Forty-three million YouTube hits later, the legendary World of Warcraft meme Leeroy Jenkins is now 10 years old.
The meme evolved from a video of a group of WoW players planning a raid when one player, known as Leeroy Jenkins, went rogue and spoiled the raid. The video, uploaded in May 2005, went viral before “going viral” was really even a thing. It was alluded to on TV shows including My Name is Earl and in movies like Wreck-it-Ralph. There were spinoffs on YouTube and a hit on South Park.
And yet, one question remains—was the whole thing staged?
According to the real-life Leeroy, Ben Schultz, it’s up to the viewer to decide.
Check out the video below (warning: video contains strong language).
Learn more at Know Your Meme.
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