Shin Godzilla (character)

Shin Godzilla (/ʃɪnˈɡɒdˈzɪlə/ shin-ɡod-ZIL-ə) is a giant monster, or kaiju, in Toho Co., Ltd.'s Godzilla media franchise. A variation of Godzilla, it first appeared in the 2016 reboot film of the same name, released by Toho and co-directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi.

He is an ever-evolving lifeform that was mutated by radioactive waste dumped by the United States in the Tokyo Bay in the late-1950s. Now capable of spontaneously adapting to different situations, this Giant Unidentified Lifeform came ashore in Tokyo, in 2016 and immediately caused havoc, with all of the weapons set off by the Japanese Self Defense Force (JSDF) and the United States Air Force (USAF), having no effect on him. He was finally defeated by a complex plan orchestrated by government official Rando Yaguchi, but still could not be killed and remained a potential threat as he stood frozen in the ruins of Tokyo.

While the character is never referred to as "Shin Godzilla" in the film, the name given to the character was a result of the official merchandise reflecting on the character, following the film's release in 2016. But the character is referred to by both the katakana "Gojira" and its English translation "Godzilla" interchangeably in the film.