Pop Culture References in Wizard101: Empyrea – Airfred

Airfred – Alfred Pennyworth
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/Creature:Airfred
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Pennyworth

Thank you Ashley D. for your help with this one.

Airfred is an Aerobot. The Bat uses them for security. Airfred is the last line of defense before you enter the Bat Tower.

“Halt! You do not have permission to enter Master Bat’s Tower. Prepare to be swept aside.” – Airfred

Monstrology Tome Description:
Loyal servant to the Bat. It shines his essence extractors, refuels his gliders and takes out the trash.

Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, originally Alfred Beagle and commonly known simply as Alfred, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, most commonly in association with the superhero Batman.

Alfred is depicted as Batman’s meticulous, disciplined, loyal and tireless confidante, butler, legal guardian, best friend, aide-de-camp, and surrogate father figure following the murders of his parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne. As a British noble who is a classically trained butler, whose skills extend far beyond mere housekeeping, Alfred is uniquely suited to support the lives of masked crime fighters. A former British intelligence officer, field medic and retired Shakespearean actor operative of honor and ethics with connections within the intelligence community, he has been called “Batman’s batman”. He serves as Bruce’s moral anchor while providing comic relief with his sardonic and cynical attitude; as an amnesiac, he has also served as the super-villainous Outsider. A vital part of the Batman mythos, Alfred was nominated for the Wizard Fan Award for Favorite Supporting Male Character in 1994. Bane killed Alfred in 2019 during the City of Bane storyline, and he remains dead in the primary continuity of the DC Universe as of 2025.

In non-comics media, the character has been portrayed in live-action and voiced by actors William Austin, Eric Wilton, Michael Gough, Michael Caine, Jeremy Irons, Douglas Hodge, and Andy Serkis on film, and by Alan Napier, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Ian Abercrombie, David McCallum, and Sean Pertwee on television, among others. Ralph Fiennes provided the voice of Alfred in the animated Lego Movie franchise, and Martin Jarvis voiced the character in the Batman: Arkham video game series. A young version of Pertwee’s Alfred, played by Jack Bannon, is depicted before he became the butler to the Wayne family in the television series Pennyworth.

The character first appeared in Batman #16 (April-May 1943), by writer Don Cameron and artist Bob Kane. Evidence suggests that Alfred was created by the writers of the 1943 Batman serial—Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker, and Harry Fraser—and that DC Comics asked Don Cameron to write the first Alfred story, which was published prior to the serial’s release.

The current list of all the (known) Empyrea references can be found here.

Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.

Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages

Airfred image is from Wizard101, and copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment.

Alfred and Batman comic panel is borrowed from Wikipedia and is copyright DC Comics.

The Alfred montage is the work of @flashcolecciones. It is borrowed from the Reddit r/batman and individual elements are copyright Warner Bros. and DC Comics

Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.