How strong is the Warrior of Light?

[Absimiliard]

The problem was Zenos coming out of left field, I think. Up until that point players had been given every reason to think the WoL was well beyond the limits of other mortals. Then suddenly along comes Zenos to smack them down without even trying, and even when the WoL does finally win it's shown to be a particularly hard fought battle. That said, even Zenos didn't really do anything about the idea of the WoL being some kind of monster considering they were the only one ever able to hang with him at any point in time. It probably could have worked if handled a bit better.

Showing Zenos absolutely dominate multiple seasoned combatants pretty well shot any such notions in the foot. If the best and brightest of the Scions and their allies couldn't even dent the guy, then the WoL going toe to toe with him -- even if defeated -- for any length of time sets them right back to being a major outlier. Even moreso once we discover Zenos was experimented on as a child (even before birth in some localizations); not just by some of the Empire's greatest minds but even by Emet-Selch himself. He was prodigiously gifted and monstrously powerful pretty well from birth. Then, on top of everything else, he picked up Resonance and practically overnight became so gifted in the use of aether even Elidibus didn't want to risk facing him directly.

Then we got Ran'jit, who is shown to have an advantage similar to that of Zenos for (at that time) no discernible reason. It's later handwaved as his fighting style being "unfamiliar" to the WoL. The takeaway was that Ran'jit's tremendous skill in a never-before-seen combat style allowed him to be effective only temporarily, after which the massive gap in power between what was ostensibly a normal, although highly skilled, man and the WoL resulted in him getting absolutely stomped into the ground. The narrative doesn't even treat him as a credible threat the last time around.

The various faction leaders (the ones that actually fight), for all their power and skill, are likewise expressly stated and clearly shown to be well below the WoL's level despite each being an exemplar in their respective fields.

Bearing these things in mind, is it any wonder people react poorly to a mortal opponent defeating the WoL in single combat? It's less about the "I feel mad because I lost" and more about perceiving it as narrative whiplash.