The Original Trolls of Gaming : Legends of Greifing
The Original Trolls of Gaming: Legends of Griefing
We all know the name Leroy Jenkins. His battle cry echoed through the halls of World of Warcraft and into the mainstream, becoming the poster child for either bravery or stupidity...or both. But there have been others, in other digital realms, who have also seized the moment.
These are the people whose names once caused global chat to erupt in a mix of terror and awe. They didn't just play the game—they reshaped it.
1. Fansy the Famous Bard (EverQuest)
In 2000, Sony opened a "No Rules" PvP server called Sullon Zek. It was supposed to be a paradise for "evil" players to gank anyone in sight. They didn't count on Fansy.
Fansy was a Level 5 Good Bard—a literal toddler in game terms. Because he was under level 6, the "Evil" players couldn't attack him. However, Fansy had the one ablity he required: he was fast as heck.
In the Everquest world, bards can run VERY fast, and Fansy would run by them "agro-ing" them (a gaming term which means getting the monsters to chase you by coming too close to them). He mainly stayed in one "zone" where massive sand giants live, who would comically chase after him, never giving up pursuit until he...or someone...died. Like a pied piper, Fansy would lead this angry mob of giants straight to the door of other players in the zone.
The Giants would slaughter the "untouchable" high-level players while Fansy stood there, wearing bright colors and playing his flute. When the evil players complained to the GMs that it was "unfair," the GMs famously replied: "There are no rules on Sullon Zek. Go-go Good Team!"
Fansy made such an impression on the gaming world as a whole (he was really the original Leroy Jenkins) that the game World of Warcraft (which owed heavily to EQ) paid homage to him with an in-game character: Magus Fansy Goodbringer, seen below.
2. Rainz: The Man Who Killed God (Ultima Online)
In 1997, Ultima Online creator Richard Garriott (known as Lord British) appeared in-game for a royal speech. He was essentially a god with "invincibility" turned on. Or so he thought.
A thief named Rainz noticed that during a server reset, the invincibility flag hadn't been toggled back on. While the crowd listened to the speech, Rainz—in a moment of pure chaos—swiped a "Fire Field" scroll from a nearby player's backpack and cast it directly at the king’s feet.
Lord British slumped over, dead. Global chat exploded. The developers were so shocked they summoned demons to slaughter everyone in the vicinity as "divine retribution." Rainz was banned shortly after, but he remains the only mortal to ever assassinate a digital deity.
3. Angwe: The Terror of Menethil (World of Warcraft)
Long before modern cross-realm play, there was Angwe. An Orc Rogue on the Dethecus server, Angwe spent four months, ten hours a day, camping the Menethil Harbor docks—the only way for Alliance players to travel between continents.
He didn't just kill you; he made it a psychological operation. He had a second account named "Angwespy" on the Alliance side just to listen to people screaming in global chat. He would screenshot their meltdowns and post them on his personal website like trophies. He wasn't just a player; he was a geographical hazard.
4. Istvaan Shogaatsu (EVE Online)
In EVE Online, the "Guiding Hand Social Club" didn't play for points—they played for the ultimate heist. Led by Istvaan Shogaatsu, they spent ten months infiltrating a massive corporation called Ubiqua Seraph. On a single signal—the code word "Nicole"—they struck.
They assassinated the CEO, looted every hangar, and stole roughly $16,500 worth of digital assets. They even delivered the CEO’s frozen corpse to the client who hired them. It remains the most cold-blooded "social engineering" hit in gaming history.
5. The Rallos Zek 200: The Dragonslayers (EverQuest)
(The Tomb of the Sleeper)
In the world of Norrath, Kerafyrm the Sleeper was an ancient, prismatic dragon designed to be unkillable. The script was simple: once players woke him, he would slaughter everyone, rampage, and then despawn forever. No loot. Just a forced apocalypse.
But on the Rallos Zek server in November 2003, three rival guilds stood side-by-side to see if "God" could bleed. For over three hours, nearly 200 players engaged in a war of attrition. Kerafyrm had millions of health points and could "Death Touch" players instantly.
The strategy was brutal: a massive chain of Clerics stood in the back, constantly resurrecting players the second they fell. People were losing levels from the sheer amount of death experience penalties, but they kept charging back in naked and screaming.
When the dragon’s health hit 26%, SOE panicked and manually despawned him. After a PR nightmare and a player riot, SOE apologized and let them try again. On November 17, the Sleeper finally fell. They had broken the script of the world itself.
While the Sleeper may have died on Norrath, he has resurfaced yet again in the world of Blizzard...
Whose legend did I miss? Drop a comment below.
