Played

P
ure Pwnage is an
Internet-distributed mockumentary
series from ROFLMAO
Productions. The fictional series purports
to chronicle the life and adventures of “Jeremy” played by Jarett Cale, a Canadian self-proclaimed “pro gamer”. Originating
in 2004, eighteen episodes of the series have been released to
date. In 2007 the creators of the show estimated their current
viewer base to be over three million. The
series is filmed primarily in Toronto but
has also included scenes filmed in Calgary, Montreal, and the Netherlands.
On August 6, 2009, it was announced
that a Pure Pwnage TV series had been
commissioned by Showcase. During an
interview, director Geoff Lapaire played
as “Kyle”; Lapaire maintained his “Kyle”
identity among fans and media insisted
that all of the characters on the show are
not acting. He suggested that the personalities on Pure Pwnage displaty their
true-to-life abilities and eccentricities,
and the characters took great pains to
maintain that the Pure Pwnage world is
simply an extension of the real world. Lapaire has finally admitted that they are in fact actors. The sixth fanchat with the crew
was out-of-character, where the fact that the characters within
Pure Pwnage are exaggerated versions of the actors was confirmed.
Je r e my
Due to Jeremy’s profound immersion in video game culture, his
social skills have atrophied. Because Jeremy has lived in his basement for most of his life, he has had very little conversation with
any other person and has therefore taught himself how to speak.
This means his fictional accent is slurred and full of interjections
such as “like” and “’n’ stuff ”. However, he has also developed the
ability to quickly master any video game, and can play competitively against extremely skilled opponents. Jeremy often makes
narcissistic comments about himself.
Ky l e
P
layed by Geoff Lapaire, Jeremy’s younger brother and director of the show Kyle is working full-time on Pure Pwnage, and ROFLMAO productions. He determines what events
to film, but usually just follows Jeremy around. Occasionally,
he tries to introduce Jeremy to a diversion from video gaming.
According to Jeremy, Kyle is a
“toal n00b” total noob in many
ways. The show is shot almost
entirely from Kyle’s point of
view and he often talks to the
other characters. His face is
finally revealed in Episode 12.
On June 4, 2009, Jarett Cale informed fans and followers, via
the show discussion forums, that “In September 2008, Geoff respectfully informed me that he would no longer be involved on
set with PurePwnage, and that he would also no longer be the
show’s editor.” Jarett later added that Geoff will, in fact, still be
involved with the musical score for Pure Pwnage.
( a k a te h _ p w n e r e r )
P
layed by Jarett Cale, the
protagonist of Pure Pwnage is twenty-five year old Jeremy,
a stereotypical gamer. He lives in
Toronto, Canada with his younger
brother, Kyle. Jeremy spends the
vast majority of his time playing
video games and pwning n00bs,
using the online handle teh_pwnerer. He has been playing
games since the age of two, when he used to totaly pwn Pong.
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D av e ( D aw e i )
P
layed by Dave Lee, Jeremy’s
friend Dave, notable for
his cooking skills and his nonchalant sense of humour, is first
introduced as a crew member in
a “behind the scenes” featurette at
the end of Episode 3 “FPS Doug”.
He excels at fighting games such
as Street Fighter II but is usually
seen cooking or casually observing Jeremy’s and Kyle’s antics. He has started his own web cooking show, named Pro at Cooking.
FPS Doug
P
layed by Joel Gardiner, Jeremy’s boisterous best
friend and rival Doug spends most of his
time playing FPS games such as Counter-Strike:
Source, America’s Army, and Call of Duty
4, and defeating his opponents by skillfully “getting the headshot”. According
to Doug, his skills frequently get him
banned from servers due to accusations of
him hacking. Doug has serious anger management issues, and
can appear to be a psychopath, obsessed with
FPS games to the point that
he goes out training and practicing headshots in real life
with an imaginary gun and
holding the belief that carrying a large kitchen knife whilst
running makes him go faster.
This stems from the fact that in many FPS games, you
move faster while carrying the only close range weapon.
Doug’s triumphant catchphrase “Boom, headshot!” has
become a popular exclamation among FPS players and
has appeared on many online message boards and chatrooms. The phrase is particularly popular in the online game Counter Strike: Source because that resulted
in Doug saying it the most. “Boom, Headshot!” is also
featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as a callsign
the player can set.
Anastasia
P
layed by Miranda Plant,
MMO-playing Anastasia
is Jeremy’s first, but former
love interest on Pure Pwnage. She plays World of Warcraft under the pseudonym
“Tagi”. Anastasia and Jeremy
have different views about
video games, as she believes
they should be social—not just
about pwning noobs. In one of
the episodes, it is revealed that she has turned into a
vegetarian because of the health benefits.And in anoth-
er episode, Jeremy sees Anastasia dancing with a guy,
when she told him she was going for a “girl’s night out.”
This ultimately leads to their break up.
Te h _ M a s te r e r
V
oiced by Fr. “William Craig”
played by Geoff Lapaire. Always
clad entirely in ninja clothing, Teh_Masterer
is a mysterious master gamer who trains Jeremy
and others in the ways of being a pro gamer. His
micro ability is so profound that he can play multiple video games at the same time, and he claims that
he once beat Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue with nothing more than a row of pawns and a single bishop. He
lives in seclusion in a small apartment , but has access
to a training area that
Kyle refers to this as
the “room with no
exits”. His true identity was unknown until Episode 12, where
it is stated that Geoff
Lapaire who plays
Kyle also plays Teh_
Masterer. In Episode
11, when Jeremy visits Holland, Teh_Masterer appears
to be under surveillance by some form of agency such
as the CIA, who are tracking Teh_Masterer’s network
of gamers and apprentices. Whether this story arc will
be picked up on or continued in the future is unknown.
Teh_Masterer wears black ninja clothing to protect his
exceptionally sensitive skin, a condition he developed
from playing video games for fifteen straight years in a
dim basement.
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