Source: ¹

Recurring Cast

From Season 1:

   Joe Spano asTobias Fornell (1–)

   Alan Dale as Thomas Morrow (1–3)

   Rudolf Martin as Ari Haswari (1–3)

   Jessica Steen as Paula Cassidy (1–4)

   Pancho Demmings as Gerald Jackson (1, 3)

From Season 2:

   Troian Bellisario as Sarah McGee (2, 4)

   Tamara Taylor as Cassie Yates (2–3)

From Season 3:

   Michael Bellisario as Charles „Chip“ Sterling (3)

   Muse Watson as Mike Franks (3–)

   Don Franklin as Ron Sacks (3–4)

From Season 4:

   Liza Lapira as Michelle Lee (4–6)

   Scottie Thompson as Jeanne Benoit (4–5)

   Susanna Thompson as Hollis Mann (4–5)

   David Dayan Fisher as Trent Kort (4–)

   Armand Assante as René Benoit (4–5)

From Season 5:

   Susan Kelechi Watson as Nicki Jardine (5)

   Paul Telfer as Damon Werth (5, 7)

   Jonathan LaPaglia as Brent Langer (5–6)

From Season 6:

   Merik Tadros as Michael Rivkin (6)

   Michael Nouri as Eli David (6–)

   Ralph Waite as Jackson Gibbs (6–)

   Jude Ciccolella as SecNav Phillip Davenport (6, 8)

From Season 7:

   Robert Wagner as Anthony D. DiNozzo Sr. (7–)

   Rena Sofer as M. Allison Hart (7)

   Dina Meyer as Holly Snow (7)

   Marco Sanchez as Alejandro Rivera (7–8)

   Diane Neal as Abigail Borin (7–)

   T.J. Ramini as Malachi Ben-Gidon (7–)

   Jacqueline Obradors as Paloma Reynosa (7–8)

From Season 8:

   David Sullivan as Larry Krone (8)

   Annie Wersching as Gail Walsh (8)

   Sarah Jane Morris as Erica Jane „E.J.“ Barrett (8–)

   Enrique Murciano as Ray Cruz (8–)

   Wendy Makkena as Dr. Rachel Cranston (8–)

   Matthew Willig as Simon Cade (8–9)

   Matt Craven as SecNav Clayton Jarvis (8–)

From Season 9:

   Matt L. Jones as Ned Dorneget (9–)

   Jamie Lee Curtis as Dr. Samantha Ryan (9–)

   Scott Wolf as Jonathan Cole ak Casey Stratton (9)

Source: ¹

Name:	Leroy Jethro Gibbs
Occupation:	Supervisory/Senior Special Agent in Charge (NCIS), Former Gunnery Sergeant (Marine sniper and Military Police)(USMC)
Gender:	Male
Family:	Jackson Gibbs (Father)
Spouse(s):	Shannon Gibbs (deceased) Diane Sterling (divorced) Unknown (divorced) Stephanie Flynn (divorced)
Children:	Kelly Gibbs (deceased)

Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, portrayed by Mark Harmon, was born in Stillwater, Pennsylvania to Jackson Gibbs and an unnamed mother. He joined the United States Marine Corps in 1976 and became a Scout Sniper instead of attending college. After serving tours of duty in Panama and Iraq, he retired from the Marine Corps with the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. He joined NIS, which later became NCIS, after his wife Shannon and only daughter Kelly were murdered in 1991. Gibbs later travelled to Mexico and murdered the drug dealer responsible, a crime he kept concealed for twenty years. Since then, he has been married and divorced three times, and is currently single.

He currently leads a team consisting of Anthony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee, Abigail Sciuto, and Ziva David. In the episode "Bête Noire" Gibbs comes face to face with terrorist Ari Haswari and puts a bullet through Ari's left shoulder. Finding Ari later becomes an obsession for Gibbs when he and DiNozzo witness original team member Agent Kate Todd get shot dead in front of them in the season 2 finale, "Twilight".

He is often shown in his basement building boats, at least one of which he named after his daughter; another was named after one of his ex-wives. In the episode "Blowback", when confronting "Goliath" on the plane about "ARES", Gibbs revealed he is a Virgo. He is a deadshot marksman, as evidenced in "Hiatus" with flashbacks of him hitting a long-distance headshot of his family's murderer, who was driving a moving vehicle, a 1200-yard killshot, from a file read by Director Leon Vance in the episode "Deliverance" and in "Jeopardy" he hits a kidnapper with a very swift killshot in the forehead – he takes this shot while kneeling from inside a car trunk, with his left hand. In "Truth or Consequences", Gibbs saved his entire team by shooting the leader of a terrorist cell with a killshot after DiNozzo and McGee get captured looking for Ziva after she quits NCIS. Gibbs is one of three characters to have appeared in every episode.

Source: ¹

Gibbs' Rules

Rule #1:	Never let suspects stay together.
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 #3 double-used)
Rule #4:	If you have a secret, the best thing is to keep it to yourself. The second-best is to tell one other person if you must. There is no third best.
Rule #5:	You don't waste good.
Rule #6:	Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness.
Rule #7:	Always be specific when you lie.
Rule #8:	Never take anything for granted.
Rule #9:	Never go anywhere without a knife.
Rule #10:	Never get personally involved in a case.
Rule #11:	When the job is done, walk away.
Rule #12:	Never date a coworker.
Rule #13:	Never, ever involve lawyers.
Rule #15:	Always work as a team.
Rule #16:	If someone thinks they have the upper hand, break it.
Rule #18:	It's better to ask forgiveness than ask permission.
Rule #22:	Never, ever interrupt Gibbs in interrogation.
Rule #23:	Never mess with a Marine's coffee if you want to live.
Rule #27:	There are two ways to follow someone: 1st way - they never notice you 2nd way - they only notice you.
Rule #35:	Always watch the watchers.
Rule #36:	If it feels like you're being played, you probably are.
Rule #38:	Your case, your lead.
Rule #39:	There is no such thing as coincidence.
Rule #40:	If it seems like someone's out to get you, they are.
Rule #42:	Don't ever accept an apology from someone that just sucker-punched you.
Rule #44:	First things first, hide the women and children.
Rule #45:	Clean up your messes.
Rule #51:	Sometimes - you're wrong.
Rule #69:	Never trust a woman who doesn't trust her man.

Source: ²

Name:	Anthony D. DiNozzo
Occupation:	Special agent, Major Case Response Team Senior Field Agent, NCIS, Former Detective (BPD)
Gender:	Male
Nationality:	American, Italian descent
Family:	Anthony D. DiNozzo Sr. (father) Unnamed mother

Source: ¹

Senior Special Agent Anthony "Tony" D. DiNozzo, portrayed by Michael Weatherly, is a former homicide detective for the Baltimore Police Department. Prior to Baltimore, he worked for Philadelphia PD and Peoria PD. Like Gibbs, has a limited patience for the scientific method and technical terms. DiNozzo is perhaps best known for his seemingly-endless film references; Ziva insists that his dying words will be "I've seen this film".

He attended Ohio State University as a physical education major and was a member of the "Alpha Chi Delta" fraternity, class of 1989. DiNozzo is said to have played college basketball, "running the point for Ohio State" according to Abby Sciuto in a discussion with her assistant, Chip.

It is mentioned that he comes from a wealthy family but was disowned by his father, Anthony DiNozzo Sr, played by Robert Wagner who in turn was played by Weatherly in a TV movie. DiNozzo's mother was over-protective, and she "dressed him like a sailor until he was ten.“

He is a flirt, and has had his fair share of success in that department. He has a fondness for playing pranks on his co-workers and little respect for their boundaries.

During the course of the fourth season, he was on an undercover assignment that Director Jenny Shepard led, the key mission being to find arms dealer La Grenouille by posing as La Grenouille's daughter's boyfriend, but ended up falling in love with her.

In the episode "Knockout", he revealed that he was not doing well with women and that he was still hurting from his relationship with Jeanne Benoit. There is a great deal of romantic tension between Tony and Ziva.

Despite his playboy manner and light-hearted nature, DiNozzo is frequently shown to be very sharp; he is able to coax Mossad Director Eli David into admitting that he ordered Rivkin and Ziva to spy on NCIS.

Reassigned as an Agent Afloat in Season 5 ("Judgment Day")

Transferred back to the Major Case Response Team in Season 6 ("Agent Afloat").

Tony DiNozzo is one of three characters to have appeared in every episode.

Source: ¹

Name:	Caitlin Todd (†)
Occupation:	Special Agent, Major Case Response Team Field Agent, (NCIS) Former Special Agent, (USSS)
Gender:	Female
Family:	Rachel Cranston (older sister) Three Unnamed brothers

Caitlin Todd, portrayed by Sasha Alexander, first appeared in the episode "Yankee White". Todd was a former Secret Service agent, recruited by Gibbs after she successfully helped him solve a murder aboard Air Force One.

She worked well with everyone on the team, becoming particularly close with Ducky and Abby, who convinced her to get a tattoo (referenced in the episode "Kill Ari (Part 1)"). Her relationship with Gibbs is unique, as there appeared to be a real friendship between the two characters; which is unusual considering Gibbs is not a close friend with anyone.

Her relationship with Tony, however, was more adversarial and appeared to be more of siblings than anything else. Tony frequently flirted with her and went through her personal belongings, no matter how many times she pointed out that his behavior was grossly unprofessional. At the same time, Kate is willing to risk her life for DiNozzo and admits that life would be considerably less interesting without him around.

Todd was killed in the line of duty at the end of the episode "Twilight" by Ari Haswari, collateral damage in the terrorist's obsession with Gibbs. She received a fatal gunshot wound to the head from a sniper rifle fired by Ari Haswari. Todd also made appearances in "Kill Ari" parts 1 and 2 as a hallucination, remembered by her teammates.

She was replaced at NCIS by Israeli Mossad Liaison Officer Ziva David.

Source: ¹

Name:	Ziva David
Occupation:	2009-present, Special agent, Major Case Response Team Field Agent, NCIS (Season 7–present), 2005-2009 Mossad Liaison Officer (with NCIS) (seasons 3–7, 2003–2005) Mossad operative, Control officer, 2001–2003 Soldier in the Israeli Army
Gender:	Female
Family:	Eli David (father) Rivka David (deceased) (Mother, deceased) Ari Haswari paternal half brother (deceased) Tali David (sister, deceased)

Ziva David, portrayed by Cote de Pablo, formerly held the post of Mossad Liaison Officer to NCIS, to which she was appointed following the murder of Special Agent Caitlin Todd by a rogue Mossad operative named Ari Haswari. Ziva was Ari's control officer and half-sister. After Agent Todd's death, she requested a liaison assignment to NCIS, where she subsequently joined Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs' team. At the end of Season 6, Ziva falls under suspicion as a spy for the Mossad.

Her specialty with the Mossad was espionage, assassination and terrorism and is highly trained in the martial arts. She speaks Hebrew, English, Arabic, Spanish, French, Italian, German Title, Russian and Turkish. Despite being fluent in English, she sometimes misinterprets idioms and phrases that have different meanings in other languages if translated directly; this is a running joke within the series.

Ziva is very skilled with a knife and has been shown teaching her colleagues how to throw it properly. She is the one person Gibbs trusts with any type of firearm in difficult, potentially hazardous, situations.

In her career, she has traveled extensively to countries including Egypt (where she met Jenny Shepard), Iraq, the United Kingdom and Morocco.

In the episode "Good Cop, Bad Cop" Ziva became a probationary NCIS Special Agent after she terminated her links with Mossad for good. Since then, Tony has referred to her (as with McGee) as "Probie". As of "Rule Fifty-One", she is a citizen of the United States and able to become a full agent which is made official in Season 9's "Nature of the Beast".

Ziva rarely speaks of her personal life. Her father Eli David was the director of Mossad (killed in Season 10). The show rarely mentions Ziva's mother, Rivka, who taught her to drive; all that is known is that she does not have the same mother as Ari.

Her younger sister, Talia "Tali" David, was killed in a Hamas terrorist attack against Israel at the age of sixteen. She also has an Aunt Nettie who likes to play mahjong.

Ziva's hobbies include playing the piano, singing, dancing (she took ballet when she was young), cooking, reading, and boxing. She enjoys the fictional drink Berry Mango Madness.

She drives a red Mini Cooper, likes listening to the Israeli band Hadag Nachash and the Latin American band Kinky. She does not own a television but her favorite film is The Sound of Music.

De Pablo describes the character as someone who is "completely different from anyone else on the show" and that because "she's been around men all her life; she's used to men in authority. She's not afraid of men."

On July 10, 2013, CBS television studios announced that Cote de Pablo would be leaving NCIS in Season 11. She would appear in the beginning of the eleventh season to close out Ziva's storyline, but would not be cast as a series regular.

Source: ¹

Name:	Timothy McGee
Occupation:	Special agent, Major Case Response Team Field Agent, NCIS (Seasons 2-Present) Norfolk Case Agent and Major Case Response Team TAD Field Agent, NCIS (Season 1)
	Gender: Male
Family:	Sarah McGee (Sister) Penelope Langston (Grandmother)

Timothy McGee, portrayed by Sean Murray, first appeared in the episode "Sub Rosa" as a Case Agent stationed at Norfolk, and was promoted to Field Agent and assigned to Agent Gibbs' team in the second season, becoming a regular character, where he became a Junior Special Agent with NCIS. He serves as a field computer consultant and occasionally assists Abby Sciuto in the lab.

He clashes with DiNozzo, though after the two became partners (following Ziva's departure from the team at the end of season six), they are frequently shown to form an effective team; however, once Ziva returns, their relationship reverts to its original state. McGee's methods are often indecipherable to the other team members, have earned him the pejorative nickname "McGeek" and "McGoo" (along with other derisive nicknames based on his surname), as well as "Probie", and "Elf Lord", the latter used by multiple characters due to his elf character in an online role playing computer game. He was trained in biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins University, and computer forensics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He also graduated the top of his class at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.

McGee is also a writer, writing mystery crime novels including a national best seller, Deep Six, under the pseudonym Thom E. Gemcity (an anagram of his name), featuring characters based on his fellow co-workers and others from his everyday life. He also drives a silver Porsche Boxster as seen in the episode "Twisted Sister". He has Apple's iPhone smartphone, and uses it frequently on investigation. He owns a dog named Jethro. Jethro was in a prior episode where he had been falsely accused of killing his police handler. Abby proved his innocence, named him Jethro and had to convince McGee to take Jethro because her landlord wouldn't let her keep the dog.

McGee was transferred to Cybercrimes Division in Season 5 ("Judgment Day") and back to the Major Case Response Team in Season 6 ("Last Man Standing").

Source: ¹

Name:	Abigail Sciuto
Occupation:	Forensic Specialist, NCIS
Gender:	Female
Religion:	Catholic

Abigail "Abby" Sciuto, portrayed by Pauley Perrette, is a forensic specialist with NCIS. As indicated in the episode "Seadog", she is the child of deaf parents. She is known for her gothic style of dress and addiction to the fictional, high-caffeine beverage "Caf-Pow". Abby had a brief sexual relationship with Special Agent McGee, as seen in the episode "Reveille" in season one, which ended with the two remaining friends.

She is the most active and affectionate person of the team, often hugging everyone and talking fast, though she can be easily distracted. She is one of the few who can talk to Gibbs freely, and he often buys her Caf-Pow. She and Gibbs are both fluent in sign language. She has a stuffed farting hippopotamus named Bert that often appears in the show.

Abby developed a fondness for a Navy sniffer dog in the
season 5 episode "Dog Tags". Originally named "Butch", she renamed it "Jethro" (after Gibbs) for being "handsome and quiet". The dog was framed for the murder of a petty officer, but Abby proves Jethro's innocence. Afterwards, Abby forces McGee to adopt him, much to his dismay (as Jethro had attacked him earlier in the episode). Abby would have preferred to adopt Jethro herself, but was prohibited from doing so by her landlord.

Abby's hobbies include a bowling league with nuns, helping build homes for the needy, and playing computer games. She also sleeps in a coffin and is, according to DiNozzo, "the happiest goth you will ever meet."

Abby is one of three characters to have appeared in every episode and like Director Leon Vance, also appears on the spin-off series, NCIS Los Angeles.

Source: ¹

Name:	Dr. Donald Mallard
Occupation:	Chief Medical Examiner
Gender:	Male

Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard, portrayed by David McCallum, is the Chief Medical Examiner at NCIS. Dr. Mallard is a Scottish-born doctor, who has been long-time friends with Gibbs, and underwent medical education at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, and served in the Royal Army Medical Corps. He has a "second talent", as Gibbs calls it, to be able to read people, which he expands in Season 4 by studying psychology. In cases without actual bodies, he assists by using his psychological training to decipher the clues left by the perpetrators. Dr. Mallard is an eccentric character who often talks to the deceased and rambles to the living with many long personal remembrances or historical accounts, but is a kind man at heart. He also calls coworkers by their full first names (ex: Abigail instead of Abby)—with the exceptions of Gibbs and medical assistant Jimmy Palmer, whom he addresses as Jethro and Mr. Palmer, respectively (although he does refer to Palmer by his first name, Jimmy, when concerned for him, as revealed in About Face).

Although most of his time is spent in autopsy and going to crime scenes to examine bodies, he was sent on a highly important undercover mission in the episode "Blowback". He also spent some time in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion, and in Bosnia during the Balkan conflict.

Ducky and Gibbs have worked together for many years. When Gibbs was asked, "What did Ducky look like when he was younger?" he replied, "Illya Kuryakin"—the Russian spy played by McCallum in the 1960s television show The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Ducky drives a Morgan that he restored himself. In the episode "Hung Out to Dry," it is revealed that he has a nephew, though no further information follows. The ring tone on his cell phone features bagpipes playing "Scotland the Brave".

He lived with his aging mother and her corgi dogs until season 6. In the episode "Broken Bird", Ducky revealed his mother had moved out and had Alzheimer's disease. Nina Foch, the actress who played Ducky's mother, died on December 5, 2008, necessitating the change.

In the episode "Double Identity", it was revealed Ducky's mother had died. Her headstone indicated 1912-2010.

The rest of the team only learns of Victoria Mallard's passing when Abby follows Ducky to her gravesite. Later Gibbs pays him a condolence call in the autopsy room, but Ducky seems relieved at her death rather than sad (probably that she was no longer suffering from Alzheimer's), and grateful to have been her son.

He expresses to Gibbs his pride at the fact that she had almost lived to the age of 100.

Source: ¹

Name:	Jimmy Palmer
Occupation:	Medical Examiner Assistant
Gender:	Male

Jim (Jimmy) Palmer, portrayed by Brian Dietzen, and sometimes referred to by Tony as "Autopsy Gremlin", first appeared in the episode "Split Decision".

After Gerald Jackson was incapacitated, Palmer became Mallard's medical assistant both in the field and in the morgue. In the episode "About Face", Jimmy became a central character of the episode who must recover his memory to find a suspect to the murder case and his attempted killer. He self-identifies as a sufferer of a "mild" case of diabetes mellitus in the episode "In The Dark". He is terrified of Gibbs.

Part of the reason that Doctor Mallard and he are often not at the crime scene until well after Gibbs and his team arrive is related to Dr. Mallard's emphasis on Jimmy being a horrible driver and always getting lost, although Jimmy tries to defend himself by pointing out that Ducky is the one with the map. He was named after former Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer, but does not like baseball.

In many of the episodes, Jimmy is seen fraternizing with Michelle Lee. Often they make excuses for working late and are seen entering and exiting the underside of the autopsy table. In the episode "Last Man Standing", Palmer admits to Gibbs and Vance that he and Agent Lee had been "doing it" for a while. In the episode "The Good Wives Club" it is revealed that Jimmy is claustrophobic; when he is entering the enclosed hallway he is seen sweating profusely and when he has to go get the body bag he gets freaked out about having to go back through it.

In the episode "About Face", as Jimmy was being hypnotized by Abby, it can be inferred that he has a foot/shoe fetish as he dreamily states in great detail about Ziva and Abby's footwear, instead of recalling information about the current case. The episode also leads us to believe that his mother's name is Eunice. In the episode "Bounce" it is shown that Palmer regularly helped Tony when he was in charge. Jimmy Palmer is also shown to have severe tinnitus.

In season 7 it was revealed that Jimmy was in love with a girl named Breena Slater, who appeared in the episode "Mother's Day". In the season 8 finale "Pyramid", NCIS special agent E.J. Barrett congratulates Jimmy with his engagement.

Source: ¹

Name:	Jennifer Shepard (†)
Occupation:	NCIS Director
Gender:	Female

Jenny Shepard, portrayed by Lauren Holly, first appeared in the episode "Kill Ari (Part 1)". She replaced former NCIS director Thomas Morrow, at the start of the third season after Morrow took a Deputy Director's position with the Department of Homeland Security. She is also a "military brat" as her father Colonel Jasper Shepard was an Army officer.

She was Gibbs' former partner and former lover. While she and Gibbs were stationed in Europe, Gibbs was ordered back to the States and she was offered her own section in Europe. When Gibbs asked Jenny to go with him, she refused. They were reunited in "Kill Ari (Part 1)" which stirred Gibbs' heart, and opened a constant flirtation between her and Gibbs. Jenny was killed in the episode "Judgment Day (Part 1)". At the time of her death she was already dying from a terminal illness that was never specified. Only she, Ducky, and Mike Franks ever knew, and Ducky broke the truth to Gibbs after her passing.