The degeneration into a feral state (referred to as ferocious post-necrotic dystrophy) is not fully understood. To change it, please edit the transcluded page. This section is transcluded from feral ghoul. In most cases, exposure to radiation in the post-War Commonwealth wastes degenerated their brains, causing them to lose their higher cognitive functions, turning them into mindless, radiation-resistant cannibals.
Becoming permanently irradiated, they were disfigured and their lifespans were increased virtually indefinitely. Many ghouls are pre-War humans who survived the initial nuclear bombardment. Ghouls are former humans who have become horribly irradiated by the radioactive fallout covering the wasteland from the Great War.
