Virgil Tibbs

Virgil Tibbs
In the Heat of the Night series character
Sidney Poitier as Detective Virgil Tibbs in the 1967 film.
First appearance	In the Heat of the Night (novel) (1965)
Last appearance	In the Heat of the Night (TV series) (1995)
Created by	John Ball
Portrayed by	Sidney Poitier Howard Rollins
Information
Nickname(s)	Mister Tibbs Detective Tibbs
Gender	Male
Occupation	Police detective Lawyer
Title	Detective
Spouse(s)	Althea Tibbs
Children	2
Nationality	American

Virgil Tibbs is a fictional character who is one of the two leading male characters in John Ball's 1965 novel In the Heat of the Night, and the protagonist in six sequels to that novel. On screen, he is the protagonist in the Oscar-winning 1967 film In the Heat of the Night based on the novel, and of the sequel films, They Call Me Mister Tibbs! (1970) and The Organization (1971), as well as the subsequent 1988-1995 television series derived from the first film.

In the novels, Tibbs works for the police force of Pasadena, California. In the films, portrayed by Academy Award winner Sidney Poitier, he first works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but in later sequels, he is shown to be working for the San Francisco Police. In an unusual step, the Tibbs films are themselves mentioned in the sequel novels: when asked about the movies, Tibbs emphasizes that he's from Pasadena, not Philadelphia. He also comments positively on Poitier's looks and acting ability. In a short story (see below), Ball wrote of a meeting that his counterpart in Tibbs' universe had with Tibbs.

In the novels, Tibbs returns to Pasadena as a police officer. In the films, Tibbs also returns to his law enforcement career, in Philadelphia and subsequently in San Francisco. In the television series, set a few years after the first film, Tibbs returns to Sparta where he becomes the Chief of Detectives under Gillespie.

Tibbs has a black belt in karate and a brown belt in aikido, is highly observant, and like many fictional detectives is something of a polymath: he has an extensive depth and breadth of knowledge in many fields of the arts, sciences, and modern culture. His general demeanor is somewhat cold, and highly intellectual. He is tolerant of non-criminal behaviors outside of the social mainstream, such as nudism.