Alfred Pennyworth

"*That's how it starts, sir. The fever, the rage, the feeling of powerlessness that turns good men... cruel.*"
—Alfred Pennyworth[src]

**Alfred Pennyworth** is the butler, mentor, surrogate father, and close friend of Bruce Wayne. Alfred has served the Wayne family since before Bruce was born. After Bruce was left orphaned from the murder of both of his parents when he was a boy, Alfred watched over him as a parental figure, watching him grow and mature, and assisting him in his quest to become the Batman.

## Biography

### Early Life

#### SAS training

Alfred was born in the United Kingdom, in the middle of the 20th century. As a young man, he would join his country's armed forces, and shortly thereafter, the SAS special forces, where Alfred would receive training in intelligence gathering, field medicine, weaponry, as well as the ability to pilot all sorts of vehicles and aircraft.

#### Employed by the Waynes

At some point, Alfred retired from the British Armed Force and moved to the United States of America, where he became the butler and bodyguard to Thomas Wayne and his wife Martha, billionaire philanthropists from Gotham City. Sometime later, they had their only child, Bruce, whom Alfred would come to mentor.

#### Raising and mentoring Bruce

In 1981, the Waynes were murdered by a mugger, whilst taking a young Bruce to see a showing of *"The Mark of Zorro"* at the Aragon Theater, and Alfred was placed as the legal guardian to Bruce. The young boy's anger at the death of his parents and the blame he placed on himself was apparent to see, and he proclaimed that he would rid Gotham City of the criminal and the corrupt, and asked Alfred for his help.

#### "The Batman"

"*One misses the days when one's biggest concerns were exploding wind-up penguins.*"
—Alfred about Batman's previous exploits
Bruce would stay true to his word, eventually becoming the vigilante "Batman" as an adult, with Alfred's SAS training allowing him to help Bruce build his numerous high-tech gadgets, to operate the Batcomputer, and to give Bruce pertinent advice during the latter's missions in his one-man anti-crime crusade.

## Personality

"*Go upstairs and socialize, some young lady from Metropolis will make you honest... In your dreams Alfred.*"
—Alfred Pennyworth
A traditional English gentleman, Alfred always keeps a stiff upper lip, even under the extraordinary circumstances imposed by his master's secret identity. No matter what the situation, Alfred always responds with resolve, equanimity, and good (albeit somewhat sarcastic and dry) humor.

Though he and Bruce do occasionally quarrel, Alfred's loyalty remains absolute. Partially this could be explained by his continued loyalty to Thomas Wayne, and a traditional sense of duty to one's master. At the same time, Alfred finds ways to express his pride in Bruce, and his belief in the cause he is fighting for as the fearsome vigilante "Batman".

Alfred is remarkably wise, observant and perceptive, as he is able to understand that it is Bruce's "feelings of powerlessness" that changed the latter quite a bit.

## Abilities

* Abilities
* Weaknesses
* Equipment

* **Gifted Intelligence**: Alfred is exceptionally intelligent, which extends to his considerable investigative, analytical, communications, computer operating, engineering, and medical skills, as well as those in ordinary housekeeping and cooking, which makes Alfred remarkably eclectic, often able to keep up with genius polymath Batman himself.
	+ **Expert Tactician**: Alfred regularly assists Bruce on the latter's various missions as Batman, offering his own tactical input and advice if necessary.
	+ **Expert Engineer**: Alfred is highly skilled in vehicles' operations, computer operations, and general engineering, as he was trained in weapons and maintenance of all sorts of vehicles and aircraft while in the SAS special forces. Thus, Alfred assists Batman in building and over time improving upon the latter's various sophisticated gadgets in the Batcave, most notably, the Batmobile, standard Batsuit, and Batcomputer.
	+ **Expert Computer Scientist:** Alfred is exceptionally skilled in computer science, thus regularly assisting Batman on missions by efficiently operating the Batcomputer and filling the latter in on pertinent data
	+ **Expert Detective**: Alfred, while seemingly not quite on par with Batman himself, is a highly skilled investigator (employing both inductive and deductive reasoning), analyst, and spy, due to his intelligence background as a member of the British SAS special forces, where he was specifically trained in intelligence gathering. Thus, Alfred is remarkably observant and perceptive, as he is able to understand that it is Bruce's "feelings of powerlessness" that changed the latter quite a bit.
	+ **Expert Medic**: Alfred is an exceptionally efficient personal doctor and surgeon to the Batman, due to him being trained in medicine while in the SAS special forces.
	+ **Communications Expert**: Alfred is highly skilled at communications, with him therefore regularly operating as Bruce's chief communications officer (CCO) in Wayne Enterprises.
	+ **Expert Butler**: Alfred while without metahuman powers, is an extremely skilled and experienced butler, having first served as one to Thomas and Martha Wayne, and then to their son Bruce, with him being extraordinarily competent in all of his duties (both as butler and head of security) necessary to help maintain, assist and support Batman's life, including housekeeping and cooking.
* **Expert Driver and Pilot**: Alfred is a highly skilled driver and pilot, due to him having been trained in piloting all sorts of vehicles and aircraft while in the SAS special forces. Hence, he effectively pilots Batman's Batwing from a distance, while simultaneously observing a Batcomputer thermal imaging scan of the building he was piloting it towards.

- **Human Vulnerabilities:** Alfred's greatest weakness is that he is a human with no enhanced strength, speed, durability, or metahuman powers, therefore making him quite vulnerable to the physical attacks of stronger and more powerful opponents. Alfred, however, usually compensates for this quite well with his exceptional tactical and combat skills, as well as his brilliant intellect. In addition, Alfred usually remains and helps Batman from within the Batcave, seldom ever directly fighting Gotham City or other supervillains in the field.

As the long-term butler and head of security of Batman, Alfred has access to Wayne Enterprises technology, some of the most sophisticated technology in the world (most of it located in the hidden Batcave under Wayne Manor), with Alfred personally helping Bruce create the equipment that is crucial to him as Batman.

* **Batcomputer:** Batman's giant and powerful multi-purpose supercomputer console, located in the Batcave, with several monitor screens..
* **Batwing:** Batman's aerial combat prototype vehicle with an immense amount of firepower, with Alfred notably assisting him in remotely piloting it, from within the Batcave.

## Relationships

### Allies

* Wayne Manor
	+ Thomas Wayne † - former employer and master
	+ Martha Wayne †
* Bruce Wayne/Batman - surrogate son, ward, and master
	+ Damian Wayne/Black Panther
	+ Jason Todd/Robin
	+ Barbara Gordon/Batgirl
	+ Josh Grayson/Nightwing