Preta Ghoul

Preta Ghoul (プレタ・グール Pureta Gūru) is a and former member of the Apostles of the Stars.

Appearance
Preta has a unique appearance, bald, with imp-like ears, a thin physique, and red tattoos all over his upper body. He also has two enlarged canine teeth and wears a simple tank top. He has 10/10 vision.

Before he drank the Tao potions he is shown to have hair (presumably black) but, miraculously, he never had eyebrows. He is shown wearing a simple pastoral cloak and holding a cross.

Personality
In contrast to most of the Apostles, Preta was borderline psychotic. He was also a cold-blooded killer who killed sixteen people in six months, something to which had him wanted by the police. After being captured by Saya he becomes obsessed with revenge against her.

History
Preta was a clergyman and a serial killer who murdered and buried sixteen people in six months and was sentenced to jail for the rest of his life. The Apostles of the Stars helped him escape from jail and revealed his power of Tao in exchange of him serving in their ranks. Because of this, he harbors a never ending gratitude and devotion towards Creed Diskenth. Apparently he lost his hair when he had his power revealed. Ironically, his appearance somehow fits his name of living-dead.

Alliance Arc
Preta accompanies Maro, when the Tao Master greets Train Heartnet and his fellow bounty hunter River Zastory. Maro attacks Train and Preta challenges River, who rivals his strength and manages to punch him in the face. Preta then drastically increases the "Corrosive Aura" that surrounds him to protect himself from River's blows but the bounty hunter launches an attack called the "Sonic Fist," a punch whose sheer speed and strength cause a shock wave hitting Preta without physically touching him and knocking him out cold.

Anime Plot
He is a serial killer and a wanted criminal who got in touch with Creed, Shiki and Maro and had his power of Tao revealed. Because of his status as a wanted criminal, Preta is targeted by the bounty-hunter Saya Minatsuki before he can join the Apostles of the Star. He drives Saya into a corner and prepares to finish her off, but she is saved by Train Heartnet and manages to capture him handing him in to the police.

It is revealed during the battle of Clarken Island that the Apostles of the Star took Preta out of jail. He had completely lost his mind and was overcome by his thirst for revenge, believing that every woman who came near him to be Saya Minatsuki, and attacking her out of rage. Preta targets Eve, who lures him by transforming herself to resemble Saya and Sven Vollfied engages in a fight against him.

Sven manages to dodge every blow from his opponent thanks to his special power the "Vision Eye" that enables him to foresee the future. Seeing that Preta's clothes resist his corrosive ki, he rips his shirt off and uses the fabric to cover his fists, defeating the deranged murderer with ease. Sven ultimately uses what remains of Preta's shirt to bind him before locking him in a cage.

Equipment and Abilities
Decay: as a Taoist, Preta had the unique ability to expel corrosive liquid from the pores of his entire being, normally directing it through his hands. Whatever said liquid would touch would melt, or "decay" until nothing was left. The only defense against this ability was a special fiber Preta used for his clothing.

He is able to wither and destroy everything that made contact with him with his ki, as if life itself was taken from it. He usually surrounds his hands with his ki and attacks at close range, withering everything he touches. The more ki he channels in his hands, the more destructive his attacks will be. He is an adept fighter who moves quickly and swiftly, enabling him to keep his grounds against experts in close-range fighting. Preta also always surrounds himself with his ki to form a "Corrosive Aura" that protect him against any physical attack. At full power, this aura can reduce to dust anything that touches him and can be used for offensive purposes as well. Because of this, Preta can only be defeated by special attacks that don't touch him directly. Preta can also fire huge and powerful waves of corrosive ki along the ground and breath huge clouds of smoke-like corrosive ki.

In spite of his very dangerous power and his fighting abilities way beyond human level, Preta seems to be the least powerful fighter among the Apostles of the Stars, or to put it another way the least trained, as he only uses rather basic attacks and his fighting pattern seems rather simple. Should he have trained to the full extend of his abilities, he would have been much more difficult to defeat. It's also worth noting that his opponent had fighting skills that rival those of the Chrono Numbers or the other Tao wielders.

Trivia

 * In the anime, he is the first Apostle (besides Creed) to be introduced, although his status as one was not known at that time. In the manga, this honor was given to Shiki.
 * In the anime, he was the only active Apostle who did not side with anyone during the Eden arc.