Friday, February 12, 2010

A Bit of Stupidity (or Awesomeness): LEEROY JENKINS!

HOW MANY BITS, MERCER? 8/8 Bits.

Any of you gamers who have never heard of Leeroy Jenkins, or do not know what a facepull is, as seriously missing out.


This comedic god among gamers became famous sometime in the early 2000s when a video of his guild "Pals For Life" was planning a detailed strategy for taking down the dragon Onyxia in a raid. It can be clear that they have spent much time planning the DPS/Tank ratio necessary for tacking down Onyxia down to a T, but unfortunately for them Leeroy was "AFK" (Away from Keyboard). This becomes an issue as Leeroy comes back from being AFK, and charges straight into the raid alone, thus initiating a "facepull" of all the whelps, as well as Onyxia herself, thus wiping the group. The hilarity ensues further as the other 30 or so members of the guild by verbally berating Leeroy for his stupidity, and lack of attentiveness during the key planning of the raid. Here's a video of the infamous pull:



Not only has Leeroy become famous for the Youtube video of his epic facepull, but he has been monumentalized in other pop-culture references as well:

-In World of Warcraft, if you kill 50 Rookery whelps in 15 seconds you receive the acheivement of "Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeroy", in a mimickery of the very stylized battle cry which the man himself let loose before taking on Onyxia singlehandedly. You also receive the title of "Jenkins" after your character name. So, my toon would (if I had received this honor) be called "Shebaa Jenkins".

-Leeroy was used as a clue on Jeopardy during college week in 2005, but no one rang in with the answer.

-South Park references Jenkins in "Make Love, Not Warcraft" by making the show's enemy a twinked greifer named "Jenkins"

-In 2007, Toyota parodied Leeroy by creating a commercial for their Tacoma including the line "Let's Do this".

-Similarly, the Armed Forces Journal used Leeroy's battle attacks as a design for their own strategies in the article "Let's Do This: Leeroy Jenkins and the American Way of Advising"

-In Monsters vs. Aliens there is a deleted scene in which the character B.O.B bursts through the window and shouts "Leeeeeeeeroyyyy Jenkinsss" (check around the 2 minute mark).

Leeroy was even given a special seat at the 2008 Blizzcon to be interviewed regarding his famous facepull, and has been featured on multiple talk shows speaking about the experienced provided for players in game. Some gamers worship him for his obvious shirking of the more nerdy aspects of gaming, while more serious raiders will take this hilarity as an insult to the careful planning required to pull a succesful raid. Leeroy Jenkins will forever live in WoW history.

Another video related to this one is provided below for additional comedic value (this is a display of exactly how intense raids can get).



No comments:

Post a Comment