Wolfhounds

"There is a children's rhyme: Do not weep or make a sound, for that will bring the 'seer's hound."

—The Heart

Wolfhounds are dogs that are used as guard animals. They can also be found prowling the city of Dunwall, and are capable of being possessed by Corvo Attano.

In general, their appearance seems to be adapted to Dunwall's industrial environment, with the wolfhound's slender build and irregularly shaped head differentiating it from most canines. Domesticated hounds are raised for the first year of their life by hound trainers, who teach them basic commands as well as more advanced hunting and assault techniques. Those that perform adequately at the one-year mark are graduated, and any that do not are put down.

Wolfhounds often act as companion animals to Overseers, going out on patrol and regularly working with them. The literature and dialogue surrounding Overseers and their wolfhounds suggests that such pairs are quite close.

During the time that Corvo possesses a wolfhound, he is able to sprint.

Combat

A wolfhound bites Corvo.

• Wolfhounds' detection radius is not limited by line of sight, meaning that sneaking up from behind a wolfhound will normally result in detection. Even if Corvo is behind an obstacle relative to a wolfhound, it can still sniff him out.
• Wolfhounds are the only type of animal that have detection indicators like humans.
• It is impossible to knock out a wolfhound without using sleep darts, as Corvo's choke-hold can only be used on humans.
• Because wolfhounds often patrol with Overseers, it can be difficult to neutralize one without being detected by the other. Also, the fight against them will become more dangerous. Bend Time may be useful while dealing with the companions, especially when trying to avoid detection.
• Wolfhounds tend to fall asleep if they are not patrolling together with a guard. With this in mind, it is possible to sneak past them if they do.
• Like rats, hagfish, and river krusts, wolfhounds do not count toward lethal kills in mission summaries. As such, it is possible to kill them and still achieve Clean Hands.
• While being bitten, Corvo is completely vulnerable to attack from other enemies.
• The hounds' charging attack can push Corvo back slightly as well as knock him down for a while. Circle-strafe or use Agility to avoid their attacks.

Trivia

• The artists who designed the wolfhounds for Dishonored based their design off of an amalgam of a dog then "...mixed it a bit with a crocodile, [and] a little bit of a giraffe in order to make [it] unique..."
• In the mission High Overseer Campbell, there is a report responding to a proposition that the Overseers strap the hounds with explosives to use them as suicide bombers. The author, Hound Master Warton, rejects the idea out of hand, regardless of the chaos level Corvo has achieved.
• The Overseer patrolling the kennels stops to talk to his wolfhounds on various occasions.
• If the wolfhounds in the kennels survive the High Overseer Campbell mission, they are later taken in and retrained by Whalers.
• Concept art shows that early designs were based on real-world wolfhounds as well as hyenas.
• Wolfhounds have their own unique set of Heart quotes.

Gallery

Early wolfhound and Overseer design.

Wolfhound statuette concept art.

A basic render of a wolfhound.

Wolfhound render.

Wolfhound render closeup.

Dead wolfhound render.

Render of wolfhounds.

An Overseer feeding a wolfhound in the kennels.

Wolfhounds in their cages.

Wolfhound combat.jpg

Corvo in combat with a wolfhound.

Wolfhounds attacking Corvo.

A sleeping wolfhound.

A statuette of a wolfhound, found at the Golden Cat.

A wolfhound on Kaldwin's Bridge.

A wolfhound stalks a rat.

A wolfhound patrolling Kaldwin's Bridge.

A hostile wolfhound before attacking Corvo.

A wolfhound patrols the Flooded District.

A wolfhound in the Flooded District.

Corvo fights off wolfhounds in the Flooded District.

Two wolfhounds.

Slackjaw fends off a wolfhound.

A wolfhound in the Dunwall streets.