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See, my problem in the whole "evil for evil's sake is Boring/Cardboard" is that, in my life I've been "blessed" to know a LOT of bad people. And most of the time they ARE just Bad People. Like yeah, some people had a "tragic" backstory, but not all or even most. And very few ever gave any inkling that they would have ever been Good People, "Were it not for this One Thing" in their backstory.
Most of those people didn't steal because they were in need or had ever gone without, they stole because they could. They did or sold drugs because it was easy and fun. They abused women and children because women and children are weaker. And so on.
Statistically, some people are "perpetuating a cycle", sure. But definitely not all and I'd argue not even most.
Maybe "they were just plain Bad People" is a little less "interesting" to read, but in my experience the whole "They weren't Bad until something MADE them that way" has nothing to do with Real Life.
Some people are just plain born with a strong sociopathic streak. The want/"need" for villains to have some sort of "It wasn't their fault!" backstory openly ignores the fact that some people are just plain rotten. And a lot of them DO come out of the box like that.
I guess maybe it depends on who you know. Personally, the "tragic backstory" villain trope has always rubbed me the wrong way because in my experience that is NOT how it really works.
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