In May 2005, a certain Leeroy Jenkins stormed into a room full of dragon eggs, resulting in the most famous wipe in the history of World of Warcraft and one of the most well-known memes from the gaming world. Now a professor is using the nearly 20-year-old video for his lecture.
Who is this Leeroy Jenkins? The paladin from World of Warcraft was part of the guild PALS FOR LIFE in 2005 and became famous through a humorous video that has been watched millions of times over the past decades and turned into a meme.
In the nearly three-minute clip, you see thirteen members of the aforementioned Alliance guild standing in the Upper Blackrock Spire
. They are preparing for the upcoming battle; like in a military briefing, the team has gathered in a circle around their leader who is laying out the strategy.
Only a certain Leeroy is sitting AFK
a bit away from the group. While the fighters check their gear and determine the order of their spells, you see the returning paladin jump up with a Alright Chums. Let’s do this. Leeeeeeeroy Jenkins!
rush into the room and free the first dragon whelps from the eggs.
Panicking, the surprised comrades follow him, only to experience the most famous wipe in WoW history in the next few moments. But see for yourself:
Staged, but legendary
Did this really happen? For many years, the community debated whether the scene in the video was staged or actually occurred. There were some signs of a deliberate fake. It is now clear that the guild PALS FOR LIFE rehearsed the Leeroy clip.
Want more exciting WoW trivia? Here you go:
Whether staged or real, whether funny or boring: Leeroy Jenkins has become a meme and internet phenomenon over the years. References to the paladin can be found in Mass Effect, How I Met Your Mother, My Name is Earl, or Psych.
The US military has also repeatedly used the clip as a starting point for studies, such as in this article titled Leeroy Jenkins and Mission Command. And of course, the Blizzard developers themselves have also honored the legend in their games, with their own Hearthstone card, a garrison follower, and a WoW achievement.
Leeroy Jenkins still excites today. This is shown by the post from MineChris395 on Reddit. He was in a lecture on “Media and Society”, where the professor showed his students the nearly 20-year-old video.
The reason: Leeroy Jenkins is one of the first viral videos from the gaming world and shows that games follow similar media trends that can also be observed in other media fields.
Additionally, the professor used the hook to talk about the importance of games in today’s society. This resonated well with the students, according to MineChris395, who found the course entertaining and the video still funny.
Want to learn more about the WoW legend? In this article, you will find out what happened to Leeroy Jenkins.
