2nd Job Predictions

[Bloodclaw]

You're focusing on the wrong things in that list:

II: Leon joined with high Strength and Stamina and starts with a set of diamond equipment for armor.

I fail to see the relevance here. Still had high strength and his best weapons in the game where two handed the Longinus . In this game two handed abilities were used for damage. In fact he had access to the most damaging weapon in the game even.

III: Original NES, they had high Str/Agi with low Vit, but in the remake they had high Str/Vit and low Agi. In both versions, they could wear the second-highest defense armor set at end-game.

By your own recolection the DRK didn't always have a high VIT, but always had a high STR. I put that statement a point in my favor.

IV: Cecil as a Dark Knight has higher HP and defenses than Kain at the same tier.

I don't know if I would call them the same tier, as Cecil was clearly the main character of the game.

X-2: "The Dark Knight dons heavy black and spiked battle armor."

X-2, yes there were tanks, and if you actually READ my OP you would note that I pointed that very fact out. Which tells me you didn't read the OP I mentioned and just assumed on my statement. Your further and previous points are thus debased in my opinion.

XI: Wears heavy armor.

LOL yes, but were still the easiest DPS to kill in the game due to class abilities. The heavy armor was put in there for esthetics because heavy armor looks cool. Their abilities over compensated for this making them glass cannons if you played them as intended.

XII International: Ulahn (hybrid DRK/DRG) wears heavy armor.

Never played XII, but I assume at this point the DRK has its SIGNATURE ability to drain hits own HP to deal DAMAGE. A key fact you seem to be ignoring. Look up any discretion of the class as a whole and this will be a DEFINING class/job ability and characteristic.

Tactics: Gaffgarion (Dark Knight in the PS version), the Dark Knight job in the remake, and Argath (Death Knight but same abilities as Gaffgarion) all wear heavy armor and wield heavy shields.
Tactics Advance: NPC Grissom's job is Dark Knight although his abilities are the same as Paladin.

Yes and in the same game you could get Summoners wearing Heavy armor, NEXT TANK! Summerons! Heard it here first. That aside, the gameplay for tactics was interesting. There were no real defined DPS melee in the game, that was mostly left up to the casters. At best melee would be a hybrid of both DPS and Tanking. Everyone except that casters did tanking/dps and the casters did DPS and/or Healing.

Crystal Chronicles: The original had a Dark Knight NPC wearing heavy armor, and in the prequel that NPC's heavy plate armor was equippable.

Heavy armor factor already addressed. What was their signature ability in this game anyway?

Four Heroes of Light: Dark Fencer, even though not a knight, is Strength primary, HP secondary.

Sooo your saying Dark Fencer is a PC playable DRK or an example of another dark class doing more DPS than the DRK? Fail to see point.

Bravely Default: Not an FF, but close enough, and the job is high Str/Agi with HP as its third-highest stat. Also wears heavy armor.
Dimensions: Wears heavy armor.

Already covered this with previous statements about heavy armor. If the game has their signature ability to drain HP to do more damage, the heavy armor is to mitigate this and is there mostly for esthetic purposes.

I'll give you, especially with FFXI in there, that Heavy Armor does not necessarily make a tank. LNC/DRG already gets a set of mid-heavy armor that doesn't really do much for them, after all. But the image of a heavily-armored fighter is the image of a tank, and WAR supports this as its XI version was relegated to just another DPS while in XIV it's actually a tank.

Okay there is a point, but there is less wiggle room with the DRK due to its heavily defined signature class abilities and rolls, dealing damage at the cost of personal health. Where the warrior could go either way.

Despite the mechanics, Dark Knight can also be a very qualified blood tank, especially with access to heavy armor and defensive cooldowns, and it could even be a LNC job! LNC already has the aforementioned tanky mid-heavy armor, a stun, a life drain ability, and a +damage/-defense ability, although WAR has most of those too and real heavy armor to boot.

In the first place, it's not any kind of a stretch to see DRK as a tank. Personally, I foresee LNC's next job as a tank, and if they decide that each class's jobs should provide a different role from their other jobs then I think we'll see DRK as a tank off of LNC.

Yes and no. As in X-2 would could see something like that, but it would not be iconic and would be akin to the current summoner, which I don't think anyone (who is a fan of summoners from previous games) is happy about. Also Yoshi-P clearly said he wants DRK to come from the Gladiator class; this is presumably to make the player choose between DRK and PLD as the classes preferred, or focused toward, job. In the end, I am not saying that there isn't a possibility, or that it hasn't happened at least once before, I am just saying it isn't iconic, ideal, or desirable, and that if the DRK was a tank it would be a huge disappointment to the fans of the class/job, and that it would be a much bigger mistake than the current summoner, and that is saying a lot.