Sadists

Sadists are people who feel joy at seeing their victims suffer, either physically or mentally. This kind of cruelty is also known as "schadenfreude" (from "schaden" = "injury"; "freude" = "joy"), though that term generally refers to cases where the sadist derives pleasure from pain inflicted by something other than themselves.

These villains can be delusional, for example, if they convince themselves that their enemies must suffer and take enjoyment in doing so.

Sadists are the opposite of merciful heroes.

Notes

• Do NOT add ANY sadomasochists (who also take pleasure out of infliction on pain unto themselves) under this category, no exceptions.
• Villains who commit acts such as destruction, for an example, or commit crimes such as poaching for fortune, torture, mutilation, rape, cannibalism and/or snuff film making without driving any sadism or joy from it, all for examples, then they do not qualify. A villain must show clear enjoyment in the pain they cause to others in order to qualify (though many of the villains who commit the aforementioned crimes can indeed, very well be sadistic).
• Villains who simply give off creepy smiles (e.g. Cartoon Cat) without being sadistic or enjoying anyone's pain also do not qualify.
• Being a sadist does not always mean that the character is Chaotic Evil and vice versa. In fact, it is also possible for Neutral Evil and Lawful Evil villains or even characters with Lawful Neutral and Chaotic Neutral alignment to be sadists too.