Wraith



Glowing Ones or luminous necrotic post-humans are ghouls who absorbed so much radiation that they glow in the dark. They are often considered outsiders even by other ghouls. The Glowing Ones also emit radiation, so they can be dangerous to normal humans even after death.

While there are many glowing ones that kept their normal human reasoning in the Core Region, it seems that all or nearly all glowing ones in the Capital Wasteland are feral. The Capital Wasteland glowing ones can also emit a wave of radiation at will from their bodies, which heals themselves and surrounding ghouls while damaging their enemies. They are the Alpha males of the ghouls and others seem to follow them, as they are attracted to the lethal doses of radiation they are emitting from their bodies.

In Necropolis, the Glowing Ones lived in the remains of Vault 12, and there was an animosity between them and the "normal" ghouls led by Set, who inhabited the ruins of the town. After Necropolis was overrun by the super mutants, the Glowing Ones who left the town lived much more harmoniously with the other ghouls (not to mention normal humans and super mutants).

In Los, the glowing ghouls are among the members of the Church of the Lost, a ghoul cult dedicated to protection of Secret Vault. Interestingly, they are less affected by radiation then their comrades from Capital Wasteland and West Coast.

Biology
The distinctive luminescence that is the trademark of the Glowing One can be best attributed to an unusual amount of radioactive chemicals that build up in the bloodstream and muscle tissue of a typical ghoul. Sometimes (often, but not always upon the transformation into a Feral Ghoul) the neurological systems of the body cease filtering these particles from the blood and tissue, instead causing them to build a distinctive bioluminescence that is a characteristic of the "glowing ones".

SPECIAL
In terms of the SPECIAL mechanics, Glowing One is a ghoul-only trait from Fallout Tactics.

If you are a Glowing One, your glow eliminates modifiers from light in combat for both you and your enemies. In addition, you gain a +50% bonus to Radiation Resistance, but everyone around you gets irradiated a bit.

Fallout 3
Fallout 3 Glowing Ones are the highest ranking tier of Feral Ghouls (not including the Feral Ghoul Reavers added in the Broken Steel DLC). They have significant health on par with a Yao Guai or Super Mutant Brute, decent-strength unarmed attacks, and the ability to emit a damaging pulse of radiation.

Appearances in games
Glowing Ones have appeared in all Fallout games. The "Glowing One" trait is available only in Fallout Tactics, as it is the only game which allows you to create ghoul characters.

Friendly Glowing One in Fallout 3
Sometimes the player may encounter a Glowing One named Meat in the wastes, usually around the scrapyard area, he is not hostile, but he can not be spoken to or interacted with, he is most likely an escaped ghoul from Underworld. According to their computer records, he likes to chew on his arm. There is also another glowing one in the spooky Dunwich Building west of Tenpenny Tower. When you go into the room where the glowing one is the player will have a vision of a man standing in the office before the nukes fell. National Guard Depot The Glowing One in the bunker inside the Depot, this is most likely Mr. Keller, as he constantly exposed himself to radiation by leaving the bunker. There is also a new friendly Glowing One called Sun of Atom available in the add-on Broken Steel. There is also a Glowing One called Samuel in Takoma Industrial.

A giant Glowing Ghoul secret encounter
In Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel, a secret mini-boss could be found if the player kills three inaccessible ghouls behind fences in the first Dock level of Los (right after the Bridge East level). He appears exactly like other glowing ones, but is incredibly big and strong. When he dies, a secret weapon called "Slugger" could be found.

Trivia

 * In Batman Beyond one of the supervillains, called Blight, is very similar to a Glowing One in appearance and powers.
 * Blight, though more widely known, was based on an old Batman villain named "Dr. Phosphorous" - similar in appearance and powers, but very different in terms of history and motivation.


 * Glowing Ones bear a striking resemblance to the Arch-viles from the Doom franchise. Both are zombie-like creatures that serve as healers for their undead brethren, and their attack animations are very similar (arms wide open while emmiting a devastating blast of energy).