Tallboys are an elite guard unit who use a suit that is an amalgamation of spindle-legged armatures, which keeps them out of reach of the rats that swarm Dunwall. Accompanying this, each tallboy has heavy armor plating, which protects them during confrontations.

Tallboys are first encountered at the beginning of Lady Boyle's Last Party, with at least one appearing in each subsequent level.

DescriptionEdit

Although their offensive power is significant, their movement capacity is limited; a circle-strafe is an effective way to create an opening that allows a few shots to be undertaken.

Each tallboy uses a compound bow and has a spotlight attached to its suit, which it can use to peer into shadows. Tallboys will also react to alerts aired via loudspeaker if they are near enough to hear them, and they can pass through walls of light unharmed unless the walls have been rewired.

Tallboys also have extra shielding in the form of collapsible wooden shields attached to their armor, which protect them from shockwaves.

Following this, due to their leg armatures, tallboys are unaffected by the Devouring Swarm power, and their heavy armor completely protects them against sleeping darts and choke-holds. The only opportunity to take a tallboy down non-lethally is with the special Arc Pylon during the mission The Loyalists - players attempting a "clean run" are advised to avoid them altogether.

There are several ways to effectively kill a tallboy:

• Drop-assassinating them allows one to kill them in a single hit; this can be achieved by jumping off a point higher than them or using Agility and Blink to quickly get up to their level. 
• Explosive bullets or a well placed sticky grenade can kill a tallboy with one hit.
• Shooting the three whale oil tanks on their back will cause the tanks to explode.
• Using a large amount of ammo to shoot tallboys will generally kill them, however, it is not the most economical way of killing the tallboys.
• Using Windblast to deflect one of their explosive arrows will send it back at the tallboy who fired it.
• Run as close to them as possible, use Bend Time, jump to them using Agility, and attach a spring razor to them.

TriviaEdit

• While Corvo's first encounter with a tallboy is at the beginning of Lady Boyle's Last Party, they are first seen when Corvo enters the Void for the first time.
• According to commentary by art director Sebastien Mitton, the idea for the tallboys came after watching a man on stilts cleaning a building facade. Originally they were designed as a type of town crier (which was replaced by loudspeakers) but they slowly evolved into the heavily armed guards that they are now.
  • Given that Dishonored's visual designer is Viktor Antonov, the same man who directed Half-Life 2's style, this evolution may mean the current form of the tallboy is based on Half-Life 2's Striders, which are extremely tall tripod enemies that help to keep order, and are generally difficult to take down.
• According to the in-game book The Exquisite Tallboy, every tallboy is "heavily drugged" with something that "renders them resistant to pain" and "dulls whatever empathy they might normally possess." It is not certain whether the tallboys' resulting decrease in empathy is part of the drug's intended effects, or merely a side effect.

GalleryEdit

Two tallboys confront Corvo.

Tallboys providing crowd control.

Two tallboys round up a pair of weepers.

Two tallboys wielding compound bows, one with an explosive bolt notched.

In-game image of a tallboy standing guard.

Tallboys and wolfhounds.

A close up image of a tallboy.

Corvo assassinating a tallboy.

The remains of tallboy.

Dead tallboy eaten by rats.

A tallboy being vaporized as it walks through a wall of light.

A tallboy being eaten by rats.

Tallboy shooting civilians

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