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The jury in the trial of Norwegian gunman Anders Breivik were yesterday shown images of the accused’s World of Warcraft character.
Having been told that Breivik spent the best part of a year playing Blizzard’s MMO full time”, they were shown his character – Justicar Andersnordic. He smiled when it was shown to the court.
Prosecutors reportedly painted an image of a Breivik obsessed with World of Warcraft, prompting the judge to ask whether the game was violent.”
It was also suggested that his WoW character was in some way influential in the construction of what Breivik sees as his real-life persona, ‘Knight Justicar’, referencing a supposed secret anti-Muslim organisation.
Breivik’s infamous 1,500 ‘manifesto’ recommended the use of MMOs as a means to justify the isolation” of would-be terrorists and help keep their plans secret from friends and family.
He has also previously recommended the use of titles such as Call of Duty as training tools.
Breivik stands accused of shooting dead 69 people at a Labour Party youth camp and killing eight more in an Oslo car bombing.
