Need not be human at all. A typhoon, a shark or a deranged computer would all prove adequate adversaries if they were given enough human characteristics for the audience to identify with. Yes, even a force of nature can be relentless, which is seen as a human quality.
The traditional villain will wish to impose his will in some way upon the hero and thus create conflict, which is the basis of drama, but most important is the relationship between the hero and the villain. How has it come to this pass? Why? These are the questions the audience wants answered.
There is a need in all audiences to know more about the characters they are watching. It is an innate need and must be satisfied or the audience will be disappointed. A ‘man of mystery’ may well be that to the rest of the characters but we must know his alter ego, his needs and wants, his hopes and dreams. It is by pinning the audience’s attention onto the hero and his dilemmas that we encourage them to take an interest in the drama.
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A basic rule of thumb would be to rank your characters from lead (hero) downwards and affording them screen-time accordingly.
The lead character in a movie is usually the one who learns the most about himself within the film. This mirrors true life, where every individual looks for some hidden meaning in their life. It is essentially wish fulfilment with the viewer transferring their needs onto the hero.
Some screenwriters feel the need to describe their characters in great detail such as their age, sex, appearance, mannerisms, dress sense, their IQ, their likes and dislikes, how they see themselves and how others see them. To my mind this is material for the writer only and, apart from external, physical appearance, need not appear in the screenplay. What is vital is that there must be a gap in the hero’s life which the screenplay will attempt to fill. As the writer you must know what this gap is and, even at an early stage, have an idea of how you’re going to deal with it. The wise writer may make the hero unaware of this gap and part of the story being his discovery of his need. This gap or need can form the main plot of the piece, but is generally dealt with as a sub-plot, to be resolved at the conclusion, and thus leading to the denouement of the main plot.