Fun Lore Facts

[AnimaAnimus]

Miounne is considered to be a Wildwood according to the lore book, despite the model she's actually using.

The lore book was stated by SE to not be 100% accurate because it's the lore as the ppl of Eorzea know it, not as we experience it. So, if they ever wanna change the lore they can without lore book complications.

Meaning that it could be Momma Mi is in fact a duskwight, but due to the stigma around them, she chooses to tell people she is wildwood instead, so she is recorded as being a wildwood in things like the lore book. Which in and of itself gives us a good idea on just how the duskwights are perceived. If you have some of them denying their heritage and "passing" for wildwood, that means things are worse than we think, which mirrors the real world if you look up the history of "passing" before, during and after the civil rights movement in the US.

[ArcaviusGreyashe]

If you have some of them denying their heritage and "passing" for wildwood, that means things are worse than we think, which mirrors the real world if you look up the history of "passing" before, during and after the civil rights movement in the US.

And that's projecting. I do think this is the case, due to other hints at it, but you just extrapolated that from a statement SE made to aknowledge the fact that they will eventually rewrite part of the lore (for example, how aether works), and that what's in the lore book is only true as long as we don't have other official statements. We should not use this as a foundation for how we perceive the world.

Regarding the amount of duskwights in Ishgard, it's because, as Cleretic said, duskwights don't really exist before Ishgard was founded. Duskwights are just elezens that went to gelmorra after the sixth umbral era, and eventually came back to the surface, but it's not realistic to expect an entire race staying in gelmorra for thousand of years, there are probably duskwights from different generations. Some of them must have left one or two centuries after the sixth UE, meaning they could migrate to Ishgard, some, probably like Miounne's family did, came out 5 or 6 centuries ago, and have little to nothing in common with what we call duskwights, aka those that left gelmorra one or two century ago (and therefore, refer to themselves as wildwood because they might not even know they are of duskwight descent)... Duskwights are a gradient, not an absolute.

[Iscah]

Also A LOT of Ishgardians use the Duskwight model, not just Ysayle. But they're considered to be "Ishgardian Elezen" and not Wildwood or Duskwight since those types are isolated to the Shroud.

From when I was a bit obsessed with poking through all the character data, I was looking up a lot of the Heavensward characters and I don't recall many being Duskwight models – from memory the only three are Ysayle, Grinnaux and surprisingly Edmont (but not his sons). Most of the dark-skinned ones are still Wildwood, and I don't recall any being distinctly grey Duskwight rather than brown.

As a giveaway that doesn't need you to look up character data, if an Elezen is wearing the large flat 'ear clasp' earrings, that's a specific Wildwood customisation option that Duskwights don't have. (I think female Duskwights might get a daintier version from their extra options though, but I'd need to check.)

[MikkoAkure]

From when I was a bit obsessed with poking through all the character data, I was looking up a lot of the Heavensward characters and I don't recall many being Duskwight models – from memory the only three are Ysayle, Grinnaux and surprisingly Edmont (but not his sons). Most of the dark-skinned ones are still Wildwood, and I don't recall any being distinctly grey Duskwight rather than brown.

As a giveaway that doesn't need you to look up character data, if an Elezen is wearing the large flat 'ear clasp' earrings, that's a specific Wildwood customisation option that Duskwights don't have. (I think female Duskwights might get a daintier version from their extra options though, but I'd need to check.)

I was certain that a lot of the super pale ones around Ishgard were duskwights. Jandelaine (the aesthetician) definitely uses a duskwight model.

The lore book was stated by SE to not be 100% accurate because it's the lore as the ppl of Eorzea know it, not as we experience it. So, if they ever wanna change the lore they can without lore book complications.

Meaning that it could be Momma Mi is in fact a duskwight, but due to the stigma around them, she chooses to tell people she is wildwood instead, so she is recorded as being a wildwood in things like the lore book. Which in and of itself gives us a good idea on just how the duskwights are perceived. If you have some of them denying their heritage and "passing" for wildwood, that means things are worse than we think, which mirrors the real world if you look up the history of "passing" before, during and after the civil rights movement in the US.

I don't think it's that deep. Miounne being a Wildwood would more likely be a lore book error, of which there are many. There are some things that make more sense to be "purposefully wrong lore" than someone's subrace. Considering the world's premier biologist and the prior Serpent Commander are Duskwights, I don't think there's a reason for Mionne to hide who she is. There are other duskwight NPCs scattered around Gridania per the game's character data as well.