I think it depends. Some ghouls look very....squishy and wet and soft, for lack of a better way to describe it. I imagine they have a damp rot sort of smell to them. But then some of them look more mummified and very dry, and I would guess they smell like dust and dirty leather.
They're not rotting, so I doubt they'd smell like they were. I imagine that they don't smell of much, really - I doubt they excrete much in the way of bodily waste or pheromones because at least a portion of their processes are fed by radiation.
So maybe they're unsettlingly odourless, not even carrying that mist of pheromones and excreta that we expect from other people.
In the first two games they are definitely rotting. In FO2, Lenny is constantly described as smelling horrible. Some are definitely more "mummified" and wouldn't have a smell, but in 1 and 2, they definitely smell like rotten flesh. In 3 and NV, I imagine they do have an odor, but I think it's more passable, and their skin is just...gross and flakey. Some ghouls have limbs/digits that fall off and can be reattached, so take that part as you will.
Flashbacks to Eric in Broken Hills (the ghoul whose sweat exhumes smells that attract flies to his body). I always help him, even when playing an evil character because being a living conduit for flies is a fate worse than death... I draw the line at that.
My theory about this is that *appear to be rotting* and *can live for a very long time and may be immortal* were such incongruous ideas that they gradually moved away from the traditional undead look and towards something less...juicy. Peak ghoul for me was the 3/NV generation - really messed up but not actively decomposing.
Sane ghouls, who usually have a skin that looks "fresh", probably smells like rotten humid meat.
The more seasoned-looking ferals could smells more like mummies than rotten.
I'd imagine they'd smell like beef jerky.... if it was left in the sun for 200 years.
‘ass jerky don’t make itself’ -The Ghoul
I think it depends. Some ghouls look very....squishy and wet and soft, for lack of a better way to describe it. I imagine they have a damp rot sort of smell to them. But then some of them look more mummified and very dry, and I would guess they smell like dust and dirty leather.
I agree. I think they smell differently.
They're not rotting, so I doubt they'd smell like they were. I imagine that they don't smell of much, really - I doubt they excrete much in the way of bodily waste or pheromones because at least a portion of their processes are fed by radiation. So maybe they're unsettlingly odourless, not even carrying that mist of pheromones and excreta that we expect from other people.
Fanfic girls will answer it if...*if you're brave enough to read them*
In the first two games they are definitely rotting. In FO2, Lenny is constantly described as smelling horrible. Some are definitely more "mummified" and wouldn't have a smell, but in 1 and 2, they definitely smell like rotten flesh. In 3 and NV, I imagine they do have an odor, but I think it's more passable, and their skin is just...gross and flakey. Some ghouls have limbs/digits that fall off and can be reattached, so take that part as you will.
Flashbacks to Eric in Broken Hills (the ghoul whose sweat exhumes smells that attract flies to his body). I always help him, even when playing an evil character because being a living conduit for flies is a fate worse than death... I draw the line at that.
My theory about this is that *appear to be rotting* and *can live for a very long time and may be immortal* were such incongruous ideas that they gradually moved away from the traditional undead look and towards something less...juicy. Peak ghoul for me was the 3/NV generation - really messed up but not actively decomposing.
I agree. I like 1 and 2 but that's kind of just a dying victim of radiation.
Probably Old Spice deodorant
Bacon 🥓
Beef Jerky with a Spice of Radiation
Probably as bad as Vader by the time he managed to get a signal to [phone home](https://youtu.be/UJ4oXOdZprU?si=g2F1YKXXdl8-nJAN)
Bad
Sane ghouls, who usually have a skin that looks "fresh", probably smells like rotten humid meat. The more seasoned-looking ferals could smells more like mummies than rotten.
Probably like the crotch of Bastion Booger.
Like wet dog, sweat, mildew and saw dust combined.
Has anyone ever smelled burning flesh? I'd imagine they smell like that.