Is anyone here more familiar with the Vampire world than I am? Because I've been wondering what exactly a Ghoul is. I've been able to glean the following two possibilties. A: A human who drinks the blood of vampires to gain an extended lifespan. B: A human who has been given the "Proxy Kiss," whatever the hell that is, and is some form of lesser vampire. Or is it a combination of the two? Furthermore, since drinking vampiric blood obviously does not turn a human, how exactly is the Embrace conducted? Turning a human into a vampire has always been somewhat foggy, even in Dracula. Did Lucy become a vampire because Dracula sucked her blood? Or did her force her to drink his blood, like he did to Mina Harker? In Hellsing (my favorite anime), people simply drained of blood become ghouls, which are basically mindless zombies controlled by the vampire that fed off of them. Oddly, it is not shown how a vampire actually turns a human into another vampire. When Alucard turns Ceras Victoria, all that is shown is him sucking her blood.
In White Wolf, a ghoul is a human who drinks the blood of the same vampire three times. After that he gets longer lifespan, a few powers, and the favor of the vampire. Also, he is a slave to the vampire and usually is used for feeding it and protecting it in the daytime. To become a vampire, you have to die first, sort of. All your blood has to be drained, and then just at the last moment, the vampire feeds you a little of his blood. This brings you back to "life," turning you into a vampire. But first you go through a nasty painful ordeal as your body tranforms. I think this version of the mythos was inspired by the Anne Rice books. Why did I refer to the new vampire as "you," you ask? Prepare, Sigurd, prepare.
And the Embrace, which refers to turning mortals to vampires, does not always work for thin blooded vampires. Which brings tragedies for those vampires who want to save loved one by turning one into an undead.