For everyone from long-standing players of World of Warcraft, to newbies, to even ex-players, many people will agree that the MMORPG holds a special place in their hearts. Over the last 19 years, Blizzard has provided gamers with countless memorable and hilarious moments.
With the recent release of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion for classic World of Warcraft, an iconic period that has returned after almost two decades, memes and funny moments from the game's past are being revisited. The game's lore transcended the inhabitants of Azeroth and seeped into popular culture. Even nonplayers of the game will recognize references to Leeroy Jenkins and the hilarious South Park episode, but they don't stop there.
8 "Where's Mankrik's Wife?"
World of Warcraft players have a knack for turning the most innocent of questlines into memes. One example is the 'Lost in Battle' quest in the Barrens, which saw a survivor of a battle wake up without any sign of his wife. In the days before Blizzard implemented a quest helper, many players would turn to Barrens chat to ask, "Where's Mankrik's Wife?" which resulted in many hilarious quips from not-so-helpful players who grew frustrated with answering the question. Some of the most memorable answers were "Illidan's Throne" and "Inside Blackrock Mountain."
The quest became so famous that in a questline in the Burning Crusade expansion, players nicknamed the Shrine of Dath'Remar the 'Shrine of Mankrik's Wife.' Sadly, the original quest has since been removed from retail World of Warcraft, but the references in the Barrens chat and forums will live on forever.
7 Leeroy Jenkins
No list of the funniest moments in World of Warcraft would be complete without mentioning the moment Leeroy Jenkins infamously took things into his own hands, despite his guild members calculating the odds of their survival. The moment, captured on video, saw the "PALS FOR LIFE" guild take on the Upper Blackrock dungeon back in 2005. After crunching the numbers and making a plan, a player known as Leeroy decided to run straight into battle after returning to his keyboard and failing to hear the plan. This led to chaos ensuing shortly after the player infamously yelled "LEEEEEROOOOOY!" down the mic.
The viral moment has become so embedded in WoW culture that Blizzard has even included an in-game 'Leeroy Jenkins' title that players can earn, as well as his very own card in Hearthstone.
6 The Rampage Of Stitches
Picking on poor low-level players has been a form of amusement for many players since World of Warcraft first launched. One way mischievous people did this was by heading to Raven Hill Cemetery and starting the quest 'The Hermit.' The quest ended with a large abomination named Stitches rampaging toward Darkshire, killing anything in its path.
Players soon realized that the mob could be kited anywhere in the area, including lower-level areas like Elwynn Forest, where poor unsuspecting characters were wiped out by the towering monstrosity. Ironically, this didn't leave the poor players rolling around in "stitches."
5 The Onyxia Wipe Audio
While the Leeroy Jenkins moment was eventually revealed to be staged, the Onyxia wipe audio was genuine and equally hilarious. In 2006, a player had the foresight to record the Ventrilo audio of an Onyxia's Lair guild run. In the audio, a player known as Dives lost his temper when someone failed to follow instructions.
Whether it was the way Dives spoke or his colossal overreaction, the funny moment led to iconic phrases such as "50 DKP Minus!" and "Many whelps! Handle it!" being known by just about every WoW player, old and new.
4 South Park WoW Episode
If a whole community has to be roasted, there is no better way than Matt Stone and Trey Parker doing it within a South Park episode. The episode, which was aired relatively early in the life of World of Warcraft, saw the boys of South Park encountering a character who is set upon ganking all low-level players he comes across.
The "Make Love, Not Warcraft" episode shared many stereotypes of WoW players, including the misrepresentation that players are greasy, overweight, and spend every waking hour playing the game. The episode had the full support of Blizzard, who saw the funny side and provided in-game animations for the episode.
3 The Corrupted Blood Plague
If players can find a way to inflict chaos for their own amusement, they certainly will. Back in 2005, Hakkar, the boss of the Zul'Gurub raid, gave players a debuff called Corrupted Blood. Like a real-life virus, those close to the infected player would also get the nasty debuff. This effect was intended to stay in the raid, but Blizzard missed one minor detail in containing the spread of the virus.
Once players left the raid, Hunter and Warlock pets brought the nasty virus back to major cities, where it spread like wildfire among unsuspecting players. This resulted in an apocalyptic outbreak that saw thousands of skeletons strewn across the empty streets. The contagious and rapid killing of many may have been funny to those intentionally spreading the Corrupted Blood plague, but scientists took it far more seriously, studying the effects and reactions of players as if it was a bio-terrorist attack.
2 Illegal Danish Super Snacks
Creative people can be found in all gaming fan bases. Those who play World of Warcraft excel at creating hilarious fan-made movies to leave their own mark on the community and its culture. One of the first and most popular videos of this kind was Illegal Danish Super Snacks, which earned awards from Blizzard for its hilarious creativity.
Illegal Danish created many quotes referenced among players, such as "Come on Baby, I got Blessing of Protection!" Since then, it has inspired many other hilarious machinima movies that have created or paid homage to in-jokes within the game.
1 The Infamous Goldshire Inn
The small Lion's Pride Inn, found in Goldshire, has become an infamous location for gathering players looking for a more NSFW experience in the land of Azeroth. The most infamous sever for the Goldshire Inn antics is Moon Guard US, which sees players dancing on tables, getting creative with emotes, and role-playing adult situations.
While some players no doubt take their visits to the infamous Goldshire Inn seriously, for many, it has become a popular meme, especially in general and trade chats. Openly having raunchy conversations and dressing characters in creative transmogs is amusing to many players, who often visit for a laugh.
World of Warcraft is available on PC