NCIS
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122 free NCIS trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
29 free NCIS trivia questions with answers. Are you a true NCIS fan? Put your knowledge of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service to the test with our engaging trivia quiz. From iconic characters like Gibbs and Abby to memorable cases and behind-the-scenes facts, this quiz covers everything NCIS. See how well you know America's favorite crime drama!
30 of 122 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is Gibbs most often seen building by hand in the basement of his house?
Wooden boats
Wooden boats: Gibbs is often seen working on one in his basement, and how a finished boat ever left the room was a running mystery until season 19 revealed that he had knocked out a wall.
Q 02Which fictional energy drink fills Abby Sciuto's giant cup?
Caf-Pow
Caf-Pow is the high-caffeine drink Gibbs brings Abby when he comes to her lab for results; when the caffeine threatens her sleep she switches to its tamer twin, No-Caf-Pow.
Q 03Which actor played Dr. Donald 'Ducky' Mallard, the anecdote-prone doctor and old friend of Gibbs?
David McCallum
David McCallum played Ducky for 20 years until his death in 2023 at 90; the show then let Ducky die peacefully in his sleep in a tribute episode, 'The Stories We Leave Behind'.
Q 04Which of these phrases is one of Gibbs's well-known rules?
Never say you're sorry.
'Never say you're sorry' is Rule 6, and it continues 'it's a sign of weakness'; a colleague points out that Gibbs borrowed the line from John Wayne in She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.
Q 05Which Hollywood veteran played Anthony DiNozzo Sr., Tony's father, in a recurring guest role?
Robert Wagner
Robert Wagner first turned up as DiNozzo Sr. in 2010, a casting joke with history: Michael Weatherly had played the young Wagner in a 2004 TV film about Natalie Wood.
Q 06Who was Gibbs's boss, the NCIS Director, for the show's first two seasons?
Tom Morrow
Tom Morrow leaves for the Department of Homeland Security at the start of season three, handing NCIS to Jenny Shepard; he returns years later in that job and is shot dead in season 13.
Q 07How does Gibbs usually rebuke an agent, most often Tony DiNozzo, for a wisecrack or a blunder?
A slap on the head
A slap on the head: the 'headslap' began in season one with a playful smack to the back of DiNozzo's head, and he went on to collect more of them than anyone else on the team.
Q 08Which of Ziva David's verbal habits became a running gag on NCIS?
Mangling American idioms
Mangling American idioms: Ziva is a gifted linguist who speaks many languages, yet everyday American sayings keep tripping her up, a joke the writers ran for years.
Q 09What is a common nickname given to Timothy McGee by his colleagues, particularly Tony DiNozzo?
Probie
Probie, short for probationary agent, sticks to McGee long after his probation ends; Gibbs gets the same treatment from his old boss Mike Franks, who still calls him 'Probie' decades on.
Q 10What does Tony DiNozzo constantly quote and reference while working a case?
Classic movies
Classic movies: Tony's film references are so relentless that Ziva predicts his dying words will be 'I've seen this film'.
Q 11What does the acronym NCIS stand for?
Naval Criminal Investigative Service
Naval Criminal Investigative Service: the show first aired as 'Navy NCIS', reportedly so viewers would grasp the initials and not confuse it with CSI, and dropped the redundant 'Navy' after season one.
Q 12Which rapper and actor played Sam Hanna, Callen's partner, on NCIS: Los Angeles?
LL Cool J
LL Cool J played Sam Hanna in all 14 seasons, then carried the character over to NCIS: Hawaiʻi as a guest when his own show ended in 2023.
Q 13Which First Lady made a guest appearance as herself on NCIS?
Michelle Obama
Q 21What is the name of the daughter Tony DiNozzo left NCIS to raise at the end of season 13?
Tali
Tali shares her name with Ziva's younger sister, who was killed in a suicide bombing as a teenager; Tony learns he has a daughter only when Ziva is believed dead, and quits to raise her.
Q 22When Leon Vance first appeared in season five, what post did he hold under Jenny Shepard?
Assistant Director
Vance debuts as Assistant Director in the season 5 episode 'Internal Affairs' and is named Director after Jenny Shepard is killed in the season finale 'Judgment Day'.
Q 23In NCIS, Jimmy Palmer started as Ducky Mallard's assistant and eventually took over which role from him?
Chief Medical Examiner
Michelle Obama played herself in a 2016 episode, receiving Gibbs at the White House in a scene made to support Joining Forces, her initiative for military families.
Q 14Abby Sciuto and Gibbs sometimes talk to each other across her lab using what?
Sign language
Sign language: Abby's parents were deaf, so American Sign Language was her first language, and she and Gibbs sometimes sign to each other across the lab.
Q 15Who played Dwayne Pride, the lead agent of the franchise's Louisiana-set spin-off?
Scott Bakula
Scott Bakula first played Pride in a two-part NCIS episode in 2014 that tested the idea, then led all seven seasons of the series it launched.
Q 16Which is one of Leroy Jethro Gibbs' numbered rules?
Never go anywhere without a knife.
'Never go anywhere without a knife' is Rule 9, first heard in season one; Gibbs took the idea of numbered rules from his first wife Shannon, who told him she lived by a code of her own.
Q 17What is the full name of the NCIS character known to everyone as "Ducky"?
Donald Horatio Mallard
Donald Horatio Mallard is the full name, and 'Ducky' is a pun on the surname, a mallard being a wild duck.
Q 18Which FBI agent is Gibbs's long-running friend and sparring partner, and married Gibbs's ex-wife Diane?
Tobias Fornell
Tobias Fornell married Gibbs's ex-wife Diane despite Gibbs's warning that she would leave him and empty his accounts; she did, and the two men stayed friends across the series.
Q 19Under what pen name did Timothy McGee publish his "Deep Six" series of novels?
Thom E. Gemcity
Thom E. Gemcity is an anagram of Timothy McGee; his bestselling Deep Six novels star an agent called L.J. Tibbs alongside other thinly disguised versions of his own colleagues.
Q 20Gibbs's wife Shannon and daughter Kelly were murdered while he was deployed during which operation?
Desert Storm
Desert Storm: Gibbs was still overseas when Shannon and Kelly were killed, and he later tracked down and shot the man responsible himself.
Chief Medical Examiner: Palmer, played by Brian Dietzen, assisted Ducky from season 1 and took over the post in season 16 when Ducky stepped back to become NCIS historian.
Q 24Before joining Gibbs's NCIS team in season 11, Eleanor 'Ellie' Bishop was an analyst at which intelligence agency?
NSA
NSA analyst Ellie Bishop is called in during season 11's 'Gut Check' because she had predicted the very security breach under investigation two years earlier; she is then loaned to Gibbs's team.
Q 25What military branch did Leroy Jethro Gibbs serve in before joining NCIS?
U.S. Marine Corps
U.S. Marine Corps: Gibbs was a Scout Sniper who rose to gunnery sergeant, and he left the Corps after his wife and daughter were murdered to join NIS under Mike Franks.
Q 26What did Abby Sciuto leave NCIS in 2018 to do?
Start a charity
Start a charity: Abby resigns after an MI6 colleague dies shielding her from a hired gunman, escorts his body home to England and sets out to found the charity he had wanted in his mother's honour.
Q 27From which country did Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard originate?
Scotland
Scotland: after Eton and medical school in Edinburgh, Ducky served as a British Army doctor and was posted to Vietnam on exchange with American forces.
Q 28Which university did Timothy McGee attend, specializing in computer forensics?
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology: McGee took a master's in computer forensics there, then started as a junior agent at the Norfolk field office before Gibbs brought him onto the team.
Q 29Which two JAG episodes served as the backdoor pilot for NCIS?
"Ice Queen" and "Meltdown"
'Ice Queen' and 'Meltdown' aired in April 2003: Gibbs's team investigates a Navy lawyer's murder and arrests the parent show's own hero, Harm Rabb, who is cleared at trial.
Q 30Which NCIS unit does Gibbs run?
Major Case Response Team
Major Case Response Team: when Gibbs stayed behind in Alaska in season 19, McGee turned down the top job and the squad passed to newcomer Alden Parker.