Good and Evil Villains

Being evil is not an acceptable motive for a villain.

Why?

Because no human being thinks of themselves as evil. Even Adolf Hitler thought he was doing good.

So why do so many villains (especially in fantasy) wear black, cackle evilly, and only want to take over/destroy the world?

Simple answer: Laziness. You don't want to craft a decent motive for the villain, so you just say "evil".

No. Does not work.

"But Tolkien did it!"

Not an excuse. You are not Tolkien. And even he had his flaws.

Let's look at some other motivations.

• Perhaps this villain thinks something is fundamentally wrong with the world and wants to change it for the better.
• Perhaps the villain wants the same as the hero, but thinks that it's okay to kill people to achieve it, or wants it for selfish purposes.
• Perhaps the villain is in the right and all the "good guys" are being manipulated.
• Perhaps the villain’s motivation is smaller-scale (money, revenge, escape), and has nothing to do with changing the whole world.
• Perhaps the villain wants to impress a girl and really doesn't know how to go about it.

Look at some of the great villains (or gray characters) of other books, movies, and games.

Marisa Coulter - His Dark Materials: She does what she does out of a desire to help the church, and later to protect Lyra.

Cato - The Hunger Games: Wants to survive!

The Drej - Titan A.E.: Are afraid of what the humans might become.

Camus The Sable - Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon: Acts out of loyalty to his kingdom, and refuses to abandon it when it needs him the most.

Edward Cullen - Twilight: Wants to be an annoying, brooding stalker. Succeeds.

And one very dumb villain...

King Galbatorix - Inheritance: Is omg so evil evil evil evil evil evil evil mad evil evil evil dark evil evil evil insane evil evil EVIL.

All of these villains commit atrocities, and that's still okay. It's not what they do, but why they do it. Someone who kills children because he truly believes he is saving them from some threat may end up being more sympathetic than someone who pokes people with sticks just because he's a jerk.

Readers want a villain that they can understand, and yet still hate and want to die a horrible death. They want a story that could be easily turned around and told from the point of view of the villain. They want a villain that is bad, but good.