Wes Burt's concept art for Arkane Studios' Dishonored suggests Corvo may have had some face time in the game's early development stages. Nowadays silent protagonists in story-intensive games seem a bit weird to me, but I didn't have any problems with Corvo being a quiet vigilante. The concept art below and on Wes Burt's CGHub page reveal the early ideas Arkane and Wes were tossing around for Corvo's human side. Cool stuff!

As many readers point out, you do see Corvo's face briefly at a couple of points in the game.

Special thanks go out to GI reader Steven H for the news tip!