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 a breed of canine domesticated from the feral Tyvian hounds used primarily as guard animals. They can also be found prowling the cities of Dunwall and Karnaca, and are capable of being possessed by Corvo Attano.

In general, their appearance seems to be adapted to the Empire's industrial environment, with the wolfhound's slender build and irregularly shaped head differentiating it from most canines. Domesticated wolfhounds 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. The Grand Serkonan Guard also make use of wolfhounds, albeit in far less regularity.

Combat


"The Wolfhounds are not pets. They are one of the Overseer's most lethal weapons."

- The Heart


 * A 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 or Emily Kaldwin are behind an obstacle relative to a wolfhound, it can still sniff them out.
 * However, approaching from outside the hound's field of vision may still be advantageous, as the perception from smell seems to be far more limited in range and takes longer to result in detection.
 * Wolfhounds are the only type of animal that have detection indicators like humans.
 * It is impossible to knock out a wolfhound via means that require direct physical contact, those being:
 * The Tyvian choke-hold, as it can only be used on humans.
 * A drop-knockout or sliding knockout.
 * Shadow Walk's non-lethal action.
 * Semblance.
 * Wolfhounds are, however, susceptible to any other non-lethal means of elimination, such as sleep darts, hook and stun mines, chloroform bottles, hyperbaric grenades, bone charm effects like Void Rapture, and thrown objects to the head while unaware.
 * 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, the protagonist is completely vulnerable to attack from other enemies.
 * The wolfhounds' charging attack can push the protagonist back slightly as well as knock them 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 wolfhounds 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.
 * In Dishonored, wolfhounds have their own unique set of Heart quotes. In Dishonored 2, they have the same quotes as Overseers.
 * If Corvo is bitten by a wolfhound and is unsuccessful in getting them off of him, an animation will play in which the wolfhound tackles Corvo to the ground and tears his throat out with their teeth, killing him.
 * While most wolfhounds are a light brown colour, albinos are not rare.
 * The Fickle Beasts bone charm makes albino wolfhounds turn against their owner.
 * In Dishonored 2, the Familiar Scent bone charm prevents wolfhounds from smelling the protagonist. This indicates that wolfhounds are trained to react to unknown smells.
 * Wolfhounds can hear sounds that are below the human hearing range. It is because of this that howling bolts with the Deep Howl Masterwork upgrade cause wolfhounds to flee.
 * During the time that Corvo possesses a wolfhound, he is able to sprint.
 * The Brigmore Witches have the ability to reanimate dead wolfhounds as gravehounds.
 * Wolfhounds in Dishonored 2 have a kind of aura around them when viewed with Dark Vision. This seems to indicate their ability to smell.

Gallery
