Alfred Pennyworth

Valet

**Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth** is a British butler, security chief and former soldier, intelligence officer and actor. As the butler and former security head to the Wayne Family, Alfred is the legal guardian and surrogate father-figure to Bruce Wayne.

## History

### Background Information

Alfred Pennyworth considered himself to be a rebellious teenager, having run away from his home in London numerous times. He was never close to his father, who was a butler for the Wayne Family overseas.

When Alfred was 18 years old, he joined the British army and had a daughter with a bartender named Sandra Onslow, the daughter of the pub’s owner. However, the bartender, Sid, disapproved of the marriage and encouraged Sandra marry to a man named Ian.

Alfred served in the British Special Air Service (SAS) when he was young, alongside Reginald Payne, Bazza, Spanish, Dave Boy and Curzon, all being in the same regiment.

In one mission, Alfred was dispatched with a unit to negotiate with the Burmese government and bribing them with jewels, but they were constantly ambushed by a bandit who kept stealing the jewels. It wasn't until they found a kid playing with one of the jewels that was stolen from them, a ruby the size of a tangerine, that they discovered that the man had stolen the jewels simply because he wanted to cause chaos. Alfred later reflected that some men looked for nothing but "to watch the world burn". They later caught the person by burning down his forest.

During one of their covert missions, a sandstorm separated the group, allowing two of their members (one being Alfred) to be captured in the process.

### Pennyworth

#### Part 1 - The Landlord’s Daughter

After being discharged and quitting the army following five years service, Alfred founded the Pennyworth Security private security firm in London, in hopes of securing a better future for himself. Initially, Pennyworth worked for clubs.

Arthur, Alfred’s father, heard about Alfred’s company and offered the solution to Thomas Wayne, his employer and a CIA agent who was working a case in London. Thomas Wayne visited Alfred to offer the role, however Alfred declined.

Alfred first met Esme Winikus while working as security of a downtown club in London where Esme was a dancer. Alfred approached Esme and asked if he could take her out the following day, to which she agreed. The relationship between the two grew, leading to Alfred eventually asking Esme to marry him.

After Esme was murdered, Alfred experienced a long grieving period and vowed to find out and hunt down whoever was responsible. Alfred began working close with John Ripper, and further asked Detective Inspector Victor Aziz for help to track him down. When he finally came face-to-face with his former SAS Captain John Curzon, who held a vendetta against Alfred, he showed no emotion when killing him and his assistant, Mrs. Pike; but was unwilling to allow Bet Sykes to torture him (who was also suffering from the grief of losing Esme). In retaliation for the murder of Captain Curzon, Alfred was arrested by Aziz and sentenced to seven years in prison.

With his future at risk following his incarceration, Alfred struck a deal with Aziz to assassinate Harwood and save the government. Alfred took the deal, but became unwilling to follow through with the initial killing of ‘No Name’ agents when he relished they are Martha Arkham and Thomas Wayne. Fearing that he may be arrested for deviating from the deal, Alfred hatched a plan to flee the country for New Orleans.

Fearing that he would lose the election, and realising that the Prime Minister would never let him win, Harwood enlisted the help of Bet and Peggy Sykes, who ambushed the Queen and her men while out deer hunting. They killed two of her men and threatened her at gunpoint, ordering her to drop her weapon. Bet and Peggy forced the Queen to send a message to the government; the message being that she was safe and among friends, but ordered for the immediate resignation of the government and Prime Minister with force authorised if necessary. To replace the Prime Minister, she announced Lord Harwood. Not long later, the Prime Minister received a call from Harwood insisting he resign as they had the Queen, as well as the Duke and Duchess Windermere. Harwood threatened they would face the consequences if they did not cooperate, however the Prime Minister persisted that they would not be bullied. This infuriated Harwood, who was advised by the military counsel that there was no need to shed English blood, and to give him 24 hours to decide.

Pennyworth was at the docks ready to leave for New Orleans, a journey which would take two weeks. When they attempted to leave, however, they were approached by police who told them that all passage to and from the country was no longer allowed. Alfred, Bazza and Dave Boy were subsequently able to escape in a police vehicle with armed officers chasing them. Alfred, Dave Boy and Bazza knock on the door of Martha Arkham, looking for a way out of the country. He admitted that he was the sniper and missed purposely, but now they owed him one and the favour is safe passage out of the country. However, Alfred began to have second thoughts when Thomas revealed that the Queen has been kidnapped. Alfred thought that if he saved the Queen, then he’d be free to stay in the country with his parents and wouldn’t have to flee to the US.

The group subsequently arrived at Peggy Syke’s house to find Bet with a knife to the Queen’s throat, where Alfred managed to save the Queen while the gang incapacitated the captors. Harwood was subsequently placed in a maximum security prison.

#### Part 2 - The Heavy Crown

A while later, Alfred reunited with his old SAS Captain, Gulliver Troy, at Bazza’s funeral. Alfred agreed to join Troy's crew of Banjo, Monty, and Rita for whatever job they had coming next. The first job was to steal gold from the mayor of London, which involved Troy and his crew attacking the mayor's carriage in the middle of the road. While the gold didn’t appear to be onboard, Alfred brutally beat the mayor until he told them where it was hidden.

In the aftermath of the heist, Alfred purchased the nightclub The Delaney; where Alfred, Dave Boy and Troy's crew celebrated their success, and agreed to participate in Troy's next heist.

For following heist, the crew planned to steal money from a safe at the back during a wrestling match. Three of the crew went through to the back to take the money and drill the safe. However, the match didn't play out as normal, and the crew were still blowing it after the match was over. The other two tried to block the door, but it didn’t work, prompting them to shoot at the crowd. Confronted by one of the lady wrestlers, Alfred didn't want to shoot her, but Banjo, who had taken off his mask, did.

In the aftermath, all 6 of the crew sat with the money in the Delaney, with Alfred angry at the murder and the stupidity of himself, the crew and Banjo. The tragic robbery makes the news, while a self-loathing Alfred embarks on a dangerous path when he ends up sleeping with Troy's wife, Melanie.

Armed troops later stormed into Alfred's club, along with Aziz, who sat Alfred down to talk about a job. Aziz offered to pay him in silence, concerning sleeping with another man's wife whom it is rumor of him be with. Not wanting it to get back to Gulliver Troy, Alfred called Melanie Troy to warn her and to test if he knew, which he didn’t.

Alfred and Dave Boy joined Martha Arkham at a small diner where the Raven Union (formerly led by Harwood) took captured CIA agent and scientist Lucius Fox for burgers. Waiting for the opportune moment to avoid bloodshed, the team eventually had no choice but to open fire however they were successful in getting Lucius Fox into the back seat of the getaway car, where Alfred was driving.

Fearing the government would continue to blackmail him and now having the money for the payoffs and tickets to leave for America, Alfred visited Thomas Wayne where, with the CIA's help, he promised to get him, his mother and Dave Boy on a plane. Wayne tried to talk Alfred into doing 1 more job, but he initially declined.

Alfred stood with Dave boy, Mary and Mrs. Troy, along with Thomas Wayne and Lucius Fox, waiting expectantly for a plane plane; until a feeling stopped him. Mrs Pennyworth didn’t want to leave England, and Alfred didn’t feel right leaving England with a bunch of blood money. At that moment, Alfred came to the realization he was ready to stand for something. Upon the plane’s arrival, Alfred sent Mrs. Troy off to get onto the plane and fly out of England, while the others stayed.

### Post-Pennyworth

#### Dog Soliders

Tired of waiting for his old SAS Captain to find him, Alfred went to Troy's house directly, where Alfred fell into a trap. Cornered by the last two members of Troy's crew of thieves Monty, and Rita; in order to get even, Troy took Alfred into the woods. After Troy stabbed Alfred in the chest, he gave Alfred a knife and a five-minute head start, after which he started hunting for him. Despite begging his old friend, with no other option, Alfred started running through the forest believing he didn’t stand a chance.

Troy eventually caught up to Alfred, now bleeding out heavily. Alfred, in turn, caught him off guard, when the two end up in a knife fight. Alfred finally put an end to the battle by springing a trap he’d built during the head start Troy gave him. While Troy expected his opponent to finish him off, Alfred decided to spare his life, and left him in the forest. Troy left instruction for Monty, if Alfred were to win and come back to the vehicle alive. Even if he lost, he could still win. Alfred was bleeding out, too weak to fight. Dave Boy and Mary then tracked Alfred down and saved him.

#### The Lion And The Unicorn

Considering his history with military intelligence and medical training, Alfred subsequently became a member of British Intelligence, MI6. Alfred eventually began to work as a clerk at the British intelligence, where one of his projects was Project Excalibur, a missile defense program of which he had half of the launch codes.

After leaving intelligence work, Alfred began a stage-acting career, where he quickly rose in prominence and performed at the Globe Theatre. However, during his time here he received the news of his father's death under suspicious circumstances and dutifully accepted his father's vacant position in Gotham City, becoming a domestic servant (and security head) for Thomas and Martha Wayne.

## Chronology

* 1966 - Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth is born in the district of Whitechapel, London, to Arthur and Mary Pennyworth.
* 1982 - Alfred joins the SAS.
* 1987 - Alfred returns home, becoming engaged to dancer Esme Winikus. Esme is murdered and Alfred avenges her death, eventually co-operating with the government and saving the Queen.
* 1988 - Alfred becomes a criminal, however he eventually changes his ways and begins training to become a member of British Intelligence. Thomas Wayne and Martha Arkham cut ties with the CIA, move back to America and get married.
* 1989 - Alfred becomes an MI6 agent.
* 1992 - Alfred begins working as a clerk for British Intelligence.
* 1995 - Alfred begins working as an actor.
* 1997 - Alfred moves to America and begins working for Thomas and Martha Wayne. After Thomas and Martha are killed, Alfred becomes surrogate father to their son, Bruce.
* 2003 - Alfred begins training Bruce to fight and gets him a therapist.
* 2005-2006 - Alfred encourages Bruce’s nighttime justice crusades.
* 2008 - Bruce leaves Gotham to find his place in the world.
* 2016 - Bruce returns to Gotham, Alfred reluctantly assists in creating and maintaining the Batman persona.
* 2023 - Alfred begins to reconnect with his niece, Barbara.