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. First, the TV series "Monarch: Legacy of Monsters" debuted on Apple TV+, growing Warner Bros.' MonsterVerse, which kicked off with "Godzilla" in 2014. Then, the Japanese film "Godzilla Minus One" united Rotten Tomatoes critics and audiences at large, earning near-universal acclaim. Meanwhile, the next MonsterVerse film, "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," premieres in theaters on April 12, 2024, keeping this momentum going. Ahead of 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 his 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 the Hollow Earth — a location key to the plot of "Godzilla: King of the Monsters" that looks to be returning in "Godzilla x Kong."

The fact that Shimo is an ice creature is something its design appears intended to highlight. A different action figure, shared on X by @Aftermaxgman, presents the character as quadrupedal, with white reptile skin and ice-like spikes on its back. @Aftermaxgman also posted an official CGI render of the character included on the packaging of yet another toy. In this image, its skin and 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, 霜, pronounced "shimo," means "frost." For now, these toys and its name provide the only confirmed insight into the character. That said, at about 1:50 in the first "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" trailer, Godzilla illuminates himself in pink light before emerging in an arctic environment, a location that will presumably somehow relate to his upcoming conflict with this new massive unidentified terrestrial organism.