Tony:What have you heard? That suspects would rather confess than be interrogated by him? That his steely gaze can cool a room by five degrees? That he can only be killed by a silver bullet, like a werewolf? Well, it's all true, except the silver bullet part. Might give him indigestion or heartburn, but I don't think it'd kill him. Any other questions?
Not to be confused with Ludicrous Gibbs, though he does pull some pretty crazy stunts to get the bad guys. The team leader, a former marine sniper, and interrogator extraordinaire.
Always Gets His Man: Highlighted in Mind Games: The serial killer featured in that episode was the boogeyman of D.C. when he was active, evading metro cops and terrorizing the female populace. When explaining the case to McGee, Tony and Paula Cassidy finished by saying "But he made one crucial mistake: He killed a Petty Officer."
Amnesia Danger: In "Hiatus", a bomb blast knocks Gibbs back to his Marine days. He has critical information that he doesn't remember. Luckily, remembrance is just a Dope Slap away.
Berserk Button: Do not insult, desecrate or harm the US Marines or anyone associated with them to the Nth degree. Do not hurt any member of his team or anyone else he cares about. And seven thousand times never hurt Abby (though Abby usually has the situation well in hand).
Break the Cutie: Gibbs does this to a prospective replacement for Ziva. At least, we see her leave crying, while he nonchalantly walks out and tells Tony, "Strike one".
Born In The Wrong Decade: Fairly consistent throughout the series. Example: he tried to get a USB drive to work by biting it.
He also refers to computer chips and the like with terms such as "doo-da" and "deweywhacker."
It's hard to keep track of how many cell phones he's destroyed during the run of the series, either because they malfunctioned or just generally annoyed him. One even wound up in a jar of paint thinner. His agents now keep plenty of spares in their desks, ready to hand to him at a moment's notice.
Chest of Medals: Subverted, he's Badass enough to have earned numerous medals and citations to be this if he wanted but he doesn't care for medals, Tony apparently keeps track of his accomplishments. He even gave away his Silver Star which is the third highest honour that a US serviceman can get for valour in the face of the enemy.
Cold Sniper: Marine sniper previous to his current employment.
Cowboy Cop: But he always gets away with it. He's Gibbs. And "he only uses his powers for good".
Crazy-Prepared: As shown in the blackout, he has a kit with three polaroid cameras, Band-Aids, food, and clean socks.
Crusading Widower: He didn't rest until he hunted down and killed the man who slaughtered his first wife and their eight-year-old daughter. Actually, he didn't rest after that either.
Dope Slap: Aka the "Gibbs Slap" done to all of his agents and Abby at least once, but to Tony the most. He even occasionally self-inflicts when he knows he's doing something he'd slap any of his agents for.
Drives Like Crazy: Kate at one point describes his driving as "Apparently Gibbs is trying to kill us." He's also the only one on the team unfazed by the motorist antics of Ziva, another crazy driver.
A Father to His Men: Ziva directly calls him "the closest thing she has to a father". (Note that her father is very much alive.)
Later, he explicitly refers to his team as his "kids."
A special notice should go to Tony as well; especially in that one episode where he referenced to Tony as his son to chat up a man who had a bomb strapped to him... Over Tetris.
It's Personal: He has a tendency to do this. As said, anything involving children (or otherwise reminding him of Shannon and Kelly) automatically becomes this. Hurting anyone from his team also pushes him to this point. But every criminal that is disgusting enough to him can trigger this.
Ultimate Job Security: It may change with Vance, but it seems this man can never get canned.
And, now Vance and Gibbs are friends of a sort, and Vance knows that Gibbs has the unaltered copy of Vance's personnel file - even if he's never opened it. Yet. Nope, Gibbs has yet again armor-plated his job security in adamantium.
When Gibbs "retired" at the end of season 3, it later was revealed that Director Shepard had failed to file his retirement. His job security is so great he can't quit even if he wants to!
It has been implied on occasion that before Vance, and possibly even during Vance's tenure, Gibbs would be Director if he ever decided he wanted the job; the sheer havoc he could cause if denied means only a fool would try to stop him.
Of course the one time Gibbs acted as Director while Jenny was away... let's just say he doesn't have the patience for the politics.
Exasperated Perp: His preferred method of interrogation. Most prominent when he doesn't ask questions, but just sits there, chewing on his tie and playing Tetris on his phone.
Wouldn't that be considered subverted since Tony was the "Perp" in this case and he pissed off the interrogator?
At first, but by the end he made Eli David (yes, it was Ziva's father) admit that he had sent the agent Tony had killed to spy on a but a meeting of several law enforcement agencies, which were discussing an operation regarding Israel.
My Name Is Not Durwood: Of course, there's the McNicknames, but Tony gets his own share of this from Fornell, who pronounces his name DiNotso (he says the double z's like 'pizza') and occasionally McGee calls him DiNosey.
Number Two: Abby at one point claims he "becomes Gibbs" when Gibbs is not around.
Obfuscating Stupidity: In the rare times when he's totally serious, it's almost scary.
Watch his interrogation room time in "Iced." He may have majored in Phys Ed, but he paid attention in his core classes.
Porn Stash: We've never seen it, but it must require a C-5 Galaxy to carry.
However, in "Bikini Wax," he reveals that he has a subscription to "GSM" ("Get Some Magazine"), and brings in one of the issues from his collection because the victim had a photoshoot in it.
Reference Overdosed: His movie references turn this show into this all on his own.
Sharp Dressed Man: Several episodes reveal that his wardrobe is a who's-who of expensive name brands. His grousing during the shower scene in "SWAK" is one of the best examples:
Tony: This very instant, someone is incinerating my Ermenegildo Zegna suit, my Armani tie, my Dolce & Gabbana shirt, and my Gucci shoes!
Spanner in the Works: Tony is often so unpredictable that he can screw over the best laid plans of the villains by simply being his annoying self. This is also his preferred method of interrogation, thinking so far out of the loop that rehearsed defenses are useless, and being so annoying or weird that the suspect is unable to think clearly. This methodology also proves useful when he is being interrogated by the FBI or the Director of Mossad. He even called himself one in the season 7 opener:
Tony: I'm the wildcard. I'm the guy that looks at the reality in front of him and refuses to accept it.
Took a Level in Badass: Multiple levels between seasons three and four, then smaller yet still noticeable levels between seasons five and six, then multiple levels again between seasons six and seven.
Tony is also very close to Gibbs, but you wouldn't say so from their normalinteractions. It's the same story with Kate (which appears at first like a type 1), and with Ziva.
Former Teen Rebel: DiNozzo finds out that when she was a university student, she once engaged in (and won) a wet T-shirt contest.
Horrible Judge of Character: She thinks she is a good one but has helped more than one murderous psychopath because they look sympathetic, one nearly kills her, another actually does.
Abby: Care to guess what their fetish was, Kate? Kate: Oh, no. I'm going to hell just listening to all this.
Informed Ability: Ari comments on her freakish observation skills - but the next episode Gibbs corrects her recreation of room. And on a different occasion this former Secret Service agent couldn't kill Ari because his eyes looked kind...
Mood Whiplash: Causes two cases back to back in the Season 2 finale when she takes a bullet for Gibbs only to reveal she was wearing a bullet-proof vest only to then immediately get shot in the head.
Ms. Fanservice: a major subplot in one episode revolved around Tony finding a (real) picture of her in a wet T-shirt contest and using it as blackmail material
All Women Are Prudes: Subverted. She has no problem with sex, just certain expressions of it (like Palmer's foot/shoe fetish AND how carefully he takes note of his coworker's footwear...)
There's also the time she was taken by a hitman hired to kill her to prevent her from testifying. By the time Gibbs and company arrive, she's using a taser on him.
She once threatened Agent Lee that she's one of the few people in the world who can kill someone and leave absolutely no forensic evidence.
And a couple times people tried to hurt Abby, the scene cuts to agents running to help her, and when they arrive, Abby has taken her attacker down, and is clearly coming down from a major adrenaline rush (see Badass Adorable).
She can verbally dress you down as well as Gibbs, and in a way it's even more harsh just because it's coming from her.
Power Echoes: "...and I will rise up, and I will find the man that did this to Tony, and I will crucify him!
She Cleans Up Nicely: Most notably in the Halloween episode, "Witch Hunt", from Season 4, where she dresses up as Marilyn Monroe, causing speechlessness in McGee and DiNozzo when they first see her.
The Cast Showoff: Pauley Perrette got her Masters in Criminal Science.
Will They or Won't They?: Rather, will they or won't they again; she and McGee used to date, and still have chemistry, up to and including being jealous of whoever the other one is currently seeing.
Broken Bird: OK, he's not a woman. But goodness, that was even the actual name of the episode.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: His tendency to go on long speeches during work is lampshaded by Palmer when he does his first dissection. "I feel the urge to explain something tangentially relevant."
Clear My Name: Subverted, Ducky didn't want to clear it, but Gibbs did.
Creepy Mortician: A very lovable kind of creepy, but still damn creepy. Gibbs finds it a useful way to break some suspects by showing them what will happen to their bodies if they refuse to cooperate and end up dead as a result. It works too.
He is kidnapped and nearly killed by one, who begins to drain his blood before Gibbs and company arrive to save him.
Shown Their Work: A meta-version. To prepare for the role, David McCallum went to coroner and medical examiner's conferences to learn the trade. He became so good the producers were tempted to pay him a consulting fee.
Why Do You Keep Changing Jobs?: He became a licensed psychologist in later seasons after we see him studying for his exams and is occasionally called-upon to profile a suspect.
Timothy McGee (Sean Murray)
Abby:I love it when you talk geek!
McGee:I love it that you love it.
Abusive Parents: Revealed in recent seasons, his father was a very cold, emotionally abusive man to his son. McGee tells of a time when young he spent a great deal of effort and love on a birthday card for his father. His father's response: "You could do better."
Big Brother Instinct: Will do some irrational things to protect his college-age sister, some of which have jeopardized his career once.
Loser Has Your Back: Plays this role once or twice in early seasons, but he's no longer enough of a loser to pull it off.
Most Writers Are Writers: He's a successful author of novels inspired by his workplace and coworkers, which he writes under the name "Thom E. Gemcity." (It's an anagram of Timothy McGee.)
Mr. Fixit: "Special Agent Goodwrench," season two, episode four.
Took a Level in Badass: Between seasons six and seven. Big time. Most exemplified in the recent episode "Need To Know" when he was giving the young Special Agent Dorneget tips onto how he could possibly join the Major Case Squad as well as some of Gibbs' rules.*
And then Dorneget reveals he forgot his service weapon.
Badass: Early on in Ziva's tenure at NCIS, she is not allowed to participate in taking down suspects. Another woman comments on the presumed chauvinism of this. Ziva replies that Gibbs is actually afraid she'll kill the suspect by mistake.
Once when chasing an overweight suspect who has a heart attack when climbing some stairs. She's chastised despite it not being her fault, but mostly out of frustration at losing a lead and it doesn't last the scene.
Second
And again, much more serious, when she punches an obnoxious suspect in the neck, causing him to drop dead despite her insisting that she does know her own strength and couldn't have killed him. Ducky finds a blood clot in his brain that could have been released and gotten lodged there by the punch, but ultimately rules Natural Causes.
Becoming the Mask: It is suspected by Leon Vance at the end of season 6 and confirmed by Ziva in early season 7 that she was ordered by her father to kill Ari in order to gain Gibbs' trust and spy on the team. By the end of season 3, her crying over Gibbs' life threatening conditioning shows she has become closer to her targets than a cold assassin ought to be.
Scrabble Babble: Subverted one time she played McGee in Scrabble. With the last Q at a corner of two Is, she makes Qi, read 'Chi'. Doubles as Underdogs Never Lose as she came back from a 50 point deficit earning 62 points.
Apparently. It is heavily implied that CIA was taking advantage of AFIS to make her father appear to be alive, thus discrediting her and preventing her from further ruining The Dragon's operation.
In fact, it's implied that she preferred "hail of bullets" to "terminal illness" and that's part of why she acted the way she did leading up to her death.
Considering the details of the symptoms that would lead up to her death as described by Ducky to Gibbs, I, personally, do not blame her.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Vance is the husband and father of a respectable suburban family and unlike Gibbs, is not the type to have a series of four wives.
Genius Bruiser: He was once a boxer, but can compete with McGee in knowledge of cryptology.
Dead Person Impersonation: It's heavily implied in one episode that he is not the real Leon Vance, but an old boxing acquaintance thereof, and that the two switched identities at some point in the past.
Mysterious Past: Subverted, not all of it has been explained...yet.
Fake Guest Star: Might as well be a Trope Codifier. Dietzen was credited as a recurring guest star for the first 5 seasons and as "Also Starring" from season 6 onwards. Is even on the cover art for the Season 8 DVD but is still not a main cast member.
Love I Not Honored More: He tells his love that while he loves her more than anything, his True Companions were in trouble and he needed to go and help them, even if it meant moving the wedding up to a sooner date (within the hour) and then come back for the honeymoon. She completely understands.
Retirony: Set up, then averted. One moment, Jimmy's talking with Agent Barrett about his recent engagement. Seconds later, the Port-to-Port Killer is loose and violently kidnapping Jimmy and Barrett. However, Gibbs saves the day, and Jimmy ends up surviving the episode with only a few scratches.
That Came Out Wrong: Happens to him a lot, and when he tries to explain, he just looks worse.
Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: It is implied that he cared for his late mother and believes his father is responsible for her death.
Even Evil Has Its Standards: He found Gerald's inability to drive Ducky's vintage Morgan painful to listen to or see.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: His fatal mistake was that it didn't even occur to him that Gibbs would really trust Ziva to watch his back and assumed Gibbs was alone when he confronted him.
Gone Horribly Right: His father raised him to be a Complete Monster... who hated him for it and did everything he could to destroy what his father had worked for.
Revenge by Proxy: He stuffs Kate into the fridge and tries to do the same to Abby, aware that it's the best way to make Gibbs suffer. He also tries to kill Jenny, snipes at Mcgee (who lucks out by unknowingly moving out of the way at the last second), and tries to kidnap Ducky. The only member of Team Gibbs he doesn't single out is Tony.
Combat Aestheticist: In a strategic rather then one-on-one fashion. If he wants someone out of the way he uses The Plan rather than just ordering a hit because the latter would be too crude for a Man of Wealth and Taste.
The Mole: Framed Langer for her crimes and kills him.
Redemption Equals Death: She became the Human Shield in a standoff for the culprit that kidnapped her daughter and made her the mole. Once she knew her daughter was safe, she gave Gibbs a non-verbal signal to shoot her and by proxy, shooting him as well, killing them both.
Sympathetic Murderer: Despite killing and framing Langer, it's possible to feel bad about the situation she was put in. Even Ziva and McGee (to an extent) agreed that they may have done the same thing.
Abusive Parent: He uses his own children as tools in his schemes. One (Ziva) ends up killing another (Ari Haswari). On Eli's orders. As fathers go, he's about on par with Fire Lord Ozai.
Complete Monster: He raised his children Ari and Ziva to be merciless killers. It is strongly implied that the attack that killed Ari's mother was part of his plans to harden Ari into a killer. He later orders Ziva to kill Ari in order to gain Gibbs' trust. Later, after abandoning Ziva to die at the hands of terrorists, he tries to frame her for the murder of a US Marine by another Mossad agent, because he realizes he has lost her loyalty.
Moral Myopia: He has repeatedly violated Israel's treaties with the USA by ordering operations on US soil, which have resulted Mossad agents killing a number of American federal agents. When Tony is forced to kill a Mossad agent who resisted being arrested for the murders he committed under Eli's orders, Eli treats it as a horrible offense against Israel by the USA and tries to have Tony extradited.
Shell Shocked Senior: He shows weariness with the world of intrigue with every breath.
Heroic BSOD: It's implied in one episode that 9/11 caused him to retire.
It was implicitly stated to be the Khobar Towers bombing in '96, as well as the lukewarm response to it, that prompted him to retire. 9/11 was five years later.
He even stated that he was in Mexico when 9/11 happened, hence how he didn't know how the pursuit of bin Laden had gone.
Girl of the Week: Subverted; she appears to be this at first, but it takes her and Gibbs two episodes to get together and they remain together for almost a year. In fact, she's easily the most long-term love interest Gibbs has had on the show.
