Warrior of Light Twisted and Warped?

So do you think the Warrior of Light in FF14 is twisted, warped, bent, and/or broken in a way through the story perspective of things?

As quote from Gilgamesh in Final Fantasy Mobius....

"As it should be, as it should be! I've been to countless worlds, and met many Warriors of Light. And not a single one was particularly cheerful. Let alone "good." Ah, they're all twisted in this way , or warped in that way. Bent in one way or broken in another."
-Gilgamesh

"But they overcame their faults and succeeded. Hmm."
-Mobius WoL

"Or perhaps they accepted their failings and became stronger for it!"
-Gilgamesh

(Note: Gilgamesh is including the FF14 Warrior of Light as one of countless WoL he met already)

The Dark Knight quests revolve around this...

The short answer is, most likely....

Does this include all the Warriors of Light from the whole franchise? 'cuz there are plenty of unambiguously good Warriors of Light... like the Light Warriors from I... and the term kind of fell out of favor after V... and I wouldn't put much stock in commentary from a mobile spin-off game...

To directly answer the question, the XIV Warrior of Light develops some psychological issues which are covered in the DRK 30-50 and 60-70 questlines, but are otherwise of sound mind. Their resilience is phenomenal, to the point Fordola questions how they can endure everything they have.

A story without drama is scarcely a story at all, and a story's drama tends to be entwined with its protagonist(s). Ergo, any Warrior of Light really isn't having a particularly easy and care-free time of it.

They're thrown into harsh situations with little understanding. They struggle to get stronger and improve and master their circumstances. They fear that any failure will cause it all to unravel and face constant anxiety over what comes next. Things they care about - often among the only things they have left - are taken from them. They consciously accept that they will be one of the few people losing a lot for the sake of everyone not losing as much, anymore. It's hard, it's lonely, it sucks. Their only consolation aside from the outcome is how meaningful the journey and the relationships formed thereon were. "Better to have loved and lost" etc. etc.

And then a dimension hopping doofus shows up and makes things needlessly difficult for them for an often arbitrary and unrelated reason.
Of course said doofus wouldn't see their cheerful side, lol.

Also I second not taking mobile spin-offs too seriously. Mobius's lore is that all Gilgamesh are the same Gilgamesh, and that's its lore because it's a cross-over nostalgia grab. Ditto Dissidia. It's not automatically canon to every other game because of that; some games that might be thematically consistent with, some games it might be outright irreconcilable with, and for most it's just not ever going to come up, lol.

Seems like a limited-omniscient lampshade projected onto him by the writers as a wink-nudge for the players first, and everything else second.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

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Gilgamesh is talking about all Warriors of Light that he has met throughout his life in the FF series.

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Originally Posted by Anonymoose

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From what Gilgamesh said he has been watching these WoL even before he decided to make a physical appearance. Even knowing as far as how their story begins to how it ends. Seems no matter what moment Gilgamesh meets a WoL, he has been secretly stalking them from the distance.

Also, the point of Gilgamesh event in Mobius is to not take it seriously even if it is part of Gilgamesh's Lore. For him the Mobius tower is just a playground for him to test himself against Mobius WoL since he does not acknowledge Mobius WoL as a actual Warrior of Light yet and with the Tower being in the Void it is basically in his territory.

Don't forget the Void is not something connected to what is Canon and not canon in the FF series but is a place where everything is canon to the reality of Gilgamesh at this point. To make sense of anything that happens in the Void is like try to make sense of what Gilgamesh is thinking.

I’ve just completed that battle tower on Mobius as well! That last line is really something to think about. Granted Mobius isn’t part of the numbered series, but I think it holds water. FFXIV WoL warped or bent, I’ll say yes. Twisted or broken, very far from it. WoL feels almost like a rubber band, stretch it and it will snap back at you, but how long will it be till WoL hits the breaking point?

I really like that headcannon about WoL being a primal and I’ll like to see it in play one day...

iam not surprised if in the future expansion (or maybe this next expansion) we will fighting "ourself" in some way, the scene in HW after you defeat knight of the round is probably the most striking for me (the "what are you" scene)

because at that point it could be a great plot twist if we found out later that our WOL is actually something like a primal too, not because of the crystal hydaelyn thingy but because even before that we are actually something else, we never have any glimpse of past about our char (despite we can just saw someone else past so easily but not our own) and the way our WOL sudden abrupt start from a carriage.

It's pretty rich that Gilgamesh of all people tries to evoke 'being good sucks' as a means of getting under your skin, given he himself is a villain that has been backstabed, betrayed, cast into the Void on so many occasions he now has an affinity to it (to the point the Void keeps pulling him back into it!).

However, having said that, Hydaelyn is a pretty awful place to live, what with civilization being essentially cyclic between a period of growth only to have the whole thing torn down and reset again, that mere strong will and emotion births false gods that will completely brainwash you into becoming their zealous slavish follower unless you happen to have an unreliable and altogether frightening psychic ability that is randomly gifted by the planet's consciousness (itself symbolized by a giant sentient crystal), that a gang of black-robed and masked immortal hoodlums have been stirring up said false gods and strife since pretty much the beginning, all in the name of their vague dark god. So I think its only natural our character will gradually start to become world-weary and cynical about things.

Regardless though, just because the world sucks doesn't mean we have to make it worse. Our powers make it that despite all the heartbreak and suffering that occurs, we continue to come out on top, and Hydaelyn itself grows stronger for it. 'What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger' and all.

And remember, this is kind of part-and-parcel of being an adventurer in the first place. Early on it's spelled out to you in no uncertain terms being an adventurer is not a roadside picnic where fame and fortune just flows in with little effort. Sure, you can get unimaginable wealth, become known the world over, see the most extraordinary places in the world that few have ever seen before. But, there is a price that must be paid. And repeatedly it's shown countless wannabe adventurers simply are either unwilling or incapable of meeting that price. It just happens we happen to have accepted it and paid it.

Because that in itself is the heart of good drama: that everything comes at a cost, and how willing the protagonists are to pay it.

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Originally Posted by gumas

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Basically all MMO protagonists are like that, though. Imagine the defs spelling the character's backstory out for everyone... people already hate how linear the story is right now with little ability to choose even dialogue options (that then don't influence you or the story in any way), now imagine what would have happened had they just taken that out of the player's hands as well.

Sure, would be cool if the WoL was something more than meets the eye, but that primal idea specifically is nonsense in my eyes. It would be a dead end, seeing how primals acted so far. We would literally have to kill ourselves, and that won't happen for a whole lot of reasons. Besides, everyone sees us as mortals, Middy and all actual primals refer to us as such, there is no real evidence that we are in any way special outside our immense powers (that most likely stem from us using our crystals as a power source, I think, and that the Echo makes it easy for us to learn new things very quickly).

I also wouldn't interpret too much into that scene you mentioned. I think it was about a man seeing his believes crushed by you and his vision getting distorted by death and the mental influence turning primal likely had on him. It definitely is interesting, but, really. Doesn't have to mean anything.

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Originally Posted by EdwinLi

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Correct me if I'm mistaken, but Mobius treats all players as a Warrior of Light in an alternate reality/dimension, yes?

I ask because it's common in mobage to have all players assume the same title and role in the story: Mobius FF has the Warrior of Light, F/Go has the Master of Chaldea, FE Heroes has the Summoner of the Order of Heroes, etc. If that's true, then the dialogue is likely just meta-referencing how every player (Warrior of Light) has fought him, and how every player has their own problems they're dealing with. I wouldn't necessarily link it with the main franchise.

Kind of touching, though.

My mobage of choice isn't Mobius, but I do play FE Heroes. Add me to your friends list so I can force Julius to visit your tedious hovel!

Well when most of the WoL you meet are only during a battle, sometimes after you try and make off with an apparently legendary sword they were just about to gain it isn't surprising he wouldn't see the more cheerful side to them. Plus he seems to like the XIV WoL well enough and thats before getting into Bartz and co.

Also Gilgamesh doesn't make for a very good father figure.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

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Gilgamesh is refering to all the Warriors of Light from the entire FF series. He mentions this during his first appearance in Mobius and even compares Mobius WoL to certain ones such as Mobius WoL personality being close to Cloud and Squall.

Gilgamesh will even mention his FF14 title he was called by Hildebrand being the Gentlemen Collector.

As for the "name", the basic info we obtained in the storyline is that the name is simply made up name that the first Warrior of Light in Palamecia had and it was given the Mobius WoL simply because the Prophecy said that must be his name. Mobius WoL's True name is lost due to his memory wipe when he entered Palamecia and he only sticks with the given name from the Prophecy because it is the only name he knows.

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Originally Posted by Dualblade

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Well on the plus side atleast Gilgamesh get more character development in Mobius. With Palamecia so closely linked to the Void which gives Gilgamesh easy access to Palamecia, it makes me wonder if Palamecia is inside the Void itself due to how flexable the world is with constantly creating new places in the world that originally did not exist there.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

Correct me if I'm mistaken, but Mobius treats all players as a Warrior of Light in an alternate reality/dimension, yes?

I ask because it's common in mobage to have all players assume the same title and role in the story: Mobius FF has the Warrior of Light, F/Go has the Master of Chaldea, FE Heroes has the Summoner of the Order of Heroes, etc. If that's true, then the dialogue is likely just meta-referencing how every player (Warrior of Light) has fought him, and how every player has their own problems they're dealing with. I wouldn't necessarily link it with the main franchise.

Kind of touching, though.

My mobage of choice isn't Mobius, but I do play FE Heroes. Add me to your friends list so I can force Julius to visit your tedious hovel!

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To the hidden part:

Oh cool, I play Heroes, too! Friend ID is 9241509152, name's Kyara if you want to add me! :)

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Originally Posted by EdwinLi

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I stand corrected! However, Cloud is never called a Warrior of Light in his home game. The term never comes up once in the script, and Gilgamesh never shows up in VII. Due to this inconsistency, I will not consider this canon - to XIV, at least. It's canon to itself, for sure, but otherwise... best to take it with a pinch of salt.

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Originally Posted by Yuyuka3

To the hidden part:

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Sent! I go by "Locust God" on that one.

To anyone who wants to add me, my FEH number is 6992777298. Help Julius live his dream of killing Reinhardt and his sister this Voting Gauntlet, maybe!

Maybe his talking about Cloud is hinting at him appearing in the PS4 version when it comes out.

It's still a cop-out though - the very term 'Warrior of Light' was only really associated with the early NES-era games and had all but disappeared from use by FFVI (and even then FFII did not use it at all, neither did FFIV from what I remember - even FFXI, a game mentioned by it's former producer as being "everything we wanted to do with FFIII originally but couldn't due to the technical limitations of the time", did not feature the term - it used the term 'Crystal Warriors' instead, but even that was not used for the player's character and ended up referring to something completely different).

Only since FFXIV has the 'Warriors of Light' term come back into use, mostly due to SE returning to it's roots and featuring a lot of callbacks and references to it's history in their most recent FF titles, FFXIV included.

So yeah, once again I'm not going to take Gilgamesh's ramblings in a spin-off title as reflective of events in the main series, especially not FFXIV.

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Originally Posted by Enkidoh

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If that is what you believe then go for it.

Gilgamesh follows his own Canon in the FF series anyways due to his link to the void and it is very difficult to keep track of his timeline since SE refuse to provide a flow chart of Gilgamesh's life in FF series. Not to mention the clues Gilgamesh provides is very small to put together a proper timeline itself.

He still remembers the events of Dissidia as well which is where he met certain Warriors of Light and Warriors of Darkness. As for how he could have been in each FF world, it is most likely he kept his distance and the encounters we have with Gilgamesh in certin FF games are mostly only when he determined they are ready for a fight. If not he mostly seem to just stay in the distance out of view and watch how their story unfold.

For me it seems Mobius events for Gilgamesh is Canon to his lore as it does fit into what is known about Gilgamesh's life through the FF series and how messy the Void is with following a separate law of reality to the point it defies any understanding of time and space. If anything Mobius events is most likely Gilgamesh's off time place when he is not exploring a different FF world.

The only thing certain about Gilgamesh timeline is that FFVIII self is his oldest version that has already obtained Excalibur and we yet to reach the point in Gilgamesh's timeline where we discover how he became his FFVIII self since every encounter after and before FFVIII has been his Pre-Excalibur self.

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Originally Posted by Cilia

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Gilgamesh does remember the events of Dissidia as well so could have Cloud direct through Dissidia battles even if it is not in FF7 world.

Also, from what he said he has been watching each FF world from the distance and only appears infront of them once he determines they are worthy of a fight. Due to this it is most likely Gilgamesh has been to all FF worlds but we don't meet him in some because he been keeping his distance.

Heck, Gilgamesh even has no interests in taking Mobius WoL weapons until he has proven himself worth of Warrior of Light title and only gets invovled in these events to train Mobius WoL into becoming a Warrior of Light or just for some fun since he has nothing better to do.

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Originally Posted by Dualblade

Maybe his talking about Cloud is hinting at him appearing in the PS4 version when it comes out.

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That is a possible outcome since the Void follows a different law of reality that creates a separate flow of time so most likely Gilgamesh has met all FF characters at some point already even if we have not seen that event yet since time in the void flows completely differently from what we know when it comes to time.

It is because of this why Gilgamesh made appearances in FF1 remake and event FFIV After Years.

... but the characters in Dissidia are recognized as Warriors of Cosmos / Chaos (and perhaps Spiritus / Materia in NT; I haven't picked that one up and have no intention of doing so), not Warriors of Light / Darkness. So Gilgamesh recognizing Cloud as a Warrior of Light... doesn't make sense from a meta perspective... perhaps within Mobius' own canon, but otherwise it's inconsistent.

I would again posit that it's meant to be words of encouragement toward the player rather than commentary on the franchise's protagonists and leave it at that. This is also a fairly common thing in mobage, such as one of Lyon's castle quotes in FEH:

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Originally Posted by Lyon: Shadow Prince

You work so hard, but I want you to know that—if you need to—it's OK to cry. Nobody here knows what you've been through but you.

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I was working on the theory that Siegfried from ff6 was Greg in disguise until Siegfried showed up in deltascapes phantom train