"Nobody" HUB

Overview

Foreword: The following document was recovered by Agent ████████ on ███. ██, 1954. ████████ claims he was given the note by another agent whom he did not recognize. Full account of the incident can be found in Document GOI-006-001: "Nobody: First Appearance".

The text details information on the supposed group or individual entity referred to as "Nobody." The information is vague and inconclusive. Known information includes:

• No two individuals operating under the alias "Nobody" have been seen active at the same time.
• Frequently, though not always, "Nobody" appears to be an elderly male human of European descent, dressed in a grey or black suit.
• "Nobody" often provides unwarranted assistance to the Foundation. In other cases, "Nobody" will attempt to undermine the Foundation.
• "Nobody" is generally non-violent and non-hostile towards Foundation personnel.

Agents are required to immediately report any individual matching this description or self-identifying as "Nobody." Caution is recommended when dealing with this entity. Command will decide appropriate reaction to "Nobody" on a case-by-case basis.

Original Text as Follows:

Dear Sirs and Madams of the Foundation,

I hope that this letter finds you well. You do not know who I am yet, however, I fear that our paths will cross many times in the future. I am sending you this letter with the wish that our relationship will not be entirely hostile.

Of course, I know that your organization can never officially adopt a policy other than open conflict with me, simply due to my very nature. For this reason, I hope to address not the Foundation as an organization, but as a group of individuals. On those inevitable days that we meet in the field, I hope that you will remain amicable with me. It is for the safety of you and yours that I ask this.

In order to demonstrate my goodwill, I will endeavor to reveal some truths about myself. In this career, as you surely understand by now, secrets are a form of strength, and I hope that this debilitation will be a gateway towards copacetic relations.

Surely, the first question you must have is the question of who I am. Unfortunately, this is a difficult answer for anyone to give, and perhaps more difficult for me than most. All I can say is that you will recognize me.

The next question, as to my objectives, is equally difficult to respond to. Often, you will find that our goals will overlap, and I will attempt to assist you. In other times, we will surely be in conflict. I hope that you will not cause these conflicts to escalate beyond what is necessary.

And now, the final question, and perhaps the most important and enlightening one. My motivations, or why I am doing this. Here at last is an answer I can give without imprecision. I am not whole in the way that others are. I am not significant in the way that others are. I am unable to affect the world in the way others are. In the most literal sense, I am a person without importance or influence - a nobody. All my efforts are an attempt to resist my very nature and undermine these truths about myself. Like all sentient beings, I desire my existence to have meaning.

I would also like to inform you that I currently act alone. However, it has come to my attention that there may be others that share my unique qualities. In the future I hope to work alongside them, although it is equally likely that I will always be merely an individual.

At this moment, I am certain that you are beginning to question the veracity of this letter, and the information that it provides. This could be a trick or a falsity orchestrated by one of your many enemies. Unfortunately, I cannot offer any evidence other than my word. You will have to concede on faith that I exist and that this information is accurate.

However, I do hope that you will take my message to heart. Fate may have set us at odds, but that does not mean that we have to accept it.

With All Due Respect,

A Nobody

Collected Data

Notes:

• Nobody's Observations on Arson, Activism, and Mustaches
• Intro - Note: Charles Ogden Gears
• Close Encounter With Nobody
• Documents Recovered in Honshu, Japan, 1949
• jacklyn diamandis, accountable to nobody
• Nobody's Business
• Nobody's Observations on Temporal Displacement, Family, and Waffles
• Nobody there, but the thing-in-itself
• Nobody, Nobody, Nobody, and Nobody's Encounters with The Man in the White Suit
• Note: A Part of Nobody
• Note: Immortality Amulet
• Note: Your Name is "Nobody"
• The Lands Nobody Returns From
• Universal Collision

Translated Notes From International Branches:

• Note: She Who Betrayed Everyone
• Note: Nobody Is The True Brave One From The West
• Nobody's Home

Tales:

• Just Another Nobody
• What Nobody Wants

Canons:

• The Man Who Wasnt There

Further Research

• SCP-CN-2510
• SCP-5016
• SCP-8316
• SCP-8297
• SCP-4683
• SCP-5947
• SCP-3178
• SCP-5074
• SCP-5877
• SCP-4427
• SCP-5375
• SCP-5353
• SCP-1880
• SCP-7043
• SCP-5555
• Captain Kirby's Proposal
• SCP-6001

International Branch Translations:

• SCP-ES-196

Documented Accounts

• A Continuous Reflection
• Almost a Century in the Making
• Nobody Came to Help
• A Place Called Nowhere
• A Nice Waffle Dinner
• Nobody Born Anew
• 1 - Polly - The Hole
• You and Nobody Else
• Why Aren't You Helping
• Nobody would hum folks in the winds again and again
• No One's Home
• Nobody's That Good at Poker
• Nobody Special
• This is not a Place of Honor
• Dread Conspiracy
• Nobody Runs Site-19
• You Would Think Cataclysm Could Shake the Feeling That Change is Slow
• Nobody Serves Up A Cold Plate Of Whoop Ass
• The Person in Rags
• People Without Meaning
• This Toy Facsimile of Life
• Jäger, Part 1
• Nobody Likes Having Enemies
• Nobody's Home
• Jäger, Part 2
• Everybody Dreams
• Self. Similar.
• On the Path Nobody Knows
• Crooked Kingdom
• I Was the Queen (Before It Was Cool)
• Human
• An Actual Plan
• Fret Not, Dear Heart, Let Not Them Hear
• The Lampeter Limited
• Faceless
• Four Knights' Tango
• Perfect
• The Lord of the ██████
• Killing Knowledge
• Losing the Plot
• Character Interactions Disguised As An Epilogue
• Library Lifeline
• Nobody In Trouble
• The Woman Who Wasn't There
• Nobody's Looking for Trouble
• There Is No Colour Out of Space
• Pretty Magic Gaiden Mecha Tokyo-Mon Demon Ninja Sailor Clef
• Mental Mazes
• Point In Line
• D.A.R.E. (Drugs Are Really Extreme!)
• all i ever wanted; all i ever deserved
• A Dove In A Chicken Pen
• Favors-Part Two
• A Poem for Nobody
• Favors-Part One
• Tim Wilson KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE!!!
• Alternate Character Interpretations
• This Is How We Build Revelation
• Mister Nobody
• The Moon Is a Dead World
• Prelude: A Terminus
• Nobody in Their Right Mind
• Nobody Likes a Sneak
• Postlude: A Terminus
• The Heart of the Beast
• Ghosts In The Machine
• To The Dreams He Is No Nobody
• SCP the Anime, part 4 (Gears/Iceberg, Clef/Kondraki, Rights/Light, Kain, monkey!Bright)
• Asmodeus
• Files intercepted from Anderson Systems personnel
• Nobody Wants To See You Succeed
• A Day Notable to Nobody
• Everyday Is Somebody's Birthday
• Nobody's Observations on Rejected Nobody Applications
• Factory-Finding Mission
• Good Fences Make Good Neighbors
• Chiaroscuro
• I'll Remember You
• Adventuring Interlude
• Foreign Aid
• Concerto in D-Major, Orchestrated for Paintbrush and Fedora
• The Stranger and the Secretary
• Hello, My Name Isn't
• Command Performance
• Awakenings
• Brotherhood
• #LetTheFactoryFail
• CryogenChaos' Comment Tales
• Snippets From The Serpent
• Nobody Dies
• Code Brown
• SCP-166
• wowwee u kild ursefl
• Empty Unmarked Grave
• Thrive
• Mission Statement
• GOC, or that guy with a gun fetish
• 1
• Interviews with Prospective Groups of Interest
• Nobody Knows

International Branch Translations:

• The Others, Part 1
• UIU File: 1996-005
• Smoking Mirror

Information

Greetings, writers and readers. If you are viewing this page, it means that you have at least some interest in writing Nobody. Therefore, I will attempt to organize my thoughts into an essay about this particular Group of Interest. I hope that my ideas can help you refine your own.

Part I: Who is Nobody?

Writing for Nobody presents a unique challenge. One of Nobody's core themes (and possibly the only theme that is consistent among all his appearances) is "Mystery." Unlike the other GOIs, which are relatively straightforward in their motivations and methods, Nobody has tons of varying interpretations.

In many of his incarnations, the reader is never 100% sure who he is or what his motives are. In his appearances where you do learn his true nature, authors have interpreted who he is in many vastly different ways. These include: (White text to avoid spoiling some awesome tales) a lie made up by SCP Agents to avoid punishment, to the true form of SCP-055, to secretly the leader of all the major GOIs. (No more white text).

So, the first step to writing anything about this GOI is figuring out who is Nobody, what his/her/its/their/ goals are, and how they are going about accomplishing those goals. Even if you don't reveal this information to the readers, I believe that authors need to know in order to focus their writing.

Part II: How to Write Nobody

Due to the unique nature of Nobody, there is a lot of freedom to write the character in any way that you wish. There are cons, however, as there is less to build off of.

The trick, I think, is making sure that the core ideas and themes that you have are fitting with the Nobody character. If you get that right, you can really do some wild stuff with the plot. You do not even need to worry about conflicting with headcanons as much (at least compared to other GOIs).

So, with that said, here are what I believe to be the core themes of Nobody:

Mystery: Sure, you knew this one already. Still, this can be tricky to write if you are not careful. After all a mystery is only as good as its solution. As I mentioned previously, I think the most important thing here is that you start with a concrete plan of who Nobody is, what they want, and how they are going about accomplishing that goal.

Once you have that idea, you can begin scaling back what you are going to reveal to the reader, to allow that sense of mystery. You'll want to reveal just enough to keep people interested, but too much would ruin the suspense of the character.

Tangled Webs: Nobody is often involved in everything. He has his fingers in a lot of pies, and, Nobody is perhaps more involved with other GOIs than anyone else. Because of this, I think a good Nobody story has to have solid world-building. I'm not sure that it is possible to have a good Nobody story in which he doesn't interact with another group… though that might make for an interesting writing challenge.

The only advice I can really give here is to read up on other stories on the wiki. Try to imagine what Nobody would think of certain events and characters. If he could have involved himself in the plot of the story, how do you think he would have accomplished it? How do these groups' actions affect Nobody and his goals?

Fate and Control: This is a big one that I tried to focus on in my writing. When Nobody appears in a story, it is always significant. And, there is often no real way to fight against Nobody. Usually, even the almighty Foundation has to just allow him to do what he wants.

This brings up some interesting points about agency. If Nobody can appear anywhere and just mess everything up, how much control does anyone really have over their surroundings? In my writing, I tried to invert this theme and show that it is actually Nobody that has little control. Regardless, I think asking the question "Who's in control?" in your writing will really help make it interesting.

Part III: How to Write Nobody Objects

When considering how to write objects, I think it is important to first consider how one is going to write them rather than what they are going to write. I believe any good object can tell the story of the Group without explicitly telling anything. Simply using syntax and phrasing to tell a story.

Considering that Nobody is (likely) operating alone, it wouldn't really make sense for him to have formal documentation. However, considering how involved he is in the anomalous it world, it makes sense that he would need to have some data written down. This was the inspiration on how to do Nobody's "object" format.

Essentially, Nobody's objects are notes and memos that he makes to himself to remember important information. This includes plans, where things are located, and even what the different GOIs call certain objects.

I think that this is an interesting way to hit all of Nobody's core themes. Firstly, it shows mystery, because Nobody would not need to remind himself about everything. Therefore, some information is left out and excluded from the reader. Second, it shows the all the tangled webs Nobody is involved in by showing all the data he has on different groups. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, it deals with fate and control by focusing on "how the object can be used."

One drawback to this approach is that the objects must be incredibly short. This makes it difficult to tell a compelling story in this format. To mitigate this, the goal was to try to create a "popcorn" or "potato chip" type effect. Just a bit of narrative, and short enough that you are encouraged to read more.

"But, Nighkos, I didn't want you to ramble on about this kind of stuff! I just needed the syntax/format for writing a Nobody Article!"

OK, then, here you go:

+ Source Code:

[[div style="font-family:Monotype Corsiva"]] [!-- This line is for the font --]
[!--The indentation I have for the following lines is just for ease of reading and understanding. Wikidot does not normally parse spacing like that (unless it is between words or surrounded by the "at symbol" --]
[[table]]
[[row]]
[!-- Begin Page 1--]
[[cell style="border: 2px solid black"]]
[[table]]
[[row]] [!-- Between the row tags is one line --]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
__**Title of Object goes here**__
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[!--So line 2 starts here --]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
Tables are formatted to look like regular paper. One problem is that
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[!--And line 2 ends here --]
[!--You can change how many rows are on the page by adding and removing these blocks--]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
you have to be careful how much text you put on one line. If you
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
go over, you can mess up the look of the page. That said, you have
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
can go a bit under, and it still looks fine.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
@@ @@
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
Just copy the code, and replace the text with whatever you want.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
I used the sections Aliases, Summary, Threat, and Interest
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
as the things Nobody would want to remember. However, you
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
can change it up. Remember, it's not a formal document.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
So you can add/remove whatever sections you think are
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
appropriate.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
@@ @@
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
Also, I have 15 rows per page. Feel free to mess with the code.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
I have comments in the code that should help.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[/table]]
[[/cell]]
[!-- End Page 1--]
[!-- So, the "book" is 1 table, and each "page" is a table that is inside the "book" table. Hope that makes sense...--]
[!-- Begin Page 2--]
[[cell style="border: 2px solid black"]]
[[table]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
@@ @@
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
The following section is how you add an image (this can be tricky):
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[!--Add image--]
[!--Now here is where we begin to add an image. You can just copy this whole block and drop it wherever you want. Remember, you have to delete 5 rows to make up for the space this will take up. Also, if you want to change the image size, you will probably have to mess with how many rows it will take. --]
[!--This part is extra tricky, because now we need to nest in two more tables. 1 table will contain the text, and the other table will contain the image. Note the "style" tags that are on a bunch of stuff here. That is so everything will still line up with the outer tables. --]
[[row]]
[[cell style="margin:0; padding:0; height:100%; border-spacing:0px;"]]
[[table style="margin:0; padding:0; height:100%; border-spacing:0px;"]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="margin:0; padding:0; height:100%; border-spacing:0px;"]]
[[table style="margin:0; padding:0; height:100%; border-spacing:0px;"]] [!-- Text table --]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
You have to nest tables in order to
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
keep the text right. Again, you may
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
have to play with lengths a bit to get
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
it right. I've found that an image of
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
height = 100px is 5 rows of text.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[/table]] [!-- End text table --]
[[/cell]]
[[cell style="margin:0; padding:0; height:100%;"]]
[[table style="margin:0; padding:0; height:100%; border-spacing:0px;"]] [!-- Image table --]
[[row]]
[[cell]]
[[image scp-blank.png width="125px" height="100px"]]
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[/table]] [!-- End image table --]
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[/table]]
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[!-- End Add Image--]
[!-- Now we return to the regular syntax for the rest of the table --]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
@@ @@
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
In the page source, I have comments indicating where
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
certain blocks are. You should just be able to copy and
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
paste. Then, all you have to do is add the text, making sure
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
that everything lines up properly.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
@@ @@
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
For a blank row, or to add spacing, just use the "At Symbol" [!--Yes, I know this isn't actually the source for the at symbols, but nesting those things is a mess, so yeah. If you really want to know, check the page source--]
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[row]]
[[cell style="border: 1px solid silver"]]
Text inside the "At Symbol" symbol is taken literally.
[[/cell]]
[[/row]]
[[/table]]
[[/cell]] [!-- End Page 2--]
[[/row]]
[[/table]]
[[/div]]

Title of Object goes here Tables are formatted to look like regular paper. One problem is that you have to be careful how much text you put on one line. If you go over, you can mess up the look of the page. That said, you have can go a bit under, and it still looks fine. Just copy the code, and replace the text with whatever you want. I used the sections Aliases, Summary, Threat, and Interest as the things Nobody would want to remember. However, you can change it up. Remember, it's not a formal document. So you can add/remove whatever sections you think are appropriate. Also, I have 15 rows per page. Feel free to mess with the code. I have comments in the code that should help.

The following section is how you add an image (this can be tricky): You have to nest tables in order to keep the text right. Again, you may have to play with lengths a bit to get it right. I've found that an image of height = 100px is 5 rows of text. In the page source, I have comments indicating where certain blocks are. You should just be able to copy and paste. Then, all you have to do is add the text, making sure that everything lines up properly. For a blank row, or to add spacing, just use @@ @@ Text inside the "@@" symbol is taken literally.

Part IV: Our Nobody

Due to the reasoning I've already mentioned, you will likely have a vastly different interpretation of Nobody than what is presented here. Still, I would like to talk about what we were trying to accomplish in the hopes that it can help refine your ideas.

The main core of this work is how we decided to interpret Nobody. It is a concept I refer to as the Nobody as Mirror. Basically, the idea was to take the term "Nobody" as literally and dramatically as possible. This idea was inspired by how, in previous appearances, Nobody is able to blend in and move about with unprecedented freedom, seemingly separate from the world around him.

In short, in this conception, Nobody is unable to affect the world around him in any significant ways. He cannot be the origins of any change in the world. Anything that he tries to do will inevitably end up as if he was never involved. His goals are to try to affect something, so that he feels that his life will have meaning.

This concept was also attempted to be displayed in some other features about his character. For example, in these stories, Nobody mirrors the appearance and personality of whoever he interacts with. Rather than always appearing as an old man in a suit, he literally blends into his surroundings, always appearing as just another nobody. I feel that this really helps sell the drama of his condition, as he is not even able to generate his own emotions and personality.

Another core element of this work is an attempt to bridge all the different interpretations of Nobody. Personally, I feel that Nobody would be more interesting as a true "Group" of Interest rather than just an individual. Therefore, these stories hint at the possibilities of there being multiple Nobodies. In fact, it is possible that all the varying interpretations of the Nobody character are simply other people that share Nobody's anomalous traits. I think this goes a long way to bridging all the different interpretations, and can create some cool world-building opportunities.