Gmork

"If you come any closer, I will rip you to shreds!"

- Gmork

"I am the servant, of the power behind The Nothing. I was sent to kill the only one, who could've stopped The Nothing, I lost him in the Swamps of Sadness. His name, was Atreyu!"

- Gmork

Gmork was the secondary main antagonist of the fantasy novel The Neverending Story and the 1984 fantasy film of the same name. He was the Nothing's former henchman.

Gmork's main mission is to track down and kill Atreyu. He and other dual-matured creatures like him do not possess a world of their own like Fantasticans and humans do. Instead, he is able to travel between worlds, changing into a Fantastican or a human (depending upon the world), but in appearance only. Gmork's knowledge of Fantastica (Fantastia) interested the Manipulators, which is the reason they gave him his mission. However, Gmork never manages to catch up with Atreyu because the latter uses the magical powers of the monster Ygramul's poisonous bite to wish himself to the Southern Oracle.

Finally, Atreyu meets Gmork in Spook City (where he is chained) and Atreyu employs the name Nobody to hide his identity in shame of his failure to complete his quest. Gmork confesses that he has been hunting a boy sent on a quest by the Childlike Empress to find her a new name, but lost him early on. Then Gmork met the Princess of Darkness named Gaya, who, upon hearing of his mission to help the Nothing, chained Gmork with an unbreakable magical chain and leapt into the Nothing, leaving him to starve. Gmork explains to Atreyu the nature of the Nothing, and that if a Fantastican enters it, they become a "lie" in the human world. Eventually, Gmork reveals the name of the boy he is pursuing and Atreyu reveals his identity, which makes the wolf laugh until he finally succumbs to starvation and dies.

In the novel
In the novel, Gmork's evil lives on after his death. As Atreyu approaches the dead wolf, the carcass lashes out and grabs Atreyu in its jaws. However, being held by Gmork prevents Atreyu from being able to give in to the overpowering urge exerted by the Nothing to throw himself into it. He is freed from Gmork's grip by Falkor, who escapes with him to the Ivory Tower.

Appearances in other media
In Tales of the Neverending Story, Gmork is a werewolf-type creature under the command of Xayide who invades Bastian's world to assume the guise of Mr. Blank to keep an eye on him and stop his meddling.

Personality
Gmork was vicious, crazy, violent, wicked, and short-tempered, but highly intelligent, crafty, and sneaky.

Appearance
Gmork's physical appearance was that of a large, wolf-like creature with night-black fur and capable of human speech. The film shows him as having short, dark, blue-black fur and luminous green cat-like eyes, as well as more fangs than an ordinary wolf would have.

Trivia

 * Gmork's fate, bound with an indestructible chain, is reminiscent of Fenrir in the Nordic mythology.
 * In the film, Gmork almost manages to kill Atreyu in the Swamp of Sadness, but Atreyu is saved just in time by Falkor. Their meeting in Spook City occurs in the film as well; however, Gmork is never depicted as tied and doesn't name "Manipulators" as the power behind the Nothing. He attacks Atreyu, impaling himself on an improvised stone knife held by the young warrior.