Characters / Law And Order Special Victims Unit Former Main Characters

Capt. Donald Cragen

Appearances: Law & Order | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Dann Florek

The Captain of the Special Victims Unit. As SVU Commanding Officer, he is portrayed as a somewhat stern but understanding father figure to the detectives who work under him, often giving them a great deal of leniency because he trusts their ability to get results. Retires at the end of Season 15's Amaro's One-Eighty, giving command of the Squad to the newly promoted Sgt. Benson.

For tropes pertaining to his original appearance on the mothership, click here.

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• The Alcoholic: Recovering. He frequently mentions attending AA meetings.
• And Starring: Until Dann Florek leaves the show in season 15.
• Badass Decay: In season 1 of classic Law & Order Cragen kept Max Greevy's Moral Guardian tendencies in line. Cragen made it clear that despite their personal friendship, he expected Greevy to put aside his feelings about the victim and the crime and carry out his duties professionally. When he became captain of SVU he never held Benson and Stabler to any such standards. In fact, he showed understanding in the face of their constant emotional outbursts to the point of being an Extreme Doormat.
• Bald of Authority: Captain Cragen was the completely bald police chief who led the eponymous Special Victims Unit. He later retires and appoints the very much not bald Olivia Benson as the new head of the unit.
• Big Good: As the original head of the SVU unit, he is also highly moral and loyal.
• The Bus Came Back: After being Put on a Bus in Season 15, he returns 8 seasons later in "The 500th Episode".
  • He made his Organized Crime debut later in the 2021-22 season in "Can't Knock the Hustle" to help Stabler get closure about his father, after he had lingering questions regarding the circumstances of the elder Stabler getting an honor cross award.
• Da Chief: Head of the SVU unit until season 15.
• A Father to His Men: Feels this way, and is regarded this way, as he admits in Season 14.
• Friend to All Children: He has a soft spot for kids and takes any case where they are victims especially hard
• Hidden Depths:
  • One episode in one of the earlier seasons shows that while he's not an avid video gamer, he's actually a quite talented one, easily beating a game that neither Munch or Fin could get past the first level on.^note They were playing the game to get insight into a adolescent suspect who was obsessed with it and had problems separating fantasy and reality. The climax of the game mirrored the crime scene exactly.
  • A sadder example occurs in Season 14 when Cragen is forced to admit he solicited prostitutes out of loneliness and desperation for companionship.
• Limited Advancement Opportunities: He's been a captain since at least 1988. It might have something to do with his inability to keep the SVU detectives in line.^note  To be fair, his corruption investigation in the original Law & Order also played a factor, as it made him many political enemies in the NYPD who prevented his promotion.
• Meaningful Name: Donald means "great chief, world mighty", as in Da Chief of the tough world called Special Victim's Unit.
• Mistaken for Murderer: Cragen's main arc in the Season 14 premiere is him being used as The Scapegoat by making it look like he murdered an escort.
• Not So Above It All: When Munch and Fin play a video game to get into the headspace of an autistic witness to a foster sibling's murder, he teasingly calls them the "Mario Bros." Later, he's seen playing the same game and making it to the final level (which actually helps him talk with said witness later on).
• Off the Wagon: Was at one point. Now, he tries VERY hard to make sure he stays sober, though his job doesn't make it easy.
• Put on a Bus: He retires at the end of "Amaro's One-Eighty" in Season 15.
• Recovered Addict: Captain Cragen drank like a fish in his back story. His recovered status is repeatedly brought up. Mostly by Cragen himself.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Casual attire for him his a dress shirt and suspenders, at minimum.
• So Proud of You: When he talks to Benson in the 500th episode, he beams with pride over her now being a captain as well.
• Team Dad: As opposed to active leadership of the detectives. Many of the characters actually do see him like a father figure. In "Russian Brides," as part of an undercover operation in which Cragen poses as a lonely, vulnerable older man, he admits to feeling this way about his people in turn.
• Trademark Favourite Food: He has a 5lb bucket of Red Vines on his desk. Also a case of Early-Installment Weirdness, as they disappear after the first season.
• Transplant: From the original series to SVU.
• To Be Lawful or Good: As captain of a squad that frequently breaks the rules to solve cases Cragen is frequently put in the awkward position of either disciplining them for their rule breaking or defending them for the sake of helping victims. He mostly chooses the latter but he has his limits.
• The Vietnam Vet: Captain Cragen was a Green Beret during The Vietnam War.

Sgt. John Munch

"If you don't question authority, you lose your humanity."

Appearances: Law & Order | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Other Appearances: Homicide: Life on the Street | Homicide: The Movie | The Wire

Played By: Richard Belzer

A detective and now a Sergeant in the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. A conspiracy theorist and dedicated detective, Munch is first partnered with Brian Cassidy, whom he thinks of as a kind of younger brother, alternately poking fun at him and imparting (often questionable) advice on life and women. When Cassidy leaves the precinct in 2000, Munch is briefly partnered with Monique Jeffries, and then with Odafin Tutuola. He and the gruff, uncompromising Tutuola get off to a rough start, but gradually came to like and respect each other. As of the Season 15 episode "Wonderland Story", he has retired from the Special Victims Unit, although he has taken a role as an investigator for the DA's office, allowing him to have a recurring role.

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• Abusive Parents: His father was bipolar and used beat Munch and his brother.
• Agent Mulder: Munch is the most likely to catch the phrase "that's nuts!" when suggesting a lead. To his credit, he's right most of the time. It's most notable on the occasions where a cop is the perp, as Munch will usually be the first to suggest that possibility. ^note Potentially an ironic trope, considering Munch met the actual Agent Mulder in an X-Files crossover episode in The '90s
• Big Brother Mentor: Serves this role to everyone at some point, though Cassidy especially saw him as one. Amaro also feels close to Munch and is the most devastated when he leaves.
• Cartwright Curse: Expect any woman he's got any remote romantic interest in to be unavailable by some means by the end of the episode.
• Conspiracy Theorist: An avid consumer and producer, with particular interest in the Kennedy Assassination and government cover-ups. Ironic as it is for a cop, it actually makes him a better detective. He's naturally suspicious and very difficult to fool, with an uncanny attention to detail, a lot quicker at connecting dots than the others, and the least susceptible to "The Thin Blue Line".
• Dark and Troubled Past: Munch was physically abused by his bipolar father. Despite this, he feels guilty for his last words to his father before he committed suicide was telling him he hated his guts. In high school, he grew used to seeing a little staring at him in a way he didn’t understand, until one day she wasn’t there, her own abusive mother having killed her by shoving her through a plate-glass window.
• Deadpan Snarker: Has a sarcastic comment for almost everything.
  Luke Young: I want my parents!
  Munch: Yeah, and I want the troops home, the Kyoto Protocol signed, and a Tijuana oil job from Miss February.
• Dirty Old Man: Sometimes comes off as this, but most of his comments are harmless and in good fun. Other times, people just assume he's automatically this because of his line of work.
  Reagen Michaels: Let go of me, you dirty old man!
  Munch: Who you calling 'old'?
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Munch ultimately leaves the series by getting married and moving back to his hometown of Baltimore to take back ownership of the Waterfront, a bar he had co-owned with Lewis and Bayliss during Homicide and sold after he moved to New York.
• Friend to All Children: Though he won't actually admit to liking them, he is very good at working with young children, as well as very kind to them.
• Hidden Depths: He seemed quite happy to get into a public pillow fight in "Authority".
• Hypocrite: Despite constantly talking about the importance of civil rights, he ignores, enables, and occasionally joins his coworkers when they blatantly violate the civil rights of suspects.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: On the surface, he's a grizzled cynic with a sharp tongue. Underneath is a soft spot the size of Baltimore, especially where children are involved.
• Jewish Smartass: Practically the poster child for this trope. He's Jewish and hardly a line ever leaves his mouth that isn't snark.
• Kavorka Man: And freaking how, although not nearly as showcased as in Homicide.
  • A case of real-world influence on the show as Richard Belzer is married to a former Playboy model.
• Long-Runners: At the end of season 14, Richard Belzer will have played Munch for 20 years (and 21 seasons) as a regular on two different shows (along with cameos and crossover appearances on 8 others), tying him with (or putting him one year ahead of, if measuring by seasons) Kelsey Grammer as Frasier Crane (on Cheers and Frasier), James Arness as Matt Dillon and Milburn Stone as Doc Adams (both on Gunsmoke) as American television's longest running live action character.
• Number Two: After passing the Sergents exam in the Season 9 premiere, he becomes Cragen's deputy until Munch's retirement in Season 15.
• Out-of-Character Moment: In "Mercy", when Alex says she assumed Munch was pro-euthanasia, he says he is, 'for legal, consenting adults'. Meanwhile, in an episode during the next season ("Painless"), he seems to be vehemently against it.
• Out of Focus: In later seasons. Munch is often underused, Season 9 featured him in only about half of the episodes and overall Munch has missed 65 episodes of SVU compared to just three episodes of Homicide.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Whenever Munch goes undercover, this usually ensues, and it's a rare instance of this trope being both Played for Laughs and weirdly effective. In one episode his undercover "disguise" as a pedophile involved no more than taking off his shades, dressing slightly differently, and smiling. In another case, his disguise consisted of dressing like a hobo and shouting conspiracy theories.
  Fin: That's the same old crap he says every day, only louder.
• Parting-Words Regret: Munch told his bipolar father that he hated his guts. They would be the last words he would tell his father before he killed himself. He considers this His Greatest Failure, and now suicide is a sore spot for him.
• Personal Horror: Munch is sensitive to abused children, particularly girls, because as a teenager, he witnessed a neighbor throwing her daughter through a plate glass window, and after the girl's death, the mother only expressed concern about replacing the window. He is also sensitive to those with mental illness because his father had bipolar disorder, and his ex-wife Gwen has an unspecified paranoid condition.
• Properly Paranoid: He's appeared in an X-Files crossover. With a world like that in the background, he has every right to be a little paranoid. Lampshaded in another episode when he plays the part of a deranged hobo spouting Conspiracy Theorist rhetoric to draw out youths assaulting the homeless: Fin says it's "the same stuff he says every day, only louder".
• Put on a Bus:
  • He's transferred to the Cold Case unit after "Manhattan Vigil". He comes back for a while, then he retires from the Special Victims Unit in Season 15's "Wonderland Story", although Belzer has stated he'd like to return in the future. Fortunately, Munch has become an investigator for the DA's office, leaving the door open for a recurring role.
  • Happens again much more permanently in Season 24, where Fin reveals he's moved back to Baltimore and taken back ownership of the Waterfront. This ended up being the last episode to air before the death of Richard Belzer, making this unfortunately permanent.
• Quip to Black: He and Elliot are tied for these.
• Rank Up: To the shock of everyone on the squad, Munch secretly takes the sergeant's exam and is promoted despite his outspoken distaste for authority and the higher-ups in the NYPD. Munch insists that he only took the exam on a bar bet and that he never expected to score well enough to actually be promoted.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In the few times he allows himself to get personally involved in the victims' lives, he's usually doing so because it's morally right rather than it being an extension of his job (and in "Parts", actually does something that would have cost him his job if any of the higher-ups found out). When Elliot asks him why he'd take such a risk:
  Munch: I have to be able to sleep at night.
• Serial Spouse: Subverted. None of his marriages ever last. He finally gave up after the fourth time.
  Munch: You gotta play to win.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Lowered as time goes by, but in the early days, he did think his lifelong conspiracy rants meant his FBI file was so huge, he'd need to carry it in a car. He got a dose of humility upon finding out his entire "file" was a single sheet of paper which noted that most of the radical community consider him a crank.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: Almost always wears a suit.
• Sunglasses at Night: He wears shades at all times.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Richard Belzer had dark brown hair in his youth and is the tallest main cast member to date at 6'1. Suffice to say, Munch's snarkiness is unparalleled.
• The Smart Guy: Very, VERY smart. If the squad needs the cliff notes on a new subject, he'll have them in his head. If they need o know about literature or high culture he'll comply, and if they need to interview a witness or suspect in French or Yiddish he'll be able to do that too.
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: Sharply corrects Capt. Harris on his rank, which at that point is Sergeant.
• Transplant: From Homicide: Life on the Street to SVU.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Fin. They snark at each other relentlessly but they clearly care for one another immensely.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Although he's fairly likable—to a fault, anyway—he has had his moments over the years, such as casually talking about a former partner of his who committed suicide because he took the job too seriously and referring to coma patients (one of whom was a rape victim) as "produce" and "a member of the drool squad".
• Writer on Board: An actor variant. Munch's conspiracy theories and admiration of John Kennedy come directly from his actor, Richard Belzer, who has written books on the subject. Belzer himself has gone on record saying that John Munch is basically "me as a cop".

Det. Elliot Stabler

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order | Law & Order: Trial by Jury | Law & Order: Organized Crime

Played By: Christopher Meloni

A senior detective in Manhattan's 16th Precinct, also known as the Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. He is one of the original members of the squad. A former Marine and a dedicated detective, he has a 97 percent closure rate, but his dedication can turn to obsession and cause him to take cases personally. His dedication to the job also makes him the target for several IAB investigations during the course of his 12-year career at SVU.

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• Abusive Parents: His father was physically and emotionally abusive. His mother had untreated bipolar disorder, and although never intentionally caused harm to her son, inadvertently caused him physical injury and emotional distress during her episodes, particularly during points of mania.
• Action Dad: To five kids.
• All Crimes Are Equal: When a group of teenagers threw a party with alcohol and a girl drank too much until she choked on her own vomit, Stabler went after the teenagers with the same zeal with which he goes after murderers, rapists, and pedophiles, and was outraged when the judge didn't throw the book at them. Stabler can be expected to lose his perspective (he has very little to begin with) whenever a victim is even remotely similar to his daughter.
• Always Someone Better: Inverted. Stabler is overzealous, tempermental, and has no regard for constitutional rights. He is frequently temporarily partnered with cops who are even worse. Sometimes it seems as if Stabler learns his lesson from working with them, but it never sticks.
• Anti-Hero: Though fundamentally good and wishing to protect the public and catch criminals, he bends the law to get it done, frequently brutalizes suspects, and is very bigoted and close-minded on sexuality issues.
• Badass in Distress: A couple of times; the most prominent being when Dale captures him and begins to torture him in 'Zebras'.
• Badass Longcoat: In winter episodes.
• Badges And Dogtags: Stabler was in the Marines prior to his career as a detective.
• Battle Couple: He and Olivia's Temporary Substitute, Dani Beck, were a couple for a while.
• Berserk Button: He's got a lot of them including, but not limited to:
  • Anything involving kids being hurt or abused will turn Elliot borderline homicidal and come dangerously close to acting out his fantasies of killing perps.
  • Bringing up his family in an argument or taking shots at him as a parent is also not advisable.
  • And God help you if you're a paedophile who even hints at attraction to one of Elliot's kids. You'll be very lucky if he just beats you within an inch of your life.
  • Abusive or neglectful parents in general are a huge one, even when the kids are teens or adults, given his own rough childhood.
  • Getting him to work cases where predators, rapists or just outright scumbags end up as murder victims will not bring out his sunny side. He will do it because it's part of his job, as much as he may hate it, but makes no secret of his belief that said victims fully deserved their fate.
  • Given how close they are, hurting or threatening Olivia is unsurprisingly a massive one.
  • As a devoted Catholic, he’s furious whenever he runs into a criminal who uses religion as a justification for their deeds.
• Black-and-White Morality:
  • Deconstructed in "Nocturne". He finds out that the victim (who was molested by his piano teacher) had molested a young boy himself at his piano teacher's insistence. He knows he's a victim, but he pretty much wants to kill him at this point (for obvious reasons). This wasn't always the case though, see below.
  • A minor example is the fact that bipolar disorder runs in his side of the family. In the episode "Turmoil", he nearly strangles his son Dickie when he answers his question, "Have you lost your mind?", with, "I'm not the first Stabler to do so, am I?".
• Black-and-Grey Morality: In the first episode of the second season, after the season one finale reveals that he fantasizes about killing perpetrators, he talks to a shrink about it and the current case, where he admits to doing it again, but the suspect is a 16 year old kid who had spent half his life being raped by his foster dad, and was an honor student who also helped mentally handicapped children play soccer. This troubled Elliot deeply. Later, he also had a case where he spent most of the day trying to get a guy to admit he raped and killed a woman. He was in the middle of berating him for also stabbing women with pins, when Oliva comes in and tells Elliot that the suspect was molested by his mother for years. He then switches to comforting him.
• Brooklyn Rage: From New York and has a passionate drive and a rabid temper.
• Broken Pedestal: Dick Finley, who he named his son after.
• The Bus Came Back: After his departure following the Season 12 finale, Elliot is slated to return in Season 22 as a Sequel Hook for his Spin-Off show.
• Characterization Marches On: It's strange to see him in earlier seasons actually spending time with his kids (reading bedtime stories, playing soccer with his daughter) considering his interaction (or lack thereof) with them in later seasons. Or how he was the calming influence to Olivia's hotheadedness.
• Character Tics: He has a tendency to squint slightly when troubled, or when he's lying, something his mother catches on to very quickly.
• Chick Magnet: Throughout the series, Stabler has been on hit on by numerous women: Civilians, suspects, criminals, etc.
• Cowboy Cop or Rabid Cop: Depending on the episode.
• Crusading Widower: His first major plotline in Organized Crime is finding the bastard who killed his wife.
• Dad the Veteran: A former member of the USMC during the birth of his first two children. He had three more following his official retirement from service after The Gulf War.
• Defective Detective: A combination of marital problems and an increasingly over-stressed psyche really start to crack him up. Being forced to put down a deranged victim forces him into retirement.
• Divorce Is Temporary: He and Kathy split during Seasons 6-8.
• The Dreaded: When Benson is in a room with her kidnapper and she got the drop on him she mentions that if her old partner was with her that he'd beat the shit out of him. Direct reference to Stabler.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: His actor was credited as "Chris Meloni" throughout Season 1.
• Exalted Torturer: SVU doesn't endorse his third-degree tactics, but damned if they don't heavily rely on them. And Stabler gets way more latitude for it from the brass than he really should.
• Fair Cop: Stabler is a handsome, fit dude who’s a police officer. His good looks are often remarked upon.
• Family Man: Elliot will do ANYTHING for his wife and children. To the point where he nearly beats a man to death when he finds his younger daughter's picture on a pedophile group's child porn database.
• Family Theme Naming: With his children Elizabeth and (obviously) Elliot, Jr.
• Fatal Flaw: Elliot and his marital problems at home. Also his temper and tendency to resort to legally dubious tactics when chasing down criminals gets him into quite a few spots of trouble, even among his squadmates.
• Flanderization: Early seasons had Stabler occasionally lose his cool and cross the line, but it was clear he generally had control over his emotions and was able to let out his anger purely for pragmatic reasons (roughing up suspects usually only went as far as shoving them around). As seasons go on, Stabler engages in excessively violent and illegal behavior that would get any real detective tossed off the force immediately.
  • In early seasons, Stabler had the ability to feign sympathy for suspects in order to draw out confessions (like a real detective might). He also showed remarkable restraint in difficult cases (in a Season 3 episode, Stabler is able to relate to a pedophilic priest—harming kids and religion being two of Stabler’s biggest triggers—as a fellow man of faith to get him to do the right thing and turn in a fellow priest). In later seasons, just the whiff of any of these subjects (which, as a Special Victims detective, come up frequently) are enough to send Stabler into a frothing rage, often beating suspects viciously.
• Freudian Excuse: His personality is implied to be as a result of his father's upbringing as well as his mother abandoning both of them.
• Friend to All Children: Since he has quite a few of his own, Elliot has a soft spot for kids and is very good at comforting them when they are hurt, showing his gentle side. The flip side is that he often becomes extremely rabid, bordering on murderous, when they are victims.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Against pedophiles. But has been known numerous times to hand out beatdowns to plenty of criminals and even fellow officers for being Jerkasses. This major problem often gets him into trouble and he can't really control himself when he's in this state and ends up with the victim of his wrath in a bloody pulp.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • Seemed to be coming closer and closer towards one after Kathy got fed up, left him and took the kids with her.
  • Suffers one at the end of the twelfth season, and retires by the time the next one starts.
• Hot-Blooded: Stabler is most known for this trope as he is more than likely to get into plenty of fights and can barely hold on to his emotions when he gets angry unlike other detectives.
• Hypocrite: Expresses frustration and disgust with the "don't snitch" attitude he encounters on the streets, but he calls Internal Affairs "the rat squad" and holds them in contempt, even though he has done plenty to warrant being investigated and he himself had investigated fellow officers. When Internal Affairs wanted SVU to investigate an abused dead girl who may or may not have been accidentally killed by police, he and Olivia said they had "some nerve" asking for a favor after all the times they had investigated the squad, clearly forgetting that investigating child abuse is supposed to be their job. The only positive thing Elliot ever said about his father was "My father was no rat." Apparently, Elliot thought his father's refusal to testify against a crew of corrupt cops was a good thing.
• I Have No Son!: Inverted. Elliot has mentally erased his childhood and parents to the point of breaking down crying in front of a therapist when he finally starts talking about an incident in which his father called him a failure, and he only goes to visit his mother when Kathleen is in jail and needs proof that bipolar disorder runs in the family to get Kathleen treatment instead of jail time.
• Insane Troll Logic: Whenever he's interrogating someone and he runs out of questions he'll sarcastically say "You've got an answer for everything don't you?" or he'll turn to a third person and sarcastically say "The guy's got an answer for everything." It seems Stabler believes that having a satisfactory answer for all of a detective's questions is evidence that a person must be guilty of something.
• Ironic Name: He has a tendency to be both uncontrollable and unpredictable.
• Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: Is prone to tweaking suspects. In the episode "Pandora", he's working on apprehending a child pornographer in Prague. The US frowns upon roughing up suspects. Prague is not in the US.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Elliot is rabid, abrasive, judgemental, snarky and has a very bad temper but he's a good man who cares deeply about getting justice for victims, especially kids.
• Karma Houdini: He has sent innocent people to prison, beaten confessions out of suspects, harassed and insulted people he knew were innocent because he just didn't like them, thrown childish temper tantrums in the squad room, and suffered zero consequences.
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: You can't deny that a lot of the perps Stabler brutalizes have it coming. Considering their crimes it sometimes seems as if they get off easy.
• Knight Templar: Some of the suspects he inflicted physical violence on turned out to be innocent. He also sent one innocent man to prison who, even after everyone realized he was innocent, has no way of ever getting out.
• Lantern Jaw of Justice: Courtesy of Christopher Meloni, who's got a chin to rival Jay Leno.
• Let Me at Him!: Stabler should probably be the Trope Namer.
• Meaningful Name: Back in Season 1, Stabler was this because he was the level-headed one and Benson was the hot-headed one.
• My God, What Have I Done?: At the end of an episode dealing with an abusive parent, Stabler said he had this moment after hitting one of his daughters as a toddler over some spilled juice. At the end of the episode "Smoked", this was exactly the look on his face after shooting a girl who shot the men responsible for her mother's death, plus an innocent bystander, causing him to retire.
• Never Trust a Trailer: His return and new spin-off are advertised with a voice-over of him saying "The world has changed and so have I." Within a few minutes of his return, he's forced his way into an interrogation he has no business being part of, and almost immediately tries to beat a confession out of the (innocent) suspect. In the second half of the crossover, his new superior calls him out on his crap and his response is "I was a damn good cop then, and I'm a damn good cop now." Clearly, he hasn't changed in the slightest.
• Noble Bigot with a Badge: He's somewhat closed-minded about sexual orientation and transgender issues, although not hateful about it. Possible result of a Catholic upbringing.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: His admitting that he occasionally fantasizes about killing perps is almost always brought up when his ability to competently do his job is brought up.
• Papa Wolf: Bringing up his children in an argument is a surefire way to piss him off. Going after his family is a surefire way to get the snot beat out of you.
• Parents as People: Don't get us wrong - Stabler loves his kids. He is, however, far from a perfect parent, and he knows it.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Olivia, until his departure. They are partners and very good friends. The closeness of their relationship sometimes causes friction with their colleagues, but never threatens Stabler's relationship with his wife and four (later five) children. Their relationship does occasionally cause some marital friction. Kathy sometimes finds it difficult to deal with the fact that Elliot confides in Liv instead of her. There are also the unfortunate times when Liv has to be the go-between (when Elliot is undercover and unreachable, for example) and Kathy clearly objects to being kept out of the loop of her own husband's life. Still, it doesn't come up nearly as often as you'd expect and Elliott and Liv really are just friends. Kathy does seem to have accepted the relationship after she gets back together with Elliott, at one point referring to Liv jokingly as Elliott's "work wife."
  • Liv admits to Amanda in episode 9 of season 24 that Stabler is the love of her life. Liv wouldn't pursue it because he was married. Kathy was the final boundary and then she died...
• Put on a Bus: Starting Season 13. Forced to shoot and kill a teenage girl to stop her from killing someone is pretty much enough for him to retire for nine years.
  • He returns in Season 22, joining the NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau as a lead-in to the Spin-Off series Law & Order: Organized Crime.
• Quip to Black: Tied with Munch for these.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He is the Red to Benson's Blue.
• "Reason You Suck" Speech: Gets a pretty scathing one from Fin after he dumps Fin's phone in "Cold":
  Elliot: Look, the situation got a little heated and I want to say I'm sorry about that.
  Fin: You're a bulldog, Stabler. Quick to assume, slow to admit when you're wrong. Makes for a good cop, but a lousy human being...
  Olivia: Fin, hear him out.
  Fin: Stay out of it, Liv. That being said, I know what it cost you.
  Elliot: Appreciate that.
  Fin: I'm not done. The problem is you will still be the same rat bastard tomorrow, and nothing you say will ever change that.
• Secret-Keeper: He and Olivia are the only ones who knew about Alex only Faking the Dead and being in Witness Protection. They kept their silence until the act was forced to be dropped over a year later.
• Semper Fi: Served as a Marine during Desert Storm and has a Marine Corps tattoo on his arm. One suspect even refers to him as a "Jarhead cop."
• Sex with the Ex: He and Kathy have occasional hookups during their separation. Their youngest child Eli was a product of one of these.
• Strictly Professional Relationship: He always works with a woman, usually Benson. Once he was partnered with a man. It didn't go so well. He was briefly romantically involved with Dani Beck while separated from his wife. He took it fairly hard when she quit. It's also implied that he may have slept with Jo Marlowe when they were partnered together.
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Not quite as tall as Munch, but just as snarky.
• Temporary Blindness: Goes blind for an episode in "Blinded".
• Transplant: He is set to return as the lead star of Law & Order: Organized Crime.
• Tuckerization: Named after the series creator's son.
• Ultimate Job Security: Despite an entire career of ignoring warnings and orders given by Cragen, beating suspects, acting abrasive to detectives and attorneys he's assigned to work with, and using outright torture to extract confessions in investigations, Stabler is never fired. He only leaves the show when he chooses to resign.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: As his mother stated.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Has been on the receiving end on quite a few of these.

Det. Monique Jeffries

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Michelle Hurd

A police detective with Manhattan's Special Victims Unit and was one of the initial detectives in the SVU squad.

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• '80s Hair: She occasionally had her hair in a perm.
• The Bus Came Back: We later find she's been transferred to Vice and collaborates with SVU again in one episode.
• Dating Catwoman: Deconstructed. Sleeping with a former suspect got her kicked out of the department.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: For about half of Season 1 upon Cassidy's departure.
• Put on a Bus: She leaves the unit after sleeping with a former suspect.
• Straw Feminist: Up until her Promotion to Opening Titles, her only scenes were just to get her dandruff up anytime Munch said something. Even then she still would get pissy with Munch.
• Token Minority: Until Fin joined the show.

A.D.A Alexandra "Alex" Cabot

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Other Appearances: Conviction

Played By: Stephanie March

• Amoral Attorney: At times. She goes too far in "Guilt" and gets suspended for a month. There have been exceptions, especially in recent appearances.
• Anti-Hero: Does some morally ambiguous things. Sometimes it goes to Nominal Hero levels where she's only interested in winning for the sake of her career regardless of the law or possible innocence.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Averted. In "Guilt", Alex takes a hard fall, cutting her forehead. It doesn't heal by the time the episode is over. As well, by the time she strong-arms her way into a woman's apartment to find evidence, she looks so harried and tired that she looks like a strung-out drug addict.
• Broken Bird: Although in this case, it happens during the series, not before it. Offscreen, she lost a case in 2012 in which she failed to prosecute a perp who then murdered his own wife in retaliation. She subsequently left the DA's office and lost her trust in the law's ability to protect abuse victims.
• Commuting on a Bus: Has been in the main cast in two separate timespans, as well as several guest appearances.
• Crusading Lawyer: When it suits the plot. Most notably, she goes to Africa in Season 11 to work with the ICC. And then again in "Scorched Earth."
• Defrosting Ice Queen: In her first run, she can be quite bitchy at times. Contrast post-WPP Alex, who is much friendlier and more helpful, as long as she's not in court.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: Many viewers considered her to be "hair porn", especially in her more recent appearances.
• Friend to All Children: Rarely seen, but her interactions with young children (and one victim with Down's Syndrome) are a complete 180 from her normal personality. She even smiles.
• Hello, Attorney!: And according to this, she's the trope namer
• Iconic Sequel Character: She is the show's first prominent ADA and has held the position twice, but she didn't make an appearance until the Season 2 premiere.
• Idiot Ball: The plot of "Guilt".
• Informed Attribute: Her legal prowess. She's indicated to be a top prosecutor(later becoming a unit chief) but frequently loses arguments before judges even when she's 100% in the right on the law. The usual formula is she lays out the evidence, the defence attorney calls it into question based usually on speculation or an argument that has no legal basis, Cabot says "this is ridiculous" or reiterates the heinous nature of the crime (rather than cite precedent or make a legitimate legal argument), the judge rules in the defence's favor. In fact her many of her wins were a result of Deus ex Machina or the defendant breaking down and confessing on the stand.
• Jerkass Has a Point: When Cabot is prosecuting a former football star for statutory rape on a teen prostitute, Olivia, who originally wanted all of the girl's Johns to be brought to justice, changes her mind when she feels that the defendant wasn't responsible due to suffering from early onset dementia and recruits Bayard Ellis to help him get acquitted. Cabot was understandably furious with her actions and pointed out that it was impossible to have both justice for the girl and compassion for the defendant. Looking back, this incident is a massive What the Hell, Hero? for Olivia, as this stunt was odd for her character at the time, and, if done at present time, would have received massive fanbase backlash.
• Karma Houdini: Munch even calls her "Teflon".
• Knight in Sour Armor: SOMETHING had to have happened by "Sunk Cost Fallacy" because the attorney who previously sought to uphold the law and pursue justice...has changed heavily. She points out that the oath taken by witnesses to tell "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth" is, to paraphrase, a load of crap fed to people before trial to make them think the system gives a damn about what will happen to them. She still desires to do the right thing; even if it's vigilantism and against many of the laws set in place.
  Alex: I opened my eyes. I opened them wide, and I saw that for twelve years I was a cog in a 'holier than thou' wheel and the wheel keeps spinning and tossing off bodies as it goes."
• Lantern Jawof Justice: Especially when viewed from the side.
• Limited Advancement Opportunities: She probably could have at least been a DA at this point, especially since she's already been a bureau chief. What's really bad about it is that she mentions several times in season two as having political aspirations.
• Lethal Chef: She acknowledges almost setting fire to her own stove.
• Meaningful Name: Alexandra means defender of men, which fits a lawyer like her.
• Ms. Fanservice: Stephanie March is this on her own, but the glasses and the late season hairdo's certainly help. See for yourself.◊
• Never Got to Say Goodbye: Alex's mother died while she was in witness protection and she wasn't allowed to go to the funeral.
• Never My Fault: Downplayed, but still notable in a few occasions:
  • In one episode, a witness was given a Hidden Wire to get incriminating evidence against a madam, but she threw a pot of cooking spaghetti in his face after realizing he had one on, horribly burning him. Yet, a later episode had a fellow lawyer merely suggest to giving another witness one, only for her to chew him out over what a stupid idea it was in spite of him having no knowledge about why this backfired.
  • The episode "Guilt" had her goading a young witness into testifying against a vicious child molester, but he ends up attempting suicide out of his own guilt at betraying his "mentor", ending up in a persistent vegetative state. Cabot is still hell-bent on nailing him and tricks Benson and Stabler into an illegal search of his home. Ultimately, she ends up getting the perp, but ends up suspended, a boy is permanently disabled and she possibly ruined the reputations of her colleagues/their squads integrity.
• Oh, Crap!: She is at a loss for words when the EADA makes her the prosecuting attorney for the case of charging a 7-year-old with murder on live TV.
  • In "Loss", she suffers something of a Heroic BSoD when the defendant she's supposed to prosecute uses his Colombian cartel networks to target her for assassination. This gets an agent that she initially wanted a testimony from killed in a car bomb intended for her, and she's put into utter shock and horror when it becomes clear that her and her mother's addresses as well as her daily habits were found out thoroughly.
• Older Than They Look: Alex is apparently the same age as Olivia according to a screenshot in "Ghost" showing her date of birth, but Stephanie March is a decade younger than Mariska Hargitay who plays Olivia (and inversely is older than her character).
• Plucky Girl: Especially in the beginning.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Stephanie March was billed as a guest star in her introduction but is immediately added to the opening credits the following episode.
• Put on a Bus: To witness protection in "Loss". And again in Season 11 to become a Crusading Lawyer.
• Refuge in Audacity: In "Guilt": "So, I violated somebody's constitutional rights. I didn't violate the defendant's constitutional rights, so suck it up and admit my evidence." The judge reluctantly allows it through, though Alex does get a 30-day suspension for this and later has problems with other cases she presents before the judge in question.
• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: "Hello, Uncle Bill..." In a later episode, Fin begs her to use a connection to stall, but she snarks that after working with SVU, she doesn't have many favors left.
• She's Back: In "Lead".
• Smart People Wear Glasses: A highly intelligent and qualified attorney who also wears a very distinctive pair of black glasses.
• Statuesque Stunner: Her profile in the Season 6 episode "Ghost" lists her at an even 6 feet.^note Her actress is actually only 5'9 1/8 but still fits the quota
• The Stoic: Needs to be this for the toughness of her profession, but she's Not So Stoic when she reappears in "Sunk Cost Fallacy".
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Much more sugar as of late, as she's learned to save the frigidness for situations when it's actually useful. Otherwise, do not fuck with her in court, or just seasons 2-4 in general. Because when it comes to ice, she's the queen.
• Transplant: From SVU to Conviction and then back again.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Has become this in Season 19's "Sunk Cost Fallacy." The team believe an abusive and cheating husband killed his wife and daughter. But as they go over later evidence, they find they're still alive and missing. Benson discovers Cabot is now part of a group who specialize in helping abused women fake their deaths for new lives and isn't above framing the husbands for the "murder." She defends herself on it all and ranting about how the justice system has failed these women and only this way can help.
  Benson: What happened to you?
  Cabot: I opened my eyes.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Occasionally gets speeches like this from judges on account of her, um, liberties with the law. During "Sunk Cost Fallacy", she berates Olivia for foolishly upholding the law in ignorance of misdeeds being committed through the law.
• Witness Protection: Why the character left the series the first time.

Dr. Melinda Warner

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order: Trial by Jury

Other Appearances: Chicago Fire

Played By: Tamara Tunie

The main medical examiner for the SVU, she has a snarky personality and varying levels of importance - she's the only cast member to have been promoted to opening titles and still regularly appear after leaving them.

---

• Black and Nerdy: African-American and the SVU squad's go-to medical examiner.
• Combat Medic: She served in the U.S. Air Force during The Gulf War to pay for her medical bills.
• Commuting on a Bus: Of all the departed regulars, she's the one with the most frequent guest reappearances.
• The Coroner: Her role, of course.
• A Day in the Limelight: "Blast".
• Deadpan Snarker:
  Stabler: (standing over a burnt corpse) What's on the menu for tonight?
  Warner: Barbecue. A little too well-done.
• Demoted to Extra: In Season 13.
• Happily Married: One of the few recurrent SVU characters without much personal angst.
• Iconic Sequel Character: She's the definitive medical expert of the show, but she didn't make an appearance until Season 2.
• The Medic: In general, but particularly noticeable in any episode that places the SVUs in a live situation.
• Minored in Ass-Kicking: She was a soldier before joining the SVU, and she's able to use a gun to good effect when she needs to.
• Nerves of Steel: In "Shattered", she was shot in the chest by a crazed suspect, and still kept her cool long enough to talk Olivia through performing an emergency medical procedure long enough to keep her alive. The woman has guts.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Was a Recurring Character in Seasons 2-6 before being upgraded to a series regular during Seasons 7-12.
• Sassy Black Woman: A less extroverted version than usual examples, but she is extremely tough, well-respected, and snarky — even after being shot and carried out by the morgue staff: "Back off, vultures, I'm not dead yet!"
• Quip to Black: Often sets these up.

Dr. George Huang

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: B.D. Wong

An FBI forensic psychiatrist and criminal profiler, specializing in studying sexual predators and their victims.

---

• Asian and Nerdy: Is Chinese and a doctor.
• Badass Pacifist: This man has been in the room with many psychopaths, and more than one has tried to kill him. This has not stopped him from doing his job once.
• Bad Liar: A variant. He is able to lie to the perp very well during interrogations. When he tries to lie to his friends and coworkers, however, he fails miserably. For example, his attempts to lie to Olivia in Users, right after he goes through her desk for information on their perp, could not have made it any more obvious that he was up to something.
• Berserk Button: Endangerment of the mentally ill; he has a rare loss of temper, leading to a public shouting match, when Stabler deliberately sends a paranoid-schizophrenic suspect into a violent psychotic breakdown in order to get information. Not only could this have hurt the suspect, it could have cost both of them their jobs had Casey Novak not risked her own job to cover it up.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Huang is one of the few authority figures outside of the squad who fully trusts and enjoys working with them, but even he can get impatient with the SVU detectives' tactics when it comes to handling suspects with mental disorders. He's pissed in "Coerced" in which he ends up starting a screaming match with Stabler in Cragen's office for pushing a suspect into a psychotic break, and then there's this exchange in another episode when SVU (with the help of a friendly US Attorney) prevents Huang from handing their case off to the feds.
  Stabler: How did Huang take the bad news?
  Fin: If I were you, I'd keep my distance. I didn't know he used that kind of language.
  • As an FBI agent, Huang is also not afraid to drop federal charges on your ass when warranted.
• Bilingual Bonus: Speaks fluent Mandarin, which comes in handy in the episode "Debt".
  Huang: What, you assume I speak Chinese?
  Stabler: No, I heard you order take-out once.
• Break Them by Talking: A rare heroic example as he is as likely (if not much more so) to do this for past abuse victims and/or children than SVU's criminals, which Benson and Stabler usually handle.
• The Bus Came Back: He returned 20 episodes into Season 13 in "Father Dearest", with a mention of working in Oklahoma. And again in Season 14. And yet again in 15.
  • As of Season 17, he's retired from the FBI, but still works as a consultant for cases in New York. Unfortunately, this also means that his clinical opinions are now accessible to everyone and he no longer holds any defined loyalty to any department, including SVU.
• But Not Too Gay: He comes out in season 11 but never as much as mentions a past relationship.
• Captain Obvious: An interesting case in that sometimes the detectives need to ask him to make things a little simpler for them to follow which leads to this trope... and sometimes he invokes this deliberately because of the reason listed above. At times when they think his explanation is a little too simple, he shows that he's capable of a more complex explanation...
  Huang: She's dangerous.
  Chief Muldrew: Is that your clinical opinion, Dr. Huang?
  Huang: Do you want me to use bigger words?
• Character Development: Goes from laidback psychiatrist from the FBI to a doctor willing to break laws for the sake of his morals. He's one of SVU's most trusted men outside the squad for his tenure as a main character, and even though he might not always agree with the detectives' methods, he does acknowledge that most of the time, they're trying to do the right thing. Didn't stop him from getting pissed when anyone went too far though.
• Characterization Marches On: In his first appearance, Huang sports glasses, a perv-stache and his interest in the criminal mind seems vaguely prurient. An episode later, he's glasses-less, clean-shaven, his hair is immaculate, and he's a sensitive and trusted confidant to Olivia.
• Deadpan Snarker: He is often subtly sarcastic to the detectives, at times to the attorneys as well:
  Alex Cabot: I need your advice.
  Huang: Lie down on the couch.
• Flanderization: In the early seasons, he wears standard suits, or, very occasionally, sweater vests. By season 11, the sweaters are almost all he wears.
• Good Is Not Dumb: Huang often takes the opposite position of the SVU with regards to victims and perpetrators, but the show demonstrates that he often has a good reason for doing so.
• Hard Head: Played with: he took an absolutely brutal concussion from the perp in "Execution," but made a perfect recovery. However, it was mentioned that he was in the hospital at least overnight, and he was absent from the next episode, indicating that he might have taken a while to recover. Seemed to be entirely invoked in "Lead" when he was knocked backwards onto the edge of the table and had blood pooling under his head. He had to insist multiple times he was fine since he wasn't nauseous, dizzy, or had passed out (all signs of a concussion).
• Have I Mentioned I Am Gay?: In the episodes "Hardwired" and "Father Dearest". He mentions being gay, but always conveniently stays single.
• Iconic Sequel Character: He is the most prominent psychiatric expert of the show, but he didn't make an appearance until the penultimate episode of Season 2.
• I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: B.D. Wong's Mulan co-stars Ming-Na Wen and James Hong both guest star in the Season 6 episode "Debt".
• Jurisdiction Friction: Huang's position as a psychiatrist and a member of the FBI occasionally puts him at odds with the rest of the team; on the other hand, he also readily uses FBI resources to help them. Seems to be just as much a personality conflict with Stabler as anything else.
• Mr. Exposition: Sometimes reaching Captain Obvious status.
• Nice Guy: He stands out as way more polite and friendly than the snarkers that make up SVU. This helps a lot when dealing with suspects as they're generally more willing to talk to him than the detectives.
• Non-Action Guy: Partially justified as he's not a cop. However, it's not entirely justified because he is an FBI agent.
• Not So Stoic: He does not appreciate homophobia or mistreatment of the mentally ill, most especially if one of the detectives (read:Stabler) ends up being responsible for the latter. The only times he's been seen getting more than mildly annoyed are when presented with one of the above.
• Only Sane Man: Willing to point out that dating someone who looks prepubescent but is over the age of consent isn't illegal, among other things. He often seems frustrated with the detectives, especially Stabler, when they go over the line.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Two in season eleven. One where he is openly angry at a pedophile group comparing themselves to gay men, and another where he kidnaps a teenager and gives him an illegal drug to cure his heroin addiction.
• The Profiler: Often called upon to play this role if needed. More commonly, he evaluates suspects after they've already been arrested.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Was a Recurring Character in Seasons 2-3 before being upgraded to a series regular during Seasons 4-12.
• Put on a Bus: Beginning season 13 with no mention at all, unlike Stabler, whose departure was dealt with in several episodes. It is hinted that he might be working with the FBI full time again, and is confirmed during a reappearance in which he states the FBI reassigned him to Oklahoma.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: To Oklahoma. Reassigned sometime between the end of season 12 and the end of season 13. He is clearly miserable about having to return to Oklahoma at the end of Born Psychopath.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: In one episode, the detectives were faced with a man who ran a rehab clinic for teenagers, yet kept his patients hooked on heroin to get money from the parents. There was a drug that could instantly cure one patient, in particular, of his addiction, but it was illegal. Huang had the drug administered to him anyway, then turned himself in. He got thirty days suspension, but it was Worth It.
• The Shrink: Incidentally, he can hop between all three subtypes depending on the episode.
• The Smart Guy: Comes with his role as a forensic psychiatrist. He often explains obscure mental disorders to the detectives, is extremely knowledgeable about about theology, and corrects a mistranslated Latin phrase.
• The Stoic: But when you do make him angry...
• Straight Gay: Heavily hinted at for several years and then finally confirmed. Though he already all but spelled it out back in season 3, episode 18 "Guilt" when they were dealing with a teenage boy who had been sexually abused by a man.
  Huang: Victims his age are afraid that, because their abuser is male, they themselves might be gay. He might perceive my presence as an accusation.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: With Stabler, who will do whatever it takes to get his answers (including push a suspect into a psychotic break and offer phone calls for a convicted prisoner to the aforementioned prisoner's rape victim) whereas Huang isn't, and it causes them to butt heads whenever they end up working together.
• Token Minority: The only prominent Asian character. Counts as Twofer Token Minority once his sexuality is revealed.
• What the Hell, Hero?: As the Only Sane Man that isn't tied directly to SVU, he gave these more than once to the detectives at SVU if they went over the line. Liv gives him one in Season 17's "Depravity Standard," when he ends up testifying that the defendant's confession could have been coerced by Liv of all people.

A.D.A Casey Novak

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Law & Order

Played By: Diane Neal

• '90s Hair: Her hairstyle in her first appearances were notably outdated for a decade.
• Ambiguously Bi: Hinted at in her first few episodes. Casey is shown to be a very Tomboyish individual, riding her bike to work, wearing hoodies in the office, and being awfully knowledgeable about fishing (fairly innocuous). Then it's revealed she plays softball (slightly less innocuous). And then, this exchange with a witness happened:
  Ian: James used to always talk about how happy he was that he was gay. He said guys are so much more fun.
  Casey: *laughs* Yeah, I agree with James.
• Anti-Hero: Frequently bends the rules in order to do the right thing- or at least what she thinks is the right thing.
• Broken Bird: Specially because her schizophrenic fiancé was drug-addicted and abusive, and after she finally kicked him out, he died in the streets.) There's also the episode in which she gets the crap beaten out of her by a man angry that she's prosecuting his sister's rapist.
• Commuting on a Bus: After getting suspended in the Season 9 finale, she makes a guest appearance in Season 12 and then a few more in 13.
• Contrasting Replacement Character: Casey is a sporty Tomboy with a Girly Streak compared to the cultured and more feminine Alex.
• Crusading Lawyer: Not even Donald Rumsfeld is safe from being subpoenaed by her. Gets particularly like this in cases involving mental illness. It doesn't end well for her.
• Deadpan Snarker: A little more comical and joking, with some of the best quips in the series (Diane Neal is a comedienne), but definitely hinting at Snark Knight later on in her run.
• Domestic Abuse: Casey's schizophrenic ex-fiancee was abusive, and in rather graphic detail.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Her first appearance has her tagging along with the detectives in their investigation, to the point that she saved a kidnapped child. This is almost immediately dropped and subsequent episodes have her hanging back until she's needed.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: In season 7 and some of 8.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: Introduced with a '90s Hair, Casey's hair has been longer or/and wavier since.
• Fiery Redhead: Bonus points for '90s Hair in season 5. Then it gets brought back in season 9, but Hotter and Sexier.
• Honor Before Reason: The stunt that got her suspended had no chance of working. She knew it. She did it anyway.
  • In "Poison", she goes after a misogynist judge that made clearly biased judgments and had many friends within the judicial community against the advice of another lawyer as well as Elliot of all people.
  Stabler: Casey, it's not worth it. Look, what good does it do anybody for you to kill your career?
  Novak: If that is justice, I don't want it.
• Iconic Sequel Character: She is the show's second prominent ADA and is the longest-serving (both in the show and the franchise in general) to date, but she didn't make an appearance until Season 5.
• Identical Stranger: Played by the same actor who played rapist Amelia Chase in the season 3 episode "Ridicule."
• Kaleidoscope Hair: She has been in several shades of blonde and red throughout her appearances.
• Meaningful Name: "Casey" means "brave", and she is fond of making risky decisions in her tenure on the show.
• Ms. Fanservice: What results when a former model with a raspy voice plays a character that wears a lot of tight skirts. Especially in later seasons when the makeup department started layering on the eye shadow.
• Must Have Caffeine:
  Casey: Every second of every day.
• One-Steve Limit: Oddly enough the killer of the week in Season 3's "Redemption" has a victim named "C. Novak."
• Passionate Sports Girl: Plays softball, and appears to be rather athletic in general.
• Plucky Girl: It really pisses the characters off at first, but they get used to it.
• Punny Name: A lawyer named Casey.
• Put on a Bus: Gets suspended for three years in the Season 9 finale "Cold".
• Refuge in Audacity: She subpoenaed the Secretary of Defense. Arthur Branch was not amused.
• Retcon: Her disbarment, despite being stated on screen as such, was eventually declared a censure later on down the line, likely so she can have further appearances. In fairness, the information came from ADA Greylek, who could very easily have gotten wrong information or misunderstood, or for that matter made an assertion based on absolutely no evidence whatsoever (which would have been perfectly in character). Indeed Elizabeth Donnelly's exact words were "censure, possible suspension," never even mentioning disbarment.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: "If this is justice, then I don't want this career."
• She's Back In Reparations.
• Ship Tease: Had a bit with Chester Lake in his first appearance and in the Season 9 finale, though this immediately got sunk since by the end of the episode, he's off to prison and she's suspended.
• Statuesque Stunner: Diane Neal is 5' 10", and Casey has been called statuesque In-Universe a number of times.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Hasn't been seen since Season 13, with the show not confirming if she is still with the DA's Office, or if she has retired.
• What the Hell, Hero?: To the point where she eventually gets suspended for three years.

Det. Chester Lake

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Adam Beach

Detective Chester Lake transferred to the Manhattan SVU from Brooklyn SVU at the end of the eighth season and was partnered with Detective Fin Tutuola. He is of Native American ancestry, specifically Mohawk, and speaks proudly of his ancestors, noting that many of them helped to build the city's skyscrapers and subway tunnels. He also used to compete as an amateur mixed martial artist under the name "Naptime", but had to quit after tearing his ACL. Lake suffers from insomnia and often takes walks at night when he cannot sleep.

---

• Anti-Villain: In his initial appearance, due to Jurisdiction Friction with Fin. Also in his last appearance, where he ends up on trial for murdering a crooked cop.
• Badass Native: Inverted. He is somewhat of a badass, and definitely Native American. But he is the farthest thing from the trope.
• Brooklyn Rage: Was transferred in from the SVU in Brooklyn. Fits the "Rage" part of the trope's equation in "Cold".
• By-the-Book Cop: Especially in contrast to Fin.
• Chekhov's Hobby: His habit of walking the city, familiarizing himself with it, later helps him identify a suspect's location based on background noises in a phone call.
• Fire-Forged Friends: With Fin. The two men do not get along when they're first paired together, but warm up to each other in the process of solving a series of rape-homicides that affect both their boroughs.
• Foster Kid: He's been raised by multiple families.
• Gay Bravado: Plays along with the assumption that a mother makes that he and Fin are a gay couple with a giant smile on his face.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Typical for Law & Order, but doubly unfortunate in that he spends most of his central season encountering cases like this and ultimately takes a turn for the worse himself.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Yes, he is a cop. Yes, he is mentally unstable. Yes, he is sent to prison, with a lot of people he sent to prison.
• Mistaken Nationality: From "Fight":
  "Her pimp called me a Mexican."
• Mr. Fanservice
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Was a two-episode guest star in Season 8 before being upgraded to a series regular in Season 9.
• Put on a Bus: To prison.
• Rabid Cop: In Cold.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: An unfortunate case in that fans didn't warm up to the character because they thought Lake was written in to possibly replace Fin or Munch. Without approval of the fanbase, the writers wrote him out.
• Red Baron: During his MMA career, he's dubbed "Naptime" due to his mean right hook.
• Ship Tease: Had a bit with Casey Novak in his first appearance and in the Season 9 finale, though this immediately got sunk since he's off to prison at the end of the episode.
• Sixth Ranger Traitor: Not really a traitor, but Lake did commit a murder. Then again, the victim wasn't exactly someone to cry over.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome
• Tall, Dark, and Snarky
• Token Minority: Only Native American main character on the series.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Written off the show after one season.
• Workaholic: Oh, yes. He spends his downtime listening to the police scanner and attending meetings of the Vidocq Society.
• Working-Class Hero: Comes from a long line of ironworkers, and takes great pride in the fact that his family practically built the city of New York. Truth in Television, as there was a sizable and famous population of Native American ironworkers in the city.

A.D.A Kim Greylek

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Michaela McManus

• All There in the Manual: It's never brought up in the show (likely because she wasn't around long enough), but she moved to New York from D.C. after separating from her husband and feeling a desire to make more of a difference with her work. Although her working in D.C. is mentioned in "Trials" and "Smut."
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She has the darkest hair of the first three AD As, is tall like Alex and Casey, and is noticeably more aloof and blunt.
• Anti-Hero Substitute: She's notably more blunt and professional compared to both Alex and Casey.
• Brutal Honesty: She is unapologetic and blunt.
• Crusading Lawyer: In D.C. she was called "The Crusader" and she often brings up her opinions on civil rights issues like the death penalty.
• Hello, Attorney!: Unpopular as she was, no one denies that she was attractive.
• The Fashionista: Always dresses professionally, but her sense of fashion was much more pronounced than Alex and Casey's.
• Fire-Forged Friends: She wasn't too popular with the squad in her debut, but she did receive their trust later, enough to put her on First-Name Basis with them.
• Hidden Heart of Gold: She means well, but unlike her predecessors, it takes a lot of effort from the other main characters to convince her to be more lenient.
• Informed Ability: Apparently she used to be called "The Crusader". We get very little evidence of this, and most of her moments of crusading are pushed aside so she can get justice for the victims.
• Meaningful Name: She leans more towards the grey area of the White-and-Grey Morality.
• Plucky Girl: It somewhat annoys the detectives, but that hardly slows her down.
• Put on a Bus: In "Lead". She was called back to D.C.
• Shoo Out the New Guy: After about 2/3 of a season, she gets Put on a Bus in "Lead" ^note She appears only briefly in the episode's Cold Open and replaced by Cabot.
• Slipknot Ponytail: Her hair is always tied up, except for the episode Hothouse, where she let her hair down.
• Statuesque Stunner: She's a good-looking woman clocking at 5'9".
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Only around for about two-thirds of a season, making her the shortest main cast member to date.

Det. Nick Amaro

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Other Appearances: Chicago P.D.

Played By: Danny Pino

A NYPD detective who has transferred to the Special Victims Unit from Warrants and Narcotics. Initially, Amaro did not see eye to eye with his new partner, Detective Benson, mainly because she was adjusting to having him as a partner instead of Elliot Stabler. After their rocky start, Amaro and Benson begin to have a mutual respect for each other and work well together.

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• Abusive Parents: Growing up, he was physically abused by his father. Nick himself thankfully averts this.
• Action Dad: To six-year-old Zara and later nine-year-old Gilberto 'Gil'.
• Amazon Chaser: When first introduced, his wife is in the Army and serving in Iraq. His affair with fellow cop Rollins could fall under this as well.
• Beard of Sorrow: Any time Amaro's life is going badly, count on the five o'clock shadow showing up.
• Big Brother Instinct: Has a tendency to "helpfully" get involved in other people's problems, Rollins' in particular.
• Break the Haughty: His heart's generally in the right place, but Amaro has a touch of the Ineffectual Loner when he joins SVU, and is distinctly unafraid to challenge his squadmates on what he regards as poor police work. The episodes "Undercover Blue" and "Amaro's One-Eighty" sharply humble him on both counts. Combined with the failure of his marriage, by the end of season 15 he's pretty much in Heroic BSoD territory.
• Calling the Old Man Out: Non-stop, and with complete justification, when his dad shows up in season 16.
• The Charmer: Can be this when dealing with difficult suspects or witnesses, to Guile Hero levels. Perhaps most spectacularly when he out-manipulates Rollins' Manipulative Bastard sister, and manages to talk a very hostile grand jury into not indicting him.
• Chekhov's Skill: Amaro's background in Narcotics, in which he did a lot of undercover work, frequently shows up in his approach at SVU. Namely, he's excellent at pretending to play along and manipulating suspects and witnesses, and also has a fondness for the use of Hidden Wire.
• Chick Magnet: Many women have found him attractive and actively flirted to him.
• Consummate Liar: Amaro is really, really good at Lying to the Perp. Such as the episode where he opens an interrogation with an absolute whopper of a lie, and then uses the lie to shamelessly manipulate the suspect's religious guilt, and then does that so successfully that the perp regards Amaro as a "brother in Christ" and spills everything.
• Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Initially, Amaro was this to Stabler, as he was more of a Guile Hero compared to Stabler's violent tendencies. Unfortunately, within a few seasons, his character had suffered the same Flanderization as Stabler.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Has an attack of this when he suspects his wife of infidelity.
• Cruel to Be Kind: In "October Surprise," Amaro gets in Barba's face with taunts of being a sellout who went away to Harvard and forgot where he came from. However, Amaro's purpose is to drive home to Barba exactly how his old friend Muñoz is manipulating him (especially given that Barba had just pulled an uncharacteristically risky stunt to help Muñoz).
• Daddy Had a Good Reason for Abandoning You: Amaro discovered the existence of his son when he was sued for child support ten years after he'd broken it off with the mother.
• Disappeared Dad: His father walked out when he was a kid. Unlike most examples, Amaro indicates he doesn't miss him at all due to the Domestic Abuse he inflicted on Amaro's mother, and even states they "threw a party" when he left.
  • Amaro himself was this to his son Gil, although it's justified because he was never told the child existed. As soon as he found out, he made an effort to be in the boy's life.
• Divorce Assets Conflict: Maria takes a level in jerkass and pulls this on him by taking their daughter to California.
• Domestic Abuse: Grew up in a household characterized by this. As he tells Benson, his father "liked to bounce [his] mom off the walls."
• Doting Parent: Very clearly adores his daughter. He wastes no time becoming this to his son once he finds out the kid exists.
• Entitled Bastard: When he beats a suspect into a coma, the day after the suspect was acquitted, he never acknowledges his actions were wrong, he just wallows in self pity as he faces the consequences of his actions. After Rollins gets the criminal charges dropped (with a little police misconduct of her own), he acts indignant about getting demoted to patrol and constantly pesters Benson that it's taking her too long to get him his detective shield back. Then he feels sorry for himself when he learns that his actions mean he would never be eligible for a promotion. (This last part is partially justified by the fact that Benson was still promoted after she had, over the course of the series, technically accumulated an even longer list of questionable actions).
• Expy: essentially a recreation of Danny Pino's character from Cold Case, Detective Scotty Valens.
• Fair Cop: Lampshaded, as more than one character has remarked on his good looks.
• Family Relationship Switcheroo: He's initially introduced as an "uncle" to the boy who is really his son, and hates it.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: The Responsible to his sister Sonya's Foolish.
• Foil: To Rafael Barba. Both are Cuban-American Latino men who grew up with abusive fathers, but their personalities and the paths in life they took are quite different, which lead them to clash at times. Amaro is impatient with formalities and has a more explosive temper which leads him to try to take things into his own hands. Barba on the other hand has taken to the finer things in life, Tranquil Fury is more his brand of anger, and as a lawyer his preferred battleground is in Court.
• Friend to All Children: As the father to a little girl he's generally good with kids, but Amaro really exemplifies this trope in "Born Psychopath" when he manages to talk down a psychopathic child on a killing spree. He successfully defuses the situation, but gets shot in the chest as a result of his reluctance to use too much force. And then even after being shot, he shields the kid with his own body to prevent the police from shooting him because he can't countenance the killing of a child, even a sociopathic one. Amaro firmly stands by that decision even after Benson points out it's pure luck he wasn't shot in the head or some other part of the body not covered by his bulletproof vest. He also plays with Benson's adopted son Noah and she notes that Noah seems to like Nick.
• Gaslighting: His father attempts this in Padre Sandunguero; his mother and sister also express the view that Amaro is overdramatizing or remembering things wrong, albeit they are expressing their own massive denial about Amaro Sr.'s abuse.
• Go Through Me: When vigilantes shoot at his house, Amaro immediately rushes to shield his daughter with his own body.
• Good Parents: One of his defining traits is that he's fiercely protective and loving towards Gil and Zara. It's their moving with their mothers to the West Coast (to San Diego and Los Angeles, respectively) that ultimately catalyzes him to follow them out and leave New York.
• Guile Hero: Especially compared to his predecessor Stabler, Amaro usually prefers to quietly manipulate suspects into confessing and is excellent at pretending to take their side.
• He Cleans Up Nicely: Invoked in his first episode when he arrives from Narcotics scruffy and bearded. Cragen orders him to wear a jacket and tie.
• Headbutting Heroes: He and Brian Cassidy despise each other. He and Barba have their moments as well, at least until they find some common ground later, at least partly due to them both being Latino. In a more general sense in most episodes, Nick is often the first to bring up other possibilities that the detectives may have been blind to initially, but won't argue when he knows the other detectives are too emotionally involved to listen.
• Honey Trap: He's been the target of at least two, but wasn't stupid enough to fall for either. He's also acted as a honeytrap himself, having flirted Rollins' sister Kim into incriminating herself on tape.
• Honorary Uncle: To Olivia's son, Noah. Even helped take care of him on a few occasions.
• Hot-Blooded: He can get very angry whenever something pisses him off enough. He can give Stabler a run for his money in this department.
• I Am Not My Father: Hoo boy. Amaro's father is a gaslighting abuser. Amaro succeeds (mostly) in breaking this cycle where his own intimate relationships are concerned, although he struggles badly with anger issues.
• Iconic Sequel Character: One of the show's notable detectives but didn't make an appearance until the second episode of Season 13.
• Junior Counterpart: To Finn, despite being Elliot's replacement. Like Finn, Amaro was introduced as a new transfer from the Narcotics Division who happens to be non-Caucasian male and was having a "shabby" appearance during said introduction. Both are also connected to the U.S. Army, though in Nick's case it's through his (eventual ex-) wife.
  • Amaro also mentions at one point having worked military intelligence.
• Karma Houdini: He threatened Cassidy at gunpoint, assaulted Murphy, and beat a man into coma after the man was acquitted. Ultimately, the only long-term consequence was that he found himself ineligible for promotion, and thanks to an on-the-job injury (from which he was expected to make a full recovery), he was able to retire on a three-quarter pension and start over in California.
• Knight Templar: Crossed the line when he beat a man into a coma the day after the man was acquitted.
• The Lancer: To Olivia.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Gets in in two ways after he's arrested in the season 15 finale. On the bad karma side, that time Amaro punched the crap out of an undercover Murphy? Comes back to bite him hard, as now-CO Murphy refuses to waste any favors getting Amaro his old job back at SVU. On the good karma side, Rollins gets the charges against Amaro dropped, which is a nice callback to the episode in which Amaro saved Rollins from murder charges.
• Latin Lover: Played with. Other characters sometimes react to him as if he's one, but in reality he's a pretty straightlaced family man.
• Long-Distance Relationship: One of the factors for his and Maria's separation is due to the stress of them not being there for each other all the time due to Nick's job and Maria being deployed in Iraq.
• Manipulative Bastard: On the other side of being The Charmer, both Benson and his own wife have called Amaro out on trying to slip an interrogation into an otherwise innocuous conversation.
• Mr. Fanservice: The show regularly provides scenes of Amaro working out, waking up shirtless in the middle of the night, having a shirtless After Action Patch Up, etc.
• My Greatest Failure: Failing to understand his wife's PTSD after she returned from Iraq, leading to the failure of their marriage, or so he admits to Rollins.
• Never My Fault: After Cassidy found out about his undercover affair, Amaro blamed Cassidy, not himself, for all the problems that came with it. He also never accepted responsibility for beating Simon Wilkes.
• New Meat: In season 13, along with Rollins.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: He attempts to help Rollins by infiltrating her Gamblers Anonymous group and exposing her sponsor-slash-lover as a womanizing sleazebag. However, since it relates to the case of the week, it also more or less forces Barba to expose Rollins' private life in open court. She's badly humiliated, and arguably this is part of what helps push her Off the Wagon.
• No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: His attempt to save a fellow officer's life in "Amaro's One Eighty" causes Amaro to come under investigation by Internal Affairs, nearly lose his badge, get falsely tarred by the public as a racist, and have his house shot at by vigilantes who only by pure luck miss Amaro's mother and young daughter. Later, this contributes to the complete loss of any semblance of a future with NYPD, forcing him to retire after being injured.
• Noodle Incident: While investigating a college football hazing incident, Amaro references his own time on a school football team and tells Fin "I did things I'm not proud of" in the name of team unity. What those things were is never elaborated upon.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Much like his predecessor, Amaro is dogged by his "getting furious" incidents.
• Papa Wolf:
  • Don't even breathe around Zara.
  • Also goes into this mode in Undercover Blue when he discovers he'd fathered a child while undercover. When he discovers the child's stepfather is involving the kid in drug deals, Amaro is pissed.
• Person as Verb: In one episode Rollins starts to cast doubt on a seemingly ironclad confession by a suspect, and Cragen tells her not to "go Amaro" on him.
• Poor Communication Kills: His and his wife's inability to communicate with each other ultimately leads to the end of their marriage.
• Properly Paranoid: His obsessive checking of bathroom stalls in the season 13 finale/season 14 premiere is a little OTT, but justified by the fact that he was individually targeted for a Frame-Up.
• Put on a Bus: To California in the Season 16 finale, to join his two children over there.
• Second Episode Introduction: Though his actor is credited in the Season 13 premiere, he only makes his debut in the following episode.
• Ship Tease: With Rollins, of whom he's quite protective.
• Star-Crossed Lovers: With Cynthia, the sister of a drug kingpin in whose organization Amaro went undercover.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: He eventually forged his own identity as a character, but the first several things we learn about Nick are that he's a devout Catholic family man with a rocky marriage and a bit of a temper (up to and including a voiced desire to physically assault perps). Sure reminds one of his predecessor, Elliot Stabler. As Stabler's season 12 departure wasn't pre-planned as such, there's some speculation that early scripts in season 13 all but literally had Amaro inserted to filling Elliot's position in the story.
  • Deconstruction: As of "Surrendering Noah," all of Amaro's Elliot-like actions have resulted in actual punishments and consequences, the likes of which Elliot himself always seemed to escape. It's explicitly said that Amaro is "damaged goods" and has no hope of career advancement at the NYPD. Verges a little bit on Can't Get Away with Nuthin' territory considering some of the incidents were Amaro responding to direct violence (the shooting in "Amaro's One-Eighty", the subsequent attack on his house and family) rather than initiating it for the sake of interrogation.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He is repeatedly told that he's a Fair Cop, and stands 6 feet to boot.
• Token Minority: The show's first Latino main character, though Barba is introduced a season later (and joins the main cast the following one).
• Two First Names: Amaro is actually used as a given name in countries with Latino heritage.
• The Unfavorite: It is said in "Padre Sandunguero" that his father never abused his sister like he did to him.
• The Villain Knows Where You Live: The Big Bad of season 14's opener shows up at Amaro's house while he's playing with his daughter. Amaro is, naturally, furious.
• What the Hell, Hero?: He gets a spectacular one from Rollins after he infiltrates her Gamblers Anonymous group.
• Wife-Basher Basher: Played with. While it's established early on that Amaro has issues relating to his father's abuse of his mother, and violence against women and children is certainly a sore spot for him at times, he's also unafraid to express skepticism of victims when necessary (and has correctly identified a Wounded Gazelle Gambit or two). This makes sense due to his conflicted feelings toward his mother and sister, who are among his father's biggest defenders.

A.D.A Rafael Barba

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Raúl Esparza

The fourth A.D.A. to work with the SVU, Barba is a bit more fierce than his predecessors, and usually less willing to bend the rules for a victory, unless it's personal — such as allowing Benson to lie on the stand during her kidnapper's trial. He's also a little… eccentric, with his flashy clothes and occasional vacations.

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• Abusive Parents: "Padre Sandunguero" heavily implied that his father was this.
  Barba: I know what it's like to have to face down your old man. Mine's dead fifteen years and my hand still curls into a fist when I think about him.
• Affectionate Nickname: Olivia has taken to calling him "Rafa". Outside of his family and childhood friends (who call him "Raffi" on occasion), she is the only adult who calls him by anything aside from his last name or the title "Counselor". Noah picked it up from her, and calls him "Uncle Rafa".
• Ambiguously Gay: Speculation is rampant as to whether he's gay or bisexual. The one consensus seems to be that he is definitely not straight. The coordinated (and pastel!) suspenders, pocket squares, and ties, on top, of course, of the flamboyantly camp mannerisms, certainly don't help.
  • In "Forgiving Rollins", the perp says to him, "I don't know about you or your little 'Spanish dandy' here, but I'm straight as an axe." Barba doesn't even blink at the remark.
• Ambiguously Bi: This is more likely. "Funny Valentine" and "October Surprise" confirmed that he's had past attractions to women, and he certainly has plenty of Ship Tease with Olivia, but he also has noticeable moments of Ho Yay with Amaro, Carisi, and, strangely, a few suspects; the one from the infamous belt incident, the perp who attacked other gay men in "Criminal Hatred", and the crowner: "Comic Perversion". He called the perp good-looking, to which the perp replied that he "wasn't so bad himself, but he didn't swing that way" (to which Barba said nothing about himself); when Barba referenced what the perp did to his victims, the perp said, "I didn't realize we were having a menage a trois"; and when Barba mentioned the victim having bruising and tearing from violent anal sex, "I'm sure you've been there, bruised that, right?" Barba seems to point out that the male perps are "good-looking" quite a lot, actually. It helps that his actor, Raúl Esparza, is himself openly bisexual and already seems to share a lot of background with Barba. He's also indicated that he'd be fine with Barba being revealed as LGBT+.
• Anywhere but Their Lips: He kisses Olivia on her forehead after he resigns from his ADA post and tells her goodbye.
• Author Appeal: Barba is often snacking during his scenes. Raúl Esparza tweets and instagrams about food a lot.
• Awesome Ego: Barba thinks he's a superb lawyer. He isn't wrong.
• Badass in a Nice Suit: He's definitely badass, as shown when he lets a rapist strangle him in his first episode. And he's always wearing nice suits. As a Running Gag, he always seems to button the top button of his suit jacket as he begins to cross-examine a witness, even multiple times an episode. He also tends to start shedding layers as he gets deeper into a case; when you see him in his office in nothing but suspenders over his shirt with rolled-up sleeves, having ditched both his vest and his suit jacket, you know he's getting down to business.
• Big Eater: He seems to be eating in almost all of his scenes in season 14, though not a single scene in 15 showed him eating.
• Blood Knight: Seems to enjoy the adversarial process more than pursuing justice, at least at first. He certainly enjoys the fight in the courtroom, and often takes visible satisfaction in getting the better of defense attorneys and hostile witnesses alike.
• Bothering by the Book: Excellent at this.
• Breakout Character: He was originally slated to have a four-episode arc in season 14, but he became so popular with fans that he was promoted to regular at the start of the following season and has remained so until mid Season 19. This makes him one of only three ADAs (and the first since the end of Season 9) to last more than a season with SVU, after Alexandra Cabot and Casey Novak. As of his last appearance, he is the ADA with the most main cast credits in SVU, (although he is behind both Cabot and Novak in total episode count).
• Brutal Honesty: A trademark of his in dealing with SVU detectives, victims, witnesses... and people in general. He tells the victim of the very first case he works with the SVU squad that the biggest secret she's trying to hide will be the one that the defense will use against her the most, and outright tells her that she won't like him when they're done with the trial. When she expresses dislike for him immediately, he just smirks. He does soften up a bit as the series continues.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Played with. He's extremely competent at his work and knows how to hold himself professionally to garner respect. However he's got a fair share of eccentricities, mainly showing in his sometimes bizarre fashion choices and extreme caffeine addiction. He also is prone to prop his legs up on tables or sit directly on top of them while discussing things instead of sitting normally.
• The Bus Came Back: Shows up via Skype mid-way through Season 21, and properly reappears in Season 22 as a defense attorney.
• But Now I Must Go: In "The Undiscovered Country", he thanks Olivia for changing his life for the better before telling her he needs to "move on", after the events of the episode left his emotions and reputation in shambles.
• Crusading Lawyer: But decidedly more pragmatic than his most notable predecessors, Cabot and Novak.
• The Dandy: He is obsessed with his immaculate suits.
• Deadpan Snarker: One of the snarkiest characters, especially now that Munch has left.
• Devil's Advocate: While he has a very strong moral compass, he quickly takes to playing this role in all the cases he gets involved with because he wants to make sure that nobody is going to surprise him in court with an explanation, circumstance, or other inconvenient truth that he doesn't already know about (and therefore hasn't already prepared for). As a result he pokes holes in the team's arguments until they can get enough evidence so that he can't poke anymore.
• Disappeared Dad: His father has been dead for fifteen years. Barba's emotions towards him are more anger than fondness.
• Dramatic Deadpan: Barba has a tendency to say horrifying or dramatic things in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
  Olivia: Hey. Everything all right?
  Barba: [same calm tone of voice] Not really— someone just threatened to kill me.
• Establishing Character Moment: The belt stunt in his very first episode made it very clear that the "big brass... ego" that was attributed to him earlier in the episode was no Informed Ability.
• Foil: To Nick Amaro. Both are Cuban-American Latino men who grew up with abusive fathers, but their personalities and the paths in life they took are quite different, which lead them to clash at times. Amaro is impatient with formalities and has a more explosive temper which leads him to try to take things into his own hands. Barba on the other hand has taken to the finer things in life, Tranquil Fury is more his brand of anger, and as a lawyer his preferred battleground is in Court.
• Friendly Rivalry: Has something of this with Rita Calhoun, although the "friendliness" leans more prickly. They debuted in the same episode and seem to have a history of knowing each other. Any cases they take on opposing each other typically involves banter as if they've been doing so for a long time, and they do have a level of respect for one another. In "Legitimate Rape", he even gets her to represent a rape victim trying to earn sole custody of her baby in family court.
• Good Is Not Nice: He is unquestionably a force for good, but is sometimes forced to bow to political or legal exigencies when prosecuting cases. He also goes after his witnesses hard during trial prep, because he needs to prepare them for how hard the defense is likely to be on them.
• Hello, Attorney!: Played by Raúl Esparza. Enough said.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: He saves his childhood friend Eddie from getting hung out to dry by their mutual lifelong friend Alex Muñoz, but publicly, Barba is the one branded as a disloyal sellout for tanking Muñoz's chance to be New York's first Hispanic mayor.
• Honor Before Reason: Barba all but explicitly admits to this in "Comic Perversion" when he openly regrets allowing Olivia to talk him into taking a nigh-unwinnable case. Risking his career to help his treacherous friend Muñoz qualifies as well.
• Humiliation Conga: "October Surprise", from around halfway through until the end. Yelina, his past love and best friend Alex's wife, taunts him about their former relationship; Alex throws it in his face again while Barba is trying to help him; Amaro gets angry at him and threatens to report him while throwing his past in his face; he learns that Alex has been sexting underage girls and must go after him; Alex once again insults him and uses Yelina against him, saying they both think he's jealous of Alex, and questions how much money Barba is getting to go after him (implying that he truly does think Barba is a sellout); Alex does a press conference and calls Barba a sellout again, "the lapdog of this city's aristocracy", resulting in the poor people of the city turning on Barba; he drowns his sorrows with Amaro and Benson before going to Alex's arraignment and is heckled by the reverend who worked Alex's campaign.
• Iconic Sequel Character: He is the show's third prominent ADA and the second-longest serving one (again, both to the show and franchise in general), but didn't make an appearance until Season 14.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He has both nice and jerkass side. He actually tears up while giving a summation in a murder case based on Treyvon Martin, and he promises a rape victim that he's in her corner and that he's only pushing her hard because defense will. Unlike in his first episode, he goes softer on her when she needs it. He also has become close to the squad, especially Olivia. He still acts tough in court or when challenged, but otherwise, he's really not a Jerkass anymore.
• Jerkass Has a Point: All the A.D.A.s come off as this at one point or another, but Barba is the prime example. Barba is in the habit of constantly questioning the credibility of witnesses, victims, suspects, and even the SVU detectives, much to their chagrin, even when he clearly is in agreement with their viewpoints. In his first case, he explicitly tells the detectives he doesn't care if the victim is telling the truth - he only cares that she appears credible since that's all that matters to the jury. Even after becoming closer to SVU, Barba still takes everything they say with a grain of salt, best shown in an episode dealing with a domestic abuse case:
  Olivia: I'm saying that your A.D.A. shouldn't have taken the arresting officer's word.
  Barba: I take your word all the time.
• Love Makes You Crazy: In "Funny Valentine," Barba admits to a touch of this regarding the girl he was in love with in high school:
  Barba: She could have massacred my whole family and I would have looked the other way.
• Like an Old Married Couple: the sort of dynamic he develops with Olivia over time.
  Barba What are you gonna be doing when you're 85?
  Olivia: Squabbling with you?
  Barba: Wouldn't that be nice.
• Manly Tears: Though it takes until his Put on a Bus episode for him to be seen actually crying onscreen, he has occasionally choked up with teary eyes while discussing and/or prosecuting cases. Unsurprisingly, these are usually triggered by cruelty to children or teenagers.
• Meaningful Name: He's named for the archangel Raphael, who represents acts of healing in the Abrahamic religions. Ironically Barba explicitly tells Olivia that he's "a prosecutor, not a healer" early in their relationship, but eventually his personality mellows out into one that's noticeably more invested in the wellbeing of the victims he fights for.
• Motor Mouth: He talks very terse and very fast. Rollins blames his caffeine habit.
• Must Have Caffeine: He is legendary for this.
  Muñoz: I thought we could grab a cup of coffee.
  Barba: I'm already on my fourth cup. (Note that this scene takes place early in the morning, and throughout the day he is seen drinking at least two more cups.)
  • And in another episode:
    Rollins: (After Barba talks fast enough that the detectives can't get a word in edgewise) You ever think about going off caffeine?
    Barba: [without missing a beat] That would be a no. So, why are we here?
• Mutual Envy: With his childhood friend Alex Muñoz. Muñoz is jealous of Barba getting a scholarship to Harvard and leaving their old barrio; Barba is envious of him because his mom said Alex would one day be the mayor of New York but never said that about him, and because Muñoz married the girl Barba loved (and may still love).
• The Napoleon: Downplayed. He's not exactly a short man but is the shortest of his fellow main male cast members and by proxy comes off this way in comparison. The fact Olivia is taller than him in heels doesn't help. As for personality, Barba's actually fairly coolheaded but he's got a very sharp tongue and knows how to use it. He was also first described as having a "big brass ego".
• Negated Moment of Awesome: In "Reasonable Doubt," anticipation builds for Barba's cross-examination of the Woody Allen-Roman Polański stand-in defendant. Barba himself can barely contain his eagerness to rip the guy to pieces on the witness stand. However, anyone hoping for a "Twenty-Five Acts" level of verbal beatdown is left disappointed, as the defendant flees the country in the middle of the trial.
• Not So Stoic: Normally snarky and unflappable, Barba is visibly emotional during his summation in "American Tragedy" and when looking at the perp's fantasies of torturing young boys in "Thought Criminal". He also chokes up in court in "Institutional Fail" when discussing the death of an abused young girl, and his eyes are markedly teary.
  • In "The Undiscovered Country", he breaks down completely while on the stand, and visibly tears up when saying goodbye to Olivia at the end of the episode.
• The One Who Made It Out: Grew up in an extremely poor barrio in the Bronx with his two childhood friends, Alex Muñoz and Eddie Garcia. Eddie and Alex stayed in the barrio, and Alex "single-handedly saved the neighborhood", while Barba took a scholarship to Harvard and never looked back. Not only does Alex resent him for this, it's implied that fellow Cuban-American Amaro disapproves as well. And once Muñoz gets charged with possession of child pornography and solicitation of a minor because of Barba, he gets the poor people who supported Muñoz to turn against Barba as well.
• Only Sane Man: Inherited this role from Huang. Perhaps the best proof of this is "Jersey Breakdown"; at the end Benson is drinking, Rollins is gambling, and Nick is stalking his ex wife, but he isn't shown to be doing anything but his normal routine.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Taking an actual illegal career risk to help his old friend Muñoz "get out in front" of the case that's building against him. Given Barba's ambition and the fact that he's normally a strict Rules Lawyer, it shows just how deep his loyalty to Muñoz goes.
  • Also, allowing Benson to perjure herself in Psycho/Therapist shows both how much he cares about her and how desperate he is to put Lewis away.
  • In "Padre Sandunguero," he's noticeably off his game in court when he has to cross-examine Detective Amaro's father, who triggers memories of Barba's own implied-to-be-abusive father. You can see Barba clenching his fist while questioning Amaro Sr., which he earlier in the episode admitted to doing whenever he thought of his own father. Afterwards, he admits with some bewilderment that he doesn't know how the cross-examination got away from him.
• Papa Wolf: Much like Benson, he tends to become protective over underage victims and usually goes the extra mile for them.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Was a Recurring Character in Season 14 before being upgraded to a series regular during Seasons 15-19, due to fan response.
• Put on a Bus: Leaves the show halfway through Season 19.
• Recast as a Regular: Esparza played a sleazy journalist-turned-blackmailer in season 20 of the regular Law & Order show before joining SVU. He also appeared in a season 8 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, "Lady's Man". As the perp.
• Refuge in Audacity: In his first episode, he goaded a defendant into strangling him, right in front of the judge and jury, and in Criminal Hatred, Benson expresses incredulity when she asks him if he's really going to accuse a gay man of committing hate crimes against other gay men. His response? "Watch me."
• Remember When You Blew Up a Sun?: More than once, other characters have brought up a legendary case Barba won before joining the Manhattan SVU squad, securing a seemingly impossible conviction against two johns who raped a prostitute after she had already serviced one of them.
• Romantic Runner-Up: An episode reveals that he's an Unlucky Childhood Friend to a woman who married his (cheating) Childhood Friend who was running for NYC Mayor.
• Rules Lawyer: Prefers to manipulate the system, rather than defy or challenge it. Prime examples are "Lessons Learned" and "Downloaded Child".
• Rummage Sale Reject: Some of his clothing choices dip into this category. While he's rarely ever seen in anything other than a tailored suit, he's often wearing said-suit with something... off-kilter. Case in point, one episode ("Collateral Damages") had him wearing a paisley tie, windowpane shirt, and polka-dotted socks◊ all at the same time.
• Self-Made Man: Grew up in a poor barrio in the Bronx; when he and Benson are investigating an elite private high school, Barba mentions he would have given anything to be able to attend, but bitterly notes that "the only kids they took from my neighborhood were athletes." He eventually earned a scholarship to Harvard, and made the most of it.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: His final episode (as a main character), Barba stopped the life support of the baby of the man he was forced to prosecute in order to end the child's pain and the couple's suffering. While he stood trial for his actions, he was found not guilty.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: This man rivals Mycroft Holmes in the suit porn department.
• Ship Tease: Plenty of it with Benson, to the point that they are the Fan-Preferred Couple over Benson and Cassidy (and later, Benson and Tucker).
• Sixth Ranger: In a sense to the SVU detectives; he becomes close to the main team, and often investigates crimes and interrogates criminals right alongside them despite being a lawyer and not a cop.
• Socially Awkward Hero: Shows shades of this in "Gone Baby Gone", when Olivia breaks down over Noah being kidnapped and he isn't sure how to comfort her. Barba even admits he doesn't know what to do.
  Barba: Um... Do you want some coffee?
• Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Some fans see him this way, although not necessarily in a bad way.
• The Stoic: Typically talks in a very even tone except when he's debating in a courtroom and rarely ever cracks a smile that isn't a subtle smirk.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality:
  • Though snarky and somewhat distant with most of his coworkers and other people he encounters at work, when we see him interacting with his friends and best friend's wife who also happens to be his past love in "October Surprise", he is warm and kind. He hugs all of them at various points and gives big smiles (which account for four of the maybe five times he is shown smiling in the series.)
  • This also applies to his family members, his mother and his grandmother whom he affectionately refers to as his Mamí and Abuelita and is seen helping out while visiting.
  • He's also grown to be quite sweet around Olivia when they aren't arguing about a case; in fact, in "December Solstice" when she's asking him about Noah's parentage, he's downright tender with her, and he openly shows concern for her whenever she's going through a rough time, making sure she's okay and reacting furiously to anyone who threatens her.
• That Was Objectionable:
  Barba: Objection! Argumentative and... ridiculous!
• Took a Level in Kindness: In his first episode, Barba's first impression is to deride Olivia and Rollins's presence in the NYPD as 'take your daughter to work day'. He also doesn't seem to care for the victim at all and at one point reduces her to tears. Over the rest of the 14th season, he softened to where he was as much of a shark as ever in the courtroom but showed his softer side for the victims. Then, in season 15, he cries over one case, often promises the victims he is in their corner and goes gentler on them when they need it. He is also shown being especially gentle to younger people as well as a staunch defender of women's rights. It is implied that William Lewis' attack on Olivia, which he blames himself for, may be the main reason for his change in attitude.
• Tranquil Fury: Generally reacts with mild snarky irritation when a case isn't going his way or the detectives insist on making his job difficult. However, when pushed further, this is in full effect, such as when confronting Muñoz in "October Surprise" and when Olivia is threatened in "Betrayal's Climax". He also becomes scathingly furious in "Girl Dishonored" when confronting the dean of a university attempting to cover up a rape epidemic on its campus; it's clear he's absolutely livid as he eviscerates her in front of a grand jury. There's also his brilliant rebuffing of the judge in "Pornstar's Requiem":
  Judge: Due to the lack of sufficient evidence, I accept the defense's motion to set aside the jury's guilty verdict.
  Victim: What's he doing?
  Barba: Your honor, this is an outrageous abuse of your power.
  Judge: Mr. Barba-
  Barba: [starts walking towards the judge's seat] There is no basis to overturn this conviction. Her testimony, the corroborator's testimony-
  Judge: You don't need to approach the bench.
  Barba: [keeps walking] Your honor, you are making a factual determination. That is the jury's job, not yours!

  Barba: What you are doing is giving men permission to assault a woman based on her sexual history. You're setting the clock back on rape law 50 years.
  Judge: Last warning, Mr. Barba. I will hold you in contempt.
  Barba: I'm making an immediate motion to appeal.
  Judge: As is your prerogative.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: He rarely wears the same suit for an entire episode, much less across different episodes.
• Vitriolic Best Buds:
  • Becomes this with Olivia, where he often clashes with her over viewpoints or what next steps to take in working a case, but they work very well together and ultimately have each other's backs.
  • Also develops a bit of this with Carisi in a more one-sided sense. Carisi clearly looks up to Barba as a lawyer while Barba tends to view him as a nuisance. But eventually Barba comes to be more supportive of Carisi.
• Waistcoat of Style: He can often be seen wearing this when he's not in his standard nice suit or suspenders.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: It's implied in "October Surprise" that Barba has this issue with his mother, since she seems to have more confidence and admiration for Alex Muñoz than for her own son.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Amaro gives him one of these for his kid-gloves treatment of Muñoz.
• Worth It: When Amaro calls him out on the foolishness of risking his job for his Ungrateful Bastard friend Muñoz, Barba shrugs and basically dares Amaro to report him. Later averted. Though he didn't get in trouble, Muñoz's ungrateful, entitled attitude ends up leading him to insult Barba on national television. Barba no longer thinks it was worth it.

A.D.A. Peter Stone

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Other Appearances: Chicago Justice | Chicago P.D. | Chicago Med

Played By: Philip Winchester

• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: His sister is schizophrenic and relegated to an asylum.
• Meaningful Name: His first name, Peter, means rock....his last name is Stone.....he has chiseled features like an Adonis statue....and a bit of a stoic with a deep voice.
• Hello, Attorney!: He's a Tall, Dark, and Handsome A.D.A.
• Mr. Fanservice: I mean, just look at him. In his first scene in season 20, he was practically naked in bed with just a Modesty Bedsheet covering his naughty bits....and he had TWO women in bed with him...
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Was upgraded to a series regular during mid Seasons 19 following Barba's departure.
• Spin-Offspring: He's the son of the parent series' Benjamin Stone.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He stands 6'1.
• Transplant: From Chicago Justice to SVU.

Det. Katriona "Kat" Tamin

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Jamie Gray Hyder

A fiery young cop of Lebanese descent originally from a rough neighbourhood, transferred from Vice into Special Victims after impressing Benson during a collaboration in catching a famous rapist and acting as Carisi's replacement.

---

• Action Girl: Her first episode shows her willingness to get physical with perps. Of the three women on the squad, she's probably the best fighter.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: She has little to no patience dealing with hard-ass suspects.
• Disney Death: She gets shot during a raid and flatlines in the ambulance, but ultimately survives.
• Fair Cop: She's a good-looking and youthful detective for the NYPD, joining the ranks of Rollins in that regard.
• Leeroy Jenkins: She has a tendency to get hostile and confrontational when her colleagues are trying to get the suspect to talk by being friendly. She also talks to suspects off the cuff without preparation or permission.
• New Meat: As of Season 21. She has a lot of issues getting used to the Crapsack World of Special Victims, and the team has to teach her how to correctly get information from victims without being too brazen. She does get better though.
• Put on a Bus: Quits the force after surviving a gunshot wound in season 23.
• Statuesque Stunner: A Fair Cop standing at 5'9" — she's even taller than Benson, who isn't exactly short.
• Twofer Token Minority: She's the second Asian main character in the show's history since George Huang's departure in Season 12. Like Huang she is also LGBT+, in her case being bisexual. More specifically, Kat is the first Middle Eastern main character. Of course she's also the first woman who fits into those categories as well.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Carisi in particular, as she often gets on his case (pun intended) when he won't give the squad what they want, e.g. a warrant. At one point she lampshades this when they wind up on the same side of an argument by saying, "Hey, I'm on your side this time!" That said, though, she doesn't take kindly to it when he gets hurt, and does seem to understand that he's just doing his job. She doesn't like it, but she gets it.

Deputy Chief Christian Garland

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Demore Barnes

The Deputy Chief following William Dodd's transfer.

---

• Category Traitor: Has been accused of betraying the black community for being a cop, and has been accused of betraying cops by advocating for reform.
• Frontline General: Garland is perfectly willing to go in the field, and in his first appearance goes undercover to catch a Serial Rapist.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Was a Recurring Character in Season 21, but became part of the main cast in season 22.
• Put on a Bus: Resigns from his position as Deputy Chief in season 23.

Det. Amanda Rollins

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Other Appearances: Chicago P.D. | Chicago Fire

Played By: Kelli Giddish

A detective from Atlanta, Georgia, who moves to New York City to join the Special Victims Unit. Rollins appears to be a detective who is very anxious to do her job, often being told not to get ahead of herself by Detectives Benson and Amaro, and Captain Cragen.

---

• Aesop Amnesia: Rollins can't seem to stop herself from doing really risky investigative work without getting permission or at least notifying someone beforehand, no matter how many times it gets her and/or the team screwed over.
• Action Girl: Just as much as Benson. Also, like Benson, graduates to Action Mom in the 17th season.
• Berserk Button: As much of a spitfire as she can be, she gets two of hers pressed hard in Post-Graduate Psychopath, when the perp (who she'd helped send to juvenile detention years earlier) stalks her and Jessie, and then stabs Carisi to boot. She makes it a point to go to the psyche ward that he's been sent back to and pointedly tell him that if he ever goes near her family (Carisi included) again, "that'll be your last day on this Earth."
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Claims she's the only sane woman in her family and doesn't go home for Christmas (she does visit for Easter).
• Big Sister Instinct: Despite her younger sister being a mess, Rollins doesn't hesitate to protect her sister from bad men.
• "Blackmail" Is Such an Ugly Word: Averted, as she doesn't even bother with a euphemism when she blackmails Wilkes' wife into getting the charges against Amaro dropped.
• Cain and Abel: Her relationship with Kim is eventually revealed to be this.
• Chekhov's Classroom: One episode opens with the SVU team undergoing routine training. Rollins is established as an excellent shot, but also as having a blind spot about a female domestic violence victim who actually turns out to be aggressive. Later in the episode, Rollins' scheming younger sister Kim uses both of these traits as part of a Batman Gambit to get Rollins to kill her abusive boyfriend so that she (Kim) can collect an insurance payout on him.
• Cool Big Sis: She's very protective of her younger sister Kim, who takes advantage of this several times.
• Cowboy Cop: Dips into this at times. Rollins has a tendency to leap into action with her own ideas of what to do without permission... and it almost always ends up more harmful than helpful.
• Daddy Issues: Temporary Sergeant Murphy points out she's had "complicated" relationships with men, particularly if they're authority figures (see: her former sergeant who assaulted her and the Gamblers Anonymous sponsor who slept with her; this even extends to non-romantic relationships as she stuck up for Cragen after the dead hooker incident and is willing to give the benefit of a doubt a Woody Allen (incest)/Roman Polański (fled overseas)-type suspect).
  Rollins: My father was a gambler until mom nagged him out of the house.
  Murphy: Did you ever think she had a reason for doing that?
  • This ends up being Hilarious in Hindsight when she ends up getting pregnant by Murphy
• Dark and Troubled Past: Her family of origin is a Dysfunction Junction, she's gotten in over her head with gambling debts, and she was sexually assaulted by a higher-up at her precinct in Atlanta.
• Deadpan Snarker: Mainly to Carisi when she's annoyed by him.
• Deconfirmed Bachelor: A Gender Flipped example. She's extremely jaded on the concept of love and relationships, and takes a dim view on marriage in general—the result of growing up in a dysfunctional family riddled with addiction and violence. She jokes minutes before her Relationship Upgrade with Carisi that she doesn't cry at weddings, and if she does, it's only because she "knows how it ends." Yet, the season 24 fall finale sees her and Carisi get married and Rollins considering changing her name.
• Deep South: Hails from Georgia.
• Dirty Harriet: Inherited this role from Olivia, having gone undercover as a drunk party girl in an effort to lure out a Dirty Cop rapist.
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: This is frequently her response to squadmates attempting to help her with her gambling or family issues.
• Easily Forgiven: A Downplayed example. Benson has no problem chewing her out for dragging her gambling debts into her work life, threatening to transfer her to another unit for her behaivior. It takes a while before Benson forgives Rollins, and is outright snide towards her before that, but the fact that Amanda is never fired or given any reprimand more serious than a tongue-lashing is overly generous on Benson's part.
  • It's a similar situation when her gambling is first revealed, but in that case it's justified both because it didn't have an impact on her work the same way and because it's Cragen, who's had his own struggles with addiction and recognizes that his own superior officer's decision to help him rather than punish him was what got him to turn his life around.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Gets an absolutely brutal knife in the back from her younger sister.
• Everyone Loves Blondes: She's pretty popular with the guys in-universe, both inside and out of the squad room.
• Fair Cop: Dem cheekbones. Dose eyes. Dat Hair. Even Stephanie March felt threatened. Rollins has also caught the eye of several male characters.
• The Farmer and the Viper: Learns the very, very hard way that kindness is wasted on her sister.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Her sister Kim has substance abuse issues and an abusive boyfriend who she set up to be shot by Amanda (she has a history of threatening him) for insurance money which she forged her sister's name to; she also knows about the gambling debts. When Amanda learns the whole truth and Amaro gets Kim on tape, she skips town along with all of her sister's possessions — literally, the only things Amanda has left is her fridge, an ice tray, and Kim's goodbye note.
• The Gambling Addict: Her mounting gambling debts get her into a lot of trouble with some very dodgy people. She's been attending Gamblers Anonymous per Cragen's orders.
• Hereditary Hairstyle: She and her sister got their blonde hair from their mother, a trait both of Amanda's daughters would also inherit.
• Heroes Love Dogs: She has a pit bull named Frannie that has appeared and been mentioned in several episodes. Frannie even helped Amanda run down William Lewis after he flashed two tourists in Central Park.
• His Own Worst Enemy: Is quite prone to self-sabotage, particularly in her personal life, which leads her into relationships with men who are physically/emotionally unavailable, or just otherwise awful. She's self-aware enough to know this is an inherited issue from her mother, but it isn't until season 21, when she starts seeing a therapist, that she starts getting out of her own way. It doesn't stop Olivia from pulling her into her office in a season 23 episode to ask if her offer to be the Honey Trap on a case isn't her doing this with Carisi; Olivia expresses concern that there's a part of Amanda that "that thinks that you don't deserve to be happy."
• Honey Trap: One of her specialties. She's volunteered herself as bait to catch more than one criminal and she's very good at it.
• Honorary Aunt: To Olivia's adopted son Noah, and specifically referred to this way in "Chasing Demons."^note "Lucy" is Noah's regular nanny.
  "Okay, so, Noah, Auntie Amanda is gonna take you to school, and Lucy is gonna pick you up."
• Humiliation Conga: Between "Rapist Anonymous" and "Gambler's Fallacy," season 15 is this for her.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Doesn't make an appearance until the Season 13 premiere, but now holds place as the third longest serving member of the current main cast by Season 17.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: When the squad visits the shooting range for practice, she's the best shot of all of them.
• Ironic Name: Amanda means "having to be loved", "deserving to be loved" and "worthy of love", which are all poignant for a character who was awfully betrayed numerous times.
• Junior Counterpart: Much like Liv during the series premiere, Rollins is the new transfer of the squad along with a male detective (Cassidy for Liv, Amaro for Rollns).
• Karma Houdini: Deconstructed. So deconstructed. Her gambling debts cause her to stumble into working for the owner of a sketchy gambling parlor, then rescued by an undercover cop working as the owner's enforcer, who gets her involved in the case. It backfires partially as the wife of an involved party gets raped, getting SVU involved and nearly blowing Rollins' cover; when the dust clears, the undercover cop commends Rollins for her work and tells her to stay clean, but a furious Benson, not happy with being put on the spot as a newbie squad commander (including lying to Amaro and Fin about what Rollins was up to), says that if SVU wasn't so understaffed, Rollins would be on her way to a new department. Borders on Pyrrhic Victory, as a matter of fact.
• The Lad-ette: Compared to Olivia, especially after Olivia's personality mellowed out. While both women are "One of the Boys" to an extent, Rollins is more overtly prone to profanity or recklessness, and has a number of stereotypically "masculine" hobbies and vices, especially gambling. She seems to have a habit of sleeping around, is occasionally seen smoking, and is also the closest thing the main team has to a resident computer geek.
• Like Brother and Sister: Arguably her relationship with Carisi at least at first, with Rollins's actress describing Carisi as like "her annoying younger brother." They bicker, but constantly have each other's back and Carisi is her daughter's godfather. It's somewhat more complicated than that, though: Carisi has a thing for her, and steadfastly supports her and her daughters to the point where he's essentially the only father figure Jesse and Billie have ever known. Amanda finally gets her Love Epiphany at the end of season 22.
• Love Makes You Dumb: Poor Rollins had this publicly exposed in "Rapist Anonymous." Additionally, the blackmail stunt she pulled to save Amaro from prison time has a strong chance of turning out this way.
• Mama Bear:
  • Inverted. Kim recalls how she threatened to shoot a guy in the knees if he bothered their mother again when they were kids.
  • While Rollins hasn't been given a moment yet, she did state that she would kill anyone that tried to harm Jesse or Billie.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Has a heartbreaking moment of this when she realizes she's been manipulated by her sister into killing a man.
• New Meat: In season 13, along with Amaro.
• Ms. Fanservice: Being the Honey Trap expert, Rollins deliberately plays on this role to catch the perps.
• Off the Wagon: She starts gambling again in "Rapist Anonymous", and it continues through to "Gambler's Fallacy", where it nearly gets her in serious trouble. She gets back on the wagon after that and appears to have stayed there since.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten:: Her gambling addiction is this for Rollins, although somewhat deservedly as its consequences constantly pop up.
• Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Seems to be inverted - sometimes, she'll slip into a southern drawl that she (and her actress) doesn't normally have. Note that her mother and sister do have southern accents so it's implied to be something that she trained herself out of but reverts to when she gets emotionally riled.
• Out-of-Character Moment: Tried to provoke Amaro into hitting her in "Spousal Privilege", apparently because she wanted to call him out on his pride at being better than the abusers while ignoring his own anger management issues (she saw him yelling at Maria over the phone on top of the suspect of the week being her weakness, an abusive authority figure). Amaro doesn't take the bait and leaves. She may have been drunk (this took place in a bar) and the next several episodes focus on their traumatic pasts.
• Pregnant Badass: Is revealed to be pregnant with Declan Murphy's child as of Season 17, not that this slows her down in her police work. Also a case of Real Life Writes the Plot , as the actress was pregnant in real life.
• Properly Paranoid: She is the first to seriously suspect William Lewis of being Not So Harmless, even when the SVU squad doesn't officially have anything to hold him on. On the flip side, in "Dissonant Voices," Rollins is the only person who suspects the allegations against the music teacher are false, and is unsympathetic to the other characters' My God, What Have I Done? reaction when they realize she's right and they've ruined his life.
• Rape as Backstory: She left Atlanta after being raped by her chief.
• Ship Tease: Has had plenty of it with Fin. And with Amaro in season 15. In one episode, Benson opines that they should Get a Room! and another character asks Amaro if he's the boyfriend (a single scene and a couple of references after the fact reveal that they got together, at least briefly). And then there's a lot of it with Carisi, who is shown to be very much in love with her. It's heavily implied that she reciprocates but she Cannot Spit It Out, at least until the finale of Season 22, when they finally have a Big Damn Kiss.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Rollins originally was a bit loose and wasn't seeking anything serious, having fathered two kids from two different men, and even refused a proposal from one of those two. Then she, despite herself, falls for the one guy who's been her rock and a father figure to her kids: Carisi.
• Southern-Fried Genius: Rollins is the squad member most likely to be seen doing computer stuff during investigations.
• Tall Poppy Syndrome: Kim regards her horrible treatment of Amanda as justified at least in part due to her seething resentment over Amanda having made something of herself.
• The One Who Made It Out: Of her dysfunctional family and their hometown in Georgia. Kim shamelessly uses accusations that Amanda now thinks she's "too good for them" to manipulate her.
• Thicker Than Water: She worries over her little sister's fate even after it's clear Kim has catapulted herself waaaaaay over the Moral Event Horizon.
• Trapped by Gambling Debts: Rollins initially gets out of the debts she owes due to the guy going to prison, but even after that she's haunted by them, most notably when Kim uses her gambling problem as part of her Frame-Up of Rollins, and then later in Season 15 when she falls Off the Wagon and gets sucked into Murphy's undercover operation as a result.
• That One Case: A rapist she'd tracked along the eastern seaboard resurfaces in New York in one episode.
• Tsundere: She's always a spitfire, but she is very much a tsundere to Carisi. Naturally, she ends up falling for him.
• The Unfavorite: Her sister Kim is clearly the apple of their mother, Beth Anne, who supports Kim even when she's on the run. When Kim is arrested for drugging a john who then raped a woman under the influence and for shooting her pimp, Beth Anne actually blames Amanda for not helping her sister out and that she shouldn't return home until she "figures out how to be a real family."
• Up Through the Ranks: Averted. While Rollins has been described as having an ambitious go-getter personality, she's explicitly stated she's not interested in climbing the rank ladder from where she currently stands.
• White Sheep: In a family with a alcoholic, gambler father, an alcoholic mother and a drug-addicted, criminal sister, Amanda is the only member of her family who has gotten her act together by becoming a police officer. Slightly subverted though as she has had a previous history of getting into gambling debts.
• Workaholic: Really, really resents being placed on desk duty even when its within reason. When she gets pregnant, she dodges every order to take it easy until she faints and is forced into bedrest, obscenely close to giving birth. And then she basically repeats this when she gets pregnant a second time, staying on active field duty long after she probably should despite everyone else's recommendation. Although thankfully this time she actually eventually admits when she needs to rest.