oh now im intrigued by your thoughts on who are bruce’s best friends in your opinions 👀

...You know, in the end, I think it actually might be Alfred. And that's because, if you think about it at length, Bruce has not had ONE SINGLE FRIEND who hasn't either 1) betrayed him, 2) attacked him/tried to kill him, or 3) both. And that's leaving aside the friends he had as a kid who died.

Thomas Elliot? Steals his face and tries to kill him. Harvey Dent? Gets disfigured and becomes a villain and tries to kill him. Then you've got Clark Kent and Minhkhoa Khan, but both have physically fought Bruce and tried to kill him. In Clark's case it was under the effects of mind control or kryptonite or whatever, but it happened. It's arguable how different actions Clark participated in were considered a personal betrayal by Bruce (e.g., the infamous JLA decision to wipe Bruce's memory, or Clark taking on Bruce's memories post Superman: Emperor Joker). Which brings me to Zatanna, perhaps the only childhood/teenage years friend Bruce has who hasn't tried to kill him, but who did deeply betray him (again, the mind wipe incident). There's even that one time Bruce thought he made a new vigilante friend in Baphomet, but actually it was Onomatopoeia (a villain who betrays him).

And it isn't just friends, at the end of the day. Bruce has physically fought off attacks from almost everyone he's ever cared about. His most important romantic relationships are with villainous women (e.g., Talia al Ghul, Selina Kyle), and he's fought members of the Family too more than once (that is, if he didn't just hit them in a moment of anger). It is striking, to be honest, how deeply defined by violence Bruce's world is; not just because he fights criminals and villains, but because his deepest interpersonal relationships also contain violence. It's so familiar to him it's probably a comfort. King did understand this very well about the character, especially in his Knightmares story arc.

Um. I ended up on a tangent, but I think my point is that it's difficult to name a best friend for Bruce. I still feel as if labeling Alfred as a best friend is... not entirely accurate, because he's so many other things to Bruce. Alfred raised him, he's an incredibly important pillar of support, and yet he's also an employee, someone who gets his paycheck from Bruce. I would still say that Alfred is the person Bruce trusts the most, and the most supportive relationship Bruce has ever had. Alternatively, I guess one could say his best friend is Clark Kent, but Bruce has shown time and time again that he's unable to let go of the hero worship and the wariness he has of Clark's powers. And I guess you could say it's Dick Grayson, but similarly to Bruce's relationship to Alfred, there's a bigger element there of mentorship and being a father figure. Jim Gordon is definitely a friend, but their dynamic is defined by "work", by their crusade against crime...

Well. In the end, it's that fascinating pattern in Bruce's choices, I suppose. He's a very lonely individual who is terrified of loss and being vulnerable to others, but not enough that he doesn't surround himself with people who love him; he's just rarely able to cross the wall he puts between himself and them. This wall can vary from one relationship to another, but a power differential tends to be a core reason; master-butler, father-son, leader-soldier, squishy-human vs overpowered-alien, hero-villain.