SCP-049, also known as The Plague Doctor,
is an SCP Foundation fan favorite. This charming anomalous surgeon can terrify
with a glance and kill with a touch. In terms of his origins, his methods, and
his thought processes around a disease he calls “The Pestilence”, this is one of
the most mysterious SCPs out there. And thankfully, we didn’t have to investigate
this one alone. We made a community post asking you, the fans
of SCP Explained, to give us your questions and theories about the good doctor that we
all hope doesn’t give house calls - and you didn’t disappoint. Let’s grab our masks and hand sanitizer,
and take a look at what you had to say about SCP-049. First, the Questions: Bob Candle asked, “Why does he refuse to
tell researchers about the pestilence?” That’s a good question, and also one of
the biggest mysteries surrounding 049’s lore. For the uninitiated, “The Pestilence”
- also known as the Great Dying - is the nickname given to an unknown disease that SCP-049 has
dedicated his life to curing, whatever curing means to him. When asked by Foundation researchers, 049
refuses to give up even the most basic information about The Pestilence - such as how he diagnoses
it, what its effects are, or how it’s transmitted. It seems that part of the reason that 049
refuses to tell researchers about it is that he apparently assumes that they, as fellow
doctors, inherently know what he’s talking about when he brings up The Pestilence. He has acted with confusion and frustration
during questioning and 049 seems to believe that The Pestilence is such common knowledge
among medical practitioners that it would be a waste of time to explain it - if he even
has the words to do so. Dat Gamer 56 asked, “Why is he so cooperative
if humans have the “Pestilence” he wants to cure so bad?” One of the most remarkable things about 049
is how reasonable he’s been with Foundation staff in the past. He’s polite, friendly, and treats his jailers
as equals - when he’s not murdering them and turning them into zombies. But this is a good question - if he believes
humans have The Pestilence, why is he so cooperative with them? Thankfully, the answer here is simple: While
049 believes that The Pestilence is widespread, he doesn’t believe that every human is carrying
it. In fact, when he was first contained by the
Foundation and brought into an SCP facility, he complimented the staff on how little Pestilence
there was inside the building compared to the outside. While we don’t know what leads 049 to think
a person is healthy or diseased, we do know there is a distinction, and he’s cooperative
with those he sees as healthy. Star Doggo Gaming asked, “How would he interact
with 610, aka The Flesh That Hates? I wonder if he would view the infected as
pestilence?” Another great question. 610 is an extremely dangerous Sarkic SCP that
presents as a zombie-like virus that causes horrific fleshy mutations. Because of the extremely high infection rate
of the Flesh That Hates, it’s been quarantined in its present location in the isolated Siberian
wilderness. While it would be too dangerous to bring anyone
or anything into contact with The Flesh, we’re betting that 049 would find The Flesh utterly
repulsive. Whether even he would actually be able to
cure this horrific infection is another question. The Flesh that Hates is best left alone at
all costs. Mcipher50 asked, “SCP-049's notebook appears
to be written in a language no human can decipher, Could another SCP like 343 or 662 decode the
notebook?” The answer to this is a solid… maybe. These two SCPs - known as God and Mr. Deeds,
respectively - may be able to translate the contents of 049’s mysterious, leather-bound
notebook. The problem is, given that we’ve seen 049
is a pretty terrible doctor when it comes to anything other than raising mutant zombies
from the dead, the contents of his notebook might just be as useless as the interviews
with him have proven to be. That said, it probably is worth a try, just
to find out if he’s actually been pretending to write this whole time. GreenAngelSnake YT asked, “Do other living
creatures like pigs, cats or literally any animal have this thing he calls ‘the Pestilence’? What even are the living things that he considers
cured?” To the best of our knowledge, 049 only believes
humans can contract The Pestilence. How do we know this? This leads us to our next question. Mia the Hotdog asked, “If he touches the
Immortal Lizard, will the lizard die and be rid of disease, or will the lizard be immune,
or will it attack the doctor?” The Foundation did attempt to terminate 682
with 049, but the effort was unsuccessful. 049, when encountering the lizard, commented
that only humans can contract the Pestilence. When he tried to touch 682, the lizard swiped
at him with its claws. 049 then requested to leave and later interviews
revealed that the plague doctor felt “emotionally disturbed” by his time with 682. Gamer Duck YT asked, “Where did he originally
come from?” While evidence suggests that 049 is extremely
old and very well traveled, he was first discovered by the Foundation in the town of Montauban
in southern France. Given that he speaks fluent Medieval French
as his first language, it’s safe to assume that France is probably his country of origin
and could have existed for hundreds of years, if not longer. Interestingly, his famous plague doctor appearance
is more similar to those first worn by Italian doctors in the 17th century, which only deepens
the mystery of SCP-049. Garret Eborn asked, “Why does he insist
that he isn’t doing harm when he’s clearly in violation of his Hippocratic Oath?” 049 does seem to regret the harm he causes,
but he also believes that small sacrifices are necessary in the quest to cure The Pestilence. Also, a fun little history lesson - Given
that 049’s knowledge of medicine appears to be medieval - meaning potentially as early
as the 5th century - he actually would have predated the Hippocratic Oath coming into
universal use by doctors, which didn’t become widespread until the 19th century - despite
the Oath itself first being created around 400 BC. Phoenix Fain asked, “If he was to wear gloves
of any kind would he still kill you?” All evidence seems to point to “No.” Only skin-to-skin contact with 049 is fatal,
so a good pair of gloves could really be a lifesaver. Alice Verdugo, “What would happen if he
went one on one with the shy guy? Would he "cure" him or not do anything?“ While we can’t know for sure, because SCP-096
aka the Shy Guy isn’t human, it’s likely that 049 wouldn’t even consider him infected. If the two came into contact, it would probably
result in a stalemate, much like the time SCP-096 faced off against SCP-682. However, if it did come to blows between the
two, 096 is undeniably a much more dangerous combatant, and may be able to narrowly defeat
the Plague Doctor in a direct confrontation while in its rage state. Anything Goes asked, “If he died, could
he bring himself back to life, or have something prepared to bring himself back to life?” Like a lot of anomalies, it seems that 049
is abnormally hard to kill, given that he’s seemingly impervious to most physical damage. However, seeing as 049’s resurrection is
both a lengthy medical process, and never brings its subjects back correctly, it’s
likely that if someone could successfully put 049 down, he wouldn’t get back up. ImNotComing asked, “We know that doctors
are wearing masks to protect patients but is his mask part of his skull or face?” All of 049’s clothes, including his Plague
Doctor mask, are technically part of his body. The mask is part of its bone structure, and
the other clothes are like layers of skin. Which leads us nicely to the next question. Wreckuiem asked, “If the clothing around
him is skin, does he shed it?” We’re not sure, but it’s definitely a
thought we all wish we could forget. Now let’s take a look at some of your most
interesting theories. Clarence Ilyeme theorized, “Pestilence is
sin and he's trying to take it away.” This is certainly an interesting theory. While we can’t find much in his file that
suggests 049 views The Pestilence as a result of sinful behavior or the concept of sin itself,
it’s worth considering that his medical background seems to come from medieval times. Medical science was in its infancy back then,
and many still believed that diseases were the result of loose morals or even demonic
interference - so there might be some truth to this theory. Thomas Hess theorized, “I feel like he isn't
really bad. All he wants to do is help and cure everyone,
but his cure is death.” If we’re defining bad as “a malicious
desire to cause harm for its own sake”, then this theory holds a lot of water. For all intents and purposes, it does seem
that 049 does genuinely want to cure his patients of “The Pestilence”, and he does seem
to express remorse when they die. However, by his own admission, his cure is
imperfect, and he hasn’t found full success in curing the disease without causing death
yet. Cat N Dog Live theorized, “The plague doctor
has seen the end of the world and travels in a loop back in time aiming to eventually
stop it. The pestilence is the way each human's impact
on the end of the world is and once he touches their flesh they realize this and die of the
realization of what they've done. The plague doctor may be looking for a human
(or an scp) that is pestilence free, for what reason we don't know...” We don’t have an awful lot to say about
this one because there’s no real evidence either way, but given that time travel does
seem to be possible in the SCP Foundation universe, it’s a cool possibility that we
definitely can’t rule out. It does, however, leave a lot of loose ends
about the gaps in 049’s knowledge, such as the fact he doesn’t know about the Black
Death. Vladimir Lenin theorized, “He’s the best
doctor ever! He cures depression, pestilence, and sometimes
his patients even come back from the dead! five star rating.” This is certainly an extremely charitable
way to view SCP-049, one that he himself would likely very much appreciate. However, considering he changes his patients
into mindless, zombified mutants, a better course of action may just be to attend therapy. Chaotix theorized, “The Pestilence is Death. He is literally trying to cure Death.” While this could be one interpretation of
why 049 resurrects his patients as zombies, death is something that affects all living,
non-anomalous humans, and 049 seems to be selective on which humans it identifies as
being infected with The Pestilence. As a result, it’s unlikely that The Pestilence
refers to death itself. And death is also likely a preferable alternative
to being turned into a zombie by 049’s experimental treatments. The Blue Guardien theorized, “The Pestilence
is the entity in our collective unconsciousness described in SCP-5000 "Why?" This is an extremely interesting theory, and
one that could hold water, too. If you check out our series on SCP-5000, you’ll
find that the Foundation discovered a being known as “It” hiding inside the collective
unconsciousness of humankind. While the Foundation doesn’t know about
this in our dimension, it’s possible that SCP-049 does, and simply doesn’t realize
that everyone is infected with it yet. But if this is the case, and SCP-049 realizes
that the whole world is infected, he’s likely to become a much more dangerous anomaly that
refuses to cooperate with anyone. Moonleafs 430 theorized, “The Pestilence
is the Foundation and 049 is a disciple of the Scarlet King.” This is another incredibly fun theory. However, there are two big problems. The first is that 049 has historically identified
people with no Foundation affiliation as being infected with The Pestilence. And the second, even more important issue
is that SCP-049 is a highly scientific creature, whereas the Scarlet King hates the very idea
of science with a burning passion. As a result, SCP-049 and the Scarlet King
are likely natural enemies. And finally, Xerthrax theorized “His theme
song should probably be Gangsta's Paradise. It's just a speculation, though.” On this theory, we wholeheartedly agree. And there you have it. Thanks to everybody who sent in their great
questions and theories about SCP-049! Keep an eye on our community posts to see
what anomalous entity we need your thoughts on next! Got an SCP you’d really like us to cover
in a video like this in future? Let us know down in the comments! And remember to stay safe and stay healthy
- because if you start feeling a little under the weather, you can expect a visit from SCP-049
some time soon... Now check out “SCP-096 - Look At A Picture
Of the Shy Guy In Space? The Shy Guy Questions and Theories” and
“SCP-082 - Fernand The Cannibal” for more Foundation mysteries unraveled!
