A veteran soldier with years of experience, Emil Blonsky showed a deep passion for combat. When asked why he would not accept a promotion, he answered that he was a soldier and wanted to be one for as long as possible. Being aware that he was getting slow with age, Blonsky showed an intense desire to return to his glory days, as he commented that if he put his current level of experience in his body from ten years ago, that would be an opponent he would not want to fight. Blonsky's fierce desire to remain on the battlefield is what convinced Thaddeus Ross to offer him to try the experimental Super Soldier Serum replica, which he accepted.

After his first encounter with Hulk, Blonsky became obsessed with defeating the green monster at all costs, slowly losing his sanity and humanity as he continued injecting himself with more Super Soldier Serum. Upon learning that Samuel Sterns had the gamma radiation-irradiated blood samples, Blonsky became even more obsessed with obtaining Hulk's power, going as far as threatening Sterns and ignoring his warnings.

When Blonsky mutated into the Abomination, he readily accepted his new form and immediately became drunk with power, going on a rampage through Harlem and killing several soldiers just to show off his new strength. When Hulk appeared, Blonsky was pleased and eager to have another rematch to see which mutant was stronger. Throughout their duel, he repeatedly enjoyed beating up Hulk and taunting him, showing his sadistic nature and he even arrogantly told Bruce Banner that he did not deserve Hulk's power. Abomination's aggressive and arrogant behavior, as well as his obsession with defeating Hulk, likely resulted from the Super Soldier Serum enhancing Blonsky's desire to become a better fighter.

Ruthless, savage and psychopathic, Blonsky didn't seem to care about possible defeat or death in the heat of the battle with Hulk at Harlem, all that he cared about was to achieve his goal; to become the strongest being in the world. However, he was also quite clever and astutely told Ross that he would need a team that was prepped and ready, because if Hulk showed up a lot of professional tough guys would 'piss their pants'.

Following his imprisonment within Damage Control's premises and meeting his seven soul mates on a pal program, however, Blonsky seemed to have significantly mellowed out, shown by the time he joined the Golden Daggers Club as a tournament fighter. However, he still retained a part of his ferocity as the Abomination, as he is shown to fight fiercely against Wong, one of the Masters of the Mystic Arts, as well as still emitting the classic roar of the Abomination. He also showed a new interest in money, as he did not refuse Intelligencia to put on an illegal show even though his transformation would be a violation of parole. Despite their rivalry in combat against Wong, Blonsky has some kind of friendship with the sorcerer, as he was shown to be friendly to Wong after their match and accompanied him when he departed from the Golden Daggers Club through a Sling Ring. Since his incarceration, he appears to have sincerely reformed. During his prison sentence, he helped both fellow prisoners and inmates, creating a literacy program, leading guided meditation and yoga for the prisoners, and stopping a prison guard from entering a bad marriage. Even when offered by Wong to go to Kamar Taj, he chose to return to his cell and serve out the rest of his sentence.