Overview
The SCP Foundation's "SCP-001" slot is uniquely occupied by multiple proposals rather than a single anomaly, each offering a different explanation for the foundation's origins or the nature of anomalies, with no official selection to maintain secrecy and creative flexibility.
Structure of SCP-001
- SCP-001 is not a singular entity; over two dozen proposals exist instead.
- Both in-universe and out-of-universe reasons exist for this structure, focusing on security and creative significance.
- No decision is expected on a single official SCP-001, maintaining the site's mystery and flexibility.
- Proposals range from origin stories to unrelated ideas, reflecting diverse themes.
Notable SCP-001 Proposals
The Gate Guardian (Dr. Clef)
- Features a giant humanoid guarding a gate near historical rivers, destroying anything that approaches.
- Observers receive telepathic commands; the Foundation's founder was ordered to "prepare."
- No entity, including other SCPs, could approach it; future transmission hints at a possible apocalypse.
- Entity is under constant surveillance but uncontainable.
The Database (Andrew Swann)
- Suggests the SCP universe is subject to the whims of its authors, creating a meta explanation.
- Records and reality change unpredictably, with memetic agents set up to protect secrecy.
- Proposal is controversial for its meta-narrative approach.
When Day Breaks (SD Locke)
- Reimagines SCP-001 as the Sun, whose light liquefies all life into a living mass.
- Survivors struggle in a post-apocalyptic world; anomalous properties are nullified by the Sun.
- Ends with the implication that all life will be subsumed by this phenomenon.
The Spiral Path (Dr. Mann)
- Describes a perpetual uphill path leading to scientific discoveries and the founding of the SCP Foundation.
- Founders originally aimed to use anomalies to improve the world, inadvertently creating new ones.
- Some anomalies emerged from experimentation, others appeared without explanation.
Sheaf of Papers (Jonathan Ball)
- Involves a stack of papers that cause new SCPs to be discovered after reading them.
- Leaves ambiguous whether the papers cause or merely predict new anomalies’ appearance.
36 (Jorik and Dmatix)
- Introduces 36 individuals who nullify anomalies; the effect increases when they’re together.
- Their deaths trigger catastrophic anomalous events, followed by presumed reincarnation.
- If all 36 unite, anomalies would end globally.
Additional SCP-001 Proposals and Notes
- Dr. Gears: Prototype dangerous anomaly, the first reported by the Foundation.
- Kate McTiernan: Gains reality-altering abilities, becoming god-like.
- Broken God: Church faction's failed attempt to reconstruct their deity, causing disaster.
- Bright’s Factory: Mysterious factory continually produces new SCPs for unknown reasons.
- Some proposals explore foundation origins, others simply present powerful or significant SCPs.
- The first SCP ever written was SCP-173, not an SCP-001 proposal.
Creative and Narrative Flexibility
- Multiple contradictory proposals reflect the SCP universe’s embrace of divergent interpretations.
- Readers are encouraged to decide personally which proposals fit their own interpretations.
- Canonical truth is known only to the fictional O5 Council in-universe.