Reggie Mantle, who sometimes refers to himself as "Mantle The Magnificent," comes from a fairly well-to-do family. Although nowhere near the level of Veronica Lodge's, in his debut story, Archie referred to him as, "That snooty Reggie Mantle." His father owns a newspaper-publishing company with varying names, and he seems to show journalistic aspirations himself, often working as the editor of the high school paper.
Reggie is a naturally gifted and talented athlete who excels at football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey. He is shown to be the school's boxing champion, best track-runner, swimmer and weight-lifter. He also excels at car-racing, surfing and other water sports, ice-skating and skiing. If his skills are not enough to secure victory, he is sometimes known for using schemes such as bending or breaking rules, and doesn't have great team spirit. Once in a while he'll even try to win competitions on a technicality, by pulling out the rulebook. Also the bassist for The Archies, he naturally thinks of himself as the most important and talented member of the group, and has gone to great lengths to prove it. Even to the point of hiring groupies to scream his name during concerts.
His sharp, albeit often rude, quick wit has given him some gigs as a stand-up comedian, and he hopes to perform professionally someday. In spite of his upper-middle class status, he is remarkably cheap. 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's pranks are usually harmless, meant to embarrass his vicitims rather than actually hurt them. One particular incident when he tried to humiliate Chuck Clayton during a sledding contest, he dug a pit and filled it with sawdust to soften the blow so Chuck wouldn't be hurt. As he told a friend who was helping him with the prank, "I'm not cruel, dum-dum, just clever!" Naturally his prank backfired when he ended up jumping the farthest on the sled and landing in his own pit.
The most common accessories associated with Reggie are the mirror and the comb. He is joked to love himself more than any girl, and has earned himself the nickname, "Reggie 'I-Love-Me' Mantle." His vanity leads himself to believe that he is God's greatest gift to women, which is why Vernoica often likes Archie more than she does Reggie. Archie is his main rival, as Reggie does have a perennial crush on Veronica. The fact that she loves Archie makes Reggie jealous, so he enjoys making Archie's life miserable by playing practical jokes on him. But ironically, many of his schemes backfire and allow Archie to be the victor, because sometimes Reggie's ego is his own downfall when he's overheard bragging about his scheme. Even though Reggie is Archie's rival for her affection, when misunderstandings happen between Archie and Veronica, Reggie jumps in with other friends who are trying to mend their relationship.