The design of Shin Gojira revealed

Today's reveal not only 'looks like Godzilla,' it is Godzilla.

Jamaal,
You have endlessly typed the best, most elogent quotes on this forum about this film, the character, tokusatsu and the genre as a whole. Stop being selfish and let other people have a turn.

*tweets Jamaal's quote*

From all the other versions, you get that Godzilla was a powerful dinosaur-esque creature, simply awakened or changed by the nuclear testing. G'14, he's the awakened leviathan brought to the surface. Heisei, he's a mutated dinosaur grown to incredible proportions and power.

This Godzilla is the first that looks truly mutilated and haunted by the blast. I honestly can't stop looking at the photo. As if, taking it a bit to the extreme here, this was once a beautiful creature, perhaps even covered in plummage as it's being discovered of dinosaurs today. But then hit by an atomic blast, flesh and sinew burnt away, ashen and scarred and forever in pain.

It's just promotional art, but I see so much in it. No eye-lids, no lips, no true nose or ears... just burnt away holes in a loosely flesh and tumor covered skull. I've seen similar photos of true events and people, some still living to this day, and you can tell exactly what this is going for. It's haunting.

"JAMAAL - I am really curious to know what this Godzilla's personality is going to be like! By his look, he might possess an unfeeling and completely alien mindframe that will serve to make him uniquely unsettling! :)"

SOMETHING REAL: To me, this is just as important as the look of the design: how Godzilla is portrayed. Without being overly anthropomorphic, Godzilla should clearly be more than just an animal acting on instinct. He's a symbol as well as an actual creature. If lessons are going to be administered, Godzilla needs to be purposeful in a way that makes this plain. A film with a layered narrative will have more to offer to non-fans because it will have a broader appeal. It obvious that Godzilla is adversarial in this story: "Nippon vs. Godzilla." This raises questions, questions that demand to be answered if the story is going to be interesting. Why does he attack? Why now? What made him into "Godzilla?" There's a lot to be mined here if approached with creativety and imagination.

GMAN2887 - Do you remember that monstrous-looking rendition of Rodan that was presented as potential Legendary concept art? The one that had a look similar to a corpse? I could envision this Godzilla tearing that beastly thing apart! It would be fitting! Additionally, I certainly hope that the rest of this new Godzilla's form is as warped as his visage! If there is one thing that we must all understand it is this: Godzilla has evolved over the course of the decades to mirror mankind's culture and the state of our world. The real monsters of Earth and the horrors they bring have never been more visible. Why, then, should this new Godzilla not wear the face of today's world?

WOLFGUY - You know, I never once considered what the creature would have looked like prior to its present appearance? That is an extremely compelling notion! Thank you so very much for presenting this viewpoint! :)

JAMAAL - Hear, hear! I could not agree more with your stance! :)

"Jamaal,
You have endlessly typed the best, most elogent quotes on this forum about this film, the character, tokusatsu and the genre as a whole. Stop being selfish and let other people have a turn."

Sorry. ;) Since seeing today's reveal, I've been overcome by relief at the design as well as hope for the film realizing a great, overwhelming and spectacular vision for Godzilla. Part of this joy is result of seeing what the filmmakers have said and done so far. And that they 'get it.' Toho is really going about this the right way, it seems. There's a lot riding on this film, tradition wise. The anticipation for news has been fun and unsettling at the same time. Then, today, there he was! Wow!. I can kind of relax now and enjoy the ride because today's reveal was about what I hoped for.

Today's look at Godzilla means a lot.

calm down guys.its just a concept poster but not the exact design of godzilla.just wait for the teaser which will be released in the month of jan(last week).they are going to show some exact footage of BigG in that teaser.And that is going to be bit different from this design.

^You're mistaken. This is not only the design, but the animatronic puppet being used for the majority of the film.

"You're mistaken. This is not only the design, but the animatronic puppet being used for the majority of the film."

This is what I thought: that yesterday's reveal was the actual design. And it is beautiful, stunning and arresting. It befits the title "Shin Gojira."

The neck and the mouth are the highlights, both painting very different pictures about the monster. The neck appears to suffer at least 3rd degree burns and is the result of heavy exposure with no skin graft. This indicates a monster that could be a victim of some kind a callback to the original Godzilla's skin supposed to be that of a burn victim.

The mouth however paints a completely different picture. The jagged ill fitting teec thhow a killer. The fact they continue forming even to the very edges of his mouth almost protruding upward to make an evil grin. The mouth paints a monster, not one that was hit by a bomb and survived, one that was hit by a bomb and changed.The eyes being very small and piercing in this shot help confirm this idea. 

Either way definitely an original design of the monster that will help set it apart from other incarnations.Excited to see full bodyshot.

To Ben and any other, I know the effects of the radiation to the victims, like deformation and tumorations in some cases and in how it could destroy the cells in any tissue, beginning with the digestive system and consumming everything from inside in others; but in the context you are taking it could be meant that Godzilla already has a fatal disease and he will fade away pretty quickly anyway. I know Godzilla was reminder of the horros of the A bombs, specially when his scale pattern was based in the burning scars. What I meant that there are other monster that look terrific, but yet well designed, like Destoroyah or the new Gamera; for me this look is absurd.

I just saw the American art and Matt Frank drawings and both they look improved; but I just realized they probably are not only taking  the 1954 suit as starting point...

...They also are taking features from Marvel Godzilla! The big head and maw, and the little eyes fit to that design! Furthermore, when Toho needed to use a seal over a Godzilla related item like Bandai figures, they used the Marvel doddle, and maybe they had it present when they went into the scrapbook. @.@

Well, I really like the design. It's classic yet horribly horrifying. I look at this like anyone should. Why is it that Godzilla is a victim of the atomic bomb but, he seemingly wasn't affected by it and only harness its power? This new design says just that. Hideous, deformed, ugly in a good way, burnt, and mutated. 

It's staying true to the character and resembles the 54' original in the face. God willing, we haven't seen the rest of his body and only Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi, and Tohos production team know just how deformed the rest of him is. 

You guys can't say it looks like Godzilla, it doesn't. It's much more monstrous, the original 54 was still monstrous but regal in a way. This is cancerous, which is what they were going for.

@GorillaGodzilla

It shares an almost identical profile to G'54. How does that make it not look like Godzilla?

@GorillaGodzilla

Funny, I showed my girl it and she immediately knew it was Godzilla. If it doesn't look like Godzilla, then how would a non-fan know that it's Godzilla? You could say any Godzilla that ISN'T the original '54 doesn't actually look like Godzilla. G'14 doesn't look like Godzilla, G2000 doesn't look like Godzilla, and so on.

True I guess. Just too demonic for my taste, but it definitley resembles 54.

The artwork Matt Frank did is much better than the official pic.

Simply Marvelous.

@GorillaGodzilla,

"You guys can't say it looks like Godzilla." Yes we can. The entire "fan base " should realize what exactly is in front of them. A monster deceived, conflicted, and destroyed by humanity's arrogance. A monster who is and always has been a victim of the atomic bomb since 54'. A monster who is a warning. A monster who is a "nightmare become reality." 

"This is cancerous." Yes it is. Since you said you understand the hazardous effects of radiation you should realize that radiation causes cancer in any living being including Godzilla.  Again, no one on God's green earth said Godzilla should look a certain way or be "pretty"  or should just look like a dinosaur unharmed. 

"Just too demonic for my taste." Nothing wrong with that. I respect your point of view but, Godzilla is an oni. A demon God of destruction. In majority of the Godzilla films he's always caused destruction whether he meant to or not.

Just because Godzilla is being made in his home land doesn't really represent why I'm loving this design. I see what's in front of me and understand what it represents. This Godzilla represents the pure horrors of the atomic bomb and why radiation is no laughing matter. He's been mutated by it. He's been burnt to the point that it's almost beyond recognition. Ever human being should know that's what atomic bombs do. They burn, they cause cancer, etc. 

This is "our greatest worst nightmare " as promised by Shinji Higuchi. 

"You guys can't say it looks like Godzilla, it doesn't. It's much more monstrous,"

This is outright hilarious. An absolutely riotous, backwards, lost comment. Watch me:

"It looks like Godzilla. Because it does."

Seriously, the argument can be made very, very, very easily that it looks no more or less like Godzilla than the precious, sacred, perfect and flawless 2014 design that we must all bow down to and pray at before starting the day, GG.

I'm not saying it's a better or worse design than 2014. I like the 2014 design. But, to give you some perspective, "it doesn't look like Godzilla" is a comment that has as much weight to it as when fans said the 2014 design didn't look like Godzilla.

Here, let me help you out again:

There is no mandate, rule or reason for Godzilla to look "badass," "cool," "regal," or "handsome." There never has been. It's just want fans are used to since the late 80s. He's a monster. Being "monstrous" fits the bill.

I'm both shocked and impressed that it was Toho, not Legendary, that really stepped outside the expectation of something looking cool for the sake of the sake.

Not to go against anything you said Gman2887 but, that's the truth. No one said he had to look a certain way. This is actually a very smart move on Toho's part if you ask me.

@GorillaGodzilla,

Look, 2014 is far from perfect but, it does hold a higher ground than some Godzilla suits from earlier years. I think we can all agree that G98 is the one that "doesn't look like Godzilla." I respect your love for Godzilla 2014. And you should respect my love for Tohos Godzilla. Sounds demanding. I know but, as Gman2887 and myself have pointed out, there is no rules of thumb to say Godzilla needs to look a certain way. 

I always get insulted in these threads, *sighs*.

I never said it doesn't look cool, I even said I much like the Matt Frank artwork. What I'm seeing from this design, looks like a even more horrid version of the 1954 Godzilla. I don't know why saying that from my point of view, it doesn't really look like the usual Godzilla, is grounds for being insulted, but okay.

It looks a lot like a fish to be honest, if you look at his face closely, with the distorted teeth and microscopic eye. Like a deep-sea fish. Maybe that's what they were going for, he does rise up out of the ocean. If that was what they were going for, bravo cause he does look like a deep-sea creature.

I respect your opinions, but I don't think you guys really respect mine. This is a complete far reach from the Godzillas of late, and I pointed that out, but you guys don't seem to agree. I mean G-Man has left two comments pointing out such.

@GorillaGodzilla

Like this fish?

"This is a complete far reach from the Godzillas of late,"

So was 2014, but you seem okay with that.

The problem is less about your opinion and more about the hypocrisy. Don't like the eyes? Okay. Think it looks like a fish? Fine. Not a fan of a scary looking Godzilla? Sure. But saying it doesn't look like Godzilla? For someone who defended the 2014 design to the death over a year ago (and I was certainly with you on that) it just comes off as supremely hypocritical.

There's no doubt this isn't the norm, but we haven't had "the norm" since 2004. Complaining about it now after openly accepting another makes the comments pretty transparent and hard to take seriously.

GORILLAGODZILLA - You are very right! This new incarnation of Godzilla does indeed share features with other deep-sea fauna. I can understand your mixed emotions concerning the new design. All that I ask is that you wait to see it in action. All we have at this moment is a close-up view of the creature's profile. I guarantee you that he will look tremendously fantastic when in motion, obscured in shadow, and wading through flames! Imagine this creature in place of the original Godzilla during scenes in which he is attacking Tokyo; the atmosphere is what makes Godzilla so fantastic; not necessarily his physical appearance. :)

Now let's be a bit more respectful of other opinions even if you don't agree with them.

I wasn't trying to start and argument with this thread.

(P.S.This is the thread with the most replys that i have ever made :D)

A lot of sources close to the film that have seen the full design have said Jeff Zoronow's take on the design is pretty close. One mentioned that a notable difference is that one arm is smaller than the other. Pretty much matches everything I've heard about it:

SAITAMA - I am very pleased that your topic has generated such interest! :)