The Outsider and Paintings in the Dishonored Series


The Outsider: Nature and Connection to Art

The Outsider is a powerful entity bound to the Void, a supernatural dimension with a distinctly abstract, painterly aesthetic. While he doesn't create paintings himself, his presence and the Void's influence manifest visually in several key ways:

  1. Outsider Shrines are physical locations where the barrier between the Void and the physical world thins. These shrines are distinctively marked by disturbing paintings, abstract sculptures, and symbolic imagery (often featuring whales, geometric patterns, and dark materials). These artistic elements serve as visual indicators of the Void's presence and points where the Outsider can communicate directly.

  2. The Void itself possesses a surreal, non-Euclidean aesthetic that evokes a living, shifting painting. When characters enter this space, they experience a reality that feels like moving through an abstract, constantly transforming artwork where physical laws are malleable and landscapes fragment and reassemble.

Delilah Copperspoon: Painting as Void Magic

The most significant connection between paintings and Void power comes through Delilah Copperspoon:

  1. Unique Channeling Method: Unlike characters who receive the Outsider's Mark directly, Delilah discovered her own path to Void power specifically through painting as her medium. Her magic represents a different approach to harnessing Void energy, using art rather than the Outsider's direct gifts.

  2. Magical Paintings: Delilah creates specially prepared canvases that:

    • Trap individuals' souls or consciousness (The Brigmore Witches DLC)
    • Create portals to other locations
    • Store pieces of her own soul to ensure immortality
    • Ultimately attempt to remake all of reality according to her vision

  3. Reality Manipulation: In Dishonored 2's climax, Delilah has created a painted reality that blends the physical world with her artistic vision, demonstrating the ultimate extension of her power—using painting to literally reshape the world.

Anton Sokolov: Mundane Art in a Supernatural World

Providing contrast to Delilah's supernatural art:

  1. Court Painter: Sokolov creates non-magical portraits of key figures in the Empire of the Isles
  2. Scientific Approach: He studies the Outsider and Void academically rather than artistically
  3. Documentation Function: His paintings serve as social commentary and historical record rather than supernatural tools

The relationship between the Outsider and paintings in Dishonored ultimately shows two paths: the direct manifestations of Void influence near Outsider shrines, and Delilah's unique ability to channel Void power through painting as her specific magical medium, representing one of gaming's most thorough explorations of art as supernatural power.

 

 

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