Thread:LucidPigeons/@comment-27729149-20151204153148/@comment-27818776-20160118151612

It depends on the writing and the impact that the writers are trying to make on the audience. If the writer had intended the villain to be purely evil from the start, they would make it to where their freudian excuse would be weak, or does not excuse their actions. For example, Captain Vidal from Pan's Labyrinth wanted his baby son, because he wanted to have a legacy through him. He had a father who was a commander that died in Morocco, so he felt compelled to have a legacy for himself. This isn't treated sympathetically, as Vidal developed sociopathic tendencies. He beat a farmer's son's face in with a beer bottle, and then killed the farmer before finishing his son off, tortured a rebel and then murdered the doctor for disobeying him, killing Ofelia, his stepdaughter, etc. The film constantly makes it clear that Vidal wants to make a name for himself, and to go down in the history books as a hero. His desire for having a legacy is denied towards the end.