In your darkest hour: DRK's identity crisis

[MiniPrinny]

As a PLD, yes. As a DRK, he has the worst stat growth of basically every character in FF IV. And frankly, when comparing to a BLM and a WHM, there's not much competition on sturdiness.
And having high physical damage is exactly what would make you end as a DPS in an MMO...even if PLD-Cecil also did more damage than everybody else....

Have you played FFIV? Or did you just look up the stats? DRK Cecil, until he stops being a thing around level 20~ is unmatched defensively and second only to Yang offensively. He has by default the highest effective HP up to that point and only Yang, who can not wear heavy armor, beats him for HP and physical damage output. And while he can't properly tank until he becomes a PLD, he's by no means a slouch. DRK Cecil falls off long, long, long past when you should still be using him. That he keeps pace with Yang until the late 20s for damage and health is more than enough grinding for even the worst of players. So no, DRK Cecil never was, or will be, terrible. Don't use raw stat numbers like that.

Edit: Also, I figured I'd mention. In Dissidia, where Cecil isn't gimped by lore and suggestive stat gains, his DRK half is more than strong enough for what it does. A good note to mention is that Cecil didn't become a Paladin because he wanted to, he became a Paladin to seek redemption in the eyes of Mysidia and to have the power to overcome the darkness threatening his world. Not exactly "Paladin" attitude there.