Alfred Pennyworth is Batman's oldest and most persistent companion in his war against the criminal underworld of Gotham City. Alfred took care of Bruce after the deaths of Thomas and Martha Wayne, and he has supported Bruce in his dangerous crusade as the Dark Knight Detective.
DC likes to make use of the multiverse concept (arguably even more than Marvel), as they have a long tradition of telling alternate universe stories about their iconic characters through the "Elseworlds" label as well as the more recent "Dark Multiverse." Many iconic DC characters have been warped in interesting and bizarre ways through this storytelling tradition, and Alfred is no exception.
6 The Alfred Who Kept A Bruce Wayne Clone Inside A Faux Arkham Asylum
In the Batman: Last Knight on Earth story by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, the world has come to an end after the whole world went berserk thanks to a speech by Lex Luthor. The Batman of this world became its new tyrannical ruler in the fallout. He became Omega and used the Anti-Life Equation to keep what remained of the world in line.
During Snyder and Capullo's run on the main Batman title, they established that Batman had created a machine powered by a fabled metal called Dionesium. He used this compound to clone a new Batman should the original ever die and then give the new Batman all of his memories. Alfred used this machine to clone a new Bruce Wayne but keep him from ever experiencing the apocalyptic outside world.
The simulation this Alfred came up with to keep Bruce inside was a rather brutal Arkham Asylum staffed by mechanical drones. Eventually, the new Bruce Wayne freed himself from this simulation and confronted Alfred. Alfred did this out of love for Bruce, and the new Bruce ultimately forgave Alfred.
5 The Dark Multiverse Army Of Alfreds
Using his alliance with the god Perpetua, the Batman Who Laughs reshaped the world into his own twisted image in Dark Nights: Death Metal, also by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. The Batman Who Laughs kept a staff of Alfreds from across the Dark Multiverse to attend to his needs.
After Wonder Woman killed the Batman Who Laughs, it was these Alfreds that transplanted the Batman Who Laughs' brain into a cloned body of Doctor Manhattan.
4 "The Dark Knight" Is An Alfred Clone Intended To Kill Batman
In his younger years, Alfred Pennyworth trained with a man called Briar to become a vigilante called, ironically, the Dark Knight. Briar proved unstable, and Alfred ended up killing Briar before the training was complete. However, Briar survived and plotted his revenge against Alfred.
Years later, in All-Star Batman #11 by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque, Briar revealed a younger clone of Alfred who had become the true Dark Knight. Batman had to take down this Alfred clone.
3 Alfred Of The World Of Tomorrow Is Martha Wayne's Lover (And Doomsday)
On an alternate Earth called the World of Tomorrow, Martha Wayne survived that fateful night in Crime Alley, and Bruce Wayne never became the Batman. However, Martha began working with the corrupt accomplice of an interdimensional villain called Dr. Atom, and Alfred Pennyworth was her right-hand man.
This came from Batman/Superman by Gene Luen Yang and Ivan Reis. This Alfred ends up becoming the secret lover of Martha Wayne, and he began using the Venom serum (the same drug that gives Bane his strength) to increase his muscle mass. However, he later took the Doomsday drug to increase his strength further and attacked Batman, Robin, and Superman.
2 The Alfred Artificial Intelligence Of Batman The Murder Machine
In another world in the Dark Multiverse, Alfred was killed in the Batcave by Bane. This drove Bruce Wayne insane with grief, and he worked with Cyborg to create an Alfred artificial intelligence. With this Alfred AI, Batman usurped Cyborg's machine half and became Batman the Murder Machine.
As the Murder Machine, Batman would go on to kill the Justice League and become the new ruler of his warped and doomed Earth.
1 Alfred Was Once A Supervillain Called "The Outsider"
Perhaps one of the weirdest Alfred turns comes from Silver Age Detective Comics. At one point, Alfred was seemingly killed by a gang, and Batman and Robin became the target of a new villain called "the Outsider" in Detective Comics #334 by Gardner Fox and Sheldon Moldoff. It was later revealed that the Outsider was actually a super-powered Alfred, and Batman and Robin had to cure Alfred of his Outsider powers. It would take Alfred some time to completely purge himself of the Outsider persona, but he would succeed in this mission.
The Outsider has been referenced a couple of times since then. The Alfred Pennyworth of Earth-3, home of the evil version of the Justice League known as the Crime Syndicate, is an agent of Owlman (evil Batman) and calls himself the Outsider. "The Outsider" is also the codename used by Alfred Pennyworth in the Flashpoint timeline when he attempted to infiltrate Amazon-occupied Europe.