A cathodic-arc evaporation system with plasma-enhanced duct equipment was used to deposit TiZrN, TiZrCN, and TiZr/a-C coatings. Reactive gases (N-2 and C2H2) activated by the Ti and Zr plasma in the evaporation process was used to deposit the TiZrCNand TiZr/a-C coatings with different C and nitrogen contents. The crystalline structures and bonding states of coatings were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The microbial activity of the coatings was evaluated against Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacteria) and Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Gram-negative bacteria) by in vitro antibacterial analysis using a fluorescence staining method employing SYTO9 and a bacterial-viability test on an agar plate. The cell compatibility and morphology related to CCD-966SK cell-line human skin fibroblast cells on the coated samples were also determined using the 3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, reverse-transcriptase- polymerase chain reaction, and scanning electron microscopy. The results suggest that the TiZrCN coatings not only possess better antibacterial performance than TiZrN and TiZr/a-C coatings but also maintain good compatibility with human skin fibroblast cells. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.