page_title: Anthony DiNozzo
section_title: Characterization
hierarchical_section_title: Anthony DiNozzo / Characterization
caption_attribution_description: I've cropped my friend and myself out of these photos because I look like a dork and I figured she would not want to be on Flickr publicly (She doesn't look dorky at all in these photos). That's my hand and part of my blue shirt you can see.
context_page_description: Anthony D. "Tony" DiNozzo, Jr. is a fictional character from the CBS TV series NCIS portrayed by American actor Michael Weatherly. An original cast character created by producer Donald P. Bellisario, he is credited in 306 episodes, but actually appearing in 305 of the series. He has also made guest appearances on the spin-offs NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans.
  Tony DiNozzo, born in 1972, is the senior field agent of the fictional Major Case Response Team led by Jethro Gibbs, a Marine Gunnery sergeant. The team investigates major crimes involving military personnel, often dealing with local law enforcement officers. A former police detective, he is characterized as an outgoing, joking, charismatic former
  jock and frequent lothario. His charisma helps him do undercover work and to deal with intraagency conflicts. He often leads the team's crime scene investigations, where medical examiner Dr. Mallard would put him through physical exertion for evidence retrieval. Over the course of the series, he carries a few storylines, including an undercover assignment that goes through seasons four and five to catch an international terrorist.
context_section_description: 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 the series Tony is shown flirting with most women 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 to listen to private phone calls. In the episode "SWAK", Caitlin Todd described him as an "X-rated Peter Pan" who is "annoying" but whose absence is nevertheless keenly felt. 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 commented on Tony's characterization: "Part of the dynamic of the show is that Tony irritates people, but when he's not around, they kind of miss him."
  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 P. Bellisario, Tony has also been established as a fan of Bellisario television series Magnum, P.I. and Airwolf. 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 that he is an insightful agent when the need arises. On more than one occasion he surprises his colleagues when an outwardly immature action on his part causes new evidence to be uncovered. Gibbs once said of him, "You may not admire his methods but you gotta love the results", referring to when Tony goes to a gynecologist to track a missing sailor's girlfriend down after the rest of the team hit a dead end, much to Kate's disgust. McGee has described Tony's interrogation style as "Dirty Harry meets Keystone Cop". He is generally written as a highly capable agent, and in season four is offered a prized position as a supervisory/senior special agent in charge in Rota, Spain, which he nonetheless turns down. As of season ten, he is the only one out of Gibbs's field team who has been allowed to head an investigation, as seen in "Bounce" when Gibbs swaps places with him as the victim was connected with one of Tony's old cases and even calls him "boss". Tony is known to be fluent in Spanish, as is established from his earliest appearance in the JAG-NCIS crossover episodes. As Gibbs's senior field agent, he often pulls rank by ordering the more junior agents around and playing pranks on them. He most notably called McGee "Probie", at least until Ziva was made a full-fledged agent. With the addition Ellie Bishop, Tony and McGee begin calling her "Probie" and similarly order her around, claiming that "it's part of the job".
  Tony claims to have 20/10 vision in the episode "Left for Dead"; however, in the episodes "The Curse", "Ice Queen", and "Meltdown" he can be seen wearing glasses and in the "Nature of the Beast" episode he claims his vision is 20/20. He also once donated to a sperm bank, but no one wanted to use his sperm. He owned a 1990 Corvette ZR1, which was stolen and subsequently destroyed during a high-speed chase as he watched on live television. Later, he drove a 1966 Ford Mustang. The car was destroyed by a bomb planted on it in an attempt to kill DiNozzo's significant other, Dr. Jeanne Benoit.
  The character is initially por
caption: Michael Weatherly as Anthony DiNozzo filming in 2008
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