At the start of his trial in Oslo, he made a far-right salute and said he did not recognise the legitimacy of the court.
Breivik has admitted killing 77 people by detonating a bomb in the centre of Oslo and opening fire on young people attending a summer camp on Utoya island nearly nine months ago.
The 33-year-old is charged with terrorism but he intends to plead not guilty, arguing the attacks were a political act designed to prevent what he described as an Islamic invasion of Norway.
In court, Breivik described himself as a "writer" and told the judges: "I do not recognise the Norwegian courts.
"You have received your mandate from political parties which support multiculturalism."
Last week, his lawyer told reporters Breivik believes he should be facing a military tribunal, not a criminal court.
The trial began with the prosecution reading out the names and details of those killed and injured in the bombing and shooting spree last July.
The 10-week trial, which is being held in a specially-built courtroom that includes sheets of toughened glass behind the defendant, will hear from eyewitnesses, survivors and forensic experts.
After entering his plea, Breivik will take the stand again on Tuesday.
His defence lawyer, Vibeke Hein Baera, has told Sky News that part of their strategy is to call a series of extremists as witnesses, to question an initial psychiatric report that deemed Breivik to be criminally insane.
A second report disputed those findings and a panel of two professional and three lay judges will have to decide whether Breivik should be sent for treatment at a psychiatric hospital or jailed.
"This question will certainly permeate a large part of the trial," one of the two prosecutors in the case, Svein Holden, told news channel TV2 Nyhetskanalen.
"If the conditions are met to sentence Breivik to prison, we will call for that, but if ... we feel that those conditions are not met, we will call for care in a closed psychiatric ward," he said.
If Breivik is found sane he faces just 21 years in prison for the killings - though the sentence may be extended indefinitely if he is still considered a threat to society.
If he is found insane, he could spend the rest of his life on the closed psychiatric ward, a fate he has declared would be "worse than death".
He wants to be found sane and accountable for his actions, so that his anti-Islam ideology - presented in the 1,500-page manifesto he published online just before the attacks - will be taken seriously and not considered the ravings of a lunatic.
"From his point of view, he committed these acts in order to shed light on an ideology and world view. And, according to him, this vision of the world and this ideology carry more weight if he is considered accountable," his lawyer Geir Lippestad said.
He is expected to say he wishes he had "gone further", but cameras relaying the trial to over a dozen satellite courts around Norway and television stations around the world will be switched off during his evidence to deny him a platform for his extremist views.
The prosecution will tell the court the killings were pre-meditated murder.
They will say he bought a fake police uniform and badges in the Czech Republic in 2010 before renting a farm 90 miles from Oslo where he wrote the manifesto and started to assemble a bomb from fertilisers, diesel and chemicals.
Both sides agree that on July 22, 2011, he drove the device into the government quarter of the capital just after 3.15pm, parked it in front of the building which housed the prime minister's office, lit a seven-minute fuse, then walked to a getaway car.
Eight people were killed in the devastating explosion and more than 200 were injured.
As survivors stumbled through the rubble, Breivik was already on his way to Utoya island, where the AUF Labour Party was holding its annual summer camp.
After convincing AUF organisers on the mainland that he was a policeman sent to secure the island after the bomb blast in Oslo, he made the short trip over the water. Then the massacre began.
For over an hour he aimed, fired and reloaded as terrified youngsters ran for cover and others fell with fatal gunshot wounds. In all, 186 bullet casings were found on the island.
He surrendered after officers finally arrived on the island, having called police to say that his "mission" had been "accomplished".
Utoya survivors have said they want Breivik to have a fair trial, and they do not want the legal system to treat him more harshly than anyone else.
"Breivik tried to attack the rule of law and for me it's more important to preserve the system that he wanted to destroy than to change that system to keep him in prison," Bjoern Ihler, a 20-year-old survivor, said.
The massacre shocked normally tranquil Norway, home of the Nobel Peace Prize, sparking emotional displays of national unity and a deep reflection on the delicate balance between openness and security.
"On July 22, it was our democracy that was attacked," Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg told news agency NTB recently.
"It is therefore more important than ever to show that our democracy and rule of law work," he said.
The size and scope of the trial is unprecedented in the Scandinavian country, and will attract worldwide media coverage: some 800 reporters are accredited to follow the proceedings, which are expected to last 10 weeks amid high security.
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