Raditz Character Facts

Unlike his brother Goku and his father Bardock, Raditz is mean and brutal 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. 
Raditz also is very dependent on his scouter, and when a power level gets too high (close to his level), he assumes it is broken. Raditz displays a high level of confidence in his power level and his 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. Also, he lies when he tells Goku that he is a first class warrior, and that he would not hesitate to kill his own brother if he had to. Raditz's power level being only 1,200 shows that he is in fact at lower level status (although he simply may have been referring to the fact that he behaves like a first-class warrior, thus cold-hearted and uncaring towards anyone but himself). 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.