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{{work}}
[[File:ncis-poster.jpg|frame| From left to right (For Seasons 3-5):
Created by [[Donald P. Bellisario]] and Don McGill, ''NCIS'' is a spinoff of ''[[JAG]]'' that leaped on the [[Forensic Drama]] bandwagon started by ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'', with some traditional [[Crime and Punishment Series|Crime And Punishment]] and even a bit of [[Spy Drama]] thrown in for good measure. ''NCIS'' (''[[Department of Redundancy Department|Navy NCIS]]'' for its first season) depicts a team of investigators assigned to deal with criminal activity involving Navy personnel and Marines. That means that the entire gamut of crime -- from [[Serial Killer|Serial Killers]] to fraud to international espionage to Unauthorized Absences-- can turn up. This particular team is led by Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a retired Marine gunnery sergeant, and contains (surprise!) a rather colorful collection of detectives and lab workers. The series debuted in September 2003 and is still ongoing.
A classic example of a [[Sleeper Hit]], the show was largely ignored at the beginning of its run, but has gained viewers with virtually every season and as of 2012 is the number one scripted drama on network television.
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A spinoff series, ''[[NCIS: Los Angeles]]'', premiered in 2009.
{{tropelist}}
== A-E ==
* [[Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On Male]]: Subverted in Season 3 Episode 14 "Light Sleeper". The initial suspect in the murder of a Korean woman is her Marine husband. Their neighbor claimed she frequently heard them screaming at each other, leading her to believe that husband was abusive. However, the husband reveals to Gibbs that she was the abusive one and proves by lifting up his shirt to reveal a large burn mark where she hit him with an iron. He's actually taken seriously and released.▼
* [[Action Girl]]: First Kate, a former Secret Service agent in the presidential protection detail, then Ziva, whose background with the Mossad was as a spy and an assassin rather than as an investigator.
* [[Adorkable]]: In "Jurisdiction", the CGIS expy of Abby is a cute Asian [[Meganekko]] wearing [[Nerd Glasses]].
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*** It's mutual, too.
** 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.
* [[BFG]]: Ex-Watcher operator Casey Stratton uses a Desert Eagle chambered in .50 Action Express against the NCIS team in "Housekeeping".▼
* [[Big Blackout]]: "Power Down". Oh, the fun the writers must have had poking fun at the usual ''NCIS'' bells and whistles.
▲* [[
* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: Ziva is Hebrew, even though it's sorta mangled. Also, Abby and Gibbs using sign language. Gratuitous second-year undergrad level Russian for a lot of characters. Passable French and some level of Arabic.
** Averted hard in the episode "Primitus Victor". "Victor" isn't Latin for "victim;" it's Latin for "victor".
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** Tony in Season 4.
** Trent Kort, the CIA agent who also infiltrated René Benoît's arms-dealing enterprise.
* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: The show was originally named "Navy NCIS", despite the N standing for Navy. This was most likely done to prevent confusion with ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'', something which the series [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] occasionally.
* [[Determinator]]: Gibbs becomes one toward finding Ari over the course of the second season. A repeated motif is the one monitor on his desk that's dedicated to running a facial recognition program on Ari. After Ari briefly kidnaps Kate, Gibbs starts displaying Ahab-ish tendencies, which DiNozzo lampshades.
* [[Did Not Do the Research]]:
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** A conversation between Gibbs and Vance implies that {{spoiler|Ziva was this as well}}, something that was treated as pretty much a given by everyone in her first season.
** {{spoiler|NCIS attempts to have Jonathan Cole act as this to them regarding Harper Dearing in the Season 9 finale, which Cole agrees to in exchange for a lighter sentence when he gets back to prison. Unfortunately, Dearing was [[Genre Savvy]] enough to realize what the NCIS was planning to do, so he instead has a waitress deliver the cellphone to Cole for him and then communicate with him via phone and relay a message to Gibbs}}.
▲* [[
* [[Double Tap]]: The show has almost without exception invoked this; both here and in real life, Federal agents ''never'' fire only once or twice. They will keep shooting you until either you fall down or they run out of bullets, whichever comes first.
* [[Dress Code]]: Forcing Abby to follow one makes her so uncomfortable that it actually hurts her analytical skills.
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* [[False-Flag Operation]]: The whole point in the end of "Devil's Triangle".
* [[Family Relationship Switcheroo]]: At the end of one Season 6 episode, a young Marine mentions that his mother took care of Gibbs when he was wounded on a mission in her country. {{spoiler|Gibbs tells the Marine that his mother was already pregnant when they met. Seconds later, in Vance's office, Vance asks Gibbs if Gibbs told the young man that his mission had been to kill his father}}.
* [[Fan Service]]: Abby, mostly. At times, Director Shepard, especially after wardrobe started putting her in tight skirts and [[Sweater Girl|sweaters]]. And let us not forget [https://web.archive.org/web/20210321080148/http://www.celebrity-pictures.ca/
** One of the most blatant instances of potential fan service (Ziva in a fairly skimpy bikini) actually ended up being a half-subversion, as she's lying on her side reading a book and the audience never gets a good look... unless you count the screensaver McGee made from Tony's pictures of her.
** Kate as an adult version of a [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HD0NGf1YEk4 'Catholic Schoolgirl' and as a Dominatrix]. This was the lighter side of a very serious episode.
* [[Fatal Attractor]]: The entire cast. With relatively few exceptions, every date any of the characters go on will be with someone evil.
* [[Fatal Family Photo]]: The ending of the episode "Rekindled" features a Marine out at sea on an amphibious carrier accidentally dropping his cell phone through the grates, reassembling it to see his family photo, only to find flickering lights underneath the door to the electric room (strongly implied to be the arson electrical bomb trap from earlier) before he is knocked back in an explosion that's heavily implied to have sunk or at the very least severely damaged the ship.
* [[Feuding Families]]: The Reynosas vs Gibbs and his father and teammates.
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** Child genius Angela in Season 7 Episode 9 "Child's Play".
* [[Give Away the Bride]]: When {{spoiler|Ziva}} is considering marrying {{spoiler|Ray}}, everyone assumes Gibbs would walk her down the aisle. {{spoiler|It does ''not'' happen, and never will. Marrying Ray, that is, not Gibbs walking her down the aisle. Still holding out hope for the second bit}}.
* [[Give the Villain a Hero's Funeral]]: NCIS decided to do this with [[The Mole]] {{spoiler|Agent Michelle Lee, after learning that she was blackmailed into her role. When her handler uses her as a [[Human Shield]] against Gibbs, she signals for Gibbs to shoot her, sacrificing her life in the process. Despite knowing how much information she compromised, NCIS covers up the treason and gives her a funeral with full honors.}}
* [[The Glomp]]: Abby, usually to Tony and McGee (especially if they're injured, which seems to be a minor [[Running Gag]]).
* [[Glove Snap]]: Tony does this comically quite often.
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'''Tony''': There we go. That wasn't so tough, was it? Now how about a little hug? Big buddy hug. Come on.
[''Abby immediately hugs Ziva, Ziva slowly reciprocates'']
'''Tony''': Now a [[Girl-On-Girl Is Hot|deep tongue kiss]].
[''Abby and Ziva punch him in the chest at the same time'']
'''Tony''': OOF! Now we feel better.}}
* [[Iron Lady]]: Director Shepherd.
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* [[Jerk Jock]]: Though not in high school, Tony, especially in early McGee episodes. Incidentally, his major was Phys. Ed.
* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Tony, although [[Your Mileage May Vary|depending on your mileage]], he skirts into [[Jerkass]] territory.
* [["Join the Army," They Said]]: The [[Victim of the Week]] in one episode was an unscrupulous Marine recruiter who made promises that would never be met, such as promising one recruit that he would be trained as a medic. As Gibbs points out, the Marine Corps doesn't have medics; they use Navy corpsmen.
* [[Jurisdiction Friction]]
== K-O ==
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* [[Magical Database]]
** Lampshaded in "False Witness" when there is a national database for the DNA of ''wild turkeys'' and both Abby and Gibbs find it weird.
*** [[Truth in Television]]! [https://web.archive.org/web/20110826052741/http://www.nwtf.org/nwtf_newsroom/press_releases.php?id=12351 National Wild Turkey Federation DNA Database].
* [[Magnetic Hero]]: Gibbs. But "he only uses his powers for good."
* [[Malaproper]]: Ziva (the ESL variety) which is a [[Running Gag]] on the show; she speaks English perfectly, except for idioms, which she constantly gets wrong and is usually corrected by Tony. What's strange is that she [[Rule of Funny|actually has a remarkably good grasp of American pop culture]]. That and her level of English proficiency mean she shouldn't get nearly ''every single idiom'' she uses wrong. It's eventually revealed that Ziva was using a ''For Dummies'' book to memorize pop culture cliches from by rote, especially movie lines. And it's hinted in a later episode that she was, at times, [[Obfuscating Stupidity|playing dumb]] to get people off-guard (and yank Tony's chain). Possibly a [[Retcon]], though.
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** Abby, in the few times when she wears glasses.
** Male example; Jimmy Palmer. Agent Lee definitely thought so.
* [[Memetic Badass]]: Gibbs is an in-universe example. When asked what the most awesome [[Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny|cage fight opponent]] for Gibbs would be, McGee and Abby casually discard such foes as Godzilla and Mothra, and decide (however unintentionally) that Gibbs vs. ''Gibbs'' would be pretty much impossible to top. At least once, Abby has put forth the theory that Gibbs has magical powers. Tony once compared Gibbs arresting [[God]] to [[Fantastic Four (Comic Book)|The Thing]] arresting [[The Hulk]]. Even ''diseases'' know better than to mess with Gibbs, as proven in "SWAK".
{{quote|'''Gibbs''': Never had a cold. Never had the flu, either.
'''Kate''': ...Why do I believe that?
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** McGee is also frequently guilty. Hilariously lampshaded somewhat in one episode:
{{quote|'''McGee:''' All right. I think I know what happened here.
'''Tony''': Oh, [[Genre Savvy|twenty bucks says McGee's about to say something nobody understands again!]]
'''McGee''': The GPS coordinates came bundled in a proprietary packet. Since it was a beta, I thought--
'''Gibbs''': I'm starting to think you can't ''help'' yourself, McGee.}}
** In "Baltimore", Gibbs actually throws away one of McGee's reports because of the technical jargon he used.
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{{quote|'''Agent Borin:''' Is this a record?
'''Abby:''' No, we don't talk about the record.}}
* [[No Ontological Inertia]]: Averted. Long term health problems from [spoiler]Tony being infected with the bubonic plague[/spoiler] are referenced seasons latter, even after the infection itself is no longer present.
* [[No Sense of Direction]]: Ducky. He blames his assistants but he's always the one giving directions.
* [[Not Proven]]: In one case, the perpetrator is a gang leader, and the team know he killed a sailor and the previous leader, but can't prove it. {{spoiler|So they showed the other gang members their evidence, mentioned that they would never get a conviction, and [[Batman Gambit|the leader shows up the next morning dead in a dumpster]]}}.
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** Sometimes, when Gibbs can't make them sweat, he gives Ziva a turn. Ziva's presence is also occasionally used by Gibbs as a threat: 'Cooperate with us or we'll extradite you to Israel'. The people this threat is used on are those who really, ''really'' would rather ''not'' end up in the custody of the Mossad.
*** What makes Ziva's interrogations work is [[The Un-Reveal|almost never shown on-screen]], but it tends to quickly reduce the perp to a crying wreck. In one fairly early episode with a female accessory who won't talk, Gibbs locks her in her office with Ziva. In the next scene, as they're interrogating her, Ziva just slowly, calmly walks around her; the woman is a weepy, trembling mess and flinches like she's been shocked when Ziva lightly touches her neck. In the one instance where we do see her at work (in "Hiatus," after Gibbs is caught in the bomb blast), Ziva harshly interrogates the Turkish ship captain...at gunpoint.
** Ducky has also broken several people just by explaining anatomy to them (
** Tony, meanwhile, prefers to [[Exasperated Perp|annoy suspects into submission]]. He's very good at it; in the season six finale he manages to get the better of Ziva's father (Eli David, the ''director of Mossad'') this way.
*** Bonus points because Tony was the one being interrogated, and still managed to get Eli to spill more than he did.
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{{quote|'''McGee:''' So how do you think he's going to break her down? What's the style?
'''Tony:''' He's leading with the Creepy Uncle, but I think he's going to with the Father Figure You Can Trust.
'''McGee:''' Nope, that doesn't feel right. I'm gonna go with the classic, in your face Gibbs, The Intimidator.
*** They do the same thing when Tony is interrogating a suspect. Gibbs wins the bet.
*** In one of the first Season 7 episodes, as they're breaking in a possible replacement for Ziva, Tony starts speaking in tandem with Gibbs while observing.
** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in "Murder 2.0" when the suspect is literally sweating and complaining about how hot it is in the interview room while Gibbs is just talking to him, leading Tony to comment with pride on Gibbs' skills. {{spoiler|Turns out the suspect had been poisoned, causing extremely elevated blood pressure and a shortly-ensuing heart attack
** In at least one episode, Gibbs and Fornell double-team an interrogation.
{{quote|'''Gibbs''': The worst mistake you made...
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(''Fornell gets up and takes off his jacket'')
'''Gibbs''': Hey, let me hang that up for you, Tobias
(''Gibbs tosses Fornell's jacket over the security camera while Fornell rolls up his sleeves'')
* [[Person as Verb]]: Tony, frequently.
* [[Pet the Dog]]: ''Any'' time Gibbs is shown interacting with children, and his more gentle moments with Abby.
** Used in a literal sense at one point. Gibbs sat on a park bench in the pouring rain because he put the dog that was sleeping under the bench in the nearby gazebo so it wouldn't get even more wet. He wouldn't sit in the gazebo with it because it smelled like... well, a wet dog.
** Another literal one with McGee and Jethro (nee Butch), the German Shepherd he shot (in self-defense). McGee was wary of Jethro for the whole episode; at the end, when Jethro is vindicated and Abby's landlord has said "no dogs", Abby makes an impassioned speech to a reluctant Tim about how Jethro is the dog McGee has been wanting to get for a long time. A later episode shows that Abby did eventually succeed in this little campaign, and McGee has a very loving relationship with the dog.
* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]: Tony in the first few seasons. This gets [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] early on, with the trope even mentioned by name (that one about McGee though).
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* [[Precious Puppies]]: Dogs have featured in a few episodes, but Mortimer, the rescue-dog-in-training Golden Lab puppy takes the cake. He even cheers Ducky up {{spoiler|after his mother dies}}.
* [[Pretty Little Headshots]]:
** Several instances, most notably when {{spoiler|Caitlin Todd is sniped by Ari, although a squib on the back of her head can be seen going off, and in "Kill Ari", it's [[Informed Attribute|stated]] that the back of her head was pretty much gone
** Averted in "The Good Wives' Club" with {{spoiler|the
* [[Properly Paranoid]]: 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 [[I Never Said It Was Poison]].
* [[Punny Name]]: Donald Mallard - a mallard is a duck... in other words, [[Donald Duck]]. Lampshaded time and again in the series as the explanation for his nickname, Ducky.
** The first NCIS Director in the series, from the ''[[JAG]]'' pilot to the start of
* [[Rapid-Fire Typing]]: Anything can be done by quickly typing on the keyboard - which, strangely, always generates the same sound effects. In one episode, the computers in Abby's lab are attacked by a hacker. The best way to respond? Both Abby and McGee rapidly hit keys ''on the same keyboard'' to literally ''type fast enough'' to fight the hack. It's still ineffective, until Gibbs comes up with a simpler solution; {{spoiler|unplug the computer}}.
* [[Rare Guns]]: In one
* [[Real Life Writes the Plot]]:
** {{spoiler|Kate's death}} was either because Sasha Alexander wanted to have a child, which wouldn't have worked into the episodes very well or because she was exhausted by her role.
** Pauley Perrette's [https://web.archive.org/web/20130522072559/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,216205,00.html nightmarish divorce from ex-husband Coyote Shivers] may or may not have been the basis for the plot for "Bloodbath
* [[A Real Man Is a Killer]]: Inverted. McGee and DiNozzo are capable of killing, and Gibbs is an expert, but Ziva boasts about her talents enough to make everyone, including the male characters, mildly uncomfortable.
* [[Rear Window Witness]]: "Witness".
* [[Redemption Equals Death]]: The ultimate resolution of the season six "mole hunt" plotline.
** {{spoiler|Jonathan Cole in the Season 9 finale, although he unfortunately wasn't able to start bomb disposal before Dearing detonated it
* [[Red Herring]]: In "Obssession", the viewers are led to believe that the culprits are PMC goons, when in fact it's an ex-KGB operative that's responsible.
** Similarly, the opening of "The Engagement Part 2" had DiNozzo arriving at the church with the chaplain and her father asking what the result of the mission to rescue Flores is, and the scene then cutting to the interior of a Marine transport plane with Gibbs and the others inside looking at a marine burial coffin, leading the viewers to believe that they failed their mission and Flores was killed. However, the episode later reveals that they actually succeeded in their mission, and the marine burial coffin actually belonged to her commanding officer, who was killed in action by a gunshot to the neck.
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* [[Retirony]]: Played with in "Pyramid". When EJ is escorting {{spoiler|Cobb}}, the P2P Killer, she runs into {{spoiler|Palmer}} and they briefly talk about how he is getting ready to marry. When {{spoiler|Cobb}} manages to escape two seconds later, guess who gets taken hostage?
* [[Reverse Mole]]
* [[A Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside An Enigma]]: Tony refers to Abby in the
* [[Right Behind Me]]: Gibbs catches virtually ''everyone'', especially Tony, with this all the time, bordering on [[Stealth Hi Bye]]. Other characters also do it occasionally; Ziva to Tony, and Tony to McGee, especially when he's emulating Gibbs in Gibbs's absence. Vance does it now, too.
* [[Right Hand Versus Left Hand]]: The team frequently run into jurisdiction issues with the FBI and other government organizations.
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* [[Rule Number One]]: Gibbs's various rules, cited by the characters throughout the show. Later revealed in flashback to have been inspired by his first wife, on the day they met. The Season 7 finale has him adding "[[Title Drop|Rule Fifty-One]]". Ziva has requested that Gibbs write them down; only for Tony to rebut this by pointing out that while most are for day-to-day use, only the ones in the forties are reserved for emergencies.
** There are actually two Rule Number 1s, and two Rule Number 3s. [[Word of God]] is this was intentional. While Gibbs has his own rules, his mentor Mike Franks told him he only needs three '''golden rules.''' The other Rule Number 2 has yet to be revealed, and the writers are letting the viewers determine which are Gibbs' rules, and which are Franks'.
** CGIS Abigail Borin a [[Distaff Counterpart]] to Gibbs, unsurprisingly, has her own rules. Her rule number one is "Never make excuses
* [[Running Gag]]: Many.
** In fact, they've evolved over the years.
* [[Second Episode Introduction]]: Caitlin Todd doesn't appear in the [[Poorly-Disguised Pilot]]; she gets introduced in the first actual episode as a secret service agent who transfers to NCIS for
* [[Sensitivity Training]]: Treated by the characters as a form of endurance trial.
* [[Sergeant Rock]]
* [[Sexy Schoolwoman]]:
** Referenced in "Forced Entry". Kate comments that she spent twelve years in Catholic School; Tony asks if she still has the pleated skirt. In that same episode, Abby's outfit certainly seems schoolgirl-inspired.
** Tony's "hallucination" in
* [[Shipper on Deck]]: In "Singled Out", the team was playing with software showing what children of two people would look like. McGee uses Ziva and Tony for the basis to show them a grumpy little devil of a kid, then the two simultaneously say "Do the Director and Gibbs" and Abby compliments the result saying that Gibbs and Director make nice "Gibblets".
** Lately, it seems ''every woman Tony meets''
** Tony ships [[Portmanteau Couple Name|Bibbs]] - Gibbs/Abigail Borin. [[Right Behind Me|Borin doesn't agree]].
* [[Ship Tease]]: Tony/Ziva and McGee/Abby are two shipping groups the writers especially love to mess with. However, McGee/Abby was canon before their breakup {{spoiler|and might come back per [[Word of God]]}}. Tony/Ziva has yet to go beyond [[Ship Tease]]
** This one's even messed with in-universe. Tony and Ziva are together in McGee's metafiction. See [[Write Who You Know]] below.
** Even in-universe alternate-universe timelines!
* [[Shirtless Scene]]: McGee's gotten two or three, and DiNozzo's gotten several. Strangely, Gibbs is absent from this unless you count the very-soapy shower scene in "SWAK", which is one for the entire Kate-era team.
* [[Shout-Out]]: So, ''so'' many.
** Several to other [[Donald P. Bellisario]] shows:
*** Tony uses the alias [[Airwolf|"Stringfellow Hawke"]] at one point; also, Caitlin Todd's first name is the same as an ''Airwolf'' character.
*** In one episode, the team finds a massive collection of lunchboxes in a murdered officer's bedroom, which included ''Airwolf'', and ''[[Magnum, P.I.]]''-themed boxes, and presumably other Bellisario creations. And when Tony must provide an alibi for his evening, he says he was home watching ''Magnum PI'', and describes the specific episode.
*** Yet another crops up when searching a suspect's house in one episode, and Tony finds, among a full collection of Hawaiian shirts, a red one he claims to be an official ''Magnum PI'' shirt.
** "Hiatus
** Gibbs shares a middle name (Jethro) with Admiral Chegwidden from ''NCIS''' parent series, ''[[JAG]]''.
** The first episode is one big shout-out to ''[[Air Force One]]'', right down to reusing the sets and Gibbs specifically mentioning the movie by name and [[Genre Savvy|reasoning that not only would the weapons be stored in the same place as they were in the movie, but that the terrorists would infiltrate by a similar manner]].
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** Actually, ''far'' too many to list, as Tony is almost guaranteed to make at least one TV or movie reference ''every episode''.
*** Normally, the team is not familiar with most of Tony's movie references. However, when he [[Speed|loops a video feed to save a room of hostages]], everyone calls him out afterwards when he tries to take credit, knowing which movie he stole the tactic from.
*** Arguably, the joke here is that Tony had forgotten the film-inspired origins of his idea and is actually convinced he thought it up himself. Look at his expression
*** In the second episode of
{{quote|'''Ziva''': What happened? We have been avoiding mentioning the Fugitive for days.
'''McGee''': He figured it out for himself.
*** In the very early episodes, Gibbs is the one who is movie savvy.
** One Halloween episode has the team being mistaken for lousy ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'' cosplayers.
** In "Secrets
** When Tony refers to assistant coroner Palmer as "the autopsy gremlin", Gibbs' response is telling Tony to [[Gremlins|not get him wet.]]
*** After a tech developer insults McGee by assuming he's into ''dwebby'' role playing games, McGee's responses is: "[[Skyrim|I used to, but then I took an arrow to the knee.]]"
* [[Shut UP, Hannibal]]: In "Enemies Foreign", the Palestinian terrorist tries to lecture Gibbs about his war. Gibbs' response is basically "Yeah, you're right. Where's the other terrorist?"
* [[Silver Fox]]: Gibbs.
{{quote|'''Abby:''' I'm pregnant, McGee. Twins. Haven't told the father yet. It's Gibbs. I know it's wrong, but something about his silver hair gets me all tingly inside.
<nowiki>*</nowiki>Tony walks in at the end of Abby's line*
'''Tony:''' Excuse me for a second, I think I'm going to vomit.
'''Abby:''' I'm joking, Tony. Except for that part about Gibbs' hair. That ''is'' really hot.
** Also:
{{quote|'''Abby: [To Gibbs]''' Well my silver-haired fox... Gibbs... sorry.}}
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** The team has also run into "child versions" of DiNozzo and Gibbs, respectively.
** In "Jurisdiction", one of the CGIS investigators is a red-haired female version of Gibbs. Tony is the first to notice and the others are all rather amused. Gibbs is apparently the only member of the team that is not aware of this.
* [[Single Woman Seeks Good Man]]: Delilah seeks out McGee for this reason. Bonus for [[Geeky Turn On]].
* [[Sixth Ranger]]: Kate is an example of this from the first episode, since the team was established in ''[[JAG]]''. Later, McGee, and then once again with Ziva {{spoiler|following Kate's death}}.
* [[Slap Slap Kiss]]: McGee and Abby in the first season.
* [[Slashed Throat]]:
** One episode involved the murderer using the Marine sentry removal technique (described in The Five Fingers example above) to kill the victim... while she was [[Out with a Bang|having sex with him.]]
** In an episode revolving around a revenge plot against Ducky, {{spoiler|when the team rescued Ducky, one of the perps slashed his own throat with a scalpel rather than go back to jail
* [[Something They Would Never Say]]: A distraught schoolboy holds his classmates hostage so someone - it happens to be our team - will find his [[He's Just Hiding|ostensibly]] dead mother. Gibbs lets himself be taken, and Tony later tells the boy that Special Agent Caitlin Todd is looking for his mother. Out of earshot, when asked how he's going to tell Gibbs the kid's mother is dead, Tony replies that he already has: {{spoiler|Special Agent Todd is dead
* [[Sorry I Left the BGM On]]: In "Power Down
* [[Sound Effect Bleep]]: In the first episode with Ari, after he shoots Gerald in the shoulder, Kate clearly calls him a fucking bastard, only the first word is conveniently drowned out in a sudden cry of pain from Gerald. Kate also swears in the first episode. When she attacks Gibbs in the bathroom, she calls him an asshole through clenched teeth while sobbing.
* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]: In "Newborn King", the soundtrack of choice is "Silent Night" during a scene which is anything ''but'' silent: {{spoiler|Gibbs is helping a marine give birth, while Ziva is having a shootout with some bad guys ''in the next room''
* [[Southies]]: See trope entry.
* [[Spin-Off]]: Of ''[[JAG]]'', with its own spin-off, and yes, [[NCIS: Los Angeles|it's being troped]].
* [[Spoiler Title]]: {{spoiler|"Trojan Horse"}}; "{{spoiler|[[wikipedia:Aliyah|Aliyah]]}}", via [[Bilingual Bonus]]; "Shariff Returns
* [[Staggered Zoom]]
* [[Stock Footage]]: Largely averted. For a show involving the US Navy, its hardware doesn't really feature all that much, although earlier seasons had many an obvious stock clip of various ships and sometimes planes.
** But it is liberally used in the 200th episode to fill in for past NCIS characters who can't make it to filming. I'm looking at you, Kate and Jenny.
* [[Stuffed Into the Fridge]]: Invoked by Ari, who {{spoiler|kills Kate and deliberately goes after Shepard and Abby}} just because it would cause Gibbs more pain. The show has a bad record of killing female main/recurring characters and current male characters' love interests. To date, {{spoiler|Kate, Paula Cassidy, Jenny, Michelle Lee, and Lara Macy}}, although {{spoiler|Kate's actress, as well as Jenny's, wanted to leave the show of her own accord}}.
* [[Subtext]]: Beginning with the
* [[Talking Through Technique]]
* [[Talking to the Dead]]: Mostly Ducky, as he says it "helps to reciprocate"; other characters have been known to do it as well.
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** Ziva's recently admitted that Gibbs is more of a father to her than her biological one. He's since acted accordingly on her behalf.
* [[Team Pet]]: Abby.
* [[Techno Babble]]: Let's just say that if you know anything about computers, you'll want to turn your brain off whenever Abby or McGee is talking. ''[[NCIS|Anything
* [[Ted Baxter]]: Tony.
* [[Tempting Fate]]: ...from Season 4
{{quote|'''Victim''': NCIS is going to figure this out.
'''Kidnapper''': I've had those Navy cops running around all night. They're clueless.
'''Gibbs''': Federal agents!
'''McGee''': Drop your weapon!
* [[Ten-Minute Retirement]]: Gibbs in Season 4.
* [[That One Case]]: Ducky in
* [[That's an Order]]: Though it's easy to forget because of his behavior, Tony is the most senior agent on Gibbs' team. He jokingly orders McGee to do scut work all the time, but there have been several [[Oh Crap|situations]] where he drops the [[Ted Baxter]] act and firmly commands McGee, Kate or Ziva to do what he says. They're insightful enough to tell the difference and listen to him at those times.
* [[Therapy Is for the Weak]]: Their initial attitude towards seeing a therapist, though eventually the team gets some long overdue therapy. It
* [[There Are No Therapists]]: There is a staff psychoanalyst, and the team is long overdue for a checkup. However, she's got an ulterior motive. {{spoiler|She's Kate's older sister who hadn't gotten closure since her sister's death and wanted to talk to the people who knew her best. Tony guesses who she is, and Gibbs takes her to the spot where her sister's killer died
* [[They Call Me Mister Tibbs]]: Tony, being [[The Movie Buff]] that he is, references the [[Trope Namer]] when interviewing a suspect in "Faith".
{{quote|'''Ziva''': 1st Sgt. Tibbins?
'''Tibbins [starts to hit on Ziva]''': Call me Tibbs.
'''Tony [impersonates [[Sidney Poitier]]]''': [[In the Heat of the Night|They call you Mr. Tibbs?]]
* [[This Is Sparta]]: "I am one of the few people, in the world, who can kill you and leave no... forensic... evidence."
* [[Throwing the Fight]]: Ziva in the
* [[Tomboy and Girly Girl]]: Kate and Abby, and then Ziva and Abby.
* [[Took a Level
** Tony, who Shepard puts in charge when Gibbs is seriously injured and doesn't appear to be coming back. Once he puts aside the smart-ass tendencies, he becomes quite the effective leader. This, of course, shows us some [[Hidden Depths]], and leads to a great exchange when he starts channeling Gibbs during a team argument.
{{quote|'''Abby''': You're not Gibbs, Tony.
'''Tony''': You're right. ''Acting'' like Gibbs doesn't make me the boss, ''being senior agent does''. And if drinking coffee, staring, and whacking the backs of your heads helps me to lead this team... live with it.
** McGee at the beginning of "Dog Tags" and at the end of "Caged".
* [[Too Kinky to Torture]]:
** Implied with Abby in "Bloodbath":
{{quote|'''McGee''': Now, you stay here and don't answer the door, or I will tie you up!
'''Abby''': ''Really?''
** Also, Jimmy "Autopsy Gremlin" Palmer. When he helps Abby solve a problem, Gibbs gives Abby a peck on the cheek and Jimmy a [[Dope Slap|Gibbs slap]]. He looks just as pleased at this as Abby.
* [[Trademark Favorite Food]]: Gibbs' [[Brand X|not-Starbucks]] and Abby's Caf-POW! Occasionally subverted, as Gibbs can be seen drinking coffee from Panera Bread early on. The not-Starbucks, however, is far more prominent.
** Toyed with in one episode in which Gibbs (with his coffee in-hand) becomes engrossed watching Abby and McGee (both drinking Caf-POW!) showing him evidence on the computers in Abby's lab, Gibbs sets down his coffee, drinks are shuffled around the desk, and he gets handed McGee's Caf-POW!. He takes a big, hearty drink (with the straw) while distracted; his eyes go wide, he rips off the lid, spits it back into the cup, hands it back to a thoroughly devastated McGee, takes his coffee, and walks off.
** In the Season 7 premiere, a terrorist is tracked down to Somalia because he imported Caf-POW!.
* [[Tragic Keepsake]]:
** Ziva's orange cap; {{spoiler|it's a reminder of the victim from "Dead Man Walking"}}.
** {{spoiler|Kate's desk}}, for about three episodes.
* [[Trauma-Induced Amnesia]]: Gibbs after getting blowned up in
* [[Trojan Horse]]: [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|"Trojan]] [[Captain Obvious|Horse
* [[Troubled Backstory Flashback]]
* [[True Companions]]: Put Gibbs in the "[[Team Dad]]" role, and the cast starts to look a lot like a standard sitcom [[Five-Man Band]]. Do not hurt a member of Team Gibbs. They will hunt you down. And ''they will end you''.
* [[Tyke Bomb]]: A plot point of
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* [[Unexplained Recovery]]: Fornell died in one episode, then showed up at the end without any explanation (though everyone but Gibbs was surprised).
{{quote|'''Tony:''' Didn't you ''die?''
'''Fornell:''' I'm feeling much better.
* [[Unfortunate Names]]:
** "La Grenouille" translates to "The Frog", a very old nickname for people from France.
*** It's noteworthy that La Grenouille's real name is René. In Latin America, Kermit the Frog is named La Rana René (or René, the Frog).
** It's absolutely no surprise that someone with a name like [[Donald Duck|Donald]] [[wikipedia:Mallard|Mallard]] should have picked up the nickname "Ducky".
* [[Unorthodox Holstering]]: Largely averted, as the team members almost always wear their sidearms on their "strong side" hip<ref> (specifically, outside-the-waistband paddle holsters, oriented to "FBI forward cant")</ref> though several times they have experienced difficulties when changing where or how they carry. A mini-dress wearing undercover Agent Lee once complained that she could "barely walk straight" because of the location of her gun<ref> (Get your mind out of the gutter)</ref>, and while dating Jeanne, Tony once almost blew his cover when trying to control a potentially violent situation by reaching for his gun... which he had forgotten he wasn't wearing.
* [[Unresolved Sexual Tension]]:
** Tony and Kate to some degree.
** Tony and Ziva, four seasons and counting.
*** As one example for the former, they were required to go undercover as a couple of assassins. You read that right, ''couple''. As in ''married couple''. They engage in simulated sex for the benefit of a surveillance camera... and fool the guy who can tell if a person is faking an orgasm, who happens to enjoy <s>the "fake" porn</s> manning the camera.
*** The tension is taken to the next level in Season Six, where Tony is obviously pining for Ziva and clearly jealous of her relationship with Michael. {{spoiler|Of course, killing Michael doesn't help his chances, and probably kills any possibility of hooking up with Ziva in the near future
*** Then again in
*** Then again, {{spoiler|they're being rather cagey about who took the bed and who took the sofa while they were in Paris}}...
*** In
** Gibbs and Jenny (though theirs ''used'' to be resolved).
** McGee and Abby. When McGee has an onscreen girlfriend {{spoiler|and before she turns out to be an assassin
* [[Urban Legend Love Life]]: Tony, starting in
* [[The Uriah Gambit]]: {{spoiler|Vance is revealed to have been originally recruited to NIS in 1991 almost specifically for his expendibility. Obviously, it didn't go as planned
* [[Viewer-Friendly Interface]]: The strangest example has to be the 3-D graphic of a hard-drive when scanning a perp's computers, but even the main office contains magical displays that are able to zoom in on whatever part of a digital document is being referred to with a simple click of a remote.
* [[Villainous Breakdown]]: [[Deadpan Snarker|Kyle]] [[Magnificent Bastard|Boone]], [[Serial Killer|serial]] [[Complete Monster|killer]], in the episode
{{quote|[[spoiler: '''Boone''': Hey, do you think she screamed, when he cut out her tongue, Jethro?
'''Gibbs''': I don't know. Why don't you ask her yourself?
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'''Cassidy''': I'm afraid your lawyer's going to miss your execution tomorrow.
'''Tony''': He's kinda dead.
'''Gibbs''': [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner|Enjoy hell]].
'''Boone''': *insert breakdown and screaming here*]]
* [[Vomiting Cop]]: An amnesiac Gibbs, being brought up to speed on recent history, succumbs to this trope when his old mentor tells him about 9/11.
* [["Well Done, Son" Guy]]: Tony; slightly subverted in that Gibbs has always been proud of him... he just doesn't feel the need to say it. This has lessened in later seasons, after Gibbs left his team to Tony during his Mexican sabbatical. This quote is from
{{quote|'''Tony''': Save the pep talk. We both know I screwed up.
'''Gibbs''': Yeah, three years ago. But now you're making it right...and me proud. You've been doing a hell of a job, [[First-Name Basis|Anthony]].
** On a related note, [[Meaningful Name|Anthony means "worthy of praise
* [[We Named the Monkey "Jack"]]:
**
**
* [[Wet Sari Scene]]: A [[Nipple-and-Dimed]] (by pouring water) photo on one when a drunken Tony discovers {{spoiler|strait-laced Kate once entered (and won) a wet T-shirt contest
* [[We Want Our Jerk Back]]: When Tony abruptly goes into "serious mode", Ziva and McGee first thinks he's joking, then trying to make them look bad in front of an assistant DA and later believes he is going crazy. It turns out {{spoiler|he was feeling guilty for not noticing a woman he had a one-night-stand with who thought they were soulmates was actually seriously depressed and was trying to make up for it by not making fun of everyone. He got better after Ziva gives him a pep-talk}}.
** In "Kill Ari
* [["What Do They Fear?" Episode]]: "[[B ête]] Noire" points out a few of the main characters' (plus Ari who first appears in this episode but becomes a recurring character) fears.
** Tony fears vampires.
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** Ari fears butterflies.
* [[What Kept You?]]: Frequently.
* [[Who Dunnit to Me?]]: "Dead Man Walking". A lieutenant is poisoned via radiation and asks NCIS to solve who did it to him before he starts getting really sick. {{spoiler|He survives to the end of the episode, but dies offscreen a few shows later
* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]: "Why does it always have to be boats, and rats?"
* [[Wild Card]]: Tony describes himself as one {{spoiler|when captured by Saleem}}.
* [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds]]: A guy exploits vulnerabilities in the entire Navy fleet to avenge his son, who died when a terrorist exploited a flaw in his battleship.
* [[The Worf Effect]]: Want to show how awesome a new threat is?? Have them take down Ziva in a fight.
* [[Working with the Ex]]: Seasons
* [[Write Who You Know]]: McGee's based a series of thriller novels he's written on his coworkers and miscellaneous civilians. He is a best-selling author, under the [[Pen Name]] of "[[Significant Anagram|Thom E. Gemcity]]". Despite his picture being on the back cover, he's almost never recognized. This causes problems when a [[Loony Fan]] starts killing people based on actions taken by their fictional selves in McGee's next book (the killer {{spoiler|1=had been reading McGee's typewriter ribbons to get a sneak peek}}). In that episode, McGee finally admits that he bases the characters in his books off the NCIS team (after the content of his latest book had been revealed, [[Running Gag|he'd made it a point to deny the similarities]]).
** This gets lampshaded in the episode "Friends and Lovers", when the team has to investigate a high-class nightclub. Rather than make up a celebrity to get into the place, they simply send in McGee using his "Gemcity" identity, complete with a trio of female admirers (Ziva, Abby, and Michelle Lee).
* [[X Days Since...]]
* [[You! Get Me Coffee!]]: Regularly.
** Played with in the "[[Doppelg Ã]]¤nger" episode when the McGee analogue fetches coffee for Gibbs ''and'' his counterpart.
** This is also played with when one of the team members (usually McGee) drinks or spills Gibbs' coffee, leaving them stammering, sputtering, and scrambling to get him a fresh cup.
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* [[You Have to Believe Me]]: The show ''loves'' subverting this one. See trope page for examples.
* [[You Killed My Father]]:
** Director Shepard to La Grenouille. {{spoiler|Later she does kill him, but no one figures it out until she's already dead... [[The Un-Reveal|or was it Trent, actually telling the truth
** {{spoiler|The daughter of the drug dealer who killed Gibbs' family to Gibbs; it turns out she's now the leader of the gang and she's the one who's been orchestrating all the Mexican intrigue
** {{spoiler|Variation: You killed my daughter. [[Prepare to Die]]. -- Gibbs' former mother-in-law to the Navy captain who was the main connection to the drug dealers that killed her daughter and granddaughter (the closest she could get to the actual murderers) -- ''as he's on his knees about to propose to her''. Gibbs later reveals to her that he avenged his family and "illegally" arrests her in her lawyer's presence to negate the charges
**
* [[You Know What They Say About X...]]
* [[You Need to Get Laid]]: Gibbs' team tries to find him the perfect woman in the ninth season episode "Safe Harbor" so he will stop making them work nights and weekends.
** Gibbs told Tony he'd made a mistake in blowing off his ex-fiancee for Christmas brunch in the ninth season episode "Newborn King
** Tony and Ziva often push Tim McGee to ask out a girl and Tony once arranged a date for Tim.
* [[Your Days Are Numbered]]: Lt. Roy Sanders in "Dead Man Walking
* [[You Taste Delicious]]: During the aforementioned sexual harassment training, Ziva notices Tony not paying attention, and licks him. He promptly jumps up and draws everyone's attention.
* [[Zettai Ryouiki]]: This is one of the staples of Abby's wardrobe.
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[[Category:Live-Action TV of the 2000s]]
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