Leeroy Jenkins

On May 11, 2005, the guild PALS FOR LIFE gathered in the Upper Blackrock Spire, a dangerous corner of World of Warcraft filled with dragon whelps and certain death. They had a plan. They had calculations. Someone had determined their survival odds at 32.33 percent—repeating, of course. It was meticulous. It was professional. It was about to be completely worthless.

"Alright, let's do this," said a voice, returning from AFK status. "LEEEEEEEROY JENKINNNNNS!"

A lone paladin charged directly into the rookery, pulling every mob in the instance, dooming his entire party to immediate and total annihilation. "Oh my God, he just ran in," muttered a guildmate in disbelief. "Save him!" shouted another. They couldn't. Within seconds, the raid was wiping. The last line—"At least I have chicken"—became eulogy and epitaph combined.

The video hit the official WoW forums, then WarcraftMovies, then YouTube. PC Gamer wrote about it. The Guardian analyzed it. Blizzard immortalized Leeroy as a trading card, a mini-figurine, a Hearthstone card, and finally an NPC in the game itself. He became the patron saint of reckless abandon, invoked whenever someone ignored the plan and charged ahead anyway.

Time passed. New games emerged. The kids who quoted Leeroy became parents. The meme calcified into a reference only millennials understood.

He ran in. He wiped. He was remembered.