Art by SunnyClockwork
As someone who greatly enjoys Groups of Interest (GoIs) and reading articles with/about them, nothing burns me up more than seeing someone mischaracterize them. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of room to experiment with the philosophy and themes of GoIs, but there is a difference between treading new ground and completely missing the mark.
In this essay, I hope to cover the important and most basic themes of the wiki's three major government-run normalcy organizations: GRU-P, IJAMEA, and the UIU.
Keep in mind this is not a writing guide, but instead is a breakdown of other articles which use the themes of the group to their fullest extent and explore what these groups bring to the table as far as storytelling goes.
GRU Division P
First and foremost we have GRU Division P. This GoI is in a weird state of limbo, one which doesn't make much sense to me. To explain, many believe that GRU only existed in the Soviet Union, which is not true. The real life GRU survived the collapse of the Soviet Union and still exists in today's Russian Federation. After all, GRU stands for Main Intelligence Directorate1 and is the Soviet/Russian equivalent of foreign military intelligence organization. If you're having trouble visualizing this, just imagine the Soviet/Russian CIA/MI6.
Anyway, now for the part that's relevant to the SCP Wiki!
GRU Division P's origins on the wiki are humble. Their first article, SCP-1011, contains but a passing mention of them at the end as a Soviet normalcy organization. And for a while, that's mostly what they remained as. At least until Incident 0401-42-III - 'Chornobylska Katastrofa', which established some lore for the GoI. Not only were they a normalcy org, they were also a spy organization.
This continued to evolve until SCP-2430, in which the organization takes a more 'cult of personality' approach to leadership. In SCP-2430, GRU-P creates an immortal Hitler clone for Stalin to torture and purposefully make it able to feel pain.2 This development made it so that the organization was more bound to the Soviet leader's pettiness.
In all honesty, GRU Division P hasn't changed an awful lot since their inception in 2011. It's a simple concept, one that isn't hard to mess up and is easily understood by the general tropes their stories have. What are their tropes, you may ask? Well…
Though some articles have GRU Division P surviving into the modern day under the Russian Federation, most of their stories are set against the backdrop of the Cold War. This is because many authors in America-centric society romanticize this period of time as a very clear "Us vs Them" not-quite-conflict-but-still-a-conflict that never got "hot"3 enough for many of the NATO members that this decades spanning conflict encompassed. Its also worth pointing out that most people try to paint the Foundation as apolitical, but they still have this Foundation vs GRU-P vibe that usually comes from America-centric backgrounds. Kinda weird, but hey, we're not here to talk about that.
Another thing common of GRU-P articles is the focus on espionage. They are, after all, part of the Soviet/Russian intelligence arm of the government. There are no real major characters that have sprung up from GRU-P, except maybe Agent Strelnikov. Depending on your headcanon, anyway. In Eventyr, he is a former MI6664 asset embedded into GRU-P who uses a fake Russian accent to throw people off and to fuck with them.
Finally, GRU-P are often depicted as being at odds with the Foundation. This bit doesn't make full sense to me because the Foundation is meant to supersede national/political affiliations and be working towards the common good of humanity (at least in most headcanons)and therefore shouldn't be politicized as an asset of the West. But again, America-centric bias. Anyway, they do share some similarities with the Foundation. Both are cold and calculating in their every maneuver, though GRU-P is less hesitant to employ anomalies as agents as seen in SCP-1723.
Oh, and of course, they serve as excellent foil to Obskurakorps. Socialists hate Nazis after all. Practice praxis, comrades!
So how does one write a GRU-P article? Let's review.
GRU Division P exists to serve the interests of the Soviet Union/Russia. This means that unlike the Foundation, they have a vested interest in destroying anomalies which may pose a danger to citizens of the country if they cannot figure out a way to weaponize them against their enemies. Of course, this comes with it's own problems; running afoul of the Foundation and other national organizations being part of it. As a whole, GRU-P are more willing to allow anomalies to work under them since they are (at least in Cold War themed entries) locked in a bitter war of attrition with NATO and want to employ any asset available to them.
If you want to include GRU-P in your article, this means you are probably writing something set during the Cold War or at least within Russia or a former Soviet republic. This means doing research into the culture. I don't mean having your characters say "сука блядь" or talk about rations, but really look into the culture and history of what you want to write. What was life like for the average military officer in Eastern Europe in the 80's? What was espionage like then? What folkloric stories were being told at the time? How did the New Soviet man push work for them? When writing about a different culture than one's own, respecting it and doing research is important.
Imperial Japanese Anomalous Matters Examination Agency (IJAMEA)
Ah, IJAMEA. Though it's been around on the wiki for quite a while, it only has (at time of writing) 51 articles. This is likely due to, at least in my opinion, how little the average person knows about Imperial Japan in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as well as a general unwillingness to do research beyond the very basic things.
There is also, of course the very real "write what you know" advice and most of the wiki's authors just don't know about this very specific topic, which is fair considering that the English SCP Wiki branch is mostly from the anglosphere.
But what exactly is IJAMEA? let's jump in.
IJAMEA5 initially began as little more than a footnote in two articles, SCP-2937 and SCP-2954, where they were mentioned as your stock-standard national normalcy org. It wasn't until their third article, SCP-2478, that were given an identity as being part of Imperial Japan's military.6
In SCP-2478, IJAMEA is portrayed as taking advantage of anomalies to utilize in warfare during it's Meji period, which was marked by an effort to modernize Japan by it's governing body. More specifically, SCP-2478 were used by IJAMEA as soldiers in the Second Sino-Japanese War. This identity stuck, and this is largely what IJAMEA is known for today. For the record, though the organization was dissolved following the end of WWII, there are still some holdouts scattered across Japan and the Pacific known as Kakure shogun or "Hidden Generals".
It is important to note that while a lot of early IJAMEA articles weren't overtly racist, they did play into tropes that Americans/Europeans believe to be true of Japanese culture and people.
So with this in mind, what are some typical story beats or tropes present in IJAMEA articles?
As you may have expected, Japanese history and culture plays heavily into IJAMEA-focused articles. However, this is the part where I get on my hands and knees and ask you, beg you, implore you, to do your goddamn research. The last thing anyone wants to read is some orientalist bullshit based on something you saw once in an anime and decided that was enough to write an article about, or some Imperial Japanese war crime apologia.
And I don't just mean read a Wikipedia article, look at the sources and citations. If you can't read Japanese, reach out to someone from JP either on the Japanese Wiki's discord or on the INT discord; the users there are friendly and kind and will likely be happy to help you out, so long as you are respectful and kind in return. If worse comes to worst, you can always use DeepL or Google Translate, though these aren't the most reliable translators out there.
Many are at least vaguely familiar with Japanese folklore. But this is not all that encompasses a good IJAMEA article. At it's height, IJAMEA was spread all over the Pacific doing Imperialistic things to the natives of the Malaysia, China, Korea, etc., so this means that an article featuring them would likely involve the culture of the occupied peoples as well. So why not take this as an opportunity to do more research? Want to write about the Imperial Japanese occupation of the Philippines? Sure, just do your goddamn research. The Bataan Death March was a very real thing, and you can absolutely tastefully write about it as long as you do your goddamn research. The last thing I want to see anyone out here doing is orientalism/Imperial Japanese war crime apologia. We're better than that. Come on.
Why yes, this section basically boils down to "Do your goddamn research." Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. :)
So how does one write an IJAMEA article?
Carefully.
The parent organization of this GoI is responsible for many atrocities that killed, injured, and misplaced millions in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. World War II, specifically the Pacific Theater, or the Second Sino-Japanese War are the most common settings for articles involving IJAMEA. Articles set in more modern times can still be done with the Kakure shogun as previously mentioned. And again, as previously mentioned and emphasized, do your goddamn research.
As Japan and eastern Asia in general have a rich, millennia-old culture and folklore, themes of said folklore can be expected to pop up in articles featuring IJAMEA, especially if they can be applied to a military focus. Most IJAMEA articles are focused on World War II, specifically their time opposing the Allied Navies/Air Forces in the Pacific. Why not try something new? Write about the Second Sino-Japanese War,7 or hell, write about the First Sino-Japanese War! Just say it with me now, do your goddamn research.
And while we are on the topic of research, I must advise you to try and do your research responsibly. In the age of AI, Google has turned into a cesspit of misinformation. Prioritize reading Japanese history/cultural texts authored by Japanese voices. But be advised, these might be biased towards imperialism. A good jumping off point to start your research would be Grassroots Fascism: The War Experience of the Japanese People by Yoshimi Yoshiaki,8 translated by Ethan Mark. If you want to read about other perspectives of how Imperial Japan operated in the Pacific/East Asia, there is The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II by Iris Chang.
If you don't feel like doing the relevant research or cannot for any reason, I think you should consider whether or not this is your story to tell. Consider leaving this up to Asian voices to reclaim, similar to what is currently ongoing with ORIA and Muslim voices.
Unusual Incidents Unit (UIU)
The FBI's Unusual Incidents Unit is one of the more popular GoIs on the wiki, with over 250 articles to their name at time of writing. Not too shabby for a GoI that started out as a buttmonkey. Time has, however, been kind to them, as the UIU in modern times aren't seen as bumbling buffoons anymore. This rehabilitation of their image was largely the work of a select group of authors who re-imagined them from failsons to magic cops, which is a more narratively interesting niche for them to occupy.
So what's the UIU's deal? Let's jump in.
The UIU's earliest mention is in the 2009 tale UIU Files Chapter 1, the sequel of which was deleted from the wiki at some point and the series abandoned.9 In this tale, the UIU are depicted as generally ineffectual but still a solid recruiting pool by the Foundation. Their next surviving appearance was in Scantron's Proposal, which is interesting because it is a GoI format that predates all other GoI formats. That being said, the article is practically just the Foundation through the eyes of the UIU.
Their appearances continued, mostly confined to tales where they were seen as mildly incompetent, up until the infamous UIU Orientation, in which they are self-described as "a joke", an underdog in the anomalous world completely outclassed and outgunned; a small fish in a big pond. Their first appearance in an SCP, not counting Scantron's Proposal, would not come until SCP-1796, where they are again depicted as out of their depth. 2014's GoI Contest brought about a new direction for the UIU; it made them magic cops who were actually good at their job. Ihp's series, The UIU Series With No Name, had them actually doing things and not being pathetic.
However, things didn't really get to where they are now for the UIU until 2016 with GreenWolf's UIU Location Dossier — "Three Portlands" and subsequent Third Law series The Unusual Investigations of Kenneth Spencer and Robin Thorne, where they were depicted not only as magic cops, but as capable magic cops policing the busiest Free Port in North America. Ever since then, their image has been rehabilitated from the old saying "UIUseless".
Talk about a glow up!
What does a UIU article usually cover?
Earlier articles in the site's history featuring the UIU were, as previously mentioned, usually reliant on the trope of "UIUseless". Whether this means they are chasing figurative ghosts rather than real ones, or are just simply not worth a damn is up to the author, though it's typically the former.
Seeing as the FBI is the body in charge of enforcing federal law in the US, this means that they are typically responding to paracriminals. This makes them excellent foils to the Chicago Spirit and AWCY, or any other organizations prone to terror/crime.
Got a cult that needs tackling? The UIU can handle them. Got a pyromaniac reality bender? Sic the UIU agents on 'em! Got an anart trafficker mucking up the Three Portlands museum? You betcha! As long as they are operating within the United States or it's territories and they are committing a federal crime, the UIU are your go-to.
One thing to note, however, is that their relationship with the Foundation is typically tenuous at best. Sure, they'll work together on occasion, but the Foundation doesn't like to relinquish their toys to the US government, which the UIU no doubt wants.
So how do you write a UIU article?
This all comes down to how you headcanon the organization. They can be UIUseless, though that trope is pretty tired and not very popular right now, or they can be capable magic cops, or they can be somewhere in between! It's entirely up to you, the author, how you portray them. However, one thing that has been a mainstay for years is making them magic cops.
As for the "do your goddamn research" section of this part? Well. You can research old FBI casefiles and see about putting an anomalous twist on them. Or you can just create your own paracriminal! There's room for both historical fiction based on reality and unique criminals on this site.
That aside, there's not a lot to really cover for the UIU in this section, seeing as they aren't often miscast or used incorrectly. They are a really interesting group in the sense that they have seen what is probably the biggest change in perception on the wiki from origin to present day. It makes me wonder if there are other GoIs that could probably see a rehabilitation. Like maybe Alexylva.
Anyway, here's a challenge for you: write an article about a UIU agent meeting a Foundation agent and neither knows who the other is.
Stay tuned for the next essay in which I pick two GoIs at random and talk about them!
And that's all I wrote.