Illidan Stormrage is the brooding Demon Hunter from Blizzard's Warcraft series, first appearing in Warcraft III in 2002 and later central to World of Warcraft expansions. The character has long been linked to a running Darkness joke from his annoyed unit quotes, where Darkness keeps trying to reach him. This version updates that gag for the texting era, which helped it spread on meme pages and gaming soundboards. It stays popular because fans recognise Illidan's voice and serious image instantly, making any casual phone reference feel ridiculously epic and out of place.