Thoughts on POV'ing an Antogonist

[Mindfire]

Going against the grain here. It's a tool, just like any other. Use it when you need it.

Sometimes a villain POV is the only way to give the reader some crucial information or show how great a threat the villain is. If the main character can't know something that you need the reader to know, a villain POV is a great cheat to use to get that exposition in. Particularly if the villain and hero are separated by a great distance and/or have no real personal connection. It also gives an opportunity for dramatic irony: the reader knows of an oncoming tragedy while the character does not. This is, I think, an underrated way of creating tension.

 

[Benjamin Clayborne]

If the antagonist is not supposed to be sympathetic, then you can still do their POV, but keep it short. Think about great movies where we see the antagonist off by himself (not interacting with the protagonist). It's always short, and usually it gives you information about how they're going to make the protag's life harder--introducing some new device, weapon, item, kidnapping, etc. that the protag will only find out about later. (Usually after a long enough interval that it's not fresh in the audience's mind, so that they can have an "Oh yeah!" moment when it's reintroduced.)