I’m actually not making a comment about how the characters in the work view themselves at all. The entire premise of the genre is the “Great Man” view of history. That certain people, through ability or ambition, stand above others and define society by their actions. The difference between superheroes and villians isn’t self-image (which is frankly irrelevant) but that villians want to use their “greatness” to change things, while heroes want to maintain them.
I only pronounced that right the first time because I saw it spelt with a œ, which I misread as æ, like encyclopædia. So three cheers for “right for the wrong reason”.