I have always thought that the antagonist was the most difficult character to create. It's not that I have any problem being dark and demented (ha-ha). The problem I have had -- and many people have -- is making the antagonist this 2 dimensional lord of all evil. Well, unless your antagonist is the substance of evil itself, there's more to it than that.
The antagonist needs to be a real person. I'm not saying that you're antagonist can't be something besides a human being. I'm saying that your antagonist needs just as much personality as any of your other characters! We tend to give them only one layer -- evil. I am HORRIBLY guilty of this. But I will tell you that once I managed to create an antagonist that was a real person my story was seriously strengthened!
Your antagonist shouldn't be evil for the sake of evil. Not everyone walks around killing people or blowing things up (or whatever it is the badguy does in your story). There should be something in their life that made them what they are. Some sort of conscious choice or change in them. Spend as much time developing your antagonist as you do your protagonist. Just like all your other characters they should have layers. And just because they are the antagonist doesn't mean that they have to be pure evil.
The antagonist needs to be personally despicable. Okay, so now that we've established that the antagonist needs to have a personality (preferably not a stereotypical one), we need to make sure that our antagonist is one that our readers will hate. Maybe you want to glorify your antagonist, but I think that it will make for a stronger story -- and a stronger effect on your readers -- if you create an antagonist that they want to DESTROY. Make your readers' skin crawl! Make them want to throttle the antagonist! That will only enthrall them even more in the story.
When I say "personally despicable" I mean that the antagonist needs to do something that will touch your readers as well as your characters. Make him/her do something that we ALL recognize as bad. And not just bad! Dishonorable. Low. Despicable. I remember -- when I was reading the Divergent series -- disliking Eric. He was just plain yucky. But I didn't hate him until he shot the little boy in the second book. When he did that, it felt like the gloves were off! If the antagonist is just walking around doing that "I'm bad, fear me," routine, we're not really going to be bothered. But when he does something that affects us -- as readers -- everything changes.
The first scene my antagonist is in, he squishes a mouse with his bare hand. Yucky, right? And then I just make him get worse from there. Write to really affect your readers. Make them HATE your antagonist while still making him a 3D character.
There's only one last point I want to make and that is The antagonist shouldn't think they're evil. I think that most badguys, if asked outright, wouldn't claim to be evil. They would tell you why they're doing this and display their motives as if to justify what they're doing. They think they're just as right as the people who are fighting for a just cause! Because they believe a lie, then end up on the wrong side. See how this ties in with the "lie, ghost, fear, need" routine? The antagonist is developed just like any other character. They are just fighting on the wrong side because they believe a lie. They have fallen SO far from the truth that they are willing to hurt others to get what they want.
These are just a few things about writing your antagonist. I have found that there are a LOT of helpful articles on the internet on the subject. But what I would really say is the most important part of creating a good badguy is to avoid the stereotypical. Make your antagonist just as unique as your protagonist!
(Thank you for listening to my ramblings. If you have any input, please comment below.)
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