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@taylorclogston Zalal’s greater-scope view is honestly something I’ve been trying to mull over myself. Here was my thought process behind him, maybe it’ll help you see where I want to end up:

1. Write a genuinely evil villain to show that a) any excuses he might try and provide does not make evil any less evil, b) show that people with no concerns for “being nice” exist, c) worldly/secular philosophies (such as the “I decide what is right and wrong” argument you commonly hear) fall apart completely.
2. Thought process was then “Well, what does the Bible say is the nature of evil?” Answer, that sin is borne out of a heart that hates God (Rom 1:18-32). Ergo, for Zalal- villain among men- to have ended up in this location, he needs to have at some point started hating God. Hence, next question being “What could someone say in an attempt to justify their hatred of God?”
2b.  This is admittedly something from my own experience, but my eyes have been opened to the true evil of the sin of pride; something all the more relevant I would say in this day and age of “self-esteem”. Hence, I want Zalal’s hatred of God to be related to Zalal’s pride and self-aggrandizement.
3. Scripture points to Satan as being the chief enemy, the prince of this world. Very well; but I’m personally somewhat averse into giving devils themselves screentime. Hence, Zalal is acting as a human stand-in for the devil and thus have similar motives.

As to Zalal’s motives being petty, perhaps; but isn’t reality and Scripture full of examples of people doing incredibly vile things for petty reasons? Consider the following:
– 2 Sam 3:6-21 – Ishbosheth, son of King Saul, accuses Abner of sleeping with one of Saul’s Concubines, which in the culture at the time could have been conceived of as making a move on the throne. Whether or not Abner did sleep with them, not stated. Abner’s response? Get furious with his liege and commit treason by going over to David.
– Esther 3:1-6 – Haman is the King’s favorite, and so everyone is ordered to pay Haman homage. Mordecai, a Jew, refuses to do so. Haman’s response? Get furious and think killing Mordecai isn’t enough but instead plan genocide by killing all the Jews in the kingdom.
– Mark 6:14-29 – John the Baptist tells Herod “It’s not right for you to sleep with your sister-in-law.” The family’s response? Herod arrests him, and Herodias(lady in question) seeks to kill him, and finally gets a chance via Herod making a (potentially drunken) promise to give his daughter anything she asked. Herodias uses the girl as a proxy to ask for John’s head on a plate. Herod’s response? Fear losing face more than the wrath of God and put to death an innocent man.