That's all, folks!
What a delightful contest we've run here! All told, we came away with some 119 entries from 34 different teams and a sum total of 84 contributing authors, of which103 articles from24 teams ended up qualifying for victory! For our first team contest in over a year, this was a wonderful showing of creativity, co-operation, and celebrating for our common literary heritage. The Public Domain is wonderful exactly because anyone can take from it and endlessly reimagine and reinterpret — and having read every qualifying entry, I can assure you that you guys produced some really fantastic reimaginings and reinterpretations of public domain characters from Odysseus to Tintin. This has been a wonderful contest to run, and thank you so much for joining me on it, whether as a participant, reader, or just an observer!
Without further ado, the rankings:
Public Domain Character: 𒀭𒄑𒂆𒈦 (Gilgamesh, King of Uruk)
Team Members:TyGentlyᶜᵖᵗ,
Intercedent,
Anorrack
Public Domain Character: Arsène Lupin
Team Members:Caliboldᶜᵖᵗ,
HarryBlank,
Uncle Nicolini
Hub:Arsène Lupin vs the SCP Foundation Hub
Public Domain Character: Yoshihide (Hell Screen)
Team Members:djkaktusᶜᵖᵗ,
Tufto,
Yossipossi
SCP-001: Yoshihide's Proposal - A Portrait of Hell byYossipossi,
djkaktus and
Tufto
ACT 1: The Trail For Beasts bydjkaktus
Place | Qualifying Team Name | Character | Votes (Top 4 Entries) | Additional Awards |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Provisional Government of Occupied Third Law, Revolutionary Firing Squad | Gilgamesh | 286 | >tale author, Weekend at Bernie's |
2 | TEAM FORTRESS 2 | Arsene Lupin | 228 | Method Actor |
3 | We All Scream for Hell Screen | Yoshihide | 221 | >tale author |
4 | The Mekhanisms | Odysseus | 211 | Stans, >tale author, spiderman_pointing.gif |
5 | Masks of Nyarlathotep | Nyarlathotep | 206 | >tale author |
6 | ⟡Princess Knight Arthur and Her Round Table⟡ | King Arthur | 175 | |
7 | Generational Trauma Inc brings you the Toxic Family Squad by Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. | Rappaccini's Daughter, Beatrice | 172 | >tale author |
8 | Captain and the Haddocks | Tintin and Snowy | 133 | >tale author |
8 | Rocky Cosmic Horror Picture Show | Cthulhu | 133 | |
10 | Grendel's Glass Eye | Beowulf | 125 | Weekend at Bernie's, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Award for Achievement in Murder, >tale author, spiderman_pointing.gif |
11 | The Gender Benders | Orlando | 112 | >tale author |
12 | The Other BIG WHALE | Pinocchio | 106 | |
13 | Unbirthing Party | The Mad Hatter | 98 | >tale author, Method Actor |
14 | The Orient Express | Sir John Mandeville | 88 | |
15 | Somebody Else's Lake | Circe | 87 | >tale author |
16 | Killing BIG WHALE | Ahab | 86 | Method Actor, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Award for Achievement in Murder, spiderman_pointing.gif |
17 | Dumpster Fire | Dorian Gray | 75 | >tale author |
18 | The Magic Lanterns, or, Mermaids Singing Each To Each | J. Alfred Prufrock | 71 | spiderman_pointing.gif |
18 | Epic Rap Battles of History: Queen Mab Versus Count Dracula | Van Helsing | 71 | |
20 | Triple Fang | Dracula | 57 | >tale author, Method Actor |
21 | BIG WHALE | Moby Dick | 53 | Method Actor |
22 | Heavy is the Crown | The King in Yellow | 48 | |
23 | From Fire and Brimstone | Prometheus | 47 | |
24 | The Hounds of Baskerville | Dr. John Watson | 38 | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Award for Achievement in Murder |
Hey, kids!
My name's Sigma-9, but you can call me Siggy. I'm the living manifestation of the SCP Wiki!
What's this sack I'm carrying, you ask? Why, it's a bunch of dead authors! Arthur Doyle, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain — I've got all their bones in here because I've been digging up graves all night. And I'm not taking them to a museum or selling them at a pawn shop, if that's what you're thinking. No, I'm gonna put them in my SCP article!
How am I gonna do that? Well, let me tell you about something calledPublic Domain.
When a human being passes away, their soul exits their body and flies towards Heaven. But ever since we started putting people in coffins, these souls get trapped in dirt instead and get stuck there for years. Eventually, after some time, they fade away from the world and the totality of their being melts into the Sea of Souls. This includes everything — their hopes, their dreams, and the rights to all their work. When that happens, the hard-working folk at the U.S. Copyright Office's Psychotronics Division sail across the Collective Unconscious and use harpoons and nets to wrangle these stray authorial rights. After transporting them to the real world, the rights get bound to the domain of living humans, thePublic Domain, and they become objects that belong to you and me and everyone else on Earth.
Isn't that amazing? I sure hope I get dissolved into thePublic Domain when I die!
Well, anyways, I oughta get going now. I've got plenty of bones to put in my SCP article. And you know, this "bone proposal" isn't gonna write itself, haha!
Thanks for reading! ✌️
Welcome to the wiki's first Public Domain contest, hosted by yours truly, Yurt-in-ChiefRounderhouse and the twin imps resting on my shoulders,
Naepic and
syuzhet (also
psychicprogrammer)! For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of the public domain, read on. For those familiar, read on anyway so as to avoid being the guy that asks a question already covered in the rules!
The public domain is, as it has been called numerous times, a wellspring of creativity. It's the promise of material that is no longer bound by copyright protections, allowing you to use and reuse its contents without fear of a lawsuit. As January is Public Domain Month, the contest team would like to celebrate it by introducing this year's first team contest: PUBLIC DOMAIN CON! You'll be forming teams of three and writing about your favorite characters in the public domain. Reinterpret them, reimagine them, remix them, and revitalize these iconic fictional characters in the context of the SCP universe — whether as anomalies, agents, or something entirely different!
We've provided you with a list of both famous and new additions to the public domain, but you're not restricted to them. Do check to make sure that they are usable, however - see below for a disclaimer on the complexity of public domain.
While these characters and more are in the public domain, and we encourage you to use more obscure characters if you so choose, we find it necessary to inform you that, as with all copyright law, not everything is so clear cut.
Characters go through multiple designs throughout their life as studios adapt to changing times and different audiences, and each design has its own different copyright. Just take a look a Mickey Mouse. If you were the use the design from Steamboat Willie, you're more than free to do so. You can't go past 1929, though, so no red pants.
Or what about Columbo? Peter Falk's depiction of the character is iconic, but Columbo's public domain status comes from how his first appearance is from the Chevy Mystery Show in 1960, where you needed a copyright renewal to maintain a copyrighted status. There, he is portrayed by Bert Freed. So you can't use the Columbo design we're far more familiar with.
Or what about Sherlock Holmes. Nowadays, people would associate the detective with Cumberbatch or even RDJ, but neither is usable. You're best of concocting your own design.
There is a silver lining, however. Though the appearances of the characters cannot match copyrighted ones, the Supreme Court has ruled, during a Sherlock Holmes case no less, that personality traits cannot be copyrighted. If you get your character's personality from a famous film, more power to you.
What I'm saying is that we encourage you to have fun as you explore the world of public domain, but to do you due diligence to ensure what you're using really is public domain. If you have any questions, please contact me.
I'd like to share this passage from the Doomsday Contest, where ARD said it better than I could:
There are multiple ways to approach this project. You can get together with some of your friends, write stuff, and have lots of fun doing it—regardless of winning or losing. Or, you can write, get angry at your friends for not performing the way you want them to. You can complain about them, the rules, the contest, the judges, and hate your life.
Try to be a bit more classy. This is supposed to be a fun opportunity to add more to the site rather than make yourself upset, frustrated, or angry. People have quit over contests. You're better than that.
You'll work together on the collection. Everyone must contribute significantly to the final product. It is expected that each team member will write at least one work. If the contest marshals get the idea that one guy is writing 100% of the content for their team there will be some investigation. I will consume any offenders.
I’m not cruel, though. I understand things do come up. If there’s a real issue meaning someone won’t be able to post - please, contact me. We’ll figure something out.
Once posting begins, your magnificent trio are locked in and cannot change. Choose wisely. Once you’ve picked your team and decided on a captain amongst yourselves, add yourselves to the team roster at the bottom of this page using the provided format.
Looking for a team? Comment in the discussion of this page saying so! Join up with other people also looking for a team!
Want to nab yourself a shoutout on the contest page once the results start rolling in? More importantly, want to dance for my amusement? Earn these bonus awards that offer absolutely-goddamn-nothing except my approval and a spot of honor in Valhalla for completing certain requirements in writing your articles! Updated throughout the posting period with new awards.
Place in the top 5 with a team made up entirely of people cut from other teams. Mad respect.
Post two non-contest articles in the posting period.
Name all articles in your series after songs from the same artist.
Finish the contest with one SCP and at least three tales.
Produce and post one or more of your articles in under 48 hours.
Write one of your entries in the same style as the source material your character is from.
Kill off your chosen character at the end of your series.
Beat out another team writing the same character as you.
Include as many characters from the hub's list (see above) as possible in your articles.
Periodically through the planning/writing period until the Posting Period begins, this page will be updated with bonus awards with the requirements redacted. The title should give you some idea of what you have to do, but if you want a hidden achievement and the bragging rights to go with it, you're gonna have to work for it!
Have a public domain character get in a fight with characters from several other entries.
Have your public domain character exclusively appear as a corpse.
Horrifically injure or mutilate Director House in the course of your team's entries.
Post your qualifying with less than 5 minutes to the contest close.
End up with a total wordcount longer than the original source material your character is from.
Writing begins:25 Jan 2025 05:01 / January 25, 2025 05:01 UTC
Posting begins:15 Feb 2025 05:01 / February 15, 2025 05:01 AM UTC
Posting ends:08 Mar 2025 05:01 / March 8, 2025 05:01 AM UTC
Voting ends:19 Mar 2025 05:01 / March 19, 2025 05:01 AM UTC
After posting your entries, tag them "publicdomaincon2025" and link them to your team's blurb at the bottom of this page. Winners will be decided by the total points across the team's four highest-rated entries. The winning team will have their work featured on the frontpage.
Public Domain Character: 𒀭𒄑𒂆𒈦 (Gilgamesh, King of Uruk)
Team Members:TyGentlyᶜᵖᵗ,
Intercedent,
Anorrack
𒀸To be King in the House of Dustby Intercedent
𒀸With Naught but Dust to Eatby TyGently
𒀸PTT-1666-Gray-Templum — "Irkalla, the House of Dumuzi, the Netherworld"by Anorrack
𒀸King of the Dead, Breaker of Chainsby Intercedent
𒀸To Make Meat of Clayby Anorrack and Intercedent
𒀸SCP-8660 — The Empty Birdcageby Anorrack and TyGently
𒀸SLAYER OF WICKEDNESSby Anorrack, Intercedent, and TyGently
𒀸EPILOGUE:The Fruit of Eight Millenniaby Anorrack and TyGently
Public Domain Character: Arsène Lupin
Team Members:Caliboldᶜᵖᵗ,
HarryBlank,
Uncle Nicolini
Hub:Arsène Lupin vs the SCP Foundation Hub
Public Domain Character: Moby Dick
Team Members:IndustryStandardᶜᵖᵗ,
torcsandantlers, and
cive(creative name)
Public Domain Character: Dr. John H. Watson
Team Members:cptsquidᶜᵖᵗ,
zoempaws, and
Shirley Sterling
Public Domain Character: Odysseus
Team Members:Rallistonᶜᵖᵗ,
Diogene_s,
Dino--Draws
Public Domain Character: Abraham Van Helsing
Team Members:Lemonsenseᶜᵖᵗ,
SynthPanda_, and
DoctorLilithSophia
Public Domain Character: Captain Ahab
Team Members:Ethagonᶜᵖᵗ,
Kothardarastrix, and
MasterTman2
Hub:And To The Stars I Went With Only A Name Hub
Public Domain Character: Orlando (The Trans One)
Team Members:Queeriousᶜᵖᵗ,
VapidPoem, and
AstersQuill
Public Domain Character: Dracula
Team Members:Cranes-writerᶜᵖᵗ,
Doctor-ivory, and
XHAWK77X
Public Domain Character: Pinocchio
Team Members:Clacky2000ᶜᵖᵗ,
IAmTheOoga,
WhoIsCthulhu
Public Domain Character: Beowulf
Team Members:J Duneᶜᵖᵗ,
stormbreath,
pr0m37h3um
Public Domain Character: Circe
Team Members:DrBleepᶜᵖᵗ,
UNCGriffin,
MarigoldsInJanuar
Public Domain Character: Nyarlathotep
Team Members:ubergooberᶜᵖᵗ,
radian628,
local lesbian commie
Public Domain Character: Cthulhu
Team Members:TroutMaskReplicaᶜᵖᵗ,
Rhineriver,
Billith
Open Waterby TroutMaskReplica
The Acrid Corpseby Rhineriver
THE LAST OASIS - POWERED BY HEXAGON osby Billith
SCP-8121 - Oddmentsby Billith, Rhineriver, and TroutMaskReplica
Public Domain Character: Yoshihide (Hell Screen)
Team Members:djkaktusᶜᵖᵗ,
Tufto,
Yossipossi
SCP-001: Yoshihide's Proposal - A Portrait of Hell byYossipossi,
djkaktus and
Tufto
ACT 1: The Trail For Beasts bydjkaktus
Public Domain Character: The Mad Hatter
Team Members:PoufyPoufsonᶜᵖᵗ,
PeppersGhost,
daveyoufool
The Mad Three Parties byPeppersGhost
Wearer of Many Hats bydaveyoufool
Yours Truly, The 1st Annual Unbirthday Ball byPoufyPoufson
SCP-8981 - The Wonder War byPoufyPoufson,
PeppersGhost, and
daveyoufool
Public Domain Character: King Arthur
Team Members:sailorenochᶜᵖᵗ,
rottingraisins,
Rosyfox2002
SCP-8307: "The Arthurian Cycle" bysailorenoch
SCP-8191: "Fisher Queen" byrottingraisins
Let There Be Green byRosyfox2002
Horned is the Enchanter bysailorenoch
Public Domain Character: Sir John Mandeville
Team Members:Aftokratorᶜᵖᵗ,
LightlessLantern,
Miss Lapis
Public Domain Character: The King in Yellow
Team Members:Strange Matterᶜᵖᵗ,
TboneBerryhill,
Rose-row
Public Domain Character: Rappaccini's Daughter, Beatrice
Team Members:Mr Panikᶜᵖᵗ,
SocksesForFoxes,
TheChunk
SCP-7493: Rappaccini's Poison bySocksesForFoxes
Secure Facility Dossier: Site-101 byTheChunk
Her Future in Bloom byMr Panik
In Small Doses byTheChunk
Fruit of the Poison Tree bySocksesForFoxes
Public Domain Character: Dorian Gray
Team Members:Sinking_Otterᶜᵖᵗ,
boardcertifiedgoblin,
MissyChaos
Forgive Us Our Sins byboardcertifiedgoblin
A User With That Username Already Exists bySinking_Otter
A Photograph of Isadora Gray byMissyChaos
SCP-7829: The Mass Produced Soul Of Dorian Gray bySinking_Otter
The Journey From 20,000 to 0 bySinking_Otter
Public Domain Character: Prometheus
Team Members:Spacestealthᶜᵖᵗ,
flembus,
SYTYCFanon
PROMETHEUS.aic byflembus
EAGLE Protocol bySYTYCFanon
SCP-7608: Champion of Mankind bySpacestealth
Public Domain Character: J. Alfred Prufrock
Team Members:Thopterᶜᵖᵗ,
Lightning Helix,
Sound Chaser
Collocations byThopter
SCP-7283: Talking of Michelangelo byLightning Helix
The Deception of the Thrush bySound Chaser
Public Domain Character: Tintin and Snowy
Team Members:A Random Dayᶜᵖᵗ,
minmin,
Vezaz
𒀸Blood Beneath the Leavesby Vezaz
𒀸Tintin and the Long Twentieth Centuryby minmin
𒀸SCP-8620: Tintin and the Carcosan Affair by A Random Day
Public Domain Character: Spring-Heeled Jack
Team Members:JackalRelatedᶜᵖᵗ,
J_V_G, and
Coldsmith
▷ London Calling │ J_V_G
▷ Silicon on Sapphire │ Coldsmith
▷ London's Burning │ J_V_G
Public Domain Character: Captain Nemo
Team Members:Guaireᶜᵖᵗ,
FlyPurgatorio, and
Fish^12
Public Domain Character: Archangel Gabriel
Team Members:Comrade Waldoᶜᵖᵗ,
Scientist Filipp,
FrankEntropy
Public Domain Character: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Team Members:Merehrabᶜᵖᵗ,
winkwonkboi,
ThatGuyThatTime
Public Domain Character: Hounds of Tindalos
Team Members:Malvarik1ᶜᵖᵗ,
Dr Moned,
ERLGrey
SCP-8238 - Hypnagogiaby Dr Moned
Public Domain Character: Oswald the Lucky Rabbit
Team Members:fairydoctorᶜᵖᵗ,
Prismal,
Felixou
Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in the Cross-Country Quest byfairydoctor
Public Domain Character: The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Team Members:UncannyClownᶜᵖᵗ,
zipzipskins,
Gawain777
Public Domain Character: The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future
Team Members:melendeztᶜᵖᵗ,
Alzin Cdag,
Crystallantern
Public Domain Character: Mickey Mouse (Steamboat Willie)
Team Members:Spider_Jawsᶜᵖᵗ,
John Asknes,
DrDromeus
𒀸First Business Meeting With Cosmic Mouseby John Asknes
𒀸SCP-8290by Spider_Jaws
Public Domain Character: Paul Bunyan (and Babe the Blue Ox)
Team Members:Mister_Toastyᶜᵖᵗ,
Nils Severin,
choccoMan
SCP-8514: I'm a Lumberjack and I'm Okay byMister_Toasty
Public Domain Character: Professor James Moriarty
Team Members:GreenWolfᶜᵖᵗ,
ch00bakka,
Plilt
Public Domain Character: The Great Fish (from The Holy Bible)
Team Members:ParallelPotatoesᶜᵖᵗ,
Anky swallow,
MetalRavioli
Public Domain Character: Robin Hood
Team Members:Alexander245ᶜᵖᵗ,
A Random Treestump,
Napalmdoctor556
Public Domain Character: Nosferatu/Count Orlok
Team Members:PlaguePJPᶜᵖᵗ,
Its a Bad Idea,
Fishish
Public Domain Character: Dr. Satan (Weird Tales)
Team Members:Dr0Shadowᶜᵖᵗ,
The Awesomest Man,necezzity does not match any existing user name
Public Domain Character: Ariel
Team Members:PinkHatPinkJeansᶜᵖᵗ,
JukeShoes,
Dynexus
Public Domain Character: Momotarō
Team Members:N1ght_Scribeᶜᵖᵗ,
Akamitsu,
Death Alchemist
Public Domain Character: Pooh
Team Members:Pedagonᶜᵖᵗ,
AriadnesThread,
Trintavon
Public Domain Character: The Headless Horseman
Team Members:DarkStuffᶜᵖᵗ,
Cathy Autumn,
habaniah
Hub art and design bysyuzhet.
Cite this page as:
"PUBLIC DOMAIN CON" by syuzhet, from theSCP Wiki. Source:https://scpwiki.com/pdcontest2025. Licensed underCC-BY-SA.
For information on how to use this component, see theLicense Box component. To read about licensing policy, see theLicensing Guide.
Filename: banner.png
Name: When an author's departed, a new draft gets started!
Alternate Name 1: If they're in a coffin, there's no money I'll be coughin'!
Alternate Name 2: If that guy's dead, licensing's going to bed!
Author: syuzhet
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
Source Link: