Law & Order: Special Victims Unit/Characters

Detective Elliot Stabler

 * Abusive Parents: Hinted at if not outright stated that his father was abusive. Also could be considered this with his own children though he is regretful about it.
 * Anti-Hero: Type III-IV: 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
 * Badass in Distress: A couple of times; the most prominent being when captures him and begins to torture him in 'Zebras'.
 * Handicapped Badass: Goes blind for an episode in "Blinded".
 * Rated "M" for Manly
 * Badass Longcoat: In winter episodes.
 * Berserk Button: Do not, under any circumstances, mess with his kids (or Olivia) in any way. He has also shown himself to be very protective of Casey as well.
 * 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).
 * 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.
 * Cowboy Cop or Rabid Cop, depending on the episode.
 * Defective Detective
 * Estrogen Brigade Bait: Take a look at his Clothing Damage while you're at it.
 * Exalted Torturer
 * Fan Nickname: "UnStabler," due to resorting to the Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique one too many times.
 * Freudian Excuse: His personality is implied to be as a result of his father's upbringing
 * Good Catholic: "I try to be a good Catholic, try to raise my kids to be good Catholics..."
 * Heroic BSOD: Seemed to be coming closer and closer towards one
 * Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique: And how.
 * Lantern Jaw of Justice
 * Let Me At Him: Stabler should probably be the trope namer.
 * Never Live It Down: In-universe. Him admitting that he occasionally fantasizes about killing perps is almost always brought up when his ability to competently do his job is brought up.
 * Noble Bigot with a Badge: He's somewhat closed-minded about sexual orientation & transgendered issues, although not hateful about it. Possible result of a Catholic upbringing.
 * Overprotective Dad and Papa Wolf - one of the rare cases where it overlaps with Abusive Parents
 * Quip to Black
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Has been on the receiving end on quite a few of these.
 * Quip to Black
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Has been on the receiving end on quite a few of these.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Has been on the receiving end on quite a few of these.

Detective Olivia Benson

 * Action Girl
 * Badass
 * Alcoholic Parent
 * Broken Bird
 * Career Versus Man: In her own words, when men find out what she does for a living, they either "pull away or move in too close".
 * Well maybe the problem is her, since she's the only common denominator
 * Child by Rape: Her mom was raped, resulting in Benson's birth.
 * Christmas Cake
 * Defective Detective: Only when it's convenient for the plot, though.
 * Dirty Harriet: Went undercover as a prostitute once, and as a madam later.
 * Even the Girls Want Her: Not just because of the Les Yay with Alex; in several episodes, women blatantly hit on her.
 * Of course, even when girls who are watching just to perv on Stabler start making comments about her chest, you know this trope applies.
 * Fair Cop
 * Hollywood Atheist: Frequently mocks the belief in God, Stabler's in particular, in light of all they deal with on a daily basis and her own childhood.
 * My Biological Clock Is Ticking: Mentioned by other characters in a few episodes, which never fails to piss her off.
 * Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Often makes things worse for the victims when she gets personally involved.
 * One of the Boys
 * Plucky Girl
 * Rape as Backstory: Although not hers, as mentioned.
 * Straw Feminist: Depending on plot, she gets this way sometimes.

Detective John Munch

 * Agent Mulder
 * Big Brother Mentor: Cassidy saw him as one.
 * Conspiracy Theorist: And he's the most rational of all the main characters.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Dirty Old Man
 * Long Runners: At the end of season 13, Richard Belzer will have played Munch for 19 years (and 20 seasons) as a regular on two different shows (along with cameos and crossover appearances on 8 others) putting him one year behind (or tied with, 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.
 * Out of Focus: In later seasons.
 * Quip to Black
 * Transplant: From Homicide: Life On the Street to SVU.
 * What Could Have Been: Originally, upon Homicide's cancellation and after hearing that Benjamin Bratt was leaving the original series, Belzer suggested to Dick Wolf that Munch become Lennie Briscoe's new partner, since they had originally teamed in three Homicide crossovers. Wolf loved the idea, but had already cast Jesse L. Martin as Det. Ed Green.
 * Writer on Board / Actor On Board: We're not clear which one.
 * Almost certainly Actor On Board given the content of his books and stand-up comedy act. Read "UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies You Don't Have To Be Crazy To Believe" for a good example.

Captain Donald Cragen

 * Badass Grandpa: He's obviously over 50, and he's still capable of handing perps their asses, albeit he does this rarely. Surprisingly, he also refuses to use more force than is absolutely necessary, as he is the most Lawful Good member of the cast.
 * Bald of Awesome
 * Berserk Button: As much as he chews them out, he is very protective of his detectives, and at least Casey. After a man brutally assaulted her, he mentioned he'd like to throw the man did it out of a window. Alex, too: when a drug cartel puts out a hit on her, he gives her one of his guns and mentions he already had a friend put the permit in her name.
 * Big Good
 * Da Chief
 * Limited Advancement Opportunities: He's been a captain since at least 1988.
 * 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.
 * Team Dad
 * Transplant: From the original series to SVU.

Detective Monique Jeffries

 * Promotion to Opening Titles
 * Put on a Bus
 * The Bus Came Back: We later find she's been transferred to Vice and collaborates with SVU again in one episode.
 * Token Minority

Assistant District Attorney Alexandra "Alex" Cabot

 * Anti-Hero: Does some morally ambiguous things.
 * Broken Bird: Although in this case, it happens during the series, not before it.
 * She's Back: In "Lead".
 * And then again in "Scorched Earth."
 * Hello, Attorney!
 * Meganekko
 * Plucky Girl
 * Put on a Bus
 * Transplant: From SVU to Conviction and then back again.
 * What the Hell, Hero?: Occasionally gets speeches like this from judges on account of her, um, liberties with the law.
 * Witness Protection

Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola

 * Badass
 * The Big Guy
 * Big Screwed-Up Family
 * Black and White Morality: Sees all offenders as scum, reformed or not.
 * 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.
 * Out of Focus
 * Papa Wolf
 * Token Minority: Lampshaded when he replaces Jeffries.

Dr. George Huang

 * Badass Pacifist: This man has been in the room with several psychopaths, and more than one has tried to kill him. This has not stopped him from doing his job once.
 * Berserk Button: Has a rare loss of temper, leading to a public shouting match, when Stabler deliberately sends a mentally ill suspect into a total meltdown in order to get information.
 * 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 confident to Olivia.
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * Have I Mentioned I Am Gay?: In the episode "Hardwired".
 * 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.
 * Only Sane Man
 * 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.
 * The Bus Came Back: He returned 20 episodes into Season 13 in "Father Dearest", with a mention of working in Oklahoma.
 * The Profiler
 * The Shrink: Incidentally, he can hop between all three subtypes depending on the episode.
 * The Smart Guy
 * The Stoic
 * Straight Gay: Heavily hinted at for several years and finally recently confirmed.

Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak

 * Hello, Attorney!
 * Broken Bird: Specially because ) 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.
 * She's Back In Reparations.
 * Honor Before Reason / Idiot Ball: The stunt that got her disbarred had no chance of working. She knew it. She did it anyway.
 * Plucky Girl
 * Put on a Bus
 * Retcon: Her disbarrment, 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 character who delivered the news could very easily have gotten wrong information.
 * Indeed Elizabeth Donnelly's exact words were "censure, possible suspension."
 * What the Hell, Hero?: To the point where she eventually gets disbarred.

Dr. Melinda Warner

 * A Day in the Limelight: "Blast"
 * Deadpan Snarker
 * The Medic
 * Promotion to Opening Titles
 * Quip to Black: Often sets these up.

Detective Chester Lake

 * Anti-Villain
 * Badass Native: Inverted. He is somewhat of a badass, and definitely Native American. But he is the farthest thing from Badass Native.
 * By-The-Book Cop
 * Rabid Cop: In Cold.
 * Fake American: Adam Beach is from Manitoba.
 * He Who Fights Monsters: Typical for Law & Order.
 * 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.
 * Mr. Fanservice
 * Put on a Bus:
 * Sixth Ranger Traitor
 * Token Minority

Assistant District Attorney Kim Greylek

 * Informed Ability: Apparently she used to be called "The Crusader".
 * Plucky Girl
 * Put on a Bus: In "Lead".
 * Shoo Out the New Guy: Gets put on the bus rather quickly in "Lead" and replaced by Cabot. And it hasn't reached the halfway point.
 * What the Hell, Hero?

Detective Brian Cassidy

 * 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.
 * There was also the implication that.
 * New Meat
 * Put on a Bus: Sex Crimes becomes too much for him so Cragen recommends his transfer to Narcotics.
 * The Bus Came Back: Returned in the Season 13 finale, "Rhodium Nights", as an undercover cop.

Dr. Rebecca Hendrix

 * Idiot Ball: Mistakenly assumed the picture a girl drew of her abuser was her coach. The girl, a terrified nine-year-old child who was browbeaten and pressured by her and Elliot into making the accusation, went along with it to put a stop to it.
 * Idiot Plot: Which results from this.
 * Karma Houdini: She mind raped a child and ruined an innocent man's life. She is never called out on this at all.
 * Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right: In "Identity", she was warned that her career would be in jeopardy if she . She did it anyway.
 * The Shrink

Detective Dani Beck

 * Action Girl
 * Blue Eyes
 * Broken Bird
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hot-Blooded
 * Plucky Girl
 * Temporary Substitute

Darius Parker

 * Enfante Terrible
 * Enfante Terrible
 * Enfante Terrible
 * Enfante Terrible
 * Enfante Terrible

CSU Technician Dale Stuckey

 * Catch Phrase: "Bing Bang Bong."
 * The Lab Rat
 * The Lab Rat

Assistant District Attorney Sonya Paxton

 * Jerkass
 * Temporary Substitute
 * Temporary Scrappy
 * Temporary Substitute
 * Temporary Scrappy
 * Temporary Substitute
 * Temporary Scrappy

Elizabeth Donnelly (ADA Bureau Chief, later a Judge)

 * First-Name Basis: Frequently goes from "Your Honor" or "Judge Donnelly" to "Elizabeth" when speaking with Alex and Casey on more personal matters.
 * It's Personal: Steps down from the bench for a case in Season 10's "Persona" due to her connection with the defendant (see Old Shame below).
 * Old Shame: As seen in "Persona," her run-in with the Idiot Ball that coined the phrase "doing a Donnelly" for several years after.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure

Barry Moredock (Defense Attorney, later a Judge)
"Casey: Have you had a conversation with him?
 * Heel Face Turn: Not immediately. He starts out rabidly Lawful Neutral and a Designated Villain by serving as the defense for the side opposite the SVU team, but by the time he's a judge, he's not nearly as much of douchebag.
 * Rules Lawyer: Very strict on his constitutional law interpretations.
 * Smug Snake: Comes off this way at first. However, he does temper this with being a Graceful Loser, and being willing to admit when he's only defending his client due to a legal interest and does not approve of their actions personally. For example, when defending a Neo Nazi who killed a Jewish child and a black child on a playground:

Barry: Yes, and I find every word he spews morally repugnant. But his speech, despicable as it may be, doesn't entitle anyone to trample all over his constitutional rights, now, does it?"

Jo Marlowe

 * Christmas Cake: Not the character, but her actress.
 * Hannibal Lecture: Uses this a lot.
 * Large Ham