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One of gaming's funniest viral videos, Leeroy Jenkins, turns 10 years old today

Steven Tweedie   

One of gaming's funniest viral videos, Leeroy Jenkins, turns 10 years old today
Tech2 min read

Leeroy JenkinsDBlow2003Schulz's "World of Warcraft" character, Leeroy Jenkins, sits quietly at the left before sabotaging his teammates.

Ten years ago on May 11th, 2005, a video was uploaded on a gaming forum depicting a "World of Warcraft" video game raid gone wrong.  

A lone team member threw caution to the wind and charged headlong into battle, bellowing his character's name. That video, now famously referred to as simply "Leeroy Jenkins," is the stuff of gaming legend. 

More than 43 million people have watched as "World of Warcraft" player Ben Schulz sabotaged his guild's careful planning by rushing into the fight early, giving no warning save for screaming "All right, time's up let's do this: Leeeeroy Jeeenkins!"

In the video, the rest of Schulz's guild stares dumbfounded for a few seconds as their teammate charges alone into the toughest boss fight in the game.

Then,  the video devolves into a chaotic fight as his team rushes to his aid, shouting at each other before they're slowly picked off one by one.

When the dust settles and the full extent of the massacre is realized, Schulz's guild turns on him and his character Leeroy Jenkins, to which he replies meekly "At least I have chicken."

Since its debut, the Leeroy Jenkins video has evolved from self-sabotage video to internet meme, and 10 years later you'll find numerous mentions in pop culture and references to Jenkins in "World of Warcraft."

When "World of Warcraft" creator Blizzard debuted its card battling game "Hearthstone," Leeroy Jenkins was immortalized with his own card that even screamed his catchphrases.

Leeroy Jenkins Hearthstone carddualfragment

Today, some have questioned whether the video was staged by Schulz and his guild, but any conclusive evidence has yet to be revealed.

Staged or not, Leeroy Jenkins still stands up as one of the funniest gaming videos online, striking that balance between late-night hilarity and terrible group planning that can often come from teaming up in online games.

The audio has been garbled in the original video - you can't hear the famous scream for some reason - but you can watch a re-uploaded version of the video below (Warning: there's some strong language).

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