Sandbox / Law And Order16th Precinct

The following lists all characters, major and minor, who are/were members of NYPD's 16th precinct, or the Manhattan Special Victims Unit.

Current Personnel

Capt. Olivia Benson

see Law And Order Olivia Benson

Sgt. Odafin "Fin" Tutuola

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

Other Appearances: Chicago P.D.

Played By: Ice-T

A sergeant in the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. He was raised in Harlem and he served in the United States Army, where he saw combat in Mogadishu. A former undercover narcotics detective, Tutuola replaced Monique Jeffries after she left the squad in 2000. He transferred out of narcotics after his partner was shot. Unfortunately, he ends up cutting off ties with this partner, and his crazy daughter goes on a such murderous rampage that they have to call in Eames and the Anti-Terrorism Taskforce.

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• Action Dad: To his estranged son, Ken.
• The Atoner: A couple times, usually having to do with narcotics cases.
• Big Brother Instinct: Toward Rollins. When he finds out a bookie roughed her up over her gambling debts, he has the crook's place raided. He even punches him in the stomach, as he'd previously done to Rollins, telling him he knows what that was for.
• The Big Guy: To John Munch's The Smart Guy.
• Big, Screwed-Up Family: Let's see, a gay son who resents him, an ex-wife who was raped by her own father, producing a son who committed murder and got away scot free…, and a brother in law who gets out of jail only to be falsely arrested on Christmas Eve… yep, definitely a nice family.
• Black and Nerdy: Is an unapologetic gamer, which Benson teases him over.
  Olivia: So, all those years of gaming finally paid off?
• Black-and-White Morality: Sees all offenders as scum, reformed or not.
• Black Republican: Registered as such, apparently.
• Breakout Character: Was originally supposed to be a four episode character. However, because he was well received by fans, he was kept on the show for good.
• Catchphrase: "That's messed up."
• Chivalrous Pervert: Believe it or not. Though used for comedic effect, it's definitely not brought up often given the sensitive kinds of crimes on the show. Fin doesn't try to cover up the fact that he's subject to a man's needs whenever it comes up, but he doesn't allow that to blur the boundaries required to do his job and he's clearly very angered/annoyed when they come across particularly disturbing cases. One notable instance that this part of Fin's nature is really helpful is when Fin recognizes a young woman that held a position in a low-level public office from a porn he's watched (that's he's later shown in possession of), which allows the SVU detectives to follow a string of unlawful appointments that were coverups to the various flings of a mayoral candidate.
• Dad the Veteran: Father to Ken and served in the U.S. Army during the Somalia Civil War.
• A Day in the Limelight: Handled a case on his own in "Anchor".
• Disappeared Dad: Fin's undercover work in Narcotics often resulted in him being gone for weeks if months at a time, leaving Ken to essentially grow up without a father, which later caused significant tension between them. Eventually, the amount of Fin's undercover stretches brought he and his wife to divorce.
• Fatal Flaw: He was not a good father or husband. It still haunts him, and it comes back to bite him several times.
• Fire-Forged Friends: He and Munch used to not get along. In later seasons, they were quite willing to go the extra mile to help each other out.
• Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: His usual response to being told an offender's sob story.
• A Friend in Need: To Rollins, both when she's getting screwed over by her sister and when she later appears to be in over her head with gambling debts, and Fin is the one Rollins calls for a ride when she goes into labour in Season 17. Also to Olivia in subtle ways, pre-Season 12 - he's the only one that knows she's going to therapy post-"Undercover".
• Gay Bravado: Generally rolls with it whenever he's Mistaken for Gay alongside Munch or Lake. He also fusses at Amaro for not being dressed well enough when they go undercover in a gay club.
• Genre Savvy: "Intimidation Game" tries to make Fin out to be this, using his 20 years of gamer expertise to foil a kidnapping plot by deranged gamers, but it amounts to little else but him making lots of painful video game analogies.
  • Back in season 3 "Care", the background funny moment may have actually been this when he and Munch play the same video game in order to try and enter the mindset of a murder witness with autism who was obsessed with it.
  Munch: Damn it!
  Game: You have lost.
  Tutuola: Pathetic. Give me that; let me show you how to do it.
• Good Is Not Soft: Possibly the finest example out of all the characters.
• Heel–Face Door-Slam: Despite Fin and Ken mostly repairing their relationship, Ken is still hesitant to introduce his fiance Alejandro out of fear of Fin's reaction. Because of this, Fin doesn't get to meet Alejandro before Alejandro is brutally beaten into a coma, and deeply regrets it.
• Heel Realization: The episode "Strain" has him discover that his son Ken is gay, and Fin is initially exasperated about this development. After seeing the grief of another father who was estranged from his gay son and lost him suddenly, Fin realizes that justified or not, he was largely absent from Ken's childhood, and the distance between him and his son will only grow if he cannot accept him. The episode ends with Fin calling Ken.
• Hidden Depths: According to the official Twitter Account, Fin enjoys Shakespearean tragedies, his favorite being Cymbeline.
• Hopeless with Tech:
  Fin: (after watching a video of a Latino gang member bragging about raping a white girl) What, those fools think the cops don't know how to use the Internet?
  Rollins: Well, it did take me a year to teach you how to.
• Hot-Blooded: Less so than Stabler and Amaro, but if he has to go after your ass instead of you going quietly, he's gonna be pretty pissed when he finally catches you.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Finn is the show's original Breakout Character and the second most tenured character by mid-Season 15, but he doesn't make an appearance until the very end of the Season 2 premiere.
• Ironic Name: Tutuola is a Yoruba name meaning "The Gentle One". One need not watch Fin in action for very long to see how non-descriptive that name is.
• The Lancer: As the main character with the second longest tenure on the show by Season 15, it makes sense. After his promotion to Sergeant, he gets transferred to another precinct but later gets himself moved back to SVU as Benson's second-in-command.
• Meaningful Name: Odafin means lawmaker or establisher of laws.
• Mr. Exposition: In "Intimidation Game", he explains gaming terms to the audience through Benson, who doesn't play video games.
• Naïve Newcomer: An interesting example. Fin's definitely been around the block a few times, both before and after his run as a narc, but he's woefully out of his depth when it comes to sex crimes. The show gets a good deal of exposition of it.
• Number Two: Becomes this when Olivia takes over the squad, with her referring to him as her second in command when asked and trying to convince him to take the Sergeant's exam. He's somewhat reluctant to take the position at first but eventually accepts it.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: Rarely called Odafin.
• Only Sane Man: He seems to be the only one who's aware of just how messed up everyone in SVU is. There actually came a point where he, like many in the audience, just wrote Stabler off as an out-of-control lunatic. He wasn't shy about it either, describing Stabler as "a head case" to both Cragen and to Stabler's face.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Fin was just that pissed off about the suspect targeting people close to him.
  • He's usually not into roughing up suspects (that's more Stabler's thing), but during a case involving children being sold as slaves, the man behind the slave ring attempts to run. Fin chases him down and gives him a well deserved No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
• Out-of-Character Moment: That time he took a page out of UnStabler's book and threatened to gouge an uncooperative suspect's eyes out with a spoon. He actually produced the spoon, too.
• Out of Focus: Pre-season 12, very few episodes focused on him and even then they were more about his family's problems than Fin himself. Post Season 12, Fin's son Ken is nowhere to be seen, and Fin himself has only had a couple of episodes of any focus.
• Papa Wolf: First appears in the seventh season episode "Strain", when Ken is under investigation. While Fin is more stable in his methods than Elliot, he could still give him a good run for his money. After some initial strain, he extended this to his future son-in-law.
• Perpetual Frowner: An entire episode has a victim pointing out this from the moment she meets him to the moment the episode concludes. He still doesn't smile.
• Promotion to Opening Titles: Ice-T was billed as a guest star in his introduction but is immediately added to the opening credits the following episode.
• Rank Up: Promoted to Sergeant in season 18
• Refusal of the Call: Despite being the second most tenured cast member by mid-Season 15, Fin refused to take the sergeants exam to make him Olivia's official second-in-command until Season 18.
• Scary Black Man: Averted. Despite being on a New York detective unit known for using more, uh, unorthodox tactics to wring confessions out of suspects, he's generally more calm and emotionally stable than most of his colleagues, especially in comparison to Stabler.
• So Proud of You: He feels this way towards Ken, telling Rollins that his son is the bravest man he knows.
• The Stoic: Is better at hiding his emotions than anyone else.
• Survivor Guilt: In "Manhunt", it's revealed that his partner in Narcotics took a bullet from a drug lord meant for him. In "Poisoned Motive", we learn that he distanced himself from his former partner after the shooting because he couldn't deal with feeling responsible for the man's condition.
• Token Minority: Lampshaded when he replaces Jeffries.
• Undying Loyalty: In terms of loyalty to Liv, Fin takes the cake. When Dodds starts interviewing people to potentially replace Liv, Fin makes it clear that if Liv is replaced, there will be consequences.
• When He Smiles: Fin often scowls and is quite convincing as a tough, intimidating cop, but the occasional times when he has a genuinely happy smile, such as the ending to "Haunted", his face positively transforms.

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.

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• 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.
• Cat Smile: Rollins' slanted eyes only adds to her cat-like appearance everytime she grins.
• 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.
• 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 Amanda's daughter herself would 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.
• 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.
• Official Couple:
  • With Amaro, though probably not for very long.
  • And then with Carisi. This'll probably last way longer than with Amaro.
• 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 yes, 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.

Det. Joe Velasco

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Octavio Pisano

Detective Joe Velasco is a detective with the Special Victims Unit. He was assigned to the squad following the retirement of Katriona Tamin.

• Abusive Parents: He tells a victim in "Never Turn Your Back on Them" that his father used to beat him with his belt. When his father died, he kept the belt.
• Teens Are Monsters: Joe reveals to Fin in "Nightmares in Drill City", that he once got caught up in criminal activity and ended up changing his life around if the tortured victim lived (the victim did live).

Former Personnel

Capt. Donald Cragen

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

Played By: Dann Florek

The Captain of the 27th, later 16th Precinct. 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 SVU Season 15's Amaro's One-Eighty, giving command of the Squad to the newly promoted Sgt. Benson.

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• The Alcoholic: Part of his backstory. He finally got off the sauce when he came out of a blackout in the middle of Lexington Avenue pointing his gun at a cabbie "because I didn't like the way he was honking his horn". He's still recovering by the time he became Captain of the 16th Precicnct, and 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 that 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.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: His departure wasn't explained until the episode "Bad Faith" three years later, which revealed that he was heading up the Anti-Corruption Task Force.
• Clear My Name: In "Blue Wall," in which he is suspected of corruption due to guilt by association.
• Da Chief: First head of the 27th in the series. He's hard-nosed and stern with his detectives, but he gives them room to run with their hunches when they seem plausible. He later becomes the Head of the SVU unit until Season 15, makjng Cragen the only character serving this role i two separate shows in the franchise.
• Deadpan Snarker: Merciless. Don't ask him about verbal altercations.
• A Father to His Men: Feels this way, and is regarded this way, as he admits in Season 14.
• Happily Married: To his wife, Marge, in the original series. She dies offscreen sometime between his departure from the mothership and the premiere of SVU.
• 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.
• Meaningful Name: Donald means "great chief, world mighty", as in Da Chief of the tough world called Special Victim's Unit. He also holds the distinction of serving as Da Chief of two different shows in the franchise.
• 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.
• No Indoor Voice: Considering the rate of turnover, can you blame him?
• 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. Even in his original run in the Mothership, he has his moments with Logan.
• 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.
• The Vietnam Vet: Captain Cragen was a Green Beret during The Vietnam War.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: With Greevey, since they used to be partners before Cragen got promoted. They'll argue, particularly when Greevey's morals conflict with the case, but in the end they're still friends.

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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• 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".
• Deadpan Snarker: Has a sarcastic comment for almost everything.
  Teenager, as he's being arrested: 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.
  Teenager: Let go of me, you dirty old man!
  Munch: Who you calling 'old'?
• 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.
• 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 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.
• 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, 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.
• 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".

Sgt. Michael 'Mike' Dodds

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Andy Karl

The son of SVU's Deputy Chief, William Dodds, Mike is drafted in at the beginning of the seventeenth season to serve as Benson's second-in-command following her promotion to Lieutenant. At first appearing to be his father's proxy, he clashes with the team due to his clinical approach, but his eyes are soon opened to the realities of working at SVU. As of the season finale, his desire to do what's right has brought him lethal consequences. He is the only policing member of the SVU to be killed in the line of duty.

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• By-the-Book Cop: Zig-zagged. He takes this approach on occasion (i.e. "Patrimonial Burden", when he's ready to shrug off the case for jurisdictional reasons as Benson is insisting they can't just let it go because a child has been hurt), especially in the beginning, but in "Melancholy Pursuit", after he's become emotionally involved in the case, Benson and Carisi have to remind him of the rules when he suggests a blatantly illegal move to get suspects' DNA. He cements his departure from this in "Unholiest Alliance", when he continues to work with Benson and Tucker to break the case even when they're officially suspended.
• Follow in My Footsteps: His father clearly wants and expects Mike to do this and potentially even to surpass him. Mike himself, as it turns out, doesn't love the idea, but struggles with telling his father no.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: From what little we learn of his brother Matthew, it's clear that Mike is the Responsible to his brother's Foolish. He uses this in a couple of episodes to relate to witnesses.
• Heroic Sacrifice: Saves a woman from being shot by her abusive husband in a hostage situation... only to wind up shot himself, and later dying from complications. On his last day at SVU, to boot.
• I Am Not My Father: A rare example in that his relationship with his father is pretty good, but as his character develops, it becomes clear that he doesn't have his father's aspirations — which is a bit of a problem, because Chief Dodds has, if anything, even more aspirations for Mike than for himself. On a more surface level, he also invokes this with Benson when he makes it clear that his professional loyalties lie with SVU.
  Dodds: (to Benson) I just want you to know, what happens at SVU stays at SVU. You have my word.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: A Season 22 episode indicates that Mike's death is this for Benson.
• It's Personal: In "Melancholy Pursuit", Dodds blames himself for not taking a missing persons report seriously and gets extremely emotionally invested in the ensuing murder case as a result.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Before the team warms up to him, his suggestions on how to improve productivity at SVU come across as this.
• Nepotism: Appears to be played straight at first; his father is the Deputy Chief, after all, and he blatantly and overtly greased Mike's way in.
  Tutuola: Dodds' oldest son, huh? Wonder how he got this job.
  • Subverted as the season goes on and Mike proves to be a more than competent officer in his own right.
• Parental Favoritism: Has a drug addict brother called Matt. His father is open about his preference for Mike.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Andy Karl was headed to the West End to star in the Groundhog Day musical, so Dodds is shot and killed by Gary Munson in the Season 17 finale.

• Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: To an extent. He uses his relationship with his father, and his father's relationships with pretty much everyone, to get around bureaucracy quicker, but doesn't use it to outright manipulate people.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Turns out to have a streak of this mentality, much to the surprise of the unit (who were expecting him to be like his rule-following father). It's most prominently on display in "Unholiest Alliance".
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Killed off just as the audience was beginning to get to know him.

Det. Elliot Stabler

see Law And Order Elliot Stabler

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.

Det. Brian Cassidy

Appearances: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Played By: Dean Winters

A detective formerly employed by the Special Victims Unit. He started out as a Naïve Newcomer to the squad, but he couldn't take the graphic nature of the crimes and transferred to narcotics. Flashforward to the Season 13 finale, and we find him undercover and far less naive. He is now a Recurring Character, and stuck working at IAB. Oh, and he's dating and living with Benson.

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• Break the Cutie: Done purposely in-universe, in Cassidy's first season, when Cragen sends him to investigate a particularly brutal gang rape to see if he can handle SVU. He can't.
• The Bus Came Back: Returned in the Season 13 finale, "Rhodium Nights", as an undercover cop, and has now become a recurring character and Benson's boyfriend.
• Characterization Marches On: He returns for the Season 13 finale totally different—they might as well be different characters. He went from being the overly passionate rookie to a pervy perp who enables and has sex with underage sex traffickers. He's actually playing a part while undercover, although he's still far more gruff than his first appearances. There was also the implication that he might have been a dirty cop, although this turned out to be false.
• A Day in the Limelight: "Internal Affairs."
• Distinguishing Mark: A scar on the inside of his thigh, used to show who has had sex with him.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: He seems very attached to his mother, and even takes Olivia on a date to have dinner with her.
• Fake Guest Star: He's practically part of the main cast during the first half of Season 1, yet is only credited as a guest star.
• Good is Not Nice: When he's re-introduced in season 13.
• I'm a Man; I Can't Help It: Averted when he's presented with a test while undercover, ordered to "break in" a prostitute. He takes her into a room but makes an excuse and does not actually have sex with her. Later, after the prostitute accuses him of rape, the prosecutor tries to use this trope against him in court anyway.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: When he returns in season 13, he's not the friendliest guy, but he is ultimately on the side of good.
• New Meat: Like Liv in the first season, but he ultimately can't handle SVU and leaves.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero : When Cassidy is on trial for rape, his lawyer's attempt to discredit Amaro's testimony unwittingly causes it to come to light that Amaro has a son he never knew about... which comes as a complete shock to Amaro himself, who only learns the news when he gets suddenly sued for child support. On top of that, Amaro then discovers his son is being groomed as a drug runner by his stepfather, and goes full Papa Wolf about getting the kid out of there. Cassidy, who had meant to make Amaro look bad on the witness stand but not to throw his life into total chaos, ends up helping Amaro take down the drug dealer stepfather.. In truth, this trope was only invoked, as none of the aforementioned problems were actually caused by Cassidy. Amaro just acted like they were.
• Put on a Bus:
  • Sex Crimes became too much for him so Cragen recommends his transfer to Narcotics. He won't show up again until the Season 13 finale.
  • Back on the bus after amicably breaking up with Benson the second time.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: Cassidy's breakup with Benson coincides with Dean Winters' other television show getting picked up.
• Token Evil Teammate: While not necessarily evil, he is stuck at IAB for the foreseeable future.
• Two First Names: Cassidy is a common female name.

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.

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• 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.
• Cloud Cuckoolander: Besides being an insomniac, Lake states on occasion that the city speaks to him. Whether or not he's speaking figuratively or literally is unclear, but thankfully, it hasn't had any effect on his job.
• 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.

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).
• 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.

Det./A.D.A. Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr.

see Law And Order Sex Crimes Bureau

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.

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• 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.