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[Stiefel]

V.I. Ulyaniv, known to most as Lenin, was the founding father of the USSR. The Bolshevik movement changed the world, for better or for worse, in a drastic and powerful way. Whether you revile or revere him, there can be no doubts that he was truly one of the greatest men to ever set foot on the planet Earth.

[Eagle_eye]

Something of a false dichotomy you've got going there. Most people, Lenin included, aren't either.

Lenin definitely did some good things: the USSR under him was decades ahead of the rest of the world on gay rights and women's participation in society. Literacy rose significantly in the early USSR, and after the first few years, so did industrial production. On the other hand, he also pretty much dismantled local democracy in the form of the Soviets, violently put down pretty much any opposition, not just the White Army, and established the institutions that would allow for Stalin's regime. Personally, I think it's unfortunate that the Mensheviks didn't win out.

[Draxis]

I would say he was more of a righteous villain, honestly.  He seemed to believe honestly in Bolshevism, and did his best to create a state under it.  Unfortunately, I disagree with both Bolshevism in general, his methods, and his results, and so classify him as a villain even if most of the bad stuff in the USSR wasn't directly his fault.