Know Your Meme: Leeroy Jenkins!

Perhaps you’ve heard the bratty kid in your online game scream “LEEEEEEROOOY JENKINS!” before running into battle and dying a graphically horrible death — resulting in your whole team dying as well. Ever wanted to know what it means?

Leeroy Jenkins is an infamous gaming meme which originated through World of Warcraft in 2005. The meme was created after a fansite video surfaced on the 11th of May, 2005, where a guild was discussing an intense battle strategy before entering a dangerous zone. However, that quickly went pear-shaped as “Leeroy Jenkins” seemed to have missed the discussion before charging in screaming his name.

The original Leeroy Jenkins video was viewed around 30-million time, where it was then added to various share sites. The video has, roughly, been viewed at least over 50-million times, making it widely popular throughout the web and gaming world. Even Blizzard has embraced the Leeroy Jenkins video, as they have used this for many World of Warcraft products.

Although Leeroy Jenkins is quite an old meme, it doesn’t matter whether or not you’ve heard it. It’s a part of gaming and gaming history. It’s important to know about the meme and what it entails.

And please, don’t try this at home.

If you’d like to know more on Leeroy Jenkins and its pop-culture mentions, check out KnowYourMeme.