The ghilan are shape-shifting ghouls from middle-eastern mythology. The word ‘ghilan’ is the plural form of the singular Arabic word, ‘ghul’, so technically this singular toy should be galled a ‘ghul’.
However, this series 4 ghilan or ghul (monster number 101) is very different from the series 1 ghoul (monster number 37). While the original ghoul was depicted as a creepy goblin-like creature, this ‘ghilan’ is more ghostly. It is slightly reminiscent of Slimer, the famous green ghost from Ghostbusters, and I wonder if that might have been intentional.
It’s a grotesque figure, with an angry skull-like head suspended by two stalks over a gaping ‘mouth’. It has withered legs sculpted in relief on the base, and long contorted two-fingered arms that reach around and through its own agape mouth, pulling it apart. But, most unsettling, it has a second angry face… upside down on its ass! So, from certain angles the arms look like legs, and the legs like arms. This ghul is clearly in the throes of shape-shifting. Or, maybe it was correct to use the plural ‘ghilan’ after all!
Like the rest of Series 4 of MIMP, this miniature is slightly larger than previous series, and it has some crude painted added to the base plastic. My version has a yellow head and red floppy tongue. The base plastic is a slightly translucent neon green, which glows in the the dark. This was a neat addition to some variants of the highest ranking 100-pointers in the monsters in the Super Scary series. The plastic material on my toy has started to go sticky with age, which is common for all MIMPs, but it is still holding its shape.
Some of the Series 4 MIMPs were also produced in monochrome versions, but as far as I’m aware, the ‘ghilan’ was only available in two painted glow-in-the-dark and normal painted variants.
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