WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:00.390 --> 00:00:03.970 The full moon hangs heavy in the night sky over the dense jungle canopy. 00:00:03.970 --> 00:00:09.980 Below, the darkened palm trees stand silent in the humid air, festooned with vines and 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:14.390 lianas, and tropical insects hum in the undergrowth. 00:00:14.390 --> 00:00:19.369 The night is quiet and dark here, far from the city, in one of the farthest, most secluded 00:00:19.369 --> 00:00:21.449 provinces of the Philippines. 00:00:21.449 --> 00:00:24.919 One would hardly expect anyone to be out at this time of night. 00:00:24.919 --> 00:00:29.160 The young woman is hurrying home, carrying a lantern before her face so that she can 00:00:29.160 --> 00:00:32.099 see where she’s going in the pitch black of the night. 00:00:32.099 --> 00:00:35.870 Her swollen belly reveals that she’s at least several months pregnant, her new middle 00:00:35.870 --> 00:00:40.100 throwing her off balance just enough that she has to be careful not to stumble. 00:00:40.100 --> 00:00:44.260 A woman in her condition, she thinks, shouldn’t be out at this time of night and certainly 00:00:44.260 --> 00:00:46.129 shouldn’t have to do household chores like this. 00:00:46.129 --> 00:00:49.870 But the work has to get done, no matter what! 00:00:49.870 --> 00:00:53.590 She carries a basket of wet laundry under her other arm; she is returning from washing 00:00:53.590 --> 00:00:57.379 her clothes in the river and, if she had planned things out better, she would have been home 00:00:57.379 --> 00:00:59.170 long before the moon rose. 00:00:59.170 --> 00:01:02.949 Unfortunately, she spent far too much time gossiping with several other village women 00:01:02.949 --> 00:01:06.270 before getting to work on scrubbing her filthy clothes against the rocks. 00:01:06.270 --> 00:01:10.570 Luckily, it’s not too far from the river back to her home in the village. 00:01:10.570 --> 00:01:14.000 The worst thing that might happen, she reminds herself, is that she might lose her footing 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:16.710 in the dark and trip over a rock or a root. 00:01:16.710 --> 00:01:21.100 There’s no chance that she might run afoul of some nocturnal animal, she tells herself… 00:01:21.100 --> 00:01:25.420 even though the sudden chills down her spine and sweat dripping from her brow reveals the 00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:30.060 truth, that she doesn’t believe that at all and, in fact, she’s getting more and 00:01:30.060 --> 00:01:32.510 more nervous as she staggers through the dark. 00:01:32.510 --> 00:01:35.189 It isn’t just the threat of wild animals. 00:01:35.189 --> 00:01:39.270 She remembers the stories that her mother told her when she was a little girl, all about 00:01:39.270 --> 00:01:42.390 sinister supernatural monsters that live in these woods. 00:01:42.390 --> 00:01:46.520 Of course, those are just stories invented to scare children, she tells herself. 00:01:46.520 --> 00:01:50.200 She’s a grown woman now, about to have a child of her own. 00:01:50.200 --> 00:01:52.390 She shouldn’t be worried about bogeymen! 00:01:52.390 --> 00:01:56.780 She just needs to keep her head on her shoulders and she’ll be sure to arrive home safely. 00:01:56.780 --> 00:02:01.310 The lantern throws its light over a figure standing below the crook of a katmon tree. 00:02:01.310 --> 00:02:04.290 The woman jolts, nearly dropping her laundry. 00:02:04.290 --> 00:02:08.570 She gulps back a scream as she realizes that what she sees isn’t a wild animal but rather 00:02:08.570 --> 00:02:10.009 a person. 00:02:10.009 --> 00:02:13.420 “Oh sorry,” says the young woman, her voice shaking a little. 00:02:13.420 --> 00:02:15.780 “I didn’t think anyone else was still out this late. 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:17.730 I thought you were a wild animal.” 00:02:17.730 --> 00:02:23.090 “Don’t you worry, little one,” says the figure in a soft, sibilant voice. 00:02:23.090 --> 00:02:26.090 The figure steps forward and the young woman recognizes her. 00:02:26.090 --> 00:02:30.430 It’s an old woman from the village, her back hunched and her long white hair falling 00:02:30.430 --> 00:02:32.920 over her shoulders in a messy tangle. 00:02:32.920 --> 00:02:36.780 The young woman feels inexplicably nervous running into this particular villager here 00:02:36.780 --> 00:02:38.450 in the jungle at night. 00:02:38.450 --> 00:02:42.120 Many of the village kids whisper that she’s actually a witch who has all kinds of weird 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:44.200 supernatural powers. 00:02:44.200 --> 00:02:48.170 Even some of the village elders are afraid to cross her for fear of getting cursed. 00:02:48.170 --> 00:02:51.300 “Where are you going at this hour? 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:54.760 Someone in your condition shouldn’t exert yourself so much.” 00:02:54.760 --> 00:02:59.590 “I’m just heading home,” says the young woman, hefting the basket of laundry for emphasis. 00:02:59.590 --> 00:03:02.849 “It’s dangerous to be out so late alone. 00:03:02.849 --> 00:03:06.140 Here, let me walk home with you. 00:03:06.140 --> 00:03:09.950 There’s safety in numbers, you know.” 00:03:09.950 --> 00:03:10.950 “T-thank you.” 00:03:10.950 --> 00:03:14.480 The young woman almost wants to protest that she doesn’t need any help getting home, 00:03:14.480 --> 00:03:17.830 because she really does not want to spend any more time with this old woman. 00:03:17.830 --> 00:03:22.739 But, at the same time, she is reluctant to say anything that might insult her… after 00:03:22.739 --> 00:03:26.390 all, even if the young woman doesn’t believe in witchcraft, it’s not like she wants to 00:03:26.390 --> 00:03:27.959 take any chances. 00:03:27.959 --> 00:03:32.519 Besides, the truth is that she is rather frightened of being alone in the dark and any company 00:03:32.519 --> 00:03:35.799 is better than nothing, even if it’s this strange old woman. 00:03:35.799 --> 00:03:40.879 “How far along are you, honey?” says the old woman, placing a hand against the surface 00:03:40.879 --> 00:03:43.030 of the young woman’s protruding belly. 00:03:43.030 --> 00:03:44.480 The young woman grimaces. 00:03:44.480 --> 00:03:48.610 She doesn’t like this old woman intruding on her personal space like this. 00:03:48.610 --> 00:03:52.709 The old woman’s hands are wrinkled and veiny, flecked with liver spots, and her fingers 00:03:52.709 --> 00:03:54.909 topped with gnarled talons. 00:03:54.909 --> 00:03:58.950 The young woman wants to cry out at the sight of them but she bites her tongue. 00:03:58.950 --> 00:04:03.650 Instead, she answers the old woman’s probing question as calmly and politely as she can. 00:04:03.650 --> 00:04:09.390 “Very nice, very nice,” says the old woman, her rheumy eyes never straying from the young 00:04:09.390 --> 00:04:13.690 woman’s belly and her hands still rubbing against her stomach as if she trying to reach 00:04:13.690 --> 00:04:15.250 something within. 00:04:15.250 --> 00:04:19.150 The old woman makes a strange sound in her throat, like she’s smacking her lips in 00:04:19.150 --> 00:04:22.120 hunger, but it’s hard to see anything in the dark. 00:04:22.120 --> 00:04:25.880 The young woman can only nod in confusion, but she quickens her pace. 00:04:25.880 --> 00:04:29.730 She hopes that she can get home soon and, once she’s home, she can get away from her 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:32.080 unfortunate travel companion. 00:04:32.080 --> 00:04:36.200 The old woman keeps pace, grabbing her younger traveling companion by the arm and holding 00:04:36.200 --> 00:04:37.200 tight. 00:04:37.200 --> 00:04:41.380 Her grip is surprisingly firm for such a seemingly frail old woman, and the young woman again 00:04:41.380 --> 00:04:46.060 wonders if maybe there’s something supernatural about this ominous crone. 00:04:46.060 --> 00:04:50.120 She wants to pull her arm away, but the old woman’s long claws pinch cruelly into her 00:04:50.120 --> 00:04:51.120 flesh. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:54.590 It’s as if the old woman is silently warning her: Don’t pull away. 00:04:54.590 --> 00:04:55.891 I’m too strong for you to escape. 00:04:55.891 --> 00:05:01.920 "What a sweet little bundle of joy you carry there,” says the old woman as if speaking 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:02.920 to herself. 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:06.260 “What a delectable little burden.” 00:05:06.260 --> 00:05:10.150 The young woman knows that she’s still talking about her unborn baby, but all this mumbling 00:05:10.150 --> 00:05:12.320 just makes her more worried. 00:05:12.320 --> 00:05:16.410 They continue walking, the young woman staring resolutely at the small circle of illumination 00:05:16.410 --> 00:05:20.530 thrown by her lantern onto the path ahead, doing everything in her power to not look 00:05:20.530 --> 00:05:23.920 at the old woman standing at her side for fear that she might scream. 00:05:23.920 --> 00:05:26.090 Why is she so nervous? 00:05:26.090 --> 00:05:29.370 Worse, does the old woman sense her fear? 00:05:29.370 --> 00:05:32.770 The young woman has heard that witches are easily offended and that’s the last thing 00:05:32.770 --> 00:05:34.370 that she needs now. 00:05:34.370 --> 00:05:38.410 She continues walking, the old woman gibbering and whispering in her ear, plying her with 00:05:38.410 --> 00:05:39.980 odd questions about her pregnancy. 00:05:39.980 --> 00:05:41.800 “Eating well, have you? 00:05:41.800 --> 00:05:47.520 You know it’s very important to eat right when you’re carrying, so that the baby can 00:05:47.520 --> 00:05:49.150 be born strong and healthy.” 00:05:49.150 --> 00:05:52.440 “R-right,” says the young woman. 00:05:52.440 --> 00:05:55.160 She really doesn’t need this unsolicited advice. 00:05:55.160 --> 00:05:59.710 She heaves an audible sigh of relief as the village comes into view over the next bluff. 00:05:59.710 --> 00:06:02.570 Thank God, she thinks, I’m almost home! 00:06:02.570 --> 00:06:06.090 She just hopes that the old woman will take a hint and leave her alone once they arrive 00:06:06.090 --> 00:06:07.590 at her doorstep. 00:06:07.590 --> 00:06:11.560 She wonders if this old woman might try to come into her home or maybe steer her toward 00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:13.310 some other destination. 00:06:13.310 --> 00:06:14.860 But what can she do? 00:06:14.860 --> 00:06:17.480 All she can do is keep walking home and hope for the best. 00:06:17.480 --> 00:06:19.960 “Is it just you, is it? 00:06:19.960 --> 00:06:22.060 Is the father in the picture, hmm? 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:26.900 I haven’t seen you with any young men lately, have I?” asks the old woman. 00:06:26.900 --> 00:06:31.020 Her nosiness is really starting to irritate the young woman, enough that she almost forgets 00:06:31.020 --> 00:06:32.020 her fear. 00:06:32.020 --> 00:06:35.500 “No, it’s just me,” says the young woman automatically. 00:06:35.500 --> 00:06:37.810 She immediately regrets that confession. 00:06:37.810 --> 00:06:39.320 What is this old woman planning? 00:06:39.320 --> 00:06:41.440 Is she up to some mischief? 00:06:41.440 --> 00:06:44.970 Now she knows that the young woman lives alone and there won’t be anyone around to see 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:46.800 whatever this crone is planning. 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.480 Her grip tightens on the young woman’s arm as if to warn her again. 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:52.800 The village is quiet and dark. 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:57.240 Everyone else has already gone to bed by now, so the pair of them walk down narrow, still 00:06:57.240 --> 00:06:58.240 streets. 00:06:58.240 --> 00:07:03.100 The only sound is the crunch crunch crunch of gravel under their feet. 00:07:03.100 --> 00:07:07.590 After what seems like an eternity, they arrive at the front gate of the young woman’s house. 00:07:07.590 --> 00:07:12.220 “Well, here I am,” she says, a little too loudly and firmly to be completely casual. 00:07:12.220 --> 00:07:13.740 “This is my home. 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:16.250 Thanks for keeping me company on my way home.” 00:07:16.250 --> 00:07:19.620 To her immense relief, the old woman lets go of her arm. 00:07:19.620 --> 00:07:23.550 The young woman immediately pulls away, rubbing the deep bruises left by the old woman’s 00:07:23.550 --> 00:07:24.610 gnarled talons. 00:07:24.610 --> 00:07:27.210 “Think nothing of it, my dear.” 00:07:27.210 --> 00:07:32.240 The old woman smiles widely, a long rope of saliva dribbling from her slack lips. 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:36.330 Her teeth look jagged and misshapen – it’s hard to see in the dark, but they look more 00:07:36.330 --> 00:07:39.300 like the teeth of a wild beast than a human. 00:07:39.300 --> 00:07:42.050 It must be her eyes playing tricks on her in the dim light, though. 00:07:42.050 --> 00:07:45.640 The young woman can’t help but recoil in disgust, but luckily her face is hidden in 00:07:45.640 --> 00:07:48.550 shadows so the old woman doesn’t seem to notice. 00:07:48.550 --> 00:07:50.250 “I’m happy to help. 00:07:50.250 --> 00:07:53.900 I hope to see you again very soon.” 00:07:53.900 --> 00:07:55.970 The young woman doesn’t wait any longer. 00:07:55.970 --> 00:07:59.720 Even before the old woman turns to leave, the young woman scampers across her yard and 00:07:59.720 --> 00:08:01.520 yanks open her door. 00:08:01.520 --> 00:08:04.250 She runs inside and pulls the door shut behind her. 00:08:04.250 --> 00:08:07.180 Her heart is racing and her breath comes in ragged pants. 00:08:07.180 --> 00:08:11.250 She can feel the baby in her belly kick, suddenly agitated by its mother’s fear. 00:08:11.250 --> 00:08:16.220 “Shh, it’s okay,” she coos softly, patting her stomach and hoping that her tender voice 00:08:16.220 --> 00:08:17.600 will help to calm her baby. 00:08:17.600 --> 00:08:19.510 “I know you’re scared… 00:08:19.510 --> 00:08:20.770 I’m scared too. 00:08:20.770 --> 00:08:23.110 That old woman frightened me half to death! 00:08:23.110 --> 00:08:26.060 They say that she’s a witch and I’d almost believe it. 00:08:26.060 --> 00:08:27.710 What a strange experience!” 00:08:27.710 --> 00:08:30.870 She pulls the curtain aside and peeps out the window. 00:08:30.870 --> 00:08:32.330 The old woman is gone. 00:08:32.330 --> 00:08:37.120 The young woman looks up and down the street, but sees no sign of her traveling companion. 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:42.090 She inhales deeply and feels the tension drain from her body as she lets her breath out. 00:08:42.090 --> 00:08:44.000 Thank goodness that’s all over! 00:08:44.000 --> 00:08:48.190 She can’t explain why this whole night has unnerved her so much, but there was just something 00:08:48.190 --> 00:08:50.860 so uncanny about that strange old woman. 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:53.000 She’s glad to be rid of her. 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.210 The young woman tries to put the whole experience out of her head as she prepares for bed. 00:08:57.210 --> 00:09:01.030 As she pulls on her night clothes, she startles when she hears something heavy and loud clatter 00:09:01.030 --> 00:09:02.210 across the roof. 00:09:02.210 --> 00:09:06.500 It’s not unusual for roof rats or other nocturnal animals to scurry across the roof 00:09:06.500 --> 00:09:09.330 at night, but this sounds louder than usual. 00:09:09.330 --> 00:09:13.030 “It’s probably nothing,” she tells herself as she climbs into bed. 00:09:13.030 --> 00:09:16.770 “I’m still just upset about meeting that old woman on my way home from the river. 00:09:16.770 --> 00:09:20.430 That whole thing must have jangled my nerves worse than I thought if I’m flinching at 00:09:20.430 --> 00:09:21.650 every little sound. 00:09:21.650 --> 00:09:23.480 I’ll be fine when it’s light out. 00:09:23.480 --> 00:09:26.950 The sooner I get to sleep, the sooner it’ll be morning.” 00:09:26.950 --> 00:09:30.990 Even though her nerves are rattled, she is quite tired after a long day and it doesn’t 00:09:30.990 --> 00:09:33.630 take long before she drifts off to sleep. 00:09:33.630 --> 00:09:38.600 The young woman’s eyes close and her breathing becomes slow and steady, the shallow rhythms 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:40.210 of sleep. 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:45.120 Inside her head, she might be troubled by strange dreams, but to any outside observer, 00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.380 she is dead to the world. 00:09:47.380 --> 00:09:50.940 Asleep in bed, she doesn’t react to the clattering on the roof. 00:09:50.940 --> 00:09:55.070 Whatever is up there is making an awful racket as it drags itself over the roof tiles. 00:09:55.070 --> 00:09:59.670 If someone were around to watch, they would see that whatever is on the roof is no rat. 00:09:59.670 --> 00:10:05.040 It’s a darkened figure, almost big enough to be human, but strangely truncated. 00:10:05.040 --> 00:10:09.600 Two massive leathery wings unfurl behind it, extended to help the strange creature maintain 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:11.160 its balance upon the roof. 00:10:11.160 --> 00:10:16.410 It drags itself forward using only its hands, long talons tapping at the roof shingles as 00:10:16.410 --> 00:10:20.580 it seeks a loose tile, anything that will give it access to the house below. 00:10:20.580 --> 00:10:22.760 Its finger finds a crack. 00:10:22.760 --> 00:10:27.090 Wheezing and panting, the creature leans forward, putting its eye to the crack to peer into 00:10:27.090 --> 00:10:28.430 the room below. 00:10:28.430 --> 00:10:31.040 The young woman is asleep in bed directly below. 00:10:31.040 --> 00:10:35.110 And that’s exactly what this creature was hoping for. 00:10:35.110 --> 00:10:38.800 The young mumbles in her sleep, her mind filled with disturbing dreams. 00:10:38.800 --> 00:10:43.670 She’s oblivious when, all of sudden, something drops through that crack in the ceiling. 00:10:43.670 --> 00:10:46.300 It’s long and slippery and covered in thick, wet mucus. 00:10:46.300 --> 00:10:51.810 It looks for all the world like a tongue, but it’s far too long to be any human tongue. 00:10:51.810 --> 00:10:56.980 It drops lower and lower into the room, extending closer and closer to the young woman sleeping 00:10:56.980 --> 00:10:58.190 in her bed. 00:10:58.190 --> 00:11:02.500 The disgusting appendage caresses her face, leaving a wet slug-trail of saliva across 00:11:02.500 --> 00:11:05.240 her forehead, as if it’s looking for something. 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:10.230 Then brushes against her lips and the tongue seems to find what it wants. 00:11:10.230 --> 00:11:13.560 Instantly, it snakes into her open mouth and shoots down her throat. 00:11:13.560 --> 00:11:18.340 The young woman starts to sputter and choke, her limbs thrashing and flailing – but still, 00:11:18.340 --> 00:11:20.590 she is held fast in the grip of sleep. 00:11:20.590 --> 00:11:24.490 Some wild nightmare is playing out in her head – perhaps she fantasizes that she is 00:11:24.490 --> 00:11:29.380 drowning in a river or choking on some food or being strangled by a fiend. 00:11:29.380 --> 00:11:33.330 Whatever she’s thinking, it couldn’t be further from the truth: that an alien tongue 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:35.920 has jammed itself down her throat. 00:11:35.920 --> 00:11:40.580 The tongue pushes deeper and deeper inside her until it makes contact with her womb. 00:11:40.580 --> 00:11:44.450 A trained anatomist might balk at the idea that the tongue could find her womb by accessing 00:11:44.450 --> 00:11:49.340 her throat, but somehow it has done exactly this, snaking its way through the labyrinth 00:11:49.340 --> 00:11:51.830 of her insides to find her unborn baby. 00:11:51.830 --> 00:11:56.170 A sticky aperture opens up at the tip of the tongue, revealing that the tongue is hollow 00:11:56.170 --> 00:11:58.230 – like a massive soda straw. 00:11:58.230 --> 00:12:03.350 It sucks up the baby like a vacuum, slurping it up, up, up and out, the bulge of its prey 00:12:03.350 --> 00:12:08.120 traveling up the length of the tongue like a wild pig swallowed by a boa constrictor. 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:12.310 Once the baby is gone, the tongue slides out of the woman’s mouth and retracts back toward 00:12:12.310 --> 00:12:14.860 the ceiling, disappearing back through the subtle crack. 00:12:14.860 --> 00:12:19.520 There’s a clatter on the roof again, followed by the soft flutter of leathery wings. 00:12:19.520 --> 00:12:25.390 The young woman settles back into a deep, still sleep, the awful sensation of suffocation 00:12:25.390 --> 00:12:26.900 having passed. 00:12:26.900 --> 00:12:31.360 The rest of the night is peaceful and quiet, but, when she awakens the next morning, she 00:12:31.360 --> 00:12:34.500 finds that the nightmare isn’t over. 00:12:34.500 --> 00:12:37.580 She wakes with a strange empty feeling in her guts. 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:38.800 Something is very wrong! 00:12:38.800 --> 00:12:41.180 She throws aside her covers and stares at herself in shock. 00:12:41.180 --> 00:12:42.820 Her baby is gone! 00:12:42.820 --> 00:12:47.020 Her rounded belly has deflated back to its pre-pregnancy state and she can sense, as 00:12:47.020 --> 00:12:51.430 only a mother can, that she is no longer carrying something within her. 00:12:51.430 --> 00:12:53.690 She shrieks in terror at this bizarre revelation. 00:12:53.690 --> 00:12:54.970 What could have happened? 00:12:54.970 --> 00:12:57.470 What could be responsible? 00:12:57.470 --> 00:13:01.770 That young woman just had an encounter with SCP-5201. 00:13:01.770 --> 00:13:08.750 SCP-5201 is a humanoid subspecies native to the Philippines, dubbed Homo sapiens visceralis 00:13:08.750 --> 00:13:13.880 but known by many local names across the Philippine Islands, including the aswang, the tik-tik, 00:13:13.880 --> 00:13:18.890 or simply the viscera sucker… but it is most commonly known as the manananggal. 00:13:18.890 --> 00:13:24.130 During the day, an instance of SCP-5201 looks like an ordinary human. 00:13:24.130 --> 00:13:29.600 At a glance, there is no way to immediately distinguish an instance of SCP-5201 from a 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:31.850 regular member of homo sapiens. 00:13:31.850 --> 00:13:36.830 However, Foundation researchers have found that there do exist certain retinal irregularities 00:13:36.830 --> 00:13:42.370 unique to SCP-5201, so the agency has developed a portable retinal scanner for use in quickly 00:13:42.370 --> 00:13:45.800 identifying instances of SCP-5201. 00:13:45.800 --> 00:13:52.170 SCP-5201 is far easier to tell from an ordinary human at night, when it undergoes a strange 00:13:52.170 --> 00:13:54.420 and startling metamorphosis. 00:13:54.420 --> 00:13:59.390 It unfolds a pair of membranous wings, resembling those of a bat, from its back. 00:13:59.390 --> 00:14:02.630 Even more startling, its torso splits in two. 00:14:02.630 --> 00:14:04.960 Its upper torso then flies off in search of prey, intestines trailing behind it as it 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:09.310 sails through the air, while its lower torso is hidden in a secure location until SCP-5201 00:14:09.310 --> 00:14:11.690 can reconnect. 00:14:11.690 --> 00:14:17.300 SCP-5201 will seek out human prey, most likely relying on a keenly attuned sense of smell, 00:14:17.300 --> 00:14:21.670 and, once it has chosen a victim, will alight on the roof of their home and then snake its 00:14:21.670 --> 00:14:27.500 preternaturally long, tube-like tongue into the house below so that it can feed. 00:14:27.500 --> 00:14:32.510 SCP-5201 feeds by inserting its tongue into the orifices of unfortunate sleepers and sucking 00:14:32.510 --> 00:14:37.350 out their internal organs as easily as you would suck soda through a straw. 00:14:37.350 --> 00:14:43.330 SCP-5201 will happily eat human livers, stomachs, and intestines, but its favorite food is unborn 00:14:43.330 --> 00:14:49.350 fetuses, so much so that instances of SCP-5201 disguised in their human form can often be 00:14:49.350 --> 00:14:54.010 recognized by their tendency to drool at the sight of pregnant women. 00:14:54.010 --> 00:14:59.360 SCP-5201 are well known to local humans, who live in fear of nocturnal attacks by the dreaded 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:00.640 manananggal. 00:15:00.640 --> 00:15:06.430 Interestingly, SCP-5201 can be repelled by Abrahamic holy objects, like rosary beads 00:15:06.430 --> 00:15:11.779 or crucifixes, or can be staked through the heart with sharpened shafts of bamboo – very 00:15:11.779 --> 00:15:15.810 similar to the means used against vampires in western folklore. 00:15:15.810 --> 00:15:21.170 SCP-5201 is especially vulnerable when its upper torso is out hunting, so it will always 00:15:21.170 --> 00:15:26.720 take the utmost care to hide its abandoned lower torso in a secret, secure location. 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:32.050 If you can find the hidden lower torso, it is possible to kill SCO-5201 by sprinkling 00:15:32.050 --> 00:15:38.350 its exposed viscera with spices like garlic, salt, or vinegar or, failing that, even ash 00:15:38.350 --> 00:15:39.860 or urine. 00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:44.870 This causes an unusual reaction that is not yet fully understood by Foundation researchers, 00:15:44.870 --> 00:15:47.530 but will prevent the two halves from rejoining. 00:15:47.530 --> 00:15:52.270 If the two halves of the manananggal cannot rejoin before dawn, sunlight will kill the 00:15:52.270 --> 00:15:53.270 creature. 00:15:53.270 --> 00:15:57.990 If none of these methods are available, it is also possible to repel SCP-5201 by using 00:15:57.990 --> 00:16:01.610 a specialized whip fashioned from the tail of a sting ray. 00:16:01.610 --> 00:16:07.089 The SCP foundation currently has an undisclosed number of domesticated SCP-5201 instances 00:16:07.089 --> 00:16:10.950 held in the Fauna Containment Wing of Site-235. 00:16:10.950 --> 00:16:14.990 Because this species has been known to practice cannibalism, each specimen is to be held in 00:16:14.990 --> 00:16:17.320 its own personal containment cell. 00:16:17.320 --> 00:16:22.590 While there are obvious ethical and logistical concerns with feeding human organs to SCP-5201, 00:16:22.590 --> 00:16:29.400 the Foundation has discovered that SCP-5201 can still easily thrive on a diet of any newborn 00:16:29.400 --> 00:16:32.570 mammal with a mass of at least 1 kilogram. 00:16:32.570 --> 00:16:36.731 Piglets have so far proven to be the most cost-effective and available options, but 00:16:36.731 --> 00:16:40.100 other species can be substituted as necessary. 00:16:40.100 --> 00:16:45.660 All entrances to SCP-5201 containment cells are to be guarded by at least two Level-2 00:16:45.660 --> 00:16:50.560 personnel equipped with stingray whips, crucifixes, or some other object found to cause harm to 00:16:50.560 --> 00:16:52.950 SCP-5201. 00:16:52.950 --> 00:16:58.190 Unlike humans, SCP-5201 have an unusual asexual reproductive process. 00:16:58.190 --> 00:17:03.040 The lower body can regenerate a new upper torso via a process similar to epimorphic 00:17:03.040 --> 00:17:05.110 regeneration observed in autotomous lizards. 00:17:05.110 --> 00:17:10.760 The severed upper torso of an SCP-5201 would leave behind the parent's lower torso to search 00:17:10.760 --> 00:17:13.300 for a compatible female human. 00:17:13.300 --> 00:17:18.880 SCP-5201 would attack and consume this human, claiming her lower torso as its own. 00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:24.520 Smearing ash, urine, or spices into the exposed innards of the lower torso inhibits this process 00:17:24.520 --> 00:17:26.630 and prevents effective reproduction. 00:17:26.630 --> 00:17:30.470 The exact origin of SCP-5201 is unknown. 00:17:30.470 --> 00:17:34.160 Although the creature is endemic throughout the Philippines and historical records indicate 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:38.200 that it has inhabited the islands since at least 1500, when it was first described by 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:43.200 Spanish sailors to the islands, fossil remains and genetic testing indicate that it is actually 00:17:43.200 --> 00:17:46.940 an invasive species from outside the Philippine archipelago. 00:17:46.940 --> 00:17:52.070 SCP-5201 is currently believed to be extinct in the wild, following eradication efforts 00:17:52.070 --> 00:17:54.290 by the Foundation in the 1990s. 00:17:54.290 --> 00:18:00.050 An epidemic of SCP-5201 attacks in the early 90s prompted the SCP Foundation to join forces 00:18:00.050 --> 00:18:04.429 with the Supernatural Committee of the Philippines and the Global Occult Coalition to take action 00:18:04.429 --> 00:18:08.679 to prevent SCP-5201 from spreading to other countries. 00:18:08.679 --> 00:18:13.790 Dubbed Project Dipsy, the operation involved amnesticizing the major cities of the Philippines, 00:18:13.790 --> 00:18:19.710 funding propaganda campaigns to dismiss SCP-5201 as a product of folklore and urban legends, 00:18:19.710 --> 00:18:25.760 and eventually domesticating the surviving SCP-5201 population for cellular regeneration 00:18:25.760 --> 00:18:27.340 research. 00:18:27.340 --> 00:18:32.260 Because of its aggressiveness and taste for human flesh, SCP-5201 specimens regularly 00:18:32.260 --> 00:18:36.059 attempt to breach containment, and thus, have been given the designation Euclid. 00:18:36.059 --> 00:18:40.560 And while the SCP Foundation has done its best to eliminate the threat of SCP-5201 in 00:18:40.560 --> 00:18:45.250 the wild, there’s no guarantee that a few instances of this vicious monster might have 00:18:45.250 --> 00:18:49.290 slipped through the cracks and possibly even spread out into the wider world beyond its 00:18:49.290 --> 00:18:50.450 home in the Philippines. 00:18:50.450 --> 00:18:54.650 You still might want to search your room for any suspicious cracks or holes before you 00:18:54.650 --> 00:18:56.150 bed down for the night. 00:18:56.150 --> 00:19:00.360 Because there are very few things less pleasant than waking up from restless dreams to find 00:19:00.360 --> 00:19:03.490 a long slimy tongue jammed down your throat. 00:19:03.490 --> 00:19:07.920 if you want to support this important mission, while also getting influence over the anomalies 00:19:07.920 --> 00:19:12.309 we cover and an exclusive look behind the scenes, check out the Dr. Bob patreon and 00:19:12.309 --> 00:19:15.910 become a junior researcher today 00:19:15.910 --> 00:19:21.420 Now go and watch another entry from the files of Dr. Bob, like SCP-1013 Cockatrice, for 00:19:21.420 --> 00:19:24.970 another tale of a mythological monster that’s all too real. 00:19:24.970 --> 00:19:28.880 And make sure you subscribe and turn on notifications, so you don’t miss a single anomaly, as we 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:32.660 delve further and further into the SCP Foundation’s classified archives.