It's very rare that a real villain ever considers himself to be a villain. Even if he knows down in his guts that it's power-lust and / or greed, he manages to convince himself that he has a good, moral reason for doing what he wants to do. Psychiatrists call it "rationalization." In his own mind, he is the hero of the story.

Even Cesare Borgia justified all the treachery, deceit, and assassinating by saying that he was trying to unite the independent Italian city-states into one cohesive nation (under his leadership, of course) in order to drive out foreign invaders and exploiters like Spain, France, and Austria. And if he had to invade the city-states and kill their leaders in order to save them? Well, it was all in a good cause!

And the followers of such leaders? Little Hawk said it neatly:    "This combination of patriotism and naiveté. . . ."

And the beat goes on.

Don Firth