List of The Neverending Story Characters - Grograman

Grograman, or simply known as The Many Colored Death (Graógramán, der Bunte Tod in German), is the guardian and lord over Goab, the Desert of Colors, which exists in a symbiosis with Perilin, the Night Forest. He appears in the form of a huge lion, who changes colors much like a chameleon based on the color of sand he is treading on. He is said to "bring the desert with him", turning all life around him into sand, thus his nickname. Grograman turns into an obsidian statue at night in order to allow the growth of Perilin.

Grograman is the first creature Bastian meets upon his arrival in Fantastica (if the Childlike Empress is to be excluded); Bastian is protected from the effect of Grograman's death aura by AURYN, and is thus the first living being ever to make friends with him. Grograman is the first one who teaches Bastian something of the nature of Fantastica, and he gives Bastian his magic (and seemingly intelligent) sword, Sikanda. One night, Bastian is called away; he promises to return, but is ultimately unable to keep his promise (the story states, however, that one day someone would fulfill the promise in Bastian's name).

In the animated series, Grograman is depicted as being a fire Lion that burns down Perilin to protect Fantastica(Fantasia) from being overrun by its roots and branches, he is later captured by Xayide so that this could happen in a plan of hers to take over Fantastica but Bastian who had been visiting at that time sets him free. Also Grograman is depicted as dying every nightfall rather than turning into stone. It's either the Book or the Empress trying to teach Bastian about the cycles of as the Empress later tells Bastian through AURYN that this is normal for Grograman's realm, for him to die at nightfall so the forest can live, and then for him to awaken at sunrise so the rest of Fantastica can live under his protection from the forest.