I came across a Dean Koontz article that, in part, answered the question, "How do you come up with your villains?" His response struck a chord with me that resonated with my most enjoyable characters. Whether you're just starting out, stuck in a roleplaying rut, or just looking for a different angle, maybe this will help put things in a new perspective. It's actually pretty close to how I've approached roleplaying in some of my favorite incarnations.

http://www.kindlepost.com/2010/10/guest-blogger-dean-koontz.html

"Another frequently asked question is "How do you create such bizarre, yet convincing and terrifying villains?" The glib answer is to say I watch the evening news. In fact, however, the antagonists in my novels create themselves, just as do the protagonists. I conceive a character around a seed of truth, some essential fact that lies at the core of him, then I give him free will, and I discover more about him as the story unfolds. Sometimes, when characters surprise me with their revelations, it seems as if they are indeed real, that I am writing in a kind of dream state that allows me to bridge this world with some parallel reality and tap the consciousness of people living there, rendering them as characters in my novels."