Many seasoned World of Warcraft players are well aware of the “Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” achievement. But few people know why Blizzard suddenly decided to add such an achievement and who Leeroy Jenkins is. The story is so interesting that it should be known to everyone who loves the WoW universe, Azeroth and the like. It all started back in 2005. However, before moving on to the history of this achievement, let us remember why it is given.

The most interesting thing is that the author of Leeroy managed to create a mega successful Internet meme without any complex manipulations. It was enough just to successfully “mess up” on Instagram. And here's your popularity. It’s even somehow strange. This is what it means to be in the right place at the right time. However, we digress. Let's continue.

How to get the achievement

Achievement "Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" given to the player upon completing an instance called “Black Mountain Peak”. However, it is not given to everyone. To get the achievement you need to try to kill fifty dragonets from the Nest. The nesting area is part of insta. The difficulty is that there are a lot of these same dragons, and it is likely that they will peck you much faster than you will peck them. But this is if you go to Instagram at the very level for which it is designed. And if before that you take 5-10 levels from above, then nothing threatens you.

The achievement itself appeared for the first time in the Lich King addon. It was continued in the “Cataclysm” add-on. But “Secrets of Pandaria” somehow manages without it. In Draenor, the achievement has been returned. True, in a slightly modified form and with new “buns”. But more about all this below. For now, let's get back to history.

Along with the achievement, the character receives the title “Jenkins”. The title can be included in the character menu. To understand the essence of Jenkins’ achievement and title, you need to know the history of this achievement. So who is Leeroy Jenkins? Its history begins in 2005. This is how it all started.

History of Leeroy

Once upon a time there was a guy named Ben Schultz. He lived happily, playing World of Warcraft as a paladin under the nickname Lyroy Jenkins. Everything would be fine, but somehow his guild gathered in an Instagram called “Black Mountain Peak”. They passed all the bosses and mobs with a bang. Which is not surprising, since the guild consisted of only paladins. Before entering the Nest, the warriors gathered for a meeting. The battle strategy was discussed, since it was very difficult to enter the Nest and not “close your eyes.”

During a tactical meeting, our brave Ben went off to fry some chicken. He was absent the entire time while his comrades were conferring. But he soon returned. And I couldn’t come up with anything better than screaming “Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeens!” break into Gnezdove. It is unclear why everyone rushed after him. So much for Warcraft. Leeroy Jenkins, as an experienced warrior, figured out to cast the “Divine Shield” spell on himself, which made him immune to all types of damage. However, Jenkins' threat level also decreased, as a result of which the cute dragons tore all his comrades to shreds. And when the “Divine Shield” dissipated, they began to attack Leeroy himself.

Needless to say, Leeroy Jenkins was expelled from the guild for this cute prank, and after that no one wanted to go on Instagram with him. However, a guy named Ben Schultz became popular in world of Warcraft. How did this happen? This great mystery stories. We will probably never understand what logic guided the people who turned the failure of the raid into heroic feat. Well, okay. Let's return to our topic.

Why is he popular

The fact is that this raid on Blackrock Spire was recorded on video. The video, naturally, was posted on YouTube and received a monstrous number of views there. Probably everyone was shocked by Ben Schultz's scream. And the fact that he let his comrades down (by the way, not for the first time) is not scary. As a result, the video became so popular that one day Ben woke up famous.

Ben's fame reached its peak when Blizzard decided to name the achievement after his character. That’s how the title “Jenkins” and the achievement “Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin!” appeared. Now Ben Schultz - a famous person. He is invited to all gaming festivals and talks there about the tactics and strategies of his success. The most interesting thing is that they listen to him carefully. In general, Ben became the “father” of the most successful Internet meme among gamers.

Leeroy's popularity is so high that the phrase "Leeroy Jenkins" is used by characters in many cartoons and games.

The further fate of Leeroy

Achievement "Leeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" can be obtained in the Cataclysm addon. In all subsequent editions, the achievement was transferred to the “Heritage” category. That is, it is impossible to obtain it. And only in the Warlords of Draenor addon the achievement returned to WoW. Leeroy Jenkins is a teammate now. Along with the achievement, you get a psychotic weirdo who runs after you everywhere and gets into places where you don’t need to.

The most interesting thing is that in the addon about Pandaria there is neither Leeroy himself nor the achievement. Probably, the game developers considered this a blatant anachronism and deprived Panda of such an uninteresting achievement. Now all that remains is to wait in horror for the Legion expansion and wonder what metamorphoses will happen to the unfortunate Leeroy in the new part. In the meantime, let's look at Jenkins' comrade from the Draenor expansion.

Companion

So, now our comrade-in-arms is Leeroy Jenkins. "Wowhead" reports that this character is a level 100 paladin. It was created specifically to neutralize the threat of the crowd (remember the story of Leeroy). His main ability is Divine Storm. This is a spell that hits all targets around. It restores the paladin a certain amount of health and mana. A very good helper in some situations.

This character's other abilities have not yet been revealed. But it is still impossible to watch them live due to the fact that a small number of players have so far been able to take this achievement. But it seems that this paladin still has some trump cards up his sleeve, if he weren’t Leeroy Jenkins. "WoW" wouldn't be so popular game without all sorts of surprises and " easter eggs" And that's the beauty of it.

How to get such an ally?

Getting Leeroy into your garrison is quite a difficult matter. It is only possible for players with the most high level. To do this, you need to complete the “Black Mountain Peak” instance in heroic mode. According to the task, you must help Jenkins find the Shoulders of Piety. After completing this task, you will receive the title "Jenkins" and Leeroy himself for recruitment to the garrison.

It’s useful to take Leeroy on Instagram. It can distract attention large quantity mobs. And at this time you can easily chop them into cabbage, without fear that they will suddenly switch on you. Agrit Leeroy as expected. Although the real Jenkins couldn't do that.

Conclusion

Now we know who Leeroy Jenkins is, what he is famous for and why he is so popular. Here is an example of how unbalanced behavior in a game can make a person popular. The main thing is not to repeat Leeroy’s mistakes and not to let your comrades down. For you are not Leeroy, and if you repeat his feat, no one will praise you for it. In any case, it is useful to know the origin of some achievements and titles in WoW.

How could I forget about the famous video that gave birth to a beloved hero: Leeroy Jenkins

So, let me explain what's going on here: Leeroy Jenkins went off to fry some chicken while members of his Paladins for Life guild discussed tactics for a boss that no one wanted except Leeroy himself.

Pedantically discussing their plans for entering the nest strewn with dragon eggs that hatch at the slightest rustle, the guild members did not even immediately understand what had happened when Leeroy returned, and either not wanting to listen to all this, or simply not paying attention to the discussion, rushed into battle shouting his name as a battle cry: "OK, The time has come, let's do it.. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JANKIS!" Well, then everything is quite obvious, the raid was destroyed by evil little dragons. Leeroy begins to be reproached and insulted for his action, to which he replies: “At least I have a chicken.”

For the first time, a video with Leeroy Jenkins, which gave rise to a wave of memes, was published in an official forum thread, in a serious post about the need to nerf the Upper Blackrock Spire (UBRS).

As it turned out later Leeroy Jenkins was created by Ben Schultz, he was interviewed several times and was even invited to BlizzCON 2007. He never denied or confirmed whether the video was actually directed and choreographed.

Leeroy Jenkins Achievement

Leeroy Jenkins' video became a kind of protest against long and tedious tactics, which were not common at that time World players of Warcraft. But later, Ben’s character was remembered not only in WOW, where the achievement “Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight!” was made in his honor. and released a card with his character's name on it.

Original video of Leeroy Jenkins' feat

How to get an achievement“Liiiiiiiiiiiiiight!” read on WoWhead, if of course you have time for these achievements, but our article has come to an end, thanks for your attention!

One of the internet's oldest memes, the infamous Leeroy Jenkins run in World of Warcraft, has turned out to be a hoax. 12 years after the release of the video, its creators admitted that the video about the thwarted raid was staged, and Leeroy himself acted according to the script. The authors of the video published a confession not just for show: they said that they did it to draw attention to the topic of net neutrality.

The initiative to abolish net neutrality has become one of the most discussed in the Western segment of the Internet. Network users from America, where, due to the abolition of network neutrality, providers will legally begin to provide personal data of clients to third parties, noted that changes in legislation.

Not only anonymous people are writing about net neutrality, but also famous personalities, and recently they were joined by the creators of a video about the failure of the paladin Leeroy Jenkins from WOW. And to attract attention to their speech, they added a small confession to it: the story about Leeroy was fake.

Leeroy Jenkins became a meme thanks to a World of Warcraft game recording published in 2005. The video shows a group of players trying to complete one of the game's difficult raids. The leader of the group spends a long time and methodically trying to draw up a plan for passing the dungeon, but one of them, controlled by player Ben Schultz, paladin Lyra Jenkins, is missing - judging by his words, he was leaving the computer to prepare lunch for himself.

At a certain point, Leeroy suddenly returns to the game and immediately begins to act. Without listening to the leader and simply telling the group: “Okay guys, I'm back! Let's do this!", he runs into the room with the enemies screaming "LIROOOOO JENKIIIINS!" Realizing that Leeroy will be killed, the group rushes after him, but this does not lead to success - all the players die in turn. In the chat there are incessant insults directed at Schultz, to which he replies, “But I have chicken.”

Jenkins' behavior became a well-known meme far beyond WOW and was reflected in many other games. IN Mass Effect(the first part, not) there was a similar character who died in the same ridiculous way, in Dark Souls there is the character paladin Leeroy, Jenkins’s scream and behavior were played in the series “Scrubs”, “My Name is Earl”, “In the Moonlight” and “ Heroes." The video made Schultz himself famous - he spoke at BlizzCon conferences and took part in creating characters for other Blizzard projects.

Speculation that Leeroy Jenkins might be staged has existed since the beginning of the video. This was indicated by chat messages with a countdown to Leeroy's stunt and the message "Time to Die" right before it. And now, 12 years after the publication of the original video, its creators confirmed that Leeroy’s story is fake. They published the first version of the video, where Leeroy still runs into the room, but manages to realize his mistake and return to the others, and drew attention to the issue of net neutrality in the description of the new old video.

I'm showing this never-before-seen video of Leeroy Jenkins' run in hopes of raising awareness about net neutrality. I've been holding this out for over a decade, waiting for the "right" moment to show it to the public, but last week Ajit Pai (the head of the Federal Communications Commission) released his terrible video, it really upset me, and I decided to finally tell about the history of one of the Internet's treasures, so you can do your part to help it. I hope some of you find this interesting and/or funny and take some time to research net neutrality and ask questions about it. Here are some resources to help protect the free and open Internet (Schultz provides a list of sites - Medialeaks note).

That's all. Another mystery of humanity has been revealed. This is almost the same scam as the staging of the KFC SMM, which was found - and at first everything looked so elegant.

(Leeroy Jenkins) – viral video with an episode from Games World of Warcraft, in which one of the players, shouting his name, leads everyone else to certain death. Nick “Leeroy Jenkins” has become a meme, this phrase means that there will be an epic fight that will not end well.

Origin

The Leeroy Jenkins video was first posted on the WOW fan forum on May 11, 2005. The action of the video with the participation of the Pals for Life guild takes place in the Blackrock Peak dungeon, designed to be completed by a group of 10-15 players. In the video, a group of characters stands in front of the entrance to the Rookery room filled with dragon eggs.

Players discuss strategy for getting through the Ventrilo voice communication system. They mention that one of the party members - paladin Leeroy Jenkins - needs an item called "Shoulders of Devotion".

Suddenly in touch with a heart-rending cry of “Okay, buddies, I'm back! Let's do that! Lirooooo Jenkinssss!!!” Leeroy Jenkins himself appears, who did not participate in the discussion. His character runs into the room, other guild members rush after him, and in the resulting chaos everyone quickly dies.

This episode, recorded on video, became popular. It was uploaded to YouTube on August 6, 2006, and gained 46.5 million views in 11 years.

The very next morning, Leeroy Jenkins woke up famous. His gaming nickname became one of the first gaming-themed Internet memes. Blizzard even named one of the achievements in the game World of Warcraft “Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!”, to get it you need to kill 50 dragonets in that very Nest in 15 seconds.

The Leeroy Jenkins card has appeared in the WoW card variation. Lots of movies and computer games have references to this meme, for example, in the television series “In the Moonlight” one of the characters, in order to stop a van carrying a prisoner, runs out onto the road shouting “Leeroy Jenkins”.

The player himself, hiding under the pseudonym Leeroy Jenkins, is called Ben Schultz. After the meme spread, Blizzard began inviting him to various gaming conferences and festivals and showing the “real Leeroy” for money.

At the end of 2017, 12 years after the emergence of the meme, its authors admitted that it was original.

Read also

Meaning

Leeroy Jenkins became a household name. According to the Urban Dictionary, the noun “Leeroy” means a person who does not understand the word “caution” or a person who achieves success through force. Also common among gamers is the verb “Leeroy,” which translates as “rush into battle without looking back.”

Judging by the numerous references to the meme in popular culture, the phrase “Liiiiiiight Jeenkins” has become something of a universal cry with which people go to “fight” without thinking through the strategy.

Gallery

Leeroy Jenkins is probably the most recognizable name V World of Warcraft. And this is not Thrall, not Arthas, not Chris Metzen or Ghostcrawler. This is Leeroy Jenkins. While World of Warcraft appeared in shows such as Stargate Atlantis, Leeroy got a place in How I Met Your Mother(How I Met your mother), My Name is Earl(My name is Earl) Scrubs(Clinic) and many others. Leeroy has become a whole genre. He has been mentioned and parodied so many times in pop culture that the original story is forgotten, and many do not know who Leeroy is.

The original video was uploaded to WarcraftMovies.com more than six years ago – May 11, 2005. The video was made by Leeroy and his friends from the guild PALS FOR LIFE on server Laughing Skull (US). In it... actually everyone knows everything. If you haven't seen it yet, then watch it.

Video originally titled A Rough Go, was posted and in a thread on the official forum, which was immortalized on many ancient blue trackers such as cardplace.com.

The Eyrie is a room in Blackrock Spire that was very easy to wipe in 2005. It is replete with dragon eggs. If you touch them, a baby dragon appears. In addition, there are dragons that activate eggs during the Fire of the Fathers event.

Nesting rarely went without problems, so experience and planning were required. Guild video PALS FOR LIFE parodies exactly this - shaking with fear, the heroes stand in front of the entrance to the Nest and discuss the strategy for passing the room. Their plan is complete nonsense, of course, but the main points are close to reality. Then Leeroy comes and everything goes to hell.

Sociologists have spent hours and even days trying to determine why Leeroy's joke is so popular with people, even if those people don't understand the gag. The answer is obvious: people like to watch other people do stupid things, especially if there is an element of surprise.

Since 2005, many people have questioned the authenticity of the video. Was it real? Or was it staged? Leeroy kept his fans in the dark for years. But now we can say with confidence that the video was staged. But that doesn't make it any less funny or entertaining.

The Leeroy Jenkins video was a hit from day one. On WarcraftMovies.com the video was the leader in downloads and remained in the top even a year after publication. Just on YouTube The video has more than 25 million views.

Soon, Leeroy's personality expanded beyond World of Warcraft and leaked into many corners of the universe. Some of them are:

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The original video, as already mentioned, was released in 2005. Some pop culture references to Leeroy are over 3-4 years old. You might think that the Jenkins phenomenon has run its course after all these years. However, it is not. At least two new nods to Leeroy have emerged in recent months. New series Breaking In(Hack) mentioned our hero again.

Moreover, in the game Duke Nukem Forever Leeroy is sent with you as an assistant, who is soon killed.