Law and Order
Register
Advertisement

Odafin "Fin" Tutuola is a sergeant and the second-in-command of Manhattan's Special Victims Unit. He is the second-longest serving character on the show.

History

He was partnered with John Munch from 2000-2007, until Fin was switched to Chester Lake in the middle of that year. After Lake killed a crooked cop, both Elliot Stabler's and Lake's betrayal convinces Fin to consider transfer out of SVU in early 2008. (SVU: "Cold") But in September 2008, Fin's transfer proposal was scrapped because of an ex-friend back in Narcotics was now dealing with handling transfer papers. Seeing the transfer as a bust, Fin returned as Munch's partner. His relationship with Stabler after this was somewhat hostile for a time, but it appeared to have warmed again before Stabler's departure from the squad. (SVU: "Trials")

Fin came from Narcotics where he was an undercover often for months. Fin came when his partner, Luis Montero, took a bullet meant for him. He doesn't tell Munch this until after a year of working with him, indicating that he does not like talking about his feelings.

Fin is shown to be calm in the interrogation room, such as when a racist killer calls him a slur. He only says back "That the best you got?" (SVU: "Anchor") Outside the interrogation room, though, he is known to be violent. He once assaulted a trafficker who smuggled Nigerian children.

In November 2004, Tutuola took sick leave. Fin's relationship with Det. Olivia Benson is better. At one point, Benson poses as an inmate in a women's prison to investigate an alleged rape by a corrections officer. (SVU: "Undercover") While there, the corrections officer in question attacks her and attempts to force her to perform oral sex on him. She is rescued by SVU colleague Fin Tutuola who gets there just in time to stop the rape. In season ten, Benson is seen struggling with now being a victim of sexual assault herself. She is attending group therapy, something she has not shared with anyone but Tutuola. At another time, Fin snaps at Benson. His son was found digging in an empty lot and was arrested. Instead of calling his father, he called Benson, causing friction between the two.

In December 2004, while off-duty in a convenience store, Fin got caught in the middle of a robbery that left the clerk dead. Fin shot and killed both teenage robbers and was wounded himself. Though it initially appeared Fin had shot an unarmed kid, Ruben Morales was able to find security camera footage showing where the robber's gun had gone, exonerating Fin. Fin was hailed as a hero for protecting a young boy, but he was left haunted by the fact that he had killed two teenagers. The shooting also caused Fin to be briefly reunited with Ken for the first time in years. However, the mother of Tricia Knowles, a young woman Fin knew from his undercover days, accused him of being a crooked cop for not helping her daughter. Fin decided to find Tricia for her mother, only to learn that after turning on her drug dealer boyfriend, Tricia was murdered. Fin helped return Tricia's body to her mother, and with the help of Warner, he discovered that Tricia had a son named Austin that she had turned her life around for. Fin and his rookie partner, Mike Sandoval, located Austin and returned him to his grandmother's care. (SVU: "Haunted")

In June 2009, Fin and Elliot were chasing Peter Harrison. Harrison set a gas trap that nearly killed Fin and Stabler. Ryan O'Halloran told them they were lucky to be alive. (SVU: "Zebras")

In February 2015, Fin's gaming expertise came in handy when three gamers decided to enact a real-life version of Kill or Be Slaughtered. Fin was able to help predict their moves, including a planned ambush on the cops as part of the "final level". Fin rescued Rollins and Carisi from an ambush and was forced to kill one of the teenagers in self-defense. In the aftermath, he was put on unpaid administrative leave for a few days due to the shooting, but Bensen told Fin to keep his gun and badge as it was a good shooting. (SVU: "Intimidation Game")

Family

Currently, he has a son in college, an ex-wife who is out of town because of the machinations his nephew, Darius, did to his family and to his colleagues back in early 2007. (SVU: "Screwed")

Fin was estranged from his son Ken for five years, though they briefly reunited after Fin was shot in a convenience store robbery. (SVU: "Haunted") After Ken's fiancé Alejandro Pavel was severely beaten in a homophobic attack by the BX9, Fin was left reeling by both the news of his son's engagement and the situation in which he first got to meet his future son-in-law. Despite this, Fin was extremely supportive of Ken, even intervening on his behalf with Alejandro's estranged father. Fin later welcomed the still-hospitalized Alejandro to the family, wishing they had met under better circumstances. (SVU: "Learning Curve") While having lunch with Ken, it was revealed that Ken and Alejandro found a surrogate and were expecting a baby boy. (SVU: "Intersecting Lives") A year later, he became a grandfather to a boy named Jaden. (SVU: "Send In The Clowns")

Tutuola witnessed his mother get murdered. (SVU: "Diss")

Early life

Tutuola had served in the US Army in 75th Ranger Regiment and once was deployed to Mogadishu, Somalia, during the conflict there. (SVU: "PTSD")

Officer-involved shootings

Name

Odafin is a Yoruba (Nigerian) name, the literal meaning is "establisher of laws" can loosely translate to lawmaker.

Tutuola is a Yoruba (Nigerian) name meaning "a gentle man."

Appearances

Trivia

  • The origin of his name (Tutuola) is of the Yoruba people of Southwest Nigeria.
  • It is said Tutuola was six during the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., making his birth year either 1961 or 1962, which means he is at least 53 years old.
  • In "Scorched Earth" he mentions having a grandmother who was a maid.
  • His name is taken from the book The Palm Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutola.
  • His badge number is 3198.
  • Fin's political party is Republican, as mentioned in "Secrets".
  • He is currently the second longest running character still on SVU after the retirement of Captain Cragen in 2014. The longest running is Olivia Benson.
  • Ironically, Ice-T, the actor who plays Fin, produced a song titled "Cop-Killer" in 1990 and released it in 1992, which was a song about killing police officers. The song was widely controversial, even being criticized by President George H.W. Bush.
  • When Det. Amanda Rollins arrives as his new partner in "Scorched Earth", they soon develop a good relationship, as seen throughout the following seasons.
  • He was the first person to whom Det. Amanda Rollins revealed her gambling addiction.
  • Holds the rank of Detective First Grade.
  • It was revealed in Net Worth by Dominick Carisi, Jr. that Fin has taken the Sergeant's exam. It was revealed a few episodes later that he had passed it.
  • Tutuola is the only main character in the Law & Order franchise who was not credited for his first appearance.
  • Tutuola is the second-longest running main character in the Law & Order franchise as well as the longest running male character.


Icon SVU Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Main Characters

Senior Detectives: Elliot StablerJohn MunchOdafin TutuolaOlivia BensonAmanda Rollins

Junior Detectives: Olivia BensonMonique JeffriesOdafin TutuolaChester LakeAmanda RollinsNick AmaroDominick Carisi, Jr.Katriona TaminJoe VelascoGrace Muncy

Squad Supervisors: John MunchOlivia BensonOdafin Tutuola

Commanding Officers: Donald CragenOlivia BensonChristian Garland

Assistant District Attorneys: Alexandra CabotCasey NovakKim GreylekRafael BarbaPeter StoneDominick Carisi, Jr.

Others: Melinda WarnerGeorge Huang

Advertisement