Few memes have stood the test of time as well as Leeroy Jenkins, the star of a classic video of World of Warcraft raid in 2005 that went horribly wrong. If you somehow haven't seen it, Jenkins screams his name at a record-setting volume and length as he blasts out of his party, leading them to follow and predictably die to a swarm of whelps.
RELATED: World of Warcraft The Burning Crusade Classic: 10 Hilarious Memes That Bring You Back To 2007
This spawned thousands of memes in classic fashion, and it's made lasting impacts on both modern memes and pop culture as a whole. If you don't realize just how long this name has been in the internet's lexicon, it's worth taking a walk down memory lane to see some classic memes, and major appearances of this absurd myth of a Paladin.
10 The Real Leeroy Jenkins Hearthstone Card
Before getting into the original classic memes, it should probably be mentioned just how important Leeroy Jenkins is to the actual World of Warcraft universe. References to him are everywhere in nearly every Blizzard game, and this is perhaps most evident in Hearthstone where the character was given an original legendary minion card in 2017.
This card is even quite flavorful, summoning two Whelps for your opponent when it enters that can potentially slaughter you and your party. With its magnificent art first used in the official World of Warcraft Trading Card Game in 2006 drawn by Jonathan Gabriel from Penny Arcade, it's a great monument to this historic meme.
9 One Really Fake Yu-Gi-Oh Card
Blizzard's effort to circulate this meme further has been massively influential on the longevity of this meme, and as a result it's not the only card out there. Many fans have put this iconic art on other types of cards since its debut in the World of Warcraft Trading Card game, with WhiteCrowXV making one as early 2008 onto a classic Yu-Gi-Oh card frame.
RELATED: 10 Things You Need To Know Before Starting Hearthstone In 2021
This is hardly the only Leeroy Jenkins fan card on the internet, but this is easily one of the oldest and shows how people can put the Leeroy Jenkins meme on nearly anything and have it seem fitting. The reckless dive into danger is recognizable in tons of forms, even in games you might not even play.
8 One Does Not Simply Combine Two Classic Memes
If you've only been on the internet for the past five to six years, you may have noticed that memes recently went through a bit of a transformation. Rather than the usual formats they originally held, new memes are usually definable as any kind of internet post with text over or on the image.
The original format, though, was to have white Impact font with a black background, and they almost always just imitated some line from a famous movie or TV show quote. As a result, memes like this where you'd combine one like Lord of the Ring's "One does not simply walk into Mordor" with Leeroy Jenkins was inevitable.
7 The MMO Grinder's Struggle
Whether you're a fan of classic MMOs like World of Warcraft, or newer dungeon runners like Destiny 2, you've probably experienced a teammate who sprints through the level without waiting up for the team. If you haven't been to the dungeon you're running before, it can often be hard to tell if these players are skilled dungeon experts or frantic maniacs.
With that relatable mood comes this meme, based on a still frame from the now-cancelled Futurama series. This is definitely one of the more archaic memes, but absolutely a relatable feeling over a decade after it likely appeared on the internet in the first place.
6 The Ultimate Classic Meme Crossover
When people started demanding every one of their favorite pieces of media have crossovers, they probably didn't expect memes to have this effect. This is easily one of the least-comprehensible memes, combining Leeroy Jenkins with the film 300, and a strange meme-like song called The Fox by Ylvis.
RELATED: 9 Valheim Memes That Are Too Hilarious For Words
All three of these gags are almost entirely unrelated to each other, and yet the context of these memes add up to a singular tone of memes that's utterly changed. They aren't just about inside jokes anymore, and instead are crafted with a bit more overall appeal than popular movie gags.
5 Tragedy Strikes
There's also one other classic type of Leeroy Jenkins meme you probably saw a lot of if you were browsing meme sites in the late 2000's. Because of the reckless efforts of our favorite Paladin, there are tons of tragic events that have had the text put over it, with this one of the Titanic about to sink being one of the less graphic examples.
Few of these are really funny due to the serious content they apply to, but they absolutely are important to the history of this meme as Leeroy Jenkins was synonymous with blind enthusiasm that lead to immense failure. This Titanic meme thankfully stands the test of time better, much thanks to the ship being the primary victim in the image itself.
4 Tragedy Strikes, But With Ducklings
If meme-makers want to use Leeroy Jenkins as a source of ambitious leaps of faith, they might as well have cute ducklings to make it less grim. Take this post, for example, which takes something that usually leads to tragedy and combines it with a duck who's just going to hit the water a little too hard.
While we all surely hope this young duckling is safe after this jump, it's certainly more wholesome than the other fates could have Leeroy Jenkins exclaimed beforehand. Violence and pain are hardly funny, but the enthusiasm of Leeroy Jenkins is undoubtedly the most relatable and amusing part of the meme.
3 Classical Jenkins Studies
Turning classic pieces of art into memes is one of the more underrated ideas that came and went with the early age of memes, and even Leeroy Jenkins wasn't safe from a combination of old English and history. As a result, it makes for one of the least reference-based memes out there, and far more lovable than anything having to do with a serious tragedy.
RELATED: World Of Warcraft: 10 Things About Thrall's Lore Fans Need To Know
That said, it's hardly a complex meme by any means. It's a reenactment more than it is a parody, and as we would go on to see in time with pop culture appearances of this meme, it's clear that the act of Leeroy Jenkins itself is funny regardless of context.
2 The Controversial Take
With every meme comes its haters, and one of the greatest ways to spite certain memes in the day was to use the Unpopular Opinion Puffin. This adorable seabird always looks like it's treading carefully, which made it a perfect way to diss anything you disliked while showing that you don't intend any hate or rudeness.
As a result, this example expressing disinterest about Leeroy Jenkins is one of the more polite ways to dislike it. Not every joke will land with every person, and even though not everyone can agree with this puffin post, it's certainly not an unfair opinion.
1 The Family Guy Parody
In 2018, Leeroy Jenkins hit what might be its strangest achievement of meme status by having a weirdly accurate rendition of it appearing in an episode of Family Guy. In it, three main characters including Peter have to deal with terrorists hijacking a boat, and the strategy they use leads them into a 3D form complete with whelps and the World of Warcraft menu system.
This was hardly the only appearance of this meme outside of gaming, but is definitely one of the strangest. There have been tons of comedy shows where characters run into dangerous situations while yelling Leeroy Jenkins or their own names, with some early examples including My Name Is Early in 2008 and How I Met Your Mother in 2009.