Rhys is kind of a jerk. He admits that working at Hyperion makes him one of the bad guys in the story, but still, he's actually not the worst person in it by a long shot. Most people range from jerk to sociopathic megalomaniac in Borderlands, so he's actually doing pretty well, all things considered. Except for the part where he idolizes Handsome Jack, the sociopathic-est megalomaniac around before his untimely death.
Rhys is ambitious to a fault, determined to climb the corporate ladder through whatever means necessary. This makes him an asshole. When his former boss is murdered, his first thought is that all his years of sucking up were wasted. Upon meeting Cassius, he decides that killing him seems like a good idea. On a less murder-y note, he's willing to do anything to enact vengeance on Vasquez after being demoted, including screwing him out of a ten million dollar deal. He's also incredibly judgmental of Pandora and those who live there; on top of being an ass to Fiona and Sasha, he attempts to steal their caravan. Rhys looks out for numero uno. His motivation is, first and foremost, greed. Not just for the money, but for the power as well. He’s spent his life as a cog in the corporate machine when what he wants to be is the guy in charge. He certainly has an ego — although he’s lacking in actual confidence and charisma — and doesn’t hide it; everyone at Hyperion is an asshole, so there’s not much reason to hide your own assholery, especially not when that’s what will get you to the top. Rhys knows that assimilating to the Hyperion Way Of Life™ is how he'll get ahead, so that's what he does.
On the surface, it seems that Rhys has little in the way of redeeming qualities. Instead of confidence in the face of danger, Rhys is usually scared shitless. While trying to make sarcastic quips, he often stumbles over his words. Not only are many of the plans he comes up with impractical, but nobody actually stays around to listen to him pitch them. He's incredibly ineffectual in a fight unless he has his stun baton, which is very hard to use incorrectly, or he's giving Loader Bot commands from the sidelines. He punches someone — with his flesh hand, even! It doesn't occur to use his metal robot hand to punch somebody — and actually hurts himself in the process. In fact, for all Rhys' cunning, he's far too inept to be a supervillain.
He isn't all bad, though! Vaughn, his best friend, is someone he cares about a lot. The point of stealing Vasquez' deal — aside from the whole revenge thing — is so he, Vaughn, and their friend Yvette can split the money and live the good life, so he isn't entirely focused on screwing someone else over. Just... mostly. His motivations definitely do transform into something more than "fuck with Vasquez" as the story goes along, and he even warms up to the two grifters he and Vaughn pick up as unlikely companions. He looks incredibly pleased when Fiona tells Scooter that he and Vaughn are their friends, and even sort of caught off-guard. While the Hyperion guys still butt heads with the con artist girls, mostly because aforementioned con artists hate Hyperion just like everyone else on the planet, there's something pretty deep about bonds forged through fire. He clearly takes his friendships at least somewhat seriously, as later in the story he's upset by Yvette's betrayal. ("Have fun being an awful person. K, bye!")
He might not be necessarily street smart, but he is pretty intelligent when you get down to it, too. Rhys has managed to survive on an incredibly deadly planet where everyone wants to kill him, which is no small feat, especially when you're more used to sitting at a desk than fighting off would-be killers. He does occasionally overestimate his hacking abilities, but for the most part, he actually is very talented at it. His plans might not always be the best, but he manages to be pretty resourceful in the moment. Often, there isn't any time to think about what to do next — he just has to do it. In most of those cases, his improvisation serves him well. Rhys' cunning, while a flaw, manages to work as a strength at times; his devious plans have gotten him out of tight situations before.
Rhys isn't always devious, though. Sometimes, he's a little bit of a kid. He has no reservations about expressing his enthusiasm (or, in some cases, idolization) for things or people. Except when it gets embarrassing. As a kid, he made his own business cards. At Hyperion, he has motivational posters of Handsome Jack up all over the walls. When he meets Zer0 for the first time, he's somewhat star-struck, and later in the game is overjoyed by the idea that he might actually get to sit next to him. He's a fanboy, basically. He's a loser, decidedly not cool, so it makes sense for him to be the type to look up to his heroes. After all, they're everything he's not and wishes he was.
Fortunately, he doesn't live up to his biggest idol Handsome Jack's reputation despite his wishes. While he wishes he were President of Hyperion, he's just a lowly code monkey and, later, "assistant vice janitor." He's absolutely terrible at strangling people, Jack's favorite pastime. He also appears to be capable of actual empathy and human emotion, so there's that. He readily admits that because everyone in Hyperion wants to be Handsome Jack, everyone in Hyperion is also an asshole. So, he isn't as terrible as he could be. In actuality, Rhys is pretty different from Jack. While he’s a complete corporate scumbag on the outside — and embraces it — he has a bit more depth than that. He’s a “hidden heart of gold” type, although it’s probably more like... silver or bronze. Jack, on the other hand, believes himself a hero and basks in the adoration of his people, while treating them like shit. He punches a guy in the face every time he sees him, and the dude feels honored. He punches his mom in the face. He's a dick.
Rhys is super flawed, that much is true, but he's definitely not as horrible as Jack. Much of his interaction with Jack is being manipulated by him. Jack knows what Rhys wants — he's inside his head, after all. He fluffs Rhys' ego, claims that they're friends or a "team," and promises to help Rhys climb the ranks at Hyperion. Technically, Jack is planning to help Rhys climb the ranks, except he'll be dead and his body will be Jack's meat suit. But, you know, BFFs. His enchantment with Jack is actually wearing off by this point. After trusting him in Episode 2, he nearly shoots all of Rhys' friends while having a psychopathic party of one. He's beginning to realize that Jack is not all he was cracked up to be, and he certainly isn't the hero he believes he is. At this point, though, it's a little too late to decide not to trust him; he's already in Rhys' subsystems, along for the ride.
Long story short, Rhys isn't the best person, but he isn't the worst, either. He's got his heart in the right place where it counts, he's just annoying about it. Rhys is an asshole. He fucks Vasquez over for no reason other than to get back at him. He makes no secret of how much he hates Pandora. However, he's also determined, good with technology, hard to kill like a cockroach that just doesn't give up, and surprisingly fond of his friends — for every bad quality, he also has a good one. Except his terrible fashion sense. Nothing makes up for that.
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