Alfred Pennyworth use Alfred as a hostage, only to be disabled by a well timed sucker punch from Alfred. Presumably due to his lack of superpowers, the advanced combat training Bruce's other associates have, and Alfred's age, Alfred is the only member of the "Batman Family" that Bruce does not mind using a firearm, in his case favoring a shotgun when dealing with direct attacks on his person. Current issues of the various "Batman" comics seem to indicate that Alfred is a pioneer in and has also mastered several fields of rose breeding (even creating his own, the "Pennyworth Blue"), computer programming,
Alfred Butler in his own right, being appointed Portcullis Pursuivant of Arms in Ordinary in 1926, and promoted to Windsor Herald of Arms in Ordinary in 1931. He was also made the Genealogist of the Order of the Bath in 1930, and Honorary Genealogist of the Royal Victorian Order in 1938. He resigned from both of these offices shortly before his death. He was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists in 1944. Alfred Butler was also a member of the council of the Harleian and British Record Societies, and of the Croft Lyons committee of the Society of Antiquaries,