Who Is Shimo: Godzilla X Kong Merch Teases The New Villain - Here's What We Know
Overall, 2023 may well be one of the best years for Godzilla in recent memory. On one hand, the Japanese film "Godzilla Minus One" united Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences at large, earning near-universal acclaim. Meanwhile, the TV series "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" debuted on Apple TV+, growing the American MonsterVerse that kicked off with "Godzilla" in 2014. The next MonsterVerse film, titled "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," premieres in theaters on April 12, 2024, keeping this momentum going. Ahead its release, a couple of merch items for the movie have revealed the debut of a brand new monster called Shimo.
One "Godzilla x Kong" playset, a photo of which @Monkinator67 circulated on X, formerly known as Twitter, includes figures of both Godzilla and Shimo. Whereas Godzilla comes with a heat ray piece mimicking one of its signature attacks, Shimo can use an attack called "frost bite breath." Based on the juxtaposition between heat and frost, as well as the image of the two characters fighting on the back of the toy's packaging, Shimo is a natural enemy of Godzilla. Both text on that packaging and a couple of environmental items included in the playset also suggest that Shimo resides in Hollow Earth — a location key to the plot of "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" that looks to be returning in "Godzilla x Kong."
Shimo's design emphasizes its ice powers
The fact that Shimo is an ice creature is something its design appears intended to highlight. A different action figure that @Aftermaxgman shared to the X platform presents the character as quadrupedal, with white reptile skin and ice-like spikes on its back. Meanwhile, in another post, @Aftermaxgman showcased an official CGI render of the character included on the packaging of another toy. In this image its skin and those spikes are less overtly icy in appearance, meaning either Shimo can change its look, or toys of the character particularly want to emphasize its affinity for the cold.
Shimo's powers are even reflected in its name. In Japanese, the kanji 霜 can be read as "shimo" and means "frost." For now, these toys and its name provide the only confirmed insight into this character. That said, at about 1:50 in the first "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" trailer, Godzilla illuminates itself in pink light before emerging in an arctic environment. Presumably this location will somehow relate to Godzilla's upcoming conflict with Shimo.