The Outsider is the ancient, black-eyed being who watches from the Void: neither god in the simple sense nor demon, but something stranger, colder, and far older than the empires that curse his name. Once a nameless human boy sacrificed by a cult thousands of years ago, he was bound to the Void and transformed into its living face.

He grants his Mark rarely, choosing people who interest him rather than those who worship him. Corvo Attano, Daud, Delilah Copperspoon, Emily Kaldwin, and others were not rewarded for goodness or punished for evil. They were chosen because they stood at points of consequence. The Outsider does not command. He offers power, watches what mortals do with it, and remembers every choice.