Power: Maybe you envy the power these evil characters wield. While that's also a reason to adore superheroes, good guys don't ache to dominate. Stories like Watchmen and Kingdom Come show how heroes become menaces when they try to take over. So when dreaming of superpowers, maybe you relate to characters who dream of power as well, from the Scarecrow (who controls individuals' fears) to Doctor Doom (who's perpetually out to dominate the world).

Payback: Batman not only protects the innocent, he inflicts pain upon the wicked and instills in them the fear they'd create in others. A child who feels bullied wants protection and might want the bullies to suffer in kind. Batman only goes so far. But the Punisher -- driven more by revenge than justice, and more interested in killing mobsters than in saving victims -- seems less heroic. The part of a person that wants payback might appreciate villains' frequent schemes for revenge.

Blaming victims: Psychologist Melvin Lerner observed the just-world phenomenon, a common tendency to assume victims must deserve to be victims rather than believe bad things happen to good people. The worse the tragedy is, the worse we tend to think the victim must be, so when Hannibal Lecter mutilates and eats not only a person who offended him but also his victim's spouse, human nature motivates us to think the worst of that relative as well.

Better villain than victim: Physiologically, anger activates us and feels better than anxiety or fear. One who feels victimized and cannot figure out constructive ways to stand up, be strong or become heroic might twist the need for self-assertion into destruction. Alternately, a healthy person simply might focus on how all characters assert themselves in any given story.

Better villain equals better hero: A hero only appears as heroic as the challenge he or she must overcome. Great heroes require great villains: Without criminals, Batman has nobody to hit and Superman's a flying rescue worker searching for people to save from wrecks and natural disasters. Without supercriminals, the world's finest heroes seem like overpowered brutes nabbing thugs unworthy of them. Through myths, legends and lore across time, we have needed heroes who rise to the occasion, overcome great odds and take down giants.

Facing our fears: Instead of dreading the darkness, you might reduce that dread by shining a light and seeing what's out there. Fiction can help us feel empowered and enlightened without literally traipsing into mob hangouts and poorly lit alleyways. Watching a gangster point a gun at Bruce Wayne's head in Batman Begins is as close as most of us want to get.

Exploring the unknown: Our need to challenge the unknown has driven the human race to cover the globe. This powerful curiosity makes us wonder about everything that baffles us, including the world's worst fiends. Knowledge is power, or at least feels like it. Learning more about Ted Bundy and the Unabomber helps us feel less vulnerable to others who'd commit similar deeds. When gritty details repulse us, exploring evil through the filter of fiction can help us contemplate humanity's worst without turning away or dwelling almost voyeuristically on real human tragedy. Even when the fiction is about improbable people doing impossible things, the story's fantastic nature reassures us that this cannot happen -- and therefore we don't have to turn away.

Supervillains' Ultimate Purpose

In the end, our interest in supervillains can be healthy or unhealthy. Even the more maladaptive reasons for such fascination tend to arise from motivations that were originally healthy and natural -- frustrated drives that went the wrong way.

Remember, though, that superheroic fiction ultimately begins and ends with the heroes. Comic book writers and artists create supervillains, who move in and out as guest stars and supporting cast, first and foremost to reveal how heroic the comics' stars can be.