Why do villains usually look cooler?

[CliffHanger2]

I don't think villains look cooler anywhere except Starwars, Bobbafett,Darth Maul,Vader look cool. Everywhere else, not so much.

[Pól Rua]

Somewhere along the way society seems to have equated "intimidating" with "cool" and "non-threatening" with "lame". Not sure what that says, but probably not anything good.

Besides, it's cherry picking. Batman looks cool. So does the Shadow. Spider-Man looks awesome. Captain America looks awesome. James Bama's Doc Savage covers, Zorro, Adam Strange, The Green Hornet, Shang-Chi, Captain Kirk, Sherlock Holmes, Shaft, Han Solo, Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name, Indiana Jones, Gandalf... all of these guys look super-cool.

Basic black and a helmet that looks vaguely skull-like isn't the only way to look cool. In fact, if you look at Darth Vader and Sauron, they're pretty much rockin' the same uniform.

[TroubleWithTrebles]

AND the Neal Adams Sauron, too.

In fact, the Steranko version of Cyclops later used by Adams looks more sinister and cooler than the weird-ass tubes on shoulders Magneto of the same period.