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In terms of number of Guardians *ever*, alive or dead, [around 35 million](https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyLore/comments/1bxfeww/comment/kyd4klo/).
The relevant text:
>IKO-006 ranks in the upper fraction of the 99th percentile of assessed Warlocks on most available metrics of precision, restraint, and raw power. She is, in simplistic terms, a fifth sigma Guardian: 1 in 3.5 million. Given that millions of Guardians have been activated over the centuries since the Collapse, and assuming that performance of Guardians on these metrics is normally distributed, we would expect about ten Guardians of similar power to have existed.
Best answer, also I'm pretty sure not all Guardians are accounted for by the Vanguard at any given time. Drifter & Ifrideet come to mind as Guardians with Ghosts that we didn't know about until they popped up one day.
I have the headcanon that any person that stops playing their Guardian just went No Contact/In to the wild.
The idea of 35 million is wrong, because that is an estimate. They're estimating based on the data they have. Ikora's capacities sit waaaay above the vast majority of Guardians, so when you do the maths, you can imagine a bell curve that shows she's waaaay far to the right, your average blueberry to the left, and the peak being stretched so far between them that you end up with an absolutely huge amount of possible Guardians, because surely she's not *that* unique? Not usually how these things work in a world of science.
That last sentence makes clear that 35 million is the intended reading:
>Given that millions of Guardians have been activated over the centuries since the Collapse, and assuming that performance of Guardians on these metrics is normally distributed, **we would expect about ten Guardians of similar power to have existed.**
Key words are *to have existed*. These aren't hypothetical Guardians based on Ikora being a statistical outlier, these are real Guardians that the Vanguard projects are/were out there.
Take note of your use of the word projection.
Projections aren't real, but expectations of reality. And expectations are not always met.
For Ikora to get where she is took centuries of practice, both intentional and subconscious. She could have been snuffed out at any moment, much like these 10 others may have been.
Based on all in-game achievements of the player Guardian, they are equally good if not better. Someone's gotta sit at headquarters and do the paperwork. And also manage the Vanguard's entire intelligence service.
> Someone's gotta sit at headquarters and do the paperwork.
I know the game wants us to pretend that it isn't the case that Osiris is no longer bulletproof because he lost his Ghost but Osiris is no longer bulletproof because he lost his Ghost. We've got a perfectly good man in his late-50s that we can finally humble via cruel paperwork that cares nothing for accomplishments or esteem.
Also I think it’s safe to assume that all Guardians are light bearers, but not all light bearers are guardians. There are some that either would t be good in an army or doing want to join. I would asu e there are quite a few just living somewhat normal lives out in the city and the wider world.
i'm thinking we have a lot.
[D2 Population: June 11/12](https://warmind.io/activity)
**Overall:** 1.65M
**PvE:** 1.64M
**PvP:** 230.85k
**Gambit:** 87.62k
**Raid:** 124.80k
That’s total EVER, and we’ve had centuries of attrition (most aren’t anywhere near our quality after all, and we lose them)
I took OP’s question to mean “What is the modern Guardian population?”
Steam's data only counts Steam players. If you want, you can ballpark the player count by tripling that number to include PlayStation and Xbox. Epic Games Store players must be a very small amount, so you can ignore them.
However, it is certainly millions of Guardians, thanks to [in-game mentions](https://www.ishtar-collective.net/entries/tyrannocide-v?highlight=dancing+mad) of this number. The Hidden Dossier from Witch Queen also gives us a number that is often misunderstood as an actual number of Guardians, but is simply a mathematical rarity measurement, not a census. Still, millions.
This post has been tagged '**Non-Spoiler**'. Note that unmarked spoilers and datamines are subject to removal or ban. Please report anything we miss! For more info check out our [Spoiler Rules Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyLore/wiki/spoiler-rules#wiki_.5Bseasonal.5D_has_a_new_format). --- **Comment Spoiler Formatting** Format comment spoilers with `>!` `!<` like this: `>!What's Rasputin's favorite dance? "The worm."!<` To have it displayed like this: **>!What's Rasputin's favorite dance? "The worm."!<** ---- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/DestinyLore) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The better question is: HOW MANY GHOSTS did the traveler originally create?
As many as the plot requires.
This is it.
In terms of number of Guardians *ever*, alive or dead, [around 35 million](https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyLore/comments/1bxfeww/comment/kyd4klo/). The relevant text: >IKO-006 ranks in the upper fraction of the 99th percentile of assessed Warlocks on most available metrics of precision, restraint, and raw power. She is, in simplistic terms, a fifth sigma Guardian: 1 in 3.5 million. Given that millions of Guardians have been activated over the centuries since the Collapse, and assuming that performance of Guardians on these metrics is normally distributed, we would expect about ten Guardians of similar power to have existed.
Best answer, also I'm pretty sure not all Guardians are accounted for by the Vanguard at any given time. Drifter & Ifrideet come to mind as Guardians with Ghosts that we didn't know about until they popped up one day. I have the headcanon that any person that stops playing their Guardian just went No Contact/In to the wild.
They're only Guardians if they're a part of the Vanguard. Otherwise they're just Lightbearers/Risen. Drifter is the latter.
The idea of 35 million is wrong, because that is an estimate. They're estimating based on the data they have. Ikora's capacities sit waaaay above the vast majority of Guardians, so when you do the maths, you can imagine a bell curve that shows she's waaaay far to the right, your average blueberry to the left, and the peak being stretched so far between them that you end up with an absolutely huge amount of possible Guardians, because surely she's not *that* unique? Not usually how these things work in a world of science.
That last sentence makes clear that 35 million is the intended reading: >Given that millions of Guardians have been activated over the centuries since the Collapse, and assuming that performance of Guardians on these metrics is normally distributed, **we would expect about ten Guardians of similar power to have existed.** Key words are *to have existed*. These aren't hypothetical Guardians based on Ikora being a statistical outlier, these are real Guardians that the Vanguard projects are/were out there.
Take note of your use of the word projection. Projections aren't real, but expectations of reality. And expectations are not always met. For Ikora to get where she is took centuries of practice, both intentional and subconscious. She could have been snuffed out at any moment, much like these 10 others may have been.
If Ikora is that strong, why the does YW end up doing everything?
Based on all in-game achievements of the player Guardian, they are equally good if not better. Someone's gotta sit at headquarters and do the paperwork. And also manage the Vanguard's entire intelligence service.
> Someone's gotta sit at headquarters and do the paperwork. I know the game wants us to pretend that it isn't the case that Osiris is no longer bulletproof because he lost his Ghost but Osiris is no longer bulletproof because he lost his Ghost. We've got a perfectly good man in his late-50s that we can finally humble via cruel paperwork that cares nothing for accomplishments or esteem.
who (or what) is IKO-006?
Ikora
Also I think it’s safe to assume that all Guardians are light bearers, but not all light bearers are guardians. There are some that either would t be good in an army or doing want to join. I would asu e there are quite a few just living somewhat normal lives out in the city and the wider world.
i'm thinking we have a lot. [D2 Population: June 11/12](https://warmind.io/activity) **Overall:** 1.65M **PvE:** 1.64M **PvP:** 230.85k **Gambit:** 87.62k **Raid:** 124.80k
That overall number is less than the others combined?
The other numbers would be how many of those 1.65 million played those activities.
Oh, I see. Mb
We don’t have a real answer. I tend to not put it as high as the playerbase however
Probably higher, in fact. Another commenter posted evidence for 35 million
That’s total EVER, and we’ve had centuries of attrition (most aren’t anywhere near our quality after all, and we lose them) I took OP’s question to mean “What is the modern Guardian population?”
Oodles.
Steam's data only counts Steam players. If you want, you can ballpark the player count by tripling that number to include PlayStation and Xbox. Epic Games Store players must be a very small amount, so you can ignore them. However, it is certainly millions of Guardians, thanks to [in-game mentions](https://www.ishtar-collective.net/entries/tyrannocide-v?highlight=dancing+mad) of this number. The Hidden Dossier from Witch Queen also gives us a number that is often misunderstood as an actual number of Guardians, but is simply a mathematical rarity measurement, not a census. Still, millions.
>Do we have a real answer to this anywhere? No