The Law & Order: SVU Character You Are Based On Your Zodiac Sign
Going strong since 1999 and hundreds of episodes later, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" is a show where survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse get their justice through the dedicated SVU task force. Episodes of the imaginary 16th Precinct in Manhattan are often based on real-life crimes, bringing a terrifying touch of reality to the intense cases they solve.
While there have been even more characters on the show than episodes, "SVU" has enjoyed a core cast of advocates: from the actual investigators themselves, headed by now-Captain Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), to the rotating door of district attorney's representatives on the legal side, all the way through to the medical examiner and forensic psychiatrists who have helped the team close these heinous cases. And just as in the real world, these folks all have distinct personality traits that correspond to their horoscopes, helping them get their jobs done in unique ways. In the criminal justice system of "SVU," this is the character you are based on your zodiac sign.
Aries: Odafin 'Fin' Tutuola
"I'm the knot in the pit of your stomach," Detective Fin Tutuola (Ice-T) says to a perp he's about to arrest all the way back in the second season of "SVU," and this phrase encapsulates an Aries in a nutshell. You do not want to be on the bad side of an Aries, whose singular focus and determination is also famous for holding eternal grudges. In Fin's case, he has a general grudge against the people who hurt women and children, and he's never afraid to show them just how much he hates them and the lengths he will go to see justice through for victims.
At first, Fin Tutuola's gruff exterior is off-putting not just to criminals, but also to his colleagues. Like any Aries, it takes him time to warm up to people he works with and build the trust needed to show his more caring side. But also in classic Aries fashion, in the early seasons of "SVU," it's often Fin in fact who abuses his power as an officer of the law by verbally and physically assaulting the bad guys who cross his path. Fin is "SVU's" hard head and muscle, just as the symbol for Aries is a hardy ram who will not stop until it's demolished what's in its way, and if those things happen to be terrible people, so be it.
Taurus: Casey Novak
Like its Aries cousin, Taurus is a sign marked by determination and an innate drive to succeed. But unlike a headstrong Aries who leaps before looking, a Taurus is a meticulous planner and makes sure they know exactly where and how they are going somewhere before they begin. For Casey Novak (Diane Neal), the senior assistant district attorney (ADA), her drive to bring justice for SVU crimes goes the law route where she often makes the case for particularly harsh sentences for these specific perpetrators.
While Casey doesn't display the usual Taurus gregariousness — her personal traumas have certainly affected her ability to relate with others on a more personal and friendly level — she does have a characteristic Taurus sexual charisma. Another area where Casey Novak is in firm Taurus territory is her temper, which she bottles up until she can't anymore, letting it sometimes explode with a special fury in court that often keeps her winning streaks going ... but is less helpful when it happens with her SVU colleagues in private. Casey is an effective mediator, but also often a source of added drama to the SVUniverse, as Taurus can sometimes be when their afflictions get the better of them.
Gemini: Rafael Barba
The ongoing personal battle for a Gemini is the tension between their considerable intellect and their emotions. This is a sign that can get way up inside their own brains, sometimes to the detriment of those around them who may be working from a more empathetic and heart-centered focus. As ADA, Rafael Barba is no-nonsense, which often puts him at odds with the SVU crew, and particularly Olivia Benson, whose compassionate approach to victims is often the opposite of Barba's intellectual and evidence-based approach.
Gemini is a sign that needs to learn how to feel, and Barba often struggles with his emotional responses to the horrific cases he must prosecute, to the point where he even leaves the district attorney's office and goes into private law practice once he realizes the ADA and SVU worlds will never be as clear cut as he needs it to be. So he dedicates himself instead to making money and providing for the material comforts in his family's life.
Barba's return to "SVU" in its 22nd season is a pure Gemini moment if there ever was one: Barba decides to represent the mobster who tried to kill Olivia and succeeded in murdering Elliot Stabler's (Christopher Meloni) wife. In Barba's mind, this is a perfectly logical decision that fits the rule of law. But for his old colleagues, and especially Olivia, it's a decision that likely ends their relationships once and for all. Until Gemini can connect with their emotions in professional as well as personal lives, they will continue to struggle to maintain healthy relationships.
Cancer: Olivia Benson
Cancers are born with an innate empathy for others that often leads them to work in caring professions. For Olivia Benson, her work as a police detective quickly morphs into the Special Victims Unit as we see her extraordinary ability to connect with and help domestic violence, abuse, and rape survivors find the strength to bring legal justice for the crimes committed against them. Represented by the crab, a Cancer tends to be self-contained, and often Olivia's advocacy for others isn't necessarily extended to herself, making it difficult for her to maintain long-term romantic relationships. This is especially painful for a Cancer, since this sign wants nothing more than the security and safety of a stable home and partner.
Olivia makes up for this fundamental lack when she adopts Noah, a child who had survived unspeakable evils and for whom Olivia felt she alone would be able to manage, about which she is totally right. In so many ways, Olivia Benson is the very embodiment of compassion as we see her deal with her family, her colleagues, and friends, as well as her professional duties bringing justice for those who often find themselves voiceless after certain kinds of crimes. For Cancers, having meaningful work is more important than ambition. Still, almost without her noticing, Olivia works her way up the chain of command to become the most effective captain of SVU.
Leo: Alexandra 'Alex' Cabot
Leos often have an inner radiance that puts them in a spotlight, whether lights are trained on them or not. With her statuesque physicality, unique gravelly speaking voice, and strength of conviction, Alex Cabot (Stephanie March) is a head-turner in so many ways once she enters the "SVU" orbit. Her charisma coupled with her open admiration of everything about Olivia Benson has also led to rumors they might have been romantically involved, but a closer reading of Alex shows she's simply there to give credit where credit is due, and Olivia deserves her flowers.
Leos are famously ambitious, sometimes to a fault. But not in the case of Alex Cabot, whose cool competence and steadfast integrity make her an excellent litigator, to the point where she even needs to enter the Witness Protection Program once she shuts down a powerful Colombian drug cartel, bringing long overdue justice for their mountains of crimes.
Alex also positively harnesses the Leo trait of using her network to her advantage, but not at all in an exploitative way. As the niece of an esteemed judge, Alex often leans on her uncle for help and connections in order to see justice through to rightful conclusions. After her traumatic time in Witness Protection, Alex returns to law with a more detached energy that causes her old SVU colleagues to think she's gone the politician route. But as Leos age, they can tend to get more conservative, so when Alex realizes this isn't the path she wants to be on, she leaves Manhattan and joins the International Criminal Court, fighting for global justice in a total Leo move.
Virgo: Amanda Rollins
Virgos have a deep desire for the maintenance of order, and their meticulous minds require things to be a certain way in order for them to thrive. This need for their environment to be just-so can result in a great deal of nervous energy and a tendency toward worrying that can become a problem if it's left to run wild. Amanda Rollins (Kelli Giddish) begins her tenure at SVU from Atlanta, Georgia, where she received her degree in forensics, a field of study that often calls to Virgos in particular because of its need for attention to detail and its evidence-based approach.
Amanda is an excellent communicator and one of the hardest workers on the team, often putting in extra hours even when she can't really spare them. While she is a highly effective SVU detective for whom compassion and empathy come easily, her troubled childhood and its ripple effects into her adult life are where we see Amanda struggle the most, especially with her gambling addiction and drinking. It's here that the more challenging aspects of Virgo's abundance of energy takes a negative turn, until Amanda finally opens up about these personal issues, including being sexually assaulted by her former boss, and gets the help she needs from her friends in SVU.
Family is often an anchoring force for Virgos, and because her own blood relations are so toxic, Amanda begins channeling her need for family into single motherhood, finally striking a healthy work-life balance that ultimately sees her absolutely thriving in her life.
Libra: Dominick 'Sonny' Carisi Jr.
While most new inductees into the Special Victim's Unit are there specifically because they want to bring down sexual predators and abusers, like any textbook Libra, Sonny Carisi (Peter Scanavino) takes a far more measured approach to the SVU tactics, much to the dismay of his colleagues. They find his "both sides" approach to be offensive at first, and it takes him some time to adopt the necessary victim/survivor-centered focus, a point of contention for his first few seasons on the SVU team. He also had an almost creepy ability to connect with suspects, which soon proved a boon from all the confessions he received, but was certainly unsettling for his new team (and us as the audience) to witness.
From the start, Sonny seemed destined to be a litigator rather than an investigator, so when he begins taking law school night classes and passes the bar, it makes perfect sense he'd transfer from SVU to the ADA's office. Libras are famous for their mediation and diplomacy skills, making Carisi a new force to be reckoned with — with the added bonus of Olivia and company's compassion and empathy for victims eventually (and thankfully) becoming part of Carisi's own modus operandi. But because Libras often tend to work better on a team, Sonny doesn't actually have the smoothest transition to the ADA's office and spends a large part of that transition wondering if he actually made the right choice. Libras tend to do a lot of "what-if-ing" until they've weighed all their pros and cons, which eventually Carisi does accomplish, beginning with his first wins as a lawyer instead of a detective.
Scorpio: Elliot Stabler
With his smoldering intensity and undeniable charisma, Elliot Stabler was the perfect foil to Olivia Benson's empathy from the first episode of "SVU" until he left the unit hanging 12 years later. Like any classic Scorpio, thanks to their often captivating and unforgettable (for better or worse) personalities, Stabler remained present on the show through his colleagues' reminiscing until his ultimate reappearance in the 22nd season, an entire decade later.
In a word, Stabler is a force, and that's in every sense of that word. As a person, he often used his physical strength and muscular physique to intimidate suspects into confessing their crimes. But more spiritually, Stabler's warrior energy was a huge plot driver for every single episode of those first 12 seasons. In fact, it's because of his multilayered Scorpio power he eventually exited the team, having crossed too many lines and broken too many rules to be able to remain without jeopardizing the justice imminent in many pending and future cases.
It's peak Scorpio that a full decade later Stabler would simply just show up again without any notice or warning, especially after not having been in touch with anyone on his former team, including his partner Olivia Benson. An unfettered Scorpio can leave quite a disastrous wake, and in Stabler's case, it leads to a mobster murdering his wife as revenge along with an attempt on Olivia's life to boot. And yet, he's impossible to reject, both for Olivia and for audiences, who fully cheered at this enigmatic character's return, just as we cried when he left.
Sagittarius: Dr. Melinda Warner
Represented by the archer or the hunter, Sagittarius is a sign that does its best when on the move. Unlike other more fixed signs, Sagittarius thrives on change and almost requires it in order to feel on an even keel. They don't tend to enjoy certain kinds of routines as shifts in scenery are their bread and butter, which is likely why we often see Dr. Melinda Warner (Tamara Tunie), the SVU's medical examiner, out in the field whenever the team comes upon a dead body. Sagittarius aren't big fans of windowless spaces, so it's no wonder that Dr. Warner would embrace any opportunity to get outdoors, even if under these morbid conditions, with the exception of extreme cold weather during which she'll send out an assistant in her place.
To pay for medical school, Dr. Warner was actually a medic in the U.S. Air Force, and it was there that she received the weapons training that we've seen her use during her work with the Manhattan SVU, in particular, the horrific scenario in Season 7 when she was forced to shoot a criminal in the leg who was about to kill himself to escape justice. Sagittarius have a daredevil streak, and Dr. Warner's is well-developed, including her darkly sarcastic sense of humor which works as an effective coping mechanism. Sagittarius are incredibly dedicated workers who also value their privacy, something we see in Dr. Warner as she shares very little about her personal life outside the ME's office, even after so long on the SVU team.
Capricorn: Donald Cragen
One of the few signs of the zodiac that thrive in an office environment is a Capricorn, who appreciates the sense of structure and the clear paths to advancement that are available if one puts their shoulder to the wheel and works hard. Like its representative goat, a knocked down Capricorn will bounce right back up and keep going, which SVU Captain Donald Cragen (Dann Florek) must do on multiple occasions during his long tenure with the unit, and even sometimes as he takes the heat for his employees who pushed the limits of the law too far.
Still, when Cragen finally retires from the SVU, it's with a distinguished record and an intact reputation, something not many officers of the law end up with, a mark of his Capricorn nature to see things through positively to the end, albeit with a rather self-deprecating sense of humor that can belie an actual lack of confidence.
After his wife's death, Cragen has a very Capricorn epiphany where he realizes how much time with her he lost because of his single-minded dedication to his job, as well as his terrible coping skills that led to addiction. As a result, he foregoes another romantic relationship and instead channels his energy into his by-proxy family of the SVU crew. Because he understands the unique circumstances that create addiction, when Amanda Rollins reveals her gambling addiction and $20K worth of debt to a bookie, Captain Cragen for once slightly bends the rules and helps her instead of firing her.
Aquarius: John Munch
Aquariuses are often easy folks to spot since they openly march to the beat of their own drum, in spite of whatever other music may be playing in synchrony by everyone else around them, which describes old-school SVU detective John Munch (Richard Belzer) to a tee. While Belzer left the show in 2013, for 16 seasons he both amused and sometimes frightened audiences and colleagues alike with his character's wry wit and ever-expanding cabinet of conspiracy theories he'd drop at any given moment. There truly never was a dull SVU moment when Munch was around, for better or worse.
Aquariuses are fiercely independent in thought and action, which also explains Munch's long string of ex-wives (four at last count before he retired from SVU) and his absolute distaste at being the ranking officer forced to step in for Captain Cragen during one of his leaves of absences. Aquariuses prefer to make their own paths, so having to herd others along a collective path is a chore that in many ways is completely contrary to an Aquarius' natural state.
But underneath this eccentric personality is a true thread of idealism that really wishes the best for others and humanity as a whole, and we often see Munch cave in on himself during particularly horrible crime investigations as he tries to understand violent motivations, explaining why he'd take an early retirement in spite of enjoying and mostly thriving in his law enforcement career.
Pisces: Dr. George Huang
As the final and most mature sign of the zodiac, Pisces tends to also be the most sensitive and naturally attuned to offering empathy and compassion for others. In fact, whether by profession or informally, a Pisces is often a person people gravitate toward (even strangers) for help or support, which can actually cause Pisces to get overwhelmed as they internalize all of this energy coming at them.
For Dr. George Huang (B.D. Wong), the SVU's resident forensic psychiatrist and sometimes-special agent with the FBI, he has learned to set clear boundaries through his work as a therapist, which helps him focus on channeling his knowledge and sensitivity toward helping others. In fact, once upon a time before joining SVU, Dr. Huang worked with convicts in prison for sexually-based offenses to try and rehabilitate them — noble work indeed that requires not just boatloads of empathy, but also a strong stomach. Dr. Huang stopped this work and switched to victim/survivor support once he realized that his talents were of better service elsewhere.
Dr. Huang also offers a shoulder and ear to his SVU colleagues on a regular basis, even though this isn't part of his job description; Pisces energy veritably demands it. Because of this, it makes perfect sense that Dr. Huang would take an early retirement from his intense career since this kind of work would take an extra toll on burning out a gentle Pisces spirit.