If you’ve ever read the Book of Genesis,
which is the part of the Old Testament that details God creating the world and humanity
during a particularly busy week, then you might just already be familiar with SCP-001. Or at least, one of the anomalies that’s
been proposed for the title of SCP-001. Because of course SCP-001 doesn’t refer
to a single creature, object or entity, but rather a collection of various anomalies contained
by the SCP Foundation. Anomalies sharing the name SCP-001 include
the infamous Scarlet King, a powerful eldritch being, intent on ending all of creation that
is thought by Foundation researchers to be one of the most dangerous beings in this,
and any other universe. But the Scarlet King isn’t the only incredibly
powerful being categorized as SCP-001. In fact, there are plenty of other anomalies
with similar levels of destructive power. And one such being is a creature code named
The Gate Guardian. Standing at well over a thousand feet tall,
The Gate Guardian is impossible to be fully contained by any means that the Foundation
possesses. The anomaly itself, despite its colossal size,
is humanoid in its shape, sporting wings that protrude from its back. While it usually has four of these, SCP-001
has historically been seen to have any number of wings between two and 108, sprouting from
various places over its body, including shoulders, ankles, wrists, and even its temples. This gigantic Guardian also carries its own
weapon, referred to as SCP-001-2. This weapon resembles an enormous knife or
sword, capable of emitting plumes of flame. According to tests conducted by the Foundation,
the temperature of the flames produced by SCP-001-2 rival that of our very own sun. For reference, the sun has a core temperature
of over twenty seven million degrees Fahrenheit, and 5,778 Kelvin at its surface, or almost
ten thousand degrees Fahrenheit. You would expect a flaming sword that burns
hotter than the sun to cause a considerable amount of damage, even if it wasn’t in use,
but the flames emitted by the weapon leave no lasting damage on the surrounding environment. It is capable though, of annihilating anything
that strays too close to SCP-001, burning them so intensely that their atoms literally
separate, breaking potential attackers apart on a molecular level. Much as its codename suggests, The Gate Guardian
stands solemnly at the threshold of some form of dimensional gateway which is equally as
tall as SCP-001 itself. Behind the Guardian, is a lush grove, abundant
with fruit trees of an astronomical size, as well as other beings that share a similar
appearance to SCP-001. This grove is thought to be the Garden of
Eden, the paradise that God created, and that was inhabited by Adam and Eve, the first two
humans in existence, according to the Book of Genesis. As the tale goes, the pair were created by
God himself, and permitted to live in the Garden of Eden as long as they followed a
single rule. Adam and Eve were instructed not to eat any
of the fruits that grew from certain trees that God had specified. Within view just behind the Gate Guardian
are two immense trees, one bearing apples and the other bearing different fruit of unknown
type. The one that looks like an apple tree is believed,
even by some in the Foundation, to be the biblical Tree of Knowledge that Eve was convinced
to pick a fateful apple from after an encounter with a snake. The other, the one with unidentifiable fruit,
is thought to be the Tree of Life. However, this is all speculation, since it
is currently impossible to venture through this gateway and verify if the realm beyond
is truly the Bible’s own Garden of Eden. This is largely because anything that breaches
a kilometer wide radius of SCP-001 is instantly vaporized. The Gate Guardian attacks with an imperceptible
speed, using its flaming sword to smite any person that gets too close. The Guardian actually moves so fast that it
can hardly be seen with the naked eye. It appears to always remain in its solemn,
dutiful stance with its weapon drawn and head bowed, only shifting for
a fraction of a nanosecond to attack. Ranged attacks against the Guardian are just
as ineffective, with all projectiles fired at SCP-001 reduced to atoms before they can
do any harm. Even if said projectile happens to be a nuclear
weapon, The Gate Guardian will be able to sub-atomically vaporize both the projectile
itself as well as the person who sent it, regardless of how far away they are. All while not appearing to lift a finger. During an experiment involving SCP-001on December
26th, 2004, an SCP Foundation nuclear submarine called ‘Nautilus’ launched a series of
multi-warhead intercontinental ballistic missiles at The Gate Guardian. The retaliation from the Guardian resulted
not only in the deaths of approximately 35,000 innocent civilians, but the blast is also
believed, by some, to have inadvertently caused the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami. The severity of this incident came dangerously
close to revealing the Foundation’s existence to the world, resulting in them rapidly deploying
any means necessary to erase any trace of the thirty five thousand victims’ families,
friends and other related individuals. In order to avoid questioning, the SCP Foundation
administered amnestics on an almost worldwide scale, and the O5 council banned any further
tests on SCP-001 that involved nuclear weapons. In what was hoped by the Foundation to be
a test with lower stakes, they sent an expendable D-Class personnel towards SCP-001. The D-Class approached the area where the
Gate Guardian is located, and as soon as they saw it, they could hear a very clear command
in their mind - “Leave” The D-Class personnel reacted exactly the
same way you or I would. They promptly turned and started to walk away. They didn’t need a thousand foot tall entity
with a flaming sword to tell them twice. The researchers running the experiment were
not as swayed by the request, and ordered the D-Class to continue moving towards SCP-001. When the D-Class continued to ignore their
commands, they were terminated, as is standard policy when dealing with an insubordinate
member D-Class. SCP-001 appeared not to like this for some
reason though, and the researcher site as well as the researchers
themselves were immediately obliterated by an unknown force, though it’s a pretty safe guess that a certain flaming
weapon was responsible. This candidate for SCP-001 may be one of,
if not the most powerful being that the SCP Foundation has ever encountered, and according
to its entry in the SCP-001 file, the Guardian is even responsible for the creation of the
Foundation itself. If the file is to be believed, the Administrator
of the SCP Foundation one day heard a word echoing through his head. “Prepare.” This one word instruction led him to starting
the SCP Foundation, containing countless dangerous anomalies and entities in preparation for
an uncertain future. In all that time, since the very beginning
of the Foundation, The Gate Guardian has remained standing at its post. While it is not aggressive nor openly hostile
towards humanity, The Gate Guardian doesn’t seem to care much for us either, at least
as individuals. It rarely interacts with human beings when
left unprovoked, and venturing too close to the Guardian however, is not an automatic
death sentence. The Guardian first communicates with any living
being approaching it via a telepathic message, instructing them to either “Leave” or
“Forget”. If whomever has stepped too close to SCP-001
complies with the instructions, they’ll be able to freely leave the
area, while simultaneously forgetting every detail of The Gate Guardian’s existence. Ignore these warnings though, and SCP-001
has no qualms about completely eliminating you from reality. Given its enormous destructive potential,
it is no wonder that the Foundation has tried to use The Gate Guardian to eliminate other
dangerous SCPs, each with varying results. The Foundation at one time even attempted
to use The Gate Guardian to destroy the infamously indestructible SCP-682, better known by the
rather appropriate name of The Hard-to-Destroy Reptile. Due to the malicious contempt SCP-682 holds
for human beings and all other forms of life, it is perhaps one of the most dangerous anomalies
the SCP Foundation has in containment. SCP-682 is also one of the few creatures the
Foundation actively wants to terminate, a task made that much harder given that 682
can regenerate its entire form from as little as a single cell. The Gate Guardian had already shown time and
time again that it was capable of massive destruction, and researchers working for the
Foundation hoped to harness that power to rid the world of SCP-682 for good. 682 was placed on an unmanned vehicle and
carried to within one kilometer of the Gate Guardian. The guardian attacked the vehicle, seriously
wounding but not killing 682. It seems even the mighty SCP-001 couldn’t
kill the Hard-to-Destroy Reptile. While the researchers were disappointed with
this result, it is worth noting that 682 made a very interesting comment to the Guardian. 682 mentioned that the Gate Guardian is “not
Uriel” but a “pretender”. Uriel is the archangel that some religious
texts describe as the guardian standing at the Gate of Eden with a fiery sword, so does
this mean that 682 knows that the Gate Guardian is not actually an angel? Or that the location it is guarding isn’t
the Garden of Eden at all? Any truth or meaning behind these comments
has, as of yet, been undetermined by the SCP Foundation. A later experiment involved both SCP-001 and
SCP-073, the anomaly otherwise known as Cain. Cain is a male humanoid of possible Arabic
descent whose arms, legs, spine, and shoulders are replaced in an almost cyborg-like fashion
with beryllium bronze. Much like The Gate Guardian, SCP-073 may also
be the same as the one mentioned in the Bible’s Book of Genesis who, according to the biblical
story, murdered his own brother Abel out of spite. As punishment for his actions, Cain was cursed
to eternally suffer for his wrongdoing. In the case of SCP-073, any damage inflicted
on him is deflected back to the attacker, but Cain is made to feel the pain of the attack. Any plants or plant-based matter withers and
rots in his presence, and he is cursed with a perfect memory, keeping him forever haunted
by his murder of Abel. When Cain was brought before The Gate Guardian,
an unknown incident occurred. The Foundation’s records are heavily expunged,
but we do know that somehow, Cain’s usual ability to deflect incoming damage back at
his attacker had no effect on SCP-001. The encounter left SCP-073 unconscious, and even permanently blinded
nearby research personnel. It was as a direct result of this incident
that the O5 Council demanded that no further experiments of any kind were to be conducted
on SCP-001, with the Administrator even filing an executive order that no SCPs be exposed
to the Guardian, and that SCP-001 was to never again be used for the attempted termination
of other SCPs. Of course, perhaps it wasn’t just the mistakes
of the past that made the Council decide that SCP-001 was best left alone. At some point, an erratic transmission was
received from Site 0 by Foundation personnel, detailing an XK-class end of the world scenario. In the transmission, the sender, believed
to be another member of the SCP Foundation, described an event during which The Gate Guardian
finally left its post, stepping away from the entrance to the Garden of Eden. “SCP-001 has left its location,” the sender
wrote. “The Gate is Open. They are riding forth. Oh God, it's so beautiful…” The transmission then goes on to repeat various
phrases including “The Lord shall reign forever” and “Hear, O Israel, The Lord,
our God, The Lord is one”. What can be inferred from
the rambling transmission is that the event being described is the end of the world. Some believe that, once God deems it time,
his angelic armies will lay waste to the Earth in order to remake it as a paradise. When this occurs, SCP-001, The Gate Guardian,
will open the gate he stands in front of, allowing the other beings like it to emerge
into our world, ready to cleanse it. Perhaps most interesting is the source of
the message. The transmission was received from within
the SCP Foundation, from Site 0, however when questioned by personnel, O5-14 told them that
no such message had been sent, or even existed. While some initially disregarded the transmission
telling of the end of the world as a hoax, it was then that a timestamp was discovered. This warning had not been sent from Site 0,
at least not yet, and was dated several years in the future. Despite this ominous warning of things to
come, The Gate Guardian remains inactive, standing at the threshold to Eden, waiting. Now check out “SCP-001 - Which is the Real
SCP-001?” and “SCP-001 - The Children - Ouroboros Cycle” for more facts about
the mysterious SCP-001!
