>>93595829Villains act, heroes react. The bad guys move the plot, make things happen. This makes the villains more dynamic, interesting characters.
Ever since the 1980s, Transformers and GI Joe both always had the villains' internal politics and power-struggles be a thing that made the average Decepticon or Cobra be a more interesting, developed character than the average Autobot or GI Joe.
In Transformers, the Decepticons tend to have alt-modes that are military vehicles, predator-animals, or monsters, which all make for more appealing toys (see why the Dinobots are some of the most popular Autobots?), the same way everything from Star Wars to Masters of the Universe to GI Joe figured out that weird-looking monster-men, and cool uniforms are great ways to sell villain toys.
