Family Guy paid tribute to an Internet classic on April 1 by reenacting World of Warcraft’s famous Leeroy Jenkins scene in the latest episode.
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With the unpredictable way that Family Guy episodes usually run combined with the fact that it was April Fool’s Day, people weren’t quite sure what to expect from this most recent episode after it was teased by FOX. The promotional image reimagined Stewie and Peter as members of the game’s opposing factions and promised some “Warcraft magic” in the next episode. Family Guy did one better by not including a reference but reenacting the famous Leeroy Jenkins scene nearly word-for-word.
The scene that’s reenacted in the show stars Peter, Joe, and Cleveland with the three becoming members of the Coast Guard. Caught in a firefight, the three hunker down to plan their next moves. After saying that they’re outgunned, Cleveland inquires as to whether the other two know about “what’s referred to as a ‘Leeroy Jenkins.’” After dismissing the idea, Peter says that they should instead create a very long, elaborate plan for the fight, a comment that segues right into the Leeroy Jenkins scene.
Plans were then made regarding which of the three would run in first, what they would do, and how the others should follow up on the actions. From there, much of what’s said is almost exactly what’s said in the famous World of Warcraft scene, right down to the “repeating of course” line from Joe when he’s doing his calculations. All of this planning is spoiled by Cleveland following through with his suggestion as he shouts the infamous phrase and charges in.
Family Guy even drops the animation quality shortly after to closer match the graphics that would be found in Warcraft. Health bars and other visual appear and server as an HUD for the three characters before some dragons fly in to join the fight.
While it’s an old joke, it’s still one that World of Warcraft veterans can appreciate. However, some weren’t thrilled with the singular skit in an episode that some thought would be much more centered on the MMORPG. Considering the promotional image with Stewie and Peter that was used to promote the episode, some expected the entire episode to be intertwined with the Warcraft universe in some way. As Cleveland pointed out in the clip, there were a lot of Internet references in the episode, but many WoW fans wanted more.
