Raditz is an antagonist in the Dragon Ball manga, and in the Dragon Ball Z anime. He is the biological brother of Goku (Kakarot), and the eldest son of Bardock. As with all other Saiyans in the series, Raditz's name is a pun off a vegetable, "radish" in this case. Raditz's family are all named after root vegetables (burdock, radish, and carrot).

History
Raditz was once a member of the Saiyan Army, but after his race's demise, he worked alongside Vegeta and Nappa directly for Frieza's Planet Trade Organization. While working with a team led by Vegeta, Raditz traveled to Earth to discover if Kakarot (Goku's birth name) had finished the mission that he was sent on as a baby over two decades prior: the conquest of Earth. Upon arrival, however, Raditz discovered that Goku had lost his violent Saiyan tendencies and also had no knowledge of his ancestry or his true species. Raditz attempted to persuade Goku to join him and become a planet trade pirate, but to no avail.

Appearance
Raditz's appearance consists of extremely long, spiky black hair with a prominent widow's peak, brown and black colored Battle Armor in the same style as the rest of Frieza's soldiers, with boots, armored gloves, and a scouter that is blue in the manga and green in the anime. Additionally, he wears two accessory bands that are white in the manga and red in the anime: one is tightened around his left arm, and the other on his left leg.

Personality
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 his 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 for 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, laughing.

Raditz can also be quite a coward when facing death, as he kept struggling and begging with panic in 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.

He claims to want 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 Saiyan clan 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 has no problem whatsoever killing his brother or his nephew without hesitation. Raditz in some ways, seems to take after Vegeta, glorifying the Saiyan race and killing anyone who is either a threat, or in the case of Goku and Gohan, refuse to live up to the expectations of their barbarous lifestyle.

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 slightly arrogant. 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 1,500,[1] 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.

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. In the Frieza Saga, Raditz is shown 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.

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