History Characters / NCIS

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!Main Characters
[[folder:Special Agent in Charge Leroy Jethro Gibbs]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MarkHarmon
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LeroyJethroGibbsNCIS_5376.png]]
->'''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 [[LudicrousGibs Ludicrous Gibbs]], though he does pull some pretty crazy stunts to get the bad guys.

A former US Marine Scout Sniper, he joined what was then called the Naval Investigative Service shortly after the First Gulf War in the wake of his first wife and daughter's murders. He rose up the ranks to become the Special Agent in Charge of the Major Case Response Team, responsible for investigating Navy and Marine Corps-related crimes in and around Washington DC, and has a rather hands-on approach when it comes to maintaining discipline amongst his subordinates.

He is a master interrogator and there are very few people who are brave/stupid enough to try and resist his death glare.

Also, he is a functional mute.
----
%%* ActionDad
* AffectionateGestureToTheHead: Only Gibbs could turn his repeated [[DopeSlap dope slaps]] to [=DiNozzo=] into this.
* AffectionateNickname: Jack Sloane calls him "Cowboy" when she's feeling particularly playful.
* AlwaysGetsHisMan: 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."
* AmnesiaDanger: In "Hiatus", a bomb blast knocks Gibbs back to his Marine days. He has critical information that he doesn't remember. Luckily, [[EasyAmnesia remembrance]] is just a DopeSlap away.
* AmicableExes: Amazingly, Gibbs has managed to retain some level of friendship with all the women who have loved and left him, even when its looks like their relationships have been so badly torpedoed its a wonder they still talk to him. Very noticeable with his first ex-wife Diane, who is witch incarnate and also Fornell's ex (a fact which Gibbs and Fornell love to drive into the ground), but even ''more'' so with ex-wife number three, who is arguably AxCrazy and torments him on the day of their anniversary by drunk-dialing him so much he's forced to take his phones off the hook and even [[INeedAFreakingDrink drown his cell in beer]]. Similarly, after Diane is killed and he blames himself for her death, he keeps avoiding his old flame Hollis Mann's attempts to be there for him because he doesn't want to put her at risk.
%%* AtonementDetective
* BasementDweller: He spends most of his spare time in his basement working on various carpentry projects, usually boats. As a sign of just how messed up his personal life is, he's all but abandoned the second floor of his house, preferring to sleep on his couch, with the bedrooms being reserved for the occasional guest or if he has a female companion over.
* BerserkButton: Messing with his coffee. Or wasting his time. Or putting up with someone's fumbling stupidity. Sometimes all three at the same time.
* BornInTheWrongCentury: 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. When the stash ran out, the tech department went crazy.[[note]]For the record, said phones are ''flip phones''.[[/note]]
** When a Roomba vacuum cleaner was about to suck up some of the evidence from a crime scene, he didn't even bother picking it up or trying to turn it off. ''He stomped it to pieces.''
* BrokenBird: He has never fully recovered from the murder of his wife and child. Three ex-wives and dozens of girlfriends that didn't go anywhere are what remains of his love life.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: He's starting to develop this dynamic with Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane, the Navy Yard's forensic psychologist. Jack has her own [[TraumaButton demons]] [[ShellShockedVeteran to contend with]], which is probably ''why'' she can coax him out of his dark moods -- she understands his pain, and he ''knows'' she understands it. Her warmth, understanding, and lack of judgment help him [[TheConfidant open up to her]] when he wouldn't with anyone else.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: In a more dramatic than comedic fashion. He has some serious quirks that if not for the fact he gets the bad guys and never gives anything but his best, he wouldn't be employed. For instance, in early seasons, he once interrogated some people by talking with them ''in autopsy as Ducky was working on their alleged victim''. It's acknowledged that except for his impatience for dealing with politics, he could be the ''Director''.
* ByronicHero: He's troubled and broody, but still definitely a hero.
* CartwrightCurse: With his first wife Shannon, Jenny Shepard, second wife Diane Sterling, and fiancée Ellen Wallace.
** Even women he's merely attracted to aren't safe--Kate, possibly Lara Macy (their interactions in the BackDoorPilot for ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' heavily imply a prior relationship or some strong feelings at the very least), and flashbacks to his basic training days show that he had a crush on a female recruit who was killed in action before he ever got a chance to tell her how he felt. Even though it never went beyond flirtation, he clearly felt enough to be devastated by ''her'' death as well and to still remember her years later, indicating that ''she'' is the first example of this trope for him, rather than Shannon.
* CatchPhrase: "Ya think?", "What's the point, [=McGee=]?", "Yeah, Gibbs" (default phone answer), and "That's a good question, [Character]. Why don't you find me an answer?", "Grab your gear.", "Got a dead [insert military position here].", "Talk to me, Abbs.", "Is that a fact, _______?"
** Abby once boiled down Gibbs' catchphrases into a remote that played them back on cue. She, of course, affectionately gave it to Gibbs, who got a kick out of it.
* ChestOfMedals: Played With. 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 keeps track of his accomplishments. He even gave away his Silver Star which is the second highest honour that a US serviceman can get for valour in the face of the enemy.
* ColdSniper: Marine sniper previous to his current employment.
%%* CoolOldGuy
* TheComicallySerious: On-the-job Gibbs has no time for anyone's BS. ''Ever.'' Off-the-job Gibbs is as mellow and affable as can be and even willing to engage in some joking around... but he still doesn't care for ''really'' stupid antics.
* CowboyCop: But he always gets away with it. He's ''Gibbs''. And "he only uses his powers for good".
* CrazyPrepared: As shown in the blackout, he has a kit with three polaroid cameras, Band-Aids, food, and clean socks.
* CrusadingWidower: 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.
** He went pretty ballistic when Jenny and Diane were killed too, despite his relationships with them having long since ended.
** He's also determined to be involved in the investigation of his late fiancée's murder, despite how inappropriate it would be, plus the fact that he's briefly a ''suspect''.
* CuttingTheKnot: Due to his ever-present lack of patience and no nonsense personality, Gibbs always takes the shortest path to an answer even if nobody has managed to give him one- after which Gibbs complains for the others taking too long, leading to much friction. He also does things that would be undesirable outcomes to others, like smashing stuff to stop it from malfunctioning, although sometimes this approach is infinitely more effective in a life-or-death situation.
* DarkSecret:
** Gibbs ''murdered'' Pedro Hernandez, the man responsible for the death of Gibbs' first wife and daughter, by sniping the killer from a dune as he drove through the badlands in a truck- something that, if revealed, would instantly spell the end of his career at NCIS and cause an enormous scandal. When Ducky remarks that the bullet ricocheted in Pedro's skull after exhuming him, Gibbs is visibly haunted- though the body of the man he killed being presented in front of him for the first time is enough to do that on its own.
* DeadpanSnarker: More than half of what he says is pure snark.
* DeathGlare: Has one that is very effective in breaking a suspect or stopping Tony when he was being an idiot. This is his default look when his [[BerserkButton buttons]] are pressed.
* DentedIron: Severely wounded during Desert Storm (permanently damaging his eyesight). Later caught in an explosion that caused temporary memory loss. In addition, he's been shot and stabbed several times and nearly drowned once, but recovered no worse for wear. His shooting in the Season 12 finale resulted in some permanent damage, though. His knee was obliterated (necessitating replacement surgery) and he admits, in a rare show of vulnerability, that he's experiencing chronic pain.
* {{Determinator}}: Few things will stop him from getting Justice for those harmed. He will even break some laws if need be.
* DontCallMeSir: Largely because he was enlisted, not a commissioned officer.
* DopeSlap: Aka the "Gibbs Slap" done to all of his agents, but to Tony the most. He's even self-inflicted when he knew he was doing something he'd slap any of his agents for. The only people he never, ''ever'' slaps are [[MoralityPet Abby]] or [[CoolOldGuy Ducky.]]
* DrivesLikeCrazy: When Gibbs needs to get to an investigation ASAP, he weaves in and out of traffic like a bat out of Hell. 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 motoring antics of Ziva, another crazy driver.
* EmbarrassingFirstName: Though it's never stated that he's embarrassed by it, [[DoNotCallMePaul no one except his parents, residents of his hometown, or his ex-wives call him 'Leroy']].
* ExperiencedProtagonist: Gibbs has been an agent for over a decade as of the pilot, and was a Marine sniper before that.
* FacialDialogue: Gibbs can hold entire conversations with squints, glares, smirks, and [[DopeSlap Gibbs slaps]].
* FairCop: Even [[GrandpaWhatMassiveHotnessYouHave in his 60s]] he's still quite attractive.
* AFatherToHisMen:
** Ziva directly calls him "the closest thing she has to a father". (Note that her father is very much alive--or, at least, he ''was'' at the time.)
** Later, he explicitly refers to [[TheTeam his team]] as his "kids."
** For a wedding gift, he gives [=McGee=] the watch his father​ gave him on ''his'' wedding day.
* FriendToAllChildren: Probably has something to do with Kelly. If there's a child involved, he will take the case very [[ItsPersonal seriously.]] His EstablishingCharacterMoment from "Ice Queen" saw him comforting a Cub Scout who happened upon a corpse and giving him his NCIS hat and telling him he could come visit their headquarters sometime with his friends.
* GuileHero: Just as guile as a MagnificentBastard is magnificent.
* GutFeeling: It's legendary. Some fans consider his gut an extra character. His gut has MemeticBadass status ''in-universe.''
%%* TheHero
* HasAType: Redheaded women.
* HatesSmallTalk: Functional mute, remember?
* HeroesWantRedHeads: His four past wives, and Jenny Shepard (who the two had a past relationship) are all redheads. Even Hollis Mann is a ''very'' reddish shade of strawberry blonde.
** When Tony learns about Gibbs flirting with a suspect, his immediate response is "Is she a redhead?" She is.
** He asks M. Allison Hart if ''she'' ever used to be a redhead, apparently bewildered by his attraction to her, given that she's a brunette.
** There might be a FreudianExcuse for this--in "Life Before His Eyes", we see that his beloved [[OedipusComplex mother]] was also a redhead.
** Averted with CGIS Agent Abigail Borin. Despite a genuine mutual respect and their virtually identical personalities, there's no hint of an attraction. Even the team fails to note that she's a redhead when debating the possibility of fixing the two up.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: With Ducky.
* HiddenDepths: He apparently plays racquetball and wanted to be a painter when he was younger (wanting to specialize in watercolors). "Beastmaster" reveals that he likes horses (treating them with the same gentleness that he does with kids) and knows a lot about them.
* HistoryRepeats: Just like protagonist Harmon Rabb from parent series ''Series/{{JAG}}'', Gibbs possesses some form of visual impairment. However, unlike Harm, Gibbs's condition is caused by injuries and irreversible, while Harm's was just a defect that developed with age and was later corrected through laser surgery.
* HonoraryUncle: To Fornell's daughter (who calls him Uncle Gibbs) by their mutual ex-wife. Also with Mike Franks' half-Arab granddaughter (who is also his goddaughter).
* HopelessWithTech: Gibbs is so bad with technology he defaults to [[PercussiveMaintenance really abusive solutions]] like they're the only way of fixing it. Ironically enough, 20 years ago Gibbs went undercover as a computer technician. The team finds this ''hilarious'' when they find out. (Of course, that was when MS-DOS was the standard for computers. He hasn't kept himself caught up since.)
* IcyBlueEyes: Not always, but employed whenever he gives a DeathGlare.
* InformedFlaw: The injury that damaged his eyesight did nothing to impair his shooting skills, including [[ImprobableAimingSkills sniping a terrorist through a window from a mile away]].
* ItsPersonal: 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.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: While he can be quite rude towards his teammates for the most part his "heart of gold" aspect far outweighs his "jerk" aspect.
* KnightInShiningArmor: To the women in his team, especially Abby.
* LastNameBasis: To everyone under his direct supervision, who are basically intimidated into calling him by last name, and Leon, whom Gibbs likewise calls Director (unless they're engaging in personal conversations). The only people to break this trend are his late wife Shannon, his late father, who obviously called his son by his first name, Ducky, who prefers to use Gibbs's middle name, and late mentor Mike, who affectionately called him "Probie."
* LaymansTerms: Does this at least once an episode, mostly to Abby, Ducky and [=McGee=]. Abby uses a lot of scientific and medical terms and takes a while to get to the meat of a conversation because she loves theatrics and retorts that she needs a big windup to get to the point or else Gibbs would be bored, Ducky has a habit of going off on tangents with reminisces, and [=McGee=]'s [[TechnoBabble IT jargon]] goes right over Gibbs' old-fashioned head.
* TheLeader: Of the Major Response Team.
* LivingLegend: He's one of the most famous agents in all of law enforcement, and many criminals have referred to him as some version of "the legendary Leeroy Jethro Gibbs."
%%* MagneticHero
* MarriedToTheJob: Particularly in early seasons. The job is pretty clearly a substitute for his late first wife and daughter, and he pursues it doggedly and near-obsessively. He expects the same of his team.
** Unfortunately, this killed marriage number four, when he became viciously obsessed with catching a serial killer and alienated his then-wife sometime around 1995, and the marriage finally went kaput in 2001 when Gibbs was negotiating with his wife and a divorce lawyer right around the time he recruited Tony to the team. [[KnowWhenToFoldEm Gibbs hasn't been married for real in nearly twenty years since.]]
* MemeticBadass: In-universe. Whenever TheTeam sets up an UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny, they give him the edge.
* MilitaryMaverick: He has a slew of incident reports under his belt and came under investigation in later seasons.
* MustHaveCaffeine: In the form of coffee.
* NeverMyFault: Completely averted. Whenever he screws up, he takes full responsibility and never tries to pin it on his subordinates.
* NoodleIncident: Nothing was known about his second ex-wife until halfway through season ''twelve''.
** Nor that he had yet ''another'' fiancée until towards the end of season sixteen.
* OldSoldier: Specifically, an old marine. He's well into his 60's and still going strong.
* OneTrueLove: His first wife, Shannon, whose death he has never managed to fully move on from. According to his first ex-wife, Diane, Gibbs still loved Shannon when they were together, and will only ever really love her for the rest of his life. Judging by the string of failed marriages and relationships he's had throughout the course of the show and prior, she's probably right.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: His daughter died along with his first wife. Unfortunately, Pedro Hernandez shot an NCIS agent driving a car they were in. When the agent was killed, the car went out of control, wiped out, and the resulting wreck killed Shannon and Kelly.
* PapaWolf:
** Do ''not'' endanger "his kids", ''especially'' Abby. Being older than them just means you have to fatherly fury in addition to a boss' fury.
-->'''Abby''': (telling Gibbs why she didn't tell him about an ex she got a restraining order on) "I wanted him restrained, Gibbs, not beaten to a bloody pulp."
** He extends these tendencies in the episode "Requiem" to his deceased daughter's now grown friend Maddie. Twice he's asked if he's her father. He shrugs it off. But ultimately, it's evident he views her in the same light as the rest of his team...as family.
* ParentalSubstitute: In "Bears and Cubs", Palmer calls Gibbs one of his two father-figures, with the other one being Ducky.
* PercussiveMaintenance: Among his favorite solutions for electronics that piss him off are drowning them in booze, smacking things that won't turn on until they break (he once suggested this as a way to deal with an ornery PDA), and ''shooting'' computers.
* PerpSweating: A master of interrogation.
** Especially when applying his DeathGlare.
** Don't make Gibbs slap the table. [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry You wouldn't like Gibbs when he slaps the table.]]
* PhraseCatcher: "On it, Boss."
* TheQuietOne: Remarkably reticent for the lead character of a TV show. There are entire scenes where he doesn't say a word but is clearly in control and directing the conversation through facial expressions alone. See HarpoDoesSomethingFunny, above, as to why.
%%* RatedMForManly
* RightBehindMe: Tends to evoke this reaction from his agents. Season 13 reveals he's made a habit out of eavesdropping on the skylight reverberations in the main office, which lets him pop in on their conversations already informed.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge:
** His reaction to Ari murdering Kate was to ''kill the bastard'' and stop at nothing less than that. Eventually, [[BestServedCold he decided killing him was less satisfying than watching him be killed and allowed Ziva to take him out.]]
** Gibbs blatantly committed an act of cold-blooded murder by taking out Pedro Hernandez. Then, he left behind his spent shell casing as a message to those who were close to him. Gibbs paid a steep price for that crime much later, and he deeply regrets what he's done, and how badly it hurt Abby when she found out about it.
** When Sergei Mishnev murders Diane, Gibbs proceeds to shoot several of his {{mooks}} and dishes out a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Sergei himself -- which only ends when one more mook shows up and KO's Gibbs from behind.
** Abby herself being severely wounded on the onset of leaving the NCIS teams, and Clayton being killed protecting her. Gibbs is ''past'' devastated and angry, simply broken and forlorn. This is not the typical reaction he has when a loved one gets hurt. This one sent him over the edge... and '''God knows''' what fury is coming afterward. He ''destroys'' a door trying to go after the hitman who shot them, but doesn't get to unload on him because the man has been killed for failing to take out his target and so the mastermind can make a clean escape by getting rid of his loose ends. In trying to pinpoint the mastermind, Gibbs goes off to interrogate Alejandro and coldly and menacingly threatens to kill him if he finds any connection to the hit on his team. The team later discovers the culprit is, Robert King, who has escaped prison. Gibbs' restrained anger finally surfaces when Robert King is captured again, and he lets Abby pay him back by screwing with his head and making him think he's been poisoned, allowing revenge to be served cold again as King panics and the other agents surround him once again. But ''then'' King pushes his buttons when he taunts Gibbs that he'll be back. Gibbs doesn't even humor him with conversation and ''knocks the shit out of him on the spot''.
* RuleNumberOne: "Never let suspects stay together," or maybe it's "Never screw over your partner." There's a lot more "Gibbs Rules". The ones shown tend to be consistent: Never let suspects stay together, Never go anywhere without a knife, Never involve lawyers, Never get personally involved, Never screw over your partner. Rule 44 was sent to Mike Franks to get him away from his house before he was attacked. We only see 15 out of 51 rules for the most part.
** Tony mentions that any situation that requires Gibbs to invoke any rule in the 40s is serious business. The forties are emergency rules, and Abby reacts to them with strong distress when she hears they are in play, because it almost always means Gibbs is knee-deep in a life-threatening situation.
** There were originally 50 rules, but Shannon snuck an additional one in prior to her death. Rule 51: [[BrutalHonesty "Sometimes, you're wrong."]]
** The list of 51 expanded with the years after Shannon and Kelly's demise, and the true number may be poking near the hundreds.
* SemperFi: And Gibbs always remembers it.
--> "There's no such thing as 'ex-Marine'."
* SergeantRock: Gibbs is a ''retired'' gunnery sergeant but still displays characteristics associated with the trope; He's stern but treats his men with respect and is willing to die for them. In turn, his men return the favor.
%%* SexyMentor
* SilverFox: Abby even [[DidIJustSayThatOutLoud calls him this to his face once, by accident.]]
%%* TheStrategist
* SugarAndIcePersonality: Gibbs can be cold and ruthless with his team, especially when they're working on dangerous cases, and they know better than to push him, but for all his standoffishness, he genuinely cares about his team and always goes into PapaWolf mode whenever any of them are in danger.
* SympatheticMurderBackstory: He killed the killer of his first wife and daughter.
* TeamDad: To most of his agents[[note]]Sloane is the exception; he cares just as much for her, but she is much more [[TeamMom his equal]][[/note]], but especially to Abby, she's more or less the DaddysGirl of the NCIS family.
* TechnologicallyBlindElders: It's a RunningGag that he doesn't know how the digital gadgets work.
* TenMinuteRetirement: Took a little longer than most but he had one.
* TerseTalker: Outside of the interrogation room, Gibbs's sentences generally don't exceed ten words. Very much enforced, and the result of [[BrokenAce a lot of bottled lamentations.]] Gibbs is a man of few words, and once the man enters the room, he makes everyone present knock off their idle chatter and give him clear and simple information. Occasionally, he will speak at length, but only very rarely- or when in the presence of a family member or someone he grew up with. This is [[RealLifeWritesThePlot because Mark Harmon didn't care for a lot of the lines Gibbs was given and started paring them down]], causing the writers to start hedge-trimming his dialogue.
* UltimateJobSecurity: The man is a maverick and doesn't have the patience to play nice when it would be prudent to do so, but he gets results, meaning that his job is safe.
** Vance and Gibbs become 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''. 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 "neglected" 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. It has been implied more than once that Gibbs knows how to deal with politics and how to act as a proper Director. He just doesn't care to do so. The one time Gibbs acted as Director while Jenny was away, we found out he doesn't have the patience for the politics.
--->'''Director Shepard''': Jethro's a great field agent, a great team leader, and he deals more efficiently with difficult politicians than I do.\\
'''Captain Todd Gelfand''': Then why isn't he the...\\
'''Director Shepard''': He shoots them.
* {{Tsundere}}: Type A. He's usually harsh and imperious but has a softer side.
* UltimateShowdownOfUltimateDestiny: [[invoked]] The team has had discussions pitting Gibbs vs. the likes of The Franchise/{{Terminator}}, Franchise/{{Godzilla}}, Mothra, and [[MirrorMatch himself]]. They tend to [[MemeticBadass give the edge to Gibbs.]]
* TheUnapologetic: As per Rule #6: "Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness."
* VitriolicBestBuds:
** Has this vibe with Vance. Despite their animosity, there is a sincere mutual respect--and mutual tragedy of having their wives murdered. Indeed, their friendship develops because of this--Vance seeks his advice, knowing that Gibbs knows exactly what he's going through.
** Ditto with Jack Sloane, the Navy Yard's forensic psychologist. He avoids discussing his emotions as a matter of course, whereas her entire ''job'' is to get people to discuss theirs; this unsurprisingly leads to them butting heads on a fairly regular basis. But as an Army veteran and former prisoner-of-war and longtime NCIS agent, she understands him in ways very few people ever will, and he is often seen turning to her when he's troubled because he knows she'll always tell him exactly what she thinks and won't break his confidence with ''anyone''.
* WorkingWithTheEx:
** Once had to deal with one of his ex-wives, his ex-lover, and his current lover at the same time. All he could do was awkwardly stand there as the three women took pot shots at him.
** Diane, the ex-wife he shares with Fornell, has become a recurring character. Most of Diane's venom is directed at Fornell, though, so Gibbs is free to silently snark as they argue. Any episode that features Diane is titled "Devil's Tri-". [[spoiler:Until the events of Season 12, where Diane is murdered.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: That's why he broke up with ex number two- she committed adultery. And why he burnt yet another boat made for his intended sweetheart.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Senior Special Agent Timothy "Tim" [=McGee=]]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/SeanMurray
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TimothyMcGeeNCIS_8580.png]]
->'''Abby:''' ''I love it when you talk geek!''
->'''[=McGee=]:''' ''I love it that you love it.''

A tech genius who graduated from college as a teenager. [=McGee=] was the MCRT's long-suffering probationary agent who eventually grew in confidence to become a seasoned investigator. He is also a fairly successful author who's written a series of novels based on his coworkers (to their intense displeasure). As an MIT alumni, he is often the one responsible for much of the technical work in solving cases at NCIS, but sometimes forgets others around him don't come from the same background and can't make heads or tails of technological lingo.

While a "Probie", he used to be the butt of Tony [=DiNozzo's=] every joke. Eventually, he became an official agent, then later took over Tony's status and desk as Senior Special Agent when he left in Season 13. [=McGee=] is currently married to Delilah Fielding, whom he met in Season 10 while in need of a good fellow computer hacker. In Season 15, he becomes the proud father of [[UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn Johnny and Morgan [=McGee=]]].
----
* TenMinuteRetirement: Between seasons 10 and 11 to get the case against Gibbs dismissed.
* AccidentalMisnaming: Suffers from all of Tony's Mc-names and being called "Probie." The second name goes away when he becomes an official agent, unless someone reminds Tony to PokeThePoodle.
* AffectionateNickname: He's originally addressed as "Probie" by Tony as an epithet, but it morphs into something friendlier and even somewhat affectionate as Tim gains more experience and starts standing up for himself. Tim learns to accept it when he learns that Gibbs is still called "Probie" by people who knew him from his Probie days 20 years ago, and that it eventually becomes a reminder of the mentor-mentee relationship some agents share.
* BadassBeard: You'll see this in effect from the start of Season 15. After being stuck in captivity for several months, Tim's clean-shaven face became unkempt. After escaping captivity, he got a few compliments on how dignified the beard made him and decided he was keeping it as a souvenir of his experience. It also marks the completion of his character evolution from timid probie to seasoned badass.
* BashBrothers: In Season 14, he and Torres were often teamed up.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He is the kindest and most polite secret agent you will ever come across, but do something that pisses him off and you ''will'' regret it. He has the tech savviness, book smarts, gun skill and combat skill to make the rest of your life miserable if he really wants to.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Don't let the husky size and geek-personality fool you, he is a skilled interrogator, hacker, and an excellent shot.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Will do some irrational things to protect his college-age sister, some of which have jeopardized his career once.
%%* BunnyEarsLawyer
%%* ButtMonkey
* CallingTheOldManOut: In the episode where Tim reunites with his GloryHound of a father, he rages at his dad for putting his job above the affections of his own family.
* CatchPhrase: "On it, boss." He hates it when he ends up using this for Tony, knowing he will never let him live it down. However, with Tony's departure, it seems to be an affectionate keepsake of his friend as opposed to just another BorrowedCatchphrase.
* ClearMyName: In "Probie" he was charged with killing another cop.
* CoolCar: Had one in high school, much to the surprise of Tony. He shares in lamenting the car's demise when [=McGee=] told him of its fate.
* DeadpanSnarker: In later seasons.
* DisappearedDad: His estranged and divorced father appears, then dies in season 12, and had not been a major part of his life since before the show started.
* EmbarrassingMiddleName: His middle name is Farragut. This was first mentioned halfway through season 13.
* EmbarrassingNickname: He is particularly ashamed when his colleagues call him "Elf Lord" (his online gaming name).
* FairCop: Sean Murray as Agent [=McGee=] would seem to be the only one to avert this, but then he lost a good amount of weight entering Season 7, and now we can include him.
* FakeGuestStar: In season 1, he only shows up for a few episodes because he was a probie agent at Norfolk. He doesn't officially join the team until season 2.
* FormerlyFat: Before around Season 6, [=McGee=] is noticeably a bit rubbery in the face and slightly heavyset. Then he slims down ''dramatically'' and the excess blubber around his face goes away and the skin clings more closely to his facial musculature, making him look a lot older and wiser. This also marks his CharacterDevelopment. Tony later remarks he preferred Tim more when he was fatter because he was easier to tease.
* FriendToAllChildren: An early mission involving TheTeam being bodyguards to a military woman and her family showed Kate and Tony struggling to get along with said client's children, while [=McGee=] just played ORPG with the son and things ran very smoothly (much to Tony's dismay). He also bonds fairly well with Henry, the 14-year-old who's being targeted for witnessing a drug-related stabbing in "Homefront" due to the two of them being {{Military Brat}}s.
* FriendsWithBenefits: Surprisingly, for all the ribbing he takes from his coworkers and especially Tony that he has never gotten anybody in the sack, [=McGee=] has lost his virginity and has been seen to have had a girl sleep over at his place [[SexyShirtSwitch wearing his MIT t-shirt.]]
* HappilyMarried: Married Delilah Fielding at the end of Season 14.
* HiddenDepths: A tech head, hacker and best selling author.
** Who loves the outdoors and has various skills from the scouts, including tracking abilities.
* HollywoodNerd: He plays role-playing games online, prompting the others to occasionally call him "Elf Lord."
** Somewhat justified in that his online character is named "Elflord".
* IdiotBall: When his sister showed up to his apartment obviously drugged, in a stupor saying she killed someone, and covered in blood, the seasoned investigator grabs this with a dose of BigBrotherInstinct as he doesn't take her to NCIS or even the hospital. He lets her shower and by the time she does get her blood tested, the drugs had metabolized. The Director calls him out on this, hoping it would trick him into resigning.
** Also averted to some degree in that episode when in justifying his actions to Gibbs that he knows how it looks and because of that he couldn't trust anyone, even Gibbs. [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Gibbs accepts the apology even though he has a beef with people showing weakness by apologizing.]]
* InSeriesNickname: Gets a new one nearly once-per episode, almost always recived as a variant of his last name, with 'gee' being replaced by an insult or something pertaining to his personality. However, the moniker 'Elf Lord' has stuck around quite consistently, and even ''Gibbs'' has used it.
* IntimateMarks: In season 1 he gets a tattoo on his butt to impress Abby. Later it's revealed that it's the word "Mom".
* IWantMyJetPack: In S7 [=Ep11=], [=McGee=] outs himself as a jetpack, no, rocket belt expert nerd, to the point where he has made a short film detailing their history and credited it to his authorial pseudonym. He does get to sort-of fulfill his dream by remote-controlling a prototype jetpack being used by a killer to escape, although that, pretty much, amounts to him flying a drone with a person inside.
* LastNameBasis: Almost always referred to as "[=McGee=]".
** FirstNameBasis: But ends up being called "Tim" a lot more as of Season 14.
* TheLancer: Tony's departure means that [=McGee=] is now Gibbs' NumberTwo.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Ziva whom he treats like a barely older twin sister, also a BigBrotherMentor to Ellie. Also Abby after both recieved some CharacterDevelopment. He also treats Tony like an annoying older brother.
* LoserHasYourBack: Plays this role once or twice in early seasons, but he's no longer enough of a loser to pull it off.
* MilitaryBrat: His father was an Admiral in the Navy.
* MostWritersAreWriters: He's a successful author of novels inspired by his workplace and coworkers, which he writes under the SignificantAnagram "Thom E. Gemcity."
* MrFixit: "Special Agent Goodwrench," season two, episode four.
* MysteryWriterDetective: [=McGee=] is a special agent, who wrote a best selling novel... that he would have preferred his coworkers never found out about. Later on, he was able to use his fame to get into a club that other undercover agents couldn't get in to.
* NameMcAdjective: Tony gives him a lot of Mc-nicknames to work with.
* NerdsAreSexy: Well, his wife Delilah certainly thinks so. At one point they have an argument in a private code developed from binary shorthand!
* NotSoAboveItAll: After years of protesting against Tony's treatment of him, [=McGee=]'s just as eager to break in Ziva and Bishop when they join the team as probies. However, he continually insists that the way ''he'' treats probies is nowhere near as bad as how Tony treated him.
* NumberTwo: Ever since Tony left. Symbolized by Tony calling [=McGee=] "Very Special Agent."
* OfficialCouple: With Delilah Fielding, who's now his wife.
* PlatonicLifePartners: He and Abby dated once early in the series, and they've had a WillTheyOrWontThey that ended with "won't", but they still get along fairly well. Enough for her to be his BestWoman at his wedding.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Starting season 2.
* ProperlyParanoid: [=McGee=] never tells anyone where he works. He'll give out cell numbers, pages, etc, but he never mentions NCIS. Which is how he knows, when his new girlfriend shows up to pick him up after work, that she's not who she says she is. Overlaps with INeverSaidItWasPoison.
* RealNameAsAnAlias: His pseudonym as a writer is just an anagram of his full name.
* RecurringCharacter: In season 1.
* TheReliableOne: [=McGee=] is often called on by the others to help out with technical or difficult favors outside of the job, such as helping Ducky create a collage for his mentor or getting clearance for a young boy to contact his mother through MTAC.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Not his own, but Ziva's, against Bodnar.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Savvy Guy to Abby's Energetic Girl.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Sensitive Guy to Tony's Manly Man.
* SignificantAnagram: His pseudonym as a novelist is Thom E. Gemcity, an anagram of his full name.
%%* TheSmartGuy
* TechnoBabble: He had a serious problem with this in the earlier seasons, much to Gibbs' exasperation. It gradually died down in later seasons, and is now non-existent.
* TookALevelInBadass: Between seasons six and seven. Big time. Most exemplified in the 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.[[note]]And then Dorneget reveals he forgot his service weapon.[[/note]]
** The extra levels in badass arguably started with the sixth season episode "Caged", where he has to solve a murder case in a [[GirlsBehindBars women's prison]] on his own. Compare the phone calls he has with a car mechanic [[BookEnds at the start and at the end]] of the episode.
** In terms of character, in the first three seasons, he's the fat, wet-behind-the-ears put-upon probie who bumbles around and people treat like a gullible and clumsy child. In the next three seasons, he's gotten fitter and his probie status is lifted, so he becomes a fully-fledged agent of NCIS and finally starts repaying most of the ribbing he got from Tony because now they are equals and he can't belittle him anymore. By Season 14, [=McGee=] is now the senior special agent on the team and no longer the target of anyone's insults (because Kate, Tony, and Ziva, his teasers, are no longer present), his face has gone from looking all wide-eyed and flabby to incredibly sharpened and aged with some deep furrows in his forehead and cheeks. And, as mentioned above, the BadassBeard he starts sporting as of Season 15 don't hurt none either.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Occasionally; in one Season Fourteen episode, he and Torres were interrogating a perp, doing the classic GoodCopBadCop. The guy assumed Torres was the bad cop, but he wasn't -- ''[=McGee=]'' was. Cue twisted arm and face slammed into the table.
* UndyingLoyalty: [=McGee=] has a tendency to pick up the IdiotBall and run with it when people he's loyal to are in trouble. He's risked his job for his sister's sake, and [[spoiler:despite being newly married to Delilah with a child on the way, left the safety of the chopper at the end of Season 14 to help Gibbs, which got him stranded in Paraguay.]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Tony, behaving much like a pair of [[SiblingRivalry squabbling brothers]] at times.
* WhamEpisode: Ziva is not hunting Bodnar on her own. [=McGee=] has been helping her track Bodnar's movements. The scene in which Tony finds out what they're doing is played [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything like he caught them sleeping together.]]
* WillTheyOrWontThey: As noted above with Abby, although [=McGee=] says outright in Season 12 that they never will because he failed to pass a SecretTestOfCharacter Abby gives to all the men she dates. And because he later ends up marrying Delilah Fielding.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Chief Medical Examiner Dr. James "Jimmy" Palmer]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/BrianDietzen
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/JimmyPalmerNCIS_9421.png]]
->''"Is it just me or does anyone else wonder how they get [=IUDs=] in there? ''({{Beat}})'' That probably sounded a lot more inappropriate than I meant."''

Ducky's protégé, taking the place of Gerald Jackson after he had been injured too severely to continue work at NCIS, who also acts as a Ducky-expy to Tony's Gibbs whenever Tony is in charge of a case. He is always eager to help the team any way he can, even if his skills are more or less exclusive to the morgue. However, Jimmy's also a gawky nimrod with a spectacular knack for saying the wrong thing. He's married to a woman named Breena and they have a daughter named Victoria.
----
* ActionSurvivor: He works out in a gym but he isn't combat proficient.
* {{Adorkable}}: Possibly the single dorkiest character seen on the show. This only makes him ''cuter''.
* AffectionateNickname: Because of his Lurch-like presence and incredibly gawky demeanor, Tony likes to call him the "Autopsy Gremlin".
%%* BrainyBrunette
* ButtMonkey: If there's a chance for a character to be insulted or put-upon in any given episode, there's at least a 75% chance it'll be Palmer. [=McGee=] occupies another 20%, while the remaining 5% is a wildcard usually filled by Tony.
* CantHoldHisLiquor: The drinks served at his StagParty are all watered down, but he still gets hammered.
* TheConsigliere: It's revealed in one episode that whenever Tony is left in charge of a case, he secretly has meetings with Palmer to help point him in the right direction whenever Tony feels that he's lost on what to do next.
* CreepyMortician: {{Downplayed}}, but working with dead bodies has given him a rather macabre sense of humor. It's probably not a coincidence that he winds up married to an ''actual'' mortician -- but Breena averts the trope completely by being a bubbly blonde sweetheart.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Is very intelligent and a good assistant to Ducky, but has problems with self-confidence.
* DeadpanSnarker: While [[OpenMouthInsertFoot his attempts at humor usually fall flat]], even Palmer gets his moments. For example, when he's brought to the cold storage of a ship at sea to examine a murder victim:
-->'''Chief Petty Officer:''' Jones's body, it's gone!\\
'''Palmer:''' This'll complicate the autopsy.
* DisappearedDad: "Bears and Cubs" reveals that Palmer's dad died when he was ten years old, and it's implied he was [[AbusiveParents abusive]].
* ExactWords: He uses this on Gibbs, pointing out that he technically stayed in the car as he was ordered.
* FakeGuestStar: Might as well be a TropeCodifier. Dietzen was credited as a recurring guest star for the first 5 seasons and as "Also Starring" from season 6 onwards. He was even on the cover art for the Season 8 DVD and was featured in articles alongside the main cast but he wasn't promoted to the opening titles until Season 10.
* {{Fetish}}: He apparently has a thing for footwear.
%%* TheGlassesComeOff:
* HappilyMarried: To Breena as of Season 10. They later have a daughter named Victoria.
* HeroicBSOD: He gets this after Diane, Gibbs' and Fornell's ex-wife, dies.
-->'''Ducky:''' Right, on three. One, two—\\
'''Palmer:''' No.\\
'''Ducky:''' I beg your pardon?\\
'''Palmer:''' No. I don't want to.\\
'''Ducky:''' You don't want to what, Mr. Palmer?\\
'''Palmer:''' I don't want to know how much her liver weighs. I don't want to catalog her scars. ''(Gibbs enters autopsy)'' Most of all, I don't want to cut open another friend. I think I've had my limit. ''(walks away)''\\
'''Ducky:''' I don't remember the moment I reached my limit, but I do remember never being the same.
* HiddenDepths: He trained as a medical examiner and is presumably being groomed to replace Ducky in the future, but he also demonstrates significant knowledge of criminal activity when he acts as Tony's secret consigliere.
** The episode ''Keep Going'' reveals that [[RuleOfThree he took and failed the ME exam twice, and passed on the third try.]] This means that he could be an official ME on par with Ducky outside the Navy Yard-- but since he respects Team Gibbs' dynamic so much, he chose to stay.
%%* HollywoodNerd
* InSeriesNickname: the numerous MemeticMutation 'Autopsy Gremlin' that he received from [=DiNozzo=].
* LooseLips: Coupled with his chronic foot-in-mouth syndrome, Palmer is often the person to blunder a secret the fastest, sometimes without even knowing it ''was'' a secret. For instance, Palmer inadvertently clued Tony in on a private detective's name that Ziva and [=McGee=] were desperately trying to withhold from him because they knew he'd find it to be a goldmine for wisecracks and they'd never hear the end of it. Cue Palmer catching him in the office late at night and accidentally spilling the beans...
* LovedINotHonorMore: He tells his love that while he loves her more than anything, his TrueCompanions 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. [[NiceGirl She completely understands]].
%%* {{Megane}}
* MyHovercraftIsFullOfEels: His story about spending time in France features a downplayed example: He was trying to tell some French friends of his how his mother used to hunt squirrels when he was a child, but he mixed up the French word for "squirrel" with the word for "shark". ("écureuil" and "requin").
-->'''Ducky:''' ''(chuckling)'' "How they must have imagined your strange homeland with your shark-hunting mother."
* NerdsAreSexy: Agent Lee thought so and so does his wife, Breena.
%%* NightmareFetishist
* OpenMouthInsertFoot: Every episode if not more than once per episode. See the character quote above. Clearly Jimmy has never heard the adage that "closed mouths gather no feet". It usually leads straight into [[DiggingYourselfDeeper Digging Himself Deeper]]. For example, Quinn was feeling very awkward after she had a sex dream about Gibbs so he tried to comfort her by revealing [[IfItsYouItsOkay that he had pretty much the same dream]] ("He knocks on the desk and asks 'Do you know what kind of wood this is' and things get ''wild''!") with a bit too much enthusiasm.
* PassingJudgment: Often on the receiving end. Jimmy's ''unbelievably'' terrible with his choice of words. He usually says just one thing that turns out to be highly irreverent and gets a ''really'' dirty stare from Gibbs or an appalled look from Ducky, sometimes both at the same time.
* PersonAsVerb: In a CallBack, an [=NSA=] agent is mentioned as having "pulled a Palmer" in an 11th season episode.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Introduced in season one, appeared in roughly half the episodes per season from then on, got an "Also Starring" credit as of season six, FINALLY into the opening credits in season ten.
* RankUp: Passed the Medical Examiner's examination at some point in season 14 and didn't tell the others because he didn't want to leave the team.
** With Ducky on sabbatical, Palmer is (temporarily, at least) in charge of Autopsy. This becomes permanent after Ducky decides to step down from the Chief Medical Examiner role permanently.
* RecurringCharacter: Starting after "Bete Noir", when Ducky is forced to hire a new assistant to replace Gerald as he goes through months of excruciating rehab. Eventually, Palmer sticks as a main cast member.
* RecklessGunUsage: Palmer has no actual firearms training so it almost results in IJustShotMarvinInTheFace with Ducky in the season 10 episode "Detour".
** Ducky, whose military training may be decades old, is smart enough to carefully push the gun away from his face and avoid being accidentally shot.
* {{Retirony}}: Subverted. 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.
* ThatCameOutWrong: Happens to him a lot, and when he tries to explain, [[DiggingYourselfDeeper he just looks worse]].
* TooKinkyToTorture: When he helps Abby solve a problem, Gibbs gives Abby a peck on the cheek and Jimmy [[DopeSlap a Gibbs slap]]. He looks just as pleased at this as Abby. Though that might have been because the slap meant that Gibbs considered him part of the team.
** In an earlier episode, Ducky mentions that his attempts to emulate the [[DopeSlap "Gibbs' Slap"]] on Palmer were ineffective, as he seemed to enjoy it.
** Palmer himself lampshades this after Gibbs [[DopeSlap slaps]] him in "Scope".
-->'''Palmer:''' "Every time he does that, I feel special."
* UglyGuyHotWife: He's hardly ugly, but Jimmy definitely qualifies as "geekily adorable", whereas his wife Breena is absolutely drop-dead gorgeous.
* TheWatson: To Ducky's Holmes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Special Agent Eleanor "Ellie" Bishop]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/EmilyWickersham
[[quoteright:320:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ncis-bishop_6492.jpg]]
->''"I wrote it my third day at the [=NSA=]. It was a Wednesday morning, I'd just finished a box of Coco Pebbles."''

An NSA analyst brought to joint duty with NCIS. Gibbs says that he wants to keep Bishop around after she helps the team solve a case involving high level security leaks, which she predicted in a paper years ago. Now officially the newest Probie on Team Gibbs.
----
* ActionGirl: Having had three older brothers, Bishop is fairly adept at grappling with opponents who are much larger than her. On the other hand, she has little experience with gunfights and hasn't done well in those she participated in so far[[note]]In her first shootout, she fired one shot that appeared to cause a major explosion and incinerated a suspect (later revealed to be not her fault). In her second, the first shot fired hit her in the vest and she is left groaning on the ground while the rest of the team return fire. Her third gunfight, at the time against a Taliban mook, was more successful, but still left her pretty shocked. By season 13, she's gotten better[[/note]].
* AffectionateNickname: She inherits the title of "Probie", although Tony calls her that with none of the venom he used when [=McGee=] was the junior member of the team.
* AntiHeroSubstitute: Inverted. She's a lot more personable and easygoing compared to her notoriously stern and snarky predecessors.
* AwesomeByAnalysis: What she did at the NSA.
* AmbiguousDisorder: Has several signs of UsefulNotes/AspergersSyndrome.
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: She mentions "three older brothers" in her debut episode .
* BewareTheNiceOnes: One of the nicest people you'd ever meet and possibly tricked a terrorist into blowing himself up to avenge her fiance.
* BigEater: She loves to snack and uses food as a device to help her recall details. The first thing she asks about the NCIS New Orleans office is if they have a junk food machine which completely dumbfounds [=SSA=] Pride.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Tends to create "nests" where she works, which is often on the floor rather than a desk (or sometimes ''on'' her desk), although Gibbs eventually puts an end to this practice in the office. Also associates key details of situations and her surroundings with foods she was eating at the time.
* CartwrightCurse: One failed marriage and one dead boyfriend/would-have-been fiance. Looks like she's well on her way to having the same screwed up love life that nearly everyone else does.
* TheCutie: She is notably LighterAndSofter compared to her two predecessors, Kate and Ziva. It's even reflected with their hair colors and personalities (she's blond and more social, while both her predecessors were initially {{Aloof Dark Haired Girl}}s to the max). She can also match Abby's perkiness if she wanted to.
* DisposableWoman / StuffedInAFridge: Genderflipped; is revealed to be dating an Afghani interpreter (about a year after getting divorced) who was rescued in a previous episode. The second episode featuring their relationship is also when he's shot to (brain)death by a Chinese financial terrorist because he cracked the terrorist's code.
* DumbBlonde: Inverted. She's a brilliant NSA analyst who predicted several security breaches years in advance.
* DynamicEntry: She misunderstands Tony asking her to open a hotel door and eagerly tries to kick it down but doesn't do any damage because of her small stature. Tony then reminds her that they'd just gotten a key from the front desk and meant for her to use that.
* FakeGuestStar: In season 11.
* FreezeFrameBonus: On her desk is a sticker for Oklahoma State University, presumably her alma mater. OSU is located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, [[NamesTheSame the same name]] as Gibbs' hometown in Pennsylvania.
* HappilyMarried: She was married to a man named Jake, who she's known since they were in college together. Her new job as an [=NCIS=] agent caused a strain on her marriage, which fell apart when Jake had an affair with a coworker.
** HappilyDivorced: And now the marriage is annulled and Ellie is back on the market again, glad to be rid of Jake.
* HeadTiltinglyKinky: Bishop claims to have had sex in a position that Tony and [=McGee=] consider to be impossible. She was about to start explaining how it was done when Gibbs walks in, ending the conversation.
* HollywoodNerd: Almost always has a notebook computer with her.
* HoneyTrap: Implied to be how Bishop became the NSA's expert on Benham Parsa. (the NSA does number crunching, not field work, so this got Bishop yanked off the case.)
* TheMaidenNameDebate: She used her maiden name rather than Jake's surname.
* MotorMouth: When she gets going, she could give Abby a run for her money.
%%* NerdsAreSexy
* NeverGetsDrunk: Claims this is the case, though it hasn't been shown on screen. She apparently learned this during a NoodleIncident at college with her future husband.
* NewMeat: Has to bear the brunt of Tony and [=McGee=]'s ribbing and hazing and does all the dirty work the senior agents don't want to do. Her first day as an agent involved sifting through buckets of human excrement and climbing up a rickety fire escape even though she isn't good with heights.
-->'''Bishop''': First, 'Probie' sounded endearing...and cute...doesn't anymore.
* NoodleIncident: Claims to have successfully executed a sexual position that Tony and [=McGee=] had previously considered anatomically impossible. She starts to explain when Gibbs walks in.
-->'''Tony''': Are you double jointed?
* PhotographicMemory: She uses food association to help her with her recall.
* PoorCommunicationKills: Losing her NSA security clearance made it hard to have regular conversations with Jake. Instead of finding other things to talk about, Jake decided to find someone else with NSA credentials.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Immediately after she joins TheTeam.
* {{Retcon}}: Bishop originally said that she and Jake knew each other in college, but Jake tells a story where they first met at the NSA.
* {{Revenge}}: Vows to avenge the death of [[spoiler: her fiance Qasim at the hands of Chen the terrorist]], going rogue and risking her life and job. Gibbs, who has some familiarity with Ellie's situation [[spoiler: having also gone rogue to kill the guy who murdered his wife and child]], is worried about her given how screwed up his emotional life has been ever since [[spoiler: and that he and his friends were targeted by the killer's children years later]].
* SadisticChoice: Gave Chen a similar "choice" he gave that episode's victim: Kill himself or get captured by terrorists that Chen ratted out. Chen chose to kill himself and it's implied Ellie tricked him.
* TragicKeepsake: A romantic card with photo booth pics of her and Qasim which would have been her answer to his marriage proposal ("YES!") that she was planning on giving him the day he died. After she avenges his death she gives it to Gibbs so she'll stop dwelling on the past.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Director Leon Vance]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/RockyCarroll
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LeonVanceNCIS_999.png]]
->'''Abby:''' ''Wow. I heard about your techy mojo.''

Formerly NCIS' assistant director who oversaw operations on the west coast. He was promoted to agency director in the wake of Jenny Shepard's death. He was initially recruited to the Naval Investigative Service[[note]]NCIS' predecessor[[/note]] as an expendable deep cover operative who did wet work. He has a rather tough managerial style (shaped by his being a boxer when younger) and often butts heads with Gibbs. He's unusual among the cast for having a happy family life, although that's brought to a tragic end by a drive by shooting at his house.
----
%%* AndStarring
* AssassinOutclassin: When [=McCallister=] tries to assassinate Vance in hopes of taking his place as Director, Vance stabs him to death despite ''being in a hospital bed on a ventilator'' due to injuries he sustained in an earlier assassination attempt.
%%* BaitAndSwitchTyrant
* BadBoss\BenevolentBoss: He has a gruff demeanor and can be absolutely tyrannical at times, especially if the situation is critical, but he truly respects his team and would lay his life down for them.
* CrusadingWidower: Starting season 10, as of "[[Recap/NCISS10E11 Shabbat Shalom]]".
* DaChief: He's the Director.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: 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.
* DeathGlare: Is one of the few people not intimidated by Gibbs', due to having a pretty epic one of his own. When the two of them get into a Glare Down, everyone else hauls ass out of the room.
* GeniusBruiser: He was once a boxer, but can compete with [=McGee=] in knowledge of cryptology.
* HappilyMarried: Until his wife is murdered.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until Season 5.
* ItsPersonal: Twice he has caused an interrogation to get out of hand because someone close to him was murdered and a suspect was in the hot seat.
* MysteriousPast: Not all of it has been explained...yet. We do know he's quite happy to be out of the field.
* OralFixation: Chewing on toothpicks.
* ScaryBlackMan: He can be absolutely terrifying when he wants to be, which is probably one of the reasons he gets to boss Gibbs around. Taken to severe extremes when he put a fire safety axe through a metal table in the interrogation room to intimidate a teenage suspect who was suspected of killing one of Vance's friends.
* TheUriahGambit: Vance is revealed to have been originally recruited to NIS in 1991 almost specifically for his expendability. Obviously, it didn't go as planned.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Has this vibe with Gibbs. Despite their animosity, there is a sincere mutual respect--and mutual tragedy of having their wife murdered. Indeed, their friendship develops because of this--Vance seeks his advice, knowing that Gibbs knows exactly what he's going through.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:NCIS Historian Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard]]
->'''Played By''': [[Creator/DavidMcCallum David [=McCallum=]]], Creator/AdamCampbell (young version)
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/DuckyNCIS_4041.png]]
->''"I look forward to [[ImpliedDeathThreat weighing your liver]]."''

A proud Scotsman with an expansion pack past. He is Gibbs' long time friend and confidant and has a habit of conducting one-sided conversations with the bodies he's examining.
----
%%* AndStarring
* BerserkButton: In "Seadog", Ducky goes ballistic on a local LEO who contaminates a crime scene so he can get in good with the news reporter on the scene. His merely getting angry means he's mellowed, however, as Gibbs has a story where Ducky pushed a French policeman off a cliff[[note]]there was water at the bottom[[/note]] for the same reason. Later in "Conspiracy Theory" we see him going at a psychiatrist whose poor standards led to one of his patients being murdered. And ''never'' forget to show DueToTheDead.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's probably the most forgiving character on the show and most bad guys dismiss him because of his advanced age. But he knows exactly where to hit someone to knock them out and possesses the expertise to cut a major blood vessel with a single, seemingly innocuous, cut. Watching him calmly use such a cut as a JackBauerInterrogationTechnique is simply chilling.
* BrokenBird: This was name of the episode when we see just a glimpse of his past, where we see that a TortureTechnician repeatedly tortured the same innocent man not for information but to see how many times Ducky would treat the man before ''Ducky'' would break in order to get rid of his good influence on the other prisoners.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: His tendency to go on long speeches during work is lampshaded by Palmer when he does his first dissection.
-->'''Palmer:''' I'm suddenly overcome with the desire to share a story of only a peripherally relevant nature.\\
'''Ducky:''' It's a hazard of the profession, Mr. Palmer.
* ClearMyName: Ducky didn't want to clear it, but Gibbs did.
* CombatMedic: he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps and was stationed in Afghanistan and Bosnia.
* CommutingOnABus: Spends a good part of Season 15 on sabbatical to teach forensic medicine and write a book on the subject. Then spends half of Season 16 on vacation, after which he decides to retire. Then Director Vance gives him a new job, which is part time, so he doesn't necessarily need to appear in every episode even though he's officially back.
* CombatPragmatist: In [=S11E01=], Ducky took down a random mook with a random bowl, saving Palmer in the process.
-->'''Palmer:''' ''(being manhandled)'' CALL SECURITY!!\\
''(CLANG!)''\\
'''Ducky:''' ''[[OneLiner Who needs security?]]''
%%* CoolOldGuy
* CoolTrain: Occasionally visible in the background, displayed on a small shelf is a scale model of [[http://classicstreamliners.deviantart.com/art/At-last-clear-shot-of-Mallard-169049780 LNER #4468 "Mallard"]]
** Ducky is carefully maintaining it in one episode and comments on the relationship between his name and its name.
** TragicKeepsake: That train was the last Christmas present he ever gave to his half-brother Nicholas, who dropped it when his mother, who had just divorced Ducky's father, took the boy away from his childhood home and moved to Albania.
%%* TheCoroner
* CreepyMortician: 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.
* DeadlyDoctor: His medical expertise allows him to kick your ass if you push him too far.
* DeadpanSnarker: Like most of the cast, he has his moments. For example, when Gibbs presses him about the cause of death of a diver killed inside a pressure chamber, without access to the body for an examination.
-->'''Ducky:''' Oh, Jethro, please. You can't expect me to determine a cause of death from an instant replay.\\
'''Gibbs:''' Come on, Duck, you got to give me something.\\
'''Ducky:''' All right... I can confidently rule out quicksand.
* ExpansionPackPast: The sheer number of stories he has to tell clearly implies that he's lived a very full life.
* GentlemanAndAScholar: Rarely has he ever raised his voice in anger or struck someone. He uses non-physical forms of intimidation.
* HeroesWantRedHeads: The very lovely Dr. Jordan Hampton.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: He and Gibbs are longtime best friends.
* HonoraryUncle: Honorary ''Grandfather'' (or "Grandducky") to Victoria Palmer given how close he is to the elder Palmer.
* LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: he is often shown wearing one, complete with a bowtie. He wears blue-green scrubs when performing autopsies and blue overalls on crime scenes.
* LongLostRelative: His half-brother Nicholas Mallard, whom Ducky thought to have been killed in an accident decades ago, turns out to be alive in the episode "Spinning Wheel" (13x11).
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: In "Broken Bird", Ducky is suddenly attacked by a knife-wielding woman while examining a body at a crime scene. He dismisses it as "just a defensive wound." His right hand still has the knife impaled in it.
* TheMedic: In addition to being the Medical Examiner.
* TheMentor: To Palmer. Officially too.
* TheMunchausen: Averted, as it seems to be generally accepted by those who know him that his stories are true.
* MyBelovedSmother: His mother had Alzheimer's and drove him crazy in early seasons; she was put in a home [[RealLifeWritesThePlot shortly after the death of her actress in late 2008]] and died a year later.
* NewJobAsThePlotDemands: Originally started out as the team's ME. Then in Season 4 he earned a master's degree in psychology and started getting called-upon to profile a suspect. Or to go undercover as an arms dealer, because they needed an older British man on very short notice. After deciding to retire from medical examination, Director Vance arranges for him to get a new part-time position as the agency historian.
* NiceGuy: Probably the nicest guy on the show, or at least tied with Abby.
%%* NonActionGuy
* NoSenseOfDirection: He blames his assistants but he's always the one giving directions.
* TheOneThatGotAway: Ducky has had a number of love interests over the years, but the only woman he ever really loved was his childhood friend Maggie, who ended up marrying his best friend Angus instead. The tragedy in all this is that Maggie actually loved Ducky more and followed him upon his departure, but he had already gone by then; she then married Angus, and while they cared for each other, the marriage eventually lost all spark. When Maggie and Ducky meet again years later after Angus' death, they both accept what's happened and move on.
* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Few people call him "Donald". Inverted in the way he calls everyone else by their full names--"Anthony", "Timothy", "Caitlin", etc.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Ducky wears a four-in-hand tie to work one day and the other characters immediately wonder what's wrong (granted, he was also acting strangely, but the tie was the major cause for concern). Turns out Ducky has found himself a girlfriend named Sophie and she is [[MayDecemberRomance much younger than him]] and made him feel self-conscious about his age, and he's tried to find ways to make himself appear younger and reinvent his image. We never get a chance to meet her, however, because come next episode, the romance has fizzled out and Ducky is back to his old self again, deciding that he shouldn't have to change for someone for them to love him.
* ParentalSubstitute: In "Bears and Cubs", Palmer calls Ducky one of his two father-figures, with the other one being Gibbs.
* TheProfiler: Ducky can fish up an enormous amount of information from a victim just by looking at the nature of their wounds and the things found on (or sometimes in) their person.
* PunnyName: With a name like that, what did you think he'd be called, Mousey?
** Ari first thinks of the locomotive, mildly surprising Ducky. ([[BrickJoke Ducky actually has a model of the locomotive on display back at his home]])
* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: He is unfailingly polite and charms ladies of all ages.
* RhymesOnADime: "Witch Hunt" has this one:
-->The sky is blue, the grass is green,
-->May we have our Halloween?
%%* UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}}
* ShoutOut: Gibbs mentions that when Ducky was younger, he looked like Illya Kuryakin from ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE''. David McCallum played Illya in the original TV series.
* ShownTheirWork: 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.
* TalkingToTheDead: He routinely does this with his "patients." TruthInTelevision: RealLife medical examiners have been known to do this.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Special Agent Nicholas "Nick" Torres]]
[[quoteright:321:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_4311.JPG]]
-> '''Played by''': Creator/WilmerValderrama
* BadassBiker: Went undercover in a bike gang. He's still awesome on a bike.
* DisappearedDad: Season 16 "Crossing a Line" – During a heart-to-heart with Max, the son of an agent killed in the Navy yard bombing, he reveals that his father abandoned him when he was young.
* HeroicBSOD: Reeves' death has left him in a deep funk.
--> "I miss my buddy."
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Is deeply reluctant to go out of his way to help a witness (a former sailor who will be deported to Mexico as soon as he's turned over to FBI) see his mother in Ohio one last time until the witness and Bishop [[MostAnnoyingSound threaten to torture him by singing in the car all the way back to DC]]. At the house he covers for him ("He's being redeployed" "Where?" "It's... classified"), stays long enough for mom to make dinner and for her son to tell the truth, and even gives him his cellphone back and lets him go make a call by himself without fear he'll run away. Torres explains that meeting the witness' mom "made it personal" -- he knows people like him and his mom -- and he couldn't ''not'' help him.
* TheLostLenore: He and a childhood friend Sophia were inseparable, and [[ChildhoodFriendRomance he was convinced that she'd be his wife one day.]] Then in their senior year of high school, she was diagnosed with cancer.
* MrFanservice: It's even lampshaded at one point. A young girl that doesn't speak English very well is being targeted, so Torres asks her some questions in Spanish. Her response is to ask him in Spanish, "Why is your shirt so tight?"
* NervesOfSteel: In his introductory episode, he's extremely calm while sitting in a chair with a bomb that will go off if he stands up.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Although Torres managed to pin Silva for a bunch of crimes, he sabotaged Silva's family.
--> '''Silva''': ''(to Torres through the [[IKnowYoureWatchingMe interrogation glass]])'' You got me, Torres! Now you ruined my family. You happy now?
* RogueAgent: Deep cover for 8 years in Argentina.
* WalkingTechbane: Not to extreme levels but his distaste for office work and complicated technology in general put him in conflict with the printers.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Senior Special Agent and Operational Psychologist Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MariaBello
[[quoteright:301:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jack_sloane_ncis.jpg]]
->''"...even extraordinary people make mistakes. That's a given. It's our response to those mistakes that defines us."''

A former Lieutenant in the United States Army. Sloane served in Afghanistan, where she was held a prisoner of war and endured vicious torture and watched several friends killed. Her regrets follow her, and they truly left their mark. She later transferred from the Southwest Field Office in San Diego to NCIS Headquarters at the behest of Director Vance, and is now the team's profiler and emotional crutch.

----
* ActionGirl: Unsurprisingly given her background, she can kick ass and take names with the best of them, both with a gun and without one. Turns out she's an ActionMom too, as she reveals that she had a daughter whom she put up for adoption.
* {{Adorkable}}: She can be quite cute when she gets excited about something. Notably, she gets adorably enthusiastic over, of all things, the social dynamics of your average neighborhood cul-de-sac.
-->'''[=McGee=]:''' Suddenly the whole neighborhood's got a story to tell.
-->'''Sloane:''' A dynamic I just couldn't resist.... Cul-de-sacs are a psychological gold mine. Test labs for tribal behaviors complete with alliances, betrayals, intrigue... [''delighted grin'']
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Starkly averted. When Sloane gets beat up, she gets ''beat up'', blood, dirt and bruises all included, and the scars on her back are ''not'' pretty.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: She is, by nature, a warm and caring person who will always reach out to people in need of help... but you really ''[[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown don't]]'' want to step on one of her {{trauma button}}s. Anyone who does is usually fortunate to survive the encounter.
* BrokenBird: She can be warm and caring when dealing with someone else’s problems, but her own trauma has given her some sharp edges that come out when she’s angry or triggered.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: She's starting to act as the Gentle Girl to Gibbs' Brooding Boy when he gets particularly troubled, coaxing him out of his dark moods with her gentle compassion. This largely stems from the fact that she has [[TraumaButton her own]] [[ShellShockedVeteran demons]] to contend with, so he ''knows'' she understands his pain. That understanding, combined with her natural warmth and lack of judgment when he needs to talk, means that he will [[TheConfidant turn to her]] when he wouldn't turn to anyone else.
* TheChessmaster: Jack has been known to misrepresent herself as something other than a psychologist or a cop when she's trying to get a read on a person. She does this to elicit specific responses from them that she wouldn't get if they knew who she really was and why she was really talking to them.
* {{The Confidant}}e: To the team in general in her role as a psychologist/counselor. She's also this to Gibbs on a more personal level, being one of a ''very'' few people he has been shown to genuinely open up to and the only person he's ever voluntarily told the whole truth about Shannon and Kelly.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: She suffered ColdBloodedTorture in Afghanistan. She also gave up her daughter for adoption.
* DeathGlare: She very rarely uses hers, which is a good thing because it can rival ''Gibbs'' in intensity.
* EveryScarHasAStory: The end of her debut episode shows the scars on her back. It's later revealed that [[DarkAndTroubledPast she was captured and tortured for several months]], losing her entire squadron in the process. The finale of season 15 delves into her brutal past when her torturer re-materializes and Jack wants revenge for the people from her unit he killed, and for herself.
* FairCop: She's played by ''Maria Bello''.
* GirlyBruiser: She's a former Army Lieutenant and fully qualified ActionGirl, but she's also notably fashionable, with a fondness for [[NiceShoes high heels]] and form-fitting dresses, skirts, and sweaters. (Fortunately, when she goes back into a combat zone, she wears fatigues.)
* MustHaveCaffeine: As you'd expect of a federal agent, she drinks her coffee "by the gallon." Unlike Gibbs, however, she likes hers with ''loads'' of sugar.
-->'''Sloane''': [''to Vance''] Black, three sugars, more sugar, then coffee.
* OneHeadShorter: Than Gibbs[[note]]Mark Harmon is 6'0" to Maria Bello's 5'5"[[/note]]. However, this isn't usually apparent, because Jack is usually wearing three- to four-inch heels. It's only obvious when she's dressed down, e.g. the basement scene in 15x17, or when she's wearing combat boots, like at the end of 15x10.
* PhysicalScarsPsychologicalScars: She has a tangled lattice of scars on her back courtesy of her time as a prisoner of the Taliban, who tortured her for months on end. This left not only enduring physical scars, but a mess of psychological ones as well.
* TheProfiler: Whereas Ducky more or less acquired an ability at profiling through years as a medical examiner and an interest in the subject, Jack actually went to school for it[[note]]What degrees she actually ''has'' are up for debate. She's called "Doctor Sloane" at least once and is implied to be an M.D., which would make her a psychiatrist, but this hasn't been outright clarified, and it's also entirely possible she has a [=PhD=] in psychology. It's also possible she has ''both''.[[/note]] and is a forensic psychiatrist. When she served in Afghanistan, it was with a psy-ops mission that's still classified.
* ShellShockedVeteran: She usually handles it well, but her time in the Army and captivity in Afghanistan left her with a hefty case of PTSD and SurvivorGuilt.
* TheShrink: And a pretty damn good one. Even though her teammates all show varying levels of aversion to talking about their feelings, she's proven to be good at getting them to open up, even if it sometimes requires a little benign manipulation to get them there. Even ''Gibbs'' opens up to her -- although there might be [[ShipTease other reasons]] for that one. Also, she's an exceptional profiler.
* TeamMom: She's a professional counselor and often there to console people when they need it, especially the team. However, sometimes, it becomes a matter of "physician, heal thyself" when her own demons come back to haunt her and the team needs to be there for her.
* TomboyishName: Her full name is Jacqueline, but she's referred to as Jack. The only person to call her "Jacqueline" with any sort of regularity is Ducky.
* WorthyOpponent: She sees Gibbs as one, who had already deduced she was trying to pull a ruse on him in their first meeting and humored her by pretending to be led on by it. In actuality, Gibbs had immediately figured out who she was and what she was doing when she knocked on his door as an "[[BlatantLies excuse]]" to get out of the rain, and likely caught on to the charade thanks to something Jack didn't know about -- Rule 39: "There are no coincidences". (Also, she showed her drivers license the way an agent would show a badge.) They go on to become very close friends.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Forensic Specialist Kasie Hines]]
->Played by: Creator/DionaReasonover
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nciskasiehines.png]]
Introduced in Season 15, a graduate student at the medical school in New York where Ducky is guest teaching, and stands out as a protege. This budding friendship lets her make her way to the NCIS headquarters, where she proves herself highly valuable. Later on, she takes up the arduous task of becoming Abby Scuito's successor.
----
* {{Adorkable}}: She geeks out over ''many'' things.
* AscendedFanboy: In-universe. Kasie has always been on the up-and-up of the NCIS HQ agents, but especially of Abby. Becoming their next forensic specialist is her dream job.
* BlackAndNerdy: Fits this to a "T". One could even claim she's like a female version of [[Series/FamilyMatters Urkel.]]
* ChekhovsGunman: She was introduced early in Season 15 for the sake of easing viewers into her character for the eventual departure of Abby, so the transition would not be abrupt and [[ReplacementScrappy complaints about who took her place]] would not erupt from the fans. In fact, her introduction serves to set her ''apart'' from Abby in that she's not just some xerox of the person she admires most, but a person with her own likable personality and quirks.
* GenkiGirl: She exudes a lot of energy and presence just like Abby.
* {{Irony}}: Several seasons before her introduction, as past agents left the scene and nerdier ones arrived like [=McGee=] and Bishop, Tony joked "the geeks are taking over" and that himself and Gibbs are the only people left who aren't that mold (the original cast). Now NCIS has one if its geekiest agents yet.
* ShrinkingViolet: To Abby, initially, because she's too shy to admit a ''massive'' girl crush on her and feels very intimidated around her idol.
[[/folder]]

!! Former Main Characters
[[folder:Special Agent Caitlin "Kate" Todd]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/SashaAlexander
[[quoteright:208:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Kate_Todd_1145.jpg]]
->''"Hack into the servers. I can't believe I just said that. I would have never suggested that before I started working here."''

%%* ActionGirl
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Can be cold, especially towards Tony.
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: The youngest of four children among an older sister and two older brothers.
* BadassInDistress: Everytime Ari's on-screen, expect her to be in trouble.
* BoomHeadshot: She took one bullet right between the eyes from a sniper.
* BrainyBrunette: The intelligent and sassy reddish-brown-haired chick on the team. Not so much now that she has a ventilation in her forehead (plugged by mortuary putty) and a grapefruit-sized hole in the back of her head...
* BlatantLies: She and her friends conducted themselves with dignity on spring break, she says. College fraternities are bizarre, she says. Tony's MaleGaze habit is sick and wrong, she says. But then they walk in on a photo shoot for the [[MrFanservice US men's water polo team]] and she gets DistractedByTheSexy about as easily as Tony ever did.
* CatholicSchoolGirlsRule: Tony imagines her dressed as such. [[NakedPeopleAreFunny As well as nude]], causing her to squeal in horror.
** Also an {{homage}} as she was dressed as [[Film/KillBill Gogo]].
* CharacterDeath: The first and [[GutPunch most jarring]] instance of a major character on the show suddenly dying horribly.
* DecoyProtagonist: The first two seasons heavily portrayed her as the {{Deuteragonist}} and TheLancer (her actress was even billed second before Creator/MichaelWeatherly) until she was McLeaned.
* DroppedABridgeOnHer: She dies '''very''' abruptly. Right before she dies she even gets shot but it's blocked by her BulletproofVest, which makes her actual death right after all the more shocking.
%%* DeadpanSnarker
%%* DiesWideOpen
* EmbarrassingOldPhoto: Tony digs up one during her college years where she's in a SexySoakedShirt.
* EmotionlessGirl: You can feel a breath of cold air when she talks, especially to Tony.
%%* FairCop
* FamousLastWords: ''(after Tony told her that she did well and Gibbs said he was right)'' [[KilledMidSentence "Wow, I thought I'd die before I ever heard..."]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In the fake-out dream sequence Gibbs has in the Season 1 finale, "Reverie", she's shown in autopsy with a bullet hole in her forehead, with a pallid complexion and her eyes coagulated over from death. The person who dies in that episode is an entirely different woman, but Gibbs's dream turns out to be providential come next season...
* FormerTeenRebel: [=DiNozzo=] finds out that when she was a university student, she once engaged in (and won) a wet T-shirt contest. This also falls under BlatantLies since she lied to Tony about what she did during Spring Break.
* HeroicSacrifice: Subverted in her last episode where she jumps in the way of a bullet meant for Gibbs... only to be saved by her bulletproof vest. When she does die, she gets unceremoniously sniped in the head.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Her FatalFlaw, literally; she thinks she is a good one but has helped more than one murderous psychopath because they looked sympathetic. One almost kills her, then Ari actually does.
** She's right more often than wrong, so this is a played with trope.
* ImGoingToHellForThis: In the episode where the victim and attacker were on the same "dating" site.
-->'''Abby:''' Care to guess what their fetish was, Kate?\\
'''Kate:''' Oh, no. I'm going to hell just listening to all this.
* IntimateMarks: Never seen or described but apparently Abby talked her into getting a tattoo on her butt.
%%* LadyOfWar
* MoodWhiplash: 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.
* MsFanservice: A major subplot in "Conspiracy Theory" revolved around Tony finding a (real) picture of her in a wet T-shirt contest and using it as blackmail material.
* NotSoDifferent: There are several moments where she just as much like Tony as she claims she isn't. Usually involving [=McGee=], going so far as to agree with Tony that they have no respect for him and casually breaking into his apartment to "see him in natural environment". After apparently taking bets about what kind of underwear he uses.
* OnlySaneWoman: She felt like this at times with Gibbs and Tony at the beginning.
* OutOfJobIntoThePlot: Was recruited by Gibbs after having to quit Secret Service for defying orders.
* PosthumousCharacter: As Ducky is autopsying her, he has an actual internalized conversation with her with her joking about being dead.
%%* RavenHairIvorySkin
* ReallyGetsAround: In the pilot episode, she "got to know" people on the job by sleeping with them. It took a dark turn when two of those people died of poisoning. She believed it was the only time on the job you could get to know someone, asking Gibbs if he knew any other way. Gibbs's answer was a very curt "Church."
** She was actually forced to resign from Secret Service due to breaking the rules by shagging the agents (no fraternization policy). She kept everyone in the dark about it and no one tattled on her. The truth came to light when NCIS investigated the murders on Air Force One.
* SacrificialLion: The very first main character to be killed off, and her sudden death firmly establishes the AnyoneCanDie aspect of the series.
%%* SugarAndIcePersonality
* TemptingFate: Her downfall; "I thought I'd '''die'''. . ." was the poorest and last choice of words she ever made.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Abby's Girly Girl.
%%* TonightSomeoneDies
* TwoFirstNames: Applies to her actress too.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: With Gibbs. It was never resolved after her death, but they had extreme chemistry throughout the first two seasons of the show.
* WhatTheHellHero: Posthumously, her "spirit" torments Gibbs, who is guilt-ridden over the kill shot.
-->''"I already took one bullet, Gibbs... why'd I have to go and take'' '''''two!?!'''''''"''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Special Agent Ziva David]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/CoteDePablo
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ZivaNCIS_3255.png]]
->'''Eli David:''' ''Use her well, Leon. Ziva is the sharp end of the spear.''

->''"Have you ever been tied up by a woman before? Did you like it? Then today's not your lucky day."''

* AccidentalMisnaming: As a trainee NCIS agent, Tony had started calling her "Probie". Gibbs had called her "Probie" on at least 2 occasions.
* ActionGirl: Ziva is (ex-)Mossad. Early on in her 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''. Then it [[FunnyAneurysmMoment happened]]. Several times. [[labelnote:First]] 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.[[/labelnote]] [[labelnote: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.[[/labelnote]] [[labelnote:Third]] Ilan Bodnar, but whether that was accidental is debatable.[[/labelnote]]
* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Ziva is a tall, beautiful woman who is a definite IceQueen to her teammates. [=McGee=]'s novel even describer her (well, her {{Expy}} anyway) as "emotionally distant". She mellowed down considerably to the rest of the team by Season 7.
* AmbiguouslyBi: Ziva [[GirlOnGirlIsHot enjoys dropping casual hints]] to Tony that she likes girls as well. [[ButNotTooBi So far she's only been seen with male lovers though]]. Mostly played for laughs or titillation.
* AntiHeroSubstitute: For Kate. Compared to her, Ziva has a harsh upbringing and is more willing to get her hands dirty.
* AssassinOutclassin: Her ability to effectively and efficiently deal with attackers means that she will probably live to a ripe old age. Or at least that [[DroppedABridgeOnHim seemed to be the case...]]
* BadassIsraeli: Former ''Mossad'' operative. 'Nuff said.
* BecomingTheMask: 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 condition shows she has become closer to her targets than a cold assassin ought to be.
** From "Broken Arrow"
--->'''Chase''': Does Agent David carry a weapon?\\
'''Gibbs''': She is a weapon.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Tony.
* BerserkButton: A couple, but ''God help you'' if you hurt Tony.
* TheBigGuy: Neither big nor a guy, but unquestionably the best fighter in the main cast.
* BookEnds: In Ziva's debut episode, the first character she meets is Tony. In Ziva's final episode, the last character she interacts with is Tony.
%%* BrainyBrunette
* BrokenBird: Considering she was held captive in Somalia and tortured for months, she covered it ''extremely'' well. In the season 11 opener, she finds that she no longer can, and this leads to her leaving NCIS for good.
* BluntMetaphorsTrauma: A RunningGag is her regularly messing up American figures of speech.
-->"American idioms are driving me up the ''hall''."
* BunnyEarsLawyer: In her own, unique way, just like the rest of the team.
* TheBusCameBack: [[spoiler:Makes a surprise return in the Season 16 finale to tell Gibbs he's in danger.]]
* ClearMyName: The first episode of season 4 dealt with this issue.
* ComeWithMeIfYouWantToLive: [[spoiler:Her reappearance in the Season 16 finale has her telling Gibbs he's in danger and there are no time for pleasantries.]]
* TheComicallySerious: Her sternness and her lack of grasp on western pop culture has been used as a RunningGag in the series.
* ConflictingLoyalty: As of the end of season 6, she is torn between her loyalty to Mossad and her father, and Gibbs and [=NCIS=]. She picked Mossad and ended up caught by a terrorist and tortured to be saved by Gibbs and the team. In retrospect, she realizes she made the wrong choice, and decides to stay in the United States from then on and becomes a US Citizen so she can become a bonafide NCIS agent.
* DeadGuyJunior: Names her daughter after her late sister, Tali.
* DeadpanSnarker: Has her moments.
%%* DefrostingIceQueen
* DoesNotKnowHerOwnStrength: She's not allowed to interrogate suspects because Gibbs thinks she might kill them by mistake.
* DrivesLikeCrazy:
** Director Shepard once said of her, "I think she was an Eastern European cab driver in a past life."
-->'''Vance:''' Most fathers teach their daughters to drive. I have you to blame for this?\\
'''Eli David:''' This she learned from her [[JewishMother mother]].
** In "Secrets", she [[RealityEnsues wound up with a speeding ticket]] on the way to work and complains about it:
--> '''Ziva:''' I was barely going over the limit!\\
'''[=McGee=]:''' (Reads the ticket) It says you were doing 80 in a 40.\\
'''Ziva:''' Not the entire time.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Three seasons after she left the show, she's killed off screen and the team finds out about through a breaking news bulletin. [[spoiler: Subverted as of "She" which reveals that she survived]].
* ExtremeMeleeRevenge: How Ilan Bodnar bites it.
%%* FairCop
* FakeGuestStar: In season 3.
* FakingTheDead: [[spoiler:Season 16 reveals that her supposed death in Season 13 is just staged.]]
* FeminineWomenCanCook: Averted. While very much the manly ActionHero, she can cook quite well. According to Abby in the episode "Caged", "Her cooking rocks!"
%%* FemmeFataleSpy
* FireForgedFriends: With the exception of Abby, Ziva truly became close to the team after enduring some difficult investigations.
* FunnyForeigner: Downplayed. She's serious except for her tendency to butcher English-language quotes or figures of speech.
* GoodIsNotSoft: While she's compassionate and honorable towards her friends and the victims she has no mercy towards terrorists, murderers and other such people, and has implied she is not above using a JackBauerInterrogationTechnique
* HeroicBSOD: The final straw is an attempt on her life by a terrorist cell that drives her off the grid. This leads to her departure from NCIS in the Season 11 opener.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until Season 3.
* IHaveNoSon: I have no ''father'' in this case. It gets to the point of changing nations just to give him a TakeThat.
* InformedJudaism: Though considering her former profession as a Mossad operative, strict adherence to almost ''any'' religion would be tough. Pointedly, she has on occasion turned down food allegedly because it's not kosher, but she has no problem with pepperoni pizza.
* ImprobableAge: Ziva David is less Improbable Age and more Impossible Age. She joins the show in her early twenties, supposedly after she's graduated high school, served her two years in the IDF, attended college, applied for Mossad, become immediately tapped for inclusion into an elite and highly competitive special operations unit with a training period of several years, and still have enough time to become "an experienced agent" with multiple missions under her belt. And this is at a age the youngest CIA intelligence officers would be beginning training. (It's worth pointing out, however, that she is the daughter of the Director of Mossad, and it is heavily implied that she was all but [[TykeBomb raised from the cradle to be a Mossad operative]].)
* IronicDeath: She lost her sister to a suicide bombing. She herself got murdered in an explosion. [[spoiler:Supposedly. Season 16 reveals she's alive.]]
* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: As she has pointed out, her last name is pronounced "Dah-VEED," not "David."
* KillTheOnesYouLove: Ziva is forced to do this to her half-brother Ari.
* KnifeNut: Ziva is one of the few people in the world who can kill you reliably with a thrown knife. She has demonstrated this.
%%* TheLadette:
%%* LadyOfWar
* LastMinuteHookup: ''Last Minute Kiss'' with Tony in her final episode.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With [=McGee=] whom she treats like a younger brother. Also {{Zigzagged|Trope}} with Tony DependingOnTheWriter. She also treats Abby like a younger sister.
* LockedInAFreezer: ''Locked In A Shipping Crate'' with Tony in "Boxed In".
* MaamShock: Another BerserkButton.
%%* MacGyvering
* {{Malaproper}}: Her messing up quotes, again; this is the main reason she qualified as a FunnyForeigner.
* MilitaryBrat
%%* MsFanservice:
* MyNaymeIs: "David" has the earlier pronunciation (just as it appears, and as an iamb), rather than the Anglicized, trochaic "Dei-vid."
* NeverFoundTheBody: Inverted in that they ''did'' find a body, and it ''was'' identified as her, but other characters, Tony included, make it clear they're not completely convinced and there's a few hints that it ''isn't'' her body. When Tony leaves to take care of his and Ziva's daughter, it is strongly implied his departure is also for the purpose of independently investigating her death. [[spoiler:Season 16 reveals she's alive and well, meaning the body found really wasn't hers. And then she shows up in the flesh in the SeasonFinale.]]
* NewMeat: Although she was attached to [=NCIS=] for several years and was essentially an equal to Tony, she had to start at the bottom when she formally joined the agency as a probie. Tony and [=McGee=] gleefully give her all the paperwork and Gibbs adds to the pile. From then on, she's seen being occasionally frustrated because she goes from being somewhat senior to being the most junior member of the team (even becoming subordinate to [=McGee=], whom she used to boss around) and has to go through the hazing process all probies go through.
* NiceHat: Her TragicKeepsake is an Orange Cap.
* OneOfTheBoys: She likes to hang around men in a nonromantic wolf-in-the-pack sort of way and she takes great pride in her skill at [[ARealManIsAKiller manly things]].
* {{Omniglot}}: She speaks ''at least'' nine languages, including the language of love.
* PhotographicMemory: ''Very'' useful in her line of work as agents who don't develop this tend not to last long in Mossad.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Immediately after joining TheTeam.
* PutOnABus: Cote de Pablo left the series after season 10, unable to come to terms with her contract. Ziva, emotionally torn up by the attempt on her life, decided to leave NCIS and stay in Israel off the grid. [[BusCrash Her life comes to an end, offscreen, in "Family First".]] [[spoiler: Supposedly. Season 16 reveals she's alive.]]
* ARealManIsAKiller: Woman in this case, thanks to her upbringing.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: against Ilan Bodnar, and unsubtly enough to draw attention from the CIA. And roped [=McGee=] into helping, behind Tony's and Gibbs' backs. But in the end, she gets him in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown.
* ScrabbleBabble: Averted one time she played [=McGee=] in Scrabble. With the last Q at a corner of two Is, she makes Qi twice, read 'Chi'.
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: The Season 13 finale reveals that Ziva became pregnant by Tony at the beginning of Season 11 (when she was written out) and subsequently gave birth to a daughter. This bombshell is dropped after Ziva's [[spoiler:supposed]] death.
* StuffedInTheFridge: Blown up in her sleep in a missile strike. For a while [[HopeSpot it seemed she got out of it]]... then it was implied that whatever was left of her got unearthed from the charred ruins of her compound. [[spoiler:And in season 16, it turns out that wasn't her.]]
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: In season 3.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Tomboy to Abby's Girly Girl.
* TragicKeepsake: Ziva's orange cap; it's a reminder of the victim from "Dead Man Walking".
* TwoFirstNames: "Ziva" and "David".
* UncertainDoom: Seems like they found her body after the bombing, but it was never shown, just implied that they were convinced it was hers. [[spoiler:Season 16 confirmed that it wasn't.]]
* UnresolvedSexualTension: The writers seemed to enjoy dropping hints that in fact she and Tony ''had'', something [[TheyDo confirmed]] in the Season 13 finale. [[note]]Creator/MichaelWeatherly has stated that a kiss was filmed quite a while ago, and was never aired[[/note]]
* VerbalTic: Has a slight habit of forming questions as statements with "yes?" tacked on the end; which is probably a carry over from her native Hebrew (a language in which asking a question by means of inflection is perfectly common.
* WhamShot / WhamLine: [[spoiler: In the Season 16 episode "She", she is revealed to still be alive after Bishop successfully completes the cold case that Ziva had started investigating a decade before. Bishop goes back to Ziva's secret office to find her coat gone, her favorite scarf on the desk, and a note saying not to tell anyone so that Tony and Tali aren't endangered]].
** [[spoiler: And, if that wasn't enough, she appears in person at the end of the Season 16 finale, "Daughters." WhamShot in and out of universe, as Gibbs clearly didn't know she was still alive (and, considering that the episode had been about him hallucinating his dead ex-wife, probably thought he was seeing another ghost at first) and the show's crew went to a lot of effort to keep this quiet, to the point of bringing Cote in after the rest of filming with a minimum of crew to shoot that final scene and even keeping her appearance out of the table read.]]
* WhiteSheep: She's the only decent member of her family. Her brother was a murderer and terrorist and her father was a WellIntentionedExtremist at ''best''.
* YouKilledMyFather: To Ilan Bodnar, her sent her spiraling into a wave of grief upon shooting her father.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Director Jenny Shepard]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/LaurenHolly
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/JennyShepardNCIS1_3215.jpg]]
->''"Do you think it would be inappropriate if, as director, I went in there and smacked that smile off her face?"''

%%* ActionGirl
* DaChief: From season 3 to season 5.
* FakeGuestStar: In season 3.
%%* FieryRedhead
* {{Hypocrite}}: She won't let Gibbs go after Ari without proof, yet she goes after La Grenouille with a vengeance, positive he killed her father, even though ''she'' has no proof.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until Season 3.
%%* IronLady
* ItsPersonal: Her possibly unwarranted hunt for René Benoît is this, since she believes Benoît killed her father. Benoît claims that he had actually been bribing her father and that he killed himself out of shame.
%%* LadyOfWar
* TheLastDance: She died in a gunfight with five assassins, taking most of them with her.
* {{Meganekko}}: Whenever she wore glasses, skirting into HotLibrarian territory.
* MiltaryBrat: Her father was a colonel in the Marine Corps and a former NCIS director.
* MsFanservice: She's occasionally subjected to blatant MaleGaze starting from her ''very first appearance'' (in that case it was [[ShesGotLegs her legs]]).
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: Immediately after joining ''and'' leading TheTeam.
%%* RedemptionEqualsDeath
* SecretlyDying: In Season 5, she was plagued by a fatal illness hinted to be ALS. Instead she went out in a shootout, taking down five people before she succumbed to blood loss, and it's implied that she preferred this end to her life. Nobody except Ducky knew, as she'd went to him for a second opinion and advice; in fact, when he learned about her death, he initially thought the disease had killed her sooner than expected.
%%* SexyMentor
* SharpDressedWoMan: After dying in a hail of bullets, Abby commented on how Jenny was always such a sharp dressed lady.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: She and Gibbs have this vibe, even though they ''had'' a relationship.
* WhatTheHellHero: Abused her power to try and get revenge on Rene Benoit, the man [[YouKilledMyFather who killed her father.]]
** Her father's still alive. Apparently. It is heavily implied that CIA was taking advantage of [[OmniscientDatabase AFIS]] to make her father appear to be alive, thus [[CassandraTruth discrediting her]] and preventing her from further ruining TheDragon's operation.
%%* WorkingWithTheEx
* YouKilledMyFather: To La Grenouille. Later she does kill him, but no one figures it out until she's already dead... [[TheUnreveal or was it Trent, actually telling the truth?]]
* YourDaysAreNumbered: Before she was killed, she was sadly already terminally ill.
** 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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Senior Special Agent Anthony "Tony" [=DiNozzo=] Jr.]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MichaelWeatherly
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/TonyDinozzoNCIS_6560.png]]
->'''Ziva:''' ''Tony, your dying words will be 'I've seen this film'.''

NCIS' resident lothario. Tony is a former college athlete who decided to become a cop after an incident where he had to leave a girl behind in a burning building while saving her brother. He was recruited to join NCIS by Gibbs from the Baltimore Police Department and has established himself as a highly effective, albeit extremely unorthodox, investigator. Most people consider him to be Gibbs' heir as SAC of the MCRT.

He departs NCIS in the Season 13 finale so that he can focus on raising his daughter with Ziva in the wake of Ziva's death.
----
* AccidentalMisnaming: 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=]. [[note]]Fornell's pronunciation is actually how an Italian speaker would pronounce Tony's surname. It makes sense if Fornell has Italian ancestry, as suggested in "Short Fuse" where we see him cooking "spaghetti alla puttanesca" for himself and Gibbs using a recipe from his "nonna" (grandma)[[/note]]
* AffectionateNickname: Zoe Keats calls him "Spider", a name dating back to when they were cops in Philadelphia.
* BecomingTheMask: In season four when he went undercover.
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Ziva.
* BerserkButton:
** Don't '''ever''' betray NCIS or the USA in general (like Agent Lee) or [[HypocriticalHeartwarming make fun of people he makes fun of but you don't know]] (like Det. [=McCadden=]).
** Oh... and don't try to kill him and then think you can work with him.
** And for the love of all things military, leave Ziva alone.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Do ''not'' let the Cassanova-like personality with all the jokes and snark fool you. He is a trained interrogator and can break anyone given the right leverage.
* TheBigGuy: He's originally the "muscle" of the team and he mentioned that he majored in physical education. After Kate dies, he steps up as TheLancer (though he's the official NumberTwo) with the group's muscle then being filled by {{Tykebomb}} ActionGirl Ziva David.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Very often Gibbs catches him apparently slacking off, only to then reveal all the investigation and work he's been doing.
** Whenever he's in charge of a case he uses a brainstorming technique he calls "campfire", where the squad roll their chairs into the middle of the bullpen and talk through a conundrum. The rest of the team roll their eyes whenever he calls for one but can't deny that it's an effective tool.
** Also has the unorthodox interrogation technique of being as obnoxiously annoying as possible to aggravate people into talking just to make him stop.
* ButtMonkey: In the early seasons, this was his position for the most part. In the pilot, he was thrown out of a car onto a highway and in the second he was thrown out a plane, he had a parachute in this case.
* CartwrightCurse: He fares almost as badly as Gibbs, with a significant amount of the women he's been attracted to meeting untimely deaths--Kate, Paula, the reporter in "Obsession", and Ziva.
* TheCasanova: Especially in early seasons, he was seen as wooing a lot of women. After his time with Jeanne, it slowly stopped.
* CatchPhrase: "On it, boss."
* ClearMyName: Twice. First the lab assistant Chip hated him for getting him fired in the past and sought out a complicated, nearly forensic-proof case. Second, Jeanne Benoit claimed to have seen him kill her father, the arms dealer René Benoit ("La Grenouille"). [[spoiler: Director Shepard quickly proved she was only saying that because she was still angry about Tony lying to her]].
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: He's a clown, but he's a clown who can trick the head of Mossad into confessing to illegal activities and can beat up a mook while tied to a chair.
* DeadpanSnarker: Almost every sentence contains some snark.
* DistressedDude: Generally, Tony is the resident dude in distress, but he usually manages to get himself out of his situations by himself.
* DudeWheresMyRespect: He gets very annoyed when NCIS doesn't get their due credit for solving cases and foiling terrorism, either being referred to simply as "federal agents" or being ignored entirely.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Zig-zagged. In season 1, he's said to have played [[UsefulNotes/{{Basketball}} basketball]] at Ohio State, and went to the Final Four. In season two, he he says that he played ''[[UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball football]]'' at Ohio State, and broke his leg in the rivalry game with Michigan. Later seasons {{retcon}} this back to basketball, as seen in "Baltimore," "Rekindled" and "Cadence." He also mentions his mother encouraged him along with his father in high school, before [[RetCon we learn Mrs. Dinozzo died when he was eight and Senior has yet to remarry.]] Furthermore, at the very beginning of the show in the BackdoorPilot, Tony has greased up hair which is dyed black. A flashback to 2001 reveals he also had this hairstyle back as a Baltimore cop, suggesting he dropped it sometime later in the year during 2003.
** Also fails to recognize Film/TheMalteseFalcon early in S1 before his cinephile trait was established.
* EverybodyKnewAlready: He tried keeping his relationship with Zoe Keats secret but couldn't hide the positive effect it had on his personality. No one was surprised when he finally admitted it
* ExasperatedPerp: His preferred method of interrogation. Most prominent when he doesn't ask questions, but just sits there, chewing on his tie and playing ''VideoGame/{{Tetris}}'' on his phone.
** He once inverted the trope, pulling it off while ''he'' was the one being interrogated [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome by the director of Mossad,]] who he successfully aggravated into admitting that he had sent the agent Tony had killed to spy on a meeting of several law enforcement agencies, which were discussing an operation regarding Israel.
%%* FairCop
* [[FourTemperamentEnsemble Five Temperament Ensemble]]: Sanguine
* FreudianExcuse: One that's something of a TearJerker: It turns out the reason Tony's such a movie buff is because his mother took him to movie theaters a lot when he was a kid before her death; they were even watching a movie when she passed away in the hospital. Ziva notes the {{irony}} that this is the first time Tony's ever mentioned his mother to her.
* FriendsRentControl: He lived in a very nice apartment in a good neighborhood and, to [=McGee's=] shock, owned it outright. As it turned out, the place was the scene of a grisly murder and Tony was able to purchase it for much less than its actually worth because of it.
* GenreSavvy: He's a big movie buff, and will very often find a way to compare the current case to a movie he's seen. Occasionally, however, he turns out to be WrongGenreSavvy.
* HandsomeLech: From "Hung Out to Dry":
-->'''KATE''': "Your mind, [=DiNozzo=], runs the gamut from 'X' to triple 'X'."
* HasAType: Four of his five main love interests (Kate, Ziva, EJ, Zoe) on the show are [[ActionGirl action girls]].
* HiddenDepths: He maintains that he coasted through school and shows pride in being kicked out of many expensive prep schools. In Season 12, however, it's revealed that he cleaned up his act while at MilitarySchool and was a model student from that point onwards. He swears Bishop to keeping that fact a secret.
* HeyYou: Calling [=McGee=] Probie or one of many [=McNicknames=].
* JerkJock: He was a member of the Ohio State Buckeyes basketball team when it went to the NCAA Final Four[[note]]In Baltimore, where he rescued a young boy from a house fire. The incident led to his becoming a cop[[/note]]. He also graduated with a degree in Phys Ed.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: If you dig deep enough, you may find it, somewhere.
* LadykillerInLove: With Jeanne Benoit; he was undercover at the time, so it wasn't supposed to happen.
** He had a spectacular ''eight year'' will they won't they arc with Ziva, with genuine feelings coming from both parties.
** From season 12 to season 13, he was head over heels for Zoe Keats, an ATF agent and his former partner from the Philadelphia PD. Hilariously, the entire team knew about the relationship before he revealed it because he couldn't hide how happy it made him.
* TheLancer: While he's always been Gibbs' official NumberTwo, it wasn't until Kate dies when he really steps up to this role.
* [[LastMinuteHookup Last Minute Kiss]]: With Ziva, ending 8 seasons of UST in her final episode.
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Abby and Elle whom he treats like younger sisters. Also treats [=McGee=] like a younger brother. Also {{Zigzagged|Trope}} with Ziva DependingOnTheWriter.
* LimitedAdvancementOpportunities: Director Shepard offered him the chance to lead his own team in Rota, Spain, in Season 4 but he turns it down in favor of keeping an eye on Gibbs in the wake of Gibbs' accident. Shepard warns him that such chances are few and far between. He hasn't been offered a chance to move up in the agency in the eight years since.
* LockedInAFreezer: In a shipping container with Ziva in "Boxed In".
* LovingBully: He was kind of like this towards Kate. He also tended to pick on [=McGee=] in a very similar fasion. [[HoYay draw your own conclusions]]
* MilitarySchool: We find out that he attended one on season 12.
* TheMovieBuff: His defining trait outside of being the HandsomeLech. He is a library of cult films from the 1940s to early 1980s.
%%* MrFanservice
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Is on the receiving end of this ''twice'' in the episode "Last Man Standing."
* NumberTwo: He easily steps into the role of leader when Gibbs is absent, even demonstrating Gibbs' seeming-precognition and knowing when major developments will happen before they occur.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: 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.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Drops his ClassClown identity for a while (stops dissing [[=McGee=]], quits making wisecracks, combs his hair up neatly without any messy spikes in front, and becomes all brooding and distant) around a particularly distressing Christmas season when he learns a girl he used to date has checked into a rehabilitation center and blames himself for encouraging her breakdown. Ziva is able to get him to overcome his guilt and Tony [[HesBack promptly returns to being a joker in style by the end of that same story.]]
* PersonaNonGrata: After the events of "The Admiral's Daughter," he can never go back to Marseilles again (Despite the fact that the mess in question wasn't his fault).
* PluckyComicRelief: In the first few seasons.
* PornStash: 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 photo shoot in it.
* PromotedToParent: Discovers his daughter (by Ziva) in the Season 13 finale, driving some major life choices.
* PutOnABus: He left the show in the Season 13 finale, having spent a good portion of the preceding season becoming detached from his job and questioning his life choices.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Owns a literal one. Her name's Kate. Now it's up to two, as of season 12, because he has a goldfish named Ziva. (See below.)
* ReferenceOverdosed: His movie references turn this show into this all on his own.
* SharpDressedMan: 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!
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: Manly Man to [=McGee=]'s Sensitive Guy.
* {{Slimeball}} a mild example. While he's ''not'' a bad person, he certainly comes across as kind of a sleazebag a lot of the time.
%%* SmallNameBigEgo
* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: He discovers, in the Season 13 finale, that he has a daughter with Ziva a short time after learning of Ziva's death.
* SpannerInTheWorks: 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.
%%* TallDarkAndSnarky
* TenMinuteRetirement: Between seasons 10 and 11, to get the case against Gibbs dismissed.
* TheyDo: With Ziva; they have a daughter.
* TookALevelInBadass: ''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.
* UnorthodoxHolstering: Discussed. Apparently he annoys the NCIS armorers by constantly visiting them to try out different sidearms and carry methods to figure out the coolest combination that works for him.
* UnresolvedSexualTension: A little with Kate, but to a much greater degree with Ziva.
* UrbanLegendLoveLife: Starting in season five. He acknowledges in Season Six that he's going through a dry spell since falling in love while undercover. He just doesn't want anyone to know.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Type 2 with [=McGee=]. They act almost like [[SiblingRivalry brothers]].
** Tony is also very close to Gibbs, but you wouldn't say so from their [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold normal]] [[DopeSlap interactions]]. It's the same story with Kate (which appears at first like a type 1), and with Ziva.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: Has this dynamic with his father ironically given his usual attitude. Though given [=DiNozzo=] Senior is TheCasanova and a ChivalrousPervert [[UpToEleven par excellence]] this is to be expected.
* WalkingTheEarth: His leaving to take care of his daughter is hinted to be partially this as well, along with hinting at investigating the circumstances of Ziva's death.
* WellDoneSonGuy:
** Mostly in the early seasons, with Gibbs.
** Also clearly present with his biological father. They're improving.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Special Agent Alexandra "Alex" Quinn]]
-> '''Played by''': Creator/JenniferEsposito
A federal agent training instructor, Quinn is friends with Gibbs and was once [=McGee=]'s trainer. Introduced in Season 14 after Gibbs repeatedly shoots down agents to take Tony [=DiNozzo's=] place that she recommended, prompting her to come pay him a visit, which ultimately led to Gibbs not only recruiting Agent Torres, but [[{{Irony}} recruiting her for his team as well]]. She leaves the team early in season 15 to take care of her ailing mother, who has developed Alzheimer's disease.
----
* BrokenAce: Was a great field agent until MyGreatestFailure broke her.
* MyGreatestFailure: ...she was traumatized by the death of her partner because (from her POV) her partner, a new mother, just wanted to give her some privacy during a stakeout and [[TooDumbToLive got out of the car right in front of the criminals they were watching and got shot to death]]. Additionally, because the reason her partner died (again from Quinn's POV) was an argument with her (Quinn's) fiance...
* RedBaron: Quin was called the Queen of Hearts when agent afloat because of her love of card playing. Running into a sailor who knew her then causes her to remember the nickname when dealing with a murder on a mixed navy/civilian cruise.
* RememberTheNewGuy: Prior to her debut appearance, Quinn met Gibbs and was [=McGee=]'s training officer.
* {{Troll}}: Quinn always remembers her trainees. Bishop was one of them. Quinn says she doesn't remember Bishop, although she later tells [=McGee=] that she definitely remembers her. She's just messing with her because she's so tightly wound... "and besides... [[ItAmusedMe it tickles me."]]
** In "M.I.A.", later on in the season Quinn, Torres, [=McGee,=] and Bishop are training for a marathon. Quinn and Torres are able to finish in unbelievable time. Later on, [=McGee=] and Bishop figure out that Quinn cheated on the training run; she took a taxi. Quinn reveals she was never going to run in the marathon and did it to mess with them. It would be off-putting... but then she goes into a goofy happy dance, giggling like a fool.
* TwoFirstNames: "Alexandra" and "Quinn".
* WeHardlyKnewYe: Lasted only a season, the shortest length of any main character.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:[=MI6=] Officer Clayton Reeves]]
-> '''Played by''': Creator/DuaneHenry

* TheAlcoholic: A recovering one, at least, revealed by his presence at an AA meeting.
* TheAloner: Part of the reason was that "he didn't want anyone with a family" to put themselves at risk (he was in the foster care system). While he might not know the team's exact family situations (he knows Bishop's and he clearly doesn't know he's not one to talk to Gibbs about the lacking a family) he's aware they consider themselves LikeFamily.
* TheAtoner: Possibly why he apparently signed up for an operation that Quinn described as a suicide mission.
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Is shot and killed protecting Abby from a mugger.
* CharacterDeath: Is killed at the end of "One Step Forward" - his body is seen at the start of "Two Steps Back".
* DarkSecret: Screwed something up ''really bad'' in the past to the point he wasn't sure if he would be able to stay in MI6.
* DeathSeeker: Considering how he was practically ordering Vance in "MIA" to get him another Whillowby-style assignment and receiving one that would've taken him to ''Syria''... (he ultimately rejects it).
* FireForgedFriends: After learning his best friend and fellow agent betrayed both for money he declares that "We're not mates, ''she'' (Bishop) is my mate".
* HeroicSacrifice: Is killed fighting to save Abby from a hitman.
* LonersAreFreaks: Bishop becomes increasingly disturbed that he apparently has no friends as of his MI6 partner's betrayal and only has himself as an emergency contact.
* PromotionToOpeningTitles: After three appearances as a guest star.
* SeparatedByACommonLanguage: Apparently his RunningGag to parallel Ziva's BluntMetaphorsTrauma: One of Bishop's brothers reminds his other brother that "mate" means "friend" in British; Reeves [[InsistentTerminology insists]] his gift to Bishop are "''crisps''" not "chips".
* ShipperOnDeck: Is clearly not bothered that Bishop's brothers suspect he's in a relationship with her (he isn't, but what with the sudden death of her boyfriend...).
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: For both [=DiNozzo=] and Ziva, as he's introduced in the final episodes mentioning both characters: Outgoing, sharply-dressed lover of pop-culture and foreign person of color from their country's equivalent of the CIA. Subverted in that he didn't wind up joining the team immediately.
* TakingTheBullet: For Abby, in the season 15 finale.
* VitriolicBestBuds: With Torres. As the team has never seen two [[TheBigGuy big guys]] of relatively equal status with this relationship everyone is worried they're going to fight, but this is just how they affirm their friendship. [[TestosteronePoisoning They *are* going to fight, however -- how else will they know who's better?]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Forensic Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/PauleyPerrette
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AbbySciutoNCIS_8845.png]]
->'''Tony:''' ''Abby Sciuto, resident NCIS forensic scientist, heart and soul. [[ARiddleWrappedInAMysteryInsideAnEnigma A paradox wrapped in an oxymoron, smothered in contradictions in terms.]] Sleeps in a coffin. Really, the happiest goth you'll ever meet.''

A forensic science genius who apparently handles the lab work for all of NCIS by herself, Abby is a perky goth who always tries to see the best in everyone despite being confronted by all the horrible things people do to each other every day.

She is the barometer by which the mood at NCIS can be judged. If Abby is anything other than her usual cheerful self it means something is most definitely wrong and upsetting her in any way is a guarantee to getting your ass kicked (by her with the rest of Team Gibbs rushing in just as she's finishing up).

Retires near the end of season 15 to start a non-profit in England.
----
* AllWomenArePrudes: Downplayed. 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...)
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Pulls this on a smarmy forensics student while teaching a week-long symposium in Mexico, correctly determining that the woman owns an orange tabby and two calicos, has a citrus allergy, went bowling the night before, and was ovulating, with zero forensic equipment, just by giving her a once-over. Don't make fun of Abby's fashion choices.
* BadassAdorable: Once, she was AloneWithThePsycho, who was her current assistant, and he tried to kill her. The team figured it out, and came running, [[RedundantRescue only to find that she had kicked his ass, hog tied him, and gagged him.]] She wasn't even winded. 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.
-->'''Abby:''' ''(To the hitman, lying on the ground [[ScreamsLikeALittleGirl squealing]] while she stands over him) And don't look up my skirt!'' **zaps**
** Implied by Ducky to the corpse in "Toxic": "You messed with the wrong forensic scientist."
** And then there's the PoisonAndCureGambit she pulls on Robert King. The fact that it's a bluff makes it even more awesome, as she's able to completely sell it to a trained black-op specialist.
** In another episode, the perpetrator infiltrates her lab in the guise of helping with the investigation and deletes the incriminating evidence, leaving her livid and itching to kick his ass. When he smugly tries to extort a plea deal out of Gibbs, Gibbs simply steps aside and lets her break the man's nose.
%%* BadassBookworm
* BerserkButton: Abby's two biggest pet peeves are people who claim to be vegetarians but still eat chicken, and poorly handled evidence.
** In "Toxic," (Season 6, Episode 21), she insists, "What is Abby's rule #1? Do not lie to Abby."
* BewareTheNiceOnes:
** 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 BadassAdorable).
** 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''.
** One of her interns flat-out declares to Gibbs "I'm more scared of her than you" even though she hasn't really been mean to him, just bombarded him with a list of bizarre rules and and made him wear bells to avert him causing any problems.
* BoringButPractical: Her job as TheLabRat isn't as conventionally exciting as chasing down suspects but Abby would vehemently disagree.
%%* BrainsAndBondage
* BrainyBrunette: Has jet-black hair and is the smartest member of the team.
* BreakoutCharacter: She's basically the series mascot.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: See PerkyGoth. Can also be something of OneOfTheKids at times.
* CargoShip: Abby ships herself InUniverse with her mass spectrometer, which she calls "Major Mass Spec". She even says that she wants to "have his little mass spec children".
* TheCastShowOff: Pauley Perrette has a Masters Degree in Criminal Science.
* CastTheExpert: Before becoming an actress and being cast as Abby Sciuto, Pauley Perrette's early ambitions included working with animals, being a rock musician, or an FBI agent. [[http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/pauley-perrette/bio/190740 She studied criminal justice at Valdosta State University in Georgia]] and at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. In a 2005 interview with Creator/CraigFerguson, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jW5y63J_rSM she started her master's degree in criminal science before she ended up in the entertainment industry]].
* CatchPhrase: "I hate it when he/she/they does/do that." Also, "Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs! Gibbs!"
* CasualDangerDialogue: More like [[SubvertedTrope Casual Post-Danger Dialogue]], but after working with - and later duck taping up - the ObviouslyEvil assistant Chip (an assistant that she specifically requested against), Gibbs and co come to rescue her, only to find her sitting in a chair with only one thing to say.
-->'''Abby:''' ''(casually sitting in her chair, used duck tape roll in hands)'' ''Now'' can I work alone?
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Go back and watch some Season 1 episodes, and you'll see that Abby isn't nearly as bubbly or talkative as she would later become. She's also gotten something of a GirlinessUpgrade over time.
* CheekCopy: Admits in "Left for Dead" (Season 1, Episode 10) that she did this once.
* CheerfulChild: In a flashback we see she was an ''extremely'' cheerful tomboy with a knack for science and detective work.
* ClingyJealousGirl: Abby plays the halves of the trope title separately with [=McGee=]. The "clingy" can kick in when she's upset or worried. The "jealous" can kick in if there's a non-team member around who pulls [=McGee=]'s attention away from her (e.g. an ICE agent played by Jaime "''Series/{{Hustle}}''" Murray). You'd swear at times that they were still dating...
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: In spades.
* CuddleBug: Abby snuggles up to people she's close to and often hugs them from behind. It's her way of showing fondness and affection.
* DamselOutOfDistress: Got captured by the villain when she went over to ''Series/NCISLosAngeles'' for a {{crossover}}. She used his live camera feed to send her location to Callen's team via Morse code blinks.
** This happens several times over the series, including tasing a stalker into submission and duct taping up a forensics specialist who was trying to get Tony convicted of murder. Abby does occasionally get into trouble, but she's more than capable of saving herself.
* DarkIsNotEvil: She dresses in black and has a big interest in death. She's easily one of the nicest characters on the show ([[BewareTheNiceOnes so long as you don't piss her off]]).
* DespairEventHorizon: When she thought she isn't doing enough good to counteract all the bad, she was horribly detracted and ''even called in sick''. Triggered when she was reminded of her very first "case": When she was a child she found a little girl's teddy bear and went to return it, but due to family drama (the girl's dad hated his father-in-law who had given her the bear) the girl couldn't take it back; she even found the girl's grandpa who told her it was impossible. Eventually Abby secretly gave her one of her own toys instead and kept that bear until it fell apart.
* DisappearedDad: She lost her adoptive father at a young age, and heaven knows she feels regret over the fights they had.
* DoesNotLikeGuns: Downplayed. Though she handles guns and ammo on a regular basis in lab tests, Abby never uses a gun to shoot people- ''ever.''[[note]]''Tasing'' them, on the other hand...[[/note]] However, she has no problems opening fire on dummies and using guns for ballistics tests and simulations.
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette
* EmbarrassingFirstName: She doesn't much care for being called "Abigail" by Ducky.
* FakeFood: The giant cup of the Caf-Pow soda that Abby frequently drinks is actually sugar-free cranberry juice; it was orginally Hawaiian Punch up until around the fourth season, when Pauley Perrette gave up eating or drinking anything that contained refined sugar.
* FirstNameBasis: Besides his wife and Gibbs, she's the only one who calls Director Vance "Leon".
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Kill Ari, Part I", Abby mentions she's originally from New Orleans when it's discussed that people there play lively jazz music at funerals and she interjects that before them, they play a dirge to properly mourn the departed. Many seasons later Abby's New Orleans background leads back to the discovery of a biological brother. It also becomes a big topic of intrest for the backdoor pilot of ''Series/NCISNewOrleans'', which is all things NOLA.
* FreakyFashionMildMind: Abby's dress sense blares with goth, but she's got a brainy and generally level head. When she's not talking about [[NightmareFetishist creepy/gothic fetishes and fetishism in general]], that is.
* FryingPanOfDoom: Used to great effect while helping Ziva to subdue an intruder at Gibbs' place. She even lampshades her choice of a weapon.
-->'''Abby''': It's a frying pan. It's a little cliché.
-->'''Ziva''': Works for me.
* GenkiGirl: If this were a manga, she would be most likely to SayItWithHearts.
* GirlishPigtails:
** "Hit and Run" shows that she had these even as an ''actual'' young girl.
* TheGlomp: She is compelled to hug ''everybody''. In fact, it deeply distressed her when a lecturer at a meeting for sexual harassment in the workplace made it seem like it was wrong to hug people and the entire room assured her they appreciated her hugs.
* HappilyAdopted: Nine seasons in and we learn she was this to her deaf parents.
* TheHeart: As indicated in the character quote, again. Even those who ''know'' she isn't an easy mark will go after her first for that reason.
%%* HotScientist
* ICallItVera: "Major Mass Spec" and her other lab equipment. She also names her own teeth, though they appear to be masculine names - one is Frank.
* IconicItem: Her black lace parasol.
* ImprobableAge: Abby was stated as being in her late twenties during season 7. And it's also been heavily implied she has a [=PhD=] in chemistry.
** There is a lot of deliberate vagueness about her age, being a highly qualified competent scientist who talks and dresses like a schoolgirl. The actress that plays her was born in 1969. A flashback episode to her childhood where she wears dungarees and lives on a farm had no clues to the time period it was set. The cars might have been from the 70's but looked old.
* IWorkAlone: For the sake of ''everyone'' involved. Including the bad guys.
* IllPretendIDidntHearThat: When Michelle Lee suggests that NCIS is better off without Gibbs in the episode "Escaped":
-->'''Abby:''' I like you Michelle, so I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that.
* KillerRabbit: See below.
* KlatchianCoffee: Sometimes, Abby gets a little ''too'' wild after drinking one too many Caf-POW!s in one setting. Gibbs has had to make her slow down and stop on a few occasions because she was running at a mile a minute. [[NoodleIncident She also set a huge record one time... which presumably ended with marathon barfing, given her reluctance to bring it up and mentioning how it didn't end well.]]
* LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: Usually unbuttoned to frame her goth outfits. Whenever she is showing her {{Wrench Wench}} attitude, she swaps it for red NCIS overalls.
%%* TheLabRat
* {{Leitmotif}}: You will almost always hear techno/rock music pulsing in the background when a scene occurs with Abby in the lab. Compared to the mostly orchestrated score of the series, it really stands out as unique, just like she does.
* LetsGetDangerous: People who target Abby tend to wish they hadn't (via [[OffScreenMomentOfAwesome off-screen mayhem]]).
* LikeBrotherAndSister: With Tony whom she treats like an older brother. Also [=McGee=] after both recieved some CharacterDevelopment. She also treats Ziva and Kate like older sisters.
* LoveYouAndEverybody: She's a big-time hugger. She even made an apology to a tree when Tony had to dig out a bullet for evidence and got a splinter, defending it by forgiving him for "attacking" the tree.
* MoralityPet: To Gibbs. He refers to her as the team mascot. What happens near the end of Season 15 is a HUGE testament to that.
* MotorMouth: And how. It seems the more stressed she is, the faster she'll talk and the more tangents she'll go off on. Usually Gibbs has to pull her back on track.
* MsFanservice: Her youth and ceaseless energy makes her a true KidAppealCharacter both InUniverse and out.
* MustHaveCaffeine: In the form of "Caf Pow" soda.
** She's tried to break the addiction before. It never works.
* NerdsAreSexy: Played with in that while she is definitely a nerd and highly intelligent, she looks like the exact opposite. Men who are attracted to her are initially attracted by her goth sensibilities.
* NiceShoes: She wears oversized high-top booties and elevator boots. As Tony put it succinctly while doing a Creator/HumphreyBogart impression, "The cute lady with the funny shoes". However, she ''hates'' high heels, and the one time she was forced to wear them, whined that she had to and promptly begged to take them off.
* NightmareFetishist: She sleeps in a coffin.
-->'''Marty:''' You wouldn't happen to have an unhealthy obsession with death, would you?\\
'''Abby:''' Oh, no. It's just a hobby.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Pauley Perrette was born in 1969, meaning she was in her early-mid 30s when she was cast. Abby looks maybe 25-30 even after 15 or so seasons.
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Abby stopped wearing pigtails for a while, ditched her dark lipstick, and played a dirge instead of the usual techno rock music as she mourned Kate. The "spirit" of Kate called her out on it.
* ParasolOfPrettiness: Has a black, lacy one, that she carries in a few episodes. Speaking of which...
* PerkyGoth: If you put [[Literature/TheMillenniumTrilogy Lisbeth Salander]] and [[WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop Penelope Pitstop]] in a blender...
** With the ratio of perkiness to gothiness gradually shifting in favor of the former over time.
* PlatonicLifePartners: She and [=McGee=] dated once early in the series, and they had a WillTheyOrWontThey that ended on "won't".(especially with [=McGee=] marrying Deliah), but they still get along fairly well. Enough for her to be his BestWoman.
* PowerEchoes: "...and I will rise up, and I will ''find'' the man that did this to Tony, and I will ''crucify him!''"
* ProperlyParanoid: She was afraid to work in the lab in the days following Kate's death out of fear she would come under attack by the sniper who killed Kate. Ari opened fire on the lab and bullets burst through the windows, and had the lights in the lab not been killed, Abby might have been instead. Gibbs then resorted to having bullet-proof glass (well, bullet-''resistant'' glass, because Abby insists that no glass is truly bulletproof) installed in place of the old lab windows to prevent this from ever happening again.
* PutOnABus: After Reeves dies in a hit meant for her, she retires from NCIS and starts a non-profit in London in his memory.
%%* RavenHairIvorySkin
* ReallyGetsAround: Abby's sex life hasn't gotten much attention since the early seasons, but it is known to be... eclectic.
* ARiddleWrappedInAMysteryInsideAnEnigma: She is very furtive and doesn't give much about herself away. [[DarkAndTroubledPast For good reasons.]]
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Energetic Girl to [=McGee=]'s Savvy Guy.
* SecretTestOfCharacter: She has a list of criteria that the men she dates have to meet before she'll commit to a long term relationship. None know that they are being tested, none (including [=McGee=]) have passed, and her friends take it for granted that every man she's involved with will be gone within a few months. She eventually makes an exception for Burt, the Parks Police Sergeant. It seems like the true parameters of Abby tests are that she's trying to find out if her love interest exhibits pure and rich feelings toward her and possesses a kind and charitable heart, because she dislikes it when men aren't satisfied with what they get and doesn't want to be made to change for a man or humor men only concerned about fulfilling their own self-interests and not thinking about her. When [=McGee=] went and asked where their relationship was going, it made her feel very insecure and sad that he felt she wasn't trying hard enough to make it work when she was already doing her best to understand him, and in that one moment, the whole thing fell down like a house of cards.
* SecretKeeper: Abby knows Gibbs killed somebody in cold blood. She was made to perform a DNA test on the autopsy results for the man that Gibbs murdered (who killed his family), and invariably found out that Gibbs was a murderer. Abby buried the results as furiously as possible, and later shredded the documents when Gibbs was put under a separate investigation for his misconduct throughout his career, as this was the one piece of absolutely damning evidence he could ''never'' talk his way out of.
* SeparatedAtBirth: Turns out in season 9 that she was adopted. Her twin brother runs an SPCA-affiliated pet shop.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Most notably in the HalloweenEpisode, "Witch Hunt", from Season 4, where she dresses up as Creator/MarilynMonroe in ''Film/TheSevenYearItch'', causing speechlessness in [=McGee=] and [=DiNozzo=] when they first see her. There's also that one time she's forced to adhere to a standard dress code and looks like Dream Career Franchise/{{Barbie}}...with tattoos all over... and curly, slicked-back hair instead of pigtails and none of the usual dark lipstick or eyeshadow.
* SherlockScan: When Abby's teaching a class on forensics for the Mexican government, one of her students looks at her and snarkily asks if she forgot when The Day of The Dead is. Abby proceeds to tell the woman that she has a cat. When the woman isn't impressed, Abby reels off a list of things she's observed that range from the woman having ''three'' cats of two different breeds, all the way to the fact that she's currently ovulating. The woman quickly shuts up.
* ShesGotLegs: "And ''don't'' look up my skirt!"
* StereotypeFlip: She's about as unlike the [[StrawNihilist stereotypical goth]] as can possibly be imagined.
* TattooAsCharacterType: A big black spiderweb on the far left-hand side of her neck. It firmly cements her as a fan of all things gothic. She also remarks to then-boyfriend [=McGee=] she got a new one during Season 1, an unspecified one which Kate reveals is on her ankle. Later, in a moment of pure {{Fanservice}}, after she is forced to don regulation clothing but then gets to change back to her normal attire, we see she also has a giant gothic cross tattooed on her back and two stick figures on her shoulder blades. There's a tattoo of a circular skull emblem on one of her fingers as well.
%%* TeamPet
%%* TechnoBabble
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: The Girly Girl to Kate and Ziva's Tomboy. Being a WrenchWench puts her in {{Tomboy}} territory, too.
* TooKinkyToTorture: Implied with Abby in "Bloodbath":
-->'''[=McGee=]:''' Now, you stay here and don't answer the door, or I will tie you up!
-->'''Abby:''' ''Really?''
* {{Tsundere}}: On any given episode she can be the sweetest, most loving and caring ball of fluff on the series and turn around to threatening anyone with the fact that she can kill them and leave no forensic evidence. Witness her Dere to Tsun turn around in the season 5 episode "Dog Tags" with [=McGee=] when she first sees [=McGee=] hurt, only to wanting to never have met him when she realized he shot a dog. Never mind that [[CrimeOfSelfDefense It Was Self-Defense]].
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: A nightmare she had of being autopsied left her too scared to enter Ducky's lab herself for a time. She forcers herself to overcome this fear by sleeping on one of the examination tables for the night.
* WillTheyOrWontThey: 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. As of Season 12, however, [=McGee=] makes clear that they never will because Abby has a secret list of criteria that the men she dates must meet (without them even knowing that there is a list) before certain dates and no one's ever made it past two months with her. Also, [=McGee=] and Deliah married each other at the end of Season 14.
* WomanChild: A positive example. She has a lot of childlike traits that make her very friendly and likeable.
* VanityLicensePlate: "4NS CHIK" displayed on her red 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe. The car before this one was a hearse.
* ZettaiRyouiki: Prone to tall stockings like a typical goth.
[[/folder]]


!Other NCIS Agents and Superiors

[[folder:Director Thomas Morrow]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/AlanDale

* BoomHeadshot: Took a bullet to the back of the cranium and was later found dead in his study.
* TheBusCameBack: Shows up in "Chasing Ghosts" to tell Vance what Ziva has been up to, as well as trying to keep them from hunting down Ilan Bodnar.
* BusCrash: Is killed in Season 13 by a vengeful ex-MI6 agent, although it's actually recurring character CIA agent Kort covering his tracks.
* BackForTheDead: In season 13's "Return to Sender".
* DaChief: The original one.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Is very understanding and tolerating of Gibbs' CowboyCop tendencies.
* PutOnABus: In the first episode of season three, after accepting an offer to become Deputy Secretary of the Homeland Security.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Special Agent Chris Pacci]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/TimKelleher

* HeKnowsTooMuch: Got shot to death because he learned something important about a cold case.
* MauveShirt: Shows up in two episodes before being killed.
* PosthumousCharacter: Still pops up in a {{flashback}} or two, and his cases still get mentioned.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Special Agent Michelle Lee]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/LizaLapira

->'''Tony:''' ''She's even more probie than Probie!''

* ActionGirl: She's not in the field often to show it, but in "Once A Hero" she goes undercover and defeats TheDragon of the VillainOfTheWeek.
%%* ActionMom
%%* DoubleAgent
* IHaveYourDaughter: Not her, but the people that were making her be a DoubleAgent.
* TheMole: Framed Langer for her crimes and kills him.
* NerdsAreSexy: She definitely felt this way about Jimmy Palmer during their fling.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: She became the HumanShield 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 [[ShootTheHostage to shoot her]] and by proxy, shooting him as well, killing them both.
* SympatheticMurderer: 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.
* TwoFirstNames: Lee can pass as a given name.
%%* WalkingSpoiler
%%* WhackAMole
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mike Franks]]
[[quoteright:220:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mike_FranksNCIS_3894.png]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MuseWatson
->''"Don't tempt me, Jethro! I ain't nearly drunk enough."''

* AntiHero: His retired status makes him both willing and able to go into moral grey areas that are too dark for the regular team.
%%* BadassBeard
%%* CoolOldGuy
%%* CowboyCop
* CynicalMentor: Seems to have been this to Gibbs.
* DeadAllAlong: In his last appearance, Gibbs seems to be talking to Mike in person as they gaze upon a body bag. But Mike ominously appears to be fulfilling the role of a GreekChorus and inexplicably appearing and disappearing, if Gibbs's absolutely devastated state of mind didn't give it away. Then, [[{{Foreshadowing}} a not-so-subtle comment about forming "ghosts" of people inside one's mind is brought up...]] and we soon learn this is exactly what Gibbs has done for Mike. As soon as it's revealed Mike is the one who died in the first place, the ghost avatar of Mike vanishes permanently and [[WhamShot Gibbs finally unzips his body bag to look upon the pallid and withered shell his mentor left behind.]]
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: He died in Gibbs' arms, too fast to say any final comments. Gibbs worked his subsequent grief out by envisioning a conversation with his dead mentor.
* DoNotGoGentle: He knew he was on his way to the grave, yet he willingly sought out the Port-to-Port killer and had a violent struggle with him, managing to shoot him at least once before finally being overpowered and finished off.
* DopeSlap: The originator InUniverse. He first slapped a Probie Gibbs, who would later inflict the same actions on his team members.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: He was dying of some illness but he still had enough fight to take on Jason Cobb and actually wound the serial killer.
* GrumpyOldMan: Imagine an older, grumpier ''Gibbs''.
* FamousLastWords: "[[IKnowYoureWatchingMe Ain't you smart enough to get out of the rain? ......Me neither...... Jonas.]] [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya My name is Mike Franks.]] [[DefiantToTheEnd I figure I got one more fight left in me...]]''[[BringIt You want it?]]''"
* {{Fingore}}: His gun hand gets mutilated, resulting in the loss of ths thumb and index finger. It only makes him slightly less deadly.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: This exchange at the beginning of "[[ADeathInTheLimelight Swan Song]]":
-->'''Ghost!Mike''': Better fill me in, Probie... I'm lost.
-->'''Gibbs''': ''(brokenly)'' ......So am I.
* HeroicBSOD: The Khobar Towers bombing in '96, as well as the lukewarm response to it, prompted him to retire.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until the Season 3 finale, and physically in the Season 4 premiere.
* IncurableCoughOfDeath: One of the hints of him having some kind of illness. It would probably have killed him even if Jason Cobb wouldn't have, since Gibbs was already in the process of making a coffin for Mike.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He's gruff and can be a bit of an ass, but he'll always help those close to him (Gibbs, Leyla and Amira, etc.).
* KnightInSourArmor: While he has a cynical viewpoint of life, he does fight for the side of good and always tries to do the right thing.
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: Appears in flashbacks in "Hiatus, Part 1", makes proper debut appearance in Part 2.
* PapaWolf: Towards his granddaughter Amira and daughter-in-law Leyla.
* PosthumousCharacter: He appears in flashbacks and in Gibbs's dreams in just about every season after his death.
* RatedMForManly: A very simplistic down-home man who can't be bothered with pencil-pushers but a hardcore Marine like no other.
* RetiredBadass: Even after he said good-bye to his old post, he always kept eight bullets in his cartridge, and one in his piece, just to be prepared so that he would never be caught by surprise. Unfortunately, Jacob stole his weapon shortly after inflicting fatal wounds to Mike.
* TheReveal: We see Gibbs dutifully at work on some elaborate woodcarving project all throughout Season 8, and it appears to be the machinations of an innocent hobby. At the end of Season 8, Gibbs is one of the pallbearers for Mike's body, and special emphasis is given to his custom-built casket, as it happens to be the finished project of all the handcrafting Gibbs did that season as a last request of his old mentor and longtime friend.
* SecretlyDying: Mike was already dying from what is heavily implied to be lung cancer, from a life of heavy smoking and alcohol consumption to cope with his hardships. Gibbs knew because Mike wanted him to build the coffin. Franks chose to go down fighting when Jason Cobb confronted him and was fatally stabbed during the fight.
* SemperFi: He was a Marine in [[TheVietnamVet 'Nam]].
* UndergroundRailroad: [=S11E4=] revealed he helped smuggle in abused women from Kabul over the years, and give them fake identities taken from deceased servicewomen. It fell apart after his death. He asked Gibbs to help him but Gibbs refused.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gerald Jackson]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/PanchoDemmings

One of the initial characters, he was Ducky's first Assistant Medical Examiner on the show before Jimmy Palmer took over that role in Season 3.
----
* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Subverted. He lived, but it's he who is shot by Ari (as opposed to the Caucasian Ducky or Kate) and he disappears from the show afterwards.
* CareerEndingInjury: At the very least it ended his job in NCIS. It's unknown what, if any, work he returned.
* FlatCharacter: A lot like Vivian Blackadder, Gerald's character was dropped because he was fairly well-adjusted to the job he had when he was initially introduced. Characterization wasn't going much of anywhere because there was little for him to really do, and he was replaced with the younger Jimmy Palmer to create a more meaningful series of interactions with Ducky and an apprenticeship narrative to explore, much to the betterment of the series.
* MentorOccupationalHazard: Inverted. Ducky offers himself to be shot instead of Gerald when Ari takes Autopsy under hostage. Ari instead ignores Ducky and shoots Gerald when Ducky and Kate tried to trick him.
* PutOnABus: After his first encounter with Ari led him to leave Autopsy with a gun shot to the shoulder and being kidnapped and released by Ari at the start of season 3, he hasn't been seen since. Given that Kate was just murdered and the injuries he also incurred and being taken hostage a second time just when he thought he was in the clear to resume his duties, he had much incentive not to come back.
* SaltAndPepper: Him and Ducky.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Special Agent Paula Cassidy]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JessicaSteen

An NCIS Special Agent who worked at the Pentagon and Guantanamo Bay as an interrogator. She made reoccurring performances over the first four seasons.
----
%%* ActionGirl
* DeathEqualsRedemption: She spends all of "Grace Period" blaming herself for the death of her team and vowing to get the man responsible. When she tackles the suicide bomber, she achieves this.
* HeroicSacrifice: In a split second decision, she saw a suicide bomber come out from behind a hidden passage way. Without hesitation, she jumped onto the man, keeping him in the passage as the door closed. She saved the rest of Team Gibbs and the clerics they were protecting.
%%* HeroOfAnotherStory
* TogetherInDeath: The episode of her death, her team was killed in an ambush while following up on a tip from the NCIS hotline. The aforementioned suicide bomber was one of the men responsible; the last thing she saw was hallucinations of her team, both standing and waiting for her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Nikki Jardine]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/SusanKelechiWatson
* TheAtoner: To the Iraqi family who's father got shot trying to help her brother.
* BunnyEarsLawyer: She's TerrifiedOfGerms to the point of wearing a face mask around the office in one episode, but she's also a highly-competent analyst.
* HelpMistakenForAttack: Part of her {{backstory}}, her brother was injured in Iraq and when a friendly Iraqi tried to help him, he was killed by US forces.
* NeatFreak: Played with. Nikki is a Germaphobe and always using wipes to clean her hands and things she touches, but (as revealed in the episode ''In The Zone'') is a slob when it comes to leaving stuff lying around.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Vanishes without trace after her ADayInTheLimelight episode ''In The Zone''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Charles "Chip" Sterling]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MichaelBellisario

Abby's first lab assistant, as appointed by the new Director of NCIS Shepard. Only showed up for four episodes in the first half of season 3. His run didn't last very long because he had a sinister motive for taking the job.
----
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Pretends to be a meek and slightly soft-spoken assistant who bumbles a bit and comes off as a dork. However, the moment NCIS starts to figure something's up and Abby uncovers his scheme, Chip immediately drops the act and tries to attack her.
* BoundAndGagged: Chip tried to kill Abby, then learned Abby's experience with masochism is unparalleled when he found himself completely restrained moments later.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Abby calls him Chip, which he didn't like but begrudgingly accepted.
* FourIsDeath: The fourth episode he appears in is the one where we learn Chip is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
* PornStache: Had one in his first episode, was told by Gibbs in his second to shave if off.
* RealLifeRelative: He is the son of producer of the show Donald Bellisario, and brother of Troian Bellisario (Sara [=McGee=]'s actor). He is also the step-brother of Sean Murray (Timothy [=McGee=]'s actor).
* {{Revenge}}: Tried to frame Tony for when he, as a Baltimore cop, got him fired for mishandling evidence. Nearly got away with it too if it weren't for Abby.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Special Agent Brent Langer]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JonathanLaPaglia

* ClearMyName: After he had been killed.
* ExplainExplainOhCrap: He and the mole are in a sensitive area. As he explains some things to the mole, he realizes he is with the mole. He tries to draw his gun but it doesn't help.
* RedHerringMole: Set up to be the mole by the mole.
* WhackAMole: Subverted, due to him not actually being the mole and being killed trying to stop the mole.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Stanley Burley]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JoelGretsch

Was a part of Gibbs' team before [=DiNozzo=] was hired away from Baltimore PD. Still an active NCIS agent, now working as Agent Afloat on an aircraft carrier.
----
* BackForTheDead: Narrowly averted.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: He is a successful NCIS agent seen a handful of times in the series.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Riley [=McCallister=]]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MichaelONeill

* {{Jerkass}}: After [=McGee=] reprimanded him for an inaction, he tells him to shut up.
--->'''[=McCallister=]''': Permission to smack your boy with my cane, Gibbs!
* JerkassHasAPoint: In "Life Before His Eyes", he presents Gibbs an alternate timeline where he hadn't killed Pedro Hernandez: If Gibbs hadn't chosen the path of revenge, he would've been a recluse, hiding in his basement while everyone who cared about him and worked with him went forward with their lives.
* SmugSnake: He wanted to become director of NCIS, so he tried to [[SickbedSlayIng kill Vance while he was hospitalized]]. Vance ends up stabbing him with a knife.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:SECNAV Phillip Davenport]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JudeCiccolella

* DarkSecret: He's the reason why the Port-to-Port killer was born, when a hellish military training program drove him into a killing spree.
* MustMakeAmends: He retires as the Director of SECNAV after it comes to light he's responsible for creating Cobb and Cobb tries to get back at him by killing E.J., his niece.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Erica Jane "E.J." Barrett]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/SarahJaneMorris

%%* ActionGirl
* DudeWheresMyRespect: She doesn't like that Gibbs dismisses her as a fellow team leader. To be fair, she is dismissive of the older Gibbs too.
%%* EveryoneLovesBlondes
%%* PutOnABus
%%* RedHerringMole
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: Averted. She never used her connection to her Uncle the SECNAV to get anything.
* TemporaryLoveInterest: For Tony.
* TomboyishName: Her nickname.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Simon Cade]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MattWillig

* BeardOfSorrow: After going on the run in Season 9, he developed a full beard from dishevelment.
* BoomHeadshot: Snuffed by Cole in a dark street corner.
* ClearMyName: He goes into hiding after being framed for stealing microchips from the bodies of Watcher 8 fleet members. Tony ends up pursuing him, leading to Cade getting shot and killed by the true thief, Jonathan Cole, who frames Tony for the murder.
* GeniusBruiser: He has an IQ of 160 and played football at Yale.
* LuredIntoATrap: Cade was set up by Cole to come to what appeared to be an arranged meeting with Tony, and sniped.
* MauveShirt: He survived the first attempt on his life by Jonas Cobb and was in critical condition afterward. When he got out of the hospital, he left NCIS to recuperate but couldn't land a part-time job to keep food on the table. Then he ended up on the run from an even greater enemy, until lured into a trap and assassinated.
%%* RedHerringMole
%%* SmartPeopleWearGlasses
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Cade and [=McGee=] didn't get along together because they were almost always engaging in spitting matches. When he left the main office, it showed.
-->'''[=McGee=]:''' Sorry to see you go.
-->'''Cade:''' ''Yeah right.''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gayne Levin]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/AlimiBallard

* BlackDudeDiesFirst: As he, Cade, and Barrett enter an abandoned building to look for Jonas Cobb, he and Cade are shot, but it's he who dies.
* MauveShirt
[[/folder]]

[[folder:SECNAV Clayton Jarvis]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MattCraven

* AssholeVictim: Killed in the Season 11 opener.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: He is killed offscreen in the Season 11 opener. A bombing takes place as a result of his involvement with a conspiracy on home soil.
* {{Jerkass}}: Espically to Tony.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He starts treating the team a bit better later on.
* LastEpisodeNewCharacter: Appears in the season 8 finale.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: What he ultimately turns out to be.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ned Dorneget]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MattJones

A relatively new probationary agent. He's eventually transferred into the cyber division and demonstrates computer skills on par with [=McGee=].
----
* ButtMonkey: Once left the dentist's office with a bugged tooth implant. Hilarity did not ensue.
* ADeathInTheLimelight: Plays a major role as a cyber-specialist in the multi-part episode starting with "Troll", then gets killed in the second part while evacuating a hotel about to be the site of a terrorist bombing.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: He gets mentioned a lot more than seen, and does a lot of gruntwork.
* StraightGay: He does not come off as gay because he doesn't want that aspect about him being spread around the workplace. He outed himself right away when [=McGee=] thought otherwise.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Richard Parsons]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/ColinHanks

An up-and-comer in the [=DoD=] Office of the Inspector General. He has Gibbs arrested for his questionable methods, hoping to use his prosecution as a launching pad for his own career.
----
* {{Blackmail}}: Engaged in lots of it to worm his way into his current lofty position.
* BreakTheHaughty: Coming within feet of being blown up can do that.
* CondescendingCompassion: To Ziva in the tenth season finale. He tells about how much he "sympathizes" with her over the murder of her father right before taunting her about his ultimate goal of bringing down Gibbs, who he acknowledges is the only father figure she has left.
* ADickInName: Guess what everyone calls him. Especially Abby.
* EvilCounterpart: Tony quips that he's like [=McGee=]'s evil twin. He turns out to be less "evil" and more "too ambitious for his own good".
* FillerVillain: For all the threat he was played up to be, he's quickly overshadowed by a larger threat within the CIA and reduced to this. That was prior to his HeelFaceTurn.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Not too surprisingly, when he does decide to help and not hinder Gibbs, the rest of his team gives him the cold shoulder.
* HeelFaceTurn: After he gets a front row seat for the bomb that killed [=SecNav=] Jarvis and seriously injured DHS Secretary Morrow.
* IShallTauntYou: One of his ways of getting information from the subjects of his investigation. Notably, he goads Tony by insulting Ziva in his first episode.
%%* ItsAllAboutMe
%%* JerkAss
* ObfuscatingStupidity: So freaking much. He starts off seeming nice but comically annoying. He ''quickly'' shows that he is not to be taken lightly and stays one step ahead of the team.
* OutGambitted: Gibbs is conveniently sent on assignment abroad before having to testify, and his team all [[TenMinuteRetirement turn in their resignations]] to accept responsibility for him. Documents about Mike Franks and the murder of the drug lord that killed Shannon and Kelly are burned and shredded, effectively yanking the rug out from under Parsons' case.
* SixthRanger: For Gibbs in the season 11 premiere.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kevin Hussein]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/EthanRains

(Former) Systems Administrator for NCIS, until he made a deal to give a computer virus to a bad guy.

* AntiVillain: Motivated by the need for money to pay his uncle's medical bills. His conscience wouldn't let him go through with the deal, anyway.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vivian Blackadder]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vivian_blackadder.png]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/RobynLively

Tony [=DiNozzo=]'s first onscreen partner; appeared only in the two-part pilot on ''Series/{{JAG}}''. It's generally assumed that she was fired after blowing the operation they were on, as Gibbs didn't like her and she's never been mentioned since. She is also implied to be a newcomer.
----
* AwesomeMcCoolName: "Vivian Blackadder" is a mighty-sounding name.
* FlatCharacter: One of the reasons she doesn't translate to the ''NCIS'' series is because Donald Bellisario thought Vivian was a dull character.
* GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity: The opener of Season 14 reveals that Gibbs has a major habit of immediately and frequently booting newcomers who don't click with him within the span of only a few days in rapid sequence; we can safely assume Vivian falls into this category.
* IronicName: The woman whose last name is that of a kind of snake turns out to be no good for Gibbs.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Vivian becomes blindly driven by a desire for payback for her brother being killed in the bombing of the ''USS Cole'' while she's an NCIS agent under Gibbs, and he warns he that he'll cut her loose if she doesn't rein it in, which leads to a ''big'' mistake that causes Gibbs to basically drop her as one of his agents, abruptly and unceremoniously.
* [[BrotherChuck Sister Judy]] / ThePeteBest: Off the show with the implication Gibbs delivered on a warning from earlier and sent her back to the J. Edgar Hoover building for being too revenge-minded after busting her chops.
* WeHardlyKnewYe: A non-lethal example. Vivian's only seen in the two-part ''JAG'' backdoor pilot, and quickly forgotten. Since ''JAG'' has been over and done with for a long time now and Vivian has never been seen in the spinoff ''NCIS'' proper, people are surprised to know she existed as a precursor to the other female leads.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:ADM John [=McGee=]]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JameySheridan (first), Creator/RickDeats (second), and Creator/MatthewGlave (third)

[=McGee=]'s father and an admiral. He died of cancer during Season 12.

* BusCrash: He died by his third appearance.
* IllBoy: He died due to cancer.
* MilitaryBrat: His father was also an admiral.
[[/folder]]

!Other Federal Agents

[[folder:FBI Agent Tobias C. Fornell]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JoeSpano

-->'''Fornell:''' ''And people say we're bastards?''
-->'''Gibbs:''' ''Only because they know us.''

* AloofAlly: Though he does always want to help if he can even when he is likely breaking rules to do so. Even when he is technically an antagonist, he still wants what's best for Gibbs and his team.
* AlwaysGetsHisMan: Much like Gibbs, both are famed in story for this.
* BigEater: Half of his lines during his guest appearance on ''Series/NCISNewOrleans'' is him telling Pride which restaurants he wants to visit and the list of dishes he intends to eat at each one.
* FBIAgent: Obviously. Fornell is the FBI equivalent of Gibbs.
* HarbingerOfImpendingDoom: Due to being part of a different agency Fornell only shows up when something bad is happening so everyone tends to view his appearance within NCIS headquarters as this.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Implied for the most part, but we do get glimpses of Fornell's career at FBI. He's their version of Gibbs.
* LikeAnOldMarriedCouple:
** This scene from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF-qyJGAvCI "Short Fuse"]] says it best.
** Then there's this exchange in the Season 11 premier:
-->'''Fornell:''' You know I'm not going to kiss you goodnight.\\
'''Gibbs:''' What?\\
'''Fornell:''' You're walking me to my car. We breaking up?\\
'''Gibbs:''' If I could, I would. Unfortunately, I trust you.
* TheLostLenore: His ex-wife Diane, who he was in the process of getting back together with when she died. As it turns out, Diane's death would begin a seasons-long TraumaCongaLine that takes him until Season 15 to really recover from.
* TheMissusAndTheEx: He and Gibbs are a GenderFlip of this trope. (Though by the time the series starts he's divorced from Gibbs's ex-wife too.)
* PapaWolf: When his daughter Emily gets kidnapped by a money lauderer as ransom for the money the team confiscated, Fornell tells him this during the ransom call:
-->'''Money launderer''': [Bishop's] got eight minutes to bring me my money, by herself. Once I'm safely away I'll tell you where your daughter is. She's fine, but if you even think about sending anyone else, I'll know, and your daughter will pay the price.\\
'''Fornell''': Okay, but just so we're on the same page; [[TranquilFury if you so much as touch a hair on my daughter's head, so help me God, I will find you, and I will rip the eyes out of your face and shove them so down far your throat that you'll need a proctologist to read the evening paper]].
* PerpSweating: Not seen as often, but he's brutal in the interrogation room.
* TheRival: A [[FriendlyRivalry friendly rival]], but a rival.
* ShotInTheAss: Two episodes into season 11, tying back to the last few seconds of the season 10 finale.
* SixthRanger: Occasionally, when he shows up.
* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: In the wake of all the trauma he experienced in later seasons, he begins Season 14 having taken residence in Gibbs' living room, eating all the food in the kitchen, watching endless TV, and wearing Gibbs' bathrobe. Gibbs has made it abundantly clear he'd like Fornell to move out, but Fornell is cheerfully oblivious. [[spoiler: After three months of this, Emily tricks him into moving back home by having her entomologist boyfriend seed Gibbs' home with termites. At which point Gibbs moves into ''his'' living room while his place gets fumigated.]]
* UnexplainedRecovery:
-->'''Tony:''' I thought you were dead.\\
'''Fornell:''' Got better.\\
'''Kate:''' I thought he was dead.\\
'''Tony:''' Got better.
* VitriolicBestBuds: He considers Gibbs his best friend.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:CIA Agent Trent (Thomas) Kort]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/DavidDayanFisher

* AssholeVictim: Gunned down by the ''[[UpToEleven entire]]'' main cast of federal agents after killing one of their own.
* BackForTheDead: And one episode later, is [[MultipleGunshotDeath gunned down by every single field agent on Team Gibbs]] for murdering Ziva. He says it wasn't his intention to have her killed, but at this point no one cares what his motivations are.
* TheBusCameBack: He's back as of "Dead Letter".
* DeepCoverAgent: CIA agent deep inside Rene Benoit's organization.
* DragonWithAnAgenda: Supposedly once Benoit's NumberTwo, supposedly CIA DeepCoverAgent, it is not clear what he is up to.
* EyeScream: The Port-to-Port Killer gouged out his eye. He had it replaced with a prosthetic, because a [[EyepatchOfPower man with an eyepatch]] gives a [[ObviouslyEvil scary and conspicuous vibe]] that an agent doesn't need.
* KilledOffForReal: Shouldn't have taken out that hit on Ziva, Kort.
* KnightTemplar: As far as we can make out.
* TheMole: In "Dead Letter", is revealed to have sold nuclear secrets to Russia in 2002.
* NoNameGiven: If we're to believe Jenny, "Trent Kort" is an alias.
* PutOnABus: Leaves the series after "Pyramid".
* SmugSnake: As Gibbs put it, he doesn't hide being a jerk.
* StepfordSnarker: Should've kept your mouth shut.
* YouMonster!: Followed orders up until he was fired. Then he went on a covert rampage. Mind you, NCIS messed up his operation first back in season 4, then used him for information going forward (neither party was very nice about it). His missions included doing some heinous things to people, but it was all sanctioned. Acting on his own to cover his tracks, however, he turns into a monster.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Army CID Agent Lt. Col. Hollis Mann]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/SusannaThompson

-->''"If this is going to turn into a pissing match, you'd better bring an umbrella."''

* AmicableExes: Though their relationship didn't work out and she ultimately marries someone else, she clearly still cares very much for Gibbs, as she tried to reach out to him in the wake of Diane's death to see how he was doing. Likewise, when she calls him out on avoiding her, he specifically admits that he's doing so because he doesn't want her to be targeted the way Diane was.
* DistaffCounterpart: To Gibbs. She's even a team leader in the Army's corresponding agency, Army Criminal Investigation Division[[note]]Whereas NCIS is a civilian agency (to keep it independent of military politics) Army CID is primarily made up of active duty soldiers[[/note]] - [[FunWithAcronyms yes, that spells what you think it does]]: usually referred to as Army CID.
* EveryoneCanSeeIt: Her {{UST}} with Gibbs is noticed by the whole team. Upon meeting Mann for the first time, Vance asks Gibbs if she's one his ex-wives.
* [[FieryRedhead Fiery Strawberry Blonde]]
* GirlOfTheWeek: 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.
* HandsOnApproach: Gibbs does this to her in "Grace Period." She doesn't seem to mind that much.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Her career with CID could easily have been the basis for a SpinOff.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until Season 4.
* JurisdictionFriction:
** This is how she meets Gibbs and what brings them back together.
** It happens again when she returns from Unretirement. When Gibbs tries to take her case away from her, she goes over his head... to the ''Secretary of Defense'', whom she has on speed dial.
* LoveInterest: To Gibbs in her first run of appearances. She later married someone else.
* PutOnABus: To Hawaii.
** TheBusCameBack: She now works for the Department of Defense.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:CGIS Agent Abigail Borin]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/DianeNeal

* AmbiguouslyBi: In "Oil and Water", she and Tony are chasing a suspect, which she [=KOs=] with a left-handed swing of an oar. Her explanation is...interesting.
-->'''Borin''': College softball.
-->'''Tony''': Southpaw?
-->'''Borin''': I swung both ways.
* BerserkButton: Don't joke about blowing stuff up. Her temper's much more explosive.
* BrokenBird: Her lover was killed in an IED explosion with two other marines. She had to pull his mangled body out of the water.
* DistaffCounterpart: To Gibbs, to the point that the ''entire team'' lampshades it. So naturally the following apply: DeathGlare, DopeSlap, GutFeeling, MustHaveCaffeine, RuleNumberOne and RightBehindMe. She's even lost the [[TheLostLenore love of her life]] like he did.
* {{Expy}}: This is an extreme case of ActorAllusion, but Borin is [[Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit ADA Casey Novak]] as a cop, minus the emotional trainwreck but it looks like she could be headed that way. It's more than likely some of her lines are recycled. Bonus points for the softball playing and [[AmbiguouslyBi commentary on her swinging]].
%%* FairCop
* HeroOfAnotherStory: She's the Gibbs of CGIS so you better believe she's having adventures bringing down bad guys off screen.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until Season 7.
* LastNameBasis: To avoid the OneSteveLimit with Abby Sciuto.
* MustHaveCaffeine: It's implied she and Gibbs even take their coffee the same way.
* PerpSweating: At one point, she and Gibbs double team someone.
* OnceASeason: She proved to be so popular that her appearances tend to be this. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] really, really hard at the end of one of them:
-->"Same time next year, Gibbs?"
* OneSteveLimit: Averted for a gag in her first appearance. She asks Gibbs to call her 'Abby', which he immediately refuses to do. It becomes clear as to why when he takes her to the NCIS lab.
-->'''Abigail Sciuto''' and '''Abigail Borin''' extend their hands and simultaneously say: "Abby."
** From then on, she's addressed as "Agent Borin" or simply "Borin" with Abby Sciuto being the only one to call her "Abby" or "Other Abby" for fun. If they are both in the same room, they sometimes get collective addressed as "Abbses".
* RuleNumberOne: Never make excuses.
%%* StatuesqueStunner
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ray Cruz]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/EnriqueMurciano

Ziva's boyfriend and near-fiancee in seasons 8 and 9, and also a CIA field agent. [=DiNozzo=] refers to him as [=CIRay=]. Ziva dumps him after he kills someone in the process of trying to finish up a hit he botched overseas, and Ray is arrested for the murder.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dr. Samantha Ryan]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JamieLeeCurtis

At work, a creepy-as-hell [=DoD=] psy-ops expert who's almost a match for Gibbs in the mindgames department. At home, a single mother with a divorce from an abusive husband in the past. Needless to say, she and Gibbs hit it off very well. As of the end of season 9, in hiding after CEO-turned-terrorist Harper Dearing got her abusive ex sprung from prison.
----
* BelligerentSexualTension: With Gibbs. They match very well, but they put each other on the defensive so frequently that some of their interactions can be quite angry.
* {{Gaslighting}}: What Ryan does for a living, and not just to military targets.
%%* PutOnABus
* RiddleMeThis: She always tells Gibbs what she thinks he needs to know, but for some reason always does so in the most infuriatingly roundabout ways possible. (One tip was delivered on the inside of a pizza box.) Gibbs does not like this.
* SilverFox: Jamie Lee may be the most triumphant example for women right now.
%%* TwoFirstNames
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Diane Sterling]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MelindaMcGraw

Gibbs' second wife. She was also married to Fornell, whom she has a daughter. She works for the I.R.S.
----
* AmicableExes: Mostly with Gibbs. Not so much with Fornell.
* BerserkButton: Mentioning how Gibbs was still pining over Shannon instead of paying attention to her is pulling the pin on the grenade and letting it rip.
* BoomHeadshot: Via Sergei as CallBack to Kate's death.
* CallBack: Her death is patterned over Kate's death in the season 2 finale.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: She dies in Gibbs arms, though it happened in broad daylight instead of the night like the trope suggests.
* DiesWideOpen: Via Boomheadshot courtesy of Sergei. While he he doesn't seem to mind if she dies this way, it sure added to the CallBack to Kate's death.
* FieryRedhead: As expected for Gibbs' ex-wife.
* HasAType: Government employees. Besides Gibbs and Fornell, her third husband Victor is a member of Homeland Security, and the boyfriend/fling she had prior to getting back with Fornell turned out to be an undercover Secret Service Agent.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until Season 7.
* SugarAndIcePersonality: One of the most domineering and hateful shrews to ever darken one's doorway when scorned... but a nice one to those who make her feel adequate.
* TheLostLenore: For both Gibbs and Fornell, much so for the latter.
* TheMissusAndTheEx: She gets along with Gibbs' second wife just fine.
* MrsRobinson: She got... "cuddly" with [=McGee=] at one time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Zoe Keats]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MarisolNichols

A classmate of Tony's in the police academy. She now works as Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

* FairCop: She's a Special Agent and is certainly easy on the eyes.
* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: She's an AmbiguouslyBrown FairCop who gets a ShipTease with Tony, who was introduced not long after Ziva left.
[[/folder]]

!Mossad
[[folder:Mossad Director Eli David]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MichaelNouri

-->''"Tell me, Leon. Are we winning?"''

Ziva's father and head of the Mossad. He is utterly ruthless in his pursuit of Israel's enemies, often using the same illegal tactics as them to hunt down and kill them.

* AbusiveParents: He uses his own children as tools in his schemes. One (Ziva) ends up killing another (Ari Haswari) and on Eli's orders.
* AccidentalPublicConfession: Performs one because Tony goaded him not just on Ari turning traitor but an apparent habit for his agents to go rogue in general. He admits none of his men ever do something without his say, including the one Tony just killed in self-defense. The second worst part for Eli, first being Ziva saw this, is Tony was originally being interrogated by him and the guy turned it around without Eli realizing it.
%%* {{Antihero}}
%%* BadassIsraeli
%%* BadassLongcoat
%%* TheChessmaster
%%* CoolOldGuy
%%* CulturedBadass
%%* FallenHero
* FatalFlaw: PatrioticFervor.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: Eli is easily as bad as the terrorists that he fights, to the point that he drives his own son into becoming one.
* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until the Season 6 premiere.
%%* KnightTemplar
* MoralMyopia: He has repeatedly violated Israel's treaties with the USA by ordering operations on US soil, which have resulted in 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.
* MundaneObjectAmazement: He thinks Combos are the coolest things ever.
--> "This is incredible. Pretzels with peanut butter inside. ''This'' is American ingenuity."
%%* RatedMForManly
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: To what extent is arguable, considering that before his death, he murdered a witness to his entry into the US as part of his "redemption".
* ShellShockedVeteran: He shows weariness with the world of intrigue with every breath.
%%* TheSpymaster
%%* TwoFirstNames
* WasItReallyWorthIt: ''"Tell me, Leon. Are we winning?"'' His actions ultimately turn both of his children against him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Michael Rivkin]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MerikTadros

* BadassIsraeli: Tony was only able to kill him by virtue of the fact that he was ''extremely'' drunk, and even then he put up a hell of a fight.
%%* ProfessionalKiller
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Malachi Ben-Gidon]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/TJRamini

%%* HeroOfAnotherStory
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ilan Bodnar]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/OdedFehr

Eli David's former protege, and the one responsible for having him killed.

%%* BadassIsraeli
* BatmanGambit: He knew that NCIS would analyze the background of his video chat with Ziva, so he put up a false background to divert authorities away from him.
* EtTuBrute: From Ziva -- Eli never had the chance to find out.
%%* EvilFormerFriend
* SiblingRivalry: Played with. Though Bodnar isn't actually related, Ziva always resented him because she felt like he was trying to be Eli's son.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Orli Elbaz]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MarinaSirtis

Eli David's replacement as the head of Mossad. She doesn't get along with Gibbs right out of the gate.

* YourCheatingHeart: Had an affair early in her career with Eli David that led to David's divorce from his wife, and years of bad feelings from Ziva. Ziva had considered Elbaz to be sleeping her way to the top, but reluctantly admitted that she may have genuinely loved him when she came to the US to see what was going on with the murder investigation.
[[/folder]]

!Antagonists

[[folder:Ari Haswari]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/RudolfMartin

-->''"Sorry, Caitlin."''

%%* AffablyEvil
* ArchEnemy: To Gibbs in the first three seasons.
* ArcVillain: Of Season 1. In the episodes to follow his debut in "Bete Noir", Gibbs becomes obsessed with the one that got away and is busy running a facial recognition search for ''months'' on end in the background trying to land a bead on the guy, and it finally takes the help of newcomer [=McGee=] to help zone in on him.
* BadassBiker: In the finale of Season 1, he reappears on a motorbike clad in a red racetrack jumpsuit and matching helmet, and even takes a moment to taunt Kate by flipping his visor.
* BadassIsraeli: He orchestrates a clever attempt to weed out ''Marine One'' among a trio of helos shuffling around to disguise the one carrying the President with Smoky Sams, missiles that look every bit as threatening as the real thing but aren't deadly at all. By firing them at the convoy of helicopters, the pilots would have to interpret it as an attack and make emergency landings; the one with the President on board would land first, at which point Ari's men would destroy the decoys with genuine rocket launchers and capture President Bush, whom he called a "butcher" for causing many Israelis to go to their deaths. It never got that far, but it was very competently thought out.
* BastardBastard: When accused of being a liar and a bastard, he admits that's half-right, as he actually is a bastard child. And has no qualms about blowing holes through womens' heads just for pissing him off.
* BecomingTheMask: Was essentially conceived and raised to be a mole in Hamas.
* BigBad: Of seasons one and two, plus the first two episodes of season three.
* BoomHeadshot: How he kills two women, including Kate, and how ''he'' goes out. One to the head leaves 'em stone dead.
%%* ColdSniper
%%* CulturedBadass
* DeadlyDoctor: Studied at an institute for medicine, as evidenced when he's able to properly examine a body in autopsy. It becomes a ChekhovsSkill when Ducky inadvertently realizes Ari's demonstration of medical expertise could be crucial in finally securing a profile on him, and it is.
%%* DeathSeeker
* DisproportionateRetribution: His motive behind everything he does to Gibbs and NCIS in general? Gibbs reminds him of his father.
%%* DoubleAgent
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: It is implied that he cared for his late mother and believes his father is responsible for her death.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Ziva still loved him, even after what he had done. And he had an Israeli doctor and childhood friend he loved and planned on proposing to before BecomingTheMask.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He found Gerald's inability to drive Ducky's vintage Morgan painful to listen to or see, and ultimately allowed Gerald to leave in his own car before he could do any more damage to Ducky's.
** He also sincerely tells Ducky, "I would never harm a fellow physician", indicating that he genuinely respects him.
* EvilCannotComprehendGood: 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.
* ForTheEvulz: Shot Gerald in the shoulder just to prove he was evil (which spelled curtains for his career at NCIS when Gerald needed months of physical therapy afterwards), blasted his Swiss associate [[HoneyTrap Marta]] in the head all because she made him angry, and then put a matching bullet hole through Kate's head in order to torture Gibbs.
%%* GeniusBruiser
* GoneHorriblyRight: His father raised him to be a monster... who hated him for it and did everything he could to destroy what his father had worked for.
* HeroKiller: The series' first. He even killed Kate to prove it.
* KarmicDeath: He dies via a BoomHeadshot, the same way he killed Kate.
** KilledMidSentence: Also like Kate, he didn't get to finish a retort- after being told by Gibbs he would watch him die. Ziva capped him in the head and that was that.
* PosthumousCharacter: He still affects the story long after his death.
* PresentAbsence: Ari's death influences future seasons; sometimes in more overt ways, like the BigBad of the first half of Season 12 being [[spoiler:his half-brother]], but more often in more subtle ways, such as the ever-present tension between his sister Ziva and their father Eli.
* RevengeByProxy: He [[StuffedIntoTheFridge 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.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Unusual to invoke this on an ArcVillain, but he was introduced two-thirds of the way through season one and died at the beginning of season three after only appearing in a grand total of five episodes, and is still an occasional influence of the team, who they work with, and who they go up against as of season ''twelve''.
* SmugSuper: He's good and he knows it.
%%* TallDarkAndSnarky
* {{Tykebomb}}: All grown up. Eli David deliberately fathered him on a Palestini woman so that he would have a child he could raise to infiltrate Hamas.
* YouKilledMyFather: Blamed his father for his mother dying in an Israeli attack on the Palestinians while Ari himself was away visiting his father. This was his StartOfDarkness.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Rene Benoit]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/ArmandAssante

%%* AffablyEvil
%%* ArmsDealer
%%* TheChessmaster
* CombatAestheticist: In a strategic rather then one-on-one fashion. If he wants someone out of the way he uses ThePlan rather than just ordering a hit because the latter would be too crude for a ManOfWealthAndTaste.
%%* TheDon
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: His daughter, Jeanne.
%%* FrenchJerk
* ManOfWealthAndTaste: He has a fondness for fine cognac.
* NWordPrivileges: Only a French guy could give himself the codename ''La Grenouille'' (the Frog). But he does ''not'' appreciate having his his codename translated to English.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mamoun Sharif]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/EnzoCilenti

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Colonel (ret.) Merton Bell]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/RobertPatrick

%%* BigBadWannabe
%%* {{Jerkass}}
%%* OffWithHisHead
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: He's in charge of them.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Paloma has Jason Dean kill him as part of her plan to frame Gibbs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jason Paul Dean]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/DylanBruno

* BodyguardBetrayal: Kills Bell after Paloma makes him a better employment offer.
* TheDragon: To Bell, and Paloma Reynosa.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Alejandro Rivera]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MarcoSanchez

* AccidentalMurder: He opened fire on a cabin where he believed Gibbs was hiding out... it turned out to be his own sister Paloma inside.
* AmoralAttorney: Is an ADA, but is working with the cartels.
* BrotherSisterTeam: With Paloma.
* DragonAscendant: Has the ruling authority his sister did in the cartel now that she's dead, but no way of using it due to being imprisoned.
%%* FauxAffablyEvil
* FeudingFamilies: With Gibbs.
* NotMeThisTime: Gibbs rightfully suspects him of ordering a hit on Abby in Season 15 because of how manipulative and scheming Alejandro was, and his potential connections, but Alejandro denied it, saying that he was actually for Abby, and his attempt to hold Abby captive- which spurred Gibbs to check on Alejandro as motive for revenge- was meant to serve as a ''warning'' for her to get away from him while she still could, and gave Gibbs sobering advice that this was because a cloud of death follows him wherever he goes.
* NotSoDifferent: When Alejandro accuses Gibbs of being a murderer whose father was shot dead by a coward when Gibbs interrogates him following the attack on Abby on Clayton, Gibbs says the same thing about how Alejandro shot his own sister to death by accident.
* YouKilledMyFather: Alejandro sees Gibbs as a murderer and coward who took the life of his father Pedro and wants him to suffer for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Paloma Reynosa]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JacquelineObradors

%%* AloofDarkHairedGirl
* BigBad: Takes over for Colonel Bell in season 7.
* DragonAscendant: Her husband died in the bloody business of operating a cartel, so she took it over.
* BrotherSisterTeam: With Alejandro.
%%* FauxAffablyEvil
* FeudingFamilies: With Gibbs.
* KarmicDeath: After toying with Gibbs' life and heavily responsible for Mike Franks losing a finger, she was shot to death by accident, by her own brother, no less.
* WidowWoman: The inheritor of her husband's drug cartel after he was killed.
* YouKilledMyFather: Her motivation for going after Gibbs, who murdered her father [[CycleOfRevenge in revenge for her father having murdered Gibbs' family]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jonas Cobb, The Port-to-Port Killer]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/KerrSmith

%%* AxCrazy
* BeingTorturedMakesYouEvil: He was trained to weather any kind of suffering, but his psyche broke under the immense toll his training placed on him. His first successful assassination awakened an innate BloodLust and he went rogue.
* BigBad: Season 8.
%%* DarkIsEvil
* DiscOneFinalBoss: His demise does not cast out the danger the NCIS operatives are facing. Rather, his murder of an agent with a secret access-granting microchip inside of them kick-starts a second conflict that threatens the organization all over again.
* DisneyVillainDeath: Shot before he could act first and crashed out of a window several stories onto the roof of a car below, caving the vehicle in and leaving Jonas unquestionably dead if the bullets hadn't already finished the job.
* FamousLastWords: "Liar."
* GoneHorriblyRight: He was trained to be a remorseless assassin, and that's exactly what he became. And then he decided to commit a few non-sanctioned assassinations...
* HeroKiller: He killed Mike Franks.
* LastSecondChance: Vance and Gibbs gave him one final chance to lay down his gun. He did not go for it and was subsequently shot before he could open fire on them or the director of SECNAV, and knocked through the glass window behind him.
* SanitySlippage: The psychological abuse of Operation Frankenstein drove him insane after he made his first kill for the project.
%%* SerialKiller
%%* SuperSoldier
* TrainingFromHell: Deconstructed. The training was successful in instilling the intended skills, but also turned him into a SerialKiller.
* {{Tykebomb}}: Downplayed. He developed a twisted sense of superiority over right and wrong after [[GainingTheWillToKill his first kill.]] Then he went renegade and kept doing this out of a primal sense of liberation.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jonathan Cole]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/ScottWolf

%%* RogueAgent
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: He is killed trying to disarm a bomb planted by Dearing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Harper Dearing]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/RichardSchiff

* BigBad: Of season nine.
%%* TheChessmaster
* CrazyPrepared: Mutiple times, but his most notable instance was during an FBI sting operation in which he asked to 'use the bathroom.' When the SWAT team kicks down the door, all they find is an open window, and his bag left behind. [[OhCrap And then a cellphone inside starts ringing...]]
* FakingTheDead: Tries this to escape NCIS in the premiere of season ten by blowing up a car with his brother's remains inside, counting on the body to be so badly burned that only a partial DNA match would be possible. Gibbs doesn't buy it and manages to uncover the truth.
* MisplacedRetribution: Blames NCIS for transferring his son to another Naval ship, and the Navy itself for a flaw in their systems (which they were correcting) for his son's death. Instead of, ya know, the terrorists who actually killed him.
%%* RoaringRampageOfRevenge
%%* WesternTerrorists
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sergei Mishnev]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/AlexVeadov

* AvengingTheVillain: He is Ari's best friend and maternal half-brother, and he's out for Gibbs' blood to avenge him.
* BashBrothers: He and Ari are a villainous example of this trope. Literally.
* BeardOfEvil: Sports a BadassBeard and is definitely evil.
* BestServedCold: He waited a decade after Ari's death to take his {{Revenge}}.
* BigBad: Of season twelve, until "Cabin Fever".
* BoomHeadshot: How he killed Diane. He dies in the same manner from the hands of Fornell.
* CallBack: His ways of getting into Gibbs is mimicking the deaths of Jenny Shepherd, Mike Franks, and most notoriously, Caitlin Todd, the first two for TheTeam's cases, the last one is how he killed Gibbs' third ex-wife, Diane. His own death is a near-reproduction of Ari's: a single shot through the forehead.
* ColdSniper: Whether he is actually one or he only did it as a CallBack to his late best friend is uncertain.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: He gets killing in the 15th episode of season twelve but there are still nine episodes left leaving to Daniel Budd to take over as BigBad.
* KarmicDeath: He dies via BoomHeadshot.
* MixedRace: His father is Russian and his mother is a Palestinian Arab.
* VillainousBreakdown: When his final showdown is with [[UnknownRival Fornell]], and not Gibbs:
-->''What is this?''
* VillainousFriendship: With Ari.
* YouKilledMyFather: Or best friend (and half-brother) in his case.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Daniel Budd]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/GilesMatthey

The leader of a terrorist group called The Calling.
* BigBad: Of the season twelve finale and the season thirteen premier.
* ChildSoldiers: He creates them.
* KarmicDeath: Tony shoots Budd in the same places (the knee and the chest) that his people shot Gibbs. The difference being, Budd doesn't survive his wounds.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Robert King]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/PeterJason

An extremist who sees himself above morality to save lives and tries to harness a deadly bioweapon by manipulating Abby.

* ArchEnemy: Abby's biggest and worst opponent, the anti-Abby of sorts. Highly unethical and intelligent and able to cover his tracks and knows scores of connections to perform hits.
* BigBad: Of season 15, effectively after ordering a hit on Abby.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: After he taunts Gibbs that he'll escape from prison again, [[spoiler:Gibbs doesn't even reply- he immediately smashes King's nose in with his fist and the blow slams him into the side of a car, knocking him out cold. The message was clear: DO NOT hurt people Gibbs loves, ESPECIALLY Abby]].
* ManipulativeBastard: One of the series' VERY worst, who played Abby for a sucker in his first appearance and loves mind games and intimidation to control people.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Is ''extremely'' willing to kill for the sake of the whole, considering these deaths "casualties of war".
[[/folder]]

!Agents' Family Members

[[folder:Shannon and Kelly Gibbs]]
->'''Shannon is Played By''': Creator/AvivaFarber and Creator/DarbyStanchfield
->'''Kelly is Played By''': Creator/MaryMatilynMouser, Creator/BrennaRadding and Creator/SamSchuder

* DeathByOriginStory: It was their deaths that made Gibbs into the agent he is today.
* DramaticIrony: Had Gibbs not taken the career path that led to their deaths, ''he'' would have died instead.
* KillTheCutie: Both were murdered by a drug cartel leader while Gibbs was trying to hunt him down. He killed the NCIS agent driving their vehicle, causing the vehicle to wreck, and the crash slew both of them.
* LoveAtFirstSight: Gibbs spotted her in a store window, the two shared a sweet look, and then by happenstance met at the train station waiting for the same train, chatted it up, decided to ride the train together, and that was that.
* {{Posthumous Character}}s: They still show up much in the same way Gibbs internalizes Mike Franks.
* SheKnowsTooMuch: Shannon wanted to testify against Pedro Hernandez and his drug cartel. This got her and Kelly assassinated.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Shannon is the originator of Gibbs's rules to live by as an agent, having originally started them for herself in a more lighthearted manner. For instance, "Never date a lumberjack" makes more sense coming from her than a male. Gibbs then incorporated them for himself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jackson Gibbs]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/RalphWaite

* ActorExistenceFailure: Ralph Waite passed away in February 2014. The season 11 finale became an episode in his honour, with his [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim character dying]] after suffering from a stroke.
* CoolOldGuy: Though technically, he isn't a grandfather anymore, he's still old and badass.
* DadTheVeteran: He served in WWII as a fighter pilot.
* DeathGlare: Tony described him as "the only one who could do the "Gibbs Stare" ''at'' Gibbs."
* LikeFatherLikeSon: When Paloma Reynosa comes to kill him in "The Spider and the Fly".
-->'''Reynosa:''' But we have so much to talk about.
-->'''Jackson Gibbs:''' From what I hear, you didn't come to talk. ''(pulls his shotgun)''
-->'''Reynosa:''' You are just like your son.
-->'''Jackson Gibbs:''' No, ma'am. He's just like me.
* ParentWithNewParamour: The root cause of Gibbs' estrangement with his father was that his father showed up to the funeral of Shannon and Kelly with a date (which ultimately didn't work out).
%%* RetiredBadass
* WellDoneDadGuy: Jethro blamed him for losing his mother. Their relationship has been slowly healing.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Ann Gibbs]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/ClaireCarey

* AbusiveParents: Ann and Jackson were constantly bickering and implied to have even been skipping out on each other when Gibbs was growing up, because Ann felt a sense of dissatisfaction with the way things turned out living in Charlottesville. Her alienation of affection also caused him to lose face because he was implied to be schmoozing up other women outside the marriage. She finally walked out on the family, and Jackson feels like he ultimately failed to make Ann happy and let her down. Gibbs also notes his dad hated that she left him.
* DeadPersonConversation: Gibbs meets her as one of the many deceased friends and loved ones who visit him in the diner in "Life Before His Eyes".
* DeceasedParentsAreTheBest: Zig-zagged; she was no award-winning wife, that's for sure, but putting chocolate syrup on her son's waffles shows how much she loved her son as a mother.
* DespairEventHorizon: Her cancer diagnosis made her give up all hope of happiness and prompted her to [[DyingAsYourself take her life while she had all her faculties intact.]]
* DrivenToSuicide: Killed herself by overdosing on pills to avoid a slow and painful death and making her family watch her slowly wither away.
* FieryRedhead: She is obviously the reason why Gibbs favors redheads- [[FreudianExcuse they remind him of his mother.]]
* KarmicDeath: After she split from Jackson, terminal cancer befell Ann. She took fate into her own hands and ended her life before she became sickly.
* LethalDiagnosis: Following her separation from her husband, perhaps as a result of all the pent up toxic emotions she had from the failed marriage, her body withered and developed a killer form of cancer.
* MyGreatestFailure: Her apparition in "Life Before His Eyes" tells Gibbs that she's aware she gave his father nothing but hell and helped to break apart the family because of it.
* NeverGotToSayGoodbye: Poor Gibbs was just a boy when he lost Ann, and because of the sudden way Ann decided to go out, he was deprived of a chance to tell her how much she meant to him.
* PosthumousCharacter: Ann has been gone for a very long time, but she plays a big role in "Life Before His Eyes" and has a few appearances in flashbacks.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: She was diagnosed with a terminal cancer.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anthony [=DiNozzo=] Sr.]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/RobertWagner

Tony's father, a failed entrepreneur who likes to live large and has always been a distant and disappointing father to Tony.

* BreakoutCharacter: He's popular enough to keep making appearances on the show even after his son has retired from NCIS (and moved to Paris).
* ChivalrousPervert: He turns the charm up to eleven whenever there's a woman present (and apparently has had a long string of lovers) but is always polite and never untoward anyone. Ziva and Abby like him and flirt right back, which is saying something.
* ConMan: Junior thought that Senior was one for most of his life. While it's true that Senior's been using his charms to mooch off of friends and acquaintances, Senior assures his son that he goes into his various ventures with pure intentions and tries to make an honest profit for himself and his investors but hasn't had the best of luck in the past several decades.
* CoolOldGuy: Much younger people hang onto his every word and he's always willing to impart advice (although it's usually something superficial that sounds deep) to them.
* DisappearedDad: He and Tony were never close to start out with but a decades-long rift formed after the death of Tony's mother as both retreated within themselves to deal with the grief. Senior didn't help matters by shipping Tony off to boarding schools and abandoning him in hotels during vacations.
* HiddenDepths: Once managed to knock out a weapon dealer's bodyguard with one punch to the face. In his later years wanted to find a purpose in his life, and started to aid a homeless shelter's inhabitants with his connections and apparent wealth, such as giving one guy a brand new pair of shoes.
* TheLoad: At least, this is what Junior's attitude towards him often is -- whenever Senior blows into town, he tends to drag Junior into all sorts of unwanted situations.
* LovableRogue: He's a wheeler dealer who oozes charm. Only Junior and Gibbs look at him with wary eyes and, even then, it's only to make sure Senior doesn't get into too much trouble.
* LikeFatherLikeSon: It's pretty obvious where [[HandsomeLech Junior]] [[ChivalrousPervert got his]] [[TheCasanova personality from]].
* MockMillionaire: He is a formerly wealthy businessman, who is trying to keep up the appearance that he is still wealthy. He's been broke several times already.
* ParentWithNewParamour: For a while, Senior almost netted himself a recently-widowed friend with a daughter of her own and planned to marry her- and neither child minded the idea of becoming stepsiblings. But then she dumped him and Tony Junior found dear old dad loafing around his house in his pajamas and playing his breakup mix.
* SilverFox: Has the knack for charming any woman he crosses.
* WackyParentSeriousChild: Shares this dynamic with Junior. Given how much of a goofball Junior can be, that's saying something.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jackie Vance]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/PaulaNewsome

-->''"You are my partner now."''

Leon's wife, who is somewhat exasperated with the hours he has to work and the toll it has taken on their personal lives.

%%* ADeathInTheLimelight
%%* ApronMatron
%%* BattleCouple
* DroppedABridgeOnHer: Critically wounded by Ilan Bodnar in Season 10, then died in surgery.
* HappilyMarried: To Leon.
%%* MamaBear
* SassyBlackWoman: Downplayed.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Dr. Rachel Cranston née Todd]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/WendyMakkena

Offhandedly mentioned (but not by name) as Kate's sister in Miami in season one, Cranston managed to get assigned psych eval duty on Gibbs' team just so she could meet Kate's coworkers. She appears in season eight.

* AffectionateNickname: Tony refers to her as "Dr. Kate's Sister".
%%* BrainyBrunette
* ChekhovsGunman: Kate casually mentioned her in a season 1 episode.
%%* CoolBigSis
* TheGhost: She used to be that one character only mentioned in conversation. Until Kate is suddenly murdered, and has trouble dealing with closure, at which point she fully appears to conduct psych evaluations on the team and learn more about what happened to Kate and make peace with it.
%%* HappilyMarried
%%* HospitalHottie
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Sarah [=McGee=]]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/TroianBellisario

[=McGee=]'s sister. Asks for his off-book help when she finds herself accused of murder. Returns later as an offstage character during [=McGee=]'s father's funeral.

-->'''Sarah:''' But he loves NCIS...
-->'''Gibbs:''' Evidently he [[BigBrotherInstinct loves you more.]]

* BigBrotherWorship: When it looks like she might have killed a man, she goes to her big brother for help.
%%* BrainyBrunette
* ClearMyName: [=McGee=] helps her do this re the aforementioned killing.
* DistressedDamsel: In addition to the killing that she actually didn't do, she was also drugged and set up to be raped.
%%* GirlNextDoor
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: When she is upset she goes to a stray corner of the library to cry.
%%* LaserGuidedAmnesia
* NerdsAreSexy: She is a great book lover and a great looker.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Breena Slater Palmer]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MichellePierce

* DatingWhatDaddyHates: Breena's father initially doesn't think much of Palmer and believes she can do much better.
* HappilyMarried: With Jimmy starting in season 10.
* UglyGuyHotWife: Downplayed; Jimmy's cute, but somewhat gawky, and described as an "autopsy gremlin" and his wife is bang-up beautiful to such a degree the others wonder ''how'' someone like Jimmy managed to land a total fox like her.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Jake Malloy]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JamieBamber

Bishop's husband. He works as an attorney for the National Security Agency. He also does the near-impossible by becoming actual friends with Gibbs, to the point where they have a biweekly racquetball match and chat on the phone almost daily.

* {{Adorkable}}: Abby outright calls him "adorable". Then there's his [[SexySpectacles glasses]] and his school girl-like gushing over Gibbs and the team. He later seems similarly awestruck at Ellie's efficiency.
* DerailingLoveInterests: Starts out as an adoring, loving, supporting husband to Ellie and clearly becomes even more enamored of her after seeing her in action in "Grounded". But within a year, after some smaller disagreements about his inability to share information about his job with Bishop, he admits that he's been having an affair with a coworker.
* DisposableWoman: A non-lethal version. Goes from loving husband to cheating SOB so fast one wonders if this was the writers' plan all along to get Ellie started on having the same tragic love life nearly everyone else does.
* HappilyMarried: He and Bishop were very much in love, but their jobs caused some tension. When they both worked at NSA, they could freely talk about their days but when Bishop moved to [=NCIS=], Jake became legally prohibited from divulging anything about his work to his own wife so all they could talk about are the murders Bishop investigates. With this, the marriage became increasingly strained, with his workplace affair putting the final nail in the coffin, and they are now divorced.
* HelloAttorney: He's played by Creator/JamieBamber, so natch.
%%* {{Megane}}
* {{Retcon}}: Bishop originally said that she and Jake knew each other in college, but Jake tells a story where they first met at the NSA.
* TheUnseen: He spent a season and a half only being mentioned in passing or unheard on the other end of phone calls with Bishop before he made an appearance on the show. He did manage to help [=NCIS=] from afar by getting Bishop and Tony a [=NSA=] satellite feed when Gibbs and [=McGee=] were shot down in Russia.
* WeUsedToBeFriends: He was on good terms with Gibbs' Team, but all friendliness towards him went out the window once the affair came to light.
* YourCheatingHeart: Has an affair with a coworker at the NSA after Bishop joins NCIS. Bishop does not take it well, and all her teammates take her side in the matter.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Delilah Fielding]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MargoHarshman

[=McGee=]'s LoveInterest starting from late season 10 to the present; the two of them get married at the end of Season 14. She works for the Department of Defense and helps Team Gibbs during their interagency cases from time to time. In Season 15, she gives birth to [[UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn Johnny and Morgan [=McGee=]]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: She's a really sweet person, but you don't want to be on her bad side.
* BrainyBrunette: She's the senior intelligence analyst at the DOD.
* DisabledLoveInterest: She and [=McGee=] began dating before the bombing that paralyzed Delilah from the waist down, and a main factor in their continuing relationship was both of them coming to terms with what had happened. They marry at the end of Season 14.
* DisabledSnarker: Delilah can get pretty snarky in certain situations. For example, when she and Abby call Tim letting them know that the twins are on their way and he needs to meet them at the hospital:
--> '''[=McGee=]:''' How did this happen? I mean, you're not due for another three weeks.\\
'''Delilah:''' Well, apparently, the babies had other plans, darling.
* HandicappedBadass: After getting caught in a bomb blast in "Kill Chain", she is confined to a wheelchair while slowly recovering from her injuries. Nonetheless, that doesn't stop her from wanting to try skydiving. Or even going undercover.
* HappilyMarried: To [=McGee=] as of the end of Season 14.
* NiceGirl: The first for [=McGee=]. One of his first love interests tried to kill him.
* OfficialCouple: With [=McGee=].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Johnny and Morgan [=McGee=] ]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2018_09_16_at_103327_pm.png]]

Delilah and Timothy [=McGee=]'s twin son and daughter, who were born during Season 15's "Ready Or Not".

* AlliterativeName: '''M'''organ '''M'''[=cGee=].
* BlueBoyPinkGirl: During their appearances, Johnny is clad in blue while Morgan is clad in pink.
* DeadGuyJunior: Both of them gain their names this way. Johnny was named after his paternal grandfather, who died from cancer in Season 12, while Morgan was named after a security guard her father bonded with who was killed by a terrorist the same day the twins were born.
* HalfIdenticalTwins: Apperance-wise, both of them have brown hair and greyish eyes. Them currently having the same body type is justified by the fact that they're both babies.
* PolarOppositeTwins: According to [=McGee=], Johnny is more of a sleeper while Morgan is "non-stop active".
* UntoUsASonAndDaughterAreBorn: They are fraternal twins who were born during Season 15.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tali David]]

The daughter of Ziva David and Tony [=DiNozzo=].

* [[DeadGuyJunior Dead Girl Junior]]: Named after Ziva's long-dead sister.
* [[SomeoneToRememberHimBy Someone to Remember Her By]]: She is all that Tony has left of Ziva.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Luca Sciuto]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/TylerRitter

The adopted brother of Abby Sciuto, first appears in Season 13 "Sister City" and the CrossOver episode of the same name on ''Series/NCISNewOrleans''. TheOneWith whom she grew up, not the long-lost biological one.

* AllLovingHero: In order to help Eva, the Russian spy, he obstructs the New Orleans team by setting ablaze an oyster bar.
* GoodIsDumb: He trusts everyone except for the two agency branches who are trying to protect him. He initially feared that he killed the victims on the plane with food poisoning.
* ThePollyanna: He has ''ridiculously'' good faith in people.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Kyle Davis]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/DanielLouisRivas
Abby's biological brother, introduced in Season Nine's "Enemy on the Hill."

* CuddleBug: He hugs Gibbs when they first meet.
* FriendToAllLivingThings: Certainly implied, given that he works at an animal shelter and has a pet parrot.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Emily Fornell]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JulietteAngelo
Tobias and Diane's daughter.

* DescentIntoAddiction: The Season 16 finale opens with her having suffered an overdose. Everyone assumes her drink was spiked until it's revealed that she's been using opioids for some time. She finally breaks down at the end of the episode and admits she needs help.
* FieryRedhead: She ''really'' takes after her mother.
[[/folder]]

!Other Characters
[[folder:Jeanne Benoit]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/ScottieThompson

The estranged daughter of Rene Benoit, and a doctor in a DC-area hospital. Director Shepard sent Tony to seduce her to get information on La Grenouille, but [[LadykillerInLove things got complicated.]] Eventually married and settled down before NCIS came back into her life 8 years later.

%%* HospitalHottie
* ShipSinking: In a most brutal fashion. When she found out about Tony being an NCIS agent and her father being an arms dealer, she did not take it well. She later falsely accused Tony of murdering her father, and after her claim was debunked, Tony lied and said he never loved her, as there was no way they could make a relationship work with that kind of baggage.
* WasItAllALie: In her last appearance until Season Thirteen, she asks Tony if any of it was real. It ''was'', but it was all based on a lie, so Tony claimed otherwise so they could both move on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Margaret Allison Hart]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/RenaSofer
* DoubleAgent: Originally worked for Colonel Bell to plague Gibbs at every turn, but would later aid Gibbs several times after defecting from Bell's camp.
* HelloAttorney
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Damon Werth]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/PaulTelfer

A marine who is revealed to have used steroids.

* OneManArmy: Thanks to the 'roids.
* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Works for Colonel Bell (see above) until he realizes that he's on the wrong side and quits.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Amanda Kendell]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/MegChambersSteedle

From "The Admiral's Daughter"

Supposedly ditzy admiral's daughter who uses her father's high position to allow her to credibly spend time partying with the children of powerful and dangerous foreigners, while stealing their parent's secrets for American intelligence.

-->[[{{Tsundere}} Be careful...she bites.]]

* BigBrotherInstinct: Big ''sister'' instinct in this case; she goes far out of her way to protect her main asset.
* DaddysGirl: You can really tell that from the way [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments she hugs him]] after she comes in from the cold.
%%* DeadpanSnarker
%%* DeepCoverAgent
* TheDitz: Less so in reality then in appearance.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Tony's reaction. Even he thinks she and her fellow partyholics are stupid and shallow.
* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: Yes, the episode is about an admiral's daughter.
%%* FieryRedhead
%%* HeroOfAnotherStory
* MilitaryBrat: With a rather ironic emphasis on the "brat" part.
%%* MoreThanMeetsTheEye
* NonIdleRich: Even before becoming involved in covert warfare she was the top of her class at college.
* RichIdiotWithNoDayJob: This is her ''cover.''
* SpoiledSweet: She is a reasonably likable though sassy person, even when you just know her as a stupid, gluttonous, partyholic.
%%* {{Tsundere}}
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Dr. Cyril Taft]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/JonCryer

The doctor who saves Gibbs's life in the Season 13 Premiere "Stop the Bleeding". They later become friends.
* CommonalityConnection: Part of the reason why he and Gibbs bond is because they both know what it's like to have their only child die.
* TheConfidant: Though never explicitly shown on-screen, he was mentioned by Gibbs to be the one he goes to when he reaches his limit.
* DangerDeadpan: Even in the middle of performing urgent life-saving surgery, he calmly converses with his team and cracks the occasional joke. He's specifically been compared with [[Series/{{MASH}} Hawkeye Pierce]], a surgeon who's pretty much seen it all so he can brush off all but the most traumatic of injuries.
* DeadpanSnarker: Compares Gibbs's surgery to deep-sea diving.
* TheMedic: He's a doctor with his private practice and a Navy Reserve Captain.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Two years prior to meeting Gibbs, his son Paul died from cancer.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Agah Bayar]]
->'''Played By''': Creator/TamerHassan

A Turkish ArmsDealer.
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Bayar gets [[TranquilFury quietly pissed]] when Tony uses his mother as leverage to get his help on a case.
* WouldntHurtAChild: He does not approve of creating ChildSoldiers.
[[/folder]]

----

* LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: he is often shown wearing one, complete with the a [[BowtiesAreCool cool Bowtie]]. He wears blue-green scrubs when performing autopsies and blue overalls on crime scenes.

** In "M.I.A.", later on in the season Quinn, Torres, [=McGee,=] and Bishop are training for a marathon. Quinn and Torres are able to finish in unbelievable time. Later on, [=McGee=} and Bishop figure out that Quinn cheated on the training run; she took a taxi. Quinn reveals she was never going to run in the marathon and did it to mess with them. It would be off-putting... but then she goes into a goofy happy dance, giggling like a fool.

* {{Troll}}: Quinn always remembers her trainees. Bishop was one of them. Quinn says she doesn't remember Bishop, although she later tells [=McGee=] that she definitely remembers her. She's just messing with her because she's so tightly wound... "and besides... [[ItAmusedMe it tickles me."

* {{Troll}}: Quinn always remembers her trainees. Bishop was one of them. Quinn says she doesn't remember Bishop, although she later tells [=McGee=] that she definitely remembers her. She's just messing with her because she's so tightly wound.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: 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.

* TheDanza: A slight case, as she and her actress share a middle name.

* LovingBully: He was kind of like this towards Kate. He also tended to pick on McGee in a very similar fasion. [[HoYay draw your own conclusions]]

* ManOfWealthAndTaste: He has a fondness for fine wine.
** It was actually cognac, not wine, that he and Ducky drank when they met.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: [[InvertedTrope Or in this case]], their children: his daughter Jeanne.
%%* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes

** Gibbs subsequently went ballistic and outright ''murdered'' Pedro Hernandez, the man responsible, by sniping the killer from a dune as he drove through the badlands in a truck- something that, if revealed, would instantly spell the end of his career at NCIS and cause an enormous scandal. When Ducky remarks that the bullet ricocheted in Pedro's skull after exhuming him, Gibbs is visibly haunted- though the body of the man he killed being presented in front of him for the first time is enough to do that on its own.

* DarkSecret: Two:
** He's actually played host to ''four'' wives instead of three- the one he doesn't talk about is his first and truest love, who got killed in an altercation with a drug lord along with their daughter. None of his exes have ever measured up to his loss, which is why his relationships are doomed to fail.

* TenMinuteRetirement: Between seasons 10 and 11 to get the case against Gibbs dismissed.

* IconicSequelCharacter: Does not appear in the show until Season 2, a fact which almost no viewers remember.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Few people call him "Donald".
** Inverted in the way he calls everyone else by their full names--"Anthony", "Timothy", "Caitlin", etc.

* PutOnABus: Spends a good part of Season 15 on sabbatical to teach forensic medicine and write a book on the subject. Then spends half of Season 16 on vacation, after which he decides to retire. Then Director Vance gives him a new job, which is part time, so he doesn't necessarily need to appear in every episode even though he's officially back.

* ActionGirl: Unsurprisingly given her background, she can kick ass and take names with the best of them, both with a gun and without one.

* AloofDarkHairedGirl: Ziva is a tall, beautiful woman who is a definite IceQueen to her teammates. She mellowed down considerably to the rest of the team by season 7.

* UnresolvedSexualTension: The writers seemed to enjoy dropping hints that in fact she and Tony ''had'', something [[TheyDo confirmed]] in the Season 13 finale.
** Michael Weatherly has stated that a kiss was filmed quite a while ago, and was never aired.

* AccidentalMisnaming: 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=].
** Fornell's pronunciation is actually how an Italian speaker would pronounce Tony's surname. It makes sense if Fornell has Italian ancestry, as suggested in "Short Fuse" where we see him cooking "spaghetti alla puttanesca" for himself and Gibbs using a recipe from his "nonna" (grandma).

* TheGhost: She used to be that one character only mentioned in conversation. Until Kate is suddenly murdered, and has trouble dealing with closure, at which point she fully appears to conduct psych evaluations on the team and learn more about what happened to Kate and make peace with it. She presumably also attended Kate's funeral after the team had up and left, as she hadn't met them up until then.