Leeroy Jenkins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Leeroy Jenkins, sometimes mis-spelled Leroy Jenkins and often elongated with numerous additional letters, is an Internet phenomenon named for a character created by player Ben Schultz in Blizzard Entertainment's popular MMORPG, World of Warcraft. The character has become popular thanks to a machinima video of the game that circulated around the Internet. The phenomenon has since spread beyond the boundaries of the gaming community into other online and mainstream media.
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[edit] Phenomenon
This Internet phenomenon started with the release of a video clip online to the World of Warcraft forums. The video was released by the World of Warcraft Alliance player guild "Pals for Life" on the Laughing Skull PvP realm. It features a group of players discussing a detailed battle strategy for an area known as the Blackrock Spire while one of their number, Leeroy, is away from his computer. Their plan is ruined when Leeroy returns and, ignorant of the strategy, immediately charges headlong into battle shouting a prolonged cry of his own name. His subsequent actions ruin the meticulous plan and the encounter ends in disaster for the group.
An article in the August 2005 issue of PC Gamer UK, entitled "The Ballad of Leeroy Jenkins", claims that the original video was designed as a negative commentary on the kind of "nerd-guilds" that meticulously and statistically plan out raids with all the seriousness of an actual combat strategy the way Leeroy's guild was apparently doing. Leeroy is in fact the hero of the piece, acting against the geekiness of his guild.[1]
[edit] Trading card
The character's popularity resulted in his inclusion in the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. Reflecting the video in which he appears, Leeroy is a detriment to the rest of the player's team, exhausting them for the current and following turns. For gameplay reasons, his effects are not entirely negative: although no one else can attack, Leeroy can attack instantly should the player repeat Leeroy's famous shout, and his attack is unusually high compared to the cost of playing him, though his health is such that the player will likely only get one-fifth of an attack.[2]
[edit] Toy miniature
Upper Deck Entertainment has plans in cooperation with Blizzard Entertainment to release a World of Warcraft Miniatures game in late 2008, which will include a Leeroy Jenkins figurine. [3]
[edit] Cultural references
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- Leeroy Jenkins was mentioned as part of a clue on the November 16, 2005 episode of the game show Jeopardy! as part of their college week tournament, though no contestant rang in.[4]
- A presentation at the 2005 "Aesthetics of Play" conference at the University of Bergen described Leeroy as the "one icon of the WoW player, one movie from the game that most people have seen."[5]
- In the 2007 video game Mass Effect, one of the initial three squad members is named Richard L. Jenkins - his middle initial standing for "Leeroy." During the opening stages of the game, while the player and the other squad members take cover, Jenkins rushes into battle and gets himself killed, dying with the Wilhelm scream.[6]
- A 2007 Toyota Tacoma television commercial spoofs Leeroy.[7]
- The webcomic Dueling Analogs has done a spoof of the video, depicting Leeroy Jenkins's birth. [8]
- In the final episode of Moonlight, character Logan Griffen, a vampire computer nerd yells Leeroy Jenkins as he runs in front of a police prisoner transfer van.
[edit] References
- ^ Pearson, Craig. "The Ballad of Leeroy Jenkins", PC Gamer UK, August, 2005.
- ^ World of Warcraft Trading Card Game Preview: Leeroy Jenkins (August 14, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-10-10.
- ^ World of Warcraft Minis
- ^ (2006-11-18.) "Guerilla gaming." Guardian Unlimited (news website). Mentions the Jeopardy question without specific details. Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
- ^ Lowood, Henry (2005-10-15). "Story-Line, Dance/Music or PVP? Game Movies and Performance in World of Warcraft". Aesthetics of Play: Online Proceedings. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
- ^ A machinima spoof of Jenkins in game death found on YouTube
- ^ Toyota Ad Spoofs Video Game, Viral Video
- ^ Dueling Analogs :: Leeroy Jenkins: A Legend is Born
Leeroy Jenkins is mentioned by Mike Nelson in the latest offering from Rifftrax, "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers", when the Riders of Rohan are attacking the Orcs that have captured Merry and Pippin.
[edit] External links
- Leeroy Jenkins - YouTube
- Leeroy Jenkins, interviewed by Veronica Belmont at Blizzcon 07.
- First interview with Leeroy Jenkins
- The Legend of Leeroy Jenkins, article at Denver Westword News
- Leeroy Jenkins World of Warcraft Stat Page
- Leeroy Jenkins Tribute Site
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