Editing Reggie Mantle (section)

== Interests and personality ==

Reggie Mantle's chief characteristics are his love of sarcasm and practical jokes, his vanity, his athletic abilities, and his interest in dating multiple women.

Reggie is a naturally gifted and talented athlete who excels at nearly every major sport, including [[American football|football]], [[baseball]], and [[basketball]], along with more obscure sports such as [[cross country running]] and [[Kung Fu]].<ref name="back91">{{cite journal |last=Thompson|first=Steven |title=Archie's Antagonist, Reggie Mantle|journal=[[Back Issue!]]|issue=91 |pages=63–67|publisher=[[TwoMorrows Publishing]]|date=September 2016|location=Raleigh, North Carolina}}</ref> He often works as a surfing or skiing instructor. Sometimes, if his skills are not enough to secure victory, Reggie cheats, and he often shows little team spirit. Once in a while, Reggie tries to win competitions on a technicality by pulling out a rulebook.

The most common accessories associated with Reggie are the mirror and the comb. A lot of jokes in the comics are about his vanity, earning him the nickname "Reggie 'I-Love-Me' Mantle". Somewhat of a fashion plate, Reggie is the character who most frequently experiments with his hairstyle to match current trends.<ref name="back91"/> These looks have lasted months (rather than been contained within a single story) and have included several incarnations of sideburns, pomaded, short, shaggy, and even a [[ponytail]] in the early 1990s. Reggie is one of the founding members of the band [[The Archies]], serving primarily as their [[Bass guitar|bassist]] and occasionally as lead guitarist. He views himself as the most important and talented member of the group—and has gone to great lengths to prove it, such as hiring [[groupie]]s to scream his name during concerts. Reggie has also demonstrated skill in singing, acting, and piano.

Reggie is Riverdale High's resident prankster. It is not unusual for Reggie's practical jokes to backfire.<ref name="back91"/> His pranks are usually meant to embarrass his victims rather than physically hurt them. Reggie's sharp, quick wit has also led him to work part-time as a stand-up comedian at a Riverdale comedy club; he has expressed interest in pursuing a professional comedy career. In spite of his evident upper-middle class status, he is remarkably cheap, and the first time his schoolmates remember him inviting them to a party, he had filled the room with vending machines from which to obtain the party food.

Reggie likes to chase girls, delighting in the pursuit, but is not usually interested in having a serious relationship with one girl. Reggie likes to play the field, and openly describes himself as "a true practitioner of the art". He has expressed horror at the idea of being tied down to one solitary female, saying that, "having one girl is like having one peanut, one potato chip."

Reggie is [[Archie Andrews (comics)|Archie Andrews]]'s rival, and has a perennial crush on Veronica Lodge. The fact that she loves Archie makes Reggie jealous, so he spends most of his time trying to outwit Archie, and playing practical jokes on him. Despite the rivalry, he and Archie are generally amicable, and often spend time together pursuing dates or practicing athletics. In ''Archie's Double Digest'' #201, during the possibility of Archie moving, he eventually admits he would miss Archie, whom he calls his best friend. In certain older Archie Comics stories, Reggie and Archie team up to play pranks on [[Jughead Jones]]; however, their schemes usually backfire as Jughead outwits them.

Other than Veronica, Reggie is romantically interested in [[Midge Klump]], the girlfriend of brawny but dimwitted athlete [[Moose Mason]]. A [[running gag]] in the series features Reggie attempting to spend time with Midge without attracting Moose's anger and jealousy.<ref name="back91"/> He occasionally seeks to date other women, including [[Betty Cooper]]. Reggie and Betty frequently join forces to try and break up Archie and Veronica. In some stories, Reggie and Betty are shown to be a couple, even though their respective interests still lie with Veronica and Archie; for example, the ''Life with Archie'' series portrays a future in which Archie marries Veronica and Betty and Reggie are a loving couple. In other storylines, Reggie has occasionally been known to date [[Cheryl Blossom]]. The two have very similar personalities and, at one point, before she dates a boy named George, try going out together. Like Betty and Veronica, however, Cheryl mainly uses Reggie as an alternative to Archie. Another arc features Reggie falling in love with Veronica's cousin Harper and developing a long-distance relationship with her.

Reggie is insanely jealous of anyone else but him being in the spotlight, and will sometimes deliberately cause them trouble to get what he wants.

On certain occasions, Reggie shows a kinder side where he will come to the aid of his friends or total strangers, although he prefers to keep these good deeds secret. In one comic, he has a close childhood friendship with an elderly woman named Mrs. Finklehoff. Due to Reggie's reputation for arrogance and scheming, his peers often distrust his motives even when he is genuinely intending to help someone.