Dishonored’s protagonist has no back-story 

Dishonored creative director Raf Colantonio has told Penny Arcade that the assassination game's protagonist, Corvo Atano, has no past.

Colantonio said Corvo's back-story won't be filled out because, according to the PA piece, "a past isn't interesting for players".

"The player himself has no true back-story," said Colantonio. "He’s the bodyguard of the empress, and that’s all we reveal."

You do, however, learn how Corvo gains his supernatural powers: they come from a character called the Outsider.

“He sort of has a cautionary tone," co-creative director Harvey Smith added.

"He says how you use this is up to you, but note that there will be effects. It’s funny, when we first talked about the Outsider, people assumed he was the devil, egging you on to do greater and greater evil. Or he would judge you harshly if you did evil. But instead we have an amoral observer character."

Dishonored's story sees Corvo blamed for the death of the empress he's supposed to protect. The game - which lasts about 12 hours - is a series of assassination missions developed by Arkane and Bethesda. It's out in October this year.