The Necessary Balance Between Light and Darkness
When you look at great writing, the characters have a certain balance: Heroes have some darkness in them while villains have some light.
A Sailor and A Husband
Consider if you will Odysseus and Darth Vader. Odysseus was a great person: He was loyal to his wife; he was able to maintain a love for his wife over 20 years. He was able to figure out clever solutions to hard problems, and there’s no doubt that his crew was willing to follow him no matter where he would lead them. There’s no question the guy was a hero.
But for all of his loyalty, for all of his leadership capabilities, and for all of his problem solving capabilities, he still had some serious issues when it came to straight, good old fashioned ego. Every time he screwed up, it was because his hubris; his arrogance sometimes got in the way of making the right decision. He also had a pretty solid reputation for sadism; he once framed a man he had a grudge against, resulting in the man’s death.
So even though we recognize him as a hero he’s got some serious darkness in him.
A Man with a Force of Will
Conversely, Darth Vader in any other context would be a hero. He’s honorable; he even questions certain courses of action when they break bargains made or when they cause…