For those of you who have heard
the name Leeroy Jenkins before and have no idea who he is or
why he is famous in World of Warcraft, then this page will clear
every thing up for you!
Leeroy Jenkins, sometimes
misspelled Leroy Jenkins.
So ubiquitous is the Leeroy Jenkins phenomenon that he 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. Leeroy Jenkins
is probably the second most famous person in world of warcraft
history, the first most famous person would have to be Joana the
super fast leveler, you can read more about
Joana here, but
back to Leeroy jenkins...
History
This Internet phenomenon started with the release of a videoclip
online to the World of Warcraft forums. The videoclip is a computer
recording of the game that shows a dozen players planning and then
executing a raid in a section of a dungeon (Upper Blackrock Spire).
The players are heard conversing over Ventrillo, a Voice over IP
program similar to TeamSpeak. Leeroy Jenkins is the name of the
bumbling character created by one of the players who causes screw up
to fall upon the party because he was apparently away from the
computer during the planning stages of the attack, and upon his
return, immediately charges into a room full of enemies. Here is the
famous video clip:
Leeroy's origins
The video was released by the World of Warcraft Alliance player
guild PALS FOR LIFE on the Laughing Skull server. Leeroy appears as
a paladin in the video, which was apparently intended as a promotion
for the guild. It begins with Leeroy away from his keyboard ("AFK")
while the rest of his group meticulously plans a raid on The Rookery
- a part of the instance dungeon Upper Blackrock Spire. Just as they
are discussing tactics and calculating the possible rate of survival
for the attack (32. The well-known character, as drawn by Mike
Krahulik and colored by Joe Pekar.
Leeroy's popularity has spread to other Internet venues as well. In
the popular free-to-play MMORPG Guild Wars, a dwarven character
named Kilroy Stonekin relates the death of his family and calls the
players to battle with a similar shout of his own name. Unlike
Leeroy, Kilroy's shout conveys benefit to his players rather than
spelling their demise.
Also, within the popular online multi-user dungeon Abandoned Realms,
there is an NPC called "Leroy". This dwarven paladin wields a
"paladin's polearm" and charges randomly into innocent bystanders,
shouting a warcry as he does so. Leroy resides within the main city
in the game, so everyone has an equal chance to be attacked by
Leroy's "fanatical charge".
In NCSoft's City of Villains, there is a recurring Arachnos soldier
NPC by the name of "Jenkins" (whom you typically have to rescue
because he keeps getting himself captured.) City of Villains
developer Positron recently announced to players that the character
"...was definitely inspired by a certain Internet movie."
Similarly, Leeroy appears as a direct tribute in Artix
Entertainment's popular Web game Adventure Quest where he travels
with the players to battle at "Vamprook Spyre", where you, Leeroy,
Grodd, and Amani are planing the raid of the dungeon filled with "Vampragons",
a telekinetic dragon/vampire hybrid. The dialogue is copied nearly
word for word from the movie.
The website community YTMND has served to extensively promote and to
expand the Leeroy Jenkins meme among the viewers of its various
websites and has a number of sites dealing with him including one
documenting his supposed suicide. In particular the community has
extensively promoted his battle cry.
YTMND has also had substantial effect on the meme in the form of
artwork that was originally used on its Leeroy tribute site. The
artwork, which has subsequently been replaced with a still from the
original video, is a digitally edited picture from the film Black
Knight, featuring the hero standing on a bucket of KFC, instead of a
rock. This image has been widely distributed and is in fact utilized
by Uncyclopedia in their parody article regarding the meme.
In the online world Second Life, in which players can upload any
soundbite they wish and play it as part of a "gesture" that their
avatar makes (using chat commands or keyboard shortcuts), the "LEEERRROYYYY
JENNNNKINNNNSSS!!!" exclamation has begun to spread and be used to
show off players' wittiness and "MMO street cred," exhibiting the
meme to establish them as part of some kind of Leeroy in-group.
Since some players lack the knowledge or ability to successfully
find, format, and upload a popular meme-bite like this one (which
has not yet reached the ubiquity of R. Lee Ermey clips from Full
Metal Jacket, for example), players who possess the hot meme-bite
may refuse to give it away when asked in order to taunt and
humiliate the one requesting it (oftentimes either accurately or
inaccurately accusing the requester of being "a noob"). The
soundbite is played as a taunt, and then a fake item is finally
given instead, which, instead of being the sound, is a grenade that
blows up immediately when equipped, killing everyone except the guy
who wanted the Leeroy sound, and causing everyone else to come back
blaming the "Leeroy."
A reference to Leeroy has also appeared in the April 24, 2006
installment of the popular webcomic, Ctrl+Alt+Del. A character
supposedly belonging to "The Center for Crimes Against MMOs", is
given the name L. Jenkins, obviously a reference to Leeroy.
A strip of the comic Foxtrot showcased the main character about to
receive an incredibly powerful item, but is disconnected from the
server. It cuts to Blizzard's headquarters where one character asks
"Jenkins" if he had tripped over a wire again.
Number of downloads
As of December 2005 the Warcraft Movies website reports well over
1,000,000 downloads of the original Leeroy Jenkins video [1].
However it is difficult to estimate the total number of people who
have seen the original video largely because it has appeared on
numerous other websites, file sharing networks, and has been sent
extensively by email as well. Leeroy's large public exposure likely
heavily depended on word of mouth.
Leeroy merchandise
Numerous sites have sprung up offering everything from underclothing
to coffee mugs sporting Leeroy or related information. Many of these
are offered as part of CafePress.com or 99dogs.com and it is
difficult to estimate what success, if any, these retailers have had
with said merchandise.
Derivative works
Numerous works derived from and based on Leeroy Jenkins have
appeared on the net. Several remixes and spinoff videos have
parodied the phenomena. The number of such derivative works is not
clear but tribute sites contain numerous examples and actively
encourage the submission of new material.
In general, these videos are not controversial. However, a video
posted at whatisdeepfried.com combines the original machinima with
U.S. Army footage and references to Casey Sheehan, the deceased son
of anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan. In the video "Leeroy" is
reputedly the cause of Casey's death in Iraq, though it likewise
names President George W. Bush as culpable.
What was Leeroy saying?
Several discussions on the Internet have surrounded the content of
Leeroy's initial shout and his last line. Originally, it sounds like
"Alright, chums up, let's do this." but possibilities include
"Alright, chums, I'm back. Let's do this..." "All right, dumb-dumbs.
Let's do this...", "All right, thumbs up, Lets do this...", "All
Right, Com's on (Communications on) Let's do this." and "All right,
time's up. Let's do this..."[2] have been suggested. "...Guns up..."
is similarly another possibility, as is "Spawn's up".
Some disagreement over his last line has also been offered. Due to
poor sound quality, it is hard to determine what Leeroy exactly says
in his last line, with some discussion as to whether he says "At
least I ain't chicken", "At least I'm not chicken", or "At least I
have chicken".
Sources where the video was posted by the guild directly, including
GameSpot, identify the content of the phrase as "All right chums,
I'm back. Let's do this..." and "At least I have chicken"
respectively. It has been pointed out that the word "back" is never
actually heard in the first line, although the soundtrack does
appear to drop out for a moment when it would have been heard.
Dialogue Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The full dialog of the original video is difficult to reconstruct
based on the material. As a consequence of this individual
transcripts may vary heavily.
The following is therefore a best approximation based on available
material:
Player 1: [talking to teammates outside cave] OK guys, these eggs
have given us a lot of trouble in the past, uh does anybody need
anything off this guy or can we bypass him? Player 2: Uhh, I think Leeroy needs something from this guy. Player 1: Oh, does he need those Devout Shoulders? Doesn't - isn't
he a paladin? Player 2: Yeah, but that will help him heal better, he'll have more
mana. Player 1: [sighs] Christ. OK, uhh well what we'll do, I'll run in
first, uh gather up all the eggs, we can kinda just, ya know blast
them all down with AOE. Um, I will use Intimidating Shout, to kinda
scatter'em, so we don't have to fight a whole bunch of them at once.
Uhh, when my Shouts are done, uhh, I'll need Anfrony to come in and
drop his Shout too, uh so we can keep them scattered and not have to
fight too many. Um, when his is done, Bass of course will need to
run in and do the same thing. Uhh, we're gonna need Divine
Intervention on our mages, uhh so they can, uhh, AE, uh so we can of
course get them down fast, cause we're bringing all these guys, I
mean, we'll be in trouble if we don't take them down quick. Uhh I
think this is a pretty good plan, we should be able to pull it off
this time. Uhh, what do you think Abduhl? Can you give me a number
crunch real quick?
Abduhl: Uhhh.. yeah gimme a sec... I'm coming up with thirty-two
point three three, repeating of course, percentage, of survival. Player 1: That's a lot better than we usually do, uhh, alright, you
think we're ready guys? [interrupted] Leeroy: All right chums, I'm (back)! Let's do this! LEEROOOOOOOY
JEEENKIIIIIINSSS!!! [runs into cave]
-Short pause- Player 2: [incredulous] ... Oh my God he just ran in. [runs in] Player 1: Save him! Oh jeez, stick to the plan. Oh jeez, let's go,
let's go! [follows] Player 1 [laughing]: Stick to the plan guys, stick to the plan! Player 1: Oh jeez, oh fuck. [Indistinguishable]: Gimme a Divine Intervention, hurry up. Player 1: Shoutin'! Player 3: I can't cast! I can't move, am I lagging, guys? I can't
move! Player 1: What the—what the hell? [Another Player]: I can't AE! Player 3: I can't move! Player 1: Oh my God... [Another Player]: The eggs keep respawning! More respawning!! [Indistinguishable]: I don't think you can cast with that shit on! [Another player]: Oh my God! Leeroy: We got em, we got em! I got it, I got it. Player 2: Take it off! Take it off! [muffled shouts] Player 1: Stay down, Stay down. Oh my God.. Player 1: Goddamnit Leeroy! Goddamn it... [Various others]: Yeah, Leeroy you moron, Leeroy! [various put-downs
of Leeroy amongst group] Player 1: Listen, this is ridiculous. [Indistinguishable]: You dumbass. Leeroy: I'm on it. Player 1: I'm down, Forekin down. Goddamnit. [shouting, then a
pause, followed by other put-downs] Why do you do this shit, Leeroy? [Another Player]: Spiffy, rez us! Spiffy, rez us! Player 2: I'm trying! Leeroy [crying]: It's not my fault! Player 1: Who's Soulstoned? We do have a Soulstone up, don't we?
[everyone dies] Think I need a Soulstone? Player 2: Yeah but you need a Warlock. Player 2 [noticing everybody is dead]: ... Oh God... Player 1: Oh for - [sighs] Great job! For Christ's sake!
[indistinguishable - possibly "I tried"] Leeroy, you are just stupid
as hell. [Loopy]: Oh my God... Leeroy: ... At least I have chicken...
Spoilers end here.
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There is
also a Leeroy Jenkins soundboard, this soundboard is pretty cool.