We knew you two could word it so much better than us, kestrel / brovo. 

Our view on the bit about rape and taking on children and so forth Is this:
Too many of these without logic and the villain becomes too evil. Or one-dimensional as brovo put it. There's no excusing it anymore. However, while rape is a different kind of evil, it can be used in a limited degree without triggering one-dimensionality. The rape ought to be reasoned out, even if the reason doesn’t make sense to others or to 'normal' justifications, so long as the villain can justify it to himself or herself.