Depending on your age, you may remember Batman the comic book, or Batman and Robin the TV show, or Batman & Robin, the 1997 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Gough, or The Dark Knight Rises, the 2012 film starring Christian Bale and Michael Cain. But no matter where you encounter this superhero, you'll also find Alfred Pennyworth—Bruce Wayne's loyal and tireless butler, valet, friend, and father figure.

While Batman is fighting dastardly enemies, he knows that back at Wayne Manor resides someone who's taking care of everything else, someone he can trust to keep all his secrets, who cares about him as much as any father, and who—through his quiet service—makes it possible for Batman to do what he does.

Resourceful and calm, Alfred may not be the one having the exciting adventures, but he is a vital part of Wayne's life, with skills as varied as maintaining the bat-mobile, building the bat-computer, and keeping the Caped Crusader's costume in pristine condition. Alfred also provides first aid, including removing bullets, so Batman doesn't have to go to the hospital when he's injured.

Depending on which Batman version you follow, Alfred has also mastered rose breeding (even creating his own, the "Pennyworth Blue"), computer programming, computer engineering, electrical engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, nanotechnology, and biotechnology, as he singlehandedly builds programs and maintains much of Batman's next-generational technology.