The WOL and Mass Murder

[Cilia]

WHO did we kill? It's not always obvious to me thanks to "somehow she survived and lost all her memory" and rezzing Zenos, aswell as... folks we just "beat"... i mean did we kill that annoying guy at the end of the doma castle dungeon or not?

Off the top of my head, named characters, MSQ (and CT since it's required) only?

-Rhitahtyn sas Arvina
-Livia sas Junius
-Crystal Tower denizens (Acheron, Scylla, Phlegethon, Amon Clone, Xande)
-Tioman
-Igeyorhm
-Archbishop Thordan VII and the Heavens' Ward (13 total)
-Nidhogg
-Grynewaht pyr Arvina
-Aulus mal Asina
-Yotsuyu goe Brutus (as Tsukuyomi)
-Ran'jit
-Vauthry / Innocence
-Emet-Selch / Hades
-Elidibus / Themis(?)
-Amon (Aitiascope)
-Endsinger (constituted of all but one of the Meteia)
-Zenos viator Galvus

So around 33 people, not counting the scores of tribals and Imperial (and a few Ishgardian and Eulmoran) soldiers even if you run dungeons only once and ignore overworld stuff like the Trials of the Braves for the 2.X Relic Weapons.

[Cleretic]

Off the top of my head, named characters, MSQ (and CT since it's required) only?

-Rhitahtyn sas Arvina
-Livia sas Junius
-Crystal Tower denizens (Acheron, Scylla, Phlegethon, Amon Clone, Xande)
-Tioman
-Igeyorhm
-Archbishop Thordan VII and the Heavens' Ward (13 total)
-Nidhogg
-Grynewaht pyr Arvina
-Aulus mal Asina
-Yotsuyu goe Brutus (as Tsukuyomi)
-Ran'jit
-Vauthry / Innocence
-Emet-Selch / Hades
-Elidibus / Themis(?)
-Amon (Aitiascope)
-Endsinger (constituted of all but one of the Meteia)
-Zenos viator Galvus

So around 33 people, not counting the scores of tribals and Imperial (and a few Ishgardian and Eulmoran) soldiers even if you run dungeons only once and ignore overworld stuff like the Trials of the Braves for the 2.X Relic Weapons.

Every starting questline also has one named-character kill; Gridania has Janremi Blackheart, Ul'Dah has Garibald the Fargone, Limsa has Baenryss of the Deep. All three are confirmed dead thanks to PotD, which also confirms that those guys got killed by someone else even if we weren't there.

Once we get into vagueries and unnameds, there's a scant few times when certain job questlines/starting cities have slightly more blood on their hands where it is confirmed deaths, and (for the 'but the WoL is baaaaaaad' crowd) includes actual non-aggravated murders. If you wanted to determine the potential WoL with the highest bodycount, then the bloodiest WoL start is probably Lancer, thanks to Gridania WoL killing three qiqirn as vengeance for a threat, and being plausibly charged with the death of Foulques of the Mists (granted, he attacked first). If you wanted to then branch into exactly one post-launch job, our bloodiest Theoretical WoL is actually a Lancer/Dragoon-turned-Dark Knight; 30-50 DRK has quite a bodycount, thanks to Fray.

I'm not sure what my point is here. Maybe it's that people who pick DRK and then say that the WoL is a killer/bad person have completed a self-fulfilling prophecy?

[Absimiliard]

Snip

The canon WoL is all of these jobs at once, meaning they have done quite a few rather unsavory things. Whether you want to call them good or evil, they truly do have quite a bit of innocent blood on their hands. Trying to say otherwise is disingenuous.

[SentioftheHoukai]

Every starting questline also has one named-character kill; Gridania has Janremi Blackheart, Ul'Dah has Garibald the Fargone, Limsa has Baenryss of the Deep. All three are confirmed dead thanks to PotD, which also confirms that those guys got killed by someone else even if we weren't there.

Once we get into vagueries and unnameds, there's a scant few times when certain job questlines/starting cities have slightly more blood on their hands where it is confirmed deaths, and (for the 'but the WoL is baaaaaaad' crowd) includes actual non-aggravated murders. If you wanted to determine the potential WoL with the highest bodycount, then the bloodiest WoL start is probably Lancer, thanks to Gridania WoL killing three qiqirn as vengeance for a threat, and being plausibly charged with the death of Foulques of the Mists (granted, he attacked first). If you wanted to then branch into exactly one post-launch job, our bloodiest Theoretical WoL is actually a Lancer/Dragoon-turned-Dark Knight; 30-50 DRK has quite a bodycount, thanks to Fray.

I'm not sure what my point is here. Maybe it's that people who pick DRK and then say that the WoL is a killer/bad person have completed a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Let's be honest here, how many people would actually charge us with that for Foulques of all people? I mean, come on you said it yourself he literally committed multiple crimes already which the average adventurer could theoretically kill him in retaliation for. Assuming of course we're discounting killing someone on the basis of pre-crime.

It's actually a shame, since I actually liked Foulques and wanted to get justice for him. Another victim of ARR's shitty writing, really. Then again, consider how long ago it happened I wonder just how plausible bringing the true situation to light might end up being.

Anyway, none of this is truly necessary since "canon" events are completely irrelevant in an MMO. For the player character, anyway. You wanna play a magical girl that literally does no wrong and kills nobody ever? Go right ahead. You wanna instead roleplay a former Garlean Legatus or Ascian turncoat that the Scions only keep around despite their enormous bodycount because they need them to slay all the primals? Work it, you edgelord you.