On Supervillain Psychology and Behavior

Super-villains often have no interest in inventions that allow them to retire rich, because they're crazy. They want to accomplish their goals, they don't care to explain how they do so, and even if they did, it would only generate opposition.
The young Lex Luthor on Earth-2 has no problem cashing checks as a rich businessman who doesn't get sent to prison all the time. For his father, though, the wealth isn't the ends, it's the means. He wants to gain power by force, not because he helped the masses, or convinced them to vote for him.
Luthor, Sr., wants to prove his superiority over the common man, prove himself beyond the 'petty laws' of 'lesser intellects,' to prove himself the true Nietzschen Superman. That's the reason for his unceasing hatred of Kal'El, and explains the elder Luthor's pathological need to defeat the Kryptonian.
Really, he's kind of a dick.
A lot of super-villains match Luthor's pathology. Motivations other than lust for money or power drive the actions of many, and some just experience mad compulsions ('must leave riddles at every crime scene with clues to the next crime, the nature of this crime wave, or similar;' 'must kill someone every new moon;' or, 'must defeat the Flash').
The desire for wealth does drive the motivations of some who experience self-esteem issues (or other mental problems) that render them unable to accept that they could acquire money and/or political power legally. Any of those enhanced by thought-form spirits who started out as criminals tend to acquire abilities that enhance their existing modus operandi.
Some on Earth-2, and especially "super-villains" on Earth-1, just want to have fun, and tend to ham it up, but actually commit relatively minor crimes. Some of those will even help the heroes, if more lethal villains start serious trouble.
Others may feel a compulsion to act like a super-villain, or to commit crimes in costume, but without any more specific urges. These "super-villains" may share traits with their more lighthearted colleagues, especially if they don't otherwise have criminal tendencies.
Some may obsess over a particular hero, and express that fascination in disturbing ways. In other words, they qualify as "super-stalkers" rather than "super-villains" and may not want to specifically defeat a particular hero.
The great majority of supervillains on Earth-1 and Earth-2 already had serious mental issues (or, at least, criminal tendencies) even before powers manifested strongly enough to allow them to commit significant crimes. The spirits find it far easier to grant new skills and powers to those already inclined to use them, than to impose new personality traits on those who don't have them.
It is in fact extremely rare for a spirit to try to force a generally sane, generally law-abiding person to become a super criminal. Indeed, it may never happen.
That said, some spirits do strengthen or weaken anti-social or criminal tendencies people already possess, but keep under control -- or, at least, concealed. After all, that sort of self-discipline offers lots of benefits in most civilized areas, in that it keeps them out of jail.
However, it also means that, to other people not aware of the existence of those tendencies, it can certainly seem that affliction by the spirits "changed" someone.
With great insanity, comes great power -- so long as the spirits believe the combination of insanity with power will make someone interesting.
Category:Setting Concepts
Category:Five Earths