Leroy J. Gibbs

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is a retired Marine sniper and now head of the NCIS team in the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.
Gibbs joined NCIS when it was known as NIS as a Junior Agent and was known by his boss as "probie" (his former boss still calls him this). Gibbs then rose through the ranks until he was put in charge of the Major Crimes Response Team. Gibbs then put Tony DiNozzo, Kate Todd and later Tim McGee into his team. His long time friend Ducky was working as a medical examiner for him and Abby in forensics.
Character Biography
Leroy Jethro Gibbs was likely born between 1956 and 1959 in the small rural town of Stillwater, Pennsylvania. His father's name is Jackson Gibbs. The younger Gibbs left Stillwater in 1976 and, according to his own statements, did not return for nearly thirty years. He never attended college, but joined the Marines after High School. He attended MCRD Parris Island in South Carolina. His likely first assignment was as an MP at Camp Lejeune. Sometime during that tour he was selected for or applied for Sniper Training, which he got. After training he participated in Operation: Just Cause in 1989 and Operation: Desert Storm in 1991 where he served under the command of Colonel William Ryan and Colonel Ryan's executive officer, Lieutenant Cameron. Lieutenant Cameron died in Gibbs arms, after being mortally wounded in an engagement. Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs was severely wounded in Desert Storm and put in a coma.
Leroy Jethro Gibbs joined NIS in June of 1992 (name changed to NCIS in August, 1992), following the murder of his wife and daughter, and his subsequent revenge and separation from the Marines. Now Special Agent, Gibbs served under Special Agent Michael "Mike" Franks, to whom he was and is still known as "probie," until the latter's retirement in 1996. Gibbs then served in varied assignments, including one possibly in Kosovo and one in 1999 which brought him into contact with NCIS Special Agent Jennifer Shepherd (later NCIS Director).
Sometime between 1999 and 2003 he was given his own MCRT at the Washington Field Office of NCIS. In the sixth season episode, "Agent Afloat," Director Vance mentioned that Gibbs last assignment as an "agent afloat" occurred seven years ago, which, could imply that Gibbs served as an "agent afloat" for at least three months in 2001, because, Gibbs once mentioned that one his ex-wives was having an affair while, he was completing a three month posting aboard a ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
Gibbs then put Tony DiNozzo, Kate Todd and later Tim McGee into his team. His long time friend Ducky was working as a medical examiner for him and Abby in forensics.
When Kate was shot by Ari Haswari, Gibbs was 'haunted' by her ghost, as was the rest of the team. He then asked Ziva David (the half-sister of Ari) to help him in a plan to take down Ari. The plan succeeded- Ziva ended up killing Ari, though Gibbs concealed this fact in his report, instead stating that he himself had killed Haswari.
Some months after, Gibbs was caught in an explosion, putting him in a coma. After this coma, Gibbs lost his memory. Through the efforts of Director Shepherd, Officer David and retired Special Agent Mike Franks, he recovers his memory. Special Agent Gibbs is unfortunately unable to avert an attack upon a US Naval vessel, through both his memory loss and secrecy concerns from higher up the chain of command. Special Agent Gibbs' anger over the loss of the sailors and marines leads him to retire to Mexico where his former mentor, retired Special Agent Franks lived.
This retirement didn't last long, as Officer David was caught up in Mossad intrigue. Gibbs returned to assist Officer David. After clearing Officer David of wrong-doing, he decided to come out of his short-lived retirement and continue with NCIS, with a mustache. Since his return, and since shaving the mustache, Special Agent Gibbs has successfully closed several cases.
At the conclusion of the sixth season episode "Murder 2.0", Gibbs was awarded his seventh Meritorious Service Medal,an award which was accepted on his behalf by DiNozzo.
Personal Information: Family Relationships
Jackson Gibbs
Gibbs relationship with his father, Jackson has been strained for a long time, as Jackson pointed out he believed that it was Shannon who was responsible for sending him Christmas cards every year, after she and Jethro were married. The strain on the relationship between Jethro and Jackson was heightened by the fact that Jethro was upset and angry that Jackson brought a girlfriend to Shannon and Kelly's funeral.
Prior to the sixth season episode "Heartland", that brought Gibbs, Ziva and McGee to Stillwater on a case. Gibbs had not seen or spoken with his father at Shannon and Kelly's funeral in 1991. It was not untill the conclusion of the sixth season episode "Heartland" that the two reconciled with each other.
Marriages and Other Romantic Interests
Generally
Gibbs has been married four times. His first marriage ended when his wife and daughter were murdered by drug dealers. His three subsequent marriages each ended in divorce. Each of his wives was red haired.
One ex-wife attacked him with a seven-iron golf club and now stalks him on the anniversary of their split, while another attacked him with a baseball bat.
One of Gibbs' divorces came about because one of his ex-wives had an affair while Gibbs was stationed aboard a naval vessel as an agent afloat. Additionally, one of his divorces was brought about by his single-minded focus on bringing Kyle Boone to justice, which caused the marriage to dissolve.
First Marriage
The sixth season episode "Heartland" revealed the following information about Gibbs first wife, Shannon. Gibbs met Shannon just prior to leaving for boot camp in July of 1976 at the Stillwater Train Station. Shannon taught him that she had a code of conduct for life, with her rules being the likely inspiration for what eventually would become "Gibbs' rules" years later. At some point Gibbs and Shannon married. In 1984 Gibbs and Shannon had a daughter named Kelly. Shannon and Kelly were murdered by a Mexican drug dealer--whom Gibbs later tracked down and killed--while Gibbs was in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 (it is after this in 1992 that he joins NCIS).
Second Marriage
The name of his second wife is unknown, as are the details of the marriage.In episode 1.11 "Eye Spy" Gibbs mentioned that his second wife played golf left handed.
Third Marriage
The name of his third wife was Diane, who later married and divorced Tobias Fornell. Both Gibbs and Fornell were left bankrupt by their respective divorces from Diane.
Fourth Marriage
Gibbs fourth wife was Stephanie Bronwyn Flynn as detailed in episode 5.03 "Ex-File." Gibbs and Stephanie spent a year in Moscow together, and Stephanie became pregnant and miscarried. Stephanie believed that Gibbs was romantically involved with Jenny Shepard prior to their marriage.
In episode 1.02, "Hung Out Dry" Ducky related that Gibbs' third ex-wife gets drunk on their anniversary and calls him excessively. In episode 1.05, "The Curse," Ducky related that four years prior to the events chronicled in the episode, Gibbs' third ex-wife hit him in the head with a baseball bat. The injury was treated by Donald Mallard, who was also performing an autopsy on a deceased Marine at the time.
In episode 5.03, "Ex-File," Stephanie was a witness in the death of Captain Trent Reynolds U.S.M.C., and during the course of the investigation Stephanie requested that Jethro be removed from the case, a request Director Shepard denied.
Despite this, at the conclusion of episode 5.03 "Ex-File," Stephanie returned his dog tags and Gibbs walked her out to her car. Stephanie lamented her experience with men, Gibbs felt enough affection for her to attempt to comfort her by saying Gibbs "Me. Us. It's not your fault". Stephanie: "It wasn't anyone's fault, but at least we'll always have Moscow," and they parted amicably.
Other Relationships
At some point Gibbs had an intimate relationship with Director Shepard who was his partner at the time.
In Season One he is occasionally seen with an unidentified, mysterious, red-haired woman, suggesting he has an active personal life away from his desk. No one ever managed to identify the woman.
For a short time, Agent Gibbs became involved with Karen Wilkerson, a supervisor at Bethesda Naval Medical Center.
In the fourth season episode "Sandblast", Gibbs appears on the verge of becoming involved with Army Lt.Col. Hollis Mann, who works for Criminal Investigation Division (CID), the U.S. Army's version of NCIS, leading several of his colleagues to speculate that she could end up being his fourth ex-wife.
Relationships with Colleagues
Generally
Gibbs tends to be reluctant to reveal any of his feelings (a possible reason that virtually no one knew about his first wife).
During the first season, Gibbs develops a habit of hitting his subordinates on the back of the head if they do or say something foolish. Tony is the most frequent target of this, though most of the others have all endured their share of smacking as well. Gibbs is not above giving himself the same treatment; in a third season episode he is seen smacking his own head in an elevator when he chooses to tamper with evidence in order to protect a Marine's career.
He is mostly called "Gibbs" by his colleagues, and "Boss" by Tony, McGee, and Stanley Burley. He is called "Gunny" by former USMC associates. Lieutenant Colonel Mann also addressed Gibbs as "Gunny."
It should be noted that Gibbs' manner of addressing his colleagues differs depending upon their gender. He frequently addresses male subordinates by their surnames. Conversely, when addressing a female subordinate, Gibbs frequently addresses them by their given name, and only uses a formal style of address when angered.
Mike Franks
In the third season episode "Hiatus, Part 1", we are introduced to former NIS Agent Mike Franks, Gibbs's former boss when Gibbs was a probie. Many of the Gibbs-isms we have seen, originated from Mike Franks during Gibbs's time as a probie at NIS (later NCIS). Franks later retired from NCIS in 1996 after the Khobar Towers bombing, and it is unknown how much contact he and Gibbs had until the events of "Hiatus" in 2006.
The nature and the strength of the bond and friendship that exists between Leroy and Mike is attested to by the following examples: First, when Mike's mortally injured son was removed from life support and allowed to die, only Gibbs was present at the hospital with Mike Franks. Second, when Gibbs was severely injured as the result of an explosion Mike Franks assisted in the efforts to help Gibbs recovery. Third, when Gibbs decided to retire from NCIS albeit temporarily, he lived with Mike Franks at Franks' house in Mexico. Last, Franks still calls Gibbs "Probie," which, as Gibbs pointed out to McGee is a sign of affection and respect. This also is suggestive of a parental relationship with Mike taking on the role of "father" and Jethro assuming the role of a "son."
Dr. Donald Mallard and Director Jenny Shepard
Only Ducky and Jenny Shepard get to call him "Jethro" on a regular basis, which suggests they have known each other for a while and there is a high sense of trust on both sides, although Gibbs temporary retirement and subsequent return to NCIS created a temporary strain on his friendships and briefly lessened the trust placed in him by Ducky and Jenny.
Jethro's relationship with Ducky is one of his longest friendships as Doctor Mallard attested to when he asserted that he had provided medical treatment to Jethro after arguments with his ex-wives. The friendship between Gibbs and Ducky is unique because Ducky is the only person to whom Gibbs has apologized, as documented in the fourth season episode entitled "Smoked".
Gibbs' relationship with Jenny is quite complicated. Sometime prior to Jenny becoming Director of NCIS, she and Jethro had an intimate relationship, which affected their initial interactions after Jenny was appointed Director. Although their relationship has since developed into a platonic one, as Director Shepard pointed out in the third season episode "Jeopardy," "Gibbs thinks of me like a wife." There exists a high degree of trust between them because when René Benoit visited Jenny at home, the only other person from NCIS present at the meeting was Gibbs.
Abby
The relationship between Abby and Gibbs is far more gentle than his relationship with any of the others. Gibbs shows pride in her work, provides a seemingly unlimited supply of "Caf-Pow," and rabidly seeks her safety. This suggests a paternal relationship in that Abby is the "daughter" through whom Gibbs reveals his fatherly side.
Gibbs will often allow her to ramble on longer in her explanations than his other colleagues since she usually comes through with valuable inforation for the investigation demonstrating a high level of confidence in her abilities.
DiNozzo
The relationship involving Anthony DiNozzo and Gibbs bears many similarities to the relationship that exists between Gibbs and Mike Franks. As has been repeatedly stated Gibbs character before assuming a leadership role in the aftermath of Mike's retirement was very similar to DiNozzo's.
As Gibbs pointed out during a discussion with Director Vance in the sixth season episode "Collateral Damage" in which Director Vance asserts that the agency needs more agents like McGee rather than more agents in the vein of DiNozzo. Gibbs responds to Director Vance saying `you mean fewer agents like me, Leon' confirming the similarities between Gibbs and DiNozzo.
The statement also confirms the existence of a father and son relationship between the two.
Tony affirms the existence of such a relationship although, in a humorous way in the sixth season episode "Last Man Standing" when Gibbs and McGee have DiNozzo hack into a governmental database. During the course of the conversation Tony repeatedly called Gibbs "Pop" or "Dad."

DiNozzo for his part is fiercely loyal and protective toward Gibbs, as illustrated by two examples: First, the intensity with which he led the investigation into the explosion that resulted in injury to Gibbs. Second, in the fourth season episode "Blowback" when DiNozzo has a discussion with Director Shepard admittting that he feels uncomfortable about concealing information about the operations against René Benoit.
Additionally, in the episode "Sandblast" Jethro refers to Tony as his son. The reference was part of his brief cover as a civilian.
When annoyed by DiNozzo, which happens frequently, Gibbs will smack him in the back of the head. DiNozzo accepts this hazing from Gibbs, but gets angered if other agents do it stating that Gibbs is the only one allowed to "Gibbs slap" him.
McGee
The relationship between Gibbs and McGee bears hallmarks and similarities to Gibbs' interactions with both DiNozzo and Abby. Gibbs tends to adopt a protective fatherly attitude toward McGee, DiNozzo, and Abby. Yet, like Abby, McGee can sometimes confound and overwhelm Gibbs especially when discussing scientific aspects of a case.
Kate Todd
Initally Gibbs interaction with Kate is quite intense. Despite this fact Gibbs permitted Kate a greater degree of latitude than he affords to either DiNozzo or McGee. He demonstrates a protective attitude toward Kate and he blames himself for Kate's death at the hands of Ari Haswari as illustrated in "Kill Ari Parts One and Two."
Ziva David
Of all of the affiliations involving Gibbs, his bond with Ziva is the one that has undergone the greatest transformation. Initally, Gibbs distrusted Ziva because she was Ari Haswari's control agent within Mossad. Ziva bore the brunt of Gibbs' anger toward Ari for the murder of Kate Todd. Gibbs' wariness of Ziva persisted until the conclusion of the third season episode "Silver War" when Ziva saved Ducky's life. Over time Ziva became one of Gibbs' closest friends, to the extent that she along with Ducky, Jenny and Mike Franks were responsible for helping Gibbs recover his memory. In the season four episode "Shalom" Gibbs is instrumental in preventing Ziva from being wrongfully charged with espionage and murder.
Gibbs has been shown to admire, and even be intimidated in some cases by Ziva's abilities as her Mossad training makes her a formidable and deadly opponent. However one of his concerns about Ziva joining his squad was the fact that though she was an excellent spy and assasin, she had never been trained in investigative techniques (season 3 Silver War) and has sought to ensure that she learns how to investigate crimes, rather than just take out bad guys.
Director Vance
Jethro's relations with Assistant Director later Director Leon Vance, are at best strained and at worst antagonistic. The following exchange from the fifth season episode "Internal Affairs" demonstrates the antagonism:

Gibbs: Are you the one responsible for this fishing expedition? (referring to the investigation)
Vance: The Bureau's doing the fishing. I'm just driving the boat.
Gibbs: Keep it off the rocks.
The elevation of Leon to the Director's office and his reassignment of Gibbs' team without explanation in the aftermath of the event of the "Judgment Day" arc merely served to increase the wariness and antagonism that Gibbs feels toward Director Vance, whom he perceives as a mere bureaucrat that has no understanding of the making a good field agent.
Stan Burley
The friendship between Gibbs and Burley is similar in many respects to relationship is many respects similar to the relationship that exists between Mike Franks and Gibbs. Burley views Gibbs as a mentor, father figure, and friend, while, Gibbs views as being a friend and prized protege. Their interactions are also reminiscent of the relationship between a "father" and an "elder son," with DiNozzo taking on the role of a "younger son" as demonstrated in the first season episode "High Seas." This idea was aptly illustrated by jealousy and envy DiNozzo felt towards the camraderie shared by Gibbs between Burley. This envy was expressed by Tony's need to compete with Stan for Gibbs attention and approval. Much in the same way that two siblings often compete for the approval of a parent. It is only at the conclusion of the narrative that Stan adopting the role of elder brother pointed out all that Tony had accomplished as illustrated in the following scene:
Tony commented to Stan that Gibbs has never shaken his hand; at which point Stan told Tony that I worked under Gibbs for five years and that it was two years before Gibbs looked him in the eye, three before he called him by name and four before he got the name right. Then Stan told Tony that Gibbs must really like Tony to have gained such respect from Gibbs in only two years.
Christopher Pacci
Gibbs considered Pacci a friend and felt a great deal of guilt over Pacci's death. Gibbs felt guilty because Pacci had come to Gibbs in the previous episode "UnSEALed" and asked Gibbs for help with the case. Gibbs told Pacci that he couldn't help him at that time because he was too busy with his own case. Gibbs felt that his failure to listen to Pacci contributed to Pacci's untimely death. Gibbs was so devestated by Pacci's death that he refused several requests to speak at Pacci's funeral.
Technology
Gibbs has very little knowledge of technology and shows very little patience when exposed to tech talk. He normally stops whoever is talking, normally McGee or Abby. He often can't, or won't, work a Palm Pilot, and regularly trashes his cell phone, which prompted his team to keep a stash of replacements at NCIS HQ. He has trashed the computer on his desk six times, before the NCIS technicians realized that he was "smacking them (computers) to make them go faster." It is suggested that this apparent lack of knowledge may, on occasion, be a ruse. For example, in the second season episode "Terminal Leave," he displays a lack of knowledge about the workings of a flash drive, only to later show that he knew how to manipulate it. During the previous episode, "The Bone Yard," he stopped an unknown computer from hacking Abby's computer by simply unplugging it from the electrical socket.
He needs corrective lenses for far-sightedness, but he is too stubborn to wear them. He has been known to communicate in American Sign Language with Abby Sciuto, who knows it because her parents were deaf.
A recurring theme is how out of step Gibbs is with popular culture. In "Twisted Sister" it is revealed that he doesn't know what a blog is and later asks Ziva, "Do you know what a clog is?" to which she replies, "I thought it was blog, but I could be wrong."
Personality
Gibbs can be extremely charming in an understated way, and he has a dry sense of humor. He is unforgiving of his or his colleagues' mistakes and demands high standards of his team as well as himself.
He builds boats in his basement by hand, with no power tools. According to the series, he did so after each time he has been divorced.
He has a coffee addiction. He even has a personal rule about it: "Rule 23, never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live". He also appears to be farsighted, as early episodes of the series reveal that he has difficulty reading fine print, though he refuses to wear glasses.
Gibbs is usually portrayed as a complex man of mystery and intrigue. He likes to use his marine training to give him an advantage over other people, such as when he silently appears behind people and he can enter a room without anyone noticing.
When it was revealed that his wife and daughter were murdered by a drug runner, Ducky casually states that they could close the book on the drug runner's disappearance, because there is no way that Jethro would have allowed the man to remain alive. In the same episode it was revealed that Jethro gained access to the case file, crossed the border into Mexico, and killed the man with a sniper rifle.
Whenever he needs to have a private talk with someone, usually FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell, but also occasionally Ziva and others with whom Gibbs confides, he takes them to his "Conference Room," the main elevator of NCIS headquarters with the emergency brake pulled. He commonly does this.
Gibbs has displayed an uncanny awareness of his co-workers activities. A common scene is Gibbs walking in on his team-members having a completely off-topic conversation. When Gibbs comes, they immediately break off to focus on the case at hand. Gibbs drops a remark, later on, referring back to the earlier conversation. In "Escaped" 4x02, Tony attempts to replicate this action by "listening in" on their conversation with a cell phone and an opened line. However, Gibbs trumps him after his attempt.
His taste in "pop culture" is rarely discussed; however, in the series pilot, he is revealed to have seen the movie Air Force One with Harrison Ford. A recurring theme is how out of step Gibbs is with popular culture. DiNozzo would start quoting a movie and Gibbs would just stare at him.
In Season 4 it is revealed that Gibbs has been shown to be able to speak Russian as he speaks to a suspect in Russian, this incident also revealed that Gibbs may possess fluency in other languages as well because, he able to indentify the languages which Ziva used during her attempt to determine the suspect's nationality.
He also has a picture of a tombstone behind the wall in his cubicle. Presumably, it is his wife's or daughter's.
Techniques
When Gibbs first started working within the NIS (now NCIS) he was a probie to his former mentor, Mike Franks. According to Mike Franks within the Season 3 Finale (Hiatus) Gibbs was a weak agent who supervised within many of the operations. This lead to Gibbs picking up many of Mike Franks' training skills and techniques. During the flashbacks Gibbs sees while regaining his memory, one shows Gibbs as a probie carrying many boxes with Mike complaining that he was too slow. Another flashback shows Mike Franks giving Gibbs his NCIS black jacket when the agency name change occurred. Within this flashback, we hear Gibbs complaining that he liked the old blue jacket better than the new black one. This leads to Mike giving his Gibbs a slap on the back of his head.
When Gibbs is finally given charge over the team in 1995 he took many of the techniques which Franks had used on him and subjected them on his colleagues, including Tony, McGee, Kate and more recently Ziva. The most important techniques would be his slap to the back of the heads of each co-worker when they offered something foolish. However, this doesn't apply to Abby as they have a stronger relationship. For example, in "Deception", Abby and McGee are tracking down an internet pervert. Gibbs instructed them to relay the IP address they had to each one within the local community. Abby and McGee automatically believe that they have 20 minutes to complete this task, as Gibbs always wants things to be done more quickly. When they tell Gibbs how long they think they have, Gibbs replies saying that he was thinking of 10 minutes rather than 20.
Rules
Gibbs has rules that he enforces in everyone in his team. They are:
Rule #1: Never let suspects stay together.
Rule #1: Never screw over your partner.
Rule #2: Always wear gloves at a crime scene.
Rule #3: Don't believe what you're told. Double check.
Rule #3: Never be unreachable.
Rule #4: The best way to keep a secret? Keep it to yourself. Second best? Tell one other person - if you must. There is no third best.
Rule #7: Always be specific when you lie.
Rule #8: Never take anything for granted.
Rule #9: Never go anywhere without a knife.
Rule #12: Never date a coworker.
Rule #13: Never, ever involve a lawyer.
Rule #15: Always work as a team.
Rule #18: It's better to seek forgiveness than ask permission.
Rule #22: Never, ever bother Gibbs in interrogation.
Rule #23: Never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live.
Another one of Gibbs' rules which is used more often than the others, but without a number, is "Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness."

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