A picture of manliness

In the show NCIS there are many male characters that the audience is familiar with but only one is considered to be a real man by the general audience, especially if you ask the female audience.

That man is Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Gibbs for short) the head of the NCIS major case response team. He depicts what I consider to be an older kind of man, those who were made by the depression or by war. He can come off as hard to work with, and occasionally cold towards others yet he does feel great deal of sympathy for those who are in need, especially children.

Like many of these kind of men he has had a difficult life, he was a soldier in Desert Storm, his first wife and child were murdered, and he has been divorced. As a marine sniper in desert storm he saw a great deal of blood shed, in fact in one episode he is quoted saying “I've killed men and women in combat, in the line, and in life, and some of them still haunt me.” After returning home from deployment in Desert Storm he finds out that his wife and daughter were murdered by a member of a Mexican drug cartel when his wife agreed to testify to a murder she witnessed. Knowing that there was no way their murderer would be brought to justice in traditional ways he took matters into his own hands. He hunted down the man who murdered his wife and child and using his sniper rifle killed him, leaving a single rifle round in the spot where he took the shot as a message to the other members of the drug cartel.

He lives by a set of rules, an idea that he got from his first wife, so far we know of fifty one. Each of these rules was made for a reason and effects all parts of his work. Some of the most popular are always carry a knife, never screw over your partner, and never be untouchable. These rules have been set in order to protect himself as well as those who he works with.

Gibbs also has an incredible drive to do his job and do whats right, even though it has had a dramatic effect on his personal relationships and many times he has walked the line between what is acceptable and what will get him fired. He has very high standards set when it comes to work for himself as well as those who he works with, and he does not like these standards broken. This is seen many times when he gives the male operatives a slap on the back of the head as a way of telling them to get focused on the task at hand and of course mistakes are also something Gibbs are not taken lightly.

He knows that not everybody can do the job he does. This is clearly seen in a scene where he is taking a million dollars out of the basement that will be used in a hostage negotiation, the only issue is that he does not have permission to take the money for two more days, time we all realize they do not have. This is witnessed by a intern and the intern asks Gibbs why he is taking the money due to the fact that he could get in serious trouble for doing it. Gibbs' only response is “A building catches fire...Some people run away...Some people run in.” This quote shows us the the reason why Gibbs does the things he does. He knows that not everyone can go out and track down murders, or put their own lives on the line for little to no personal gain. But he is one of the few who can, so he must fill that role. He might be able to make more money somewhere else and he would get along with his superiors much better if he wouldn't push the envelop but if he didn't do the things he does to catch the bad guys, who would.

But even though he may come off as cold towards others he does in fact care a great deal about those who are effected by the crimes his team investigates as well as those who he works with. The best examples are when he interacts with children. One example of this was when he used his carpentry skills to finish a tree house that a dead marine was building for his son, another was when he allowed a girl who was under NCIS protection stay at his house so she felt safe.

The picture of manliness that Gibbs projects is that of a man who holds high standards for himself as well as those he interacts with. And though he may come off as rough on occasion he is actually very caring with a strong sense of justice, which is the very reason he became a member of NCIS