When killed, standing close to their corpses will irradiate the player (usually at a rate of one rad per second).

Swamp ghoul
Swamp ghouls are ferals that inhabit the swamps of Point Lookout. Swamp ghouls wear a tattered pair of shorts commonly worn by tribals, hinting that they were once tribals who didn't eat their punga fruit. They exhibit the same characteristics as Capital Wasteland ghouls, but are paler in color and considerably weaker, most likely due to Point Lookout's dark and cloudy environment.

They can be found in various locations in Point Lookout with high concentrations at Turtledove Detention Camp and Ark & Dove Resting Grounds along with the other types of feral ghouls, including feral ghoul reavers and glowing ones.

Notable ghouls

 * Stefan - caged glowing one in Red Racer factory
 * Meat and Ethyl - tame glowing ones in The Chop Shop
 * Samuel - hostile glowing one near Isabella Proud's camp
 * Sun of Atom - non-hostile glowing one in the Holy Light Monastery
 * Atom's Champion - non-hostile reaver in the Holy Light Monastery

Appearances
Feral ghouls appear in Fallout 3.

Bugs

 * Feral ghoul reavers may become invincible for a short period of time. While they can be successfully targeted in V.A.T.S, all shots fired will miss. If this happens, shoot for the legs, make use of grenades or wear the ghoul mask. Ghouls affected by this glitch may begin shaking vigorously.
 * When the feral ghoul reavers throw radioactive gore, it may explode, and they will keep throwing it.
 * If a feral ghoul reaver is killed using a plasma rifle and the body disintegrates into a goo pile, then it may keep the green aura that surrounded the reaver prior to its death.
 * In some cases, ghouls will be non-hostile when not wearing the ghoul mask and will not attack unless provoked.
 * Feral ghoul reavers encountered in Point Lookout may throw their flesh at you, though it does't explode. The red arrow will denote its location and when hovering over it, the name radioactive gore will appear. It is possible to pick it up, and will explode when dropped again.

Sounds

 * Aware feral ghoul
 * Glowing one emitting radiation

Gallery
Дикий гуль