A butler for Scrooge named Alberto was introduced in the story "Paperino e l'uomo delle nevi " (1954) by Giuseppe Perego. He was not supposed to be a recurring character. But Alberto returned in 1958 and started being featured regularly to 1967. Sheldom a significant character, Alberto was a naive man who was repeatedly fooled by Scrooge's enemies, meaning they could come and go as they pleased from Scrooge's Money Bin and/or residence.

A revamped version called "Battista" was introduced in "Paperino e il treno scomparso" (1961) . Curly-haired, long-nosed and significantly taller than Scrooge, he was considerable more memorable visually. Alberto and Battista were used concurrently to 1967, although the creators were starting to confuse them. Finaly only Battista remained.

Battista became a more significant character as the years went by. He is portrayed as Scrooge's right-hand-man, caretacer, cook, nurse and chief advisor. He is supposed to defend the Money Bin from the Beagle Boys, Magica and other home invaders whenever Scrooge is abroad or otherwise unavailable. Typical situations involve an overworked and underpayed Battista struggling to gain a small raise or a short vacation.

Battista does not quit to seek a higher-paying joke because Scrooge and his various associates have become the butler's only surrogate family, friends and social contacts over the years. He has little free time to meet anyone else. Stories exploring Scrooge's paranoia and general "trust no one" mentality have Scrooge keeping surveillance of Battista in the butler's rare spare time, wanting to know if Battista is conspiring against him.

In the late 80's Battista's hair colour became more youthful, turning blonde and eventually ginger.