

SCP-8325: Why Are There So Many Skips About Santas?

Author: Pinoccappuccino

Title from "The Reindeer Connection" (1979), by Kringle the Frost :)

My Your SCiPcloud Wrapped:

A Very 1999 Christmas (2024)

"Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" (1934)

"The Christmas Song" (1945)

"Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" ( 1945)

"Happy Holiday" (1942)

"Baby It's Cold Outside" (1944)

"White Christmas" (1942)

"It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" (1963)

"Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" (1943)

Mel Blanc's Greatest Hits (2005)

I Tan't Wait Till Quithmuth Day (Remastered) (1953)

"The Hat I Got For Christmas Is Too Beeg" (1958)

The Muppet Christmas Carol: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (1992)

"One More Sleep 'Til Christmas"

"Marley & Marley"

"It Feels Like Christmas"

"Thankful Heart"

"This Is Not A Christmas Song 🎄🔥 (Copyright Free No.130)"

"You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" (Small Town Titans cover) (2021)

Troll the ancient URLtide carols!:

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihnachtsmann

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Befana

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Container_format

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/December

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ded_Moroz

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Hard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongzhi_Festival

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Adha

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eid_al-Fitr

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_Sings_The_Wonderful_World_of_Christmas

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_Christmas_folklore

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_a_Wonderful_Life

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyeux_Noël

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christmas_and_winter_gift-bringers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_observances_set_by_the_Chinese_calendar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_observances_set_by_the_Islamic_calendar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_storage

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayrhofen

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_disc

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rankin/Bass_Productions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_Booth

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snegurochka

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowbombing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonneberg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turia_(river)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valencia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weihnachten

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaldā_Night

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Year_Without_a_Santa_Claus

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zwarte_Piet

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reyes_Magos

https://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jólasveinarnir

https://transcripts.foreverdreaming.org/viewtopic.php?t=91938

Item#: 8325

Containment Class: esoteric

Secondary Class: gevurah

Disruption Class: ekhi

Risk Class: notice

SPECIAL CONTAINMENT PROCEDURES: All personnel knowingly employed by the SCP Foundation have been given minimal required knowledge of SCP-8325, with exceptions where ever they may apply. SCP-8325 is to be regarded as Euclid-containment class for Clearance Level 3/8325 and below.

Site management are advised to issue reminders to their staff annually of SCP-8325. Personnel who uncover an instance of SCP-8325-# among their possessions are to remand the item to their superiors, per standard Anomalous Object retrieval protocols.

Artificial Intelligence Conscripts (.aic) and SCiPnet Webcrawlers handling digitized media have the directive to identify and flag all files created between 22 November–7 January, depicting said time period, or words or phrases outlined in Glossary-8325-Prone. If an edit to an 8325-flagged file is detected, the unedited original or backup file is to be duplicated, maintaining a minimum of two (2) master copies. (See Glossary-8325-Prone (Ⅳ-ver.1.43) for further detail.)

Instances of SCP-8325-#, following catalogue and review, may be remanded to any existing recreational area at the site holding the instance for viewing/listening. Otherwise, the SCP-8325-# instance may be kept in storage of appropriate security depending on the sensitivity of contents.

Neither containment teams nor site administration are obligated to recompense personnel for SCP-8325-# seized. Personnel are advised to produce duplicates of home recordings susceptible to SCP-8325 if they intend to avoid loss of the original media.1

DESCRIPTION: SCP-8325 is a phenomenon that impacts certain susceptible media if they abide by all of the three following groups of criteria:

The media is in the possession of an employee of the SCP Foundation; the possession of a current co-inhabitant of the foremost; the storage of the former's place of residence; OR storage of a facility in operation by the SCP Foundation.

The media consists of audio AND/OR video stored via either analog medium (ex. magnetic tape, vinyl record) OR digital medium (ex. optical disc, container format).

The media documents, depicts, OR makes substantial mention of either Christmas; adjacent European holidays;2 OR inclement weather as associated with winter in the Northern Hemisphere.3

The media is not a product of SCP-8325, UNLESS the segments previously affected by SCP-8325 have been expunged.

Media produced at any time of year is susceptible to SCP-8325. While most narratives affected are set on or around Christmas, the time period is not always portrayed (i.e. "Christmas in July"). SCP-8325 area of activity appears to be global, as its effects have been identified internationally across fifty-seven (57) counties the SCP Foundation operates in, in addition to LMaImb-Area-32.

Image examples of SCP-8325-#. In order: SCP-8325-47, SCP-8325-850, SCP-8325-1452, SCP-8325-1609, and SCP-8325-2041.

If an article of media meets the criteria outlined, there is an indeterminable chance its contents may be spontaneously altered, the resulting items designated numerically as SCP-8325-#. To current knowledge from a limited data set, the SCP-8325 phenomenon occurs annually and only within the range of 22 November–7 January; affected computer files will document the time and date of their transfiguration into SCP-8325-#, attributed by metadata as a modification executed by the admin account of the host computer or server.

Due to the nature of non-computer mediums and occurrence of SCP-8325 being largely unpredictable and unobservable with reliability, the time the majority of SCP-8325-# are created cannot be determined with certainty. Rate of SCP-8325 also can only be hypothesized from this limited data set, with further error as the discovery of an SCP-8325-# may occur up to years in advance of its creation.

Contents of SCP-8325-# vary individually upon the derived media, but are universally marked by the insertion of at least one (1) mythological or folkloristic character associated with Christmas or similar winter holidays.

In approximately 90% of instances, this character has been Santa Claus (or cognates/regional equivalents of), occasionally accompanied by associated characters such as Santa's reindeer, elves, or Mrs. Claus. Non-Christmas characters may also appear in conjunction, or in the 10% minority of cases where Santa Claus is absent. These characters have included but are not limited to: the Befana, Ded Moroz, the Easter bunny,4 Grýla, Knecht Ruprecht, the Krampus, Mari Lwyd,5 and Zwarte Piet. If already present in the original media, the Santa Claus(es) or other holiday character(s) will fulfill the same altered role within the SCP-8325-# narrative.

SCP-8325-# are marked by an added emphasis upon the aforementioned mythological/folkloristic character(s) and their associated holidays. These alterations may be negligible to the original narrative such as cameo appearances, but more extensive changes may result from SCP-8325, from creation of or restructuring into dedicated scenes to the complete rewriting of plot points or the entire narrative. Larger alterations are more common in SCP-8325-# originating from non-fiction media and shorter runtimes, but a fiction narrative may on occasion experience just as substantial changes.

The characters native to the original media rarely acknowledge the changes that make SCP-8325-#, but this almost always occurs if themes of metanarratives and medium awareness were present, and in the case of SCP Foundation records, feature faculty with awareness of SCP-8325.

SCP-8325 has been unable to alter text outside of those displayed in video: Credit that attribute actors by role will credit the added characters as self portrayals or to ostensible pseudonyms (ex. "Nicholas Q. Laplander LVIII", "Jedidiah Klausberg", "Abigail Claus"). Captions will only be altered if they are hard-coded into the video (i.e. not a separate text file toggleable by setting). If a disc contains audio tracks for different language settings, only the most recently used audio will be altered with the video.

Microscopic analysis of SCP-8325-# confirms that the SCP-8325 process makes physical changes, and SCP-8325-# do contain magnetic, optical, or digital recordings of the anomalous contents. Macroscopic details, such as print, handwriting, and box art are unaffected. With exception to motion picture reels upon thorough inspection, it is impossible to discern if a piece of media or storage device is or contains an SCP-8325-# instance without the use of electronics necessary to read them.

Cognitohazards and infohazards present in the original media are not inherently neutralized by SCP-8325. While transfiguration into SCP-8325-# may overwrite the hazards, odds are they will remain in an active state. (See Incident Report 8325-324/1 (3/10/1987), Experiment 8325#23 for further detail.)

HISTORY: The first instance of SCP-8325 manifested and was discovered 10 December 1974, the day of purchase by Dr. Arthur Jules, then Assistant Director of Records at CAONTR-Site-37. SCP-8325-1 was initially catalogued as an Anomalous Object until a further five instances had been identified by December 1976. SCP-8325 was catalogued with designation as a Euclid-containment class anomaly on 30 December 1976.

From 1976–1982, assets of Mobile Task Forces Beta-23 "Film Critics", Zeta-17 "Beach Bullies", and Eta-2 "Bin Bargainers" were given assignment to identify and seize any SCP-8325-# among the public. After consistent failure to procure any such instances, it was concluded that SCP-8325 was a phenomenon that exclusively impacted Foundation staff.

Review of security tapes after a containment breach further determined that SCP-8325-# could manifest not only on the persons of and at the residences of Foundation personnel, but facilities operated by the Foundation. Due to potential to compromise site records, SCP-8325 was reclassified as Gevurah-containment class on 28 December 1982. Since the implementation the Anomaly Classification System, SCP-8325 has been designated Ekhi-disruption class and Notice-risk class.

In 1991, Dr. Hazel Baker of BISRC-Site-12 appealed to the site and regional Ethics Committees for emotional and material damages on the seizure of SCP-8325-233 on the grounds that knowledge of SCP-8325 was withheld from unassigned researchers at the time.6 Following review and the ruling in Baker's favour, SCP-8325's special containment procedures were revised to include an awareness campaign of SCP-8325 and the preservation of susceptible materials, and to avoid setting precedent of future SCP-8325-# cases brought to the Ethics Committee. (See Ⅳ-Ethics Committee Casefile: Dr. H.F. Baker v. BIRSC-Site-12, Department of Containment (1991) for further detail.)

Reels rediscovered during a 2020 inventory review at USFL██-Site-17 Deep Storage. SCP-8325-1780 through -1786 were identified among these pictured.

As of 25 December 2024, a total of 2,255 instances of SCP-8325-# have been identified and catalogued. Approximately one-third of those instances (784, 34.77%) have been audio and/or visual records of surveillance, interrogations, and field missions that were produced during or made significant mention of the holiday season or paraphernalia.

Since 2019, at least 100 new SCP-8325-# have been collected annually. Extrapolation of edit records on SCP-8325-# metafiles from 1991–2024 indicates that SCP-8325 has increased at an overall rate of 15%, with an average rate increase of 0.5% annually. Success in identifying SCP-8325-# (some of which have been dormant for years) is unpredictable and varies; rate of cataloging cannot be used as an accurate measurement of increasing SCP-8325 activity, nor a method prediction for future SCP-8325-# recoveries.7

ADDENDUM 8325.1: Example summaries of SCP-8325-# instances.

+ Summary of notable SCP-8325-#

- Clearance Level 4/8325 Accepted

SCP-8325-#
Media
Retrieved

Deviations

SCP-8325-1
Elvis Sings The Wonderful World of Christmas (1971)
Cassette
10/12/1974

Lyrics of "I'll Be Home On Christmas Day" (1971) had changed to the perspective of Santa Claus on his sleigh ride returning home to Mrs. Claus. "Blue Christmas" (1964) had been replaced entirely by a rockabilly cover of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" (1952), which Presley was never known to have performed.

SCP-8325-12
Villancicos de València (1976)
Vinyl
2/12/1979

Four (4) additional tracks appear on the reverse album, despite originally containing six (6) only on the obverse.

• "Demasiado calor para mis renos": Pare Noél sings about the beauty of a ranch in Catalonia, but laments that he cannot move his workshop there as the weather is too warm for his reindeer.

• "Mi abuelo tiene una gran barba blanca": A young boy sings about his grandfather, increasingly describing him with physical and behavioral traits associated with Papá Noel before eventually considering that they are the same person.

• "Patinaje sobre hielo en el Túria": The Túria has frozen over Christmas morning, an act attributed to the Reyes Magos, allowing citizens of Valencia to ice skate over it.

• "Pezuñas en el campanario": A farce about two nuns hearing hooves on the church roof. The optimistic nun rejoices that Papá Noel is visiting their boarding house, while the pessimistic nun worries Satanás has come to take the children. Which is left ambiguous.

SCP-8325-68
CAMERA████ surveillance footage - 1982 DEC 24–25
VHS
27/12/1982

At 20:00 local time, all room lights in Office Block E2 went out from camera perspective. From 00:17 to 00:23, Santa Claus enters frame, places presents under Christmas tree, and departs. Lights turn back on at 06:00, and office staff do not notice any discrepancies while proceeding with their Secret Santa exchange.

Note: First instance of a Foundation site's surveillance footage being affected. SCP-8325 reclassified as Gevurah following discovery of SCP-8325-68.

SCP-8325-233
"Christmas 1989"
VHS
1/11/1990

Contents unaltered until all the presents under the Christmas tree have been opened. Dr. Hazel Baker and her family notice laughter and noise from outside, announcing arrival of Father Christmas through the chimney. Father Christmas distributes four (4) presents among the Baker family, who upon opening further gifted them to their spouse or sibling. The family thanked Father Christmas for the presents, who facetiously refused compensation before implying a request for milk and cookies. Dr. Baker handled the camcorder as Mr. Baker left to serve cookies, after which Father Christmas departed.

Note: Dr. Baker identified the fictitious presents as items their final recipients had expressed interest in, but she and her husband had been unable to afford. Upon successful argument to the Ethics Committee, Dr. Baker was awarded monetary compensation and a digitized copy of SCP-8325-233 expunged of SCP-8325's alterations.

SCP-8325-409
Die Hard (1988)
CD
20/6/1995

Video and German audio altered. Thirteen (13) diminutive humanoids seen among the party attendees taken hostage. Silhouette of Santa's sleigh passed over the moon in one scene, and in a later scene, Santa Claus assists the NYPD in distributing shock blankets to freed hostages. Credits list "St. Nikolaus" and individual localized names of the Yule Lads.

SCP-8325-537
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
DVD
6/2/2009

Santa Claus appears across several scenes, namely musical numbers of "One More Sleep 'til Christmas", "It Feels Like Christmas", and "Thankful Heart"; as well as narrative commentary by the Great Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat. Gonzo recognizes the effects of SCP-8325 as a deviation from script, and regards the Santa Claus on set with confusion and eventual annoyance. Credits lists "Santa Claus … Himself"

SCP-8325-643
Exploration SCP-████/Psi-01#3 (05/03/1992)
.mp4
2/2/2011

Exploration of SCP-████ by Mobile Task Force Psi-01 "Snowplow" proceeds as detailed in original transcript until agents Ψ01-3 Kira Zharov and Ψ01-5 Einari Alasuvanto take point in a store, where they discover two humans who dress and identify as Ded Moroz and his granddaughter, ostensibly Snegurochka. [DATA EXPUNGED] successfully extracted the civilians.

Note: In reality, Ψ01-3 Alasuvanto was the sole survivor of the mission. As no other personnel or their equipment were recovered, no visual records of the mission remain.

SCP-8325-985
Joyeux Noël (2005)
Blu-Ray
13/5/2011

After the Royal Scots Fusiliers begin playing Christmas carols, the British, French, and German soldiers notice the arrival of Santa Claus as he lands his sleigh in no-man's-land. Santa is approached by Pvt. Nikolaus Sprink (Benno Fürmann) and the lieutenants Audebert (Guillaume Canet), Gordon (Alex Ferns), and Horstmayer (Daniel Brühl), and after short discussion readily agree to a Christmas truce Santa offers to host. Horsmayer or any of his soldiers do not make issue that they are Jewish. Pvt. Jonathan (Steven Robertson) gets kicked by one of the reindeer, breaking his arm; this results in his absence from the scene where he would've fatally shot Ponchel (Dany Boon) while he was disguised as a German troop. After Horstmayer and the 93te Infanterie are reprimanded by Crown Prince Wilhelm (Thomas Schmauser) and reassigned to East Prussia for partaking in the truce, a train conductor with pointed ears informs Horstmayer that their train is headed not to the Eastern Front but to Sonneburg. Credits lists "Faither Noël-Yuil Claus de Weihnachten".

SCP-8325-1252
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic: Holiday Hearts (2017)
DVD
23/7/2018

Of the five episodes included in the home video release, only three episodes were affected.

• "Winter Wrap Up": A brown reindeer with a red nose, white beard, and Santa hat is seen in the background of four separate scenes. Design is consistent with deer seen in the later "My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever" (2018) special.

• "Hearthbreakers": While rambling with excitement for the holidays on a train ride, Pinkie Pie (Andrea Libman) names "Christmas" to the confusion of Apple Bloom (Michelle Creber) before correcting herself with the fictitious analogue "Hearth's Warming".

• "A Hearth's Warming Tail": Discord (John de Lancie), absent from the original episode, appears in the background of one scene looking under a Christmas tree with a magnifying glass before finding and eating a Santa hat. Final shot of the episode has the Santa reindeer fly in drawing a sleigh full of presents while declaring "Happy Hearth's Warming, everypony".

John de Lancie's name is added to the credits, where he is also credited and a vocal match to the reindeer, listed as "Kringle Canter".

SCP-8325-1781
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Reel
1/8/2020

Harry Bailey (Todd Karns) is accompanied by Santa Claus for his hero's welcome back to Bedford Falls. Instead of being awarded the Medal of Honor for shooting down a kamikaze pilot, Bailey is recognized for escorting Santa's sleigh through Nazi German airspace. In the future without the Bailey brothers, Santa Claus was shot down by the Germans, and George Bailey (James Stewart) is horrified when the people of Potterville lynch a man of Bavarian descent for "killing Christmas". Credits lists "Klaus Sinter as Santa Claus".

Note: Original reel was lost in storage after 1950, rediscovered as SCP-8325-1781. Possibly oldest SCP-8325-# instance, both in terms of source and transfiguation.

SCP-8325-2014
"Skifahren in Mayrhofen" (2022)
.webm
14/2/2023

Intermittently throughout the video, ambient pop music played over speakers replaced with holiday instrumentals, and electronic dance music performed at Snowbombing 2022 prominently incorporates chords and audio clips from traditionally holiday music. Dialogue between Agent Jens Wenzel's cousins, Hanni Recknagel and Helmut Weissflog, deviates moderately from the original recording. Recknagel records two (2) reindeer, a buck and a doe, at the east edge of the ski resort. Footage of skiing montage is nearly identically until a sleigh absent of draft animals crosses frame, down the ski slope. The passengers, Mr. and Mrs. Claus, are audibly excited. After the sleigh stops at the runout without issue, the montage resumes as normal.

SCP-8325-2236
"This Is Not A Christmas Song 🎄🔥 [Copyright Free] No.130" (2021)
.mp3
20/12/2024

Vocals are replaced by an older male and lyrics changed to being more positive and appreciative of Christmas; acts of violence are replaced, but the theme of dismay over the commercialization of Christmas followed by a renewed festivity is still present. All utterances of the title in the chorus are replaced with variations of "this is my/your/their/our Christmas song". Single cover in the rendered animated background now bears the title "This Is A Christmas Song For All".

(Request the Recordkeeping and Information Security Administration (RAISA) OR the Department of Pataphysics (Do'P) for access to: SCP-8325-# Inventory, Ⅳ-SCP-8325-# Summary Archives, Ⅳ-SCP-8325-# Archives.)

Footnotes

1. The Ethics Committee ruling on SCP-8325-233 was the one exception my site or any other have and will ever allow. If the sole existing copy of your family's holiday mementos are recorded over, their loss is the fault of no one but yourself. — Dr. Vidya Durrani, Director of BISRC-Site-12.

2. SCP-8325 has not affected any media that exclusively allude to non Eurocentric holidays, such as the Eids, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. The winter solstice as observed in the Advent and Yule are susceptible, but the effect has not been observed in any recordings of Yaldā Night or Dongzhi.

3. Depiction of summer in either hemisphere remains susceptible if the prior sub-criteria is prevalent.

4. SCP-8325-1682 and its focus upon a snow hare when the original documentary completely omitted all mentions of holidays makes the item a bizarre outlier. It is worth considering that there may have been interference with another unidentified anomaly. Christianity seems to be a commonality. — O5-7, Overseer Council.

5. Footage of SCP-6596 during its incursions upon EUPLCA-Site-120 are susceptible to SCP-8325.

6. The original recording documented Dr. Baker's last Christmas with her husband and both of their daughters. A vehicular incident would claim the lives of Mr. Baker and their eldest in August 1990.

7. Samson, Hubert T., “An Illusion of Panic and Productivity: On anomalous encounters and containment team activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what it spells for our next quota.” Observer: An SCP Foundation Journal (Oct. 2020): pg. 350–356.