Michael Franks

Michael Aaron "Mike" Franks was an former NIS/NCIS Supervisory Special Agent who was the leader of Camp Pendleton Field Office and Fed Five, and was also directly responsible for helping Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs become an NIS/NCIS Special Agent. In addition, he was also the father of deceased Marine Liam O'Neill, father-in-law of Leyla Shakarji, and the grandfather of Amira Shakarji.
==Biography==
===Pre-Series===
Born on November 22, 1948 to an unnamed father and mother in Texas, Franks subsequently enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, fighting in the Vietnam War.
He was then presumably honorably discharged and was in a relationship with an unnamed woman with the two separating after only six months. Unknown to Franks, she would give birth to a son she named Liam Michael O'Neill.
After his time in the Marines, Franks joined NIS, presumably during the 80s or late 70s, and rose through the ranks of the agency, eventually becoming an NIS Special Agent in Charge, while there, NIS was reorganized as NCIS.
In 1991, in NIS Camp Pendleton FO Franks met Marine Gunnery Sergeant Leroy Jethro Gibbs as a result of Franks's on-going investigation into the murder of Gibbs's first wife, Shannon Gibbs, and their young daughter, Kelly Gibbs with Franks also being successful in enabling Gibbs to exact his revenge on the drug dealer responsible: Pedro Hernandez. 
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After that, Gibbs was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps and joined NIS in Camp Pendleton Field Office, becoming a Probationary Agent with Franks teaching Gibbs everything he knew about being an NIS/NCIS agent.
In 1996, following disagreements arising from the Khobar Towers bombing, Franks, no longer able to deal with the political fallout that was making his job difficult, he retired from NCIS for good. He warned the brass that Osama bin Laden was behind the attack, but no one listened to him, so he retired. Before he left, he gave his badge to Gibbs who after Mike left became the new leader of the team. He left saying "Semper Fi".
Following his departure, Franks headed to Mexico and built a small house where he would spend his days smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol and fishing, essentially cutting himself off altogether from the modern world. 
=== NCIS: Origins ===
===NCIS Season 3===
==== Hiatus Part 2 (episode) ====
Franks gets a call from NCIS Director Jennifer Shepard, whom informs Franks about Gibbs being caught in an explosion and suffering from memory loss, hoping for the former to help. After the case ended in disaster, Gibbs retired from NCIS to live with Franks in Mexico.
===NCIS Season 4===
==== Iceman (episode) ====
Franks surprises Gibbs when the hospital called about the former visiting Liam, who is currently on a ventilator, revealing he is Franks' son. He had Gibbs present when Liam had to be removed from the ventilator and pass on, during which Franks gave him his dog tags and his mother's necklace. During the time they spent together, Franks discovered Liam had a girlfriend and a daughter before helping smuggle them in since her family disowned her. He would later bring his daughter-in-law and granddaughter to Mexico to live with him.
===NCIS Season 5===
===NCIS Season 6===
===NCIS Season 7===
===NCIS Season 8===
=== NCIS Season 11 ===
==== Anonymous was a Woman (episode) ====
Sometime prior to his death, Franks was involved in smuggling Afghani girls, using fake IDs from deceased Navy, Army or Marine reservists, making it known to Gibbs by having him watch over one while he arranged for her accomodation. He then approached Gibbs to have some women to be legally brought into the States, but Gibbs destroyed the form, resulting in the shelter the girls were staying in destroyed, killing all the girls, except for the shelter's proprietor, which Franks confronted Gibbs about.
==Personality==
Mike is shown to be incredibly loyal and strategic in his manner of operations. Although a bit "gun-ho", Mike was able to pick up on things that many others were not and seemed to understand certain suspect behavior traits better than others. He often voiced how he enjoyed his seclusion in Mexico and how he later greatly enjoyed having his daughter-in-law and granddaughter with him after keeping them safe from his daughter-in-law's family. To the NCIS team, he often lent his help during particular cases and acted as a mentor figure to several of the agents. 
==Physical Appearance==
Mike is an older man who has gray hair and moustache. Between Patriot Down (episode) and Rule Fifty-One (episode), Franks had his right index finger shot off.
== Trivia ==
*Mike's death was mimicked in the episode Check in an attempt to frighten Leroy Gibbs by Sergei Mishnev.
==Appearances==
For a more detailed list, see Michael Franks/List of Appearances.
Category:Americans in NCIS
Category:NCIS: Origins Characters
Category:Recurring Characters in NCIS
Category:Marines in NCIS
Category:NCIS Agents in NCIS
Category:Former NIS Members in NCIS
Category:Former NCIS Members in NCIS
Category:Civilians in NCIS
Category:Murder Victims in NCIS
Category:Deceased