Item#: 4265

Containment Class: safe

Secondary Class: none

Disruption Class: dark

Risk Class: notice

Special Containment Procedures: SCP-4265 is kept in a standard reptilian enclosure modified to include a film projector and accompanying screen. SCP-4265 is to be shown a new motion picture on a bi-weekly basis. SCP-4265 is to be monitored during the screening to ensure it is maintaining interest in the film. If SCP-4265 shows no interest in the motion picture for the first twelve minutes of screening, it is to be removed and replaced with another.

All instances of SCP-4265-1 are to be documented and archived at SCP-4265's containment site, any motion picture depicted by SCP-4265-1 is considered ineligible for SCP-4265 screenings.

SCP-4265 in its "feeding trance"

Description: SCP-4265 is an instance of the species Pantherophis guttatus (Corn Snake) that is estimated to be sixteen months old at time of retrieval. SCP-4265 is abnormally long, measuring 4.4 m in length. SCP-4265 requires no nutrition to survive but has shown signs of hunger after going approximately ten to fifteen days without watching a theatrical motion picture. When viewing a theatrical film in order to feed, SCP-4265 will be completely entranced by it. The only way to break this focus is by physically disturbing SCP-4265.

SCP-4265-1 shortly after being shed

SCP-4265's anomalous effects activate whenever it sheds its skin. The shed skin, hereby designated as SCP-4265-1, resembles a 35mm film strip and is compatible with any system designed to operate such. All instances of SCP-4265-1 are silent and include English subtitles, presumably due to the lack of an accompanying audio source. SCP-4265 will shed an instance of SCP-4265-1 approximately once every thirty days. However when under severe stress SCP-4265 has been known to shed as often as once per week.

The motion picture depicted by SCP-4265-1 will always be a theatrical film, presumably one SCP-4265 has already seen. SCP-4265 has been shown on several occasions to be able to modify the films to an unlimited extent. For an incomplete list of motion pictures portrayed by instances of SCP-4265-1 and any changes to the film see Addendum-4265-B.

Addendum-4265-A: After 32 days in containment SCP-4265 began showing signs of severe malnutrition and depression. Since this point, subsequent films portrayed by SCP-4265-1 have been increasing in violence and bleakness of tone. The first instance to exhibit this kind of of change depicts the film Stepbrothers (2008), which was completely unedited with the exception of the closing shot, where the two leads are swiftly dispatched by Foundation Agent Ellison, the agent that had initially retrieved SCP-4265. Subsequent instances of SCP-4265-1 depict an increasing amount of violence being enacted both on and by Foundation personnel.

After an additional three shed cycles the motion picture depicted by SCP-4265-1 is nearly unrecognizable as its original version: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971). The only unchanged scene was the original film's "boat ride" sequence in the early second act.

This inciting incident brought to the Foundation's attention SCP-4265's need to regularly view new films in order to survive. On 06/21/2018 Researcher Kilgallon let SCP-4265 watch the motion picture Holes (2003) on their personal cellular device from the outside of SCP-4265's glass enclosure. SCP-4265's mood immediately improved and supervising staff shortly thereafter called for the installation of a screen and projector into SCP-4265's containment in order to keep it fed and docile. Since then motion pictures depicted by SCP-4265-1 have taken on a much more positive tone, and SCP-4265's general health has also improved.

Addendum-4265-B: Below is an incomplete list of films depicted as instances of SCP-4265-1 since SCP-4265's retrieval:

0. Black Panther (2018)

Alterations: Any reference to the titular "Black Panther" is replaced by the "Black Mamba", all visual references to such are altered accordingly.

Note: This instance was not directly shed by SCP-4265 but instead acquired alongside SCP-4265 at the █████ ███████ theater in Los Angeles, California, where it was played by theater staff who presumably mistook it for a copy of the original film. Class-A amnestics were administered to all civilian parties involved and an additional fourteen instances of SCP-4265-1 were recovered from the site. Analysis of recovered instances ongoing.

1. The Matrix Reloaded (2003)

Alterations: None.

2. Good Will Hunting (1997)

Alterations: None.

3. Stepbrothers (2008)

Alterations: During the closing shot of the film the two lead characters are shot in the head by Agent Ellison wielding a handgun.

Note: This is the first instance of SCP-4265-1 depicting a film altered from its original theatrical release since Foundation acquisition of SCP-4265.

4. The Emperor's New Groove (2000)

Alterations: Instead of being transformed into a llama like in the original film, the protagonist is transformed into a cartoon snake. Unlike the ending of the original film the protagonist is never transformed back into a human.

5. Alien (1979)

Alterations: The titular alien resembles SCP-████; the change is superficial and the creature still has all the same behavior and abilities as the alien from the original film. The seven human characters in the film are all replaced by Foundation researchers assigned to SCP-4265. All seven humans are killed by the creature in the SCP-4265-1 version of the film.

Note: SCP-████ had breached containment on 05/31/2018, close to the start of this shed cycle. Despite the staff's violent deaths depicted by SCP-4265-1 none of the Foundation staff portrayed were injured during the containment breach. It is unknown whether this was a manifestation of SCP-4265's fear of SCP-████, its wish to enact harm on the humans portrayed, or a combination of the two.

6. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)

Alterations: The titular character is replaced by Researcher Kilgallon and the children of the film are all replaced by snakes wearing human clothing. Instead of the karmic punishments being enacted on the children of the original film, Researcher Kilgallon in the role of Willy Wonka terminates the characters. These terminations were all done via gruesome means that are completely disconnected from the events of the original film. As mentioned in Addendum-4265-A the only unedited scene of the motion picture is the "Boat Ride" sequence in the film's second act.

7. Holes (2003)

Alterations: None.

Note: This was the first instance of SCP-4265-1 to be produced after SCP-4265 was "fed" by Foundation personnel.

8. Snakes on a Plane (2006)

Alterations: None.

9. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Alterations: Instead of snakes, the protagonist has a fear of mongooses; this does not affect the plot in any way. The Ark of the Covenant depicted in the film is replaced by a reduced model of SCP-4265's containment chamber.

10. Zootopia (2016)

Alterations: All characters in the film are replaced with either a member of Foundation staff, or by an anthropomorphized version of a living SCP subject stored at Site-42, the conflict of the film still revolves around factions of prey and predators but they are relabeled as "Humans" and "Creatures" respectively. The two protagonists of the film, anthropomorphized versions of a female European rabbit and a male red fox, are replaced by Researcher Kilgallon and SCP-4265 respectively.

Note: It is as of yet unknown how SCP-4265 knew the appearance of the SCP subjects depicted, because as of this point the only other SCP subject it had seen was SCP-████ during the containment breach on 05/31/2018.