Leeroy Jenkins is just a paladin who likes to eat chicken and run headlong into the nearest group of enemies. But there are over 44 million reasons why he is now one of the most famous characters in WoW history.
The original Leeroy Jenkins video has been viewed 44 million times in the last nine years. There is also an HD version (almost 2.5 million clicks), a remix (5 million views) and several other small movies that revolve around one of the most famous paladins in World of Warcraft.
Leeroy Jenkins: More than just an Internet phenomenon
Leeroy fever has also left its mark on Blizzard: There is a Leeroy Jenkins card in Hearthstone, as well as in the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. In Warlords of Draenor, you can recruit Leeroy as a henchman for your garrison, and you get the Achievement Leeeeeeeeeeeroy…? on top of that (you can no longer complete the very first Achievement Leeeeeeeeeeerooy! for killing 50 dragon boys within 15 seconds).
Leeroy has also left his mark outside the Blizzard universe. Allusions to the Paladin can be found in How I Met Your Mother, Psych, My Name is Earl or Mass Effect, for example. The American military used an audio segment from the video in Afghanistan as a warning for an upcoming rescue mission, and an article titled ” Let’s Do This! Leeroy Jenkins video and the American Way of Advising” was published in the Armed Forces Journal about the behavior of the U.S. military in Iraq.
Leeroy Jenkins: It all started with a video
But how did such a huge hype about an ordinary WoW player come about? The video, which most of you have probably already seen, can’t provide the answer either: Thirteen members of the PALS FOR LIFE alliance guild are standing in the Upper Blackrock Spire, preparing for the upcoming battle in the room with countless dragon eggs.
Like at a military briefing, the team has gathered in a circle around their leader, who is already giving the detailed strategy in TeamSpeak. Only a certain Leeroy sits marked as “AFK” a bit apart from the group…
While the champions are still checking their equipment and deciding on the order of control spells, the returned paladin suddenly shouts: “Alright Chums. Let’s do it Leeeeeeeroy Jenkins!” bursting into the room and freeing the first dragon boys from their eggs. The surprised battle squad follows him in a panic, only to lay what is arguably the most famous wipe in WoW history in the next few seconds. Leeroy’s final comment, “At least I got chicken.” At least now we know what he was doing during his AFK break.
Leeroy Jenkins: real wipe or fake?
To this day, Ben Schulz, the player behind the Leeroy Jenkins character, hasn’t revealed whether the famous Wipe scene is set. However, there are various signs that point to a calculated video. It starts with the positioning of the individual players during the briefing, which also makes little sense in terms of content.
The sentence “Wipe Time!” is also striking. in the guild chat and the reaction of the players to the actions of Leeroy. The warrior from whose point of view we experience the fight has nothing better to do than freeing new dragon pups. Shortly before, he turns the camera so that we can’t miss Leeroy’s sprint through the door. Coincidence?
Leeroy Jenkins: A piece of WoW history
It doesn’t matter if it’s posed or real, funny or boring: Today, Leeroy Jenkins belongs to WoW like Billy Goat Hennes belongs to 1. FC Köln – he doesn’t determine the performance on the pitch, but it can’t be done without either. The paladin even made it into a script for the upcoming Warcraft movie , in which a certain Private Jenkins rushes headless and with a battle cry on his lips towards an orc and dies there. In the meantime, however, the scene is said to have fallen victim to the scissors, a pity!
What is WoW Classic?
World of Warcraft Classic is a true recreation of the original WoW as you know it from 2006. All parts of the game – from combat mechanics and talent trees to character models and zones – have been recreated, contributing to the authentic experience.
Getting Started
All players with an active World of Warcraft subscription or game time on their accounts have access toWoW Classic at no additional cost.
- Open the Blizzard Battle.net Desktop App and select World of Warcraft from the menu.
- Select World of Warcraft Classic from the Version menu. If you have more than one World of Warcraft account, you’ll see a second Account drop-down list. In this column, select the active account you want to play with.
- Click the Install button. The progress bar will tell you when your game is ready to play.
- Click the Play button when the installation is complete.
You will need to select the realm you want to play on from several different realm types. Make sure you choose the same realm as your friends – in World of Warcraft Classic, you can only group with characters that are on the same realm as you!
Heroes&WIKI, WoW Classic, World of Warcraft Classic, WoW ClassicSpecial, WoW ClassicSpecials