The sound originates from Age of Empires, the 1997 real-time strategy game developed by Ensemble Studios, where Priests used the chant while converting enemy units. Because conversion could swing a battle, players learned to fear and imitate the noise, and it outlived the match as an in-joke among strategy fans. Clips later spread through forums, YouTube edits and meme compilations, often misspelled as woolooloo, and the chant was kept in later series entries and remasters, cementing Wololo as gaming shorthand for mind control and switching allegiance.