Leroy Jethro Gibbs (original) (raw)

Leroy Jethro Gibbs is a former NIS/NCIS Special Agent in Charge of the NCIS Major Case Response Team which operates out of the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. Sometime in the early 1990's, he created The Leroy Jethro Gibbs Scholarship Fund.

He held SAC position up until March 2021 when he was suspended with his second-in-command, NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee succeeding him as the agent in charge of the MCRT. In June 2021, Gibbs resigned from the team and NCIS for good, opting to remain in Alaska instead of returning to Washington D.C. FBI Special Agent-Turned-NCIS Special Agent Alden Parker succeeded him as the new leader of the NCIS Major Case Response Team. Currently, Gibbs is now retired and resides in Alaska.

He is a former Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, the son of Jackson and Ann Gibbs, the widower of Shannon Gibbs, father of Kelly Gibbs. He is also the ex-husband of Diane Sterling, Rebecca Chase and Stephanie Flynn, the godfather of Amira Shakarji, the son-in-law of Joann and Mac Fielding and the ex-brother-in-law of Shelly Flynn. He has been married four times and divorced three.

Pre-Series

Born in the small town of Stillwater, Pennsylvania on November 21, 1954, Gibbs was the only child of US Army Air Force veteran Jackson Gibbs and civilian housewife Ann Gibbs with Gibbs receiving his first two names in honor of Leroy Jethro Moore, Jackson's best friend and business partner. In "The Namesake", it is revealed that LJ, a World War II veteran and Montford Point Marine, had influenced the teenaged Gibbs to join the Marines. Gibbs is known by his first name, Leroy, to family and people in his hometown (as well as his ex-wife Diane), whereas at work he is known as Gibbs, Jethro, or simply "Boss". Shannon called him both Gibbs and Jethro.

In Semper Fidelis Gibbs mentions that his grandfather had a still and that it blew up once. In My Other Left Foot, Gibbs states that he had an aunt who died at age seven.

When Gibbs was about 9 years old, his father helped him build his very first boat, named "Chickadee" after a nickname his father Jackson called his mother Ann. Her quote about building boats was "A boat named after a person will live forever." That's when he got his love of building boats and other things by hand with hand tools.

Gibbs had a very quiet upbringing but suffered a tragedy at the age of 14 when his mother died of cancer. It was revealed that she had actually committed suicide so that her husband and son would not have to watch her suffer, leaving Jackson a widower and also forcing him to raise young Gibbs all by himself. Jackson blamed Moore for her death as she had confided in him about what she was going to do and he had not stopped her, with this secret breaking apart their friendship and neither Gibbs nor his father seeing Moore again for many years.

As teenager, Gibbs often provoked violence with defiance to his father, who constantly comes to his unwanted aid with a Winchester rifle. He faced confrontations with Chuck Winslow and Ed Gantry and was also known around the area as a delinquent, as said by the new sheriff, one of the other delinquents during his teenage years, stating, "Funny, never expected to find you on the same side of the law."

He became captivated by local girl Shannon Fielding, who he first saw Shannon in a window at the local clothing store “Ellen’s Dress Shop”, where she was dressing a mannequin in the window and he would properly meet her for the first time at a train station before being deployed. At the train station, Shannon asked why Leroy was fighting with Chuck and Ed and he said it over something stupid. She said, "You should probably stop that." She then asked Leroy for his name and he told her "Leroy Jethro Gibbs." She looked at him with a smile and said, "I'm just gonna call you Gibbs." It is later revealed that Shannon inspired Gibbs to create his rules as she was creating her own set of rules to live by.

After graduating from high school, rather than going to college Gibbs chose to join the United States Marine Corps instead. Gibbs left Stillwater in 1972 and had little contact with the place for the next thirty years. Gibbs shipped to Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island for recruit training, gaining the serial number 817657329 in which he added a G after to close friends. There he befriended fellow Marine Private First Class Joan Matteson, but she was one of several marines killed in a helicopter crash on April 3 1973, after she was deployed to Okinawa, Japan.

Gibbs's early years in the Marine Corps were with the Military Police in Camp Lejeune. He rose to a Non-Commissioned Officer rank. Later, in 1980 as a Sergeant, he accepted to Scout Sniper School in Camp Pendleton.

In 1980, he briefly broke up with Shannon out of fear losing her because of his marine status. While going to a wedding, he was abducted by Vito Zucado and had met Ducky after the latter accidentally saved him by crashing into Vito's car. After giving his story to NCIS, he and Ducky were abducted by Vito's cousin Jonny Zucado who beat Gibbs until he knocked out a tooth. Thanks to Ducky, they were spared. Taking advice from Ducky, Gibbs reconciled with Shannon and they married in December of 1981 and had a baby girl sometime in 1982 whom they would name Kelly Gibbs.

Later Gibbs became a Scout Sniper and saw several overseas deployments. He rosed from Sergent to Gunnery Sargent rank. As a Marine, Gibbs befriended Bushnell, future Senator Patrick Kiley, Charles T. Ellison and Kevin Maloney, people he would once encounter during his time as an NCIS/NCIS agent.

During 1989-1991, Gibbs was served on tours of duty in Panama]] (Operation Just Cause)[1] and in the Persian Gulf (Operation Desert Storm) with the 1st Battalion 1st Marines[2]. His Commanding Officer during Desert Storm was Lieutenant Colonel William Ryan. Gibbs' Lieutenant, David Cameron, died in Gibbs's arms during a battle after trying to save Gibbs' life.

In February 1991, Shannon witnessed the murder of a marine by Mexican drug cartel leader Pedro Hernandez and agreed to testify against him, with her and their daughter Kelly being placed under the protection of a NIS Special Agent Kurt Mitchell. However, Mitchell was shot in the head by Hernandez while he was driving them and died instantly, both Shannon and Kelly died when the van crashed into a wall.

During his deployment in Desert Storm, Gibbs received the news that both Shannon and Kelly had been murdered. Being understandably grief-stricken and devastated, he was wounded during an engagement and was left comatose for nineteen days. As he had been wounded in combat with an enemy force, Gibbs was then awarded the Purple Heart medal.

Gibbs was an in-patient at Bethesda up until June of 1991. During his recovery process, Gibbs visited the graves of his dead wife and daughter who were buried while he was in a coma. He also met NIS agent Michael Franks who was investigating the girls’ deaths.

In the season 6 episode "Deliverance", it is revealed that he was also deployed to Colombia on a classified mission to kill drug lord, when he meet Rosa Tomayo and they have affair. In An Eye for An Eye revealed he also served on duty in Bosnian war. Not long after that, he retired from the Marine Corps with the rank of Gunnery Sergeant.

NCIS: Origins

NCIS: Origins Season 1

Following that, in August of 1991 Gibbs joined the Naval Investigative Service (NIS) been recruited by Franks. He subsequently became a Probationary Agent with Franks handling most of Gibbs' training in Camp Pendleton Field Office. In October that year Gibbs become member his team and meet Cecilia ”Lala” Domingues, Bernard "Randy" Randolf and Vera Strickland, Franks' partner.

Interim Years

After Gibbs personally travelled to Mexico and shot dead Pedro Hernandez in revenge with his .338 Lapua MAG sniper rifle over 1000 feet away, his e was investigated for the shooting by Lieutenant Lara Macy of the USMC Military Police but she closed her investigation after learning about the circumstances that led to the shooting.

As agent, Gibbs worked alongside Dwayne Cassius Pride, Dan McLane, Felix Betts and Michael Franks. The posse were dubbed the "Fed Five" and gained national recognition for their work on the Privileged Killer case.

Around this time he married and divorced his then wife Diane Sterling. It’s was revealed in "Mind Games", in which Ducky notes that Gibbs became so obsessed with catching serial killer Kyle Boone that it incited the collapse of their marriage, which happened no later than 1995, the year Gibbs captured Boone.

After Franks had retired from NIS/NCIS in 1996, Gibbs began serving as a training officer to NCIS Special Agent Stanley Burley.

Later, Gibbs served as an Agent Afloat on board an unnamed Navy ship in the Mediterranean. Upon his deployment ending, Gibbs returned home and found his then-wife, Rebecca Chase in bed with another man, Gene Isaacson. As such, Gibbs and Rebecca divorced, and she later married this man she cheated Gibbs on.

In 1999, NCIS Special Agent Riley McCallister sent Gibbs to Europe, the destination being Paris, France where Gibbs met NCIS agents William Decker and Jennifer Shepard, as well as Medical Examiner Donald Mallard. During their time in Paris, Gibbs and Jenny participated in a mission with Decker serving as their handler with the objective being to eliminate Russian arms dealer Anatoly Zhukov and his fiancée, Svetlana Chernitskaya. Gibbs managed to kill Zhukov but Jenny hesitated and let Svetlana escape. Gibbs and Shepard became partners and eventually lovers with the relationship soon ending after Jenny left Gibbs a "Dear John" letter.

He lived in Moscow, Russia, for about a year with his then wife Stephanie Flynn, when he was worked alongside G. Callen. Gibbs and Stephanie’s marriage only lasted 14 months. According to Gibbs, she was the one who left him. She is also been said in the Season 1 episode, "Hung Out to Dry", to get drunk and dial Gibbs incessantly on the day of their former wedding anniversary, which leads him to aggressively disable or even ruin his phones to shut her out.

In 2001, Burley became an Agent Afloat while Gibbs was assigned to the NCIS Headquarters located in the Navy Yard in Washington D.C.

In September 2001 Gibbs was engaged for a fifth time to a woman named Ellen Wallace. Originally, she was believed to have died in the 9/11 attacks, but she had been murdered the night before. Gibbs later revealed that he ended his relationship with Ellen two weeks before her death because he loved her and was trying to protect her.

In November 2001 Gibbs came to Baltimore on an undercover assignment, linking a Navy officer to a money laundering scheme and meet Detectives Tony Dinozzo and Danny Price . Since Gibbs is undercover, the Baltimore detectives take the lead. When they finally arrest the money launderer, DiNozzo uncovers evidence that Price is corrupt and has been working with the launderer. DiNozzo confronts Price in secret, but is unwilling to expose him. Equally unable to continue working with him, DiNozzo considers quitting the police force, but Gibbs, impressed by his abilities, invites him to join NCIS.

While there, Gibbs formed his own team originally composed of former Baltimore Police Department Detective Anthony DiNozzo, Forensics Specialist Abigail Sciuto and Ducky with former FBI agent Vivian Blackadder later joining the team a few months after the attack on the U.S.S. Cole that had killed her brother, Rex.

JAG Season 8

Gibbs in "Ice Queen".

Gibbs made his debut appearance in the JAG Season 8/NCIS backdoor pilot episode, Ice Queen.

NCIS Season 1

NCIS Special Agent Gibbs is present in every episode of the season. In the first episode he brings Secret Service Agent Caitlin Todd in as a new member. In this episode Special Agent Timothy McGee is only a recurring character and not a part of the team yet.

NCIS Season 2

NCIS Special Agent Gibbs is present in every episode of the season. The main antagonist of the second season is Mossad Agent Ari Haswari. The season ends with the brutal death of Agent Todd at the hands of Ari.

NCIS Season 3

NCIS Special Agent Gibbs is present in every episode of the season. The first two episodes deals with the teams loss of Agent Todd, and introduces the new team member Mossad Agent Ziva David to the team.