According to the Urban Dictionary, Leeroy Jenkins can be used to describe an act that is so reckless that you “do something so bloody wild that you’ll be talked about for months because it was bloody insane.” In which case you would be doing it Leeeeroy Jenkins style. Alternately it can also illustrate the idiocy of an action while maintain the redeeming qualities of such an action as in “is apparently stupid as hell, but at least possesses chicken.”
The official version of the origins of this web phenomenon is traceable back to a session of the massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG), World of Warcraft. During an episode, a guild (Pals for Life) was making meticulous plans to attack their enemy. During the proceedings one player, Ben Schulz, whose avatar is named Leeroy Jenkins steps out for chicken and beer. Upon returning, Leeroy arbitrarily rushes the enemy, ignorant and heedless of his guilds strategy. As he rushes he screams his name “LEEEEEEROY JENKINS”. His actions cause the absolute decimation of his guild in the ensuing battle. Afterward, in response to the admonitions of his peers he responds “I least I have chicken.
Another version of the origin is similar but revolves around a funeral for a fallen comrade. In this instance, the guild members are planning a funeral for their fellow soldier, when, unexpectedly, Leeroy Jenkins bursts in and slaughters the mourners as he screams his screen name. This tactic eventually caught on with other players and became a widespread phenomenon for players.
Leeroy Jenkins began to receive meme status on May 11, 2005 when Pals for Life uploaded a video of the incident to Warcraft Movies with a request for ‘constructive criticism’ on the Blizzard forum. This was done with tongue in cheek seriousness. Subsequently a You Tube posting on November 19th of that year garnered approximately 350K hits. A later posting around a year later received 19 million hits and both Leeroy Jenkins and Ben Schulz were propelled into internet infamy.
The popularity of Leeroy Jenkins as an incitement to “bloody wild action” and as an indication of absolute buffoonery has rocketed both Schulz and Jenkins to stardom both within the online community and in ‘real life’. A World of Warcraft Trading Card with artwork by Mike Krahulik was introduced. While ultimately draining power from the holder and his comrades, the card holds positive value in that, under certain circumstances, Jenkins’ attack holds a relatively high value. Also a figurinebearing Jenkins’ features was introduced with a line of World of Warcraft characters in 2008. Jenkins distinguished by holding a chicken leg in his left hand.
In the ‘real world’ Ben Schulz presented the keynote address at ROFLCon in 2008 and appeared at Blizzcon in 2007. He has also been interviewed on NPR and a local Denver site Westword. Jenkins popularity may have led to reference in a World of Warcraft based Toyota Tacoma commercial. The game show Jeopardy featured a question referenced toward Jenkins during the run of its college series in 2008. Jenkins has also been mentioned in the Guardian and on The Howard Stern. However the measure of Jenkins’ indoctrination into American culture is illustrated by the US Military’s article entitled "Let's Do This!: Leeroy Jenkins and the American Way of Advising" (Armed Forces Journal 2009). This apparently links Jenkins to the war effort in Iraq. Furthermore, University of California doctoral candidate Tanner Higgin utilizes the Jenkins video to teach gaming strategy and the gamic race.
Jenkins’ cult status can be observed in South Park’s “Make Love Not Warcraft”. This episode parodies Warcraft in general and specifically portrays Jenkins as a ‘griefer’, one who purposefully aggravates his fellow players. Also, a deleted scene from the Movie ‘Year One’ features a Jenkins Skit and a sketch scene for the movie ‘Monsters vs. Aliens’ was produced featuring Jenkins. However, the scene was never developed and all that exists is the animation.
Doing a search of the Leroy Jenkins meme can bring about all sorts of information on how it began and examples of how it has caught on with the rest of society other than just World of Warcraft. It’s compelling to see that there are all sorts of ways that the Leroy Jenkins phenomenon has incorporated itself into everyday realms of society. However our view of perception of a society is only that of our own, but what about other societies? In a search for other societies versions or translations it’s hard to come upon something that directly correlates with the incident. Even those which thoroughly translate the video on YouTube the effect no longer is the same. This in a way goes to show that even though what we in American society find funny or amusing is based on ideas that tie into our culture and different aspects of society. Things that to us are funny or catch attention may insult or offend others or the way a situation is handled may be different than we’d expect it to be done. What would have happened with the Leroy Jenkins phenomena had it been in a different country? Would we even consider it a phenomena?
The double meaning of Leeroy Jenkins, as either a summons of courage just before a daring feat such as skydiving or as the designation of an act of absolute buffoonery as when someone ruins a surprise party by showing up at the same time as the person being surprised, is similar to the dual meaning of nimrod. Until the mid-1940’s nimrod was typically used to connote a great hunter or an extremely brave person. Nimrod was actually the son of Cush and grandson of Noah according to the biblical books of Genesis and Chronicles. Traditionally he is cited as having led the building of the Tower of Babel. Throughout history, Nimrod has always been associated with bravery especially in the context of hunting.
However, in a Bugs Bunny cartoon circa 1942, the word took on the opposite meaning. Bugs Bunny, on seeing Elmer Fudd throw a tantrum in response to his continued humiliation at the hands of Bugs remarks “Poor little Nimrod”. From that point on nimrod came to connote an absurdly idiotic bumbling moron rather than a daring adventurer. Although nimrod was used in a demeaning fashion prior to the Bugs Bunny incident, it did not gain wide spread popularity until Bugs’ famous quip. This not only illustrates how a word can change meaning over time but it also shows how popular culture (first TV, then the Internet) has a huge influence on the language we speak. So whether you are a brazen Leeroy Jenkins or a bumbling nimrod, remember that at least you’ve got chicken!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment