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")

Tutuola gets emotional during cases with children, particularly those involving African American children which is a result of his own traumatic childhood. He also has a strong hatred towards men who abuse their wife and children, often referring to them as scum.

One child he particularly grew close to was a boy named Andre Fuller, who witnessed his mother be physically abused and raped by his father, which resulted in Andre calling the police. (SVU: "At Midnight In Manhattan")

Concerned that Andre's father would return, Tutuola gave Andre a phone and told him to call him in case he did turn up. Eventually he did and Tutuola fatally shot Andre's father in an attempt to save Andre when his father held him at knifepoint. Fin is later sued by the family for wrongful death.(SVU: "The Things We Have To Lose")

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") Fin has slowly gotten on better terms with Ken, even asking for help on cases. 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 mentioned his father tried to con criminals who promptly retaliated and this led to him witnessing his mother get murdered as a child. (SVU: "Diss")

He mentions to having a brother but it is unknown if he’s older or younger. (SVU: "Friending Emily")

He mentioned that his maternal grandfather died inadequate care of a retirement home. (SVU: "Disabled")

Fin mentioned his paternal grandfather Iggy is alive and suffering from diabetes, while living in a retirement home. (SVU: "Mood")

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.

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.

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.



