Excelsior! That’s what a new NPC called Stanley exclaims as he walks around in Stormwind on the World of Warcraft Public Test Realm for patch 8.1.5. It is clearly a touching tribute to Marvel legend who passed away on 12 November last year at the age of 95. Say what you will about Blizzard after the Diablo: Immortal announcement and that golden line about “don’t you guys have phones?”, but it is always great to see a tribute of such a great person in a video game.
Related: Marvel Legend and Real-Life Superhero, Stan Lee Dies at 95
The Stanley NPC doesn’t do all that much except for taking a very long stroll through Stormwind City and exclaiming “Excelsior!” every now and then. Stanley has the hair, the glasses and the moustache and although not directly stated by the developer, this is as clear a tribute as I have ever seen.
As reported by Wowhead, data miners also found two additional models for the Stanley NPC in Horde gear but so far, no one has been able to locate them, if they are indeed in the game at all. When the update goes live, it is almost a certainty that the character will also appear on the Horde’s side of things, because keeping a tribute such as this exclusive to one faction won’t sit well with World of Warcraft players at all.
It’s pretty cool to see the NPC in action and thanks to Wowhead you can do just that without having to get onto that Public Test Realm. Check out the video below showing the Stan Lee tribute, Stanley, in action as he walks around Stormwind, then tell us what you think about this tribute in the comment section.
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