Played by Pauley Perrette

Photos of Abby 'Career Girl Barbie'

Talk about Abby!

Get to know Bert the Hippo

Title: NCIS Forensic Specialist

What we love about Abby: She's brilliant. She's Goth. She has a lot of tattoos. Take away her Caf-Pow and she's a blithering mess. She does somehow manage to almost break her caffeine habit in Season 4. And what is it about her and Gibbs that's so adorable?

She definitely has chemistry with McGee... but probably more just like a brother/sister relationship. But not quite: they have slept together, the first time being when Abby offered McGee accommodation when he had to stay in DC unexpectedly. She didn't let him turn on the lights in her flat and told him it was a 'box sofa bed'. The next day, everyone asks him whether he slept in the coffin. He is dismayed that he slept in a coffin. Abby points out that 'that is not all you did'.

She also has a thing for pain... hmm wonder why?

An important aspect of her character is that she works alone in a basement most of the time. She is a people person and pines for company: her exuberance when she gets it can be extreme. Cleverly, the writers use this as an unobtrusive device for the delivery of information to the audience: she explains step by step her processing of the evidence, which means that the audience gets to hear it too. But she pines for company only until a workmate is forced upon her: then she, like Gibbs, realizes that Abby works best alone. She may talk to her computers, but it is productive discussion. Gibbs checks in on her regularly, to get results from her work but also, it seems, because he knows she needs human contact. His timing becomes uncanny and Abby develops a belief that he is psychic (which appears to irritate Gibbs although he doesn't really complain about her scatty views of him). Gibbs also visits Ducky in the lab, and Abby and Ducky use a webcam to see and talk to each other.

If Gibbs is Abby's surrogate father, Ducky is her surrogate grandfather and fellow scientist. Ducky showers Abby with fondness except when he calls her Abigail to admonish her. Abby genuinely enjoys Ducky's stories, as does Palmer. There is sibling rivalry between Abby and Palmer over Ducky's attention, and sibling honesty (Abby tells Palmer when his humour is creepy) and sibling affection (Palmer enjoys the Marilyn Monroe Halloween costume but by getting the joke, rather than in a male predatory way).

Perhaps because there is privacy in Abby's lab, in a way that there is not in thesquadroom, the other characters tend to confide in Abby. She knows lots about each of them, and becomes a conduit for information about personal lives.

It is a mark of the powerful effect of the characters that one feels that Abby and Ducky are in every episode and are always "near by", when, in fact, the actors Perrette and McCallum have relatively light shooting schedules and are on set only a fraction of the time of the main four characters. They are rarely seen in the squadroom and are rarely seen with all of the main characters together at once. Yet they seem wholly part of the team and are not ancillary characters. They have also drawn in Palmer and the Director in similar ways, although their presence is not as pervasive as Abby and Ducky.

Abby is great and needs some love in her life (and not ones who try to kill her). In Designated Target, she professes love for McGee (whom she has always found cute in his own way) but she does not seem to actually want a relationship: she thinks "being loved" ought to be enough for McGee. Most viewers see her as beautiful the way she is and would tell the writers "so don't change a thing" - and the writers seem to agree. Abby is the only character (perhaps apart from Ducky) who is not allowed to develop. Ironically, in her radical but constant goth guise, she is the most 'conservative' of the characters (in that her character seems to be conserved in aspic: even her backstory gets very little amplification beyond "she has poor taste in boyfriends because they try to kill her"). The contrast with Ducky is that he has had a full life and knows exactly who he is: Abby, one might have thought, has much of life yet to discover but the writers do not let her go exploring.

Her best quirks:

• She talks to her machines, usually leading to quizzical looks from outsiders.
• She hugs a stuffed hippo named Bert that makes farting sounds when squeezed.
• She has a strong social conscience and displays a true liking for all kinds of people. She goes bowling with nuns (who wear habits) and stays at their house (the Convent) when her own has plumbing problems. She fell in love with a midget (thought she is 5ft 11in (almost 2m tall)), and she dated him and was distraught when he rejected her as being too tall. She spends her free time on projects such as Habitat for Humanity, providing electrical wiring work on social housing projects, to which she recruits Tim McGee (when he remembers to show up).
• Abby's first instinct is usually to solve people's problems by hugging them. Abby is totally in touch with the zeitgeist but endearingly naive about people: she has not worked out that it is inappropriate to hug the Director when she is angry nor has she realized that Ziva doesn't know how to hug or how to share emotions.
• Abby treats sex in the much the same way as music. She can make Gibbs uncomfortable by disclosing sex-related information, such as "Good news: I am not pregnant" to which he responds "TMI" (too much information).
• We know Abby's parents are deaf, that's why she can sign, also she calls them by their first names and we know her mother is called Gloria. One of Abby's weak points according to her mother is that she's not very good at lip reading, this appears in one of the episodes of the 4th season. We also know that she comes from quite a big family and that at least one of her sisters is deaf too like her parents.
• Sometimes Abby and Gibbs talk in sign language to the irritation of Tony who's always convinced they're taking the mick out of him. We're also given to understand in the 4th season that Hollis Mann may also have some knowledge of signing.

Abby's fashion statements:

She can looks stylish, hot, and goth all in one. Like when she went to court, she wore a black skirt and white blouse and looked amazing.

When given a directive that she must adhere to the NCIS dress code, Abby puts on teeter-totter heels and a mauve polyester suit. She suffers distress, which results in Gibbs being called to her lab where the rest of the team are goggle-eyed to see her looking so 'bizarre'. Tony describes her as looking like "career-girl Barbie". Ziva puts her foot in it, clumsily trying to make Abby feel better, by saying that she thinks Abby looks "nice". Abby is disgusted.

We see that much of Abby's distress is manufactured to manipulate Gibbs (although we don't doubt that she hates the thought of looking like a Stepford Wife in Career Mode each day). Gibbs cannot bear Abby's distress and promises to handle the problem (at which Abby, childlike, immediately cheers up and goes back to efficient forensic scientist mode, in bare feet).

When Abby changes clothes, back into Goth mode, we, with McGee, get to see her bare back and thus see her tattoo of a cross that takes up her whole back.

Abby wears period costumes: a poodle skirt and twin set from the 1950s for her bowling league with the nuns (do the nuns wear these too, if they are the bowling uniform? No they still wear their habits. There is a great picture on the set at the convent showing this.)
Abby wears white lawn (flannel) nightdress with white and black lace and mob (granny) cap with same white and black lace as sleeping attire when she stays at the convent in cover story. She also wears black and white striped socks that night.
Abby dresses as Marilyn Monroe in the white halter-neck dress (which shows off her back tattoo of an elaborate cross). She disingenuously acts as if she doesn't know why the guys are drooling when they see her, as if she has forgotten the dress and blonde wig. Gibbs is amused to see her as a blonde and appreciative of the sight but head slaps the boys (Tony and McGee) for being distracted by what they are looking at.

In technician mode, Abby wears a red overall (jumpsuit style) with witch of the west horizontal striped socks. When she bends over to work on the car, McGee takes a happy, long look at her posterior, until caught by Gibbs. But the overall does define her bum very nicely in red.

Abby's clothes each need to be able to hide a power pack for the microphone that has to be hidden in her clothes to record her dialogue. In some episodes, it is difficult to see how this is achieved, but her white lab coat simplifies things in many scenes. The show also uses boom mikes which might explain there not being a mike on her person in a scene.

Did you know?

• Abby's "Caf-Pow!" is actually Hawaiian Punch from the can.
• Abby once tried to Super-Glue her younger brother's head to a beam because she liked the Super-Glue commercial.
• Abby likes to listen to music in her lab by such bands as Suicide Commando, Brain Matter, Flesh Eating Foundation, Green Satan, and Android Lust

Who is Abby? Discuss her character development by season.

Season 1: The main quirk of Abby in series one is that she is a Goth with extreme tastes in music. Her scientist mind and personality is strong and she is an independent and self-capable thinker. Her relationship with Gibbs is flirtatious, allowing fans to wonder whether they might ever pair up romantically or, with Abby, at least sexually. They are not in father-daughter mode. Abby is more defiant and needles Gibbs at times. She is more co-conspirator when they sign to each other. The dynamic is more of equals in this early season.

Season 2: The writers seem to realize that the better role for Abby is as clever scientific woman but one who is vulnerable. She becomes ever less flirtatious with Gibbs but more emotionally attached to him. The fans begin to argue over the lover vs. daughter role of Abby. But as Gibbs has more than enough potential and past lovers, the writers seem to settle on making Abby into Gibbs' surrogate daughter and the hints of Gibbs' past life (and existence of a dead wife and daughter) start stacking up. The story arc for Ari is set up: Gibbs failed to protect his women (Shannon and Kelly) and is open to psychological attack if there is danger to his other women (Kate and Abby). The actress Pauley Perrette is much older than the character she plays but we are never quite sure of how old Abby is. She is old enough to have the longest working relationship with Gibbs in the NCIS Navy Yard HQ, next to Ducky. Jen hasn't worked with Gibbs in the US or, at least, the Navy Yard office. All references to past work between Jen, Gibbs and Ducky refer to their time in France. Gibbs has never been failed by Abby on her scientific work: this keeps their working relationship balanced, as he is clueless in her fields of expertise. Their respect for each other is based on professional ability and reliability, as well as personal affection. The end of season 2, with Ari killing Kate, is bound to affect Abby because she gives herself emotionally to those around her and she was good friends with Kate (they tried to reform the boys' eating habits, with no luck. They organise bets with the boys and they split the profits when they win. Kate gets tattoos because of Abby's influence. Abby and Kate share a Catholic background but approach life in very different ways: Kate absorbed prudishness and guilt, whereas Abby developed a love of ritual, pageantry, death-cultishness and an ability to be comfortable with people who wear strange clothes everyday (nun's habits not being typical clothing for most people). Abby's need for physical affection is a recurrent theme, but she can also be testy with others. Turning her back, literally, is one of her warning signals to others. Being terse in her speech is a big warning signal. Gibbs is more impervious to her manipulation than she thinks and is willing to tease her by setting her up to make false assumptions. He allows himself to be manipulated by her (as dads do with daughters).

Season 3: Abby as target. Abby as vulnerable woman in need of protection from the bad guys with guns. Except that she works out her own way of dealing with risk and, whilst it is quirky, it is effective. Ari kills Kate and then pursues anyone else to whom Gibbs is close: thus Abby, as his surrogate daughter, is next in line after Kate. When shot at by Ari, through her lab window, Abby's reaction is to check out Tony's butt when he drags her out of range of the window. She goes for distraction as a defence. In Bloodbath, Abby is under attack from a crazed boyfriend whose activities mask the work of a hired gunman. She thinks about the places where fewest people die in USA and decides that the lift (elevator) will be her hideout. Gibbs, being a strange man, sees nothing wrong with this and allows her to set up her work desk in the lift, which she rides for the next six hours. Whilst the boys in the team go into an inefficient "guard Abby" mode, which makes her look dependent, it is noticeable that three women (plus Ducky) arm Abby with what she needs to look after herself: and in the end, Abby defeats her attacker by fighting him off and even being able to demand that he "not look up her skirt" when he is on the ground being shot with her taser gun. Abby's weapons are a taser (from Ziva), pepper spray from Cynthia, brass knuckles from the Director and a super loud whistle alarm from Ducky. No guns needed. (but none of us can work out how the whistle can burst her attacker's eardrums but not her own when she employs it to attract attention...) At the end of season 3, we get the Hiatus episodes, where Gibbs, in disgust at the duplicity of his own side in the war on terror, resigns from NCIS. His farewell to Abby is in public, in the squadroom. She is beyond upset: she looks in shock and utters only a strangled "Gibbs.." before he silences her with a finger against her lips and a kiss to the cheek. And that is all she gets. As betrayals of trust go, it is serious but he cannot stay and be true to himself. Catch 22. Gibbs knows what his departure means to Abby. He cannot defend it so he says nothing. Her eyes say it all. (Perrette, like Harmon, has speaking eyes). In Catholic-girl style, Abby creates a Gibbs shrine by putting his picture on each of her computers, so he is 'with her' all the time and she talks to 'him' when things go so badly in his absence. We learn of this coping strategy at the beginning of the 4th season when circumstances force Gibbs' return.

Season 4: The beginning of the season is interesting because, with Gibbs' departure, Abby has had to transfer her hero-worship of her leader to Tony. She treats him as she once treated Gibbs, until Gibbs actually returns. Abby's desire for order and hierarchy is perhaps not so strange when one considers how comfortable she is in the hierarchical world of the church (she bowls with nuns) whilst she remains independent of belief (she plays with voodoo dolls for fun and parties in cemeteries). Abby has a role as relationship maintainer in her 'family'. When Gibbs is angry at the Director for sending Tony 'home' (actually he is on undercover work but Jen doesn't admit this), it is Abby who points out to them that "the kids don't like it when Mommy and Daddy fight", which shuts up both of the seniors, who look abashed. Jen likes Abby and Abby confides in her about her love for her 'short and sweet' man. Abby has also sought advice from Jen about whether she can wear biker boots to court (no, she has to wear stilettos instead). Abby is able to engage with anyone, but has more trouble reading Jen and Ziva than reading the men of NCIS. Girly talks were more common in series 2 with Kate (or were implied to occur more frequently). With the loss of Kate as confidante, Abby turns more to Gibbs, with hilarious results when he turns out to the most inappropriate person, such as when she seeks advice on which tattoo to get next. She insists she needs his guidance until he queries where she is putting the tattoo: she then realizes that he is right, he is not the person to ask. These are some of the very few times when Gibbs is allowed to look uncomfortable. Abby's main quirk in this series is to be able to live in a dual reality of scientific rationalism and ethereal suspension of disbelief. Thus in the episode, Cover Story, she takes McGee's book characters to heart in much the same way as the criminally insane man who attacked her and she distressingly tells McGee that Amy (Abby's character in the book) cannot marry McGee's character: she is distressed over the book plot rather than her near-miss with a deranged killer. McGee is confused: he had had to make up the ending to the book on the spot during the showdown, so that the deranged killer would see Abby as a good guy, not a baddie: thus he had declared that his character had realised that he loved Amy (Abby) and wanted to marry her. This declaration of love persuades the villain not to kill Abby yet it is the declaration of love that distresses Abby (on behalf of Amy: "no McGee, they are all wrong for each other"). We, the audience, are left in doubt as to whether Abby is using the book as code for a warning to McGee about their real-life on-off relationship, or whether she truly has "bought in" to the fantasy world of McGee's book in the same way that the villain did. Either way, this situation has Gibbs, who has turned his back to give Abby and McGee some privacy, wincing. The charm of Abby is that we are wincing too, but we remain uncertain as to what we are wincing at...and this creates more story arc potential for series 5. McGee is sweet and Abby, despite being cute, is not actually sweet.

Season 5: In episode 1, Abby's role is confined to good forensics work and being the person with the unshakable belief system that good must prevail and Tony cannot be dead, no matter the evidence, unless Ducky (in whom she has utter faith) declares otherwise. Gibbs is her source of comfort and Gibbs remains willing to give her the physical affection (hugs) that she needs and the professional affirmation ("good work" praise) that feed her motivation. Like all of the team, Abby's work ethic is irreproachable: she sleeps on the floor of her lab whilst waiting for her 'guys' (her computers) to process test results. McGee works all night upstairs with Gibbs. The Director sleeps in her office chair. Ziva has worried all night about Tony and turns up to work at 7am on her day off. Abby is clearly of a work-family with a shared belief system in the primacy of work or, more aptly, vocation. They do not do their work under duress. Abby is keen to assure the Director that she doesn't mind being in the lab all night to do a private job for the Director. Abby cannot and will not keep a secret from Gibbs. Gibbs is her rock and she is allowed to tell him anything, including telling that the Director told her not to tell him (whatever it is). Trust, not love, is at the root of the relationship: hence the daughter/father metaphor. The love is additional.