V is for Villain- A to Z Challenge

V is for villain, a character that can make or break any story. A story that has great tension, heroes, humor, and everything else a reader could want but lacking a good villain often falls flat. A villain does not even need to be a person, it could be the government, a system, or a misunderstanding that stands at the root of all conflict. Sometimes the villain does not even know that they are the villain, or make an effort to be so. Like in Les Miserables, one villain is a man doing his job and strictly enforcing the law but forgetting about compassion, and another villain is the very poverty and social upheaval that leads to the French Revolution.

My favorite villains are the ones you love, or love to hate. The villains with a humor to them or a badness that is simply over the top. Think about some  the classic villains; scheming witches or kings looking for more power, those that think that they are better than those around them. There are the villains that know they are doing wrong, but do not really care. Then there are the villains that are noble in their own way, working towards what they see as the greater good even if it means perpetrating some evil deeds along the way. I have a special love for the characters that start off as villains, but somehow turn into the hero or just leave you rooting for them to somehow come out on top.

What do you think makes a great villain? Who is your favorite villain?