Esdeath is a sadist who lacks empathy for people of whom she deems weak, since she lives by her father's philosophy ("The strong survive and the weak die"). She enjoys putting her enemies through great pain, both physically and emotionally. She has no qualms about killing innocent people to get what she wants, and rationalizes her behavior with her father's old creed. Esdeath is known to treat her subordinates well, letting them do as they please, which in turn inspires their intense loyalty and devotion; this makes her followers the strongest offensive force of the Empire. To her credit, Esdeath has demonstrated genuine care for her subordinates and unhesitatingly authorized them to kill Tatsumi should he ever endanger their lives.

Esdeath loves to fight and holds special respect for strong opponents. Her love of battle has occasionally inspired her to take actions that would incite more hatred against the empire, in the hopes of being able to put down more rebellions.

Despite her reputation, Esdeath possesses great charisma, able to inspire many to fight for her. 

Although she is unabashedly bloodthirsty, she keeps it from from dominating her judgment. If she sees that the battle is too much for her soldiers, she orders a retreat and doesn't risk heavy losses. While she will torture subordinates who fail, she can be forgiving to failed servitors, provided that they aren't complete failures, and gives them the benefit of the doubt if the failure wasn't their fault.