The SCP Foundation[c] is a fictional organization featured in stories created by contributors on the SCP Wiki, a wiki-based collaborative writing project. Within the project's shared fictional universe, the SCP Foundation is a secret organization that is responsible for capturing, containing, and studying various paranormal, supernatural, and other mysterious phenomena (known as "anomalies" or "SCPs"), while also keeping their existence hidden from the rest of society.
The collaborative writing project includes elements of many genres such as horror, science fiction, and urban fantasy. The majority of works on the SCP Wiki consist of thousands of SCP files: mock confidential scientific reports that document various SCPs and associated containment procedures. The website also contains "Foundation Tales", short stories featuring various characters and settings in the SCP universe. The wiki's literary works have been praised for their ability to convey horror through a quasi-scientific and academic writing style, as well as for their high standards of quality.
The SCP universe has inspired numerous fan-made adaptations in varying forms of media, including literature, music, short films, and video games.
The fictional setting of the SCP universe revolves around the findings and activities of the SCP Foundation,[c] an international non-governmentalsecret society consisting of a scientific research institution with a paramilitaryintelligence agency to support their goals. The Foundation operates independently of any national government, answering only to their own mysterious 13-member leadership body called the O5 Council, also known as the Overseers. This organization is dedicated to protecting the world by capturing and containing various unexplained paranormal phenomena (referred to as "anomalies", "SCP objects", "SCPs", or informally as "skips") which display supernatural abilities or other extremely unusual properties that defy conventional scientific laws. They include living beings and creatures, artifacts and objects, locations and places, abstract concepts, and incomprehensible entities. If left uncontained, many of the more dangerous anomalies would pose a serious threat to human beings or even all life on Earth. All information regarding the existence of the Foundation and SCPs are strictly classified and withheld from the general public in order to prevent mass hysteria that would supposedly occur if they were leaked, and allow human civilization to continue functioning under a masquerade of "normalcy".[5][6]
Whenever an SCP anomaly is discovered, teams of undercover Foundation agents (often called Mobile Task Forces, or MTFs) are deployed to either collect and transport the object or entity to one of the organization's many secret facilities, or to contain it at its location of discovery if transportation is not possible. Civilian eyewitnesses are frequently interrogated and then dosed with amnestic drugs to erase their memories of anomalous events.[6][7] At the Foundation's secret containment and research facilities, SCPs are locked in captivity by armed security guards, and studied by scientists to develop better containment methods for them. The Foundation's laboratory research projects frequently exploit disposable human test subjects (usually unwitting convict prisoners) acquired from around the world known as "D-class personnel", forcing them into performing slave labor and participating in experiments with potentially dangerous SCPs in order to avoid risking the safety of Foundation employees themselves.[5][6]
Apart from the Foundation itself, there are numerous rival organizations (collectively known as Groups of Interest, or GOIs) actively involved with the paranormal world. Notable examples include the Chaos Insurgency, a terroristsplinter group of ex-Foundation defectors who capture and weaponize SCPs; the Global Occult Coalition (GOC), a secret paramilitary agency of the United Nations which specializes in destroying supernatural threats instead of containing them; and the Serpent's Hand, a militant group which advocates for the rights of anomalous beings, resisting both the Foundation's and GOC's efforts to suppress paranormal activity worldwide. Other GOIs seek to exploit anomalies by producing or selling them for profit, or using them to serve their own religious, political, or ideological goals.[8]
Examples of SCPs
SCP-087, with SCP-087-1 in the background
SCP-055 is a mysterious, memory-erasing "anti-meme" anomaly that causes anyone who examines it to forget its existence, thus making its true nature unknown; its characteristics are indescribable except in terms of what it is not.[9]
SCP-087 is a staircase that appears to descend infinitely and inhibits any light within its space. It is inhabited by SCP-087-1, a disembodied floating face without a mouth, nostrils, or pupils, which chases after anyone walking down the stairs.[10]
SCP-096 is a tall thin humanoid creature with intense scopophobia, which causes it great psychological distress. The creature will hunt down and kill anyone who has seen its face, whether directly in person, or even by seeing images of its face from photos or video footage.[11]
SCP-173 is a humanoid statue composed of rebar, concrete, and spray paint. It is immobile when directly observed, but it attacks people and breaks their neck when the line of sight with it is broken. It is extremely fast, to the point where it can move multiple meters when the observer blinks. SCP-173 is the first SCP ever written, and it inspired the rest of the SCP Wiki and its fictional universe.[9][10] The entry was originally illustrated with a picture of an artwork by Izumi Kato, but this was removed due to copyright reasons.[12]
SCP-294 is a coffee vending machine that can dispense anything that can exist in liquid form—including certain abstract concepts. Regardless of the physical or chemical properties of the substance chosen, the machine's polystyrene cups appear to suffer no damage from the substances dispensed into them.[9][10]
SCP-999 is a gelatinous slime mold–like creature that smells similar to whatever is the most comforting smell to the person it makes contact with. It has a friendly personality and is known to induce positive emotions on contact with humans and other organisms, and as such is employed as a tool by the SCP Foundation.[13]
SCP-1171 is a home that has windows covered in condensation; by writing in the condensation on the glass, it is possible to communicate with an extra-dimensional entity whose windows are likewise covered in condensation. This entity bears xenophobic enmity against humans, but does not know that the Foundation members are humans.[9]
SCP-1247 is a man who perceives all animals he sees as the actor Shia LaBeouf.[14]
SCP-1609 is a sentient pile of wood chip mulch, fabric scraps, and nails. It teleports into the lungs of individuals displaying aggressive behavior towards it, wearing formal attire (primarily military) or who are otherwise identified by it to be a threat. It was previously a benevolent chair that teleported to nearby individuals who needed to sit down, and was transformed into its current state after being destroyed in a woodchipper by the Global Occult Coalition.[9]
SCP-3008 is an abandoned IKEA store, with an interior containing a seemingly infinite, labyrinthine pocket dimension designated as SCP-3008-1. Prospective customers who have become trapped within the endless building make rudimentary fortifications to defend against the store's monstrous inhabitants: tall faceless humanoid creatures wearing IKEA employee uniforms named SCP-3008-2, which become violently aggressive towards humans when the lights are turned off at "night".[15][16]
History
Logo of the SCP Wiki used from 2008 to 2010, representing SCP-529, the front half of a cat, which behaves as a normal cat in all ways except in that it lacks a back half
The SCP Foundation originated in the "paranormal" /x/ forum of 4chan in June 2007, where the very first SCP file, SCP-173, was posted by an anonymous user (later identified as Wesley "Moto42" Williams),[18] accompanied by an image of the sculpture "Untitled 2004" by Japanese artist Izumi Kato. Although displeased with the unlicensed use of his art, Kato allowed the use of the photo explicitly for the noncommercial purposes of the community.[19] Though SCP-173 was initially a stand-alone short story, many additional SCP files were created shortly after; those new SCPs copied SCP-173's style and were set within the same fictional universe.[9]
In July 2008, the SCP Wiki was transferred to its current Wikidot website after the wiki hosting serviceEditThis switched to a paid model.[9][2] New Wikidot wikis, by default, made use of the CC BY-SA 3.0 license at the time. The SCP staff therefore "accidentally" adopted this license for SCP media.[20][21] By 2009, a large number of articles had been written but the quality of those posts was often poor. A mass edit conducted from September to December of that year saw every article reviewed and a large number "decommissioned". A repository of the removed articles is preserved at SCP Classic. The development of evaluation processes, including the sharing of ideas and constructive criticism, has since allowed the community to maintain a high quality level for new articles.[22]
The community continued to grow and opened branches in additional languages from the early 2010s.[23] In particular, a surge of new members arrived in 2012 after the launch of SCP – Containment Breach.[24] The original SCP-173 text was released into the creative commons by its author explicitly in 2013, in an effort to address the uncertain license status of some earlier material. This debate over licensing led to a dispute between the English and Russian language branches in 2017, which briefly shut down the Russian version.[20]
In 2022, an article in American Journalism suggested that the SCP Foundation may have become the largest collaborative writing project in history.[22]
Writing style
On the SCP Wiki, the majority of works are stand-alone articles detailing the "Special Containment Procedures" of a given SCP object.[9] In a typical article, an SCP object is assigned a unique identification number (e.g. "SCP-173")[25] and a "containment class" (e.g. Euclid)[d] based on the difficulty of containing it.[26][27][28] The documentation then outlines proper containment procedures and safety measures, and a description of the SCP object in question.[9]Addenda (such as images, research data, interviews, history, or status updates) may also be attached to the document. The reports are written in a scientific tone and often censor words with black redaction bars and "data expunged" markings, to give the in-universe impression of sensitive information not to be disclosed to lesser-privileged Foundation staff.[29] As of August 2024, articles exist for over 8,900 SCP objects;[30][e] new articles are written and published frequently by contributors.[9]
The SCP Wiki also contains over 4,200 short stories referred to as "Foundation Tales".[9][31] The stories are set within the larger SCP universe, and often focus on the exploits of various Foundation staff members, SCP entities, and objects, among other recurring characters and settings.[32] Gregory Burkart, writing for Blumhouse Productions, noted that some of the Foundation Tales had a dark and bleak tone, while others were "surprisingly light-hearted".[26]
The SCP universe has neither a central canon nor the ability to establish one due to its community-oriented nature,[9] but stories on the wiki are often linked together to create larger narratives.[33] Contributors have the ability to create "canons", which are clusters of SCPs and Foundation Tales with similar locations, characters, or central plots; many of these canons have hub pages that explain their basic concept and provide information such as timelines and character lists.[34]
The current Wikidot website contains numerous standard wiki features such as keyword searches and article lists. The wiki also contains a news hub, guides for writers and a central discussion forum.[33] The wiki is moderated by staff teams; each team is responsible for a different function such as community outreach and discipline.[37] Wikidot users are required to submit an application before they are allowed to post content.[9] Every article on the wiki is assigned a discussion page, where members can evaluate and provide constructive criticism on submitted stories. The discussion pages are frequently used by authors to improve their stories.[33] Members also have the ability to "upvote" articles they like and to "downvote" articles they dislike; articles that receive too many net downvotes are deleted.[38][39] Writers from the Daily Dot and Bustle have noted that the website maintains strict quality control standards, and that sub-par content tends to be quickly removed.[9][40] Authors who have written for the site include Max Landis,[41]qntm,[42][13] and Adrian Hon.[43]
The Wikidot website routinely holds creative writing contests to encourage submissions. The first of these was held in 2011 to decide which article would be assigned the "SCP-1000" label. There have since been additional competitions,[44] for example, in 2014, the SCP Wiki held a "Dystopia Contest" in which its members were encouraged to submit writings about the Foundation set in a bleak or degraded world.[45]
Apart from the original English wiki, 15 other official language branches exist, and some of their articles have been translated into English.[1][26][a] The Wanderer's Library is a sister site and spin-off of the SCP Wiki. It uses the same setting as the SCP universe, but is made up of fantastical stories rather than scientific reports.[46] The SCP community also maintains a role-playing site, a forum on Reddit, and accounts on, Facebook, Twitter, and Bluesky.[47][9][48][49]
Legal disputes
Trademark dispute
An episode of Game Theory covering the trademark dispute with Duksin
The SCP Foundation website and its contents are under a Creative Commons license, and none of the characters or assets associated with it are trademarked by the Foundation itself. In 2019, a Russian resident named Andrey Duksin filed a trademark for the name and logo of the SCP Foundation. Although the Creative Commons license grants the right to sell merchandise based on the SCP intellectual property, Duksin used his trademark in Russia to suppress competition by stopping others from selling merchandise within Russia.[50] In addition, Duksin threatened to shut down the official Russian website of the SCP Foundation.[51] The SCP Foundation launched a fundraiser to raise funds to combat Duksin legally, with an initial goal of $50,000. In 2020, because of contributions by fans and members of the community, including the YouTuber Markiplier, $140,000 was raised.[52]
In November 2021, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service ruled against Duksin. It found that he did not commission or create the SCP name or logo, had not been transferred the rights to it, and that his actions may constitute an act of unfair competition. However, his trademark continued to stand in Russia. An article in Case Western Law Review came to the conclusion that the court's actions were broadly in line with Russian indulgence of trademark and patent trolls, as Russia does not usually deregister illegitimately obtained trademarks.[23] The SCP Wiki successfully appealed in April 2022, and Duksin's trademark was ultimately cancelled that October.[20]
SCP-173 image removal
The original SCP-173 post in 2007, used an image of the sculpture Untitled 2004 by the artist Izumi Kato, which was photographed by Keisuke Yamamoto. The creator of the post, Wesley "Moto42" Williams, did not have the rights to either the sculpture or the photograph that depicted it. Beginning in 2013 both the Japanese and English branches attempted to make contact with Kato to ask permission, but they received no reply. The English staff were eventually able to contact him in September 2014, and he "reluctantly" allowed the community to use the image for non-commercial purposes. He announced that he would take legal action if someone attempted to use it for a commercial purpose.[53][54][21]
The image remained on the site with a warning attached until February 2022, when staff made the decision to remove it. The SCP Foundation said on Twitter that the artistic vision of Izumi Kato was "forcibly hijacked" by the statue's association with SCP, and that they could not "fully undo the damage done".[55] At the request of Wesley Williams, a new image was not placed in the article, so that readers would have to imagine it themselves. Many original interpretations of SCP-173 were created by the community in the wake of the decision.[53][55]
Reception
The SCP Foundation has received largely positive reviews. Michelle Starr of CNET praised the creepy nature of the stories.[10] Gavia Baker-Whitelaw, writing for the Daily Dot, praised the originality of the wiki and described it as the "most uniquely compelling horror writing on the Internet".[9] She noted that the series rarely contained gratuitous gore. Rather, the horror of the series was often established through the reports' "pragmatic" and "deadpan" style, as well as through the inclusion of detail.[9] Lisa Suhay, writing for the Christian Science Monitor, also noted the SCP Wiki's "tongue-in-cheek style".[45]
Alex Eichler, writing for io9, noted that the series had varying levels of quality and that some of the reports were dull or repetitive. However, he praised the SCP stories for not becoming overly dark, and for containing more light-hearted reports. Additionally, he praised the wide variety of concepts covered in the report and said that the wiki contained writings that would appeal to all readers.[56] Leigh Alexander, writing for The Guardian, noted that the wiki's voting system allows readers to easily locate content which "the community thinks are best and most scary."[57]
Winston Cook-Wilson, writing for Inverse, compared the SCP stories to the writings of American author H. P. Lovecraft. Like Lovecraft, SCP casefiles generally lack action sequences and are written in a pseudo-academic tone. Cook-Wilson argued that both Lovecraft's works and those of the SCP Wiki were strengthened by the tensions between their detached scientific tone and the unsettling, horrific nature of the stories being told.[58]
Bryan Alexander, writing in The New Digital Storytelling, stated that the SCP Foundation is possibly "the most advanced achievement of wiki storytelling" due to the large-scale and recurring process through which the wiki's user-base creates literary content.[59]
Media inspired by the SCP Foundation
The works present on the SCP Foundation website have been the subject of numerous independent adaptations and inspired some original works:
Adaptations of the SCP universe
Literature
SCP-5000 WHY - The Graphic Novel (2021) is a 120-page graphic novel adaptation of SCP-5000 - Why? (a contest-winning entry) written by Tanhony and illustrated by Drdobermann. The novel focuses on technician Pietro Wilson surviving in an alternate universe where, for unknown reasons, the SCP Foundation has declared war against humanity and is releasing SCP objects to ensure human extinction.[60] Funded through Kickstarter, the novel was published by Discordia Publishing in August 2021.[61]
SCP Comics Series (2023-2025) are a series of one-shot horror graphic novel published by Aloha Comics under their ParaBooks imprint[62] that focus on specific SCPs or Mobile Task Forces. The titles of these oneshots are "We Who Poke With Sticks", "The Plague Doctor", "Red Sea Object", "Old Man", "Expunged Data Released", and "Reluctant Dimension Hopper". These oneshots were released as part of a book set funded through Kickstarter.[63]
SCP Foundation: Iris Through the Looking-Glass (2018–2020) is a light novel series written by Akira and illustrated by Sidu. The book focuses on a boy who is kidnapped by the SCP Foundation after he sees a picture of Iris Thompson, a girl designated SCP-105, in every book he opens; the boy and Iris are forced to cooperate to escape the Foundation. The novel series began publication in Japan in September 2018, and was released by Seven Seas Entertainment in North America in January 2020.[64]
There Is No Antimemetics Division (2021) is a SCP sci-fi horror story written and self-published by Sam "qntm" Hughes. The novel focuses on the concept of "antimemes", ideas and entities that censor themselves through memory loss, data corruption, and other anomalous means, and more specifically the invasion of an antimemetic entity that feeds on information.[65][66]
Theater
Welcome to the Ethics Committee (2014) is a stage play that was performed in Dublin at the Smock Alley Theatre in October 2014. The play focused on the SCP Foundation's Ethics Committee, a body that tries to limit unethical containment procedures.[67]
SCP-087 (2012) is a short horror game about walking down the stairs of SCP-087.[68]
SCP – Containment Breach (2012), one of the most popular games based on the SCP Foundation,[9][29] was released by Finnish developer Joonas Rikkonen in 2012.[69] The game includes a blink function, which makes the player close their eyes and allows SCP-173 to approach.[9]
SCP: Secret Laboratory (2017) is a multiplayer game based on Containment Breach. Players have the option of playing different roles.[70]
SCP: Secret Files (2022) is an episodic horroradventure game in development by GameZoo Studios. The player plays through chapters that each cover different excursions into the SCP Foundation's operations with the bizarre and abnormal.[72]
Go Home Annie (2024) is a horror adventure game featuring an original narrative set in the SCP Foundation universe developed by Misfit Village. It was released in 2024.[73]
SCP: Fragmented Minds (2025) is a first person action adventure game set on Site-113 set on Mars. Funded by a Kickstarter and developed by HST studios, the game launched Chapter 1 in January of 2025 with 3 more chapters planned for release later.[74]
The Store is Closed (TBA) is an upcoming multiplayer survival game set in SCP-3008, an infinite IKEA-like store. The project had a successful Kickstarter in 2022, and entered into a closed alpha test that November. The game faced legal threats from IKEA which led to some graphical changes.[75]
Web videos
Confinement (2017–2019) is an animated blackcomedy horror web series on YouTube, created by the animator "Lord Bung". The series focuses on the misadventures of Connor, an immortal human SCP prisoner whose anomalous ability to instantaneously resurrect himself from any cause of death is frequently exploited by the Foundation, who often use him as a D-class test subject to interact with various highly dangerous SCPs.[76][77][78]
SCP: Overlord (2020) is a 35-minute action horrorthriller short film on YouTube, directed by Stephen Hancock and written by Evan Muir. The plot involves a team of Foundation agents raiding and investigating a house occupied by a local cult, which performed occult rituals that have resulted in anomalous activity.[79][80][81]
There Is No Antimemetics Division (2024), based on the sci-fi horror story series of the same name, is a 4-part short series on YouTube, written and directed by Andrea Joshua Asnicar and Jenna Cosgrove.[82]
Podcasts
Find Us Alive (2019–present) is an audio drama series following a group of Foundation staff members trapped inside of an extra-dimensional Foundation Site. The series was made by SCP Wiki author Raddagher under her audio production company Hodgepodge. The series has become popular among the SCP wiki community and has received several awards for its production quality. [83]
Other original works
Video games
Lobotomy Corporation (2018), a management video game by Project Moon, was released in April 2018. Inspired by the SCP Foundation, the titular Lobotomy Corporation contains and harvests energy from supernatural "Abnormalities", and handling containment breaches is a major aspect of the gameplay.[84][85]
Control (2019), a video game created by Remedy Entertainment, was first revealed at E3 2018 and released in August 2019.[86] The video game was heavily influenced by the SCP Foundation, and is centered on a fictional Federal Bureau of Control that collects mundane objects imbued with paranormal influence to study and keep secure.[87]
Lethal Company (2023), a cooperative survival horror video game created by solo developer Zeekerss, was released in October 2023. The developer drew upon existing mythos and monsters from the SCP universe for use in the horror game.[88]
See also
The Backrooms, another online horror phenomenon that emerged from 4chan's /x/ board
↑ Registration is only required to submit works and projects, or to leave comments and vote upon existing works. The site is free to view to people without an account.
1 2 SCP is an acronym for Special Containment Procedures. The Foundation also has the backronym motto "Secure, Contain, Protect".[4]
Safe: SCPs tame enough to be trivially contained, such as most inanimate yet paranormal objects.
Euclid: SCPs requiring substantial effort to contain, such as living organisms.
Keter: Difficult or dangerous SCPs that either cannot be fully contained or that require overly complex and elaborate procedures to contain.
Thaumiel: SCPs used to contain other SCPs and/or are beneficial to the Foundation.
Apollyon: SCPs that are impossible to contain or expected to breach containment imminently. Usually associated with world-ending threats.
Archon: SCPs that are theoretically containable, but are best left uncontained.
Explained: De-listed SCPs that were previously believed to be anomalous, but are now considered to be normal objects and/or phenomena understood through conventional scientific knowledge.
Neutralized: SCPs that are either destroyed or cease anomalous behavior.
Several hundred SCPs use an unofficial classification system that displays information in addition to containment difficulty.[28]
↑ Including deliberately humorous "joke" SCP objects, SCP objects that were archived in lieu of deletion, and translations of SCPs from foreign language branches.
1 2 Joy, Reagan (2022). "The Tragedy of the Creative Commons: An Analysis of How Overlapping Intellectual Property Rights Undermine the Use of Permissive Licensing". Case Western Reserve Law Review. 72 (4): 977–1013.
1 2 Aelanna; SCP Foundation Staff (23 April 2014). "Object Classes". SCP Foundation. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
↑ Varonas, Nico (4 February 2012). SCP-087: Escaleras a lo desconocidoArchived 8 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine . NeoTeo. Retrieved 26 March 2015. "Esta es una comunidad de usuarios y de fanáticos del sci-fi y el terror..." (translation: "This is a community of users and of sci-fi and horror fans...")
↑ SCP: OVERLORD, 14 November 2020, archived from the original on 20 February 2023, retrieved 21 February 2023
↑ Hancock, Stephen (14 November 2020), SCP: Overlord (Short, Thriller), Retro Digital Media, archived from the original on 21 September 2022, retrieved 21 September 2022
Tapscott, Alan (2017). Perceived Consistency and Coherence in Collaborative Story World (PhD thesis). Departament de Tecnologies de la Informació i les Comunicacions, Pompeu Fabra University. hdl:/10803/441755. OCLC1120499022.
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