Distinctions

What separates our heroes from our villains is not, in many cases, what they do - both heroes and villains tend to use violent means to their ends. Sometimes, we can distinguish them by what the ends are - but that tends to be more useful in fiction, where villainous characters tend to have overtly evil goals. Mostly, it occurs to me, the difference is in the targets. The more we identify and/or sympathize with those that violence is being done to, the more likely we are to consider the perpetrator a villain.