Leeroy Jenkins
You might remember it as Leroy Jenkins, World of Warcraft Leeroy raid
A possible copy is known, but ViralWorld has not verified that it is the right one.
2005·Early YouTube·funny
The first gaming clip to escape gaming entirely; the name is still a general-purpose verb.
At a glanceThe facts
- Remembered as
- Leroy Jenkins
- Spread in
- 2005
- Began as
- A video upload
- Where it started
- warcraftmovies.com
- Format
- Video
- Made by
- Ben Schulz, who played the character, with Ben Vinson, who recorded it
- Taken from
- World of Warcraft, in a raid by the guild Pals for Life
- Original title
- “A Rough Go”, and then “Leeroy!!”
- Origin
- Original no longer exists
- Available
- Not held by ViralWorld
Why it matteredWhat changed
It is the first gaming clip that people who had never played the game could quote, and it got there by being posted as a genuine complaint. The name became shorthand, well outside games, for charging in and wrecking a careful plan.
TimelineIn order
- Posted
The clip is linked from a World of Warcraft forum thread as “A Rough Go”, presented as a real raid gone wrong.1
- Posted
It is released on the site Warcraftmovies as “Leeroy!!”.1
- Mainstream
Leeroy Jenkins is the subject of a question on the quiz show Jeopardy!1 What else happened on 16 November
- Later
Blizzard issues a Leeroy Jenkins card in the World of Warcraft trading card game. An in-game achievement named after him follows in 2008.1
- Corrected
Schulz and Vinson release an earlier take of the video, a dry run. Vinson says they had thought it was obviously satire.1
What people misrememberSet straight
Commonly remembered asA real raid ruined by one impatient player.
ActuallyIt was performed. The makers declined to say so for twelve years, and in 2017 released the rehearsal take.1
Commonly remembered asA character Blizzard put in the game.
ActuallyA player’s character. Blizzard’s cards, achievement and voice lines all came afterwards, as tributes.1
Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · a moment that changed what the internet did next · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later · the upload that made its maker known
Originally published on warcraftmovies.com.
Where it came fromWhat we know
The original upload no longer exists. It has been identified, and nothing that survives is both legitimate and playable — so this page is the record, and the video is gone.
The original was identified by research and is no longer online. What is shown here is a surviving copy somebody else published, which is why this record makes no claim to be the first upload.
Created by Ben Schulz. Established by research, not by who posted the copy shown here.
- Where
- Known on YouTube.
More from 2005You were there
More from early YouTubeMore of the archive
SourcesWhat was read
Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things