Nothing sparks up my day more than watching the infamous Leeroy Jenkins World of Warcraft - even after repeated viewings it still makes me laugh. If you haven’t seen it (or perhaps you’ve already hit this link already) its a video clip of a group of players gathered about in a dungeon planning their strategy.

None of the players need to go into a side dungeon full of bad bad evilness…except one player ‘Leeroy’ needs some special magical armour bits. So reluctantly they plan in great detail about how best to tackle this. The detail is extraordinary and kinda disturbing… I must admit I am a bit of a Leeroy myself in terms of gaming. If I can’t figure something out I like to shoot it. …..Meanwhile it seems that Leeroy’s human controller has left the game briefly for chicken… he returns, and having missed all the strategy, he runs brandishing his sword and screaming his name into the cave. Startled, the other ‘team’ members feel compelled to follow. The chaotic results are a disaster… but Leeroy has chicken.

Since then the guy behind Leeroy has been given his ‘15 Minutes’ and I understand he is now celebrity at video game tradeshow and gaming competitions commentator (what tha!). He even has his own wikipedia entry, and as is the American popculture way - has sparked a mini merchandising industry. I’ve noticed that within the online gaming community he has entered folklore with his own gaming card and now gamers claim to have been “Leeroy-ed” when a mission goes terribly pear shaped because one of the multiplayers did not following the agreed upon strategy.

Sheeesh. All this from a blunder. It makes me think… is Leeroy a hero or is he simply a certified twack. He seems to have profited from this but how will he feel in the future when he is still regarded as that… it makes me think of Gary Coleman from the TV show ‘Different Strokes’ or that overweight boy practicing light sabre moves made popular during the YouTube infancy. I believe neither are living a happy life now dogged by their “15 minutes”.