Ziva David

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Ziva David
NCIS character

Rank	Officer
Gender	Female
Hair color	Brown
Actor	Cote de Pablo
First appearance	Kill Ari Part 1
Last appearance	Current Character

Officer Ziva David (Hebrew: זיוה דוִד, pronounced "da-veed") is a fictional character in the TV series NCIS played by Cote de Pablo. The character joined the series at the start of its third season in the fall of 2005.

1 Character
2 Relationships
3 Trivia
4 Notable Episodes

[edit] Character

Ziva David is a Mossad agent assigned to the NCIS following the murder of Special Agent Caitlin Todd by a rogue Mossad operative named Ari Haswari.

Before Ziva joined NCIS, she was a member of a division of Mossad that specializes in assassinations, espionage and coercion, with Director Shepard mentioning to Gibbs that Ziva had taken out about half a dozen suicide bombers in Iraq. Because of her coercion training, Ziva is not averse to using deadly force, and it was revealed that before entering NCIS she had never conducted an interrogation without causing bodily harm. She has also mentioned her abilities in the army, such as rappelling down a cliff without safety ropes and swimming three miles in freezing water at night. Ziva has a photographic memory as shown on more than one occasion. In Season 3's episode 'Silver War' she draws an exact likeness of a map she had seen previously.

In "Silver War", it is revealed that Ziva carries at least 3 weapons with her at all times: a semi-automatic pistol at the small of her back, a snub-nosed revolver on her left ankle and a tanto-bladed fighting knife concealed at her waist. In season 4's episode Friends & Lovers Ziva has been shown teaching a class (students are Tony, McGee and Michelle Lee) on throwing knives.

One ongoing idiosyncrasy Ziva possesses is her tendency to misuse English idioms, much to the amusement of her teammates. Those malapropisms are sometimes referred to as Ziva-isms by fans of the TV series. Occasionally Ziva will get an idiom correct, much to her satisfaction (though on at least one occasion DiNozzo has teased her by making her think she'd gotten it wrong).

[edit] Relationships

[edit] Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs

Lead NCIS agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs bonds with Ziva from the very beginning, when she kills Ari Haswari in Gibbs' basement in order to save his life. When Gibbs finds out that Ziva is Ari's half-sister, he falsifies his report to indicate that he, not Ziva, killed Ari. According to Ziva, Mossad believes his report, for which she is grateful to Gibbs, but it remains to be seen whether the rest of the team know the truth about Ari's death.

Subsequently, Ziva is assigned to NCIS as Mossad's liaison officer. Gibbs is skeptical at first because as he said to Director Shepherd, "Mossad taught her to spy and kill, send her to the C.I.A,". But he soon comes to accept Ziva as part of his team. In Season 4's "Once a Hero", Gibbs backs his decision to send new Probie Agent Michelle Lee undercover by telling Tony that she has excellent back-up - Ziva. Though Gibbs and Ziva's relationship is a good one, Ziva's close friendship with Director Jenny Shepard often gives way to conflict. She finds it difficult to obey Gibbs when Jenny asks her to disobey him, leading to one occasion where Gibbs asks Ziva 'I don't know, are you with me, Ziva?" Gibbs trusts Ziva and in Season 3's episode 'Silver War' tells her so "I trust you, you know that."

In the Season 3 finale "Hiatus", Ziva is personally responsible for helping Gibbs regain his memory after he was injured in an explosion when she experiences an emotional breakdown in front of him while reminding him how she killed Ari to save him. Gibbs repays his debt to Ziva in "Shalom", when she turns to him in desperation while on the run from NCIS, FBI, Mossad and her father after she was suspected of murdering a foreign diplomat. He returns from his retirement in Mexico to help clear her name.

[edit] Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo

Ziva taunts Anthony DiNozzo in much the same way Caitlin 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. Ziva also intimidates Tony, she is the only one other than Gibbs who can sneak up behind him without him realizing it. In Season 4's episode Dead Man Walking Tony is surprised that Ziva has personal connections with the victim, Roy, and is equally surprised that she is able to show such emotions and was there for her the whole time. As a result of Tony being of a higher rank then her, but Ziva being more lethally skilled and trained, their relationship mimics that of a cat and mouse, albeit with an unspoken attraction between them.

In "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 her at her apartment at least once a week for the past 3 months, leading to suggestions that the two have become intimate. She neither confirms nor denies the implication in the episode, however it was later on in season 4 confirmed that Tony and Ziva never have been intimate. The reason for his frequent visits are unrevealed as yet.

The third episode "Singled Out" sees Ziva questioning Tony about an unidentified girlfriend, subsequent episodes have established that Tony is building a relationship with medical student Jeanne Benoit and no apparent romantic link exists between him and Ziva. Nonetheless, it was suggested in several episodes that Ziva might be jealous of his new girlfriend, until the episode "Driven" revealed that Ziva was in fact unaware of Tony's romance, and has been misreading some of his secrecy. Due to Tony's frequent clandestine visits to a hospital (where his girlfriend works) and his claim that he's undergoing tests, Ziva indicates to Gibbs that she is worried that he might be having a medical problem related to his exposure to Y. pestis in Season 2's "SWAK". In Season 4's "Suspicion", she repeats her concern to Gibbs, who surprises her by suggesting Tony might have "other reasons" for the secrecy.

[edit] Special Agent Timothy McGee

Timothy McGee was perhaps the first person to come to accept Ziva as part of the NCIS team. Early in Season 3, Ziva was shown going to McGee for advice. For example, in "Silver War", she confides in him about her initial difficulties fitting into the team.

Their relationship resembles that of siblings, and Ziva often playfully gangs up with Tony on McGee. Notably, in Season 3's "Untouchable", they allude to having superglued McGee's face to the table before, while in Season 4's "Witch Hunt", the pair tease him mercilessly about his Snow Elf costume for Halloween. However, Ziva has also been shown on more than one occasion to side with McGee when Tony is teasing him.

McGee, it is suggested, is both scared and in awe of Ziva. In "Silver War", he gushes to Abby about Ziva's photographic memory. However, he does not see Ziva as a woman - or at least a normal woman ("Once a Hero"). In his book, McGee describes her character's eyes as 'reminding him of emeralds, flawed only by the icicles of her heart'.

[edit] Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto

When Ziva first comes to NCIS she believes that resident lab tech Abby does not like her, and is partially correct in this assumption. However, Abby comes to accept Ziva as one of the team. Nonetheless, when Gibbs is critically injured in Season 3's "Hiatus", Ziva and Abby come to blows when Abby accuses Ziva of not caring about Gibbs' condition; afterwards, Ziva is shown regretting her apparent inability to show the same level of concern as the others. The two, however, soon make-up when Tony mediates.

By Season 4, Ziva and Abby seem to have become close. Ziva chooses to confide in Abby often, and Abby is the first person she calls when she gets into trouble with Mossad and the FBI in "Shalom". In season 4's episode "Singled Out" Abby sticks up for Ziva when Gibbs tells Ziva they've got nothing when she's talking about Nazi war criminals.

[edit] Medical Examiner Donald Mallard

Ziva has a close relationship with Dr. Donald Mallard, perhaps built upon her saving his life from a rogue forensic anthropologist in "Silver War". In Season 4's "Witch Hunt", she is shown confiding in him over a pot of tea as he offers her comfort when she most needs it.

[edit] Director Jenny Shepard

Ziva is particularly close to NCIS Director Jenny Shepard, whom she has worked with in the past. Ziva worked with Director Shepard on joint Anti-Terrorism operatives since 2001 (Season 3's "Kill Ari"), and on numerous occasions has been shown confiding in Shepard and relying on her for inside information the team requires in their investigations. In "Shalom", Jenny mentions that she and Ziva travelled together around Eastern Europe. Ziva on more than one occasion has defied Gibbs and given Jenny information he doesn't want the director to find out, this is a result of Ziva and Jen's friendship dividing Ziva's loyalties at times.

[edit] Trivia

Ziva speaks at least 5 languages fluently: English, Hebrew, Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish. She's also able to speak basic French, German, Italian, and Russian.
Ziva's father is the Director of Mossad.
Her younger sister, Tali, was killed in a Hamas suicide bombing. Ziva was already a Mossad operative at the time.
Ziva's Zodiac sign is Scorpio.
The name Ziva means splendour in Hebrew.
Although Ziva does not watch much television she seems to have watched a fair number of movies. Amongst the movies she has correctly referenced are "The Wizard of Oz", "Speed", "The Sound of Music" and "The Fugitive".
Ziva enjoys cooking and is quite good at it. It is shown in several episodes that she likes the drink Berry Mango Madness.
Ziva plays the piano. In Season 3's "Untouchable" she offered to give Tony lessons.
In Season 4's episode Friends & Lovers, Ziva does an impression of Shakira belly dancing, she seems to be quite good at dancing.
De Pablo has a coach to help her with the occasional Hebrew lines required by the show. She admits to spending much of the time in the 48 hours leading up to the filming of a lengthy Hebrew phone conversation during her first episode working on those lines because she desired to "do the language justice". [1]
De Pablo feigns the Israeli accent. She speaks English like a native-born American. [2]
Ziva goes for a run every morning at 5:30.
Ziva said that she was in the army for an amount of time that is not said.