yeah, but everything there is for the purpose of Stardust be able to defeat the future treat and save the world.
He knows the future of the story, his objective is become the joker of stardust, but avoiding killing civilians.
Yeah, some inocents ALMOST died, but he save a lot more preventing other treats of reaching civilian areas. and even those who almost died, he put his life on the line to save them... so yeah, he want to be perceived as a villain and do villanous things. But do not because he really wanted to do it, but because he perceives as a necessity. The best example is how he saves the "harem" of becoming real big treats that wanna kill a lot of civilians in the process, but still join them in doing some treats that were more nuisances than real treats.
He is more close of being a anti-hero than a villain.