The Power of Empathy

This is kinda just a random topic I thought I would write, but who all here has met/encountered a emphatic villain? That character who while clearly defined as a baddy, you also come to know that they themselves have their own lives, wishes, dreams, apart from the main character's? These are the villains I love, and the ones I love to make. Villains that challenge the need for something to be an eldritch demon from Hell with no depth or personality aside 'Kill!" as their favorite word.

Probably one of my favorite instances of this is the villain group Phoenix from Transcending Zenith, a roleplay series me and a couple of friends work on. It's an organization I made with each member wielding a core element such as fire, water, so on. Eight in all, minus one or two defectors such as my main protagonist. With a few exceptions, the majority of the characters from the group are all technically villains* but for the most part all have their interesting components that make them identifiable and enjoyable, when they're not out trying to destroy humanity, they fight, quarrel, argue, prank each other (Noriko being the primary cause of all of these things, little prankster fairy she is...) and in general are very much like a family unit, save for their issues which ultimately starts causing divides in the organization as White, the leader, slowly tips toward the crazy spectrum. 

That aside, I do prefer some villains be simple, while others be more dynamic like I've described, they both serve their purpose. But what really draws people to characters like these I feel is the fact they aren't just some organization trying to destroy the world, they're an organization who act less like your typical 'I want to kill everything' and more like a dysfunctional family that just so happens to hate humans. Some of them at least. Characters that people can really get attached to, even though they're the enemy and you should want them to lose, you still want, in some part of your mind, to see a case where they don't have to die. I know of several anime organizations (like Akatuski and the Espada) who have members that just really endear people to them.

With me at least, I try to add dynamics that make characters feel less like characters and more like people who aren't perfect, have their limits, and can be just as easily be driven crazy by the local prankster as we all can. Have emotional issues that aren't contrived or typical of tropes, though with that said, it's good to have some tropes, as long as they're not done to death.

What's your guy's thoughts on this?