Unlike his brother, Goku, his mother, Gine, and his father, Bardock, Raditz is harsh, brutal, and often arrogant like most Saiyan warriors. He does, however, give his brother a chance to become part of Frieza's empire, only attacking Goku when he refuses and protests against his plans. He likes to mock weaker opponents, and to mess around with them before actually finishing them off; as shown when constantly mocking Piccolo, and taking great pleasure in seeing his own brother Goku and nephew Gohan in pain. He is incredibly manipulative, begging Goku to let him go when Goku grabs his tail to weaken him. Goku does and Raditz damages him tremendously and begins to crush his ribs, taunting him whilst laughing.

Raditz can also be quite a coward when facing death, as he kept struggling and begging desperately with his usually arrogant attitude when facing Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. Apparently, unlike most Saiyans in general, especially Goku, Raditz fears death greatly. He was only willing to accept his death when he arrogantly believed his comrades would revive him with the Dragon Balls. His cowardice might explain his weakness compared to Vegeta and Nappa, as a cowardly Saiyan is unlikely to suffer life-threatening injuries, meaning he would have had fewer opportunities to get a power boost from Saiyan Power like his father and younger brother.

He claims that he wants to anger Goku in order to get his Saiyan blood boiling, so he could realize his Saiyan heritage and get him to join the remaining Saiyans in collecting planets for Frieza. He is extremely proud of his Saiyan heritage, like Vegeta, and makes many comments on it, even explaining the near extinction of the Saiyans. He is also very disgusted to learn Goku's tail has been cut off and mocks and ridicules him for forgetting his mission to depopulate the Earth, due to an injury to Goku's head when he was a baby. He also mocks Goku for becoming soft and becoming a part of the Earth's population. He seems confident that Goku will join him, Nappa, and Vegeta. While kidnapping Gohan, he mocks his nephew for crying, telling him he is a Saiyan. He also has no apparent problem whatsoever killing his brother or his nephew without hesitation in stark contrast to his parents who are shown to value family (especially in the manga). In some ways, Raditz seems to take after Vegeta for glorifying the Saiyan race and killing anyone who is either a threat or, in the cases of Goku and Gohan, refuses to live up to the expectations of their barbarous lifestyle. It could be said that his elite Saiyan comrades may have been a bad influence on him due to their strong Saiyan pride and ruthlessness. Additionally, it is likely that his brutality is partially a result of the surviving Saiyans serving the tyrant Frieza who is also known to have a corrupting influence on those in his employ, thus Raditz may have become just as ruthless in order to adapt and survive working under the remorseless tyrant along with his surviving Saiyan comrades.

Raditz also is very dependent on his scouter, and when a power level gets too high (close to his level, which is 1,500), he assumes it is broken. Raditz displays a high level of confidence in his power level and strength and is very arrogant. During his time on Earth, he did not take Piccolo and Goku seriously and severely underestimated them due to their low power reading (This backfired when Goku held him in a Full-Nelson and Piccolo hit him with his Special Beam Cannon). He also refers to himself as a top-class warrior. Before dying, Raditz states that he has no doubt Nappa and Vegeta will bring him to life with the Dragon Balls. Nappa actually does consider using the wish to revive Raditz, but Vegeta instead chooses to wish for immortality, claiming that Raditz deserved to die for his incompetence.

The only instance where Raditz displays a positive side is when he shows genuine grief and remorse for Goku after they have both been hit by Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon, lamenting how Goku would sacrifice himself for what he saw as low-level trash, showing that he did value his brother's life in his own way. While he himself did try to kill his own brother, Raditz may have justified it in his mind that at least Kakarot would die at the hands of a fellow Saiyan.

In the Frieza Saga, Raditz is shown to be greatly affronted for receiving no praise from Frieza, Dodoria, or Zarbon after he conquered Planet Shikk along with Vegeta and Nappa. He was also mortified that Vegeta would abandon avenging his race, especially when rumors escalated in regards to Frieza's involvement in Planet Vegeta's destruction. This shows that like his parents he cares about his race and that he is eager to avenge them though only with the aid of his Saiyan comrades presumably due to being fully aware he is not strong enough to tangle with Frieza on his own.

It is implied that some of Raditz's more brutal tendencies could be the result of having grown up around the ruthless elite Saiyans Vegeta and Nappa, who tended to think little of Raditz due to his lower battle power - despite Raditz being one of the mid-class warriors, making him stronger than most other Saiyans. One possible reason for Raditz's coming to Earth was to prove himself useful by recruiting his younger brother (and possibly Gohan once he learned of the boy's existence) giving their group another Saiyan warrior to make conquering planets for Frieza much easier and possibly to one day rebel against Frieza. His attempts to anger and even kill his brother instead of leaving him in peace may have also been due to him being fully aware that weaker warriors like himself and his brother would not be capable of defeating Nappa and Vegeta who would likely not take to kindly to Raditz if he allowed his brother and nephew to live peacefully on Earth. This is implied in the What-If scenario Fateful Brothers, in which Raditz loses his memory and ends up bonding with his brother and nephew, only to become conflicted when his memory returns, though ultimately chooses to sacrifice his life by ramming his Attack Ball into Nappa and Vegeta's Attack Balls, killing all three of them. Before sacrificing himself, Raditz also states that behind Nappa and Vegeta is an even greater monster, referring to Frieza.

In the Granolah the Survivor Saga chapter "Bardock, Father of Goku, a young Raditz is shown together with two other Saiyan children, with Raditz holding a beetle while looking at another one with apparent fascination, indicating that his brutal nature as an adult may have been due to the influence of Vegeta, Nappa, and/or due to being employed by the Frieza Force (as Frieza is known to have a corrupting influence on his underlings). Gine also asks Bardock if he thinks Raditz will be jealous when he finds out he has a little brother.

The nature of Raditz's relationship with his parents is unknown, though it is implied that he did grow up around them for a time as he recognized his brother due to his resemblance to their father. It is known that Gine loved both her children and was proud that Raditz was assigned to invade a planet with Prince Vegeta in Dragon Ball Minus. However, it is implied that his relationship with his father Bardock is strained, though he apparently does respect him. Various video games that show them interacting together support this as Bardock tends to be cold towards Raditz, though this may be due to him being aware of his actions during the Raditz Saga thanks to his ability to see the future from the TV special. In Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2, if the warrior is training under Bardock, then Raditz will be surprised that they are training under him and even reveals that his father never taught him anything before asking why his father would train them over his own son. During a special instructor event, Raditz and his father end up having a reunion inside Orange Star High School. Raditz is surprised his father is alive and asks how he became an instructor, though Bardock asks him if he ever shuts up and states he doesn't know where he gets it from, before noting he seems to have grown a bit and asks Raditz if he wants to see how he'd fair against his father. Raditz notes to the Future Warrior afterward at how annoyed he is that his father never even let him know he was alive and states that his father's thinking reeks of Saiyan. Bardock himself notes to the Future Warrior that Raditz is just a low-class warrior and that he doesn't have much of a power level either, though he admits he respects Raditz's stubbornness and states that he never thought he'd see him again.

In Dragon Ball Z: Dokkan Battle, in his own Story Event, after losing to Vegeta and Nappa, Raditz has a dream of encountering his father on Planet Vegeta. In the dream, Bardock admonishes Raditz for his weakness and lack of Saiyan grit before challenging him to a battle. After the fight, Bardock tells Raditz that he can get stronger. After waking up from his dream, Raditz admits he dislikes training (this matches Nappa's statement in Xenoverse 2 when he says Raditz skipped out on tail training), though inspired by his father's words decides to train against several Saibamen (and a Kyukonman). After his training, he challenges Vegeta and Nappa who are impressed that he was able to hold his own against them before Vegeta sends Raditz to Earth to recruit his brother.

In Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, the events that lead up to Raditz being sent to Earth are shown. Like Nappa, Raditz is shown to fear Vegeta, especially when he threatens to kill him if he continues to be a hindrance to their missions, as he notes that they would have conquered the planet they are on sooner if he wasn't a weakling and Nappa insults Raditz by referring to him by his unofficial nickname "Raditz the Runt" (which he hates). Raditz remembers his brother as a result of Vegeta's threats and Vegeta allows him to go to Earth to retrieve him, which Raditz hopes will put him in better standing with his comrades as another Saiyan will bolster their forces. However, as his ship approaches Earth, he wonders what his brother has been doing, as he hadn't heard anything that suggested the planet had been conquered and, upon arrival, discovers that the Earthlings haven't been exterminated. He is also shown to be aware of Namekians like Nappa as he notes to himself that Piccolo is one upon encountering him and wonders what a Namekian would be doing on Earth, though, unlike Nappa, he keeps this knowledge to himself. When Raditz is revived in Age 763 (ironically by his killer Piccolo), he, despite Vegeta's threats to kill him for being weak, truly believed his comrade Vegeta would revive him as he assumed that was the case before Piccolo reveals he revived him. Piccolo is quick to point out that Vegeta isn't the type to revive someone who lost so easily. Raditz, however, makes the excuse that he was caught off guard for a second. Piccolo offers him a chance to prove it by fighting him, basically giving Raditz a chance to avenge his death. However, he is no match for the Super Namekian, who had fused with Nail and had recently survived the epic battles against Frieza on Namek. Piccolo notes that the difference between Raditz and Goku is that Goku doesn't complain when he loses (as losing only spurs him to grow stronger). However, Raditz, like Vegeta, holds on to his pride as a Saiyan warrior and swears that with training he can grow stronger than the Dragon Team (he is unaware that his brother has recently become a Super Saiyan). Intrigued, Piccolo suggests that he train with them, which Raditz accepts (though it is a temporary truce as Raditz plans to surpass them and hasn't truly given up on his evil ways). This shows that Raditz, like Vegeta at the time, is willing to ally himself with his former enemies in hopes of one day surpassing them.

Additionally, like in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Raditz's Super Dragon Ball Heroes game world self shown to be aware Piccolo is a Namekian in Super Dragon Ball Heroes: World Mission when he survives his encounter with Goku and Piccolo due to an in-game anomaly created by Sealas. However, it is unknown if his knowledge is a result of the anomaly and/or due to his status as the game world's incarnation of Raditz, as said characters are virtual representations of their real-world counterparts.