Ghostbusters Theory: Could THIS Be The Main Villain In Frozen Empire?
On November 8, Sony premiered a roughly two-minute trailer for "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire," its sequel to the 2021 franchise reboot film "Ghostbusters: Afterlife." Among some of the biggest cameos in this "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" trailer is a look at its brand new big bad. First, about 1:27 in is a shot from behind of a blue humanoid pushing a pair of horns into its head. Then at 1:49, what is presumably this same creature reappears in silhouette, revealing a torso that extend well past what's proportionally standard for a human.
While details about this villain have yet to be publicly announced, a couple of features hint that it could be a relatively obscure ice-themed ghost from a "Ghostbusters" video game named Yuki — or at least a character designed with similar principles in mind.
Yuki is exclusive to the mobile augmented reality game "Ghostbusters World" in which, blatantly inspired by the success of "Pokemon Go," players capture and battle ghosts. Beyond their shared ice powers, the most prominent feature that likens her to the anonymous "Frozen Empire" villain to is a set of horns. Furthermore, Yuki's torso and legs resemble a Japanese kimono that culminates in a sort of tail, similar in shape to the movie villain's silhouetted appearance. Although this character might be an unlikely source of inspiration, these are more than passing similarities that suggest a shared design philosophy at the very least.
Yuki is inspired by a well-known spirit from Japanese folklore
Furthering the possibility that Yuki somehow factors into "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" is the fact that her likeness is directly inspired by a mythological Japanese spirit called the Yuki-onna — "yuki" meaning "snow," and "onna" translating to "woman."
The Yuki-onna is a type of yokai, which is a term that refers to oftentimes horrific supernatural entities, each with their own associated folktales and signature behaviors. Depictions of the Yuki-onna are relatively common in Japanese pop culture and include one of the four stories in the 1964 film "Kwaidan," Hiei's sister Yukina in old-school anime "Yu Yu Hakusho," and the fourth-generation Pokemon Froslass.
Just like the "Frozen Empire" villain, the Yuki-onna's defining characteristic is her ability to freeze her victims. Since she's arguably among fiction's most iconic ice spirits, it's not outside the realm of possibility that classic Japanese folktales about her might have at least inspired the new ice-heavy "Ghostbusters" film. For now, fans may just have to wait until "Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire" premieres in theaters on March 29, 2024 to find out its villain's true identity.