[Mithadan]

Wow. In a single post, Rune has raised two hotly debated subjects. First, are Orcs irredeemably evil? Second, are Orcs able to act freely or are they to some extent controlled by the will of Sauron or Morgoth. Combine that with Formendacil's mention of the origins of Orcs and you have hit the trifecta.

I do not intend to delve into any of these issues (and I can direct you to where they have been discussed in the past if you like). I'd like to hone in on what motivated the greater and lesser evil personages in Middle Earth to become evil.

Morgoth is, perhaps, the most simple case. Even before the Music, he secretly sought for the Imperishable Flame in the Void, so that he could bring others into being. Why he wanted this is not explained, but one can suspect he wanted control over others. This was his earliest act of rebellion. His disruption of the Music was his next act of rebellion and reflects upon what he had become and would become, a champion of chaos. His disruption caused other lesser Ainur to attune their Music to his rather than give voice to their own thoughts. More on this in a moment.

When the Music is stopped and the Vision of Arda is displayed, Melkor was ashamed, giving rise to anger. He feigns the desire to aid others in in controlling the disruption he caused. But ultimately, after the Valar and Maiar enter the world, he claims Arda as his own kingdom. When his peers do not simply capitulate, he resumes his campaign of chaos, attempting to harm everything done by others. In a sense, he acts as a child. "If I can't have it, no one will." The initial poster in this thread asks about goals. I question whether Morgoth had any clear goals, other than doing violence to Arda.

Sauron's motives appear to differ. He wanted order and to obtain order, he wanted control. He joined Morgoth as a way of obtaining control so that he could order things as he desired.

The Balrogs and other Maiar that may have been attracted to Morgoth would have included some of those who attuned their Music to his. They may have become like him, creators of violence and chaos. Others might have simply aligned themselves with him because he was a power and they themselves could be more important acting with him than staying with the Valar. In this, their motives do not differ greatly from those who follow evil in the modern world.

Dragons? I am going to speculate here. Their origins are obscure. They were clearly bred by Morgoth, so far as their bodies are concerned. But Morgoth could not create souls or minds. So I believe their bodies were inhabited by lesser Maiar. By becoming dragons, perhaps they could become greater and more powerful than they were.

Orcs and Trolls, regardless of their "origins," were coerced and corrupted by Morgoth. Perhaps they were "born into it" after generations of manipulation. I do not want to open the Pandora's box of whether they were redeemable. Suffice it to say that they were bred to be and coerced into being followers of evil. Again not too different from the modern world.