Corvo Attano

"My dear Corvo. What a sad hand fate has dealt you."

Hailing from the Empire's southern-most isle of Serkonos, Corvo Attano grew up in the Batista Mining district of Karnaca, it's capital city. Having grown up fighting in the streets, Corvo was an incredibly skilled fighter, winning the Balde Verbena at just 16. This granted him entry into the Grand Serkonan Guard, and from there a position serving the then-Emperor Euhorn Kaldwin. A year later, Jessamine chose him as her Royal Protector. Despite the high social status that came with such an appointment, the Gristol nobility hardly warmed to him, given his background and reputation for being quiet and mysterious.

As for who Corvo is now, that is up to the player.

"Honorable intentions. Well made plans. And yes, love. All drowning in the blood you've spilled." //
"When others might choose to draw blood, you find another way. This, I think, is my highest praise."

The chaos system really gives me a lot to turn over in my mind when it comes to Corvo's characterisation. There are two facets to this system. How do you deal with the guards and minor enemies? And how do you deal with your target? Corvo is a good man, a noble man, dedicated to his family and his empire. He is also a very broken man. The low chaos route may, at first, seem like the Good Route. And it is! Killing no people is better than killing any people. But when it comes to the targets.. these choices are not merciful.

In low chaos, Corvo becomes a precise and meticulous machine, hunting his targets with a terrifying single-mindedness. He is not distracted by the guards between him and the people responsible for ruining his life. Any man can carve a path of blood, it takes a truly special one to be so precise and focused with their anger.
Well, of course, Corvo still gets his revenge. He is human, after all. And perhaps he is condemning these people to these horrible ends, because he wants them to know, and wants them to suffer? I just think this is just the most fitting and interesting route for Corvo, ESPECIALLY because the non lethal options are so bafflingly cruel, many of them are really a fate worse than death. Sure, he isn't killing them, but Corvo is not doing these people a kindness. But it's focused. And precise. And clean.

It makes all the more sense then, for The Outsider to be so invested in Corvo. He is such an agent of chaos that I think finding someone who uses their power for restraint would be truly interesting to him. Any man can leave a trail of blood in his wake, but what kind of person has the control, the skills, and the focus to achieve the same goal with clean hands? After all, The Outsider says as much himself,"You had him in the palm of your hand, and you let him walk away? You fascinate me."

Corvo was mute in the first game, but is voiced in the second. In-game this is never commented on, no one finds it strange that he does or doesn't speak in either case. I actually love mute Corvo, and when I heard he was going to speak in the second game, I was a little disapointed? But, it did give us the greatest 30 seconds of the series, so it's not all bad.

The Outsider

"I don't decide who wins and whose body gets tossed in the river to rot. But I do enjoy watching."

The Outsider didn't always exist. Millenia ago, he was just a boy, an orphan plucked from the streets of some ancient city. Just a boy, taken into the Void, where his name was ripped from him, his throat slit. And then The Outsider awoke, a manifestation of the Void, a being of insatiable curiosity.

The Outsider is hands down, without a doubt, one of my favourite characters of all time. There is something about this incredibly old, incredibly powerful being, who's only motivation is curiosity.. Like being a mouse between the paws of a cat. The Outsider doesn't particularly care about much. He is neither good nor evil, he doesn't do favours or revenge. What he does do, is meddle. He likes to find particular interesting people, give them the power and ability to enact their will on the world, and he sets them loose, to watch how the pieces fall. And for all this power, he certainly isn't unfeeling. You always get the sense that he is, in many ways, still so very young. His tone of voice is sometimes even petulant, he is bitter, he is often sarcastic. He rather wryly remarks that if Sokolov wanted to meet him, "he could start with being a bit more interesting".

I think that the Outsider is the embodiment of a true neutral character, and what draws me to him so much is that this means he is a totally different thing to every person. To the general citizens of Dunwall he is a taboo god, a source of whispered, forbidden power, an old wives tale to scare children. To the Abbey he is everything wrong with the world, a force of corruption and temptation. To Daud he is a selfish evil bastard, to Billie he is a ruined dream, to Granny Rags he is a suitor, to Corvo... well, I guess that depends how you play.

He regards being treated as a god as ridiculous actually, referring to worshippers as unhinged. Perhaps a given, since to do so is clearly a lost cause. He only appears to people he finds interesting, and I imagine taking such a boring route only puts him farther out of reach. Of course, I am intruiged by what this means if you want to keep his attention too. He appears to Corvo quite a lot during the game - more than he ever appears to anyone else, it seems. He never stays for very long, usually just commenting on what Corvo has done, and pondering aloud the paths he might take from here. He nevers gives any advice or expresses much of an opinion, but he does seem to appreciate it if Corvo goes about his business with minimal bloodshed. Not that he cares on a moral standing, at least I don't think so - but rather, how interesting, to give a man the power of a god, the power to take revenge for the destruction of his love and his life - and for him to be so careful about it. He could kill them all - easily - Corvo is an unnatural, inhuman force when he has the Outsider's gift. And yet, he lets them live. How intruiging.

"The Outsider will not love nor is he loved. He is everything and nothing and the sea. He exists only to watch the world, and regardless of how wretched that world becomes, he will devour it."

The Great Leviathan

The Whale Oil revolution began 50 years prior to the events of the first game. Since then, whales have been hunted to near extiction for the extraction and processing of their oil, which powers the Empire. They are also very, very connected to The Outsider.
The whales are said to be supernatural, savage, intelligent, "creatures of beauty and sadness". They are the only living creature we ever see in the Void, existing simulataneously both spiritually there, and materially in the world. Besides their oil, whale bone is an essential material for crafting bone charms and runes - esoteric (and heretical) carvings said to draw on the power of the Void.

Within the Void, they congregate around the place where The Outsider was created, singing to each other, and are often seen nearby when Corvo meets The Outsider. When Granny Rags calls to him for power, she calls on "the great leviathan". Exactly why or how the whales are connected to The Outsider is still a mystery, at least as far as my knowledge goes, but this connection is a piece of characterisation that I adore so much.

About Dishonored

"Whiskey and cigars tonight?"

Dishonored is a stealth game developed by Arkane Studios and released in 2012, with it's sequel following in 2016. It is the gaming love of my life. I played it for the first time on the 9th of Feburary 2014, and I have never recovered.

*touches this post* something terrible happened here...

Story

The first game opens with you playing as Corvo Attano, Lord Protector to Empress Jessamine Kaldwin, as he arrives back in Dunwall. His voyage had been to search for the cure to the ongoing rat plague, though he is arriving back empty handed. Upon reaching Dunwall Tower, Corvo plays a game of hide and seek with the perfect baby angel Emily Kaldwin, the Empress's daughter (and also, Corvo's). Unfortunately, this is where everything goes terribly wrong. The Empress is murdered by a gang of assassins who manage to render Corvo helpless as all he can do is watch her die, watch as Emily is kidnapped, watch as the assassins simply disappear. And that is when the guards arrive.

As you progress through the game Corvo will eventually meet The Outsider, who is very intruiged by the tragic twist his life has taken. So he makes Corvo an offer - near unlimited power, no catch. Just do something interesting with it.

Gameplay

These games are broken up until missions, each taking place in a self-contained levels. Please let me tell you - these games are a masterclass of level design. I have genuinely spent hours just trying to see how much I can explore - can I get onto this roof? Can I climb into this window? And the game rewards this style of play immensely. This is what made this game #1 in my heart! Do you want to go in the front gates, an unstoppable force of destruction, leaving a trail of carnage behind you? Do you want to slip in and out unseen, unheard, leaving everyone unharmed? It's up to you, genuinely. My preference is always for the latter, because the exploration of these levels is phenomenally satisfying. The thrill of a plan coming together is unbeatable, and it happens near constantly when you find a perfect hiding place, or a back route that bypasses an entire patrol of guards

The Chaos System

How many people do you kill on your way through the level? The city responds in kind. The more destruction you leave, the more the city suffers for it. There will be more rats, more weepers, more guards on patrol. Corvo, Lord Protector, will become unrecognisable to his daughter. What city are you fighting for, to give to her? She will take up the reins, and she will do you proud, either way.

Art

This is a beautiful game, with an incredible art direction and some of the most stunning concept art I've ever seen. But for now, I'm showing you my favourite fan art. All sources linked in the pictures!

P.S. yes this will include ship art. It's my shrine and I'll post what I want to.

Family dinner, by chortache:

Art by martyfive, to whom I owe my life bc they are still drawing corvosider art in the 2020's: