Leeroy Jenkins, the Most Iconic Video Turns 15

Leeroy Jenkins is perhaps the longest standing joke in World of Warcraft and is officially 15 years old. The original video features a group of World of Warcraft players as they prepare for a boss in Upper Black Rock Spire but are interrupted as one of their raid members screams “Leeroy Jenkins” and proceeds to run into the fight.

This one particular situation has been referenced in books, TV and has even been canonized by Blizzard. It’s one of gaming’s first viral videos and it is officially 15 years old.

The original video is still available on warcraftmovies.com where it was originally published on May 11, 2005. Leeroy Jenkins is the name of a human paladin who was part of the raiding guild “Pals for Life”. The raid team debated how to approach the boss while Leeroy was AFK. When he returns he doesn’t wait for the raid but jumps up and shouts “Let’s do this!” and shouts his own name as he charges in to fight alone. As the raid team scrambles to save him they proceed to wipe.

The video was intended to be a joke, but many players took it seriously and Leeroy Jenkins was instantly propelled into fame. Twelve years after the release of the video Ben Schulz came clean and said the video was staged.

The joke is now an in-game achievement that players could earn and also became a hearthstone card.

Although the video was staged this truly became one of the most iconic video’s in gaming and World of Warcraft history. Have you seen this video? What were your thoughts when it first came out?