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“ | When folks ask where I studied, I just laugh at them. I don't believe in formal education. I never spent a day in a classroom, yet I'm one of the most successful men in this city. Boys and men who could be spending their time productively are instead forced to waste years of their lives stooped over books, trying to snatch some trace of intellect for themselves. What the schoolmasters don't tell you is that genius is something you're born with. I may not know calculus, but I run the largest business of its type in the country. I may not be able to name every tribe in Africa, but I can turn a man inside-out with a snap of my fingers. I can't give you a scientific explanation for how we perform the miracles we do, but then again, nobody else can, either. In my business, me and the Ivy League boys are equal in everything—everything, that is, except power. That's something I have plenty of. |
„ |
~ Richard Chappell in the GOI-001: Chicago Spirit hub. |
“ | You can search for us, you can compete with us, you can even attack us if you think you're up to it. But if you turn on us, we will not forgive, and we will not forget. | „ |
~ Chappell in "Carroll #332: The Snitch Dungeons". |
“ | Guys like Capone and Weiss will spill your guts, sure — but a guy like Richard Chappell? He'll putrefy those guts, blend 'em into a milkshake, then make you drink while your family watches. | „ |
~ Dr. Dalewood in "Hartliss Detective Agency". |
Richard Chappell is a supporting antagonist in the SCP Foundation series. He is the founder and leader of the paranormal criminal organization Chicago Spirit. Richard is regarded as the first major paracriminal, using his powers and wealth to run America's largest criminal empire during the American Prohibition era, buying and selling various anomalies and hiring anomalous enforcers. He would eventually fall after being contained by the Foundation as SCP-046-ARC before being lowered to Person of Interest, leaving his current whereabouts and wealth unaccounted to this day.
Biography[]
Origin[]
Richard David Chappell was born to Arthur and Elizabeth Chappell in 1871 and when he was only two years old, he and his parents immigrated to Chicago where he would grow up and spent most of his life. At the age of eleven years Chappell worked as a newspaper boy, distributing newspapers in a little corner on Lake Shore Drive, and eventually becoming the best at his job. At that point Chappell wished to become a simple journalist, but one day he was confronted by a work rival, Rudy Benson, and his gang. Benson wanted to take Chappell's territory, but when he refused to give it up Benson's gang dragged Chappell over to the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River, known as Bubbly Creek and threw him in it. As Chappell was drowning he was rescued by Mr. Night. Night then provided Chappell with a whistle and instructed him to use it when he met Benson again and brought him back to Bubbly Creek. When Chappell confronted Benson and his gang, he did as he was instructed and blew the whistle, causing Benson to be drained of all of his blood. The gang terrified by this quickly scattered, leaving Chappell to dump his body into the Chicago River. It was reported that the Police found the boy's body but never pursued the case, and Chappell would admit that it had all been an accident. However, unbeknownst to everyone, the blood that was drained from Benson's body would come to life and merge with the remains from sewage which included bovine and porcine body parts, later becoming known as SCP-4901.
In 1893, Chappell and Night formed the first incarnation of Chicago Spirit, a legitimate business operating in Chicago's South Side as a typical bar. However, after two years of making little revenue, Chappell and Night decided to dabble into secretive business opening a second floor in their establishment where they would create anomalous artifacts to sell to customers, eventually selling over 600 objects and attracting many wealthy collectors and prestigious elite members. Although this greatly boosted the Spirit's popularity, Chappell remained mostly secretive about his unusual business and refusing to get involved with the paranormal world, mostly due Night being the one behind his success.
Criminal Life[]
This would soon change as Chappell began indulging himself more and more into criminal life as a result of the Spirit's growth, doing extortions, planned robberies, and attacks on rival businesses. By 1899, Chappell had around 410 men working under him and they became known as the Chicago Spirit taken from their bar which had served as the group's headquarters. Chappell would walk through streets and converse with various people, recruiting anyone who possessed anomalous powers, some of which included Charles Derringer, Garth "Wheels" Cartwright and Julius "Sawteeth" McGallan. In 1900, Chappell hab become the leader of Chicago's criminal underworld and as it continued growing through the 1920s it became the largest anonymous criminal organization in the western hemisphere.
The Unusual Incidents Unit seeing the threat posed by the Spirit, sent their special agent Joseph Christoph to gather information about the criminals' operations, since he was an expert in dealing with criminal organizations. The Spirit eventually found out about this and broke inside the Palmer House where the agent was staying and was killed by Chappell himself by shooting him through the head. Chappell then disposed of the body in the river where the fish devoured it. However, to their surprise, Christoph had come back to as a Nobody, and with his newfound powers began going after the members of the Spirit. This forced the Spirit to find a way to get rid of him.
Chappell formed a special team named the Pulaski Crew composed of anomalous individuals. After receiving some potions from a mafioso witch to make them look like bank guards, he and the crew perpetrated the 1914 heist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, eliminating security, taking hostages, and stealing 2,000 short tonnes of gold bullion, but while transporting the money through a portal, Chappell vanished. After the Chicago Police Department and SCP Foundation agents tracked down and arrested the crew within their base, Chappell unde the guise of embedded Foundation Agent Chad Pick whom he killed in order to take his appearance, interrogated each member of the crew in order to learn where the money went. After learning that the thaumaturgist twins who had transported the gold had planned to double cross the crew, Chappell broke them both out before killing them.
In 1921, Chappell and his henchmen opened a speakeasy named The Secret Spirit where they could serve drinks and exchange anomalies. Not wanting to capture the attention of law enforcement or rival organizations, Chappell gave the establishment an anti-memetic property that caused anyone to forget all information about The Secret Spirit unless they were told the phrase "I heard about Chappell's Manhattan point". The Chicago Spirit sought to open more establishments that possessed the anti-meme, but Chappell was against this saying that if they opened numerous speakeasies that couldn't be remembered then people would notice and soon discover them. However, when co-owner, Albert Jones was arrested by the NYPD on charges of burglary, he sought to have a reduced sentence and told them about the existence of The Secret Spirit, how to access it and that on Christmas Chappell would be there. Chappell found out about the planned raid and managed to evade capture, while his establishment fell into the custody of the Foundation who designated it as SCP-3855 and began using it as one of their warehouses.
Angered by Jones' snitching, Chappell had an unholy priest turn an abandoned hospital into a hall dungeon for snitches to eternally suffer over their betrayal. After Jones was relocated to Maine as part of a protective custody program, Chappell was able to capture him and had him thrown into a room of the facility where he began suffering a torture about his betrayal.
The Chicago Spirit later came into conflict with the Irish criminal organization known as the North Side Gang after the latter attacked the Spirit over whiskey bootlegging and the control of the Chicago Docks. Chappell and the Spirit easily retaliated by killing several of them as a form of "message". The North Side Gang understood the message and backed out of the conflict. However, unbeknownst to the Spirit, a large number of the Gang's members was comprised of the Faeries from Hy-Brasil who refused to let the Spirit win that easily. After taking the name of one the Spirit's members and killing him with his own gun, the Faeries took Chappell's parents as hostages and demanded to make deal with the Spirit. Chappell, understanding the nomenclative powers the Faeries possessed, went to the witch Alessia Ricci and had her cast a complex spell on the building where the meeting was about to take place in order to deny the Faeries their powers. Following that, Chappell and his men confronted the Faeries and to their shock killed his own parents himself. He then ordered his men to take the Faeries around Chicago and kill them through different horrible means before displaying their corpses to warn their enemies of the Spirit, while leaving his dead parents for the police to find.
When Chester Williams and Maria Herring opened "Dr. Wondertainment's World of Whimsy" inside a pocket-dimension, Williams approached the Spirit to help them protect their new business and in exchange they could use the dimension's extra space for their own uses. Chapell visited the Workshop and became intrigued by the anomalous toys and requested that in addition to using the extra space for storage the Spirit would get several toys to use. Despite Williams being more than happy to comply, Herring was highly against working with ruthless criminals. As Herring began messing with the Spirit's members, Chappell demanded Williams to fix this situation, stating that if his men kept being screwed over their deal would dissolve and even began threatening him. Although Williams promised to fix this, the Dr. Wondertainment company decided that they didn't need the Spirit's protection anymore and kicked them out of the Workshop.
Chappell after learning that Herman Fuller's Circus of the Disquieting would be performing in Chicago he decided to attend the show. Although he found the attractions underwhelming Chappell noticed a pair of Chinese twins named the Lee brothers whose power was that when one swallowed an object it would be coughed up by the other no matter the distance. When one of them attempted to steal Chappell's pocket watch and swallow it he caught both them in the act, but seeing this as an opportunity to expand the Spirit's activities throughout New York. Chappell took the twins with him, naming them Victor and Vincent, and placing Victor in a safehouse off 36th Avenue and 4th in Chicago and Vincent in the basement of a small red-brick house at the corner of Washington Ave and Wilson St, in New York where they were protected by bodyguards to keep them safe from threats such as Herman Fuller himself.
The Spirit didn't use the twins' power that much until after Operation Empire at which point they were being excessively used to transmit orders. However, as Vincent was growing frustration and angry at Chappell's treatment and disregard of him and his men, he betrayed the Spirit and joined the UIU. A furious Chappell went to confront Victor about his brother's betrayal, but he had no clue what was going on as he was still loyal to Chappell. In that moment, Victor involuntary coughed a dynamite which exploded, blowing the residence, killing Victor and injuring Chappell who would have died if Mr. Night haven't intervened. After recovering in the hospital, Chappell demanded to hunt down Vincent in order to make him pay.
The Chicago Spirit eventually came into conflict with the Fifth Church, but because of the memetic power the Church had Chappell decided to fix the relationship between the two groups via diplomacy. He first went to the famous gambler of Harlem, St. Clair, who was also a member of the Church, and tried to explain to Chappell what was going on with the criminals involved with the Church, but he was unable to understand anything. Despite this, Chappell was able to form a business deal with Clair by establishing a lottery in Harlem, which improved the tension between the Spirit and the Church. Soon the two groups began working together, with the Spirit using the Fifthists to gain more money while in exchange they would unknowingly spread their influence. However, Charles Ferris Derringer of the Spirit became suspicious of the Church's true intents and warned Chappell about their collaboration. Chappell responded by telling Derringer that he too was wary of them and revealed that he wanted to improve their relationship because he feared for his life and further explained that the Church was greatly helping them by increasing their chances and getting rid of competition. This later led some to believe that Chappell was brainwashed by the Church.
One time, Chappell reached to The Factory to discuss their deal about one of their products the Barrels o' hooch. He and his enforcer Julius McGallan went to one of The Factory's facilities where they were greeted by Foreman Kowalewicz. Chappell explained to the worker that he was dissatisfied with the product after using it to dispose of people related to the Chicago Spirit Operation and demanded to know why it failed to work as expected. The Foreman apologized for the inconvenience and offered to show them how the product was made to which the gangsters begrudgingly agreed. He showed them that their victims after being forced inside the liquor barrels were forced to work for The Factory while those who were deceased were disposed. After learning how the barrels actually worked Chappell decided to continue their deal and accepted the free products offered by The Factory. Five years following this, The Factory again offered Chappell their latest product, an antique industrial printing press that can turn images of objects into working exactly like the depicted object. Chappell and the Spirit in gratitude took care of someone messing with The Factory's work, and began using the printer to create various useful objects, until during a joint raid was carried out by both the American Security Containment Initiative and the UIU on his establishment, resulting in the loss of the product, later designated SCP-4256, while Chappell evaded capture.
Downfall[]
Unfortunately for Chappell, his empire would all come crashing down when Night unexpectedly left the organization, causing his powers to weaken, allowing the SCP Foundation to strike. Mobile Task Force Alpha-1 was sent to raid his manor and capture him and the few remaining members of the Spirit. He and his men were still determined to stand strong and fought back, but although it seemed to be a losing battle they were suddenly assisted by a bear instance of Nobody. Nobody wished to help the Spirit as they shared a common enemy, but despite their best efforts the MTF was able to overwhelm them. Nobody offered to teleport Chappell away to safety, only for him to refuse as he didn't want to leave his men behind. He was ultimately taken into Foundation custody, while the Foundation seized all of his artifacts, with 155 objects being classified as SCPs. Without him and Mr. Night, the Chicago Spirit slowly crumbled, with the members fleeing to other organizations while the few who remained faithful to the Spirit became operatives of Marshall, Carter and Dark Ltd.
Following the discovery the Faeries' corpses by the Foundation who collectively designated them as SCP-6380, one Faerie survivor named Seras Makkalay Barrom took the identity and appearance of Foundation Agent Solomon Shelby in order to garner information about what had happened and get his revenge on Chappell. After interviewing several people involved in the case Seras went to interview Chappell, but to his surprise the former gang boss was able to see past his disguise and deduce his real name. Chappell then proceeded to temporarily free himself and kill Seras.
After the Foundation discovered the existence of SCP-4901 in 1946, they had Dr. Thatcher interview Chappell over his murder of Rudy Benson. Chappell told the truth about what had happened, but the personnel didn't accept his entire explanation due to the inclusion of Mr. Night whose existence could not be proven. Chappell believed that the Chicago Spirit was still active and waited for them to break him out, but unfortunately for him he would spend the remainder of his life in Foundation custody, dying in 1953.
Appearance[]
Richard Chappell was a middle-aged man with gray hair and strong built, often wearing professional clothes.
Powers and Abilities[]
Richard Chappell was stated to have been a reality bender, capable of draining people of their blood and create anomalous artifacts among other things. However, it was later revealed that Chappell was a normal human with no real powers, and instead used the assistance of Mr. Night to make himself appear as a reality bender.
Despite having no anomalous properties, Chappell was a smart, strong and charismatic individual. He possessed deep knowledge about the criminal and anomalous worlds, could plan and execute robberies and attacks on other businesses and organizations, and thanks to his status as a leader he was served by many powerful individuals.
Personality[]
“ | Don't ever fuck with Richard Chappell. | „ |
~ Richard Chappell in SCP-6380. |
Richard Chappell was shown to be a ruthless, cunning, charismatic and intimidating criminal who enjoyed committing crime and using any means necessary to get more and more rich. He demanded respect and loyalty from every member of his organization and if they disobeyed him or outright betrayed him, Chappell would be determined to hunt them down and give them the harshest and most horrific punishment he knew. Almost everyone aware of him possessed great fear of him and could tell that Chappell was evil and dangerous, including his own men who were close to him, always trying to avoid angering him. Surprisingly, he was shown to be loyal to his trusted men, willing to stand by their side and refusing to abandon them in the direst situations, even if he had the chance to save himself. He had no problem getting his hands dirty when his own men became incompetent in certain situations and was always more than ready to slaughter those who had been irritating him for a while. He proclaimed to have no weaknesses as he had no loved ones, which is shown when he killed his own parents after they had been taken hostage by a rival gang, despite seemingly having taken good care of him. However, it is possible that Chappell became the man everyone knows him because of the influence Mr. Night had on most of his life. Mr. Night taught Chappell how to become a successful and rich crime boss and after his master had left he and his organization almost immediately fell apart. Despite this, Chappell had faith in the Spirit as he refused to believe that his organization had crumbled and patiently waited for them to break him out eventually.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The images depicting Richard Chappell from the Chicago Spirit Hub and other articles are modified photos of Gus Hall and Walter Smith, the latter from Crooks Like Us.
- In the universe of the tale 'Re: KTO-0001-Bellfather "Overwatch Council"' in which the GOC is unrelated to the UN and the Foundation doesn't exist, it is revealed that Chappell had an illegitimate granddaughter known as Tonya M. Chappell who just like her grandfather became a crime lord and co-founded the modern iteration of Chicago Spirit.
- A story produced by Dr. Wondertainment's SCP-V1l3-J told about the romantic interaction between Chappell and Dr. Simon Glass.
- It is possible that O5-4/The Gangster of the O5 Council might have known Chappell.
- According to the "List of Common Anomalous Misconceptions", Chappell had a dream of being in a relationship with Al Capone and combined with his reality bending powers it projected in reality, causing rumors to arise of them being secretly a couple.
External Links[]
- Richard Chappell on the SCP Database Wiki
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