Tobias C. Fornell or "T.C. Fornell" is a former FBI Special Agent who occasionally works with the NCIS Major Case Response Team and who is also good friends with the team's leader, Leroy Jethro Gibbs.
He is also the ex-husband of Diane Sterling and father of Emily Fornell.
In addition, Fornell would work alongside the NCIS team if a case crosses over into the jurisdiction of the FBI.
Following a case concerning Gabriel Hicks in November 2017, Fornell resigned from the FBI and now works as a Private Investigator.
Biography[]
Pre-Series[]
Tobias C. Fornell was born on July 15th, 1956. He has three brothers.
Much of Fornell's past is unknown but at some point, he met and married Diane Sterling against the advice of her ex-husband, Leroy Jethro Gibbs. Diane and Tobias had a daughter named Emily Fornell together around 2000.
Unfortunately, they later divorced, parting on bitter terms. And just as she had done to Gibbs, she took him for all he was worth in the divorce.
At some point, Fornell also joined the FBI and rose up through the ranks from being a Junior Agent to Senior Agent and then finally, a Special Agent.
NCIS Season 1[]
NCIS Season 2[]
NCIS Season 3[]
NCIS Season 4[]
NCIS Season 5[]
NCIS Season 6[]
NCIS Season 7[]
NCIS Season 8[]
NCIS Season 9[]
NCIS Season 10[]
NCIS Season 11[]
NCIS Season 12[]
NCIS: New Orleans Season 1[]
NCIS Season 13[]
NCIS Season 14[]
NCIS Season 15[]
After it's revealed that Fornell ignored a testimony in the case against Gabriel Hicks in Burden of Proof, he resigned from the FBI.
In Keep Your Friends Close, it's revealed that he has become a licensed private investigator, and that he has turned his garage into an office.
NCIS Season 16[]
NCIS Season 17[]
NCIS Season 18[]
NCIS Season 19[]
Personality[]
Physical Appearance[]
Abilities[]
Interrogation[]
Trivia[]
- In the Season 1 premiere episode, "Yankee White", William Baer was heard calling Fornell "Tom" which hinted that it was "Tom Fornell" although the NCIS writers presumably later changed it to "Tobias" to avoid confusion between Fornell and Thomas Morrow who was NCIS Director at the time.
- At forty episodes, Fornell is the longest-running recurring character associated with the main NCIS series itself to have appeared in various episodes across NCIS Seasons 1 to 16 and 18/19. In addition to this, Fornell is also the only recurring character to appear in every season of the main NCIS series. NCIS Season 17 is the only season that he doesn't appear, although he is mentioned in Musical Chairs and Lonely Hearts.
- His birthday is revealed to be 7-15-1956 in Keep Your Enemies Closer on his drivers license.
Appearances[]
For a more detailed list, see Tobias Fornell/List of Appearances.
| NCIS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | # | |
| Season 1 | X | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | 4 | ||
| Season 2 | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | X | 3 | ||
| Season 3 | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | X | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | |
| Season 4 | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | X | 4 | |
| Season 5 | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | ||||||
| Season 6 | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | 2 |
| Season 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Season 8 | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Season 9 | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Season 10 | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | 3 | |
| Season 11 | X | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | X | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | |
| Season 12 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | |
| Season 13 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | X | X | X | X | 6 | |
| Season 14 | X | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | |
| Season 15 | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | 4 | |
| Season 16 | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | 2 | |
| Season 17 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 0 | |||||
| Season 18 | X | - | X | - | X | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | |||||||||
| Season 19 | - | X | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | X | - | - | - | - | 2 | ||||
| Total | 54 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
