Legacy Characters Lore, Battle of Carteneau, Warriors of Light

[Melinia]

The NPCs talk of these events, yet the adventurers never reveal to anyone that we are the Warriors of Light, or fought at the Battle of Carteneau?

NPC: And then the Warrior of Light...
PC: You mean me.
NPC: No. I mean the Warrior of Light...
PC: I am the Warrior of Light.
NPC: Sure, right. Whatever. What kind of scam are you trying to pull?

[Enkidoh]

NPC: And then the Warrior of Light...
PC: You mean me.
NPC: No. I mean the Warrior of Light...
PC: I am the Warrior of Light.
NPC: Sure, right. Whatever. What kind of scam are you trying to pull?

Ironically I think you might actually be on the right track - it's mentioned repeatedly that because the identities of the Warriors of Light (as in, the original 1.0 adventurers who fought at Carteneau) are never actually determined by the public at large (really, as far as the narrative is concerned they never 'return'), unscrupulous characters have been taking advantage of their legacy by claiming to be a Warrior of Light to exploit gullible people. In particular, there are npcs in Gold Bazaar who say something along the lines of "never trust anyone claiming to be a Warrior of Light! They're thieves and fraudsters!"

The 2.1 Hildibrand storyline especially had a character named Humphrey who claimed to be a Warrior of Light who fought at Carteneau, even rattling off a lot of fast talk about 'magitek everywhere' and how he supposedly tried to save Louisoix. Of course when confronted about this, he actually does admit he's nothing but a fraud (he couldn't even defend himself against Gilgamesh after all ).

This basically shows that amongst the general population, even though the legacy of the Warriors of Light was the future survival of Eorzea and their actions were remembered by Eorzeans, when it comes down to someone claiming to actually be one, they're usually at the very least ignored, if not laughed at in disbelief, even regarded with contempt and spite. Hence it could be considered a 1.0 player character might have realized this and wisely decided to keep quiet, lest it causes unwanted negative attention to them.

It also explains the amount of fetch quests the player has to do and why even a 1.0 character is treated as a newbie at the start of ARR - because of this very thing of frauds claiming to be Warriors of Light for personal gain, trust is a very hard-won thing in the three cities, and hence adventurers have to work to earn that trust. Even towards the end of the game, Minfilia basically paraphrases that even though the player's unwavering devotion to duty and heroism is reminding people of the original Warriors of Light, it's their actions in the present, not the past, that ultimately count.

Accordingly, that's why regardless of whether the player's character was a 1.0 character with Legacy status but just spent their time crafting, a 1.0 character who finished the storyline (and hence was considered a 'Warrior of Light' who fought at the Battle of Carteneau), or a new adventurer drawn to Eorzea who started down 'the path' five years later, ultimately, only after defeating Gaius and the XIVth Legion, and sending Lahabrea back to whatever dark hell he crawled out of, albeit temporarily, all player adventurers are considered Warriors of Light for that.