'South Park Guy' Jarod Nandin Dies Of COVID-19

Cosplayer and World of Warcraft player Jarod Lee Nandin, who achieved viral fame with his cosplay of Jenkins the Griefer from the 2006 South Park episode, has died of COVID-19.

Nandin first revealed that he tested positive for COVID-19 on December 22nd, 2020, later writing that he developed breathing complications. On January 3rd, Nandin's friend confirmed that he died of COVID on Twitter.

Today the Warcraft</a> &amp; greater <a href="https://twitter.com/Blizzard_Ent?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Blizzard_Ent community lost one of it’s sweetest souls to Covid. Jarod Nandin aka JarodNWBZPWNR</a> was best known by his famous Blizzcon cosplay “That Which Has No Life” from the <a href="https://twitter.com/SouthPark?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">SouthPark ep “Make Love Not Warcraft”… (cont) https://t.co/LGCWKUWD1R pic.twitter.com/Mx63iS4ivG

— Michele Morrow (@michelemorrow) January 3, 2021

In 2013 Jarod "NWBZPWNR" Nandin made headlines with his BlizzCon cosplay of Jenkins, the griefer who terrorizes a World of Warcraft server in the 2006 South Park episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft" with his high-level character. The cosplay, for which Nandin shaved his head, earned him the nickname "The South Park Guy," with the images of Nandin at BlizzCon going viral.

In his 2014 interview with LA Weekly, Nardin talked about cosplay positivity, saying he feels "pity" for those who take cheap shots at cosplayers online.

You're wasting your life by being vicious. You're just a sack of flesh on a gravity rock hurling through space like the rest of us. You're only weighing us down by being like that.

Many members of both World of Warcraft community and larger gaming and cosplay communities shared tributes for Nandin on social media.

We are deeply saddened to report that Jarod "NWBZPWNR" Nandin, aka "The South Park Guy" cosplayer from BlizzCon 2013, has passed away after contracting Covid-19. #Warcraft pic.twitter.com/cqLVmyV3qp

— Wowhead (@Wowhead) January 4, 2021

Please. PLEASE. Take this pandemic seriously. It’s exhausting, I get it, but momentary comfort should not outweigh the worth of human life.@JarodNWBZPWNR We miss you. Nearly two decades of being silly weebs together. You’ve only ever been a joy. This hurts. pic.twitter.com/3nSJbmVhKj

— Matthew Mercer (@matthewmercer) January 4, 2021

rip to Jarod Nandin, a World of Warcraft and South Park icon, who lost his life to covid. may he roam Azeroth forever pic.twitter.com/zoH5Hk9bu7

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) January 4, 2021