Meaning
What does Murder hobo mean?
Murder hobo is a derogatory term in the gaming society.
It is normally used in role-playing fantasy games, and it describes a person that does not have a home or does not belong to a community, that only walks around in the gameworld and kills.
They normally kill to loot the dead characters items, but some will just kill for the fun of it, or to solve some kind of problem they have in the storyline.
The contrast to this method of gaming is to use skill to resolve issues and gain items and resources, rather than looting them from dead characters.
Origin
What's the origin of Murder hobo?
It originates from Usenet, a worldwide discussion platform for computers.
The slang started out as “murderous hobo”, and was a reference to the role-playing fantasy game “Dungeons and Dragons”.
Discussers would criticize the Dungeons and Dragons players that the sole purpose of their gaming was to walk around with no home, like a “hobo”, and kill for loot.
Spread & Usage
How did Murder hobo spread?
Murder hobo originates from the gamer world and still belongs to it.
It spread further from describing Dungeons and Dragons to other games, or specific players that will just kill anything in their way to get the most and best items and resources.
External resources
- GeekNative – What are murder hobos and where did the phrase come from?
- Urban Dictionary – Murderhobo