Regulus Corneas (レグルス・コルニアス) was a Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, representing Greed. He debuted small scene of Arc 3 alongside Lye Batenkaitos as a tertiary antagonist, where he took on Crusch's military convoy, completely decimating it alongside its passengers, which included Rem. Later, he appeared in Emilia's first trial during the events of Arc 4, where he played an antagonistic role under Pandora's in the lead-up to the Permafrost of Elior Forest, and he also appeared as one of the primary antagonists of Arc 5.
As the strongest and one of the oldest Sin Archbishops in the Witch Cult, Regulus had an air of mystery surrounding him and was responsible for many brutal mass-slaughters and annihilations in the century prior to the beginning of the story, including the destruction of the Fortified City of Garkla in Vollachia. During the events of Arc 4, it was revealed he acted as the head of the radical faction inside the Witch Cult 100 years ago.[1] During the events of Arc 5, he was one of the Sin Archbishops who sieged the Watergate City of Priestella, where he was subsequently defeated by a joint force consisting of Reinhard van Astrea, Natsuki Subaru, and Emilia. He drowned underneath the streets of the city.
Regulus's face had no eye-catching features, and he had golden eyes that were usually murky and disinterested but started to sparkle when he passionately engaged in his long monologues. His modestly handsome face wasn't particularly attractive or unattractive, while his hair was neither short nor long and without a distinct style, however, it was naturally white despite his youthful appearance.[2] Regulus' white skin that lacked any semblance of a tan, coupled with his white hair and predominately white clothing, made him seem as though he was the epitome of the color white. In fact, the complete devoid of color exhibited by Regulus' physical appearance gave him the impression of a sickly person of which all color had drained away.
Regulus' primary attire primary piece of clothing was a pure-white greca-style overcoat that reached down to his ankles and had golden-edged cuffs, a set of five golden buttons running down the torso of his center front that usually ensured that the coat was closed above the hipline, and golden-highlighted edging. The inside of the coat was black and featured vertical golden stripes travelling down the entire coat. The most striking part of his coat was the opulent gold and black high-neck collar it sported that had the symbol for infinity inscribed on it, perhaps reflecting the nature of Regulus' Authority. Under his coat, he wore a long-sleeved deep-blue-colored dress shirt, white snow-white trousers, and a pair of white shoes, the latter two of which were both the same shade as his hair and overcoat. Usually, only the cuffs of the dress shirt could be seen as Regulus's long overcoat tended to obscure it almost completely. Regulus had a single deep-blue teardrop-shaped earring that was the same color as his dress shirt and dangled from his right earlobe thanks to a thin gold chain attaching it.
Regulus wearing his normal outfit.
Regulus dressed in his wedding tuxedo.
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During the wedding that he attempted to have with Emilia in Arc 5, Regulus displayed himself in a far more formal wedding uniform. He chose to wear a white tuxedo with a white color pallet, the same as his normal uniform. The tuxedo had a long cape-like backside that nearly went down to his heels. In addition, Regulus wore a blue and white striped undershirt adorned with a black and gold striped ribbon, white gloves, and white shoes.
Personality
Regulus was talkative, and tended to describe himself as unselfish, despite representing Greed. He would often go on and on about trivial matters in the most incoherent ways, usually leaving the other party confused and/or unable to follow his thoughts, ideals and values. Due to his extremely prideful personality, however, he often forced his own selfishness on others and tried to justify it. If his opponents had said something that went against his opinions and beliefs, he would find unreasonable faults in them, gradually becoming angry while accusing them of "violating his rights", before attacking and killing them without mercy or second thought. Despite his self-proclaimed pacifistic nature, he would not hesitate to attack, harm or kill someone, as to him, the act of taking away what is his was the most abhorrent and disgusting thing a person could do. He often showed complete ignorance for other individuals' values and exercised extremely selfish behaviors. This is best showcased when Regulus became unreasonably infuriated at Rem when she prepared to defend herself after explicitly telling her that he abhors fighting, which contradicts the fact that he mercilessly slaughtered multiple convoys full of wounded people just minutes prior to Rem's battle with him and Lye Batenkaitos. Regulus is incredibly hypocritical and wouldn't hesitate to renege his own words and promises, giving further evidence of his sociopathic nature.
He was extremely prideful and viewed himself as a "divine being" or "the most satisfied existence in the world", which greatly hindered his assessment of people, no matter if they were his enemies or allies, to the point he would make light of the Sword Saint, mocking him and calling him "a moniker of some guy who knows of nothing but swinging a sword". He often pointed out his dislike for needlessly involving himself with others and vice versa, stating he would be perfectly happy if people never paid attention to him and/or bothered him. Despite that, he has been shown to have conversed with people without initiating a conflict with the opposite party, until he got his "rights violated", which instantly changed his mood for the worse and prompted him to take action against them. His hot-tempered personality often resulted in unneeded fights. However, due to his overwhelmingly powerful Authority of Greed, he always came out victorious and unharmed, even against ridiculously strong opponents such as the Vollachia's strongest Kurgan. Due to his long life as a Sin Archbishop without ever getting his life seriously threatened, he never matured intellectually or emotionally; he disclosed his secret to Subaru, who in turn was able to connect all the dots and unravel his formidable Authority, allowing Reinhard to deal the finishing blow. In his final moments, Regulus revealed how he hated being looked down upon or laughed at, going even as far as saying he became a Sin Archbishop just so he could protect himself from such people; whoever offended him or his wives would ultimately be slain for the transgression, no matter their acquaintanceship with him. Regulus never realized his "sins", even in the final moments leading to his demise. His view on the world was corrupt and distorted from the very beginning until the bitter end. His final cries were full of hatred, wishing for the whole of humanity to disappear forever.
Having been born with a corrupt and distorted mindset, Regulus seemingly did not perceive kindness, love and affection in the same way as a normal person would have; it was strongly suggested that he lacked empathy and was impulsive, narcissistic and sociopathic. He took everything as a personal assault and critique, never developed a "human side", which in turn made him feel like everyone was against him, pitying and loathing his very existence. With time, Regulus himself seemingly developed a paranoid personality which completely dulled his perception of the world around him. After receiving the Witch Factor of Greed, Regulus gained an extreme form of escapism; he slaughtered everyone who pitied him, destroyed everything that bothered him and protected only the things he deemed important and necessary for his ideal and dream life. With that, Regulus was given an opportunity to be able to escape the dull, depressing and detested world he was brought into, and create a new world with himself at the top and surrounded by his subjects/wives; his cherished kingdom. He spent the following century trying to fulfill his Greed, which he never achieved. He insistently attempted to justify to himself that he was not greedy and denied any faults towards his character, until his bitter and watery end.
History
More than 100 years ago, Regulus used to live with his family in a village of a small country outside the Four Great Nations. His father was an alcoholic yet tried to be a good father, his mother complained about bad earnings but apologized for it occasionally, and his two brothers who were sometimes mean to him but gave him their share of their meal if he accidentally spilled his. At an unspecified point in his life, Regulus was chosen as a Sin Archbishop and obtained the Witch Factor of Greed. In accordance with his deepest desires, he developed the overpowered Authority of Greed, which he used in the following century of his life. Regulus subsequently killed his entire family, then the villagers who looked down on him, followed by the people from the nearby town who pushed his family into such peril, and finally, his entire home country. He broke the mind of his childhood love, slaughtered her family, and forced her to marry him, thus compelling her to become his wife. Only after having committed such atrocities did Regulus finally see a way to live–free of all worries, not needing anything as he considered himself satisfied as he was. However, she eventually committed suicide, sneering in her last moments. Happening across this, Regulus buried and made a grave for her, and began to take many wives after her, forcing each and every one of them to remain expressionless and never smile like his childhood friend did.
At some point in the past, Regulus got hold of a small black box,[3] similar to the one Petelgeuse Romanée-Conti used. It is unknown if it was the exact same box or a different one. Regulus, however, did know what was inside of it when Petelgeuse showed it to him during the events of the Elior Forest battle, suggesting the box Regulus once held contained either the Witch Factor of Greed or Sloth.
In the following years, Regulus became the Sin Archbishop of Greed, joining the Witch Cult where he became the leader of the radical faction. Familiarizing himself with the doctrine of the Cult and its members, Regulus met Petelgeuse, the leader of the now-forgotten moderate faction. It's safe to assume the two didn't harbor a friendly relationship although they occasionally cooperated along with the other Sin Archbishops. Just like other high-ranking members of the Witch Cult took care of their own eccentric goals, Regulus spent his free time carefully and meticulously search of beautiful women he'd forcefully marry and spend his days with, before eventually watching them die, be it from natural or unnatural causes, more often than not being the one who delivered their deaths.
Roughly 100 years before the events of the main story, Regulus participated in the attack of the elven village in Elior Forest along with Pandora, cooperating with her to collect the elf Fortuna as his 79th wife. With the pair revealing their malicious intentions, Petelgeuse, who was helping the elves in the forest, ordered Fortuna to run with her niece Emilia. Regulus then proceeded to have a one-sided battle with Petelgeuse who just took in the Witch Factor of Sloth, cutting Petelgeuse's right arm off and severely wounding and ruining his legs by throwing dirt at him, in a relatively short notice. Just before he was about to deal the finishing blow by smashing Petelgeuse's head open, Fortuna interrupted him, which greatly angered him. When Pandora calmly asked him to spare Petelgeuse's life, he lashed back at her, throwing dirt at her, killing her instantly. Soon after, Pandora used her Authority of Vainglory to erase her death from ever happening and proceeded to remove Regulus's presence from the forest and sent him back to his mansion, which reverted the damage he had dealt to Petelgeuse and Elior Forest.
More than a decade before Subaru's arrival, Regulus single-handedly took down a heavily fortified Vollachian city of Garkla, housing thousands of soldiers,[4] as well as the Vollachian hero Kurgan. Rumor has it that at the time, a meteor supposedly belonging to one of the Witches of Sin was located in the city itself. It is not known if the Meteor was actually present or if it was only an excuse to drive the Witch Cult to take action.
Abilities
Authority of Greed (強欲の権能 Gōyoku no Ken'nō): Regulus was able to use the Authority of Greed until his Witch Factors were taken by Natsuki Subaru following his death. The Authority itself is split into two main abilities: Lion’s Heart and Little King.
Regulus using Lion's Heart to nullify an incoming attack.
Regulus using Lion's Heart to nullify fatal damage while still receiving the force of the attack.
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Lion's Heart (獅子の心臓, Shishi no Shinzō): With Lion's Heart, Regulus was allowed to stop the time of his own body,[5] and of anything he touched.[6] By applying Lion's Heart to his body, he became unaffected by any physical phenomena, including age, hunger, thirst, excretion of bodily waste, getting wet, being frozen, or taking damage, whether physically or magically. Essentially, his power made him both un-aging, invincible, and prevented all physical phenomena from interacting with him, granting himself freedom from the constraints of concepts like gravity, air resistance, conservation of momentum, and effectively any physical rules and concepts of the world.[7][8] The same thing was true of anything else he applied his power to, as by preventing the concepts of the world from interfering with these objects, he could pass through and destroy anything, creating absurdly powerful attacks capable of completely bypassing any defense while simultaneously moving at speeds beyond comprehension.[9] The aftereffects of such attacks could easily sever flesh, and entire convoys could be destroyed by a single attack. Traps like pitfalls with some form of cover also become ineffective, as by standing on the cover and stopping its time, he could walk on it as if it were solid ground. While he was in this state, he could be somewhat interacted with, and once he began to fight seriously, he was capable of rejecting and completely ignoring everything. By simply walking into a building or even a massive wall of ice, he would breeze through them, leaving only a hole behind. In the event he attempted to walk or properly interact with other physical constructs or bodies, he needed to stop the time of the ground or said things around him. Likewise, by stopping time on his own body, it was capable of piercing right through anything, including buildings, the ground, his clothes, or other people. The main drawback to Lion's Heart was that, by stopping the time of his body, Regulus's heart stopped beating, limiting how long he could stop his own body's time. Thus, Regulus was required to pair Lion's Heart with his second ability, Little King, in order to maintain his invincibility.[10][11] Keeping Lion's Heart active for longer than five seconds without Little King made him experience excruciating pain, and although he never went beyond five seconds, going as long as ten seconds was likely impossible.[12][13] Furthermore, it became difficult for Regulus to manipulate objects beyond his own body when Little King was not in use.[14]
Wind imbued with Lion's Heart:
Regulus cutting Petelgeuse's arm off by simply lifting his own right hand.
Regulus is able to apply his power to even the small gusts of wind typically generated by nature or movement. By doing so, he can weaponize it like a flying slash that can easily sever limb from body, as he did to both Petelgeuse and Crusch. On a larger scale, he can even create a bomb-like effect that could easily kill a large number of people at once and completely destroy things like dragon carriages with ease. However, one of the most dangerous applications of this ability is that he can stop the time of his own breath, allowing him to leave invisible traps in the air.[15] Anyone who gets caught in these traps take tremendous damage. Even Reinhard lost an entire leg because of this.
Earth imbued with Lion's Heart:
By kicking the ground beneath his feet, Regulus was able to hurl stones at Reinhard and Subaru with incredible speed.
Regulus often used his power to stop time on the ground around him, allowing him to walk. Likewise, he had a tendency to use this on handfuls of dirt and sand, making them become minuscule bullets capable of completely shredding through whoever is unfortunate enough to receive his attack, effectively turning them into nothing more than a bloody mist. He also applied his power to stones, turning them into bullets that punched through anything in their path, leaving holes the size of the stones in any construct in their way, and even causing numerous buildings to collapse all at once. Using this on even one small object, such as a tile, could easily tear a person's limb from their body, like he did when he nearly severed Subaru's leg from his body.
Water imbued with Lion's Heart:
Using a massive pile of water, Regulus fires hundreds of water droplets at Emilia and Subaru.
By stopping time on water while he is touching it, he could walk on water as if it were made of earth. Like with earth, Regulus could use his power to weaponize water droplets and splashes like bullets, and they bore similar effects. However, unlike earth, he could weaponize water much more fluidly. By kicking at a canal within Priestella, he was able to create a miniature tsunami that could not be stopped. Any falling drops also had their time stopped, making the rain dangerous and easily capable of punching through the ground. He could also pick up a massive amount of water with his hands after freezing its time. By then throwing it at his enemy, he can create yet another unstoppable wave of attacks just like the tsunami. He could also propel himself into the sky by stepping into the water, using the pillar generated afterward to fling himself.
Other people imbued with Lion's Heart: While he primarily uses it on himself, Regulus is also capable of stopping the time of other people and making them temporarily invincible. However, he usually does not do this, and instead, he will utilize the constraint freeing aspect of his Authority to send his enemy flying in another direction, leaving comical man shaped holes in any construct they pass through. Ignoring the constraints of the world, the person will not stop naturally, and they must wait for the Authority to wear off from their body. He can also do this while sending a person into the sky, effectively shooting them into space. Even Reinhard could not stop himself while in this state, and the only reason he was able to return was the fact that he was sent flying to the moon.
Little King (小さな王, Chīsana Ō): With Little King, Regulus was capable of sharing a small “Lion’s Heart” that resided in and resonated with the hearts and heartbeats of his wives,[16] or in other words, anyone he believed to be a “subject” of his “little kingdom”.[17][18] He could keep the heart within his body from beating while pseudo-hearts that were within all of his wives was beating for him. By pairing this with Lion's Heart, he was able to circumvent its five second time limit, allowing him to maintain his constant invincibility at all times.[10][11] Likewise, it was next to impossible for most of his wives to notice this pseudo-heart themselves as they felt no change within themselves nor bore any consequence to bearing this heart, making them completely ignorant of it. This only lasted, however, for as long as his wives' own hearts kept beating. If they all died, his Little King would effectively stop working. It was also possible to remove his pseudo-heart from his wives by either putting them in a very near-death state, stopping their hearts from beating via cryostasis, or by using another method to sever and crush the pseudo-heart, such as Subaru's Invisible Providence. The range of Little King was unknown, though according to the author, Regulus' wives had to be close enough for him to feel their love nearby.[19]
Equipment
Gospel (福音): As a member of the Witch Cult, Regulus was the owner of a copy of a Gospel. Each Gospel was a replica of the Book of Wisdom, a book that had been in the possession of the Witch of Greed Echidna. The Book of Wisdom would provide exact details of future events concerning the Witch of Greed, essentially bestowing Echidna with a form of precognition. Unlike the original Book of Wisdom, the Gospels of the Witch Cult were imperfect replicas, meaning that, although they detailed the future of its owner, the events conveyed were subject to change and the information provided was often up for interpretation. The Gospels took the form of small black books that could only be read by their owners.
Conversation Mirror: A meteor that allows the user to get in contact with people who hold other such mirrors.
Trivia
Regulus, like every other Sin Archbishop (with the exception of Stride Vollachia), received his namesake from a celestial body. "Regulus" is the name of the brightest star in the Leo constellation which is also one of the brightest stars in the night sky. The traditional name for the star in Latin was Rēgulus, which translates to "prince" or "little king." in India it was known as Maghā ("the Mighty"), in Sogdiana it was known as Magh ("the Great"), and in Persia it was known as Miyan ("the Centre").
As of a hundred years ago, Regulus had 78 wives, and as of Arc 5 he is mentioned to have had 291 wives in total. However, according to Sylphy, 238 of those wives were killed, leaving only 53 alive.[20]
Regulus originally intended to make Fortuna his 79th wife, but due to the unfortunate events that took place, he was unable to do so. 100 years later, he encountered Emilia, setting his mind on marrying her in order to make her serve as Fortuna's substitution.[21]
Regulus is one of the longest serving Sin Archbishops among the members of the Witch Cult, having governed over Greed for at least a century.[22]
In the web novel version of Arc 4, Regulus is seen wearing black and grey clothes.
To this day, he is the only person that has managed to kill Reinhard.[23]
Regulus is the strongest Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult.[24]
If every Witch of Sin (excluding Satella) and Sin Archbishop were to fight against each other, Regulus would be the sole survivor.[25]
In the author's character strength ranking in June 2014, Regulus was ranked as the 3rd strongest character in the series.[26]
The author had stated that due to his overwhelmingly powerful Authority which renders any attack against him useless, if Subaru wasn't present during the Crusade Against Greed in Arc 5, Reinhard would not have been able to deal a decisive blow, likely being forced to back off and admit defeat.[27]
Coupled with the Witch of Envy, he's one of the few characters who'd give the Sword Saint the most trouble as they're nigh impossible to kill.
Regulus owns a mansion, but its location is unknown. In Ayamatsu IF, Natsuki Subaru and Elsa Granhiert burn his mansion to the ground in order to get rid of his Authority and kill him.
Despite him being the strongest Sin Archbishop of the Witch Cult, and killing Reinhard, he never managed to kill Subaru.
According to the author, Regulus' Authority of Greed is the strongest combat ability in Re:Zero.[28]
Regulus is stated to be the least fitting candidate for being a king.[29]
His first wife was the only wife he ever made a grave for.[30]
Regulus's name meaning "Little King" ties into his Authority, as it utilizes his wives as members of a little kingdom that supports Regulus, the Little King.
In the mobile game Re:Zero Lost in Memories, Regulus is one of the two units that intentionally don't possess a death animation when defeated, with the other unit being Reinhard van Astrea. Upon defeat, Regulus will simply make an annoyed expression, turn around and slowly walk off the playing field, looking very annoyed.
↑“We have confirmed the presence of one of the Archbishops of the Seven Deadly Sins: Greed, the head of the radical faction.”Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 14, Chapter 3, Section 3.
↑His face was modestly handsome but it was average, with no eye-catching features.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 14, Chapter 1, Section 8.
↑“Surely you feel it? After all, this is something you, too, once held in your hands.”Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 14, Chapter 3, Section 1.
↑It was known as the most solidly defended city in that nation's border regions. It had a standard garrison of thousands of troops, while the settlement itself was enveloped by a complex set of defensive walls.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 8, Chapter 1, Section 3.
↑“Or how about calling it Lion's Heart, the ability to stop time for your physical body?”Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 3, Section 1.
↑There was only one possibility left of all the patterns he had imagined that could explain—his power didn't make him invincible at all. It was a time stop ability. More precisely, Regulus could stop time for all sorts of objects.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 3, Section 2.
↑By freezing time for his body, he could prevent all physical phenomena from interacting with him. That was the crux of his power. That meant freedom from every possible concept that might hold him back. By freeing himself from gravity, air resistance, and conservation of momentum, Regulus gained an extraordinary source of power.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 3, Section 5.
↑With Lion's Heart active, Regulus could ignore all the rules of the world if he wanted to. If he used that method, then any being chained down by such concepts could not begin to match him.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 6, Section 2.
↑It was the ultimate attack and the ultimate defense depending on how it was used. The invincibility was just a side effect of time stopping.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 3, Section 2.
↑ 10.010.1Regulus’s Lion’s Heart—in order to keep that power active, he also needed his Little King power. Subaru’s analysis had been correct on that point. However, the form of the connection between the two was far more malicious than he could have imagined.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 3, Section 5.
↑ 11.011.1He had said that Regulus’s invincibility was because of a power called Lion’s Heart. And that power was linked with another power, Little King, which used the wives here in the chapel somehow. He explained that it was the two powers working together that made him invincible.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 3, Section 3.
↑Without Little King active, he could maintain Lion’s Heart for only five seconds at most. If he stopped time for his body any longer than that, there was a possibility that his heart would never beat again.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 6, Section 2.
↑He had never stopped his time for more than five seconds while his heart was inside him before. What was the longest he could go? Ten would be impossible.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 6, Section 2.
↑Ordinarily, Regulus would stop the time of the things that he touched, controlling his power naturally so as not to destroy them with his own body. But now that he didn’t have Little King active and had to consciously control Lion’s Heart’s effects, it was extraordinarily difficult to manipulate things beyond his own body.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 6, Section 2.
↑"With your inhuman eyesight and reactions, you can escape the bits of gravel and water. But you’re too naïve, aren’t you? If you truly want to confront me, prevent me from breathing. You can’t, can you? Just now. I exhaled."Arc 5, Chapter 50, Section 3.
↑“It’s much simpler than that—I have entrusted my most precious heart with my wives. Neither I nor my wives know who among them carries it.”Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 3, Section 5.
↑It had to be that he couldn’t shift his heart to anyone who was not a member of his kingdom. If it didn’t even have that limitation, then the entire battle would have been a waste of time from the start.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 5, Section 2.
↑For all that Regulus had derided Emilia, he still considered her one of his wives, making her a citizen in his little kingdom and an escape valve for his heart, just in case something happened.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 5, Section 2.
↑"Of those, 238 have already passed away, so the remaining number 53 in all."Arc 5: Chapter 48. Section 2.
↑"a simple matter. Serving as a substitute for her mother, it would only be natural that the daughter takes up this position"Arc 5: Chapter 59. Section 2.
↑I've been doing this for years, decades, a century and some decades, and unlike those other fools, I’ve carried out everything right as a Sin Archbishop.Re:Zero Light Novel Volume 19, Chapter 6, Section 1.
↑"So your observation that I looked like I was dead was correct. I was just a little bit dead."Arc 5: Chapter 50. Section 1.
↑"The strengths cannot be simply disputed due to too many entwining techniques, however, if it was an unconditional fight, then Greed."June 1, 2014 AskFM Q&A
