How many Warrior of Light exist in story?

[Belhi]

This. When you get your first crystal (water), you get to commune with Hydaelyn again, and in that cutscene there are hundreds, if not thousands of Warriors of Light. Every streak of light you see around Hydaelyn in that moment is a Warrior of Light.

What makes the PC different in the MSQ is that they are a Warrior of Light who has accomplished much more than defeating a weak ascian, they have bested trial and primal, one after another. They have overcome cataclysmic enemies.

The Warrior of Light that the MSQ follows is sort of the Elidibus of Hydaelyn's chosen many, the strongest and wisest. But they can't do everything, that's where the others come in, the lesser Warriors of Light do stuff that the PC can't, like take out ascians as needed or protect the people where the politicians fail.

Edit: I should note that me calling the numerous chosen lesser Warriors of Light is conjecture based on the events of 3.4. We saw that just a sole crystal of light was enough to overcome incredible odds and become god-like in power. So if we were to assume that everyone we saw at that moment were those with the Echo who had manifested a crystal of light. Then we as the Warrior of Light are likely far from alone, there just aren't many, if any, who have manifested all six crystals.

Koji has said that Hydaelyn has many agents across the world but only one champion, one Warrior of Light. In truth its a title given by the people so there is as many Wariors of Light as the people say there are. For now the Player character is the only one who has been given the title by the general populous.

[Alleo]

This. When you get your first crystal (water), you get to commune with Hydaelyn again, and in that cutscene there are hundreds, if not thousands of Warriors of Light. Every streak of light you see around Hydaelyn in that moment is a Warrior of Light.

It is already confirmed that those people in that scene are not WoLs but just other people that she communicates with. At least right know we are her only one. (One could even say that we also werent the WoL at the beginning. We only got the title because we managed to collect the crystals, we did not start with one) Otherwise why should we defeat all those evils alone? Why are the ascians only worried about us? It seems that at least in the past we had more than one WoL, but Hydaelyn is losing this war so maybe she would not even have the power to protect more than WoL. I mean the WoDs came from a world with too much light, so maybe that is the reason they were more than one.

[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.

[Anonymoose]

For the time being, I've been holding the assumption that one is not a Warrior of Light (compared to the Warrior of Light, Hydaelyn's Champion) until they accept the gift of the Echo and hearken to Hydaelyn's voice and receive a Crystal of Light. At this time, they become literally a porter of the Light in a sense.

Recall that Unukalhai said that he was given the Echo, but never became a Warrior of Light.

[TinyRedLeaf]

I would add that the player-character is different from most of those with the Echo, in that he or she has earned at least one "crystal of light".

And to make the player-character even more special, he or she is the only person known to have manifested all six of the crystals of light.

It seems that about 20 years ago, Hydaelyn "blessed" a number of individuals with the Echo. Those who received the blessing witnessed an apocalyptic star shower, and heard a voice beckoning them to "hear, feel, think".

These individuals came to manifest certain abilities, like being able to understand all languages, or being able to randomly see events from the past. Many were shunned by society, and were regarded as cursed.

It was in this environment that Minfilia created a secret society — the Path of the Twelve — to gather and give shelter to as many of the Echo-blessed as she could, believing that theirs was a power meant for the greater good.

Most legacy players from 1.0 would have likely become part of this pre-Scions society, as the induction occurred quite early in the story.

If I understand correctly, none of the Pathwalkers were referred to as "warriors of light" at this point. In fact, the Echo was at the time, very poorly understood. It was said that many Pathwalkers went on journeys of self-discovery. Many did not return, and those who did chose not to talk about it, for reasons unexplained.

It's subsequently implied that most, if not all, of the Pathwalkers fought in the Battle of Cartenau. The Eorzean Army comprised not just the Pathwalkers, but also ordinary adventurers from various free companies. Most of them perished, and only a special few, including the player-character, were saved by Louisoix's spell.

===========================

(1)
Now, as the others explained, the survivors of the Calamity are unable to recall the faces of those who fought in the battle. All they can remember is a flash of light, and the silhouettes of the warriors. Hence, the generic reference to these heroes — which include the legacy players and their immediate companions — as the "warriors of light".

(2)
In effect, the "first wave" of Hydaelyn's experiment failed, and cost Her several of Her chosen. And so, from 2.0 onwards, Hydaelyn began to intervene directly, at great cost to Herself.

Five years after the Calamity, Hydaelyn reached out to some of the surviving Echo-blessed (ie, us, the player-characters of 2.0, and the legacy survivors), and personally urged them to fulfil their destinies by seeking the crystals of light.

How and why Hydaelyn chose these remaining individuals is not clear. What we do know is that not all of the remaining Echo-blessed received this very direct call to duty. Ysayle, for example, did not appear to have witnessed it, but instead received a very different vision from her brief contact with Hraesvelgr. It's implied that the Ascians may have intervened, and hence misled her into taking the wrong path.

(3)
As the events of 2.0 unfolded, out of all the "second wave" of Echo-blessed that Hydaelyn directly contacted, only the player-character would succeed in earning all six of the crystals of light.

Ysayle, in contrast, possesed only one crystal of light, likely the crystal of ice.

Armed with the light of the crystals, and with the further protection of Hydaelyn, the player-character successfully defeated the Ultima Weapon, as well as three primals along the way. By the end of 2.0, it was abundantly clear to most people, and not just the Scions, that the player-character is the destined hero prophesised by Louisoix.

Hence, the player-character came to be known as the Warrior of Light from the 2.x series onwards. It's a title that was unofficially, but unanimously bestowed upon him or her by the rest of Eorzea.

(4)
So, who are the other people who fight alongside the Warrior of Light in some of his or her greatest trials? It's up to you, the player, to decide. The game is silent on the matter.

Given that one needs to have the Echo in order to safely confront a primal or eikon, it can be assumed that the WoL's companions in these trials are fellow Scions. The WoL is, after all, not the only one among the Scions to have the Echo. Besides Minfilia and Krile, lesser Scions like Arenvald (the half-Garlean bastard who can be found at the Waking Sands) are known to have the blessing, though not to the same degree as the WoL.

Whether or not these fellow Scions are "warriors of light" in their own right depends on how you, the player, wants to role-play the development. If, for example, you're playing with a static party of your fellow free-company members, there's nothing to stop all of you from imagining yourselves as a "party of the Warriors of Light".

But, as far as the in-game presentation is concerned, only the player-character is directly referred to as the Warrior of Light. That just happens to be the default, as it's necessary to accommodate the gameplay fact that the MSQ can be completed essentially on your own.



I hope this helps.

[Eloah]

Thats quite in depth and sadly I'm on my phone right now so i cant go into detail, but im curious about the Crystal of Light. Granted throughout ARR we get 6, so make sense others don't, but based on the Warriors of Darkness story we "see" or original Crystal was Water, and the rest seem to be the Blessing. My guess is similar to what Moose described. Hydaelyn gives her "Chosen" a crystal, but it wont manifest until they accept it. And should anyone show signs of prominence she will give them more. I hope we see more uses of our crystal so we can say, "we have a water crystal" or something.

Also to semi put the topic to rest just remember that the term Warrior of Light has different meanings not only in the game but to us as the player, based on the series as a whole. Since those two meanings arent lining up thats were the confusion and interpritations are coming from.

[Shadotterdan]

It's been a while, but if I remember correctly, we find or are given each of the six crystals of light.

[Transient_Shadow]

the chosen that I've counted are at least 5 not counting the warriors of dark. I feel its a rare gift but the chosen tend to draw towards one another.

[Cilia]

The easiest way to think about it is that while Hydaelyn has gifted the Echo and Crystals of Light to many, the PC is the one, true Warrior of Light.

Various bits and pieces in-game suggest this; Unukalhai's journal entry for Zurvan mentions you gathering a group of "echo-blessed champions" to take on the Demon, but in terms of story you are the one and only Warrior of Light.