Lucius Fox
Without Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), there would be no Batman. Upon meeting Bruce in Batman Begins, the two strike a fast friendship, and Lucius becomes the internal contact at Wayne Enterprises who provides the Caped Crusader with all this techy armory. Upon regaining control of the family business, Bruce appoints Lucius as the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, having his new friend focus on the company so he can fight crime, which carries over into The Dark Knight, where Lucius presents even more gadgets and goodies. Things start to take a nosedive in The Dark Knight Rises though, as Wayne Enterprises posts financial troubles after a poor investment in a failed fusion reactor project. Lucius presents Bruce with a final gift, the flying “Bat,” and attempts to stop Wayne Enterprises from falling any farther – but also ends up risking his life in the end.
Lucias’ duties span far beyond being Batman’s version of James Bond’s Q, as he’s burdened with Bruce’s secret identity from the very first movie, and never lets it slip. Nolan coyly creates dialogue that never has Bruce admit to Lucius outright he’s Batman, so Lucius can say with a clear conscious he hadn’t a clue about the situation – but it’s implied, and we all know damn well that Lucius knows. This man held the secret to end all secrets, and did so with the utmost respect and honor.
Lucius also risks his beliefs, if we’re looking at The Dark Knight, and also his own life, when we’re looking at The Dark Knight Rises, going above and beyond the call of duty for Bruce.
When asked to help locate the Joker on a giant sonar computer that reveals the locations of everyone in Gotham, Lucius tells Batman he’ll only do it once, as spying doesn’t go along with his personal code. Bruce says he understands, and acknowledges he’ll only get Lucius’ help once, but understanding how important capturing the Joker is, Lucius puts his beliefs aside, hands in his resignation, and finishes the job. Good thing Bruce was wise enough to let Lucius destroy the giant computer, permitting Fox to happily retract his request to leave Wayne Enterprises.
Finally, in The Dark Knight Rises, it’s Lucius who is almost drown by Talia al Guhl. Waiting in the fusion reactor chamber for Batman to return with the newly weaponized device, Talia shows up intent on ruining their plan, and floods the chamber with Lucius in it. Although he’s able to escape, the reactor can no longer be reinstalled – but we all know how that ends up.
Lucius still put himself in danger help Bruce and save the innocent, something this loyal companion did time and time again for Gotham’s only hope.