| “ | Sing my songs and lick my flesh. Worship me! | „ |
| ~ Delilah |
Delilah Copperspoon is the main antagonist of Daud's story in the Dishonored DLCs The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches. She returns as the main antagonist in Dishonored 2.
Delilah is the leader of the Brigmore Witches coven and intends to perform a powerful ritual allowing her to posess the body of Emily Kaldwin, thus ruling Dunwall in Emily's stead. She is prevented from doing so by the assassin Daud and is banished into the Void. Fifteen years later, Delilah returns to Dunwall, having allied herself with the Duke of Serkonos. With the Duke's power, Delilah usurps the throne of Dunwall, forcing either Corvo Attano or Emily Kaldwin into exile where he or she plots to get the throne back from Delilah.
She is voiced by Erin Cottrell.
History
Youth
Delilah was born the bastard daughter of Emperor Euhorn Jacob Kaldwin and a kitchen maid. When her younger sister Jessamine was born, the two girls grew up together but whereas Jessamine lived in Dunwall Tower, Delilah lived in the servant's quarters together with her mother.
When Delilah begged her father to allow her to come to court, Euhorn denied her request, promising her that she would be allowed to come to court 'next year' every time she asked. However, he never held his promise. As Euhorn never explained the 'shame' of being a bastard to Delilah, the young girl did not understand why she was treated this way.
One day, while playing with Delilah, Jessamine broke something worth a fortune. When the Royal Spymaster caught them, Jessamine blamed Delilah for it. The spymaster brought Delilah to the garden house and whipped her until she was bloody. Delilah's mother was fired from her job and Delilah and her mother were cast out from Dunwall Tower. The two were forced to live on the streets, eventually ending up in debtor's prison. There, Delilah's mother died after weeks of suffering after a guard punched her jaw. After her mother's death, Delilah was cast out once more and ended up on the street again. When she saw the lights of Dunwall Tower, Delilah vowed revenge.
To survive, Delilah took a job in a brothel, washing bedsheets. She started painting, eventually gaining the attention of famed Anton Sokolov, who took her in as a student. At an unspecified moment in her youth, Delilah met Luca Abele, the son and heir of the Duke of Serkonos. Abele fell in love with her and Delilah, although not returning his love, formed a close bond with Luca, one of her most trusted friends.
Eventually, Delilah was marked by the Outsider, giving her magic powers. Delilah met Breanna Ashworth soon after, who became her trusted friend and ally. Delilah shared her magic with Breanna, allowing her to become a witch as well. The two witches roamed the lands, flocking other women to their cause with whom Delilah shared her powers. Delilah founded a witch coven, eventually settling down in the abandoned Brigmore Manor on the river near Dunwall.
The Knife of Dunwall
Set after his assassination of the empress and before his showdown with Corvo, The Outsider appears to the assassin Daud, the murderer of Empress Jessamine Kaldwin. He gives Daud one last mystery to solve, telling him that it starts with the name "Delilah". After Daud's second-in-command Billie Lurk finds out that "Delilah" is the name of a ship owned by Bundry Rothwild, Daud sets out to Rothwild Slaughterhouse to gather information.
At the slaughterhouse, he gets information from either Rothwild or foreman Abigail Ames. He is told that the ship "Delilah" originally belonged to Arnold Timsh, who named it in honor of Delilah. Daud next heads out to obtain information from Timsh. After returning to his base in the Flooded District, Daud finds that Overseers have attacked and captured most of his assassins. After defeating the invading overseers and saving his Whalers, Daud rounds up his men to find out what exactly happened. They are startled when Delilah personally appears on a ledge above them, musing about the situation. Delilah reveals to Daud that she told Overseer Hume the location of the Whaler's hideout to get rid of Daud, worried that he is finding out too much about the plan Delilah is secretly hatching.
Additionally, Delilah reveals that Lurk has betrayed Daud and was the one who told Delilah about the Whalers' hideout. Amused, Delilah leaves Daud to deal with the traitor. Before leaving the scene however, Delilah threatens Daud that she will kill him should he continue his quest to track her down.
The Brigmore Witches
Knowing that Delilah and her coven hide in the old Brigmore Mansion outside the city, Daud employs smuggler Lizzie Stride to bring him to the mansion. While infiltrating the building Daud can find many notes and listen to conversations between the witches, causing him to realise Delilah's plan.
He finds out that Delilah has travelled to the Void and intends to perform an ancient ritual, allowing her to extract Emily Kaldwin's mind and possess her body, thus becoming empress without anyone noticing. To stop her, Daud uses one of Delilah's paintings to follow her into the Void. Arriving there, he witnesses Delilah finishing her portrait of Emily. On his way there, he must evade the statues of Delilah which alert the witch if Daud comes too close to them.
Banishment
To prevent Delilah from succeeding with her plan, Daud can decide to botch up the ritual - resulting in Delilah entering the Void instead of Emily's body. In order to do so, Daud must replace the painting of Emily with a painting of the Void.
Delilah is sucked into the painting.
Daud can change the portraits and let Delilah continue her ritual. She will not notice the swapped paintings until it is to late and will be sucked into the painting. Although she tries to grab the altar the pull is too strong and, after cursing Daud, she looses her grip and is dragged inside the canvas.
Daud can also knock her out (this can only be done after fighting Delilah). Daud can then swap the paintings and put Delilah onto the altar. Daud must then start the ritual himself. While he does so, Delilah awakes but is then sucked to the painting. She panicks and grabs Daud's arm to evade her fate but the assassin wrenches free and Delilah is dragged into the canvas.
In both cases, Delilah is imprisoned in the Void. The Outsider contacts Daud, musing about how no one will know that Daud saved Emily Kaldwin from a horrible fate.
Death
Delilah's death
As an alternative to banishing Delilah into the Void, Daud can simply kill her. If Daud attracts Delilah's attention or tries to stun her, Delilah activates the statues around and attacks him. Daud must take down each copy of Delilah, causing the real witch to be cornered at the painting. There, Daud has the oppurtunity to kill Delilah, despite the woman's plead for mercy. If Daud attacks her with his sword, he stabs her in the hip but Delilah merely smiles at him and drives the blade deeper into her body. She then scratches Daud's faces with her fingernails. Daud shoves her backwards and Delilah attempts to lunge at him but Daud drives his sword into her mouth and through her head, killing her.
Aftermath
No matter Daud's decision, Delilah's spirit is trapped in the Void where it drifts for twelve years. Eventually, Delilah's spirit arrives at an ancient part of the Void, the part where the Outsider was created during a ritual. The place changes Delilah's spirit and she is able to harness power from it, allowing her to achieve far greater powers than the other people who were marked by the Outsider. Effectively, Delilah becomes part of the Outsider.
With her powers, Delilah manages to contact Luca Abele and Breanna Ashworth in the real world. Breanna is able to rouse a group of Conspirators and devices a plan to bring Delilah back. The group, consisting of Abele, Ashworth, Kirin Jindosh and Grim Alex, meet at the manor or Aramis Stilton where Ashworth initiates a séance. The group effectively breaches the Void, allowing Delilah to return to the mortal world. However, this ritual causes the Void to leak into the manor, altering time and driving mad Stilton, who witnessed the séance. After physically appearing in Stilton's manor, Delilah seperates her soul from her body, trapping it into an effigy. This means that as long as her body and soul are not reconnected, Delilah is immortal and cannot be killed.
Together with the conspirators, Delilah then devices a plan to take the throne from Empress Emily Kaldwin as she believes the throne to be her birthright.
Dishonored 2
Three years later, at the ceremony for the anniversary of Jessamine Kaldwin's death, the Duke of Serkonos enters Dunwall Tower. He promises Emily a great present - family - and reveals Delilah to her. Delilah introduces herself as Delilah Kaldwin and claims to be the older sister of Jessamine, thus considering herself the rightful emperor. Delilah reveals that she has come to take the crown from Emily. Corvo lunges forward to eliminate her and rams his sword into Delilah's heart but Delilah is unaffected by this wound. She captures Corvo inside a shadowy vine and uses her magic to drain the Outsider's powers from Corvo. Meanwhile, the Duke's men and a group of Emily's corrupt men led by Captain Ramsey have eliminated those loyal to the crown.
Delilah drags the protagonist into the void, revealing her bitter past to him or her.
Only Emily and Corvo remain, surrounded by Delilah's forces. The player can decide with whom of the two he wants to play through the game. Once the decision is made, Delilah uses magic to turn the remaining one into a marble statue. The other one is to be brought to Coldridge Prison by Ramsey but can escape on the way. Corvo or Emily flee to Serkonos where they intend to uncover the conspiracy against Emily. Another one who escapes the slaughter at Dunwall Tower is the High Overseer, Yul Khulan. Khulan immediately rounds up the Order of the Everyman against Delilah. The combined forces of the Order storm Dunwall Tower, battling against Delilah's witches. Although Delilah uses her magical powers to petrify hundreds of the Overseers, they manage to storm the tower, defeating Delilah's witches with their magic-suppressing music boxes. Only when Delilah sends the Clockwork Soldiers against them do the Overseers fall. With the Clockworks, Delilah is able to eliminate all attacking Overseers, killing every last one in Dunwall.
While Delilah attempts to take over the rest of Dunwall, Corvo or Emily starts eliminating her associates in Karnaca. They eliminate the Crown Killer, Kirin Jindosh, Breanna Ashworth and Duke Luca Abele and additionally steal Delilah's effigy from Abele's palace. By using the Heart, Corvo or Emily is able to extract Delilah's spirit from the effigy and trap it into the Heart.
Delilah in the throne, welcoming the protagonist back to her empire.
Upon the protagonist's return to Dunwall, he or she finds the entire city in dismay. The whole Palace District is in ruins and basically deserted, with wild dogs roaming the streets. The districts closest to Dunwall Tower have fallen into anarchy, with Delilah neglecting her city and empire while running down Dunwall Tower as well with her witches. The protagonist can find the remains of the Overseers that attacked the Tower, finding only one wounded survivor of the Overseer force. Inside the Tower, the protagonist can visit Delilah's art atelier in the former chapel, finding a note from Delilah revealing that she has a plan that requires an equal amount of normal and corroded runes. The protagonist can use the atelier to craft another corroded rune to be used later.
Delilah is located in the throne room, guarded by two grave hounds. The protagonist enters the throne room where Delilah does not immediately attack but muses about the circumstances. The protagonist then swiftly releases Delilah's spirit from the heart, causing it to bond with Delilah and turning her mortal again. The resulting shockwave knocks the protagonist off his or her feet, allowing Delilah to use her magic to open a portal into a giant painting hanging at the wall of the throne room. Before Delilah enters the portal, she reveals to the protagonist that the painting depicts the world as it should be and that Delilah will perform a ritual that will turn the real world into a world similar as depicted into the drawing - a world to Delilah's liking. Delilah then flies into the painting, leaving it to the protagonist to follow her.
Elimination
The protagonist arrives in the "World As It Should Be", which depicts a grotesque version of Dunwall Tower where the stones have merged with trees and with what seems to be part of the Void. Delilah's throne is surrounded by stone statues of civilians, applauding her. A gargantuan statue of Delilah herselt can be seen behind the throne. It is furthermore revealed that in this mirror world, the people of the Empire love their Empress Delilah.
While venturing through the world, the protagonist can find statues of Delilah hidden between the other stone statues. These statues attack if the see the protagonist and also alert the other statues. Eventually, the protagonist arrives at Delilah's throne where he or she eliminates Delilah sitting on the throne. However, this Delilah is revealed to having been another statue. After the decoy is eliminated, the real Delilah appears in the World as it Should be and starts searching for the intruder.
Lethal Elimination
| “ | You won't be wreaking any more havoc, Delilah! | „ |
| ~ Corvo after killing Delilah |
Delilah can be eliminated by every weapon or skill at the protagonist's disposal.
Delilah is killed by the protagonist.
However, she cannot be affected by Emily's Far Reach or by Corvo's Blink Kick, as she will teleport away mid-air. If engaged in battle, Delilah will use her sword to defend herself and will use magic to fight the protagonist. She is able to teleport around, can create shadow spikes she uses as projectiles and can unleash a scream that briefly stuns the protagonist if he or she is too close. Furthermore, through the powers obtained by merging with the Outsider, Delilah can unleash an energy beam that causes rifts nearby. If the protagonist is hit by said beam, he or she is turned into stone immediately.
If Delilah is killed with a sword, a special animation plays. The protagonist will smack her in the face and, while Delilah is stunned, drive his or her blade through her shoulder and into her chest. While the shocked Delilah laments on how this was not how it was supposed to end, the protagonist will grab her throat and throttle her before once more stabbing her into the side, killing her for good.
Non-lethal Elimination
| “ | You wanted a world of your own, Delilah, so have it! | „ |
| ~ Corvo before placing Delilah on the throne. |
Delilah can also be eliminated in a more humane way, allowijng her to reign her fantasy world from inside the painting. In order to do so, the protagonist must have visited Delilah's atelier in the chapel and must have crafted the corroded rune. This rune must be placed on the throne before the protagonist follows Delilah into the World As It Should Be, making the number of normal and corroded runes unbalanced and botching up Delilah's ritual once more.
Delilah about to enter the painted world forever
To eliminate Delilah non-lethally, the protagonist must knock her out in the World As It Should Be. Delilah's unconscious body must then be carried back through the portal and must be placed on the throne. The protagonist then hides nearby, waiting for Delilah to wake up. Once she does, Delilah believes that the protagonist has been defeated. She then performs her ritual, intending to overlap the real world and the World As It Should Be in order to force the world into a shape more to Delilah's liking. However, as the ritual has been disturbed by the protagonist, Delilah instead enters the painting where she is sealed forever. Despite this, Delilah will not notice the change and will rule the World As It Should Be, believing that her ritual has worked and that she is in the real world - thus allowing her to make peace with herself and to feel the love of her citizens.
Gallery
Concept Art
Dishonored DLC
Dishonored 2
Trivia
- Delilah is similar to Syanna from The Witcher 3.
- Both were born the elder sister of the monarch.
- Both were banished after being blamed for something their sister did.
- Both see the throne as their birthright, causing them to scheme to usurp the throne.
- In both games, it is up to the player's decision whether they die or 'reform'.
 Villains
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The Knife of Dunwall / The Brigmore Witches Dishonored 2 Dishonored: Death of the Outsider | ||