In the bowels of the earth, we beheld that thing which was at once a heart, a tiger, and a man, and which spoke with the voice of thunder and the wails of the dead.
Item #: SCP-8795
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures:
Every thirteen days, in accordance with the Mexica calendrical system, Foundation personnel must carry out Procedure 12-Ocelotl.
1. A male D-Class individual will be surgically rendered mute and placed in isolation for the thirteen-day period preceding the execution of Procedure 12-Ocelotl.
2. On the eve of the thirteenth day, the D-Class individual will be bathed, shaved and cleansed with copal incense. Natural pigments will be used to paint his face black and yellow.
3. No less than five Foundation agents dressed in attire corresponding to the Nahua priestly caste of the Postclassic Period will escort the D-Class individual to the chamber housing SCP-8795 and lay him on his back upon the stone altar, with four agents holding down each of the individual’s arms and legs and the fifth agent officiating as teopixqui.1 Under no circumstance must the ash ring encircling the anomaly be disturbed. None of the participants must speak in the presence of SCP-8795.
4. Using a flint knife, the teopixqui will remove the D-Class’s heart from his chest and hold it aloft for SCP-8795 to consume. The cadaver will then be disposed of via incineration and the ashes will be scattered following the circle around the lair of SCP-8795.
5. Immediately after completion of Procedure 12-Ocelotl, preparation for the following performance of the ritual will begin.
Foundation agents embedded within the Servicio Seismológico Nacional (National Seismological Service) must report abnormal seismological activity affecting central Mexico; special attention is to be directed towards tremors with epicenters located away from known geological faults. Efforts must be made in cooperation with Mexican federal authorities to mitigate the effects of an eventual catastrophic earthquake; these measures must be oriented towards educating civilians in following safety protocols, training and equipping first responders, and reconstruction of affected areas.
Description:
SCP-8795 is an entity residing in a cave 3.4 kilometers beneath Mexico City, Mexico.2 Surface access to the anomaly is achieved through a tunnel located below the ruins of a small Catholic chapel in the outskirts of the municipality of Chalco. Foundation experts believe this tunnel to have been carved through anomalous means prior to the Spanish conquest of Tenochtitlan, with several offerings of pottery, obsidian mirrors and human remains found lining the tunnel’s antechamber walls upon initial discovery. A ring of human ashes measuring approximately 25 meters in diameter marks the boundary of the anomaly's physical reach.
SCP-8795 possesses no fixed appearance; it shifts at will between three primary forms or an amalgamation of them, but has hinted in conversation with Foundation researchers that its polymorphism is without limit. Its known forms are as follow:
- A colossal heart of indeterminate species upheld by fleshy tendrils that protrude from the ground. Its pulsations echo through the cavern at near-deafening volume.
- A jaguar (panthera onca) or the shadow of a jaguar. Turquoise feathers will sometimes sprout around its neck forming a mane or headdress.
- A muscular, copper-skinned man with pierced nose and earlobes, dressed in a jaguar pelt and adorned with jade ornaments. When assuming this form, a necklace bearing conches and an obsidian mirror will be present around his neck at all times.
SCP-8795’s most prominent ability is to provoke seismic phenomena at will. How the entity’s powers work is unknown; even during severe earthquakes, no vibrations have ever been detected emanating from its body or the cave it inhabits. However, Foundation seismographers ascertain that SCP-8795 can indeed cause tremors without being at their hypocenter, and all its claims have been immediately demonstrated by quakes being registered by seismometers aboveground. The upper limit of SCP-8795’s seismic abilities is not presently known, but it is believed to be immeasurable by all parameters. According to the entity itself, it could “crack the world in two and have its core spill out like egg yolk” if it unleashed the entirety of its might, and it only refrains from doing so due to the nature of its confinement.
Despite its destructive abilities, SCP-8795 is unable to exit the cavern it was found in, its movements limited to the inside of the ring of ashes that encircles it. Attempting to cross this boundary causes the anomaly intense pain and loss of control over its shapeshifting powers, forcing it to retreat. However, confinement in no way diminishes the danger SCP-8795 poses, as was demonstrated during Incident 8795/2017; the proper execution of Procedure 12-Ocelotl remains the only effective way of appeasing SCP-8795.
Additionally, SCP-8795 can replicate words and phrases spoken in its presence using the voice of the original speaker. The entity has often used this pseudo-mimicry to taunt and torment Foundation personnel by replicating the screams and pleadings of D-Class individuals sacrificed to it during Procedure 12-Ocelotl (as well as the crying, panting and heaving of Foundation agents after the ritual’s completion), leading to the procedure being updated to minimize psychological trauma by having participants remain silent and thus limit the voices and words that SCP-8795 can copy.
Discovery:
SCP-8795 was discovered following the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, which killed more than 5000 people, severely damaged the city and caused the collapse of more than 400 buildings – including the chapel that concealed SCP-8795. Upon searching the ruins and finding no survivors amongst the priesthood, first responders uncovered the tunnel leading into the ground and noticed that it seemed to go on for much deeper than should be possible. Their report was intercepted by the Foundation, which took possession over the site.
Exploration of the tunnel led to the Foundation establishing contact with SCP-8795 and learning of its confinement by the Catholic priests who had lived in the chapel prior to the earthquake.3 A document dated to 1534 was recovered from the ruins and seemed to confirm the entity’s version of events while also detailing what would eventually become Procedure 12-Ocelotl.
Document SCP-8795-A (translated from Spanish):
In the bowels of the earth, we beheld that thing which was at once a heart, a tiger, and a man, and which spoke with the voice of thunder and the wails of the dead. We saw it be all those things separately and at the same time, and we felt great horror as its infernal mouth proclaimed that the kingdom of its ilk was eternal, even as the Holy Cross stood triumphant above the ruined temples and the mutilated bodies of the stone idols.
We tried to subdue it the way demons are subdued, invoking the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and raising His Holy image to force it to retreat, but it only laughed, and the earth laughed with it; the very stone shook with cackles that sounded as if the world were coming to an end, and from its mouth mockingly came our own cries of terror.
We had no choice but to imprison it as the Indians once did, using a pagan ritual for which our souls will undoubtedly burn. So it has been and so it must be. Every thirteen days we take from the dungeons an Indian condemned to the stake for idolatry or some other unforgivable sin, we place him upon the stone altar and cut out his heart. Then we burn the body and scatter the ashes over the boundaries of its stone prison. Thus we feed it. Thus we bind it. Thus we seal its power. Thus lies the Heart of the Mountain, sated and subdued.
After a thorough analysis of surviving Mesoamerican codices, Foundation mythologists and historians have found no reference to the specific ritual described in Document SCP-8795-A. However, human sacrifice involving the removal of a live prisoner's heart is a well-documented practice across many different pre-Columbian cultures; in most known cases, these sacrifices were meant to feed the gods, thank them for their upkeeping of humanity, and prevent them from destroying the world. This also appears to be the purpose of Procedure 12-Ocelotl, with the offering of a human heart quelling SCP-8795's hunger and keeping it from causing major earthquakes.
The scattering of the ashes, on the other hand, seems to reinforce the seal that keeps SCP-8795 bound to its lair. Although no evidence exists of the Mexica or other Mesoamerican peoples ever using this or any other method to imprison a deity, both documented failures to fulfill this part of the ritual have had devastating consequences. The first incident occurred in 1985 and led to the Foundation discovering SCP-8795, while the second occurrence was classified as Incident 8795/2017.
Incident 8795/2017:
On 7 September 2017, while conducting Procedure 12-Ocelotl, containment specialist Efraín Castillo accidentally disrupted the ash ring entrapping SCP-8795. Although the containment team immediately attempted to restore the ring with the ashes of the D-Class sacrifice, this error provided SCP-8795 with the opportunity to breach containment, making it halfway through the seal and slaughtering four of the Foundation personnel present – including containment specialist Castillo – before being forced back by the completion of the ritual. Furious at being thwarted, the entity used its powers to provoke a 8.2 magnitude earthquake that affected the state of Chiapas, causing a total of 98 deaths, 300 injuries, and $4 billion USD in material damages.
Addendum: Incident 8795/2026:
On 8 June 2026, security cameras recorded an unknown anomaly manifesting within SCP-8795's cavern. The unknown entity appeared human, wore black clothes embroidered with golden thread in the manner of the traditional charro horsemen and a wide-brim hat that obscured its face, and walked straight and unimpeded despite the absence of its left foot. Recording shows the entity emitted continuous wisps of dark smoke, and in the aftermath of its appearance Foundation personnel noted a persistent stench of "sulfur, incense and void [sic]." The entity and SCP-8795 engaged in the following exchange.
Following this conversation, the unknown entity demanifested into the shadows of the cave. SCP-8795, taking on its jaguar form, crossed the circle of ash without experiencing any of the previously-recorded ill effects. It then killed and devoured all present Foundation personnel, including Dr. Albornoz, before similarly disappearing into the underground darkness. Immediately afterwards, a catastrophic 9.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Mexico, leveling 33% of the buildings of Mexico City while also impacting the surrounding states of Puebla, Tlaxcala, Michoacán and Morelos. The earthquake killed more than 600,000 people, becoming the strongest and deadliest earthquake in recorded history.
SCP-8795 remains uncontained and is, as of the amending of this document, uncontainable. Previously established containment procedures are hereby archived due to their total inability to impede or appease SCP-8795. The Foundation is to remain on high alert and cooperate with the Mexican government to alleviate the destruction caused by the anomaly; since no way of predicting a seismic event currently exists, evacuating population centers prior to an attack by SCP-8795 is considered impossible.
