List of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit characters

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a spin-off of the crime drama Law & Order, follows the detectives who work in the "Special Victims Unit" of the 16th Precinct of the New York City Police Department, a unit that focuses on crimes involving rape, sexual assault, and child molestation, as well as any crime loosely connected with any of the three, such as domestic violence, kidnapping, and child abandonment. Since its debut in September 1999, the series has followed the career of Olivia Benson, as she progresses from the rank of Detective, working with a partner (initially Elliot Stabler, and later Nick Amaro), to Sergeant and then to Lieutenant, replacing Donald Cragen as commanding officer of SVU, and then to Captain. The unit also has a prosecutor assigned from the District Attorney's office, and frequently interacts with medical examiners and psychiatrists.

Four of the regular characters have appeared as regulars in other NBC series: Captain Donald Cragen (Florek), who was on the first three seasons of Law & Order; ADA Alexandra Cabot (March), who led the cast of Conviction; Sergeant John Munch (Belzer), as a Baltimore detective in Homicide: Life on the Street. and Detective Elliot Stabler (Meloni) on Law & Order: Organized Crime.

The characters of Elliot Stabler & Olivia Benson were named for creator Dick Wolf's children. Wolf's third child, daughter Sarina, had a character named for her; Benson's mother was named Serena, as well as former ADA Serena Southerlyn on the original Law & Order and Det. Serena Stevens on Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Elliot Stabler is a senior detective who previously worked 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 19-year career at SVU. At the start of the series, he is married with four children. He separates from his wife Kathy during seasons 7 and 8, but they reconcile after she becomes pregnant with their fifth child. Elliot is Catholic, which sometimes complicates the cases he works on, but also helps him form a close friendship with ADA Novak. His partner is Olivia Benson, with whom he generally has a good working relationship, but it is not without tension and friction, especially in seasons 7 and 8 when they are separated as partners for some time. Captain Cragen makes both detectives speak with psychiatrist Rebecca Hendrix in order to decide whether they can continue working as partners. Hendrix tells Cragen that he should split them up only if he wants to lose his two best detectives.

Stabler abruptly retires from the Special Victims Unit after he shoots and kills a teenage girl who was recklessly firing a gun in the squad room. He is not seen or heard from again until the episode "Return of the Prodigal Son," where it is revealed he has been working as an international liaison for the NYPD working to take down organized crime since having come out of retirement in 2017. He eventually joins the Organized Crime Control Bureau after Kathy is murdered by gangster Richard Wheatley.

Olivia Benson is the Captain of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit, which investigates sex crimes. She was primarily partnered with Elliot Stabler, until he retired after season 12. She is tough, empathetic, and completely dedicated to her job, to the point that she is sometimes seen as having little personal life. Her dedication sometimes wreaks havoc on her emotional state as she empathizes with victims of sexual assault, having been the child of rape and later the victim of sexual assault while undercover in season 9. She has allowed her compassion for victims of abuse to sometimes cloud her professional judgment and impede her ability to remain impartial. Hargitay has received both a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Benson.

In season 13, Detectives Benson and Tutuola are the senior detectives in the precinct. Throughout the first few episodes of season 13, she struggles to cope with the retirement of Stabler. She is more harsh and argumentative, as seen when she berates ADA Novak for "losing her nerve" after Novak says that Benson is "off". Her primary partner from seasons 13 to 14 is Nick Amaro, but she is also seen at times working with Tutuola and Detectives Amanda Rollins and Dominick "Sonny" Carisi.

Upon the retirement of Sergeant Munch at the beginning of season 15, Captain Cragen recommends to her that she should take the sergeant's exam, as she is now his second in command. In the episode "Rapist Anonymous", she makes the announcement that she has passed the exam, officially making her a sergeant. After Cragen's retirement, she becomes acting commanding officer of SVU until she is subsequently promoted to lieutenant in season 17 and officially takes command of the unit. At the end of season 15, she became a foster mother to Noah Porter, formally adopting him at the end of season 16.