I really hate this whole crop of "Sympathetic villains" not because I dont like complex villains, but because it usually boils down to them just being treated like "Heroes with sad backstories" or "Society is to blame." Like yea, society sucks, but YOU are the asshole thats blowing stuff up and making it worse.
I miss villains that are evil because they are just selfish bastards, they dont need a sad backstory to be evil, or if they have a sad backstory, they dont care about it. I like my villains being vile, I like when my villains get HUMBLED. I like when my villains are just absolutely evil.
You know what would ACTUALLY be interesting? There is a set up for a villain that makes it seem like they have a genuine reason for their actions, they get confronted by the hero, who tells them they understand them, and that they can change things if they work together. The villain pauses, then immediately LAUGHS IN THE HERO'S FACE! The villain revealing that they dont give a flying FUCK about that, and that they are doing this because they want to, for greed, for some other vile reason. Thats what I want. I want the villain that MOCKS the idea of redemption, so when they get defeated it is even more gratifying to see them full of regret and fear.
