I went to the Gang of Five board but in those unfamiliar surroundings I couldn't seem to find any thread about Pterano.
Pterano is proud, hypocritical, stubborn, and a good talker who wishes to achieve his own "evil" ends believing them to be good. Kind of like the evil vizier in an Arabian Nights tale. Yet he is also idealistic and independent (so much so that he will not give up an idea unless he has proven its folly to himself. Note the line in "Very Important Creature": "When others say no it can't be so, my answer is always yes!") He does have a conscience, as we see from when Ducky falls into the cave, but a hardened conscience. When he feels its prick, he simply brushes it off. He is also something of a coward and a sneak, as was shown during the battle with the sharpteeth.
He is not really a villain but a "fringe" type who could be a villain one day and a hero the next. (Indeed, he was.) To him, the end justifies the means.
In a nutshell, he is an idealist who believes anything is possible (especially for him) and anything is permissible in the achieving of a goal.
Very sorry to anyone who couldn't follow this twisted thread.
