@Lin, thanks for asking hehe.
First off, I must admit, I don't like "evil" characters, I like morally compromised ones. I can appreciate a good psychopath, mostly from the way the actors portrays the role. But what I really like seeing is how a perfectly normal guy or girl is led to do the evil thing. Basically, I like watching internal conflict. To me, a villain becomes really compelling when they show a sliver of good, a hint of who they could be. For a second, you see them hesitate, sometimes they'll even try and do the right thing for a little while, then they go back to their old ways for some reason or another. A few faves :
Kang Do Yeong from Liar Game is one of my fave, probably because he's played by Shin Sung Rok. I really like his acting. (I liked the King from The last empress, but the writing for the show was all over the place.) Kang Do Yeong appears to be a sophisticated psychopath. He has superficial charm, he's handsome and intelligent, a master manipulator. He could make you like him, but he doen't care to. He is the MC of the Liar Game. He's the one who seems to orchestrate all of the trials the contestants are put through and he really seems to relish this role. The moment I (almost) fell in love was when towards the last episodes, the mask starts slipping under the pressure and he becomes more and more unhinged, and there's this fascinating scene in front of the mirror. What a truly frightnening scene! Haha, loved it.
Du Lei from Love is Sweet. He's a white collar criminal. From the very beginning we see him do very shady things: lie (by omission), manipulate and cheat. Then he falls in love and makes many changes. That said, he's so damaged already, it's very hard for him to just stop being who he's been trained to be for so long.
The chicken tycoon, from My Heart Twinkle Twinkle. This show was not good AT ALL, but the villain (also the ML) was extremely well written and acted. You could see many times this conflict that I like between conscience and self interest. He's a very greedy character, he wants it all. And he'll do what he has to do to get it all. What I really like about this charater is that he really wanted to be good. He would always hesitate til the very last second before doing the wrong thing.
Baek Hee Sung from Flower of Evil : I know, I know he's the protagonist of the show. But for the first half of the show, everything is telling us that he's also the villain. He would've been a GREAT villain: A psycho who wishes he wasn't one.
Actually my favorite villains look a lot like my favorite heroes, the main difference being what they ultimately choose to do. That also explains why my villains don't really kill many people. They might kill if they have to, but that's a mean to an end, not because they like killing. To me a person who likes killing is too far gone for me to relate. Because at the end of the day, to me, that's what it's about. I like watching people do the "wrong" thing, the thing that I wouldn't dare to do haha.
I got a bit carried away guys haha. Do you know these villains, and what do you think of them?