Anthony DiNozzo

Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo
'NCIS' character
Michael Weatherly as Tony DiNozzo
First appearance	"Ice Queen" (JAG)
Portrayed by	Michael Weatherly
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Special Agent, Major Case Response Team Senior Field Agent (NCIS) former Detective (BPD)

Anthony "Tony" D. DiNozzo Jr. (English pronunciation: /di.ˈnoʊ.zoʊ/) is a fictional character from the NCIS television series by CBS Television. He is portrayed by Michael Weatherly.

Background

Family

Tony comes from a wealthy family from Long Island, New York. He is an only child, but has been cut off from his family's fortune. His mother, maiden name Paddington, died when Tony was 8. She went through a "Louis XV phase" when Tony was five that inspired the decor of his childhood bedroom and gave him vampire nightmares. She also drank Tony's Sea Monkeys, confusing their sea castles with her mint julep. Tony's father, Anthony DiNozzo Sr., is an American Civil War reenactor and as a child, Tony would carry the "poop bucket" during reenactments. This has resulted in a dislike of anything relating to the Civil War. It has also been suggested that his father was abusive and an alcoholic.. In "Flesh and Blood," Tony's father is in DC and the two share similar personality traits—they both flirt with women. It is also stated in "Flesh and Blood" that his father is a con pretending to be rich when he is not. It's also revealed that after his mother's death, Tony and his father spent very little time together and rarely communicated with each other which is what caused their strained relationship. Tony also spent the majority of his childhood in a number of boarding schools and summer camps. He was also at one point left in a hotel room for two days when his father left for a supposed business meeting.

Other family members mentioned in NCIS episodes include a button-collecting grandfather who bequeathed Tony one thousand shares in a dot-com, and a number of uncles. His uncle, Vincenzo, is a butcher on Long Island. A second uncle was a successful businessman, but was found at a golf course looking for mole people. A third uncle is named as Clive Paddington, wealthy and deceased.

Education and Work History

Tony attended Rhode Island Military Academy as a teenager, and graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Physical Education. During his time at Ohio State, he was on the varsity basketball team and made it to the Final Four before losing to UCLA. He also discusses a football game in the episode "SWAK", between his team (Ohio State) and his doctor Brad Pitt's team (Michigan). He mentions having broken his leg during this game or more accurately, Pitt breaking it for him. In the episodes "Bikini Wax" and "Trojan Horse," he mentions he is in the Ohio State Alpha Chi Delta fraternity, class of 1989. In the episode "Child's Play," he mentions receiving a combined score of 950 on his SATs.

He has worked in three different police departments - Peoria, Philadelphia, and Baltimore - staying in each location for an average of two years. At the end of his stint with Baltimore Police Department's homicide division, he was hired by NCIS. This event occurred prior to the NCIS pilot and the circumstances of his hiring are largely unknown, but Tony claims it was because he "smiled."

During his tenure as a NCIS special agent, Tony has operated as a supervisory special agent and undertaken a long-term undercover operation throughout season four. At the end of season five, Tony is assigned as Special Agent Afloat to the USS Ronald Reagan and later to the USS Seahawk. However, at the beginning of season six, he is reassigned to his original team back at NCIS headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Characterization

Tony is written as a streetwise, promiscuous former homicide detective. His behavior toward women is occasionally noted by other characters to be chauvinistic, and throughout most of the series Tony is shown flirting with nearly every woman he encounters. He does not respect personal boundaries, going so far as to rifle through his colleagues' possessions, both at work and in their homes, and listen in on private phone calls. The targets of this behavior are either victims of Tony's quests for new sources of amusement, or those for whom he believes he has reason to be concerned.

Michael Weatherly as Anthony DiNozzo filming in 2008

Although Tony is canonically in his thirties, he is typically written as possessing a juvenile sense of humor that manifests itself in name-calling, teasing and pranks directed at his colleagues. Tony delights in quoting movies in everyday life, often mimicking the original actor when quoting them; Sean Connery's James Bond and Tommy Lee Jones come up frequently. Tony also finds parallels between the cinema and his everyday life. This occasionally proves to be more useful than aggravating, as when his application of a solution from the movie Speed (1994) ends in the successful resolution of a case. In a nod to NCIS creator Donald Bellisario, Tony has also been established as a fan of the television series Magnum, P.I. and Airwolf, both of which are also Bellisario productions. In the episode "Dead Man Talking," Tony introduces himself to a suspect as Airwolf character "Stringfellow." Tony's coworkers often display visible frustration with his behavior, but throughout the series Tony has been shown to be very loyal to his coworkers at NCIS, particularly his supervisor, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

Although his immature behavior often gets Tony into trouble, he also demonstrates himself to be an insightful agent when the need arises. On more than one occasion he surprises his colleagues when an outwardly immature action on his part actually causes new evidence to be uncovered. He is generally written as a highly capable agent, and in season four is offered a prized position as a supervisory agent in Rota, Spain, which he nonetheless turns down. Tony is known to be fluent in Spanish, as is established from his earliest appearance in the JAG-NCIS crossover episodes as well as throughout the NCIS series.

Tony claims to have 20/10 vision in the episode "Left for Dead"; however, in the episode "The Curse", he can be seen wearing glasses at his desk before promptly taking them off to talk to Gibbs. He also once donated to a sperm bank, but no one wanted to use his sperm. He drove a 1966 Ford Mustang until it was bombed.

The character is initially portrayed as a "technophobe" who, like his superior, has limited patience with the scientific method and technical terms. However, he can be seen to develop an aptitude for technology in later episodes, and is occasionally depicted hacking into computer systems.

Relationships

Women

During the entire run of NCIS Tony consistently speaks at great length about women. He pursues girls on a regular basis, typically indiscriminately, though he has shown an aversion to women who don't shave. Most of these relationships fail to progress past a certain point, and he has admitted to having commitment issues.

One of the women he was attracted to turned out to be a terrorist working with Ari Haswari; another he was attracted to, and kissed, turned out to be a pre-operative transsexual who murdered one of Tony's co-workers. He once dated a social worker named Michelle who, after he ended their relationship, broke into his apartment and filled his closet with dog feces. He also had a short relationship with NCIS Special Agent Paula Cassidy and once dated his high school music teacher. He also broke up with a Navy lieutenant (who had left her then-fiance for him), and shortly after Tony broke up with her, she posted his name, identity and information on a herpes alert website.

The NCIS writers make reference to one of Michael Weatherly's real life relationships in the episode "Hiatus (Part 1)" when he states, "I’ve got a better chance of hooking up with Jessica Alba...". Weatherly's real life relationship with Alba occurred during his tenure on the television series Dark Angel.

Abby Sciuto

Tony has a friendly relationship with Abby Sciuto. She has shown the strength of their friendship in such cases as when she did everything possible to find out who the real killer was when her assistant framed him for murder, when he was seemingly blown up and when he returned from his time as an agent afloat. She can be upset with him at times, such as when someone ate her cupcake, when NCIS director Jenny Shepard was killed and he and Ziva David weren't where they were supposed to be.

Dr. Jeanne Benoit

In Season 4 Tony's new girlfriend, Dr. Jeanne Benoit, is introduced. Tony and Jeanne do not consummate their relationship, because Tony reveals that he wants to "take it slow" out of fear of this relationship becoming like his earlier ones. When questioned by Jeanne, Tony's explanation revolves about his previous misogyny and that a repeat performance would ensue if they followed the same route. Tony and Jeanne subsequently consummate their relationship in the episode "Smoked". Tony is determined to have a positive outcome for this relationship and goes to great lengths, though often with a lot of inspiration from films, to make their relationship special.

Despite his earlier good intentions for the relationship with Jeanne, Tony cannot bring himself to tell her that he loves her which causes trouble between them. In the episode "Grace Period", Tony is told by his earlier love interest, Paula Cassidy, who had just lost two of her agents and blamed herself for their deaths, that if he loves someone, he should tell her while he still can. Tony is left distraught following the death of Cassidy during a suicide bomb attack on Gibbs' team. He later goes to see Jeanne and, following Cassidy's advice, tells her he loves her. The last scene shows Tony embracing Jeanne while crying on her shoulder.

Tony shows his commitment to the relationship when he confronts Jeanne about her previous boyfriend. Tony's suspicions become aroused by the constant contact between Jeanne and her former boyfriend in the form of calls and emails. Tony coincidentally meets Jeanne's former partner, who was in fact a Metro police officer named John, though neither of them knew about the other's relationship with Jeanne. They bonded through the fact that they were very similar in character, sharing many habits and traits. Unbeknownst to either Tony or Jeanne, John said goodbye to Jeanne in an email and died in Tony's arms.

In the episode "Angel of Death", it is revealed that Jeanne's father is La Grenouille (The Frog), the French arms dealer that NCIS Director Jenny Shepherd has been obsessively trying to capture for years. However, in the episode "Bury Your Dead", it is revealed that Tony was using Jeanne, as part of an NCIS assignment (with a tie in to the CIA's Operation LODESTONE), to infiltrate an arms smuggling network. Jeanne leaves Tony a greeting card in her apartment, as she has left the Washington, D.C. area. In the episode "Family", Tony is struggling with how his relationship with Jeanne ended and throughout the episode has flashbacks on the relationship. Ziva tries to console Tony, but he rejects her attempts insisting that he is fine. At the end of this episode the message in Jeanne's card for Tony is visible; "I am not coming back. You need to choose." After looking at a family reunited with their newborn baby, Tony tosses the card into the fire and joins the team.

Jeanne makes a reappearance in the episode "Internal Affairs" when she accuses Tony of murdering her father. At the end of the episode, even though Tony was initially angry with Jeanne for accusing him, Ziva advises him to "be a man" and tell her what she needs to hear. Tony speaks to Jeanne, apologizing for letting her get caught in the middle of something that wasn't her fault. Jeanne responds by asking Tony if their relationship was real and, after a pause, he answers "No". Jeanne then tells him she wishes she had never met him.

In a conversation with Tara Cole, Tony admits that since his relationship with Jeanne ended he's been not been enjoying his normal level of success with women, despite his continued bravado to his co-workers.

Female Officers

NCIS agent Ziva David

Ziva and Tony often try to outdo each other in verbal and physical competitions. Ziva taunts Tony in much the same way Todd did before she was killed. Some aspects of Ziva's personality disturb him, such as the fact that she sleeps with a gun in her hand and snores very loudly, as shown in the episode "Under Covers". During that episode, Tony and Ziva repeatedly faked sexual intercourse to solidify their cover as married assassins. The FBI agents who were monitoring them told McGee that they believed the sex was real, making him wonder what really happened between Tony and Ziva. Also during this episode, Ziva refers to Tony as "Little Hairy Butt." In the subsequent episode, "Frame Up", Ziva rates Tony's butt a two out of five, telling him, "I took three points off for excessive hair." He replies delightedly, "That's a five!," to which Ziva chuckles and says, "If you shave."

In the episode "Shalom", Ziva learns that Mossad, apparently on her father's orders, has been spying on her for several months; the surveillance reveals that Tony has been visiting Ziva at her apartment at least once a week for the past three months, leading to suggestions that the two have become intimate—or merely that they see each other socially. She neither confirms nor denies the implication of intimacy in the episode.

In the Season 4 episode "Singled Out", Ziva questioned Tony about an unidentified girlfriend. Subsequent episodes have established that Tony was building a relationship with medical doctor Jeanne Benoit and no apparent romantic link exists between him and Ziva. During "Driven" it is revealed that Ziva was unaware of Tony's romance with Benoit and had thus been misreading some of his secrecy. Due to Tony's frequent clandestine visits to a hospital (where Jeanne worked) and his claim that he was undergoing tests, Ziva indicated to Gibbs that she was worried that he might be having a medical problem related to his exposure to Y. pestis from the episode "SWAK".

Ziva exhibits jealousy and disappointment of the lack of a relationship between herself and Tony; as seen in such episodes as "Identity Crisis" when she states that she thought Tony was ready for a "real" woman. Furthermore, in the episode "In The Zone", Ziva gets rather frustrated at the idea of Tony sharing a room with a fellow female agent. In the episode "Agent Afloat", Ziva hints that she misses him whilst he has been serving as an NCIS officer aboard Naval ships.

During the episode "Nine Lives", Tony shows an interest in Ziva's vacation to Israel despite the fact that she's only just returned. Upon finding a picture of a man on her desk, Tony's interest is stimulated further; not knowing that the man in the picture was Ziva's Mossad partner. Tony also tells her to have a good trip (Nisiya Tova) in Hebrew demonstrating either his willingness to attempt to impress her or simply a willingness to learn a phrase in her native language.

The episode "Cloak" reveals more about their relationship, though not necessarily evidence of mutual romantic attraction. When placed in a war game, Ziva disobeys Gibbs' orders not to engage, thereby causing the opponent guardsmen to attack Ziva and Tony. Both NCIS members attempt to aid the other; Tony is knocked unconscious, and Ziva manages to land a few good blows on the guardsmen before being knocked unconscious, herself. Later, they share an angry conversation in the elevator, where Tony accuses Ziva of disobeying Gibbs and provoking the fight. Defending her actions, Ziva reveals that she acted on impulse. They both say that they are "tired of pretending": Tony about the politics in the hunt for the mole within the team, which required the team members to withhold information from each other; Ziva about an undisclosed matter.

Their relationship is seriously tested in the episodes "Legend (Parts 1 and 2)" when Tony suspects Ziva is being less than truthful with him; later he discovers Ziva is in a relationship with Mossad officer Michael Rivkin, an assassin who plays an important role in the story. The penultimate episode "Semper Fidelis" sees a fight between Tony and Rivkin, which ends with Rivkin's death. Although Tony claims self defense, Ziva is furious, and the two have a confrontation of their own in the episode "Aliyah". Ziva elects to return to the Mossad, claiming she can no longer trust Tony; at the end of the episode, Tony is shown to be considering calling her, but resigns himself to the fact that she is gone and "will call when she is ready."

In the episode "Truth and Consequences", Tony is given truth serum while being held captive in Somalia. Ziva asks what he is doing there and he says that "I couldn't live without you, I guess."

In the episode "Reunion", Tony and Ziva talk in the men's room about the events involving Michael. Ziva confesses that she is grateful that he has always "had her back." Before she leaves the restroom, Ziva kisses Tony on the cheek, saying that his "instincts were right".

In the episode "Jet Lag", Tony and Ziva, on a mission to protect a key witness, are stuck together in one hotel room in Paris. On the return flight, the witness Nora Williams asks Ziva and Tony why they aren't together, if they are together, etc. They dodge those questions, and when Nora finds out they shared a hotel room, Ziva tells her that she took the couch. However, upon their return to D.C., McGee asks Tony where he slept, and Tony tells him that he slept on the couch. Ziva then looks at Tony after McGee has left and asks him why he lied. Tony in response asks her why she lied to Nora. Also, Tony tells her that his favorite picture of Paris is the only one with a person in it. When he gives Ziva the picture, the audience sees that the person in the picture is Ziva.

Tony has also demonstrated interest in any perceived attention both of his female partners--Caitlin Todd and Ziva David--receive from men. In Ziva's case, this is particularly true of NCIS Field Agent Chad Dunham and Former Marine Corporal Damon Worth. No reason has been given for this attitude.

Special Agent Caitlin Todd

Tony's relationship with Todd was in many ways a sibling relationship, but with a constant undertone of flirtation and the possibility of something more. Tony and Todd constantly competed. Their bickering got so bad in the episode "Pop Life" that they sought counseling from Ducky. However, on many occasions he is shown being considerate, kind and even borderline romantic to Todd. He buys her flowers as a peace offering after annoying her in the episode "Vanished". He shows concern for her after the episode "Bête Noire", when Todd was held hostage by Ari. In the episode "The Bone Yard", Tony is almost possessive of Todd when McGee poses the idea of pretending to be Todd's partner to get into a paternity clinic to photograph evidence for Abby; saying he will do it instead of McGee. Later in the same episode, he tells Todd he thought they made a good couple; to which she replied "Maybe for the Jerry Springer Show". In extras seen on the Season 2 DVD Box Set, the producers stated it was intended for there to be a relationship between these two characters.

After Todd's death, like the other characters, DiNozzo also had a vision of her postmortem. Typical to Tony's chauvinistic personality, Todd appeared in the Catholic schoolgirl uniform that he had been asking about in the episode "Bikini Wax". After telling him that she always knew what he was thinking, she realizes that she is wearing the uniform and berates him, saying "I just died, and you're having a sexual fantasy?".

NCIS Director Jenny Shepard

In the fourth season, Tony's relationship with Jenny Shepard is shown to have warmed considerably in comparison to the end of the third season, with Tony occasionally being caught referring to her by her first name. The main reason for the warming of their relationship is the fact that Tony was involved in an ongoing operation run by Shepard, which is of personal importance to her. As they are keeping secrets, they develop a strong level of trust. Upon Gibbs' absence Tony took on his job and its associated responsibilities; this meant his interactions with the director became more frequent and as a consequence his relationship with her became more familiar, as seen in the episode "Shalom". Tony was particularly upset at director Shepard's death in the episode "Judgment Day (Part 1)". He considered the event to be his fault because he had followed the director's instruction to abandon her protection detail. In the episode "Agent Afloat", Ziva reveals that, in the aftermath of Jenny's death, Tony had been drinking out of guilt.

Male Officers

Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs

Tony greatly respects Gibbs and claims to have a father/son type relationship with him, a feeling supported by the "tough love" Gibbs often demonstrates, like in the episode "Sandblast", when he said "my son Tony." Tony is easily riled when it seems that Gibbs has a new favorite, and tries desperately to win back favor. Gibbs has the tendency to smack Tony on the back of the head whenever he says or does something inappropriate, however Gibbs told Tony that he was "irreplaceable" in the episode "Missing". Tony tolerates being smacked only by Gibbs; when Todd gives him a similar smack in the episode "Reveille" he reacts with momentary anger and the same reaction is shown when Ziva mirrors Gibbs' smack in the episode "Probie".

Tony prides himself on knowing much of the military terms, acronyms and slang Gibbs regularly uses which sometimes confuses civilians. Phrases such as these uttered by Tony include "On your six" or "got your six". This refers to the six o'clock position being at the back as 12 o'clock is at the front, as in ground or flying formations (explained in CBS's NCIS Glossary of terms). Throughout the first seasons of the series Tony made it a point to explain several agency acronyms to Todd and occasionally to McGee.

In the episode "Kill Ari (Part 1)", Gibbs starts "being nice" for about half the episode. The change in his demeanor bothers Tony, and he tells McGee: "He's not Gibbs if he's nice." Tony then makes up his mind to tick Gibbs off so that he will return to the way he previously was; upon his success at making an inappropriate comment towards the Director (at which Gibbs slaps him in his typical way), he welcomes Gibbs back, pleased.

After Gibbs left at the end of season 3, Tony took his place as team leader. As leader, he tried to emulate Gibbs' leadership style, but he did make some changes. These included calling "Campfire" discussions (an impromptu sharing of current information among his fellow agents, which his peers found annoying), and reorganizing the equipment in the field truck. When Tony is offered his own team in Rota, Spain, he turns the offer down claiming that he wanted to keep an eye on Gibbs, whose memory has still not completely returned after the blast at the end of season 3. Gibbs indicates his belief that Tony is ready for his own team, unaware of the fact that Tony has already been offered this opportunity.

During the time Gibbs was away, Tony began working on an undercover operation with Director Shepard. Gibbs, unaware of the operation and noticing an unusual closeness between Tony and the director, questions the relationship. In the episode "Blowback", the undercover operation is revealed to Gibbs and Tony apologizes for not disclosing any information about the operation.

In Flesh and Blood, Gibbs tells Tony's father that Tony is the best young Agent he's ever worked with.

Special Agent Timothy McGee

Tony's relationship with Timothy McGee could be considered problematic. Part of this could be considered hazing, as McGee is the least experienced member of the NCIS team and ranks only as a junior field agent. For example, when McGee joined the team as a probationary Special Agent, Tony began calling him "Probie" (including versions of "Probie", such as "Probie-Wan Kenobi", "Probie Pan", and "Probie-san"). Some of Tony's other nicknames for McGee are plays on his name such as "McGeek", "McProbie" and "McGoogle". He also refers to McGees online-gaming persona Elf-Lord. In some cases the names refer to aspects of McGee's character, such as "McTardy", a reference to McGee being late, and "McCheat", a reference to McGee supposedly cheating at Scrabble.

Contrary to appearances, Tony values his relationship with McGee, as seen in the episode "Probie"; Tony goes out of his way to support McGee and makes an effort to cheer him up. Particularly shown when McGee accidentally shoots an undercover police officer, Tony is the first one to try and allay McGee's feelings of guilt. At one point, after McGee has expressed his chagrin at being called "Probie", Gibbs tells him that his first senior agent still calls him "Probie" and suggests that it is not a sign of distaste or disrespect. During Gibbs' absence however, McGee becomes the senior field agent as Tony is now team leader. At this time, Tony shows much more respect for McGee and confidence in his abilities.

In the beginning of the seventh season Tony has more frequently called McGee by his first name, Tim, instead of these nicknames. An example of this is when McGee is explaining something to Gibbs and Tony says, "It's a burn phone, Tim, just say burn phone." It has been shown a few other times as well. The relationship between the two agents is on a much more equal footing as the show moves into the seventh season. McGee is very rarely (if at all) referred to as "Probie" anymore by Tony, especially since Ziva has become a probationary field agent.

References

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