The Outsider

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The Void is eternal, producing an avatar every few thousand years to watch over it; the Outsider is not necessarily the first or last. His origin story reveals he was a street urchin kidnapped by a cult and ritually sacrificed to become 'a god' against his will. This sacrifice draws comparisons to the ancient Greek pharmakos, a scapegoat figure. Within the game world, a religious order known as the Abbey of the Everyman opposes him, magic, and witchcraft. Critics have analyzed his role extensively: Robert Rath compares him to Satan in the Book of Job, viewing him as a tempter who provides powers that may doom Dunwall, while Jeff Howard sees him as a 'trickster figure' whose moral otherness allows magic to be an amoral force left to player choice.

In Their Own Story

In the webisode 'The Hand that Feeds,' the Outsider appears to an unnamed boy ostracized by peers; he grants the boy his mark, leading the boy to unleash a rat swarm on his tormentors before dying of the plague. In Dishonored (2012), after Empress Jessamine's murder, the Outsider visits Corvo Attano in a dream, marking him and gifting a living heart containing secrets. He guides Corvo via shrines throughout the mission to restore Emily Kaldwin to the throne. Fifteen years later in Dishonored 2 (2016), after Delilah usurps the throne, the Outsider offers the player character a choice: accept or reject his mark. He recounts his own sacrifice while dragging the player into the Void to reveal details about Delilah.

Reader's Guide

The Outsider appears at shrines scattered across missions to comment on the player's current mission and choices. In Dishonored, he grants Corvo magical abilities and a heart that reveals secrets when pointed at targets. In Dishonored 2, players can choose to reject his mark entirely upon meeting him in a dream, though he still gifts the spirit of Empress Jessamine. His voice actor changed from Billy Lush in the first game to Robin Lord Taylor starting with Dishonored 2; Taylor studied Lush's 'amazing' performance and received detailed world information from Arkane Studios. In Death of the Outsider (2017), the protagonist Billie Lurk is forcibly marked by him, receiving Void-touched arm and eye substitutes. The game culminates in a choice to either kill him with his original sacrificial knife or whisper his forgotten name to restore him to humanity.

Did You Know?

• Robin Lord Taylor's voice performance in Dishonored 2 was his first role in a video game and his first outside of live-action work.
• The non-lethal ending in Death of the Outsider involves severing the Outsider's connection to the Void using the Twin-bladed Knife, not whispering a name.
• Director Harvey Smith explicitly denied interpretations of the Outsider as a trickster god, despite common critical analysis.
• In the novel 'Dishonored: The Corroded Man,' the cause of death for the first person marked by the Outsider is not established, making any claim about a rat bite or misattribution unsupported.
• The character's design for Dishonored 2 was altered to give him a more balanced silhouette compared to his original appearance.

Origins and Nature

The Outsider was originally a street urchin before being found by a cult, kidnapped, and ritually sacrificed against his will to become 'a god.' This transformation made him one of many representations of the Void that have existed every few thousand years. As a deity figure, he appears as a young man with iris-less, black eyes. His sacrifice has been compared to the ancient Greek pharmakos by writer Sandra Duval, who later worked on Death of the Outsider. While some interpret him as a trickster god, director Harvey Smith explicitly denied this classification. Frank G. Bosman notes his ties to the Biblical Leviathan represent an association with primal chaos before creation, positioning him against the Abbey of the Everyman's fight for order and discipline.

Narrative Role and Powers

He first appeared in promotional webisodes like 'The Hand that Feeds' before debuting in Dishonored (2012). His primary role is granting magical powers to players by marking them, a process often initiated in dreams. In Dishonored, he gives Corvo Attano a living heart and marks him to eliminate the Lord Regent's allies. In the DLCs, he guides Daud regarding Delilah. In Dishonored 2 (2016), he offers players the choice to accept or reject his mark for the first time, yet still provides the heart containing Empress Jessamine's spirit. He appears at shrines throughout the games to discuss player choices and, in one instance, drags the player into the Void to explain his own tragic origins.

Evolution of Portrayal

Billy Lush voiced the Outsider in Dishonored (2012) and the preceding webisodes. For Dishonored 2 (2016), Robin Lord Taylor replaced him, marking Taylor's first video game role and his first outside live-action work. Although unfamiliar with the game initially, Taylor studied Lush's performance and received detailed character briefings from Arkane Studios. Visually, artists refined his design for Dishonored 2 to create a more balanced silhouette while keeping key details consistent. Lush appeared in the Dishonored 2 reveal trailer but received no further calls for the role. The transition allowed for deeper exploration of his backstory, including his recounting of being tied down and sacrificed.

Legacy and Player Agency

The character's story concludes in Death of the Outsider (2017), where Billie Lurk attempts to kill him at the request of Daud. She finds his physical presence encased in stone on a mountain leaking into the Void, guarded by cultists. Players can choose to kill him or discover that his mark is actually his forgotten name written in the language of the dead. Whispering this name undoes the ritual, turning him human and allowing him to live a new life; this non-lethal ending was proposed by narrative designer Sandra Duval to emphasize his tragedy. Writer Hazel Monforton described this arc as 'learning to hope again,' while Anna Megill argued it would be wrong to end without giving him redemption. The lethal ending was revised from an abrupt cut to allow time for player rumination.