On Villains Types In Writing

It's my belief that a hero is only as good as the villain he fights. Consider Superman, with all his strength and abilities- how impressive would he really be if he only fought street thug boosting cars and purses. He needs his Lex, Batman needs his Joker, Donald needs his Rosie. An antagonist or villain serves a number of purposes, namely is being a reflection of the hero, revealing the heroes fears and weaknesses, showing their bravery. A villain shouldn't just be what the hero is not.

I've separated villains into five categories as I've seen them in popular culture:
1. The Pinky and the Brain Types
This is normally relegated to comedic roles although not always. They are ideal for the realm of comedy because of the fact that they're chronic losers. Pinky and the Brain have and will never win. They need no hero to thwart them although hero have been added to such villain type. Earlier Hero comics are an example. Every week, Superman beat back the forces of evil and the forces of evil got back up to be beaten back again.
2. The Minion Types
This type is normally not looked at as being evil, but being used by evil. There's the faceless face to be punched. The question some may be asking is, what's the different between Type 1 and Type 2. The audience doesn't care about a minion, they're pawns and no one mourns the loss or injury of a pawn.
3. The Joker Types
The Joker type is the next and more common level of villainy. They are the hero's equal and the hero's mirror. They push the hero amd make the audience cheek when and if the hero wins. If the hero saves the day, it means something, this type presents an actually threat to something.
4. The Devil Types
This type is a more mental type of villain. They make the hero doubt himself, they shake the hero to the core. They are the villain that heroes avoid due to the fear that they may fail. It's rare that the hero outright defeats this villain as much as they stop a specific plot and a bit of the time it's more the mountain than the climb that hinder the hero. The fight isn't normally as hands on. A spell uttered, a plunger dropped, a portal opened.
5. The Gambit
The gambit is basically the villain that eventually becomes a hero or at least does something heroic. It's as simple as that.

A Quick List Of Good Villains to check out:
John Alpha and his shadowy cohort- The 7th Son Trilogy- Free via jchutchins.net/
Alex Delarge- Clockwork Orange: Available on DVD and Blueray
Annie Wilkes- Misery: Read the book, the movie's good, the book is better! Available on Amazon.com
Hannibal Lecter- The Silence Of The Lambs: Available on DVD and Blueray