Regulus Black

[Minerva the Bookwyrm]

Regulus is a character that’s barely described in canon, so let’s analyse him!

In your opinion…

1. What did Regulus look like?
2. What was Regulus’ personality like?
3. How did Regulus feel about his family and their values?
4. Was Regulus the favourite son of Orion and Walburga?
5. How did Sirius and Regulus feel about each other?  

[Minerva the Bookwyrm]

I dislike fanon Regulus that’s a prejudice git, who hates Sirius and loves Dark Magic, and only stops being a DE because he’s a coward.

In my opinion… (Yes, this is all opinion, so feel free to disagree!)

1. What did Regulus look like?

Basically, he’s a less attractive version of Sirius. Their hair, skin, and eyes are the same colour, though Regulus’ hair is much shorter. Regulus is shorter and thinner than Sirius, and he just doesn’t have the outgoingness and charm that makes Sirius so striking.

2. What was Regulus’ personality like?

Regulus was clever, quiet, and pretends to be proud when he’s actually insecure. He has a nasty temper, like all of the Blacks. This is something that someone said about him from a different forum and I thought it was brilliant:

“When I wrote Regulus I made him a sheltered kid who had all of the fight bullied out of him by Walburga. Basically, they would let Sirius misbehave without huge repercussions because they wanted their heir to be strong, whereas every time Regulus stepped out of line, they just cursed him...
My reason for Regulus hating him for leaving home, he didn't want to be left alone with them but he was far too attached, too proud, too scared and too unable to think for himself to be able to leave them.
And this will be the point where he starts acting like kind of a d-----bag”

3. How did Regulus feel about his family and their values?

Regulus isn’t a bleeding heart that constantly worries about others, however, he isn’t a sadist that gets pleasure from hurting others either, He never had an opinion one way or another about whether subjugating Muggles was wrong or right until he joined the Death Eaters. Once he saw how evil Voldemort’s crusade was firsthand, he decided that he was opposed and fought against it.

He joined the Death Eaters to please his parents because he always loved his entire family and wanted their approval. Yes, his entire family includes his cousins and Sirius, though I think Bellatrix might have frightened him a bit when he was a young child.

4. Was Regulus the favourite son of Orion and Walburga?

No…at least not until Sirius is disowned.

Orion is a younger son, and knows how it feels to be treated like the spare heir to an older brother, so does he show Regulus favouritism because he empathises with him? It’s possible, but because Sirius talks about his mother and brother in the books, and never mentions his father, it sounds as if Orion works constantly and doesn’t have much to do with his sons or his wife, so he can’t indicate a preference one way or another.

Sirius is braver, more talented, stronger-willed, and better looking than Regulus. He’s everything that a Black is supposed to be, so when he doesn’t embrace the pureblood values Walburga puts so much energy into ‘correcting. him that she basically ignores Regulus altogether. He frequently tries, and fails, to get her attention. Does Walburga tell Sirius that she prefers docile Regulus? I’m certain that she does, but she doesn’t actually mean it until Sirius angers/disappoints her so badly that she burns his name off of the tapestry.

5. How did Sirius and Regulus feel about each other?

Regulus loves Sirius and, like most younger brothers, wishes that he were more like him. He admires how Sirius stands up for his beliefs, but wants his family’s approval too much to do the same himself…at least until he is much older.

Sirius loves Regulus too because he never insults Regulus in the books. He says Regulus became a DE and tried to get out of it, but nothing outright insulting. Harry doesn't notice any disgust on Sirius' face, or in his voice, when he talks about Regulus, like he does when Sirius discusses his mother. Sirius is never shy about showing his dislike for someone, so the fact that he doesn't show any as far as Regulus is concerned...Well, Sirius loves Regulus, but he can't respect him, and always partially blames himself for not being able to "save" Regulus from the Blacks' influence.  

[ScottieBears MiaKitty]

1. What did Regulus look like?
I always pictured Regulus as an almost mirror of his older brother, simply because there weren't a lot of genes there to make them look different. Both Orion and Walburga were Blacks by blood, not just by marriage, and so it makes sense that their children would look a lot alike. However, I do think that they had differences in form. I think that Sirius was on the tall side, whereas Regulus was probably a bit shorted. Sirius was leaner, and Regulus was more stout. Not chunky, but stout. Like a scotsman, sort of. I think that Regulus' eyes were shaped differently, too. I always pictured Sirius with wide, bright eyes, and Regulus with thinner eyes, that weren't really bright, but deep.

2. What was Regulus’ personality like?
I think that Regulus started off the typical little brother, worshiping Sirius and trying to be just like him. But then, Sirius started getting in trouble with their parents for not following their wishes, and Regulus decided that he didn't want to get in trouble, so he completely changed over, from being the annoying copycat little brother to the shining example of what his parents wanted. It went from being 'Regulus don't follow your brother's bad example' to 'why can't Sirius be more like Regulus.' I do think that he was probably ignored a bit as a child, so when Sirius started getting ignored, he jumped in there to become the favorite son.

3. How did Regulus feel about his family and their values?
He probably didn't really have an opinion per say, more like it was how he was raised, so that's how it was. It's like in my family, we're raised so that the teens can drink with the adults once they turn 16, and we don't really have an opinion about it. We don't think it's right or wrong, that's just how it is. Of course, he probably started to sort of take on their opinion that anyone who wasn't pureblood was filth eventually, simply because that's what he was around and that's what his friends were like. I'm thinking he didn't see it to the extent that his family did, but went with it because it was easy. And when he joined the DE, it was him trying to take the place of favorite son. Of course, he had to have some compassion, because I'm sorry, but you didn't leave the DE because you were scared. You joined because you were scared. You left because you knew what they were doing was wrong and didn't want to do it anymore.

4. Was Regulus the favourite son of Orion and Walburga?
No, but he was trying. Sirius was the eldest, so he was the favorite. I think that after Sirius was disowned, their parents probably got really strict with Regulus, trying to make him into what Sirius was supposed to have been. And he began to do what they said because he wanted them to love him. But I don't think he was ever the favorite.

5. How did Sirius and Regulus feel about each other?
I think that Sirius and Regulus were inseparable until Sirius began to defect from what his parents wanted him to be. When Sirius went to school and was sorted into Gryffindor, he became something to be ashamed of in the family, so Regulus probably started to resent him. After all, he was home with their parents, who were probably talking smack about him. Eventually, Regulus hated Sirius, because he'd once had what Regulus had wanted as a child (being the favorite with their parents) and had thrown it away. But they never really hated each other. They just wanted to. But in the end, they were still brothers. I think that part of the reason Regulus defected from the DE was because he still looked up to Sirius, and when he was given a good reason to follow his brother's example, he did.