How many Warrior of Light exist in story?

[Alise]

I notice that as we progress, the story telling always refer us players as "he" or "she" or "the one and only". So assume there is only one WoL ? However in actual game play, we are many. We do party, hunt, chat, and sell. And sometimes during the story when we fight some boss, we also split into many also, despite in the story there were only one of us and a NPC.

Then again, when Warrior of Darkness showed us, they come in team, so it look like there were more than one WoL on their world. Then why we only fight them alone with the NPC and not seek other WoL in this world for help? Do other WoL exist at all in the lore?

[Anonymoose]

The term Warrior of Light has a few meanings throughout the story, coincidentally being the name the Mothercrystal calls those chosen who take up her cause and receive Crystals of Light, the historical records of such saviors from past eras, and those who fought alongside Louisoix at Carteneau that none can recall.

Generally speaking, when not referring to a fellow crystal bearer or those that Louisoix cast into the rift, the player character is the only one referred to as Warrior of Light, and the game just takes it for granted that this warrior has adventurer allies - especially within the ranks of the Free Companies.

The use of the term in the plural has plummeted aside from these historical references and allusions to legend.

[Eloah]

To tack on to what moose said, the total amount of "Warriors of Light" or Hydaelyn's choosen that we know of is 4. Us, Ysayle, Minfilia, and Krile. Basically, anyone with the Echo, whether or not they have risen up to the "prestige" of these 4 is unknown. I have my suspicions about Urianger, since he seems too close sometimes to issues related to echo users and primals in regards to tempering. There is also a debate on Thordan possibly being given the echo from Zodiark.

[Okamimaru]

I'd like to ad that other wol are shown interacting with hydaelyn in more than one cut scene including the first hear feel think one... I agree with moose on his interpretation of its various uses...

[Vexander]

To tack on to what moose said, the total amount of "Warriors of Light" or Hydaelyn's choosen that we know of is 4. Us, Ysayle, Minfilia, and Krile. Basically, anyone with the Echo, whether or not they have risen up to the "prestige" of these 4 is unknown. I have my suspicions about Urianger, since he seems too close sometimes to issues related to echo users and primals in regards to tempering. There is also a debate on Thordan possibly being given the echo from Zodiark.

I do not believe possessing the Echo makes one a Warrior of Light, because it seems to be an unspoken thing that the Warrior of Light's Adventuring allies also possess the Echo and thus are immune to tempering.

The primary qualifier to be a Warrior of Light is possessing not just the Echo, but ALSO the Blessing of Light. The two appear to be two completely different powers, as when Midgardsormr took away the Blessing of Light in 2.55, the Echo was a power our characters still retained. If anything, to have the Blessing of Light would require one or more Crystals of Light as well. The only other person with the Echo who also had a Crystal of Light that we know of is Ysayle, but that wasn't any indication that she had the Blessing of Light.

My guess is the Blessing of Light comes directly to the Warrior of Light from Hydaelyn through Crystals of Light.

I'd like to ad that other wol are shown interacting with hydaelyn in more than one cut scene including the first hear feel think one... I agree with moose on his interpretation of its various uses...

I think those individuals were either bearers of the Echo, or just plain everyday folk, considering the ending of 2.0 where we strike down Lahabrea includes a number of characters we know do NOT possess either the Echo -or- the Blessing of Light.

[Shadotterdan]

I think that we can assume out "adventurer companions" that we take with us for raids and the like possess the echo, but they are not fellow warriors of light, not in the same sense as your character. Though... some content seems to act as though you went through yourself, maybe assuming that story wise the npcs with you at that time subbed in for the other party members (like Alisae in BCoB).

[Belhi]

The Player is the official 'Warrior of Light'. To be fair that is a label given by the public so really the fact only the Player is recognised as the Warrior of Light is because no one else has been yet. There can be more than one Warrior of Light at a time.

Storywise, the Player seems to be specifically Hydaelyn's chosen champion. Both Midgardsormr and the Ascians seem to suggest as much. She has many agents but the Player is a special case and Hydaelyn invested a lot of energy to protecting the Player while they grew in strength.

[EdwinLi]

Story wise the Player character is the one and only Warrior of Light.

Any other characters blessed by the Light are just Blessed by the protection of light which allows them to fight along side the Warrior of Light against Primals and stuff.

Though Lore wise the WoL fights all the Primals and complete all Story Dungeons Solo and it is only during normal dungeons when the WoL is with other adventurers.

[Enkidoh]

As Edwin mentioned, canon wise at the current place in the story, only the player's character is the Warrior of Light. And adding further to that, this was a question that the development team answered back during the Lore Panel at the very first FanFest and Ferne replied that a little suspension of disbelief is needed - that from the player's perspective, their character is the Warrior of Light, with every other player character just a regular adventurer.

Also, it should be remembered that apart from 1.0 characters who had the 'Legacy' story, the player's character is not actually called the Warrior of Light until the end of the initial 2.0 story - the first time is Minfilia mentions offhandedly that their constant exploits make them seem to be "a Warrior of Light reborn", but it is Hydaelyn Herself who first addresses us as such after Lahabrea is banished from Thancred. After all, the very term was first being used to describe the adventurers (ala 1.0 players) who fought at Carteneau but then vanished thanks to Louisoix's last resort, but because of the amnesia caused by said teleportation magic (and Bahamut's banishment), the memories possessed by those who remained behind of those adventurers' identities were obscured "as if by a bright light".

Either way, the important thing is that for story purposes, only the player's character is the 'Warrior of Light' from the player's perspective.

[Eloah]

I do not believe possessing the Echo makes one a Warrior of Light, because it seems to be an unspoken thing that the Warrior of Light's Adventuring allies also possess the Echo and thus are immune to tempering.
The primary qualifier to be a Warrior of Light is possessing not just the Echo, but ALSO the Blessing of Light. The two appear to be two completely different powers, as when Midgardsormr took away the Blessing of Light in 2.55, the Echo was a power our characters still retained. If anything, to have the Blessing of Light would require one or more Crystals of Light as well. The only other person with the Echo who also had a Crystal of Light that we know of is Ysayle, but that wasn't any indication that she had the Blessing of Light.

GAH!!!! What I originally wrote got deleted, I hope this is similar to my original, T.T

You are misinterpreting the context with the meaning. Similar to what Moose said, the phrase Warrior of Light has different connotations based on who and when you ask. In the present time the current usage is because the people are referencing the "Warriors" of Carteneau, whom they can only remember with a flash "of Light". But anyone with the Echo is one of Hydaelyn's Warriors of Light, they are just not referred to as such since that phase means something different to them. This is confirmed canonically by the 4 individuals I mentioned, The Warriors of Darkness, Y'shtola, and Matoya. But as I mentioned before not everyone with the echo will rise to prominence like the 4 we know of, some might not even know what it is as it manifest differently in each individual. But as someone mentioned in a later post, we do seem to be Hydaelyn's "pet project". Basically its like this, if you have someone doing something for you and they are doing a good job, you're gonna make sure they have the resources and tools to continue doing that job. Basically we are helping Hydaelyn, so she is helping us help her i.e. she gave us the blessing of light.

The Player is the official 'Warrior of Light'. To be fair that is a label given by the public so really the fact only the Player is recognized as the Warrior of Light is because no one else has been yet. There can be more than one Warrior of Light at a time. Storywise, the Player seems to be specifically Hydaelyn's chosen champion. Both Midgardsormr and the Ascians seem to suggest as much. She has many agents but the Player is a special case and Hydaelyn invested a lot of energy to protecting the Player while they grew in strength.

I'd say that's about right