Designated Point Man

I was point man, which meant I was the first through the door, hunting down Taliban commanders, knocking down forts every night.

— Ant Middleton, First Man In: Leading from the Front

A "point man" is a member of The Index Team whose job description is simple: When they don't know what they are facing, he goes in first. The relevant skills include high survivability (to hold off until reinforcements arrive) and, of course, good fighting ability (to silence all opposition before reinforcements arrive, if possible). This trope is specifically about specialists who take point routinely. In absence of a specialized point man, Cannon Fodder New Meat can be used in his place, but simply being put on point once does not make him the team's designated point man!

"Point man" (or "vanguard") is a common military term for the member of The Squad taking the front and most exposed position within a formation (like the point of a spear). Related terms include "to take point", "walk point", and "be on point".

The Leader rarely makes a good point man because even though he is often the best fighter, the consequences of losing him are too grave. Even a Frontline General rarely moves to the point position, though in some settings a leader is expected to show that they practice what they preach and lead by example. A Leeroy Jenkins is either an overzealous point man or someone who shouldn't be the point man in the first place but decides to be one anyway.

Compare/contrast The Sneaky Guy, who is also often sent in first but with a different mission: to scout ahead and return without alarming the enemy. The key difference between a point man and a scout (including an Army Scout) is that the former always stays in contact (e.g. within viewing or shouting distance) with the rest of the squad, while the latter doesn't. Sometimes referred to as the "Polish/Irish Mine Detector". Compare The Big Guy, who's usually going to overlap with this trope (given that they have both good survivability and good fighting skill).

---

Examples:

Anime & Manga

• During the "Sasuke Retrieval Arc" of Naruto, Kiba (and his dog Akamaru) were given this task. They were explicitly stated to be ideal, because their heightened sense of smell let them be more alert for traps or ambushes.
• Lampshaded in episode 25 ("Maze of Despair") of Outlaw Star, when Gene sends Jim to round up Aisha and Suzuka to get them back to the ship, while he goes to confront Hazanko in order to rescue Melfina.
  Jim: [pleading] But why...? Why can't I go with you? I wanna help!
  Gene: [calmly] C'mon, Jim, we've made it this far with our teamwork. I've always been the point man... and you're—
  Jim: [in acquiescence] ...the backup.

Blogs

• Played for Laughs in Things Mr. Welch Is No Longer Allowed to Do in an RPG, item 31:
  The backup trap handler is not whoever has the most HP at the time.

Comic Books

• In G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero (Marvel), Spearhead is the Joes' designated point man.
• Wolverine is often designated (or not) as vanguard in teams he is in. His Hot-Blooded Berserker personality combined with his Healing Factor and excellent close-quarters combat abilities means he's perfect not only as a decoy, but also for leading attacks.
• Wonder Woman (1942): When Bobby Strong is one of the Holliday Girls on mission, she pretty much always goes in first, ordered or of her own volition. Given she's got superhuman strength and her reaction to being led to an execution is to dare those giving the orders to kill her themselves this works out fairly well, since she is exceptionally hard to actually injure.

Film — Live-Action

• Aliens: When the Marines first land and prepare to enter the colony complex, Sergeant Apone orders Vasquez to take point. She carries a machine gun that is more powerful and does more damage than the weapons the other Marines carry — which is normally a poor tactic, as she can't use her weapon for its intended role of fire support. In this case, however, their enemy is unarmed and fond of attacking en masse in a restricted area, so the tactic does make sense on this occasion.
• In Cube, the thief character takes the role early on, due to his familiarity with automated alarm systems. However, this only means he gets overconfident and dies, after which he's replaced by the cop character as the most physically fit and thus likeliest to survive if a trap is sprung. He does prove he's the most capable in this context, but repeated brushes with death contribute to the rapid erosion of his sanity.
• As mentioned in Mission: Impossible (1996), Ethan Hunt used to be the point man for Jim Phelps' team. Subsequent movies in the series have him alternating between being this and The Leader.
• Billy in Predator who is an expert tracker of Native American origin and the first on Dutch's team to notice the Predator's presence.
• Deadshot in Suicide Squad (2016). Thanks to his aim and skill he usually is in the front of The Team scouting out trouble. Also comes into play with their first encounter with Enchantress' soldiers. He takes point in front of the team and sets himself up from an elevated position where he sets up taking down hostiles with headshot after headshot. In fact, the rest of the special forces team behind him just stop shooting, as he kills off the swarming hostiles before they could even get in their line of fire.

Literature

• Subverted by Ciaphas Cain (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM): his (very much undesired) reputation of a frontline general who personally leads every charge has little base in reality, as he actually prefers staying in the middle of the squad at all times, as a good commander should. However, the troops under his command are in such awe of his reputation that they have no qualms going in front (and it makes more sense than to risk losing him to a lucky sniper).
• Shurf Lonli-Lokli in Labyrinths of Echo is the primary point man of the Secret Investigations team. At one point, Juffin explains to Max that Shurf is the best combat mage on the team whose incapacitation, while bad, wouldn't bring down the entire operation (like Kofa or Juffin's own would). Also, Shurf boasts almost impeccable magical defense and is effectively immune to ambush thanks to his attention to minuscule details.
• In Mailed Fist, Lieutenant John Foley, after attending a briefing concerning the British break-out offensive from the Normandy beach-head, and guided by The Brigadier who is patiently waiting for the penny to drop, realises after a process of logical deduction that his armoured regiment will be at the very point of the entire British Second Army. And at the very point of that armoured spearhead will be a three-tank troop. Whose Troop Commander will be out in front, as custom and practice dictate. Lieutenant Foley realises, with a sinking sense of inevitability, that he is going to be Designated Point Man for an entire army. It doesn't end well for Foley
• Rebuild World: Sergeant Rock Shirakabe is a Private Military Contractor and Old Soldier who likes to take point (for Percussive Therapy in one instance). He's equipped with Powered Armor special tailored to melee combat, and his Signature Move is to send his enemies Punched Across the Room via kick, clogging up hallways with monster corpses.
• In The Reckoners Trilogy, this is an official team position that multiple characters go through. Oddly enough the people aren't swapped out because of the point man dying.
• Vorkosigan Saga: In Shards of Honor, when Aral Vorkosigan has to assault a group of mutineers, knowing they will face nerve disruptors with stunners, he puts himself as the head of the assault team. However, Sergeant Bothari refuses and claims he has earned the first place.

Tabletop Games

• Some BattleMechs are built to be pointmen in their units in BattleTech. One sterling example is the Grasshopper, which in spite of its whimsical name is actually a massively armored, jump-capable 70-ton terror, and is loaded down with close-combat laser weapons and the heat sinks to fire them. Favored tactics for Grasshoppers include jumping into the midst of an enemy formation to disrupt it, forcing enemies to split their attention or hurry to defend their lightly-armored long-range fire support, and occasionally punching people in the face.
• Dungeons & Dragons: In a Player Party, the person in front is usually a member of a warrior class (fighter, paladin, ranger, etc.) because they have the most Hit Points of any class, are allowed to wear the heaviest armor and wield the greatest variety of (and best) weapons. If no fighters are available, a cleric/priest type can fill in.
• The Paranoia "Tips for Traitors" article (in Dragon magazine #106 and some later rulebooks) advises Troubleshooter team leaders to order their most dangerous subordinates to take this position, as it is the most dangerous place on the team. Not only is the point man most likely to be hit by the enemies' weapons, he's also the target of the weapons and scrutiny of his own team members, which (considering the nature of Paranoia) is far deadlier.

Video Games

• First Encounter Assault Recon has a literal designated point man in the person of the Player Character named Point Man. He doesn't do much in the form of taking point, though, since most of the time he doesn't have a team to take point for.
• Grim Dawn: The player character was briefly possessed by an Aetherial spirit, which abandoned their body when a group of survivors threatened to Kill the Host Body. The lingering Aetherial power in their body lets them teleport to any Aetherial rift they have previously visited or bring others through. A number of side quests have the Taken send trapped allies to a safe town via rift, and the climax of both the main story and the Ashes of Malmouth expansion have the Taken infiltrate behind enemy lines to bring through reinforcements from the Black Legion.
• Metroid: Other M: According to Anthony's personnel file, he was the point man for the 07th Platoon.
• Vietcong: Nut acts as a realistic example. A native Vietnamese, much of the game is spent with the player and The Squad following Nut around the jungle as he avoids many, many Booby Trap dangers set by the vietcong. Nut's equipped with a Remington 870.
• XCOM: Enemy Unknown has an entire Character Class dedicated to this role in the Assault specialist. These soldiers have the most Hit Points of all classes thanks to their Major-rank skill, Extra Conditioning, and are the only ones that can use their guns after dashing (an extended movement that takes both action points), or after moving for the second time, thanks to their most basic skill, Run & Gun. Their skill tree mainly revolves around further boosting their defense (survivability) or increasing their Critical Hit chances. One skill in particular, Lightning Reflexes, allows them to automatically dodge the first Overwatch reaction shot. In addition to that, the optional Close Combat Specialist skill gives them a free reaction shot if an enemy moves within a certain distance of them and can trigger with multiple enemies so long as the Assault has ammo in the magazine (or is using a pistol); in case they end up flanked by an enemy that doesn't get close enough to trigger that, the Resilience skill No Sells Critical Hits. Giving them Mimetic Skin, which conceals the user if they're in full cover and out of enemy sight when they start moving, makes them almost the ultimate scout, only beat in raw distance by Supports with Sprinter (move 3 tiles further in normal movement or 6 while dashing) or Snipers with Low Profile (even half cover counts as full cover, so Mimetic Skin can proc anywhere).^note Even then, the Training Roulette option can be generous and give both of these to a lucky Assault.

Web Videos

• Binwin Bronzebottom is the point man for Acquisitions Incorporated, by the virtue of being the token party fighter with the highest hit points and armor class.

Western Animation

• In the Love, Death & Robots episode "Shape-Shifters", a werewolf Marine takes point on patrol, as he's better at (literally) sniffing out the enemy and his Healing Factor means he can survive an ambush.
• Skipper from The Penguins of Madagascar usually puts himself on point. In one early episode where he teams up with Marlene, she appoints herself the point man, and Skipper whines "I'm usually on point!"
• Michelangelo is typically the Point Man in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012). He'll typically go in fast and loud so every else can sneakily clean up the bad guys after he creates a distraction.

Real Life

• The turtle ships, designed by the Korean Admiral Yi, were created specifically for the purpose of ramming into an enemy fleet formation, hopefully sinking its flagship, then firing cannons like crazy in all directions, while simultaneously no selling attempts to board them with their spiked and armored "roofs". A single turtle ship in the middle of the enemy fleet caused enough confusion for the rest of Yi's fleet to mop up the resistance without losing a single ship.

---