Willie is wrong, I would say. Sauron is not your basic stock 'Bad Guy'. He's not an Overlord. He's the other, rarer kind of fantasy villain: The Overmind type. A huge, brooding malevolent presence that is always at work but never seen, whose will moves his armies like chesspieces. That's a bit scarier than your basic Evil Overlord.
(For a bit more on the subject go to
www.eviloverlord.com, but I'm sure most of you have already been there [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] )