Reginald Hargreeves

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Lore & Background

In the television series, Reginald is portrayed by Colm Feore and appears in all four seasons in a main role. Feore joined the series in February 2018. He is revealed in the first season finale to be an alien from another planet who came to Earth following the death of his wife and the destruction of his home planet. Before leaving, he unleashed a jar of golden particles (largely implied to be the "marigolds" that brought the 43 children into existence). Upon arriving to Earth, he created an umbrella manufacturing company and became a billionaire entrepreneur. In 1920, he completed construction of the Hotel Obsidian, which he intentionally built near an alternate dimension that would supposedly rewrite the world. He sent a group of soldiers to eliminate the guardians of the alternate universe, but they were all slaughtered and Reginald presumably gave up on the mission. In the first episode of the series, he kills himself (a fact that is not revealed until later in the season) to reunite the children for his funeral and stop the apocalypse. He appears in the second season as a younger version of himself who works for the Majestic 12. In the sixth episode, he meets with his children at a tropical bar as they ask them for help in stopping the apocalypse and, while taunting them, gives Five advice on controlling his powers (which he uses to reverse time in the season finale). Later in the season, Reginald reveals his alien persona and kills the Majestic 12. The third season reveals that following the meeting at the tropical bar with the Umbrella siblings, he chose to adopt a new set of children in 1989, dubbing them The Sparrow Academy, who have ousted the Umbrellas in the present. He is also significantly different from his original counterpart, having been sedated for years by his children, following a disagreement in 2014 with an alternate Pogo which led to his assistant leaving and bestowing the pills to the Sparrows. He is soon taken off these pills by Klaus, and regains his abrasive personality and goals: specifically, his ambition to take his children to the alternate dimension in the Hotel Obsidian (dubbed Hotel Oblivion). He also helps Klaus expand his powers and discover his immortality, using the time with his son to manipulate him to his side. Following the expansion of the Kugelblitz, Reginald proposes to the Umbrellas and Sparrows an idea to head to Hotel Oblivion, recounting a mythic tale that suggests seven bells and a sigil that will allow someone to rewrite the universe. When the Umbrellas and Sparrows vote to remain in the original universe and await the apocalypse, Reginald kills Luther and uses the opportunity to take everyone to Oblivion to complete his mission. It is also revealed that, despite seemingly having no reason to do so, he did in fact send Luther to the moon for a purpose: to guard Reginald’s deceased wife who has been conserved in a cryogenic chamber in space. When it is discovered that Reginald’s children were the people meant to represent the seven bells (in a process that would drain their powers and kill them), Allison kills Reginald and resets the universe. This new universe shows that Reginald has gained control over the city, and his wife has mysteriously been resurrected.

In Their Own Story

The rain hammered against the stained glass of the grand foyer, but Reginald barely noticed. He stood before the fireplace, watching the flames dance with an expressionless gaze that had seen centuries pass. The house was silent, save for the distant sound of his children bickering in the halls—a chaotic noise he found both irritating and necessary. To him, they were not son or daughter, but variables in an equation he was desperate to solve. He adjusted his cufflinks, feeling the weight of the future pressing against his chest, knowing that soon, the clock would strike again, and he would have to choose between saving the world or fixing his own past.

Reader's Guide

Sir Reginald Hargreeves serves as the cold-hearted founder of the Umbrella Academy. He is an alien disguised as a wealthy entrepreneur and world-renowned scientist who received the Nobel Prize for his work in the cerebral advancement of the chimpanzee. He adopted seven super-powered children and transformed them into the superhero team called "the Umbrella Academy." He refuses to let the children call him father, demanding they address him by his codename The Monocle instead, and refers to them by number assigned in terms of "usefulness." In the television series, he kills himself in the first episode to reunite the children for his funeral and stop the apocalypse. In the second season, he appears as a younger version working for the Majestic 12, later revealing his alien persona and killing them. In the third season, after being sedated for years by his Sparrow Academy children, he is taken off pills by Klaus and regains his abrasive personality. He kills Luther to force the Umbrellas and Sparrows into Hotel Oblivion, where his children were meant to represent seven bells in a process that would drain their powers and kill them. Allison kills Reginald and resets the universe, resulting in a new universe where Reginald has gained control over the city and his wife has been resurrected.

Did You Know?

• Sir Reginald Hargreeves received the Nobel Prize for his work in the cerebral advancement of the chimpanzee.
• He is an alien from another planet who came to Earth following the death of his wife and the destruction of his home planet.
• In 1920, he completed construction of the Hotel Obsidian, built near an alternate dimension that would supposedly rewrite the world.
• He killed himself in the first episode of the television series to reunite the children for his funeral and stop the apocalypse.
• In the third season, it is revealed he sent Luther to the moon to guard Reginald’s deceased wife conserved in a cryogenic chamber in space.