User blog comment:Miskos3/Fairy Tail Chapter 490: Fairy Tail Zerø, Review/@comment-130.105.225.146-20160620133938/@comment-4829046-20160620144448

I'm in the minority, but I've never wanted Zeref gone. In fact I wish he doesn't get defeated, but meh, that's not how these stories go. The way I see it, he became a villain due to particular notions that were blown out of proportion due to his curse. I just see him as a victim of Ankhseram, and since we are told that Gods are apparently complete assholes, I hope to see the REAL Zeref unaffected by the curse; the calm and curious Zeref that desperately wanted to fight against unnecessary death.

Main villains of series aren't always 'evil' though. That just depends on the writing. Sometimes the protagonist also commits atrocities and it ends up being a battle of ideology over which party's acts are the most beneficial for society.