Parrotheader.com

Maybe my geek juices are flowing a little extra heavy tonight because I finally got around to installing Linux again on my old (and still awesome) Compaq M700 laptop. Whatever it is I've been visiting some of the ultra-geek sites I don't usually frequent.

In one of those sites, I came across a gamer reference I've seen over and over again and already understand by its usage. But it's a story I've never really taken the time to explore. I'm talking about the legend of Leeroy Jenkins.

I won't try to explain it too much here. The video below is the source of Leeroy's online fame and does a far better job than I ever could of defining the situation. For the non-geeks though here's the quick setup. It takes place in one of the geekiest multiplayer games on the web, the World of Warcraft - which I've never played for the record. Leeroy's guild is meticulously preparing their battleplan for an impending raid while Leeroy was (unbeknownst to them) away from his keyboard purportedly eating some chicken. He suddenly re-enters the situation with humorous results.




As the Wikipedia article points out, what makes the whole situation so funny is the stark contrast presented by Leeroy's actions.

"the original video was designed as a negative commentary on the kind of "nerd-guilds" that meticulously and statistically plan out raids the way Leeroy's guild was apparently doing. Leeroy is in fact the hero of the piece, acting against the geekiness of his guild."

Another great outsider's perspective can be found in this well-written article by Joel Werner of Denver Westword.