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The Groke (the original Swedish name Mårran and the Finnish name Mörkö. Also known in Norway as Hufsa and in Mexico as La Coca) is a fictional character in the Moomin world created by Tove Jansson. She appears as a ghostlike hill-shaped body with two cold staring eyes and a wide row of white shiny teeth. In the book Who Will Comfort Toffle?, it is mentioned that she has a tail, but it has never been seen. Wherever she stands, the ground below her freezes and plants and grass die. She leaves a trace of ice and snow when she walks the ground. Anything she touches will freeze and on one instance she froze a camp fire by sitting down on it. She seeks friendship and warmth, but she is declined by everyone and everything, leaving her in her cold cavern on top of the Lonely Mountains. The Groke is both a live representation of loneliness and a psychological depiction of very lonely people who have a hard time accepting and expressing love in the right way, making them seem cold and scary to others, which, in turn, only leads to more loneliness.
[edit] Books she appears in
[edit] Adaptations
There have been various adaptations of the Moomin books on television. The Japanese anime series Moomin has her as a recurring character. Apart from her intimidating appearance the loud growling sounds she utters contributed to this effect as well as her malevolent theme music, which begins to play every time she appears. The Groke's primary introductions were in episode 6 and 20 of the series. Especially in her first episode, the dark image and her growling spooky voice gave some children goosebumps. It was not until episode 34 that children could start seeing the Groke more sympathetically.
