History Characters / JAG

* ArmorPiercingSlap: Played with; when Mikey visits the Roberts' home after Bud is injured, Harriet is ranting about all the things happening since the Admiral notified her. Mikey can see that Harriet is about to lose it, he snaps her out of it by saying he is tired from the trip and asking for a cup of black coffee.

->'''Played By''': Nanci Chambers

->'''Played By''': DavidAndrews

->''Played By''': Jeff [=MacKay=]

->'''Played By''': Michael Bellisario

->'''Played By''': Anne-Marie Johnson

* CourtroomAntics: Harm fired a loaded submachine gun into the courtroom ceiling during a trial to challenge the assertion that it malfunctioned during combat. [[NeverLiveItDown No one lets him forget about that either, particularly the judge presiding over the case.]]

->'''Played By''': Zoe [=McLellan=])

->'''Played By''': David James Elliott

->'''Played By''': Andrea Parker

->'''Played By''': Tracey Needham

->'''Played By''': Patrick Labyorteaux

->'''Played By''': Scott Lawrence

->'''Played By''': Karri Turner

->'''Played By''': Chuck Carrington

->'''Played By''': Trevor Goddard

->'''Played By''': Randy Vasquez

->'''Played By''': Steven Culp

->'''Played By''': Paul Collins

->'''Played By''': Dean Stockwell

* TheHero and every other derivative of that.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Mac and Harm

* TheMcCoy:

-->'''Mac:''' ''I do have a tattoo, I'm a pretty good armwrestler and, although I don't like the term, I'm technically a Jarhead.''

* UnresolvedSexualTension: Mac and Harm, for 9 seasons. [[spoiler: TheyDo, but break it off when Harm gets called back into combat and Mac finds an opportunity at the State Department, according to the tenth season finale of ''Series/NCISLosAngeles''.

* GenerationXerox: Harm’s dad just so happened to look in his prime exactly like his son latter does in his prime (save for the moustache and the deeper voice)…

* ThirdActStupidity:
* UnresolvedSexualTension: Mac and Harm, for 9 seasons.

He first appeared as a recurring character in the latter half of season 1. Appeared as a regular in seasons 2 to 9. In 2013, Chegwidden reappeared, now as a civilian lawyer, in the season 10 finale of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' ("Damned If You Do") as Gibbs' attorney. He later returned in 2017 in Series/NCISLosAngeles to provide aid to the team there.

* BerserkButton: Don't endanger or hurt anybody that Harmon Rabb has feelings for, especially not ''Mac''.

* PapaWolf: [[BerserkButton God help you]] if you threaten or hurt his daughter or anyone under his command.
** He'll even terrify his own people when they hurt each other. When Harm and Mic accidentally broke Bud's jaw with punches intended for each other, the Admiral threatened to horsewhip and keelhaul both of them. But because Bud was covering for them and claiming it was an accident, [[LaserGuidedKarma he, with Mic's superior's permission, locked Mic and Harm in a room and told not to leave until they had inflicted the same level of harm onto each other as they did to Bud.]]

* NonActionGuy: Despite being a trained military officer and passing certain guidelines and qualifications, he rarely gets into a scuffle himself.
** A very good argument against that can be given due to him taking out his abusive father and slugging a guy he thought was gonna attack his brother.

* GrumpyBear: Chegwidden often displays such characteristics, even though he has more gentle sides and genuinely cares for his staff.

* JerkassFacade: Admiral Chegwidden is a mild version of this trope. Even though he often hides behind military protocol and the authority that comes with being an admiral to distance himself from interpersonal relationships beyond the strictly professional, he deeply cares for the people that work under him.

A shadowy and morally ambigious {{CIA}} Officer who just happens to be around the cases that Harm and Mac pursue. Appeared in seasons 2-10.

A Rear Admiral (2 stars) who served as the Judge Advocate General of the Navy (Series/{{JAG}}) from 1996 to 2004. A Navy SEAL who served in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWarwith distinction, he transferred to surface warfare, and later on went to law school becoming a judge advocate.

* BenevolentBoss

* CoolOldGuy

* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Coffee, "Cup of Joe".

* TenMinuteRetirement: Harm had his [[HandicappedBadass vision impairment fixed]] and went back to flying Tomcats for a short while, before his new commanding officer convinced him that he was [[BadassGrandpa too old]] to be competitive as an aviator against all the younger pilots, despite his skill, and that he would do the most good as a judge advocate.
* ThirdActStupidity:

* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Averted. Started the series as an Ensign. Ended it 10 years later as a Lieutenant Commander, which is the standard rate of advancement in the US Navy.

* HeIsAllGrownUp: You'll notice that late into the run of the show, Bud's hair turns gray, most likely from stress on the job (both in-character and for the actor in real life). Around this time, the dopey aspects of his character start to vanish and he becomes a competent and accomplished lawyer. Then, sometime later on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', 14 seasons into its run and long after the end of ''JAG'', he has grown into a late middle-aged man and achieved the full rank of Colonel.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Other than after a traffic accident in "The Four Percent Solution", Mac never sustains any visible injuries throughout the show. In a "A Tangled Webb" she was about to subjected to ElectricTorture, but Harm saved her in the nick of time.

->'''Played By''': Catherine Bell

He first appeared as a recurring character in the latter half of season 1. Appeared as a regular in seasons 2 to 9. In 2013, Chegwidden reappeared, now as a civilian lawyer, in the season 10 finale of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' ("Damned If You Do") as Gibbs' attorney. He later returned in 2017 in NCISLosAngeles to provide aid to the team there.

* {{Transplant}}: The character first appeared in the short-lived U.S. Supreme Court series ''Series/FirstMonday'', produced by DonaldPBellisario.

* RealLifeRelative: Michael Bellisario is the son of {{Showrunner}} DonaldPBellisario.

* HeIsAllGrownUp: You'll notice that late into the run of the show, Bud's hair turns gray. Around this time, the dopey aspects of his character start to vanish and he becomes a competent and accomplished lawyer. Then, sometime later on ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', 14 seasons into its run and long after the end of ''JAG'', he has grown into a late middle-aged man and achieved the full rank of Colonel.

* LeftToRot: [[spoiler:She was discarded in the woods and found by accident when a Cub Scout shot an arrow too far out into the forest and discovered it lodged in her corpse... which ''was missing a face.'']]

[[folder:Harriet Sims]]

A Rear Admiral (2 stars) who served as the Judge Advocate General of the Navy (Series/{{JAG}}) from 1996 to 2004. A Navy SEAL who served in TheVietnamWar with distinction, he transferred to surface warfare, and later on went to law school becoming a judge advocate.

* AuthorityEqualsAsskicking: [[DeskJockey Rear Admiral]] A.J. Chegwidden, before he became lawyer, was a Navy SEAL who earned a Navy Cross in TheVietnamWar, and he's had more than one occasion to showcase his credentials in badass...including one or two PapaWolf moments. And one incident involving an actual wolf...

* TheVietnamWar: Earned a Navy Cross, which is second only to the Medal of Honor in terms of significance, for his bravery in combat.
-->'''AJ:''' ''I've killed men under the rules of war, something I'll live with every day. It's made me appreciate the value of human life and the laws that guide it.''

* PrinciplesZealot: In "A Separate Peace" Harm defends Boone who is accused of [[UsefulNotes/TheLawsAndCustomsOfWar war crimes]] during TheVietnamWar. While Boone doesn't plead guilty, he does nothing to defend himself or help the defense. It turns out that he is innocent but believes that no matter the cost he can never break a vow of silence once it's given.

* TheVietnamWar: Veteran.