When I wrote my first NCIS fic, I created a character bio for Tony that I’ve used in every story. So far, I haven’t changed these background elements in any of my stories. Some of the info comes up in a fic, some of it doesn’t, but I’ve had people write me about being inconsistent with canon. For starters, get over it. That said…
Why I made some of my choices:
- It’s canon that Tony’s middle initial is D, but as far as I know, his real middle name was never revealed. I always use Dominic. Just because.
- For most of the run of NCIS Tony’s age wasn’t really known. Based on his work history alluded to on the show, I roughly determined he was likely born in 1972 or 1973. Arbitrarily, I picked June 9, 1973 as his birthday for all my fics. They’ve since dropped pieces of information that are inconsistent about his age, and then decided to have him born in 1968, which is the year Michael Weatherly was born. That’s a cop out. Plus it gives Tony 3-5 years of missing employment. I suppose I could do something interesting with those missing years, but mostly I’m content to give the show writers the middle finger and keep Tony’s birthday where I’ve always had it: firmly in 1973.
- Incidentally, my head canon is that Gibbs is 12 years older than Tony, so born in 1961. I think canon has Gibbs also all over the place, but strongest argument is that he was born in 1958, which would put him 10 years older than Tony in canon. I think that was a stunt to avoid the mandatory retirement age of field agents. NCIS writers are about convenience and plot device, not about consistency.
- Early canon said that Tony went to Rhode Island Military Academy; it was even in the fucking Wikipedia entry for NCIS. Then the show went and changed it to Remington. I could have started using Remington going forward from that point, but I decided not to. So Rhode Island it is, so mote it be. If you can’t bear the canon divergence, too bad. Blame the show’s writers for their inability to be consistent.
- My head canon is that Tony lost his mother when he was 8. I don’t know if this was ever settled in canon or not, but it certainly hadn’t been when I started writing. I change the method of her death depending upon the story, but it’s usually a drunken car accident. (I’ve been asked why I took that from Anita Blake books… I’ve never read the Anita Blake books.)
- I follow early canon for my portrayals of DiNozzo Sr. He’s an asshat; negligent and absent at best, and more likely abusive. They reimagined him when they brought Robert Wagner to the show. Fuck that noise, DiNozzo Sr. will never have an easy time in one of my stories. I’m willing to tweak my notion of DiNozzo Senior’s family based on the needs of my story.
- Canon says Tony is from Long Island, but as far as I know, they were never more specific. I have him from Bridgehampton, New York.
- I don’t believe Tony’s mother’s first name was ever revealed, though in season five, we find out her maiden name was Paddington. I always use the first name of Claire for her. Again, if canon ever gives us more info, I’m still not changing. After more than a decade, they could have given us a LITTLE more info on Tony, so I’m not gonna chase changing my fics if they choose to ever reveal this. That she has at least one brother is canon, but I always choose to give her two.
- My head canon is that Tony’s PE degree is actually a Sports Science degree. I could see that degree easily being referred to as PE, when it’s in fact quite a bit more complicated. I usually write Tony as having continued his education after he began working as a cop, typically with a second degree in something like criminology or psychology.
- It’s canon that Tony has a piano, but I don’t recall that we ever really hear him playing it very much. Likely because Michael Weatherly plays the guitar. But my character bio is always that Tony plays the piano very well, and usually has some other artistic pursuit like drawing, painting, singing, or playing other instruments.
- We knew early on in the show that Tony joined NCIS in 2001. My head canon was that it was probably early spring. The episode “Baltimore” sort of sets the time period for when Tony joined NCIS as being late October 2001. (In the episode, they’re listening to talk radio about the recent retirement of Cal Ripken, Jr., which occurred on 10/6/2001). Again, NCIS very late to the game with actual canon, so I stick with what I want. For a variety of reasons, it makes sense to me that Tony joined earlier in the year, and for shits and grins, I have his first encounter with Gibbs being on the Ides of March.
Summary
Name: Anthony Dominic DiNozzo Jr.
Date of Birth: 9 June 1973
Place of Birth: Bridgehampton, New York
Mother: Claire Elizabeth Paddington, Deceased 1981
Father: Anthony Dominic DiNozzo Sr.
Pre-college education: private tutors/home school until age 8 or 9, Rhode Island Military Academy until 18
College: Ohio State University, majored in Sports Science
Joined NCIS: Early April 2001
Other dates, I generally work with, with some alteration depending on story needs:
- 9 June 1973 – Born
- 1 January 1982 – Mother died
- 1982 -1985 – Boarding School
- 1985 – June – Left in Hawaii by DiNozzo Sr.
- 1985 – 1990 – Military Academy
- 1990 – 1995 – Ohio State
- 1990-1994 Bachelor’s
- 20 Nov 1993 – Broken leg
- 1994 – 1995 Master’s degree
- 1995 – June – Oct – Police Academy
- 1995 – Nov – Peoria (18 months)
- 1997 – May – Philly (23 months)
- 1999 – April – Baltimore (24 months)
- 2001 – 15 March Meet Gibbs
- 2001 – April & May – FLETC
- 2001 – 30 June – Wedding Day to Wendy
1993 game schedule for the buckeyes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_Ohio_State_Buckeyes_football_team
If you have questions about how I perceive or portray Tony, you’re welcome to ask. Also, if you want to use the character bio in its entirety for your Tony background, that’s fine.