Many of these villains may have been either shown some empathy at the start, but later lose their empathy, leading to them forgetting moralities between right or wrong, and will continue to do what's wrong more than anything else. They tend to have dealt with legal issues, have unstable personal lives, or environmental problems, which cause them to become who they are. Sometimes Sociopathy can be inherrited in families who have a history with having Sociopathy.

A tragic event may have started to change the protagonist into a different type of person with different beliefs. Some can also be delusional or even dimwitted as well. They are also arrogant, act on destructive impulse, and have very little regard for the consequences of their actions. Some could have been corrupted at times by more corrupting villains that have much of an impact on such.

Sociopaths also have a "Trickster" trait since they have a habit of Lying and Deceiving other people for their own benefits of opportunism. They can also have a tendency to be more reckless and aggressive, which can lead them to being irresponsible and get into trouble with the law. Sociopaths tend to get angry or defensive whenever they get confronted, it's rare for an sociopath to not get furious when they get confronted (i.e Danyell Radcliff).

These types of villains are not to be confused with Psychopaths, which the latter are more born that way.

• While sociopaths may have some empathy (albeit not oftenly), while Psychopaths don't have any actual feelings at all.
• Psychopaths have a better control of impulse and aggression than sociopaths do.
• Sociopaths can be capable of making a few close attachments with a few people, while most Psychopaths are incapable of forming true emotional attachments with anyone.
• Sociopaths tend to have a weak conscience, while Psychopaths have no strong morals or conscience.
• Sociopaths can still be capable of stress and anxiety, while psychopaths do not respond to punishment, stress, fear, or disapproval.
• Psychopaths are much more level-headed than Sociopaths.

Some of these types of villains in fiction may not always be Complete Monster as much as Psychopaths would be more likely to be such.