(Spoilery)Tenzen was the Warrior of Light centuries ago

[Magic-Mal]

I think most of this is more or less accurate. Tenzen is pretty much rock solid confirmed to have the Echo. Krile availed herself of the blessing of Light, so we know that's something that can potentially come at the Echo layer (here's a crystal you are now a Warrior of Light) rather than the Champion layer (all the crystals, extraordinary power). Ysayle exploded into Light mist, too, if you recall.


So Tenzen = A Warrior of Light (Echo, etc.)? Probably.


Tenzen = THE Warrior of Light (Hydaelyn's singular Champion)? Probably not.

Yeah I actually made a thread asking if Ysayle was a WoL too! If you remember. And it was decided that she was more just a "Servant of Light" as she only had one crystal. I thought about all of those things in that thread and it actually encouraged me to make this one when I compared the differences between Ysayle and Tenzen. Tenzen, to me shows much more evidence to the possibility of being at least A Warrior of Light.

I don't see this having much weight though as the Warrior of Light (mentioned in the text of the Minion Guide for the Minion of Light) is that they are specifically a hero that appears around the time of a Calamity to unite the people of that time... only to then disappear without a trace as "Calamity rains down from the heavens." As the next previous Calamity was nearly 2000 years ago (the Sixth), then that simply doesn't fit for Tenzen.

But based off of what Genbu tells us, he foresaw a Calamity where the world is destroyed and in flames and everyone is dead(Koryu?) and he also foresaw many other tragic events. Tenzen stopped each one including the real possible Calamity which was Koryu, an Auspice threatening to destroy the entire world. The fact that Tenzen just so happened to be there to stop that Calamity and save countless people around the planet throughout his travels just doesn't sound like a coincidence. He even died right after the Calamity was averted. Typical WoL-style then, to disappear after it's over.

Maybe he wasn't the only WoL but I wonder why Hydaelyn didn't "send" other WoLs to help fight Koryu then. From the sounds of it, Koryu sounds like a Bahamut-level Doomsday threat.

[Remedi]

A calòamity where everything is destroyed was predicted since allag, that was also the reason why the revolutionaries created Heaven on High, which btw

Tenzen conquered by reaching the floor 100, you get this lore tidibit by completing the achievemnent of showing the 4 accessories to the confederate pirate.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Yeah I actually made a thread asking if Ysayle was a WoL too! If you remember. And it was decided that she was more just a "Servant of Light" as she only had one crystal.

I don't think there's any doubt that Ysayle was a Warrior of Light: That was pretty much confirmed by Y'shtola herself. And you don't need more than one crystal of light to qualify. Acquiring one alone is already considered a feat.

I wonder why Hydaelyn didn't "send" other WoLs to help fight Koryu then. From the sounds of it, Koryu sounds like a Bahamut-level Doomsday threat.

It should be pointed out that Hydaelyn doesn't "direct" Warriors of Light to do anything. She trusts instead in their inherent goodness to act accordingly, out of their own free will. That, after all, is the point behind acquiring the crystals of light -- they must be earned through the deeds of an Echo-user. Getting the Echo is merely the first step towards becoming a Warrior of Light. To become Her instrument, you would have to go on to prove that Her faith in you is justified.

As for whether Koryu could have been an epoch ending Calamity, that's certainly something to mull over, considering how the history of the world so far has been entirely Eorzea-centric. Were there comparable events in the Far East that would have been experienced at the same time in Eorzea? As it stands right now, we simply don't know.

[Alenore]

As for whether Koryu could have been an epoch ending Calamity, that's certainly something to mull over, considering how the history of the world so far has been entirely Eorzea-centric. Were there comparable events in the Far East that would have been experienced at the same time in Eorzea? As it stands right now, we simply don't know.

To be honest, only a few calmaities are known to have originated from Eorzea : the Fourth (Dalamud / Allagan), the Sixth (the great Flood) and the Seventh (Bahamut is back babies).
The first, second, third and fifth are almost always "well it hapepned because reasons, because gods, because things".

They might have originated from other areas (Fire could have been Koryu using his power to empower the sun, before Tenzen defeated him, for instance). But we still don't really know

[Magic-Mal]

It should be pointed out that Hydaelyn doesn't "direct" Warriors of Light to do anything. She trusts instead in their inherent goodness to act accordingly, out of their own free will. That, after all, is the point behind acquiring the crystals of light -- they must be earned through the deeds of an Echo-user. Getting the Echo is merely the first step towards becoming a Warrior of Light. To become Her instrument, you would have to go on to prove that Her faith in you is justified.

Yeah that's actually what I meant by "sending" in quotations. Sorry if I wasn't very clear. Like have more people that are "fated" to be good like us and fight evil all over the world, like Tenzen.

[Bright-Flower]

I never really thought about it but in retrospect him having the echo makes a lot of sense.

[LineageRazor]

I'm open to the notion that Tenzen was a fully-fledged Warrior of Light with crystals up the wazoo. There's no reason why us, the player character, needs to be the best evar WoL - and even if we are, there could have been folks in the past of comparable ability.

I'm also partial to the notion that the Twelve were also Warriors of Light, from back in Hydaelyn's heyday when she could afford to empower a dozen (plus one) mortals at once, not realizing then just how bloody tenacious the Ascians would turn out to be... I'm guessing the Twelve had just one crystal each, though, corresponding to their element (thunder for Rhalgr, earth for Nophica, and so on).

[Seraphor]

It's definitely certain that Tenzen had the Echo. And the evidence does seem to heavily imply that he was also a Warrior of Light (ie, he likely possessed a crystal of light, just like Ysayle did).

But it's probably a stretch to say all WoLs are reincarnations of past heroes, because there's nothing to suggest that reincarnation exists in this reality. The closest we have to this belief system is that of the Dotharl in the Azim Steppe and, even there, it's heavily implied that " reincarnation" isn't what the tribe actually thinks it is.

As far as we know, when mortals die, their aether returns to the Lifestream, where it's "recycled" into new life and objects. That could be taken as a form of reincarnation, if you want, but it's not quite the same as old soul born anew, is it?

And as for the WoL the GC leaders mentioned, since you specifically stated "non-legacy", then no, those weren't Warriors of Light per se. It's simply how the survivors of the Calamity chose to honour those who fought in Carteneau that day.

Hmm... It could be that, like the Ascians, the WoLs soul is kept separate from the rest of the aether.
As far as I'm aware, cannonically the WoL has no memory of his/her life before the start of the game, so being a direct reincarnation of the WoL 5 years ago isn't impossible.

[Bright-Flower]

I don't recall the game every saying that the WOL has no memory of their past life. So far as I recall the WOL's past is left open ended to better allow you to make your own headcanon and the only WOL related amnesia was people forgetting the 1.0 WOLs, of whom your character may or may not be one depending on if you played in 1.0 or made a new character in ARR onward.