A Viral World Of Warcraft Video Helped Create An Iconic South Park Villain
Not that we're the final say on this sort of stuff, but on the list of the best "South Park" episodes ever, Season 10, Episode 8 – "Make Love, Not Warcraft" has a pretty high spot on the list. The multi-layered moment of madness in everyone's favorite town took things to a new level quite literally when Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny joined the beloved MMO "Word of Warcraft." Doused in computer graphics for most of the episode, seeing your favorite school kids united against a powerful griefer that has no life earned the show critical acclaim, and an Emmy win (via IMDb).
Besides just being a great watch, the episode's impact rippled out to the gaming world, with "World of Warcraft" subsequently adding "South Park" references as well as "Hearthstone" adding the fabled "Sword of a Thousand Truths." At the same time, Matt Stone and Trey Parker had "World of Warcraft" to thank for being able to get laughs at the gaming titan's expense, including the episode's villain, who was inspired by both the popular game and a viral clip that became a staple in pop culture.
Make Love, Not Warcraft's villain was inspired by the legendary Leeroy Jenkins
During their ridiculous time playing the game, the boys are repeatedly overpowered by a player known as "Leroy Jenkins," who has reached such a high player ranking not even Blizzard Entertainment can stop him. Besides the many nods and Easter eggs linked to the game (which Blizzard worked alongside on for the episode), the name itself is a nod to the classic viral YouTube clip, "Leeroy Jenkins," which saw a player storm in ahead of his team, only to lead to a massacre.
Immortalized as an internet meme in 2005, the reference to the iconic poor play (eventually revealed to be staged) was a gag that catered to even those outside of the game's audience, given the clip's notoriety (per Evening Standard). Leeroy Jenkins even became an NPC (non-playable character) in a "World of Warcraft" expansion in the later years and the player behind the character even attended Blizzcon, the company's annual convention (via Endgadget). That's all great, but being referred to in "South Park" pretty much tops everything else, surely? Game over, man. Game over.