Pre-Crisis Alfred's

Golden Age

During the Golden Age, Alfred was this bumbling,

fat , amateur detective. He always tries to help Batman but ends up doing something stupid or messing up the case. However, in the 1943 Batman serial William Austin played Alfred as a thin man, with a mustache and spoke in a dignified English accent. So the writer's wrote a story where they sent Alfred to a health spa where he lost his weight and grew a mustache. Alfred's origin was also in a jumble or mix up, and as Denny O'Neil once stated "continuity wasn't a problem those days, the Batman I did and the one Julius Schwartz were very different" (this was after the golden age). Alfred had two origins: One was that he raised Bruce Wayne since his parents were murdered and the second was that he came into Bruce Wayne's life after Bruce had adopted Dick. Alfred lived with the Wayne's for months without knowing they were Batman and Robin. One night, Alfred heard a screaming coming from the old Grand father, he opened and discovered the entrance to the Batcave and Dick Grayson as Robin with an injured and unmasked Batman. Dick was yelling for Alfred and he helped Batman back to his full strength (The latter one was used during the Silver Age with the addition of him being an actor and fought in World War 2)

Silver Age

Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams was offered the chance to write Batman and clean him up and in a way bring him back from the dead. O'Neil read up on the old Batman stories and wrote Batman in stories that made him a detective, a brooding and emotionally cracked Batman who hung in the shadows and patrols the streets for crime rather than wait for the Bat signal. They also had Dick move to college. Batman also moved to his pent house at Wayne Foundation and created a new Bat cave underneath the building.

They also tried to remove Batman from being thought to be a homosexual. To do this, they killed off Alfred. How? Batman and Robin were on a mountain when a huge boulder was pushed off to kill them. Alfred push Batman and Robin out of the way and he himself got crushed. Dick Grayson's Aunt Harriet was used as Alfred's replacement (she first appeared in the Batman tv show). Alfred was later resurrected by a scientist named Dr.Brandon Crawford, Crawford used a regeneration machine and brought Alfred back. However, Alfred's physical appearance changed into a pasty skinned, rock patterned being with a desire to kill Batman and Robin. He now called himself the Outsider and used his telekinetic powers on Zatanna,the Grasshopper Gang and the Batmobile to attack Batman. Batman and the Outsider would later meet and they would fight. Batman discovered it was Alfred and during their fight, the Outsider got pushed into the same regeneration machine and returned to normal as Alfred. Alfred did not remember any of his time as Outsider. He then returned to the Wayne Household as their butler again.

Post Crisis

Post-Crisis Alfred

Upon arriving at the Manor, Thomas Wayne greeted him and as Alfred introduce himself, it is obvious that young Bruce was admiring him. Bruce offered to carry his suit cases but they were too heavy for him.

Alfred:(smiles)It seems that young Master Bruce,

Bruce: (trying to lift the bags) the first

Some time later, Alfred helps young Bruce after a bully starts bullying him and teaches Bruce to think with his head rather than fists. Alfred was thinking about leaving when Bruce asked him not to go, when the Wayne's were murdered Alfred decided to stay. Alfred raises young Bruce Wayne together with Dr. Leslie Tompkins. Later, Bruce decided to travel abroad and Alfred stayed at Wayne Manor and gets into a little romance with Dr.Leslie Tompkins.

One night, when Bruce Wayne goes out on his first night, Alfred is fast asleep. He hears a sound and wakes up to follow a trail of blood. He hears the sound of shattering glass and the bell ringing. Bruce was in his chair bleeding and a bat has crashed through the window. Alfred nurses Bruce's wounds. In a story titled 'Waiting in the Wings' Alfred informs Bruce that he will be leaving the Wayne Manor. One night, before Alfred leaves, some of Bruce's friends come to visit him. However, Bruce is already out as Batman. Bruce's friends watch a tv news report, a street gang kidnaps the son of their rival they gather on the roof top with explosives. The roof top is that of the old theater where Bruce saw the Mark Of Zorro before his parents were murdered. Batman battles the crooks while his friends gasp at some of the injuries Batman suffers and Alfred tries to stay in character. Batman saves the boy and hands him over to the police. He says to them :Take care of the boy. Bruce's friends thought it sounded like Bruce but Alfred says that Bruce's voice is half an octave lower. A phone rings and Bruce's friends answer it, it was Bruce who says he can't come because of bad traffic. The guests leave and Alfred faces a critically injured Batman.

The next morning, Alfred calls some of Bruce's friends and speaks in Bruce's voice and tells them he has to go out of town for a while. Alfred tells Bruce that he sent off Bruce's guests last night by mimicking his voice on the telephone. Bruce tells him: Alfred, as your father was to my father, you will never be just a butler.". Alfred walks out of the room with Batsuit and his shadow forming the Bat logo.

Knightfall and Knight Quest

A new masked criminal named Bane frees all of Arkham Asylum in hope of weakening Batman. When Batman was finally weakened Bane broke into the Wayne Manor (he has discovered Batman's secret identity) and fought with physically and spiritually weakened Batman. Alfred picked up a gun and tried to shoot Bane. The fight between Bane and Batman took them to the Bat cave where Bane delivered the killing blow, breaking Batman's spine.

Alfred then faced the biggest challenge of his career. The sheer amount of bullet holes, broken bones and knife wounds was too much even for him. Batman lay near the brink of death and Alfred desperately calls Dr. Shondra Kinsolving who uses her healing powers to repair some of Bruce's injuries. Alfred spent tiring and sleepless nights to take care of Bruce. Bruce then gives the mantle of Batman to Azrael. One night, while Azrael was out as Batman with Tim, Bruce decided to tell Shondra that he is Batman. He learns from her assistant that she was in Jack Drake's house (who was paralyzed too). Alfred was asleep and Bruce did not want to wake him. Bruce wheeled over in his wheelchair to the Drakes house (it was next door). He spotted an armed guard and attacked him with a tree bark. Already tired he went over to the house to see both Shondra and Jack Drake being kidnapped.

Bruce did his best and attacked the kidnappers (is that guy tough or what?). Bruce attacks one of them and breaks his nose, but the guy attacks back and Bruce is lying helpless on the ground as the kidnappers escape. Alfred comes in time to help Bruce.

Bruce: memorize...license plate..oh what's the use I've failed Jason, Barbra, Gotham, I've failed them all. (lies his head down on the ground. Alfred coming for him.)

Bruce later goes out to find Shondra. He travels to Santa Prisca with Alfred. While there Bruce talks about his failure and not being strong enough. Alfred tells Bruce that he had done something far more expected from a normal man. Bruce says that the pep talk is unnecessary.

After discovering that Bane was not responsible for the kidnapping. Bruce concluded that Shondra may have been the primary target and not Jack Drake. Bruce checks on Shondra's past and finds out about a man named Benedict Asp. Asp's past was a mystery and his files were closed by the order of M.I.5 the Secret Service.

In London, The vigilante named The Hood captures a gang bringing in cigarettes illegally. He then shines his signal into the air and suddenly a bat signal lights up next to it. The Hood follows it and meets with Batman. Batman asks for his help, and is willing to pay. The Hood says that he doesn't work for money. Batman tells him it's not money, rather the location and arrival of a drug shipment. The Hood asks whether he really is Batman (You could be anyone under that mask). Batman challenges him to a fight and Alfred who is hiding sighs. Hood tells him it's alright and that he can sense something in Batman's voice. Batman tells him to break into the headquarters of M.I.5 and steal the files regarding Benedict Asp. Hood agrees and swings away. Batman almost fall to the ground since he was strapped to a flag pole the entire time and was burning with pain even then. He then changes into a civilian clothes and leave to the hotel with Alfred.

Meanwhile, Shondra is being held in a dungeon by Benedict Asp along with Jack Drake. Asp brings with him Colonel Vega and his assistant. Asp needs Shondra for an experiment he is conducting and when she denies; Asp punches and tortures Drake who was still paralyzed. Shondra reluctantly agrees , she tells Asp that he used to abhor violence. Asp tells her he still does.

The Hood breaks into the M.I.5 headquarters and steals the files regarding Asp. Meanwhile, Bruce is exercising in order to heal quickly, he then rests on his bed and thinks about a the women he has met, Catwoman, Talia and Poison Ivyand how something keeps distancing them from him like Talia torn between her father and him. Bruce thinks that Shondra may be the perfect one for him.

The Hood arrives and meets Batman in an alley. He hands over the papers and Batman silently takes them. The Hood gets suspicious and yanks off Batman's mask only to find an old man underneath (Alfred!). Alfred then uses his theatric skills to convince the Hood that he is a poor man who was told by the 'big mister' to give him this. Hood lets him go and takes the envelope containing the location of the drug shipment. Alfred then smiles and is thankful that he was a former actor and questions about why he ever left it.

Asp then conducts his experiments, Colonel Vega's assistant then cut his hand with a dagger. Asp talks about how they used to work together with him being the amplifier increasing Shondra's abilities. He tells her that he wants to find out what they really do together. Shondra with Asp using his psychic's to increase her power , heals the assistants hand. Meanwhile, in another room Colonel Vega gets some readings on his instruments, he then takes the exact frequency of Shondra's power and reverses it and releases it upon a lab rat and it instantly dies. Asp then begins feeding drugs to Shondra to amplify her powers.

Alfred reads to Bruce the files but it leads to nowhere. Alfred then takes the newspaper and finds out that Asp is holding an Annual Hunting Ball. Bruce and Alfred go there in disguise. Asp uses his psychic powers and Shondra's abilities to kill an entire English village. This traumatized Shondra and she went into a psychic battle with Asp. The energy released during the fight heals Bruce's back and he defeats Asp. However, Shondra's mind then regressed back to childhood. Bruce had no choice other than to put her in a mental hospital and Bruce prepares to leave England when Alfred informs him that he will be staying in England.

No Man's Land

Gotham becomes devastated by an earthquake which completely levels the city. The Wayne Manor was completely destroyed and it's debris fell into the Batcave, utterly destroying it. Batman worked hard both as Bruce Wayne and Batman to help his broken city.

Batman & Son

At the beginning of this arc, Alfred worries that cleaning up Gotham is making Batman lose the Bruce Wayne side to his personality. Eventually, both Robin and Alfred convince Bruce to go out on a vacation. They visit the London Pop Art Museum where Bruce learns that Talia had obtained the Man Bat formula and unleashed an army of Man Bat's to kidnap the British Prime Minister's wife. Batman is eventually defeated and discovers that he has a son named Damian Wayne. Bruce brings him to the Batcave. At first Damian is not interested and his impetuousness made him locked in the Manor.

Damian also wanted to fight crime as his father but was angry that he took away his sword and didn't get a laptop. When Batman left to battle Spook, Damian put on a cloak and beheaded the Spook. He showed this to Tim and when Tim tried to talk some sense into Damian, he punched him off the giant T-Rex robot. Batman eventually came back with Damian and found Alfred tied and Robin seriously injured. Alfred operated on Tim and left him in his bed.

Batman went with Damian to confront his mother who kidnapped the British Prime Minister's wife so that she could gain a Garrison at Gibraltar. The issue ends with the ship they were on exploding and Batman finding only Damian's cloak. Damian and Talia had escaped.

Alfred of the Future....?

In Batman #666 where Damien becomes the new Batman after his father is dead, he keeps a cat named Alfred in his penthouse/new Batcave. Like the old Batman Damian speaks to the cat and talks about his cases to this version of Alfred.

Personality

Alfred can be described as Batman's moral compass. He often patches Bruce when he is severely injured. Alfred is most famous for his dry wit and often advising Batman on his personal matters. Alfred's advice has helped Batman out more than once, in an issue of Detective Comics, Alfred figured out a way to defeat a more powerful Doctor Phosphorus : baking soda, which Batman used to defeat Phosphorus. Alfred has also helped other members of the Batman Family during their times of Crisis. He is also the only member of the Batman Family that is allowed to own a firearm.

Skills and Powers

Alfred is a tough butler.

You don't get to be Batman's butler/getaway driver/waiter/counselor without expecting him coming home with injuries. Alfred was a former military surgeon and knows his stuff. Through the years Alfred has repaired Bruce's most serious injuries from broken bones to fractured limbs. However, after Batman's back was broken by Bane, Alfred couldn't help due to the severity of Batman's injuries. Alfred's skills have also extended to helping other members of the Batman Family and other random, injured superheroes like Static Shock (from the Static Shock ep:Hard As Nails).

Fighting skills

Alfred is a skilled fighter and still retains those abilities. In The New Adventures of Batman comic book, it is said that Alfred has been kidnapped 27 times and in that issue Alfred was kidnapped but escaped and defeats his kidnappers without getting a dirt or anything on his suit.

All Star Alfred & Elseworld

In All Star Batman and Robin #4, written by Frank Miller and drawn by Jim Lee, Batman kidnaps a young Dick Grayson after his parents were murdered and verbally abuses him to toughen him up. Alfred was seen in the first issue and has a habit of calling Vicki Vale or any other woman 'Love'. Later, Vicki Vale suffers a car accident while chasing Batman and the police officers who had kidnapped a young Dick Grayson. Alfred patches her up and sends her to a hospital while shirtless himself. Later, he is back in the Batcave, Bruce had denied Dick any food or warm clothes. Bruce tells Dick to eat the rats which live in the cave as he himself had done. Alfred disobeys the orders and provides Dick with one of Bruce Wayne's pajama's and gives him a cheese burger. Batman argues with Alfred and leaves him saying that the brat is going to ruin everything.

Later, Alfred helps Dick design a new costume, one based on Robin Hood. Dick at first wants to call himself the 'Hood'. Batman disagrees and says that he is Robin. Alfred then redesigns the suit to the classic Robin costume.

(All Star Batman along with The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Holy Terror Batman and Batman Year One is now part of the Multiverse designated as Earth 32, 'The Dark Knight Universe'.)

Elseworlds

Batman vs Lobo- In this world Alfred is a bit more bulkier. He helps Batman out in a robotic Batman suit by attempting to stall Lobo long enough for Batman. But soon he is overcome by Lobo and in attempts to save himself he is killed.

Live Action and Animated Alfred's

1943 Batman serial

In this series William Austin got the honor of being the first actor to portray Alfred. As mentioned above; Austin didn't look anything like the comic's Alfred. He had a mustache, thin, tall and played the character as a dignified British butler and not a bumbling Detective. This merited a change in the comics and to this day Alfred is portrayed as such. The serial also introduced the 'Bat's cave' (as it was called then) which was later incorporated into the comic books as the 'Batcave'.

1949 Batman and Robin serial

In this series, Alfred is much older than his previous incarnation. In this second serial Alfred is played by Eric Wilton and the plot of the serial is about a hooded man called the Wizard whose henchmen steals a machine that can control any vehicle the operator desires. The Wizard uses the machine to steal an explosive called X-90. Batman and Robin tracks down the Wizard and discovers that he is the twin brother of Professor Hamill (the creator of the machine). Batman and Robin captures the Wizard and turn him over to the authorities. This serial also introduced Commissioner James Gordon and the Bat signal.

Batman TV Series

In this hilarious Batman series, Alfred is played by Alan Napier. In this version Alfred is the Wayne's butler as in the comics. In one episode Alfred claims that he never forgets anything.

Batman the Animated Series

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (BTAS-Present). Alfred acts as a father figure to Batman and would gladly give his life to protect him. Alfred has also been there for Batman when he needed him even when Bruce was in his diapers. Furthermore' in this series Alfred is a former agent of the British Intelligent Agency.

Batman Recent Films

In the most recent Batman Films (Batman Begins and The Dark Knight), Alfred is played by Micheal Caine. Alfred acts as both a Butler and a Sidekick, but at the same time often gives very useful advice to Bruce (often brought forward by Bruce's occasional hot headedness and rash decisions). In these films he mentions, once or twice, his youth adventures. All of which could be consider Military, so Alfred may have British army Medic history in the Films too. 

The Batman

The Batman's Alfred

In 'The Batman vs Dracula' animated movie, Penguin accidentally resurrects Dracula (accidentally cut himself and a blood drop fell on Dracula's corpse) while searching for a hidden stash of money. Dracula believes that his relocation to Gotham was by his enemies who took him there after they stabbed him a piece of wood. Dracula then begins his work feeding on the blood of Gotham's citizens. Batman was unwilling to kill the infected Gothamites but worked with Alfred to find a cure for this 'disease'. Dracula comes to Bruce's party disguised as a man named Alucard (Dracula spelled backwards). Dracula then sets his eyes on Bruce's new girl friend Vicki Vale. He wants to use her life force to resurrect his love Carmilla Karnstine. Dracula then feeds off the blood of a waiter and Alfred sees that the vampire waiter didn't have a reflection. Alfred tells this to Bruce who puts two and two together and writes the name Alucard on a tray

Solving the mystery

body with a kick. Alfred then says he is going to get the cleaning supplies.

In one episode called 'A Dark Knight to Remember', Bruce Wayne loses all memory of being Batman during a fight with Penguin. Alfred had to teach Bruce how to become the Dark Knight again. Alfred is shown to even throw a Batarangas good as Bruce Wayne (at least when he had his memory).

In another episode called 'The Icy Depths' Alfred's friend Ewan Fripp seeks his help in finding a ;lost treasure beneath Gotham Harbour. Unfortunately, Mr. Freeze and Penguin also wants the treasure. This leads to a race to see who gets to the treasure. As the hunt goes Alfred eventually realizes that Ewan Fripp doesn't really intend to find the treasure for

'historical purposes' like he claimed but all for himself. The treasure, unfortunately, gets scattered across Gotham during a fight between Batman, Mr. Freeze and Penguin.

In season 4 finale, an alien race called The 'Joining' begins it's invasion of earth. It takes over the Wayne Enterprise building and sends it's robots around the world causing havok and destruction. In light of this Batman decides to face the aliens alone, denying any help from his partners Robin and Bat-girl even from Lucius Fox and the Martian Manhunter. Batman finds that the way to defeat the Joining was to take over their tower and shut them off through the main console. The Martian Manhunter invisibly enters the Batmobile and tells Batman to trust his partners more. Lucius and Alfred talk about the old days when Bruce was young and they decide to help anyway. Robin and Batgirl also infiltrate the tower on their own. They save Batman from some robots. They work together and managed to stop the invasion. Later, The Martian Manhunter invites Batman to the new Justice League.

Alfred had minor roles in season 5 but most of them came with some good lines. In 'The End of the Batman', Wrath and Scorn (two polar opposites of Batman and Robin) deduces each other's secret identity. Wrath invades the Bat-cave in order to destroy Batman. He ambushes Alfred as he was about to enter the Bat-cave. The major fight takes place and Batman rescues Alfred who is slightly unconscious. The Wrath proceeds to destroy the Bat-cave by throwing explosives and destroying the Bat-computers and crime labs. Robin defeats Scorn and Batman eventually takes out Wrath. As Batman takes him to the police van, the Wrath promises to tell everyone Batman's secret identity. Batman however, doesn't let him go and hands him over to the police. As Wrath and Scorn enter the police van, one of the escorting officers is revealed to be the Joker who shoots them with a more powerful version of his Joker Venom that will 'break their minds'.

Trivia

Alfred has often professed that he is no mere Butler, in fact he sometimes seems quite angry or undignified at the term. He is actually Bruce Waynes personal Valet: a person with much more responsibility and power than a Butler. A Valet traditionally is a male equivalent of a noblewoman's maid and is responsible for the persons life, finances, travel arrangements and well being. It is not really a position of servitude but more so a position of trust, it is actually a job with great power and responsibility. It is also a second name for the Jack in a set of playing cards, which might be a symbolic image of his importance to the King (Bruce) in the relationship and powers, Alfred has always acted as a powerful and trusted card in Batman's metaphorical deck.