Alfred Pennyworth

"*Your parents would be proud of the man you've become.*"
—Alfred Pennyworth to Bruce Wayne[src]
**Alfred Pennyworth** (born 1972) is the trusted butler of the Wayne family and an ally of Bruce Wayne in his activities as the Vigilante.

## Biography

### Early life

Alfred Pennyworth was born in England on 1972. Some time in his early adulthood,, he was hired by the Wayne family as their butler, and so moved to Gotham City. Alfred was present for much of the family's life, especially when Martha Wayne gave birth to her and Thomas's son, Bruce. From that point on, Alfred began taking care of Bruce when the couple would leave for business or otherwise.

### Murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne

On June 26th, 2003, Thomas and Martha had decided to take Bruce for a night out, choosing to see a showing of *The Mark of Zorro*. However, Alfred was informed by the G.C.P.D. of the parents' deaths, leaving Bruce an orphan. Taking him home, Alfred took custody of Bruce and became his legal guardian whilst making preparations for the funeral. During this time, Bruce attempted suicide, though Alfred was quick to stop him from doing so and reminded him to be strong.

### Raising Bruce Wayne

Alfred decided to raise Bruce himself, with the occasional help from Wayne family friend Leslie Thompkins, and later enrolled him to Gotham Academy, though his knack for being a troublemaker and nuisance led to his expulsion. When Bruce reached the age of 16, Alfred learned that he planned to leave Gotham in order to travel the world, something he regrettably supported.

### Return of Bruce Wayne

Nearly a decade later, Alfred learned that Bruce had returned to Gotham City and was quick to reunite with him. Taking him back home to Wayne manor, Alfred was eager to catch up with Bruce. However, upon arrival, he discovered that Bruce had once again vanished. This time though, when he returned to the manor in secret, Alfred was waiting for him. Worried about Bruce, Alfred tried to get him to open up about his absence and discovered how much he's truly changed. Bruce promised to one day tell him the story about his absence. The next day, Alfred prepared breakfast for him and resumed his butler duties, though kept a keen eye on Bruce until Philip Kane visited to reunite with Bruce too. Philip offered to give Bruce a tour of his family's company, Wayne Enterprises, to see how much it had progressed in his time away. Alfred pushed for Bruce to accept, much to his chagrin, though he conceded and decided to accept his invitation. As Bruce was visiting the company, Harvey Dent soon came round to see how Bruce was doing. Despite informing Harvey of his absence, Alfred let him stay in the manor to wait for his return and asked how his district attorney duties were doing. Bruce eventually returned and caught up with Harvey, with Alfred preparing lunch for them. Their reunion was then sullied by mayor Hamilton Hill and police commissioner Gillian Loeb's public decry of a new vigilante threatening Carmine Falcone and other mob bosses. After Harvey left, Bruce and Alfred worked together to gather information about the Falcone crime family, with Alfred catching Bruce up on how much more corrupt the city has become. Bruce decided to build a base of operations and Alfred elected the caves underneath the manor. Together, they began working on building his hideout within the cave.

## Personality

Alfred is fiercely loyal, being trusted by the Wayne family with many of their secrets as well as Bruce Wayne's identity as the Vigilante. Despite being worried for Bruce's safety and mental state following the Wayne murders, Alfred retains a dry sense of humour and a polite etiquette as the family butler.

## Physical description

Alfred is a tall, slim and balding man, often wearing formal attire to do his butler duties.

## Abilities

* **Investigation**: Alfred was able to figure out Bruce's identity, being the first person to do so.
* **Multilingualism**: Alfred is able to speak multiple languages aside from English, shown when responding to Bruce Wayne in French and Russian respectively.

## Trivia

* Alfred is the first person to deduce Bruce Wayne's identity.

## Behind the scenes

* In DC Comics, **Alfred Pennyworth** is the trusted and loyal confidante and butler of Bruce Wayne and his closest ally as Batman, being codenamed **Penny-One**. He debuted in *Batman #16* (February, 1943).

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 *Pilot (Batman)*