What Is SCP-049? A Deep Dive Into the Lore

Deep inside a secure research facility, in a jail cell only accessible for a handful of high security clearance guards, there is a creature hacking away at the corpse of a mammal and taking furious notes about a “Pestilence” that only it knows about. It is SCP-049, affectionately known as “The Plague Doctor” by fans of the SCP universe. Here, we’ll break down what SCP-049 is and what it wants, and answer all your burning questions about this strange and cryptic figure.

Who Is SCP-049?

According to horror content creator Sydney Bermudez, SCP-049 is "a humanoid entity resembling a medieval plague doctor." It seems obsessed with fighting a disease that only it can spot, known as the “Pestilence.” When it encounters a person with this “disease,” Bermudez says, it flies into a rage, kills the person, and then reanimates them using some kind of supernatural surgical process.

Section 1 of 12:

What is SCP-049?

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SCP-049 is basically a plague doctor that makes zombies. As Bermudez puts it, “SCP-049 is about a humanoid entity resembling a medieval plague doctor. It believes it’s curing a 'Pestilence,’ and when it touches a victim, they instantly die. SCP-049 then performs a crude ‘surgery’ to reanimate them into zombie-like creatures.”^{[1]
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- Object class: Euclid
- Special containment procedures: SCP-049 is typically cooperative with SCP staff, and it doesn’t appear to have any supernatural teleportation or escape abilities, so it is contained in a typical human containment cell. SCP-049 gets an animal corpse to “work” on roughly once every two weeks.

Section 2 of 12:

What is the “Pestilence”?

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It’s unclear what it actually is, but SCP-049 hates the Pestilence. Researchers have been unable to demonstrate the existence of any disease or condition in people who SCP-049 claims have been infected with this Pestilence, but SCP-049 will go crazy if it encounters someone who supposedly has it. SCP-049 will become instantly aggressive and attempt to kill
- How does SCP-049 kill? While SCP-049 has demonstrated that it will attack people with weapons, it can kill anyone affected by this Pestilence by touching their bare skin. When it does, all of the victim’s biological processes immediately stop. It’s unclear how it does this, though.

Section 3 of 12:

What does SCP-049 do?

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SCP-049 is mainly interested in surgery and removing the Pestilence. Aside from freaking out and flying into a murderous rage whenever it encounters someone with the Pestilence, SCP-049 seems to be passionate about surgery and reanimation. SCP-049 will actually perform crude surgeries on the corpses of the people it kills, which will often cause them to come back to life as zombie-like entities that can’t talk or perform complex tasks.
- The “zombies” SCP-049 creates are referred to as instances of SCP-049-2.
- What is SCP-049’s primary goal? It really seems mainly motivated by getting rid of the Pestilence. The surgery business seems like more of a personal project for SCP-049.

Section 4 of 12:

What does SCP-049 look like without the mask?

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It’s creepy, but that might not actually be a mask. X-rays of SCP-049 demonstrate that the “plague mask” it’s wearing has either fused to its beak-like nose, or the mask itself is actually bone. Either way, that is not a normal human face under the medieval plague mask.
- What’s up with the shape of plague masks? Historically, doctors would wear plague masks with a huge pointed nose to protect themselves from the “bad air” thought to cause the Black Plague and other diseases. They’d stuff the long nose of the mask with potpourri and perfumed material to “filter out” whatever disease was in the air.^{[2]
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Section 5 of 12:

Is SCP-049 good or evil?

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SCP-049 is either good and misunderstood, or bad and sadly mistaken. SCP-049 isn’t super easy to assess from a moral perspective because it’s hard to know what’s true or not. There are sort of two potential scenarios here:
- The Pestilence is real and SCP-049 is trying to save humanity. If the Pestilence is real and regular human beings simply can’t detect it, SCP-049 is a hero! It's going out of its way to dedicate its entire existence to wiping out this apocalyptic disease.
- The Pestilence isn’t real and SCP-049 is either insane or mistaken. If the Pestilence isn’t real and SCP-049 is either nuts or reacting to something totally mundane, it's basically a sociopathic pseudo-scientist raging chaotic war on random people.

Section 6 of 12:

How old is SCP-049?

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We don’t know for sure, but it is probably over 400 years old. SCP-049 speaks both French and English, but their vocabulary, dialect, and accent are notably dated—probably around the end of the late Medieval period, which would line up with the prevalence of plague doctor masks. Beyond that, SCP-049 stated in an interview that it has “spent a lifetime developing [its] methods … and will spend a lifetime more, if necessary.” All things considered, it seems that SCP-049 has been alive since 1500-1700 CE.
- There’s also a possibility that SCP-049 is a time traveler, comes from another dimension, or is an alien, in which case it would muddy their age even further.

Section 7 of 12:

How tall is SCP-049?

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SCP-049 is roughly 1.9 meters (6 feet and 2 inches) tall. The SCP containment page describes SCP-049 as roughly 1.9 metres (6.2 ft) in height, with a thin build. It wears thick robes, its iconic “mask,” and a hood. All things considered, it’s a pretty creepy and intimidating figure.
- You can see what SCP-049 officially looks like, here!

Section 8 of 12:

Can SCP-049 lay eggs?

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No, SCP-049 seems to be basically human. Aside from the fact that it might be hundreds of years old and has a strange, beak-like nose bone, SCP-049 seems to be basically human. It talks, eats, sleeps, and behaves like a normal person in basically every way outside of the magical touch murder abilities and the zombie surgery stuff.

Section 9 of 12:

Does SCP-049 have a wife?

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No, SCP-049 doesn’t seem to have any personal relationships. SCP-049 has never mentioned any family, friends, or romantic relationships. The impression we get is that SCP-049 is so intensely focused on eradicating the Pestilence that it doesn’t really have any time for dating around or making friends.

Section 10 of 12:

Where is SCP-049 from?

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It’s unknown where they were born, but they were found in France. SCP-049 was originally discovered in Montauban, a small town in Southern France. The SCP Foundation were originally sent to the area to investigate multiple disappearances, where they found SCP-049 taking notes while instances of SPC-049-2 fought with local law enforcement. SCP-049 went willingly with the SCP agents.
- It’s not clear where SCP-049 was originally born (or made), but given their fluency in only English and French, it seems likely they’re either British or French.

Section 11 of 12:

What is SCP-049’s nickname?

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Most fans refer to SCP-049 as “The Plague Doctor.” Since SCP-049 dresses identically to the plague doctors from Medieval Europe, most SCP enthusiasts just refer to the skip as “The Plague Doctor.”

Section 12 of 12:

Similar SCPs

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SCP-208 SCP-208 is a tiny Egyptian man who grows a beard that looks like a lion’s mane. He’s able to regenerate organic tissue. Like SCP-049, he seems like a bit of a time traveler, and he’s also cooperative with the SCP Foundation.
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SCP-073 Known as “Cain,” SPC-073 is based on the character of the same name in the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. He’s a polite and helpful guy who regularly helps the SCP Foundation staff with simple tasks. Unfortunately, any living plant matter dies when Cain gets within spitting distance of it. He also can’t be harmed; any damage done to SPC-073 is redirected back to whoever is trying to harm him.
- In case you were curious, SCP-076 is Abel!
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SCP-181 SCP-181 is, for all intents and purposes, just a regular dude. However, he has one really unique quirk: he can manipulate odds. Ask him to flip a coin 50 times, and he can choose how many times it comes up heads and how many times it comes up tails. The poor guy is locked up in isolation, though. Turns out messing with probability does some whacky stuff to chaos theory and the fabric of reality.
- SCP-049 and SCP-181 are both just “regular folks” who don’t realize the impact they have on the world around them.
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SCP-1867 SCP-1867 is a sea slug. It’s just a regular old sea slug. Well, until it talks. SCP-1867 is a sentient sea slug, roughly 4.6 inches (12 cm) in length, who can communicate telepathically. It says its name is “Lord Theodore Thomas Blackwood,” and that it is a British explorer. It even has a cottage in England full of historical artifacts it discovered. Like SCP-049, SCP-1867 appears to potentially be a time traveler. It also cooperates with the Foundation.
- SCP-1867 and SCP-049 both appear to be in a bit of a delusional state about themselves. SCP-049 doesn’t realize it’s a weirdo, and SCP-1867 doesn’t admit that it’s a telepathic sea slug.
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SCP-096 Popularly known as “Shy Guy,” SCP-096 is a malnourished humanoid creature who cowers whenever someone sees their face. Like SCP-049, this SCP is one of those “close to a 100% person, but not quite” SCPs.