History Series / LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit

** Fin's son goes by the name Ken Randall, but his actual name is Kwasi Tutuola. Kwasi is meant to sound like the stem ''quasi'', which means "having ''some'' resemblance." In his first appearance -- the only one where his real name is mentioned -- he has a rather strained relationship with Fin.

** Fin's son goes by the name Ken Randall, but his actual name is Kwasi Tutuola. Kwasi is meant to sound like the stem ''quasi'', which means "having ''some'' resemblance." He has a rather strained relationship with Fin...

* MauveShirt: This show is even better than the original at maintaining a large recurring cast. In addition to the billed cast (of whom both Dr. Huang and Dr. Warner were [[PromotionToOpeningTitles promoted to the opening titles]]; before that, they too were examples of this trope), we have the CSU techie(s), the TARU techie, about a half-dozen judges, about a half-dozen defense attorneys, Stabler's family, Fin's ex-wife and son, the recurring IAB guy... the list is endless. In some episodes, the only non-recurring characters to appear [[SpearCarrier in more than one scene]] are the victim and the perp.
** And yes, at least one of these Mauve Shirts was conspicuously killed off. [[spoiler: It was the CSU techie(s).]] Plenty of others have had their share of close calls, too.

** See also M.E. Warner's ADayInTheLimelight episode, "Blast", where she shoots a perp in the leg, intending to cause nonfatal damage. In reality, a bullet to the leg has a very substantial chance of causing a life-threatening injury thanks to the numerous arteries running through the leg. Her training as a medical examiner is no excuse; knowing where the arteries are located neither grants a person impeccable marksmanship (she is said to have ''some'' firearms training, but that's a long way from being a perfect shot) nor does it change the fact that a fragmenting round's shrapnel is inherently unpredictable. (What ''is'' an excuse is that the perp in question was about to commit suicide by cop, and a gunshot wound that ''might'' kill him was still a better chance of survival than a volley of bullets that would turn him into swiss cheese.)

** In "Torch" a man becomes a suspect for the house fire that killed his daughters when it's revealed he lit a car on fire for the purpose of insurance fraud before. The theory of the case is that he attempted to burn the house for the insurance money and just couldn't get the girls out in time, leaving him liable for both arson and manslaughter. However, new evidence casts doubt on the fire and the case is dismissed because it was likely a genuine accident.

* HollywoodLaw: A common example throughout the series is Olivia's constant assertion that their job is to believe the victim. While police certainly should (and the SVU cops do) treat victims sympathetically and take their complaints ''seriously'' (rather than, say, assume the victim is lying), their job is to investigate and determine the truth, ''not'' to take victims at their word and only look for evidence that supports their claim. Several episodes show exactly why this is a bad idea, with "victims" making false accusations or at least not telling the whole truth.

* HollywoodLaw: A common example throughout the series is Olivia's constant assertion that their job is to believe the victim. While police certainly should (and do) treat victims sympathetically, their job is to investigate and determine the truth, ''not'' to take victims at their word and only look for evidence that supports their claim. Several episodes show exactly why this is a bad idea, with "victims" making false accusations or at least not telling the whole truth.

** In "Closet", a homosexual suspect named Lincoln Haver gets his football career destroyed because he was surrounded by homophobes and Olivia accidentally outed him [[spoiler: although it turns out Olivia's accidental reveal of the suspect's orientation wasn't the problem; the person who outed Haver was the real murderer, the manager of the football team, who had caught Haver kissing his boyfriend a while before. And Haver's career ended up ruined partly because the investigation revealed he had permanent brain damage as a result of the many concussions he suffered on the field]].

* GuiltComplex: "Mask" introduces Captain Jackson, a psychiatrist who is looking for a way to cure sexual addiction. This came about from an unfortunate summer where he believes he may have raped his lesbian daughter, prompting the two to become estranged, but can't remember due to his own struggles with sex and alcohol addiction at the time. [[spoiler:As it turned out, he actually had consensual sex with his daughter's best friend. The estrangement was because his daughter was pissed that he slept with her first love.]]

* ShiftingTheBurdenOfProof: A common tactic used by the detectives.

** The ending of "Baby Killer": [[spoiler: Cabot drops the murder charges against 7-year-old Elias, after it comes out he witnessed a murder and was trying to shoot the killers he saw out of fear for his own safety - the events that lead to him accidentally killing a little black girl at his school. As Elias is Latino, there are fears that racial tensions could reach a breaking point, as one man yells that the charges dropped means letting the killers of black children walk away scot-free. The girl's mother even encourages the violence to end, asking the parents to go home and take care of their kids, not seek revenge. Elias is finally prepared to go home to his loving parents and hopefully put this nightmare behind him. As everyone congratulates Alex and prepares to go out for drinks, Cragen gets a call - a young black boy shot and killed Elias, yelling "You don't kill a sister and just walk!" as he's dragged off to the squad car.]]

** "Pornstar's Requiem:" A woman stars in fake rape porns (as the more grotesque/niche porns pay more for her expensive college education) gets actually raped. In return, she tries to report it and fight back. She wins the immediate case, but the judge overturns the appeal, based on some backwards beliefs that she had no respect for herself or her body and that somehow "no did not clearly mean no." Furthermore, she is expelled from said college she starred in the porn to pay for. The college headmistress claims it's a violation of school code, but a scene between Benson and the other gentleman indicate there was more of a political power play involved. After watching Barba (rightfully) claim in disbelief that "the judge has essentially given men the right to rape a woman based on her sexual history", Evie is broken after the events. The last scene of the episode is of Evie taking a drug (methaqualone, used as a muscle relaxant), voice clearly breaking up and nearly in tears, disrobing and walking into the middle of 10-12 half naked guys getting ready for a porn. To her, "at least when I say stop, they stop."

** A few episodes have a slightly more sympathetic variation where a person really was assaulted, but accuses the wrong person or otherwise misrepresents the details of the attack. These include a little girl who pointed the finger at a family friend because she was being pressured to name her molester but was too afraid to give up the actual perpetrator, a battered wife who made up a stranger rape because she didn't want to admit it was her husband who actually raped her, and a college student whose adviser convinced her to embellish her true story of rape into a gang rape as part of a publicity stunt (which results in everyone including the real rapist going free).
** In one episode, a man breaks into a woman's apartment intending to rape her to teach her racist grandfather (who had raped the man's mother several decades earlier) a lesson, but changes his mind. Unfortunately, the aforementioned racist grandfather convinced her that no one would believe her unless she claimed a rape had taken place. The episode makes it clear that the grandfather is the real villain; the granddaughter genuinely believed that the only way the police would take her seriously was if she claimed there was a rape, and is horrified when she realizes it was just one more manifestation of her grandfather's bigotry.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Many episodes feature a girl with a criminal boyfriend. [[RealityEnsues It usually ends badly for her.]]

* ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe: Gender inverted and deconstructed in "Choreographed" when a boring nine-to-five man was so convinced that his wife would cheat on him with one of her exciting and artistic coworkers that he injected a tracking chip into her while she was sleeping, [[RealityEnsues which almost killed her because he didn't sterilize the injection site]].

* RealityEnsues: Season 13 seems to be built completely out of these, from a legal standpoint.
** Season 9 sees ADA Casey Novak being disbarred after violating correct protocols in attempt to secure a conviction for an accused rapist who was likely to walk. An example of [[TruthInTelevision Truth in Television]], as in real life, prosecutors cannot break the rules to get unfair convictions for defendants they believe are guilty.

** Alexandra Cabot's defense for presenting illegally obtained evidence in "Guilt"? A mix of this and LoopHoleAbuse. She admits to lying to the victim's mother and violating her civil liberties, as well as manipulating detectives in front of the judge. But argues that the evidence should be allowed anyway since she did not violate the ''suspect's'' privacy or civil rights. It actually works too. [[RealityEnsues Although she did end up with a thirty day suspension and it took quite a while for Judge Petrovsky to let her live it down]].

** Season 10's "Trials" ends with ADA Greylek asking what the detectives do to celebrate a conviction. Munch replies, "Well, if we had a bar, drinks would be on the house." He had been a co-owner of the Waterfornt Bar on ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet''.

** Averted in "Trials"; a murder suspect jumps off a rooftop while being chased by Fin and lands in a garbage truck, only to be crushed to death by its compactor.

* DressingAsTheEnemy: Undercover gigs are a staple of this show. One episode in particular, "Demons", had Elliot pretending to be a convicted sex offender in order to get close to a rapist who had just been released from prison. Not only does this [[NotSoDifferent challenge Elliot with his own issues]], but at one point said sex offender orders Elliot to [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten rape a teenage girl]] while he watches. It's as intense as it sounds.

* NotSoDifferent: Amaro and Cassidy, who share similar JerkWithAHeartOfGold temperaments and both worked extensively as undercover operatives, also happen to loathe each other. Cassidy hangs a lampshade on it during one of their arguments.

* InsaneTrollLogic: Used in a ''very'' twisted way by the VillainOfTheWeek in "Pure" who kidnaps and rapes virgins, and then says he had to because his wife wasn't a virgin when they tried to consummate their marriage.

* Tamin: Misogyny and homophobia (she's a bisexual and several of her LGBTQ friends turn up as victims of the week throughout the series, making it [[ItsPersonal personal]])

** "Dominance" alone has several rape examples, as this seems to be a huge fetish for [[CompleteMonster Charlie]]. His crimes involve forcing kidnap victims to rape each other, but outside of that totally nonconsensual example, he is in a bizarre three-way relationship with his girlfriend and [[VillainousIncest his younger brother.]] He persuaded her to take his virginity while Charlie was in the room, and then coerced them into participating in threesomes that may or may not have devolved into [[spoiler:Charlie raping his younger brother in front of her.]]

* RevolvingDoorCasting: Are you an ADA? Is your name Cabot, Novak, or Barba? No? Well, nice knowing ya!

* LastNameBasis : Zigzagged a bit. Munch is almost never called by his first name John (this goes as far as Elliot referring to him as "Uncle Munchie" to his kids on one occasion). Season 1's Jefferies and Cassidy were rarely, if ever, called Monique or Brian (though the latter got to first-name basis with series lead Olivia Benson as her boyfriend in later years). Huang's first name George is likewise seldom heard. Barba is rarely referred to by his first name (Rafael) unless he is being introduced or is in the company of family or close friends. Carisi is never called by his first name (Dominic) and is generally only called Sonny by his family, although Olivia does call him "Uncle Sonny" to Noah at one point. Cragen's first name Don is also rare, though that's probably because [[JustifiedTrope no one in the show is realistically his social equal]]. But for most characters, they get the last-name treatment in official business while being addressed as normal people in social situations. The one inverse is Fin -- in ''really'' official situations, his last name Tutoula does get used, but for the most part, he's "Detective Fin."

* BerserkButton: Don't threaten Stabler or Amaro's families, just ''don't''. Stabler has also thrown temper tantrums as a result of getting an assignment he didn't want, adverse rulings from judges, people he arrested getting acquitted, people disagreeing with him, being at work instead of at home with his family (even when it's by his choice), a suspect not immediately confessing, basically Stabler will completely lose his mind anytime he doesn't get his way.