The Ugly Truth Behind the legendary "Leroy Jenkins” viral WoW video
It\"s impossible to tell just how many people have watched "Leeroy Jenkins" storm into battle ahead of his teammates, ruining their chances at victory. The video has been uploaded to so many different streaming platforms by several different users. But the number is at least in the millions.
The original video was uploaded on May 11, 2005 to Warcraft Movies and has amassed nearly 18 million views from there alone. The video gained so much popularity it appeared in shows like "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Daily Show" with Jon Stewart. It was even an answer on "Jeopardy."
But what many who watched the video may not know is: the video was staged.
Yes, the video that went viral before anyone knew what viral even meant is fake. That shouldn\"t taint the long-lasting history of "Leeroy Jenkins," but it certainly puts it in a new light. Although when it first gained fame, there were some that were skeptical of its authenticity. People even asked the creators about it, and they\"d respond without giving an actual answer.
"I like people to decide for themselves," Ben Schulz, the voice behind Leeroy, said to Westword in 2007. "It is more fun that way."
But in 2017 the creators admitted it wasn\"t real.
"We didn\"t think anyone would believe it was real, we thought it was so obviously satire, but we were wrong," cameraman Ben "Anfrony" Vinson said to Kotaku in 2017.
Vinson even added proof the video wasn\"t real.
In 2017 he uploaded a first attempt at the video to raise awareness about net neutrality. Here\"s what he said in the description for that video:
The rough cut features a weaker yell from Leeroy, and his friends laughing immediately. It\"s clear why they needed to try it again.
"I am releasing this never-before-seen first take/dry run of the Leeroy Jenkins video in hopes of raising awareness about net neutrality. I\"ve been holding onto this for over a decade waiting for the "right" moment to make it public, and then last week Ajit Pai created his awful/condescending video and it riled me up so much that I decided it was finally time to unleash this gem of Internet history on the world to do my part to help out. Hopefully some of you will find this interesting and/or amusing, and will take some time to research net neutrality and make a fuss about it."
The rough cut features a weaker yell from Leeroy, and his friends laughing immediately. It\"s clear why they needed to try it again.
Who is the real Leeroy Jenkins?
The man behind the character is Ben Schulz. He\"s a Denver-based gamer who made the video with his friends from college.
"Alex Trebek said my name," Schulz said to Westword. "When I saw that, I realized it had gone beyond anything I could control."
Schulz also in 2017 admitted the video was staged while sharing his friend\"s plea to raise awareness for net neutrality.
"This should answer the on-going question that we all already knew the answer to, and hopefully support a good cause," he writes.
Schulz has also made appearances at BlizzCon, the gaming convention held by Blizzard Entertainment (the creator of World of Warcraft).
Also, in case you weren\"t completely sure, Leeroy says, "at least I have chicken" at the end of the video despite several people believing the line is "at least i ain\"t chicken." This was confirmed by Vinson on a forum when the video was first gaining popularity.