Pepe

Pepe
Race	Bird (Critter)
Level	1
Reaction	Alliance Horde
Location	Lunarfall, Frostwall
Status	Alive

Pepe is a small bird that (most of the time) lives in the commander's garrison. Pepe can also be found out in the world of Draenor, and finding Pepe's four costumes is the objective of the achievement [I Found Pepe!].

Pepe can be accessed anywhere with [Trans-Dimensional Bird Whistle], a reward from [What A Strange, Interdimensional Trip It's Been].

Costumes[]

[A Tiny Set of Warglaives] (functions as a separate toy, from the traditional whistle)

Notes[]

Players can right-click him, thereby causing him to ride on their heads for 1 hour. The effect does not persist through death.
- Pepe — You've got a friend!
  - Defeating all level 100 raid bosses, world bosses and the last boss of all Draenor dungeons while accompanied by Pepe awards the achievement [What A Strange, Interdimensional Trip It's Been] and the [Trans-Dimensional Bird Whistle] toy.
Since Pepe is a critter, he can be affected by various toys:
- He can be coaxed into following the player around using [Panflute of Pandaria]. However, he will not flap his wings and will instead simply be found floating in mid-air behind the player as long as the Panflute's effect lasts.
- The [Automated Critter Defense Cannon] will shoot Pepe. However, he will not die.
There are several additional Pepes found throughout Azeroth or Draenor but cannot be targeted or interacted with and does not appear to serve any actual purpose:
- One can be found atop the crow's nest of one of the Transport ships in the Lunarfall / Frostwall Shipyard.
- One can be found on the Jagged Coast of Exile's Reach.
- A Tiki Pepe can be found in Nazmir.
- A Spectral Pepe can be found in Drustvar.
- One can be found in Silithus: The Wound, overlooking the Alliance camp from the mountains.
- A slime pepe can appear on [Jiggles]'s head.

Trivia[]

Pepe was created by 3D artist Jordan Powers.^[1]^[2] Powers first created Pepe almost two years prior to the release of Warlords, to "help breathe some life into a 3D project".^[2] Powers began including the little bird in all of his work, later giving him a name and eventually a personality.^[2]
- The Jorrix Powerspark NPC, an homage to Jordan, has a Pepe on his head.
Pepe's "birthday" is 24 February 2013, when he was first revealed on Powers' Facebook. Powers accompanied the image with the comment, "My scene was looking kinda dull, so I added a bird to it. I have named him, 'Pepé' and he is TOTALLY BOSS."^[3]
Since his discovery by players in the garrison, Pepe has gone on to become a celebrated icon in the community, with players frequently including the tiny bird in selfies, as well as in various memes on social media. One notable example of this popularity was a series of fan art images created by ZHArDoom (扎尔杜姆) that envisioned the bird dressed as, at the time, all thirty-three playable characters in Heroes of the Storm, and which was featured in a blog post on the official Heroes of the Storm website.^[4] This popularity appears to have been responsible for the later expansion of the character with the addition of the [I Found Pepe!] NPCs and achievement, as well as the Pepe plush toy, the release of which was announced in a special blog, accompanied by an #IFoundPepe Twitter hashtag campaign.^[5]
The official Pepe plush is available from the Blizzard Gear Store, and can grip onto various surfaces such as hats and monitors, mimicking Pepe's tendency to sit on adventurers' heads.^[6]
On October 14th World of Warcraft's official Facebook page uploaded an album titled #IFoundPepe including a lot of pictures with both the in-game Pepe and the plush version.^[7]
[Crate of Bobbers: Wooden Pepe] was added in Legion, allowing the fishing bobber to be replace by a wooden Pepe.
[Pepe's Shroud of Pacification] is a cloak that drops in Battle for Mount Hyjal. There is likely no connection to Pepe the bird aside from the name.
The Pepe craze apparently reached even Suramar's nobility during the events of Legion.^[8]
An animated Pepe spray is available in Heroes of the Storm.
Pepe makes a cameo appearance in one of the first full Hearthstone television commercials.^[9]
The unused creature concepts for the Hearthstone expansion Kobolds & Catacombs include a monstrous, humanoid version of Pepe. In the words of Dave Kosak, "[...] the giant hulking Pepe bird did not make it into the set, but did find a place in my nightmares."^[10]

Gallery[]

The first public appearance of Pepe, on Jordan Powers' Facebook
Various stages of Pepe's development into his WoW appearance.
Pepe in a Hearthstone commercial
The official Pepe plush.
Knight Pepe
Ninja Pepe
Pirate Pepe
Viking Pepe
Spooky Pepe
The untargetable Pepe found in the garrison shipyard.
Warcraft premiere.
Traveler Pepe plush
Pirate Pepe plush
The Pepe spray in Heroes of the Storm.
Unused concept art of a monstrous Pepe bird for Hearthstone: Kobolds & Catacombs.
Pepe on the art for Garden Party Valeera in Hearthstone.
Traveller Pepe (bottom right) on a promotional illustration for Hearthstone Mercenaries.