Alfred Pennyworth
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Real Identity: Alfred "The Major" Pennyworth
Appearances: Hunted, Secrets, Tests, Safe, Broken, Toxic, Family, Allies, Control, Attraction, Fall, Darkness, Reckoning, Animal, Doppelganger, Unique, Hero, Choices, Epitaph, Twist, and Alone
Appearances (Comics): Rough Seas, Law & (Dis)order, The Rule of Three, Tobias Awaits, Son of Man-Bat, Suitable for Framing, and First-Person Shooter
Powers/Skills: Piloting and Armed Combat
Voiced By: J.B. Blanc
Alfred Pennyworth was an agent with the British secret service MI6 in his 30s. When Slade Wilson was loaned to MI6 from the CIA for joint operations, Pennyworth took Wilson on as his protege. It soon became clear Wilson was too reckless, unpredicatble and lacked any empathy. Wilson was soon discharged from the CIA. Wilson blamed Pennyworth and tried to kill him. Wilson failed and went off the grid. Pennyworth became a close friend of his partner, Edogawa Yamashiro, and became goddaughter to his child, Tatsu. Pennyworth, as opposed to others who tried, came closest to finding Ra's Al Ghul but he was captured. Ra's forced Yamashiro into betraying Pennyworth by threatening the lives of his family. Ra's then ordered Yamashiro to take Pennyworth's soul with the Soul Taker Sword. Pennyworth cut through his restraints at the last second and rushed Yamashiro. Pennyworth could feel his soul being drained but at the last second, Yamashiro released his hold and his soul was taken instead. Pennyworth dropped the sword and ran off into the desert with two League ninja in pursuit.
Officially, Yamashiro was reported to have died in a car accident. Pennyworth vowed to look after Yamashiro's wife and daughter but had to keep his distance to avoid recrimination from the League. He soon relocated to Gotham City and worked for the Wayne family. After the death of Thomas and Martha Wayne, Pennyworth promised to watch over Bruce Wayne as his guardian according to the Wayne's will. Since then, Pennyworth constantly tried to teach Bruce Wayne to respect his limits.
Now in his 60s, he is still the Wayne family butler, privy to Bruce Wayne's activities as Batman and has no desire to relive his service in the field. But when needed, his weapon of choice is a pulse rifle. Pennyworth also is helping to train Batman and giving him some of the techniques he learned in the secret service and some of his life experience. Concerned he wouldn't be around forever, Pennyworth sought out someone to carry on his duty. He made an offer to Tatsu Yamashiro but she declined at first. She later agreed to help decrypt Simon Stagg's financials and passed on the intelligence to Pennyworth. Just after she left and he uploaded it to Batman's server, Pennyworth was knocked out by Professor Pyg and Mister Toad. The terrorists mistook him for Bruce Wayne. Upon discovering Wayne watched the entire thing from his cell phone, they kidnapped Pennyworth. After Pyg and Toad released Simon Stagg, Michael Holt, and Pennyworth inside an abandoned oil rig, Pennyworth implored the others to stop running and fight back. They were no match for Toad's sonic croak. In the skirmish, one of Pennyworth's ankles was broken. Batman arrived in time to delay the terrorist duo. Batman injected a tranquilizer into his ankle and equipped him with a weapon. He freed Stagg and Holt from a jail cell and escaped the rig.
In light of the kidnapping, Bruce Wayne admitted he and Batman both needed Pennyworth's help. Pennyworth contended while Batman would recover in days from an injury, he would take months. He introduced Bruce Wayne to his successor, Tatsu Yamashiro. Yamashiro insisted she would only stay until Pennyworth's ankle healed up. Pennyworth hinted nothing is what is seemed and advised her to consider that before making a final decision. After Wayne chewed him out for keeping Yamashiro's relation a secret, Pennyworth invited Wayne to test her. He later discovered she was in possession of the fabled Soul Taker sword but was concerned what the League of Assassins were planning to do to get it back. As part of Batman's plan, Pennyworth infiltrated the Argus Club grounds and supplied Wayne with a Batsuit and distracted Lady Shiva with a rocket propelled grenade. He later welcomed Yamashiro into the fold. Pennyworth became increasingly concerned with the darkness that threatened to swallow Bruce Wayne.
As the pursuit of Dr. Burr came to a head, Pennyworth left the Batcave for the Fallpoint Underground Power Substation. Just as Batman was defeated by Ra's Al Ghul, Pennyworth arrived at the central hub armed with a rocket launcher. He only managed to free Katana before blowing a section of the ceiling to seal them off from the League of Assassins. They returned to Wayne Manor to regroup. As a contingency, they returned to Fallpoint with enough explosives to destroy the Cortex, the League, and themselves. However, they were captured by Lady Shiva. Ra's then revealed Pennyworth was the one who killed Katana's father. Pennyworth tried to explain he had no other choice but she flew into a rage and beat on him. Ra's eventually had them taken to prison cells. Ra's demanded Pennyworth's soul to be taken. Pennyworth told the truth about Edogawa Yamashiro and Katana spared him. After the League of Assassins were defeated, Pennyworth decided to leave Gotham. He cited he had to make things right in another life before he met Bruce Wayne. He promised to be there if Wayne or Batman needed him.
Pennyworth attempted to find Slade Wilson and made amends but had a difficult time tracking him down. He learned Wilson became a mercenary named Deathstroke and repeatedly changed his face to avoid detection. However, Pennyworth's inquiries tarnished Deathstroke's reputation and clients believed he had been compromised. They tried to kill him. He lost his family, his life, the CIA burned him, and now his life as an assassin was in ruin. Deathstroke set his focus on finding Pennyworth and getting his revenge once and for all.
Six months later, Katana became concerned for Batman and called Pennyworth's phone. She left a voicemail message. Almost two months later, after Batman and Katana extracted the Key from Blackgate Penitentiary, he returned to Wayne Manor while Bruce Wayne recovered in bed. Pennyworth implored Wayne to take a break and let Katana watch over Gotham. To his dismay, Wayne took his advice but made friends with Harvey Dent and Dane Lisslow.
Just as Professor Pyg's plan to make an example of Burt Preston and his wife came to fruition, Batman learned there were three jobs going on at once. Pennyworth was sent to the Gotham City Stock Exchange as Alfred Beagle, security consultant, to look into a security breach. After taking the elevator, he sighted two men with Pyg masks and a bomb. Pennyworth easily dispatched them and made his way to Gotham Arms to meet up with Katana and Batman. For the SS Blackfish salvage, Pennyworth manned a canoe and fooled Whale's salvage crew into thinking he was just some old coot. They disregarded orders to shoot interlopers. Pennyworth continued paddling and planted an explosive on the underside of the salvage ship. According to plan, the ship sank and rammed the sunken ship, full of weapons, into the Sub-Atlantic Trench.
After Batman and Katana returned to the Batcave after failing to capture Killer Croc, Pennyworth noted the sewer odor on them and had the suits deionized. He refrained from contacting the Gotham City Police Department on account of Harvey Dent putting pressure on those who aided Batman. Once Batman and Katana were trapped in liquid cement by Croc, Pennyworth searched the subway tunnels for them only to encounter Croc. He was knocked out but came to and freed Batman and Katana. While they rushed to save Oracle, Pennyworth found Detectives Samuel and Thomas and told them he saw an alligator man attack a girl while he waited for his train.
While getting ready in the morning, Pennyworth received a distress call from Batman asking him to get a new tranquilizer gun in the Batcave. Pennyworth suited up, found the gun, and took the Batmobile to 523 Conway Avenue, Batman's last known location. As he arrived, he swerved to avoiding a boy who found Batman's utility belt in a building. Once Pennyworth regained consciousness, he chased the boy to a roof top and heard him "discover" the paint capsule. Pennyworth took the belt and demanded he show where the belt was found. The boy complied. Pennyworth saw a broken window and gaping hole in a door. He went outside and bribed a homeless woman with $100 for information. She only recalled Batman tusseled with a big man and he went down the alley. Pennyworth followed a trail to a pier. He observed a sewer nearby and dove in. Pennyworth found Batman but was attacked by his captor, Killer Croc. As Croc prepared to shoot Pennyworth with the tranquilizer gun, Pennyworth tricked him into studying the gun for the safety mechanism. Batman managed to throw a Batarang at the gun, triggering it. Croc was rendered unconscious. As they left Croc's lair, Pennyworth wondered if Batman was holding him up or the other way around.
When Batman and Katana learned Dane Lisslow was an identity fabricated by Slade Wilson, Pennyworth revealed his connection to Wilson and his attempt to find him during his 8 month journey. Batman concluded Deathstroke wanted to prove he was the superior version of the prodigy who replaced him. Everything Deathstroke had done was part of a grand performance that ends with everything twisted to his satisfaction. Pennyworth faced Deathstroke alone in the Batcave when he stole the Batmobile. Pennyworth was defeated but left alive to watch Deathstroke's plan reach its completion. Pennyworth made it known he chose Bruce Wayne because he saw in Wayne what he never did in Wilson. Empathy and compassion. To Pennyworth, Wayne was the better man than Wilson ever were. In the aftermath, Deathstroke was defeated but he still knew Batman's secret identity. Pennyworth implored Man Bat and Metamorpho to generate an element to erase his mind. Batman initially disagreed but Pennyworth reiterated how these outsiders around them risked their lives to help Batman so he could continue the fight to protect Gotham.