Is A Ghoul In Fallout A Zombie - Or Something Worse?

The wastelands are full of dangers that could put an end to any freshly surfaced vault dweller, but that's what comes with Amazon's super-violent "Fallout" series (which is apparently really popular with moms). However, one of the biggest threats is a subspecies of humanity struggling to hold onto their own, known as ghouls. First emerging after bombs initially dropped some 200 years before the events of "Fallout," ghouls are severely burned former human beings that take more than a few bullets to be brought down and demand less than what your average human needs to survive. 

If left unattended and without the correct medication, though, things can get nasty — that is, nastier than Cooper Howard (played by Walton Goggins, who spent hours being transformed into The Ghoul for "Fallout"). Without a regular dose of RadAway, ghouls can become feral or, even worse, full-blown zombies.

The zombies in "Fallout" are run-of-the-mill undead flesh-obsessed creatures, much as they are in other properties. They can carry on as long as ghouls can, but the only difference between the two is that zombies have lost all cognitive thought. On the show, we stumble across two. The first is Roger (Neal Huff), who switches to zombie mode after running out of RadAway in Season 1, Episode 4, "The Ghouls." The second is Lucy's (Ella Purnell) own mother, who is revealed during the ending of "Fallout" Season 1. 

So with that in mind, who has a worse deal — ghouls or zombies?

We hate to say it, but the life of a ghoul really is a life not worth living. Theirs is a fate worse than death, wandering the land as ticking time bombs that can turn feral without being carefully monitored, and when they are, they're left holding onto a life long forgotten. In the case of Cooper Howard, the ghoul gunslinger is stuck in a living nightmare that's carried on for over two centuries, still bent on a mission to be reunited with his family. While his goal is commendable, he, like every other non-feral ghoul, is close to being one if they miss a dose of RadAway. That's no way of living, even when there's not much left living in the world. With that line of thinking, becoming a full-blown zombie really might be the best option.

At least with zombies, the hellish landscape you're walking around in is no longer an issue. This breed of bloodthirsty terrors isn't worried about being double-crossed or when they're going to turn bad — they already have and are completely unaware of it too. In line with classic zombie tropes, these guys are on autopilot, with their only concern being what they can eat and how much of it they can get. Not to get too bleak, but perhaps playing undead is better than living life at the end of the world. No offense, Mr. Howard.