Behind the caped crusader is everyone’s real favorite character. Alfred Pennyworth is the sarcastic Englishman who raised Bruce and stays by the billionaire vigilante through some serious Batman drama. He’s an incredibly loyal character who added some humor (and reality checks) to Gotham’s team of crimefighters. Taking a look back at some of the best Alfred moments throughout the Batman universe reminds us why he is so much more than a butler.
10. He Gifted Bruce Ace (Best Alfred Moments)
In the most recent rendition of Ace, Alfred goes to the pound to retrieve an “untamable” German Shepard mix that got abandoned after one of Joker’s schemes.
He painstakingly trains the dog, ultimately making him the perfect, obedient companion. At the end of the story, it’s revealed he trained the dog to gift it to Bruce for Christmas – not that Bruce has enough emotional awareness to figure it out.
Much more to come in the best Alfred moments…
9. Kills
No killing is the golden rule of the Batfamily. Alfred is not afraid to cross the line when he has to in some iterations. He’s often given the background of formal military training and is not afraid to pull out a gun when he needs to. In his most brutal fight in Batman Eternal, he actually kills a vampire.
8. He Came Out as Batman
In Batman: The Animated Series, Alfred is arguably the best version of the butler in existence. Throughout both the animated series and the matching comic book, Alfred is sassy and has a punchline for every situation.
He’s a great comic relief for the usually dark and depressing superhero. While he doesn’t seem to agree with Bruce’s decision of running around and fighting crime in a bat suit, that never stops him from rushing in to help defend Bruce.
Despite the protests of Robin and Batman, Batgirl gets tangled in the complicated crimes of Gotham. What the dynamic duo don’t know from the beginning is that Batgirl is Barbara Gordon. When Bruce decides to bring her down into the Batcave, she is in a lot of shock.
Alfred enters with a mock shock, saying he guess she found out the secret – he is Batman. It’s a hilarious moment that perfectly captures him as a character, whether or not he actually intended for it to be anything more than a sly remark.
7. He Saved Jason
Jason Todd is the black sheep of the Batfamily – for some good reason. The former Robin has been through a lot – resurrection from death, redemption as a “villain,” and a complicated relationship with everyone around him.
He has the most stereotypical rebellious teen relationship with Batman. Despite constantly feeling as if he doesn’t belong, Alfred goes above and beyond to remind him that he is loved by them. When the Red Hood is in distress, Alfred swoops in with the Batmobile to save him.
When Jason makes a typical comment about how Bruce must be too busy to save him himself, Alfred pipes in that he was busy and “that’s why you can always count on family. “
6. He Quit (Best Alfred Moments)
Alfred has to deal with a lot of stuff that isn’t exactly in his job description. While it’s insinuated he makes some decent money off of his employment with the Wayne family, we all know that he stays around for Bruce rather than the pension. There is one moment that shakes everyone to their core, both in the cinematic universe and in the comic books.
There is a point where Alfred quits because he doesn’t want to see Bruce kill himself! Luckily, this doesn’t last for long as Alfred is too devoted to the family (and the family really relies on him). In the comics, Dick rushes out to bring him back home from the U.K.
5. When He Replayed Damian’s Final Moments
Alfred cares deeply about all members of the Batfamily. Unfortunately, his position makes it a little difficult for him to make himself vulnerable at times. While he is expressive, he prioritizes comforting others first, even when he is clearly hurt by certain events.
This was seen after Bruce’s “death” when he continues to serve to the Justice League members despite their insistence, he should take a break.
Damian’s death hit the Batfamily pretty hard. Arguably, Alfred was one of the most hurt as he was the one who let Damian go out in the first place. After bringing in Dick to encourage Bruce to stop replaying simulations of his son’s death in an unhealthy obsession to see how things could have been different, readers were surprised to see he, too, was using the simulator to cope.
He relived the moments right before Damian left and broke down with Bruce actually stepping in and apologizing for not realizing how hard this was for him.
4. When He Used Dick’s Middle Name
Nothing stirs up more discomfort and flashbacks to punishment, quite like a parent using your middle name. As people often joke that Alfred is the “mom” of the Batfamily, is it is no surprise that he pulls out this age-old trick every once in a while.
After Nightwing hits a rough spot in the Dixon run, he starts pushing himself to a dangerous limit, leaving him in need of medical care quite a lot. In one particular instance, Alfred steps in and fixes Dick up, monitoring him and even crying upon him waking up.
When Dick tries to push past him and get back to work, Alfred insists he needs to rest, which is pretty understandable, beings he nearly died. When Dick continues to push through to try to go and help Bruce, Alfred shouts out in the most mom-like manner, “RICHARD JOHN GRAYSON, GET BACK INTO THIS BED THIS INSTANT!”
3. He Beat Up Superman
Injustice: God’s Among Us is a popular series that puts a lot of characters under a lot of pressure. After he gets tricked into murdering a pregnant Lois Lane, Clark Kent sets out to deal with crime in a new way. As Superman rose to power, Batman openly opposed his friend’s methods. In this version, Batman vs. Superman leaves Bruce Wayne brutally beaten.
Alfred doesn’t stand by the Kryptonian’s brutality and takes a nanotech pill so that he can go head to head with Superman. He absolutely wrecks Superman in hand-to-hand combat whilst shouting, “You don’t get to hurt my family anymore!” After he lives a badly beaten Clark Kent to wallow in pain, he naturally rushes back to help Bruce.
2. He Tells Off Bruce
One of the more controversial aspects of the Batfamily is the increasing number of children that get roped into Batman’s adventures. Since Dick Grayson’s debut into the series in the 1940s, there have been many different versions about the nature of their recruitment and the attitude other supporting characters have about it.
In most iterations, Alfred is more than skeptical about sending children out to fight crime (much like he is critical of Bruce’s whole bat-getup). This doesn’t stop the butler from staying involved and often stepping in for the main parental figure as Bruce often lacks in his emotional capacity.
While he is happy to take on this role, he often steps in to let Bruce know what he lacks in his parental duties – on behalf of nearly all Batfamily kids and teens at one point or another.
One particular event written in time and time again is when he offered some helpful advice after Dick Grayson was initially taken in. Following the murder of his parents and subsequent move into the Wayne household, Dick is depicted having a rough transition from the circus to the manor. Alfred tells Bruce off, letting him know that the child needs a parental figure more than Batman.
This is just one of many instances demonstrating Alfred’s crucial role in facilitating the relationships between all members of the Batfamily.
1. His Entire Role in Joker War (Best Alfred Moments)
As anyone who is up-to-date with canon Gotham knows, Alfred was unfortunately murdered a while back. Although he died at the hands of Bane years ago now, his funeral was not the last readers saw of Alfred Pennyworth.
The middle to end of the rebirth era was pretty rough for Batman fans. In addition to the whole “Ric Grayson” thing, Alfred’s death had severe consequences on the entire Gotham universe.
Bruce and Damian Wayne were arguably the most affected (leading to horrible character assassination of the recent Robin and his complete absence in the Joker War arc). Luckily, Alfred made a surprise appearance that led fans to speculate he was alive all along.
Although he never did come back to life (yet), Bruce’s hallucinations of Alfred were a much welcome surprise that helped Batman defy death and put an end to the Joker.
He gives Bruce a much-needed wake-up call that essentially helps set the scene for Batman’s new era. As Bruce is moping, he slaps him out of it and tells him that “You are Batman!”
Bruce needs to face the losses he experienced and continue to do what he does. While we can still hold hope that Alfred will face a miraculous recovery in the Infinite Frontier era, we can rest assured knowing he did have a great run.
Alfred has been around for a while and played some significant roles for many characters throughout the DC Universe. Do you think we missed any notable moments or added some that didn’t do Alfred Justice? Let us know your favorite Alfred moments in the comments below!
