vil·lain 
(vĭlən)
(vĭlən)n.
1. A wicked or evil person; a scoundrel.
2. A dramatic or fictional character who is typically at odds with the hero.
3. (also vĭlān′, vĭ-lān) Variant of villein.
4. Something said to be the cause of particular trouble or an evil: poverty, the villain in the increase of crime.
5. Obsolete A peasant regarded as vile and brutish.
[Middle English vilein, feudal serf, person of coarse feelings, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *vīllānus, feudal serf, from Latin vīlla, country house; see weik-1 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]