I have only played Skyrim, and there Vile uses death as a solution to literally everything. Lycantrophy? Axe. Vampirism? Killed by the dragonborn. End of civil war? Death to everyone. Not that he actually ends the civil war.

When I first heard of this prince it seemed like a really cool concept but apparently he only grants death, and not wishes. Seems more like something an edgy teenager would come up with :/

Did he actually do something original in previous games? Or in any book/dialogue mentioning him?

More or less. He's a daedra; consistency is not part of their nature. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Clavicus_Vile

He does grant wishes, not everyone is specific enough in their wishes. You want to clear a forest and want your spell to "work well"? Having a few squads of flame atronachs appear and burn down the trees really does clear the forest. Of course it plays merry heck with the bosmer living nearby, but hey, wish fulfilled.

Clavvy is, to put it succinctly, a [censored] genie. That's his whole schtick.

EDIT: Awww... censored. http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111019005153/villains/images/f/f9/Jack-skellington.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Donkey_1_arp_750px.jpg

Very clever.

A follower of my brother, Hermaeus Mora, once said: "the ultimate purpose of the Daedra Lords is to instruct and improve the generally deplorable character of mortals." Lovely sentiment. But, in fact, I watch mortals, and meddle now and then, purely for entertainment. - Vile