Ghoulia Yelps

"Everyone thinks I am so smart, but if I were really intelligent, I would carry an umbrella with me wherever I go."

- Ghoulia Yelps in her 'Basic' diary

Ghoulia Yelps is a 2010-introduced and all-around character. She is a zombie and the smartest student at Monster High. Ghoulia used to be a wallflower until Cleo de Nile took her under her wing and helped her get out of her shell, being one of the few to enjoy Cleo's complete trust. Other than Cleo, Ghoulia particularly favors the company of other zombies, with Sloman "Slo Mo" Mortavitch and Don of the Dead being her main zombie friends. When she's not studying, inventing, or experimenting, Ghoulia is most likely to be found enraptured by a comic book or writing and drawing her own. She is in particular a fan of Dead Fast and regularly cosplays as her OC, Ms. Dead Fast. As an expert on comic book culture, Ghoulia also writes for the Gory Gazette and is the paper's default Nekrocon reporter. Her video game username is MHMissDeadFast.

Portrayers
In the English version of the cartoon series, Ghoulia's vocal effects are provided by Audu Paden.

In the music video for the Fright Song, there are several character analogues who received creative interpretation by the video crew. The punk zombie girl is played by Cassandra Caccioppoli.

Personality
Ghoulia is depicted as intelligent, sophisticated, timid, stressed out, and shy. She's a huge bookworm and is very intellectual; all of her fellow students call her the smartest ghoul at Monster High. It is revealed in her Basic diary that she is good friends with Cleo de Nile because Cleo was willing to give her a chance, when zombies are typically discriminated against. Ghoulia can be very unhappy with Cleo often though because of her intelligence. Examples are in webisodes "Copy Canine" and when Cleo tells Clawdeen to copy from Ghoulia, or when Cleo steals her science project in "Mad Science Fair".

She also is a comic book enthusiast: according to the "Fearbook" she is a member of the comics club, and in the webisode "Daydream of the Dead" it is shown that she is a major fan of the comic book hero Dead Fast. She is also stressed out at times such as when Frankie said hi to Deuce which Cleo claimed is cheating on her. Ghoulia gets so stressed out that she slaps her forehead in "New Ghoul @ School" and sighs in stress when her glasses break after Cleo's banshee scream breaks them in "Neferamore". She is sometimes frustrated by the limitations of her slow movement, such as when she is trapped by the rain or when she's too slow to get to the Maul on time.

Despite these limitations, Ghoulia sometimes displays pretty good dexterity for a zombie such as when she creates elaborate designs out of string in "New Ghoul @ School". She also is one of the most able members of the dodgeball team.

Appearance
She has light blue hair and pale gray skin. Her appearance is very studious and she wears cat-eye, horn-rimmed "nerd" glasses. Because of her zombie heritage she has trouble with facial expressions and tends to slouch and stand in awkward positions. Her eyelids also blink one at a time, rather than at the same time.

Because of her physical limitations, she can only speak in "Zombie" (moaning and groaning), but all of her friends (except Abbey Bominable until "Escape From Skull Shores") have learned the language so that they can converse with her.

Abilities
Ghoulia has the abilities of a zombie:
 * Immortal Conditions: Ghoulia is able to not die and stay "alive", just like any other zombie. She can be "staying alive" technically, and to live up in to centuries rather than only decades.


 * Body-Age Imprisonment: Being a zombie, she can stay the same age (or at least have the body of the same age) for thousands, or even millions of years. Ghoulia clearly has this because she is a zombie.
 * Ability to Speak Only "Zombie": This is both an ability and an inability. Due to being a zombie, Ghoulia can only speak a language called "Zombie" or "zombie" — a language that consists of only moans and groans. All of her friends understand zombie, but cannot speak it.

Special Abilities

 * Typing Speed: Because Ghoulia is so smart, her intelligence makes her a great typist enough though zombies are usually slow.

Skillset

 * Super Intelligence: Ghoulia is super intelligent for a zombie, more like a human's brain. Because of this, Cleo de Nile has taken advantage over this many times.

Family
Ghoulia lives with her parents, who are both zombies; it's not stated what their house looks like. Like Ghoulia, they're pretty slow, and they tend to be pretty hard-nosed, as per their refusal to allow Ghoulia to go to her favorite comic convention. both of them work for the Department of Monster Vehicles.

In the Monster High book series, Ghoulia has an older sister called Moanica, who is in her senior year of high school.

Friends
Ghoulia is a girl who is friends with almost everyone, but there are two specific Monster High members she is especially close to. She is BFFs with Cleo de Nile, and they even plan their school schedules together. Although she has a tendency to let Cleo take advantage of her, on one occasion Ghoulia displays great joy at being able to get back at Cleo for stealing her science project by repeatedly dunking Cleo in Lagoona's "Rehydration Chamber" in "Mad Science Fair".

Ghoulia and Frankie seem to connect on a sister-like level, such as when Frankie tried to be her 'wing-ghoul' in "Date of the Dead" while Heath was hitting on her, or when Ghoulia uses her smarts to help Frankie in "Bad Scare Day" and "Bad Zituation". Ghoulia is also good friends with Clawdeen and Clawd Wolf, who slightly look out for her. At least prior to Ghoulia acquiring a scooter, she regularly was given a ride home or to parties by the two.

Pet
Ghoulia's pet is a baby blue owl named Sir Hoots A Lot, who is as eloquent and intelligent as his owner. He refuses to be Ghoulia's delivery owl (a possible reference to the owls in Harry Potter). In the anime version of the series, he does the talking for her.

Romance
Ghoulia has a crush on a zombie boy named Slo Mo, who's on the chess team and dodgeskull team. She writes about him in her diary and the webisode "Cyrano de Ghoulia" is about how they meet. They can be seen dancing together at the Justin Biter concert in "New Ghoul @ School" and finally start dating in "Date of the Dead". Nonetheless, Ghoulia has a second suitor: another zombie boy, Don of the Dead. Don, who is a good friend of Slo Mo's, showed interest in Ghoulia and even fought with Slo Mo over her on one occasion. At the moment, Ghoulia and Don are just friends.

Additionally, Ghoulia has a fangirl crush on her favorite comic book hero, Dead Fast.

Timeline

 * December 22, 2008: Mattel requests the trademark for Ghoulia Yelps.
 * May 05, 2010: The Monster High website goes live, featuring Ghoulia Yelps's profile.
 * May 05, 2010: Ghoulia Yelps's profile art is revealed.
 * May 05, 2010: Ghoulia Yelps makes her 2D cartoon debut in "Jaundice Brothers".
 * Early July, 2010: Ghoulia Yelps makes her diary debut in Cleo's Basic diary.
 * July 22, 2010: Ghoulia Yelps's first doll is on display at San Diego Comic-Con International.
 * Mid October, 2010: Ghoulia Yelps's debut doll is released as part of the Basic series.
 * April 05, 2011: Ghoulia Yelps makes her Monster High book debut in The Ghoul Next Door.
 * Early June, 2011: Ghoulia Yelps's debut plushie is released as part of the Friends series.
 * February 12, 2012: Ghoulia Yelps makes her 3D cartoon debut in "Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love?".
 * September 05, 2012: Ghoulia Yelps makes her Ghoulfriends book debut in Ghoulfriends Forever.
 * October 22, 2014: Ghoulia Yelps makes her anime debut in "Monster High Life Is Amazing!".